The commander rubbed his dimpled chin. “Affirmative Miss Hunt. I’ll give you Hawk and Smith.”
“I’ll take Hawk but, if it’s ok with you I’d rather take the guy who saved Sam.”
“That will be T-bone. He’s young and not as experienced as Smith but that boy does have courage. Done. I’ll have them ready to deploy at sunrise. In the meantime, we’ll try to establish communications with HQ and rendezvous at the heritage site. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
* * *
“Have you completely lost your mind, Alex? It’s a suicide mission! If our warm welcome here was anything to go by it will be ten times worse out there. You have no idea what you’re in for once you leave here and with only two men and no way of staying in contact we might never see you alive again! You should abort the mission, Alex. It’s too dangerous.”
Alex tightened the laces on her boots and zipped her combat vest up under her chin. She was scared, there was no denying it, but aborting a mission wasn’t in her repertoire.
“I can’t abort, Sam and you know it. We can’t stay cooped up in here forever. Besides, I might find some means to get help. We have no communication with HQ or the outside world and neither you nor any of the relief crew are fit to go at it on foot. I don’t see any other way.”
Sam knew Alex was already resolved to finishing the mission and nothing he would say or do would deter her from completing it. And unfortunately she made perfect sense. They couldn’t stay there forever.
“Where are you heading?”
“Professor Graham’s office at the Wits University; it’s in the centre of the city. Perhaps he left some clues in his office somewhere. It’s a start.”
“And how exactly do you intend getting there?”
“Already taken care of Sam. The commander has a map and Thembi gave us instructions on where to find a guy who operates one of the minibus taxis they use. He’s about two miles down the road if we cross through the field.”
“Taxi? The same taxis Van said they rape women in? Now I know you’re insane.”
“This guy is above board, Sam. Thembi said he’d get us there safely.”
“And you believe her? A taxi driver is going to somehow transport three combat soldiers without a glitch. But of course.”
Sam’s sarcasm should have angered Alex but instead, it warmed her heart. He loved her deeply and she knew it came from a place of fear and concern for her. She cupped his face in her gloved hands.
“I’ll be ok, Sam. Try to rest that wrist of yours. I’ll see you when I come back for you.”
“Excuse me, Ma’am. Ready when you are,” Hawk interrupted.
An hour later Alex, Hawk and T-bone lay camouflaged in the back of a minivan. Jacob was exactly where Thembi said he’d be and the handwritten note she gave them did the trick. But unlike the image Alex had conjured in her mind, the minibus was old and rusted. With sections in the bodywork each clearly belonging to a different color taxi, it looked more like a patchwork throw than a road worthy vehicle. The entire body of the minivan skewed to the one side on its visibly bent axel which made the taxi sway sideways as it started off on the desolate tarred road. The putrid smell underneath the dirty gray blanket forced Alex to flick it off her face a couple of times.
“Down, down!” Jacob shouted back as the van slowed to a halt.
They listened as Jacob exchanged conversation in his native language. From somewhere close by Alex distinguished the mocking and laughing of men followed by torturous groans of someone on the receiving end of some kind of punishment and subsequent loud cheers. It left every hair on her body raised. They dared not move a muscle under the safe protection of the smelly blanket. Unable to see their surroundings or the conditions in which they found themselves, they remained motionless under the blanket. Jacob’s easy tone suddenly turned to a loud panicked bawl and seconds later they heard his door open as he was being pulled out of the van. Alex swallowed hard. Her breathing increased and her heart pounded against her chest as she strained to hear what was going on.
“What’s happening?” she whispered to T-bone and Hawk who lay equally still on either side of her. Neither replied as they listened to the desperation in Jacob’s voice as he pleaded for his life.
“We have to help him,” Alex whispered again.
“Stay down, Ma’am,” Hawk whispered back, gripping his rifle across his chest.
