Those Who Remain (Book 3)

by Priscila Santa Rosa

  Tigh’s eyes narrow. Does he believe me? I place my finger on the trigger, just in case. After a pause that might as well have lasted an eternity, he nods. “What’s the plan?”

  I relax after a deep breath. “First, help me with these guys—”

  “What the hell are you saying, Lily? What did you do with the other guy? You’re delusional,” he says loud and clear, taking a step back and nodding to me. I hide my right hand behind my back to conceal the gun. “You’re not making any sense!”

  Simon steps forward, gun raised. “Tigh, leave this to us. We’ll take her in. Until we know for sure what happened to Lancaster, you’re coming with us, Lily. The Captain will want to, hmm, question you.”

  They’re pretending for Tigh’s sake, no doubt planning on killing me the second he’s out of view. I suppose as long you’re useful and nonthreatening, Irons would rather spare you. Well, that’s her mistake.

  “Raise your hands,” he orders me, but I simply shake my head. I know his game now. He can’t kill me without Irons’s permission, not in front of Tigh.

  “Make me.”

  With a self-satisfied smirk on his face, Simon closes the distance between us. From the corner of my eye, I see Tigh moving behind the two other guards, hand on his own rifle’s trigger. Simon breathes into my neck as he reaches for my hands to restrain me.

  “I don’t know how you survived, but you were an idiot to come back. Now you’re dead,” he whispers into my ear, moving to grab my left hand.

  I swing my gun with the right hand and shoot him right in the temple, blood, brains, and pieces of his skull hitting my cheeks. The other guards yell as I grab his dead body for protection and aim at them.

  “Stay back!” I tell them.

  While they make their split-second decision whether to shoot me or not, Tigh takes the chance and kills one with a headshot. I take the other one out.

  We reload our guns and jump into the truck. So far, so good.

  “How long do you think before they notice the patrol is gone?” I ask while turning the engine over.

  “Two hours, at least.” He points at me with a frown. “Now, explain what the hell is going on, and it better be a good explanation because I just helped you kill three guards.”

  “Evil guards,” I say. “Irons sent me on a fake mission with a guy she claimed was only an engineer. Well, in the middle of the night this ‘engineer’ tried to kill me. I defended myself and he ended up dead instead.”

  “How did you survive so long during the blizzard?”

  “It’s a strange story, but basically my father followed us to the base. He and his...” I frown, unsure of how to explain his relationship with Laurie. “He and this girl he’s been taking care of, they found me almost dying from the cold. They knew I was in danger after meeting with a survivor from the base. A real CDC employee. He told them about the massacre. We took shelter and waited until the weather improved. Now I’m here.”

  “And where is your father now? Why didn’t he come with you? We could’ve used more people.”

  I bite my lip and shake my head. “He’s injured. He can’t come. But I know we can do this. Irons doesn’t have that many people or else she wouldn’t have kept most of us alive for so long.”

  He nods, a hand on his chin. “As long as Roger and Maria don’t suspect anything, they’re safe. The problem is we just declared war on her. If we don’t hurry, they’ll become hostages. So what’s the plan?”

  I take one of Father’s homemade bombs out of my backpack. “Distraction, then infiltration. Their power station is above the surface.”

  “The bird sanctuary.”

  I smile. “Yes. With the power out, everyone will be scrambling to fix it. So, while a team checks out what happened, we might slip in unnoticed.”

  “Then what?”

  “We find Maria and Roger. We rescue Danny and get the hell out.”

  We park the truck behind another rocky hill, out of sight, and then go on foot to the bird sanctuary’s entrance. Unsurprisingly, the doors are locked, so Tigh waits as I break in through a window and pick the lock from the inside.

  “Why do I have the feeling you’ve done this a lot?” he says as I open the front door.

  I shrug. “I had to graduate from high school somehow, so yes, I snuck in and changed my grades a few times.”

  He rolls his eyes and we keep moving deeper into the main building. Unlike the base, abandon has taken root inside and nothing seems to be working, not the lights and especially not the heating. We walk between the desks of the tourist welcome center, brochures and educational material scattered around, covered in dust.

