V Plague (Book 13): Exodus

by Dirk Patton

  There was silence from the other end for a moment.

  “Colonel, are you telling me that you used Wizard on an officer from the Central Intelligence Agency?”

  The man’s voice was low and frightened.

  “Yes, sir. That’s exactly what I’m telling you! The intel is good, sir. He just didn’t know the precise locations of the devices. NEST can find them, but only if a warning gets to someone with enough authority to deploy them. Immediately!”

  There was another stretch of silence as Sean’s boss worked through the information he’d just been given.

  “So help me, Colonel, if you’re wrong…”

  “Sir, I pray to God I’m wrong. But, if I’m not, there are millions of people that are about to die! Sir, please! Make the call.”

  “I’m on it,” the man said, disconnecting without anything further.

  “Well?” Bill asked as Sean closed the phone.

  “He’s going to make some calls.”

  “Can he get to the right people?”

  “He donates to everyone,” Sean said, shrugging. “Never met a politician he didn’t buy, so probably. Unless…”

  “Unless what?”

  “What do you think Delker was talking about? The Cabal?”

  “Son, there’s been rumors of a shadow government since the time of Benjamin Franklin. Maybe there is, maybe there isn’t. All we can do now is wait and see. And, why didn’t you tell him about the nerve gas?”

  “Tell him what?” Sean asked. “Three words. Chinese nerve gas. What the hell that means is anybody’s guess at this point. The priority is the nukes. If NEST can find them and defuse them in time…”

  Bill nodded slowly.

  “What about our guest?” He finally asked, nodding at the office.

  Sean turned and looked at the closed door.

  “Wizard will finish the job in a couple of hours,” he said. “He won’t feel any more pain and the drug will cause his brain to shut down his nervous system. When that happens, his heart will stop.”

  “So, what now?”

  “I need to fill the guys in, then we’ve got to clean this place up. No trace we were here. After that? Guess we head to Nevada to get Anna.”

  “If NEST can find them,” Bill said.

  “If NEST can find them,” Sean agreed, nodding.

  He went and found each of his men, taking his time to explain what he’d learned and what was happening. They took the information as well as could be expected. Except for Poon. His sister had just moved to New York to pursue her dream of being an actress on Broadway.

  With amazingly steady hands, he pulled out his phone, powered it up and dialed her number. A moment later he gave the handset a quizzical look and tried again, without ever getting a ring from the other end.

  “Phones are down,” he said.

  Sean pulled his personal phone out, replaced the battery he’d removed for the operation and tried to place a call. He didn’t have any better results.

  “Think the boss got through to someone and they shut down comms?” Poon asked.

  “Not that fast,” Sean said. “I can see them doing it, try to disrupt the bad guys, but not in half an hour. No way.”

  “Then what?”

  “I don’t know, Poon. But, I got a bad feeling.”

  “You and me both, brother.”

  Sean went to Boogie and Snakeshit and had them power up and try their phones, hoping it was just an issue with the carrier he and Poon used. But, it wasn’t. They had no better results. His attempt with Bill’s disposable cell yielded the same results.

  “I’m going for a landline,” Sean said after an hour of waiting. “Poon, you’re with me. We’ll get a message to your sister. Boogie and Snakeshit, get this place ready. Kid will take overwatch.”

  “How you want it done, boss?” Boogie asked.

  “Take his teeth,” he said, referring to Delker. “Don’t need them getting an ID off dental records. Then get the place ready to burn. They can sift through the ashes.”

  “Roger that,” Boogie said, turning and heading for the office where Delker was strapped down.

  Evening had passed into night by the time Sean and Poon climbed into a Suburban and headed out in search of a landline phone. It was hot and humid, and there were a lot of people still up and moving as they drove closer to D.C.

  Sean had intended to find a payphone, but for something that during his childhood had been on nearly every street corner in America, he came up empty.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” He asked in frustration as they drove past another gas station without one.

  “Everybody’s got cells,” Poon said, looking at a time and temperature display on a bank.

  11:26 PM 93 degrees

  “About fucking time!” Sean said when he spotted a phone bolted to the exterior wall of a liquor store.