A split second later the rear door at their feet opened and, as if one man, T-bone and Hawk sat up and opened fire onto the two men who were ready to strike at them with large machetes. Alex jumped over the seats to the front of the van catching sight of several black men whose bodies were ringed by a burning vehicle tyre. The one closest to the front of the van was Jacob. Forced to watch several men bound by a tyre and set on fire alive sickened her. Propelled by a rush of anger she leaped out of the car towards Jacob’s anguished cries. Behind her Hawk and T-bone were firing at will against the onslaught of their attackers. The rancid smell of scorched flesh mingled with the strong scent of burning rubber lay thick in the air. A cloud of black smoke covered the victims’ bodies as many already lay dead all over the road. Protected by the soldiers’ diligent defense, Alex grabbed the blanket from the back of the van and beat down hard against Jacob’s body and the burning tyre around his pinned down arms. It made little to no difference to the fire that was being fueled by the gasoline soaked rubber and Alex watched in horror as Jacob squirmed with pain under the torture.
A moment later Hawk fired a bullet, instantly killing Jacob before grabbing Alex and pulling her back into the minivan. As T-bone sped off with them, leaving an army of corpses in their wake, Alex emptied her stomach contents onto the seat beside her.
“There was nothing we could do for him, Ma’am. He was in agony.”
Alex knew Hawk was right. “I know. I’ve never seen anything like it. Why did they do that to those people?”
“It’s genocide, Ma’am. The locals kill off the Zimbabweans. Most of them are illegal in the country; here to work and send money home to their families. The locals are threatened by them. There was no way of avoiding the blockade. They know exactly where to block off the roads Ma’am.”
Alex paused as she digested the horrific act of violence she had just witnessed. “I’m Alex, by the way. You can call me Alex.”
Chapter Nine
The route to the Wits University was burdensome and the trio followed the commander’s map in somber silence. On several more occasions they drove past remnants of smoldering bodies in deserted genocide scenes. Other areas displayed burning busses and smashed out shop windows precipitated by loitering. The roads were desolate and eerily quiet with no sign of any life. A few stray dogs wandered the alleyways between once occupied office and residential buildings. Bullet holes and shell casings decorated the walls and streets reminding Alex once again of the treacherous situation she was plunged into.
As they neared the university, distant gunshots catapulted them into full alert.
“Go around the back, Hawk,” Alex instructed the soldier behind the wheel.
Burning cars lined the quiet road on either side while piles of furniture lay in ashes in the middle of a clearing. Through clouds of smoke and haze Hawk screeched to a halt as he nearly drove head on into an overturned car that blocked them from going further.
“Let’s get out here. We’ll enter on foot.” Hawk said cautiously, adding for them to check their guns and ammunition.
Several dead bodies of middle-aged men and women laced the narrow garden path to the university’s back entrance followed by several more much younger in age. Judging from the gunshots to their backs it was evident they were trying to escape the building. What or who from was yet to be determined. Alex tightened her hand on the trigger and held her aim through the rifle’s scope. Hawk entered first, followed by Alex and then T-bone. Books and papers scattered the corridor floor alongside several more perished students.
“It makes no sense. T
here was no prejudice toward any particular ethnicity. This was a massacre not a racial attack. It doesn’t feel right. Something else happened here.” Alex remarked as she knelt at the body of a young Chinese male.
“He’s still warm. This is fresh. Stay alert gentlemen.”
The small team wandered the empty university corridors, alert and ready to fire with nothing but the sound of their footsteps lightly treading the blood smeared polished floors. Hawk signaled with his hand for them to go up to the next floor as they neared a set of stairs. Alex searched the pointer boards on the walls for Professor Graham’s office, all the while holding her rifle in position against her shoulder.
When her eyes finally fell on the yellow police tape that lay broken on the floor in front of the professor’s office door, Alex knew something more sinister was brewing. Using military signaling, Alex alerted Hawk and T-bone to cover her while she entered. The door stood slightly ajar and no sounds came from within. Satisfied it was safe they entered one by one in trained combat formation. A pool of dried blood on the carpet next to the desk declared the professor’s murder scene. With the window blinds slightly closed the spacious room emitted an eeriness that sent shivers down their spines.