  Guided by signs, we find the large aviary in the back, which is, in fact, covered with solar panels and has, instead of trees and birds, rows of equipment to convert and distribute power to the base below.

  I open my backpack and take Dad’s homemade bombs out. “I think five bombs should do the job. Here, take these and place them between the rows. I’ll put the rest in the corners.”

  Tigh raises his eyebrows as I pass two to him. “Are these things safe?”

  “Usually, yes. And don’t look at me like that. My father made these after the virus spread.” The sergeant stares at me with an unconvinced expression. “Just do it. We don’t have all day.”

  With a last eye roll, he starts working and I do the same. After that’s done, I wave for him to follow me. We leave the building and find a safe spot behind a huge rock to watch the damage. This is going to be one hell of an explosion.

  “Are you ready?”

  He nods and covers his ears. I take a deep breath, then turn the handheld radio on. The blast shakes the ground, and thick solar panels shatter along with the twisted metal that used to hold them in place. Pieces of glass and debris fly everywhere, but the most impressive part is how tall the flames get, feeding on the electrical equipment and producing blue sparks and smaller explosions that will probably last for hours. In a matter of minutes, dark smoke encompasses the perimeter of the building. Using Father’s binoculars, I spot movement inside the visitor welcome center. A group of guards slams open the doors of a fire emergency stairway, not bothering to lock it as they head toward the fire.

  “Let’s go,” I whisper to Tigh.

  Crouched, we enter the building again by the window I’d broken. A thin layer of smoke is starting to sweep in, but not enough to reduce visibility. We keep our heads down, using desks as cover in case another team appears.

  The stairs are pitch dark, but a red light at the bottom guides us inside the base and into the familiar hallways. Happy to see the cameras no longer working, I take note of the number painted on the wall, making sense of where we are and mapping our way to the West Dormitories, where Roger and Maria most likely are. If we can’t find them there, then the next spot is the cafeteria or Maria’s infirmary, which I’m sure Tigh knows the way to like the back of his hand.

  As we progress, weapons in hand, the whole base goes into high alert. Nearby pipes are bent with the force of an explosion, this time below the surface. Tigh and I trade looks. He has disapproval in his eyes, but I merely shrug. I’m not an explosives expert or an electrical engineer. He can’t expect a controlled explosion from a few homemade bombs. Things get messy.

  Hopefully, not too messy. We need to get out of here alive.

  I hear hushed footsteps ahead. I grab Tigh and we seek shelter inside a janitor’s closet. We wait until their shadows disappear from under the door and the noise dies out. Heartbeat accelerated, I nod at him and we move on.

  As we arrive at the dormitories, an electronic female voice advises all staff to evacuate the base using fire emergency routes. Then the sprinklers open up, pouring water over our heads.

  “Great, now what?” Tigh asks, perfectly gelled hair already collapsing under the watery strain. “Everyone will evacuate, including Roger and Maria.”

  “Evacuate where? No, Irons won’t let them. She knows by now this was sabotage. We should k
eep going.”

  We open and search all the rooms in the dormitories, only to discover them empty, but Tigh finds a note from Maria taped to his door. He shakes his head after reading it.

  “What does it say?”

  “I don’t know. It doesn’t make any sense. She’s inviting me to celebrate Danny’s recovery in the cafeteria, but she knew I was on patrol until six. Then she talks about a meeting—”

  I stopped listening at the sound of Danny’s name. I grab Tigh’s arm. “What? Danny is cured?”

  “It seems like it, but I’m not so sure.”

  “Why not?” I yank the note from his hands, searching for any clue of Danny’s current condition. Maria only says she’s looking forward to all of us leaving now that Danny is better. “I don’t get it.”

  “Exactly. Why would she write that instead of waiting to tell me in person? Something is wrong. I think—I think she knows. Somehow, she figured out that these people are lying to us.” Tigh untangles his hair with his fingers, gaze traveling around fast. “I need to find her. I don’t know how long this note has been here. We have to find her.”

  I place a hand on his arm, pocketing the note. Maybe she can explain what happened to Danny. “We will. Do you think she’s in the infirmary?”