  Whipping into the lot, he jumped out and ran to it, snatching the handset off the cradle and lifting it to his ear. There was a dial tone. But, he didn’t have any change. Dashing inside, he slapped a five-dollar bill onto the counter and got change from the bored clerk who either didn’t notice, or didn’t care, about the blood splatters on his shirt.

  Poon was waiting at the phone and fed some of the quarters in before dialing his sister’s cell. He listened for a moment then hung up in frustration. Fear etched his face as he turned to look at Sean.

  “Out of service recording,” he breathed.

  Sean squeezed his shoulder, then put in some more quarters and dialed Anna’s cell. He didn’t have great hopes that it was working, but maybe the outage was limited to the east coast. After several seconds of silence, he received a message that the number was out of service. Slamming the switch with his hand, the phone clanked as it returned his change.

  “Poon, what’s Nitro’s satellite phone number?”

  Poon scrolled through the contacts on his iPhone. He found the right entry and recited it as Sean dialed. This time there was an even longer pause, then a ring. It went on for a long time and Sean was about to give up when Nitro growled a greeting into his ear.

  “Thank God!” Sean exclaimed, relief flooding through him. “Is Anna with you?”

  “Oh, hi boss. Yeah, she’s right here. Hold on.”

  “Sean?”

  “Anna! Did you make it? Are you safe?”

  He had to stop himself from shouting.

  “Yes. We’re here, and everything’s fine. What’s wrong?”

  Sean and Poon both looked up as a light airplane passed overhead, flying way too low, especially this close to the nation’s capital. It was a couple of blocks away, and as they watched, it swooped down and turned to fly over the next row of homes. Its pattern reminded Sean of a crop duster spraying a field.

  “It’s not good,” Sean said. “Your dad was right. Everything he said was right. New York is…”

  A brilliant flash lit the night from the area of downtown D.C. Both Poon and Sean, who were looking in that direction, were immediately blinded, each crying out in pain. Sean dropped the phone, his hands reflexively covering his face.

  “Sean! Sean! What happened? Sean!”

  He could hear Anna’s voice, distant and tinny. Fumbling blindly, he tried desperately to find the phone so he could tell his wife that he loved her. He knew what had just blinded him. Knew it was close and that a wall of nuclear fire was about to engulf him. As his fingers found the braided steel cable and began following it to the handset, he, and everything around him was incinerated.

  14

  I startled awake, my entire body jerking briefly as if I’d been jolted with electricity. It was dark, wherever the hell I was, and a shuffling sound caused my heart rate to shoot up. There was an explosive sneeze from close by, then the noise of a vigorous shake. With a sigh, I relaxed. I knew those sounds. Dog.

  A cold, wet nose wormed its way beneath my hand and I automatically rubbed his head. For several minutes, I was content to lay there and pet him. Probably because th
e brain wasn’t functioning too well at the moment. Continuing to scratch the spot right behind his ear that turned him into a puddle of jelly, I tried to figure out what was going on.

  A fast trip to Mexico to rescue a pilot who was adrift in the Sea of Cortez. Coming back into Arizona and boarding a helicopter for the final few hundred miles back to southern Nevada. I remembered making a side trip to my house on the outskirts of the Phoenix area. Well, what was left of it. It had burned, the rubble collapsing in and making it impossible for me to get to my safe. I had been unable to get any of the photos of Katie that were inside.

  In a way, I suppose that may have been for the best. She was gone. Dead because of the plague the Russians had released upon the world. I knew enough about loss to realize that dwelling on the dead, refusing to let them go, wasn’t healthy. As that thought passed through my mind, I grew angry with myself. What exactly was wrong with hanging on?

  A doorknob rattled, heralding a blinding light that caused me to raise my hand to shield my eyes. Well, eye. For some reason, I couldn’t see anything with my left one. A figure was briefly silhouetted in the opening, then the door closed and blessed darkness returned. For a moment. Then there was a soft click and a dim desk lamp came to life.

  “You’re awake!”

  Rachel leaned over me and placed a cool hand on the side of my face. She was smiling and looked better rested than I’d seen her in quite some time.