“Clear,” T-bone called out, followed by Hawk’s echo.
“Clear,” Alex reported in turn.
“Let’s get what we’ve come here for and get out of here. This place creeps me out.” Hawk added as his eyes skimmed over the multitude of fossil bones and skeleton skulls displayed all around the room. In the one corner, pieces of an almost complete skeleton lay flat on a glass table. Next to it stood a few glass cylinders with teeth, bone fragments and vertebrae submerged in lavender colored fluid.
“What is this place?” T-bone asked with curiosity who, up until now had hardly said a word.
Taken by surprise Alex replied.
“These are all excavated fossils of early human species. These ones here date back as much as five hundred thousand years.” Alex pointed out a few of the labelled bones.
“I thought we were all apemen. These look human,” Hawk added, still wriggling with unease from being in a room full of skeletal bones.
“Many still do. This is exactly the reason why we’re here, boys. The professor discovered bones dating back as little as two hundred thousand years ago making it the youngest human evidence to date. This here on the table is Homo naledi; your distant cousin and the closest match to our current human species ever found.”
“Now that you mention it, I can see the resemblance,” Hawk mocked T-bone.
“Focus boys. We’re looking for the teeth; the molars to be exact. I’m told the professor hid it somewhere, and judging from his brutal demise, with good reason.”
“If he’s dead, how sure are we that the murderer didn’t take it?” T-bone insightfully queried.
“We’re not, but I’m very certain that if someone else had it, it would have been all over the news by now. Something as significant as this can’t remain hidden from the world. Even on the black market. I have a hunch his murderer never found it. The professor was too smart and cautious to leave it lying around in his office and judging from the fact that anthropology was his entire life, my guess is he would’ve died protecting it. Look for hidden drawers or holes in the walls. Somewhere out of sight. It’s got to be here somewhere.”
The next thirty minutes had the team rummage through the office searching behind the books and under the tables.
“I’m no professional, but this bone seems strange,” T-bone commented, handing Alex a femur bone he lifted from the one shelf.
“It’s strange because it’s not real. The bone is made from rubberized PVC — quite a good replica actually,” Alex commented.
“Well done T-bone. You found a rubber bone,” Hawk affectionately mocked the young soldier.
Alex ignored the soldiers’ friendly banter as she examined the reproduced bone more closely. An accidental twist in opposite directions released a click before the two ends of the bone separated and revealed a paper scroll.
“Found something,” Alex informed the two men.
“Well, how about that? Not just a pretty face are you, T-bone?” Hawk jokingly elbowed his comrade.
“It’s a rebus puzzle!” Alex said excitedly.
“What’s a rebus puzzle?” T-bone asked.
“It’s a genius way of hiding a clue by using pictures to represent words or part of words.”
“Doesn’t look like much to me. Looks like his kid’s school art,” Hawk commented.
Alex spread the piece of office paper out onto the desk. “Ok, we have a picture of a witch, a heart, a music note and a guy dreaming under a tree.”
“That could mean anything. It’s a bunch of child drawings.”
“It’s not, Hawk. I’ve seen these before. The Egyptians used rebus puzzles all the time. Each picture translates into a word and the full word is usually the name of a place. Once we find the place we need to go there to either find the teeth or another clue. We just have to play around with it.”
“This could take forever,” Hawk said with frustration as he moved across to the window and peered through the blinds.
“Like Pictionary?” T-bone added, ignoring Hawk’s obvious irritation.
“Indeed. Let’s take the picture of the witch. It could literally spell out part of a word or sound similar to one.” Alex paced the room as she sounded off possible option. “Itch, pitch, switch, it, pit, wit, wits! That’s it, Wits. We’re here, at the Wits University. That must be it. What’s the next picture?”
“A heart,” T-bone added with excitement.