  He shakes his head. “No. The note mentions she’s going to Wikus’s office for a meeting before lunch. She’s probably there.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  “I’m afraid you’re not going anywhere, Lily.”

  I turn around. Captain Olivia Irons stands with her with hair disheveled, makeup smudged, completely soaking wet. And, of course, pointing a gun at us.

  Tigh shoves me into his room, falling on top of me as Irons starts shooting. We get on our feet quickly and each take a side of the door, backs against the wall.

  “What now? There’s only one way out of here,” Tigh says, loading his gun and cocking it.

  Shit, he’s right. My mind races over all the tactics and plans Father made me memorize. Tight corners, narrow hallways, one exit. Come on, Lily, think.

  “Come out, come out, Lily. I thought you were a hunter, not easy prey.” Irons voice echoes, her steps slow and steady. “I’m not even taking cover. I’m right here! Just waiting. I’m waiting, Lily! You stupid moronic girl. You have no fucking idea what I had to do to get here and now you ruined everything! Come out and face me!”

  Okay, so she’s clearly pissed and crazy. That’s good, I can use that.

  “How many shots?” I ask Tigh in a low voice.

  He frowns. “I heard three.”

  A Beretta 92, the standard model they’re using, holds fifteen rounds. So that’s bad. But we do have four bedrooms between her and us, all doors open from our earlier search. I take a deep breath and give Tigh a knowing stare. I point at my chest and mouth the word “bait” and then point at him and mouth the word “cover.”

  He nods. I spin out of the room fast and roll inside the room on the opposite side of the hallway. I feel the air next to my head cut by a high-speed bullet and then another is fired. Five gone, ten to go.

  “This is incredibly infuriating, Lily. I have no time to play hide and seek. Let me kill you so I can fix the mess you made.”

  “Where are Danny and Maria?” I peek sideways to meet Tigh’s eyes on the other side. I’m going to run diagonally now and that’s way too many seconds exposed. I need to buy some time to recover. “Where’s Roger?”

  Her laugh is chilling. “You mean you don’t know? I thought you were out for revenge for their deaths.”

  Tigh’s eyes widen and he twitches as if ready to go out and shoot her. I shake my head fervently.

  “Sure, like that would work. I don’t believe you.”

  “Well, to be honest, I’m only fifty percent sure of Dr. Paz’s fate. Last I heard she was on her way to a very unnecessary brain surgery. But Roger? I’m one hundred percent sure about his death. I was the one responsible, after all. Not that it really matters whether I’m lying or not. You doomed us all and don’t even know it. That stunt you pulled with the bombs? It released hell.”

  I bite my lip. She’s lying. This is all bullshit. She’s taunting me into making a mistake. She had no reason to kill Roger until a few minutes ago. There wasn’t enough time.

  Focus, Lily. I nod to Tigh and he shoots at Irons from the corner of the door. She finds cover behind one of the open metal doors and I take my chance, sprinting toward the next room. Her shots bounce on a metal pipe and hit another one, compressed air blasting from it.

  That’s eight. Six to go and then she has to reload. And by then, I’ll be right on this bitch.

  “Aren’t you curious about Danny? We used Spencer’s serum on him.” She snorts, all composure lost. “Notice I didn’t use the term ‘cure,’ because it’s not. We never intended to cure anyone. Now your friend is my weapon.”

  “Your lies are getting weaker. Try again,” I say as I roll into the other room, bullets flying freely above me. Four to go.

  I hear Tigh’s cover fire and Irons hides again, giving me enough time to reach the last room. She’s a door away, but I’m out of options.

  “Oh no, I would never lie about this. I shed blood, tears, sweat to make this happen. I sacrificed countless numbers of my own men to get to this forsaken base. I traveled by sea and air, all the way from the Free Republic, just so Danny could become a reality. I’m here to finish a dream, you see. Murabai’s dream of a perfect army. A dream Spencer yanked away from his grasp when he betrayed us and escaped. But I got it back. Oh, I did it. I was so close to finishing it too... but I know someone will complete the mission even if I can’t. You’ll see.” She laughs. “Actually, no, you won’t.”

  As she rants like the deranged person she is, I grab a lamp from the desk next to the bed and yank its wire out of the outlet, using all my strength to throw it into the hallway. It hits the wall, but Irons shoots at it anyway, reflexes faster than her eyes.

  And that’s when I hear the beautiful click-click of an empty gun. I bolt out of the room and kick the door she’s hiding behind. Her painful cry barely registers as I step on her hand until her fingers loosen their grip on her gun. Recovering from the impact, she furiously kicks me in the legs, but with Tigh’s help, we restrain her and pat her down for any other weapons, only finding a smartphone and a small garage remote control.

  “Okay. What we do with her?” I ask Tigh, gun firmly pointed at her skull.

  “I say we use her to find the others. You know where they are, don’t you?”

  Irons blinks and smirks, black hair clinging to her face. “Yes.”

  “Talk, or I shoot out your kneecaps, then I take a finger for each time you lie.”

  I’m a little surprised by how violent he’s willing to be, but no complaints. If that’s what it takes to save Danny and Roger, then that’s what it takes.

  “No need for that, Sergeant Nelson. I know when I’m beaten. Your doctor is with Dr. Miller. Her office is on corridor twenty-three. One right, three lefts, and you’re there.”

  “What about Roger and Danny?”

  She turns to me slowly. “The opposite way. Roger is with Danny in the quarantined dormitories. Left, left, then three rights.”

  “Shit. We need to split up.” I groan. “And that’s exactly what she wants.”

  Tigh adjusts his rifle. “Doesn’t matter. You take her and we meet at the stairs in ten minutes, max. After that, it’s every man for himself.”

  I nod and he disappears out of the dormitories, leaving me alone with a tied, but still very dangerous, Irons.

  THE DOCTOR XVII

  January 27th, Wednesday, 6 am

  God, my head hurts. It feels like my brain is twice the size of my skull and it’s trying to squeeze itself out of my nose and eyes. I try to reach my forehead, only to discover I can’t move my hand. Oh—oh no. I remember now: Artie’s plea, and Wikus’s office, and Prudence finding me...

  Oh no.

  I open my eyes, breathi
ng heavily. My wrists and legs are tied to a metal chair, my eyes covered with a blindfold. I can’t see anything but faint light and flashes of movement close by. Someone wanders around the room, opening drawers and scattering metal tools. I hear a monkey shrieking and cages rattling. The smell of wet fur hits my nose with full force.

  “Prudence? Prudence, please... I don’t know why you’re doing this, but please let me go.”

  A shadow blocks my view. “Don’t play the fool, Doc. Come on, you must’ve figured it all out by now. The monkeys, your friend going missing, Kellerman getting cold feet, probably babbling about our secrets, and the notes. Even if you don’t know what’s happening, you’ll eventually put the pieces together anyway. I mean, did you really think we cured your friend just to be nice?”

  “I don’t understand. What are you doing?” The air shifts and something is pressed lightly to my forehead. I rock my body, struggling to escape her. “Stop! What are you doing?”

  “Stay still. I’m marking the incision points for your brain surgery. Don’t worry, I saw a tutorial video and I have dissected plenty of animals. Worst-case scenario, you die while it happens, but hey, think of the greater good.”

  She’s crazy, she’s out of her mind. I need to get out of here. I start twisting and bending my limbs to free myself, but it doesn’t work; the leather straps are too strong.

  “What the hell are you talking about? Prudence—Dr. Miller, you can’t do this. Please! Please just let me go. Whatever’s going on in this place, I don’t care, please. Yes, Artie told me some strange things, but he was delirious from the pain. I didn’t pay any attention to it.”

  “Sure. You didn’t really read that note talking about mind control, which will lead you to the obvious conclusion. We’re making a mind-control formula to use on the already-infected to use them as soldiers. Soldiers who won’t feel pain or suffer from morals. Soldiers who last days without food. Do you have any idea what the Captain is willing to do in order to protect that secret?” Prudence snorts. “Honey, it’s too late. Our captain doesn’t like loose ends and you just tied yours into a noose. Sorry.”