“A heart; let me see. Heart, cart, dart, smart…”
“Fart?” Hawk blurted out from where he stood guard at the door.
“Don’t be an idiot, Hawk,” T-bone bit back in embarrassment over his team mate’s crudeness.
Alex was too submerged in her own thoughts to notice their childish squabble as she searched for the correct answer. “Maybe something to do with love? Wits love, Wits heart…”
“Maybe Wits art?” T-bone ventured.
“Wits art; could be. Heart, art — I think you might be onto something T-bone, well done. Maybe there’s an art room somewhere in here. Let’s go,” Alex beckoned tucking the scroll down her shirt.
“Don’t we need the rest of the puzzle?” T-bone asked again with obvious enthusiasm over the guessing game but Alex was already halfway down the corridor.
“Come genius, I have a feeling there will be more for you to decipher,” Hawk nudged as he set off after Alex.
T-bone watched as Hawk disappeared around the corner after Alex. Seconds later gunshots spat through the corridor having T-bone duck into the nearest doorway. With both Alex and Hawk out of his vision there was no telling where the shots came from or if either of them got shot. The gunshots ceased and he waited before cautiously popping his head out for a visual of the corridor. With his finger on the trigger he ventured into the empty passageway and paused at the corner where Alex and Hawk disappeared. His heart thumped against his chest. Straining his ears for any sounds or movement he swallowed and leaned his head out and back from behind the corner. T-bone caught his breath as his rapid tactic resulted in a clear visual of Hawk lying parallel to the floor and the side stance of a man holding a knife to Alex’s throat. Adrenaline rushed through his body as he leaned out again for another look. There were two more hostiles in a well-lit laboratory slightly ahead of them. T-bone considered his next move. With Hawk down and Alex at knifepoint, he was outnumbered against the three men so attacking them from behind would trap Alex in a crossfire. He peered down the other end of the long corridor that continued beyond the entrance to theirs. If he jumped across and continued further down the corridor he might get lucky and surprise them from the other end. Deciding this was his only option, T-bone took a deep breath and darted across to the other end of the passageway hoping he was fast enough not to be detected by any of them. Satisfied that they were
unaware of his presence he proceeded with caution as he made his way down the passage. With his back against the wall T-bone paused briefly before turning up into the next corridor. Relief flooded his body as his gamble paid off and he seemed to have successfully navigated his way in a precise square around the perps. His new positioning had him perfectly lined up for Alex to spot him; opening the opportunity for a coordinated surprise attack on the men. But if he leaned out around the corner, even just enough for her to see, it risked her captor seeing him too. Annoyed at being snared in a deadlock, T-bone searched around for another option. His eye caught sight of an air duct above his head. With newfound vigor he decided to risk it. A man of average height he was just tall enough to slip his fingers through the bottom end of the grid. The steel framework lifted away with ease and seconds later, T-bone had successfully maneuvered his body through the opening. He cursed inwardly as the rubber from his boots scraped against the steel walls of the duct, causing an amplified screeching noise. He stopped, anticipating that he had alerted the gunmen. Relieved that they hadn’t heard him, he took a slower pace and proceeded with caution. It was hot and sweat trickled over his brows into his eyes. Crawling on his knees with only one hand while the other gripped his rifle was no easy task but he knew he was within close proximity to them. The sudden audible voice of Alex’s keeper confirmed his assumption as it echoed through the duct. Paused in position at the vent opening directly above Alex and her captor, T-bone allowed his eyes to examine the position of the other two men in the lab’s doorway. Dressed in blue suits and armed to the elbows, T-bone deduced they had to be a private security team.
“Who are you?” Alex demanded an answer from the two men.
“That is none of your business.” Another male voice answered back jerking T-bone’s attention into full alert. He had underestimated the number of attackers. There was someone else in the lab.
“It most certainly is my business if I’ve got a knife against my throat and am held hostage by your baboon over here.” Alex shouted back as she tried to wrestle her way out of her keeper’s tight grip.
The Alpha Strain Page 6