  “What happened? Where are we?” I asked, able to lower my hand in the absence of the bright light from the hallway. “What’s wrong with my eye?”

  She removed her hand and sat on the edge of the bed, hip pressed against me. Bed? I looked around, recognizing a medical suite. Dog, on the opposite side of the mattress, rested his chin on the sheets and stared at me.

  “We’re still at Area 51. Do you remember rescuing Igor and the girls? The gunfight with the militia?”

  “I remember a boat,” I said, looking away in thought. “Igor and I shooting at them. It’s all kind of fuzzy. Like a dream.”

  She reached out and brushed her hand across my face again, then leaned close for a better look at my eye.

  “A bullet struck your rifle. Tore it up and blasted shrapnel into you. I pulled thirteen pieces of metal out of your face, neck and shoulder. A large fragment of the round ricocheted and lodged in your head. Close to your eye. Very close.”

  “How close?” I asked, reaching for my face.

  Rachel grabbed my hand, gently placing it onto my chest and keeping hers on top.

  “It was embedded in the upper orbit, just beneath your eyebrow. Nearly tore your eyelid off. When I got to you, it was hanging by a thread.”

  “So my eyelid’s fucked up?” I asked, hoping that was the extent of my injury.

  “It was, and I sewed it back in place. But, there’s a tiny fragment of the bullet that splintered off when it hit bone. It made it inside your skull and came to rest against the optic nerve. Pressing on it, actually. There’s a CT machine in this place, and I got a good look.”

  I heard the words she was saying and didn’t want to process them.

  “What are you trying not to tell me? Can’t you take it out?”

  She shook her head.

  “No. It’s way too deep inside your skull, and this type of surgery would be incredibly delicate. I’m not a surgeon. Certainly not of that caliber. Maybe, if we can get you to Hawaii, there’s one there, but this is far beyond anything I’m capable of.

  “I was hoping that your eye would be OK when you woke up. There’s some swelling, and you still might regain your sight when it goes down.”

  “You don’t sound terribly confident about that,” I said.

  “I’m not. But, it’s possible.”

  “So, I just have to wait? See what happens?”

  She gave me another smile and squeezed my hand.

  “Was that a joke?”

  “What?” I asked.

  “See what happens?”

  I snorted and shook my head. It had just been an expression. Fortunately, Rachel wasn’t going to let me start feeling sorry for myself. Not that I didn’t have plenty of reasons. It would have been easy to go find a bottle and hide in a corner somewhere. And, if it wasn’t for her and Dog, that might be what I’d have done. But it wasn’t what I wanted to do.

  “Hungry?” She asked.

  “Starving,” I said, the mention of food causing my stomach to grumble loudly.

  “Good. You’ve been out for close to two days. You need to get your strength back. Get your ass up, and I’ll find you some clothes.”

  She stood and whipped the heavy sheet off the bed, revealing that I was completely nude. I looked down at my battered body, noting several places that sported fresh stitches.

  “You were a little beat up,” Rachel said, rummaging through a tall cabinet. “Took a while to clean you up and find all the wounds that needed treatment.”

  I swung my feet around and sat on the edge of the bed. Dog grunted his displeasure at having my back turned to him. Nails clicking loudly, he came around and pushed up against my leg for more attention. Rachel handed me a pair of hospital scrubs, leaning in and kissing me gently on the lips.

  “I really wish you’d quit scaring me,” she said. “You’re not bulletproof, you know.”

  After breaking the kiss, she kept her face inches from mine, looking intently at me.

  “I’ll try to remember that,” I said, leaning forward and kissing her.

  We stayed that way for a few seconds, then our lips parted and she stood with a smile on her face. It should have been awkward. Uncomfortable. But, it wasn’t. I started to reach for her hand, but she stepped away and gave me a stern look.

  “Cool your jets, hotrod,” she laughed. “You need food and water. And you really need to brush your teeth before your try that again.”

  With a smile, I worked the scrub pants over my feet and scooted forward to stand so I could pull them up. I swayed dangerously, Rachel grabbing my arm to steady me. The dizziness passed almost immediately, and I tugged the bottoms over my hips. They were a couple of sizes too small and didn’t need to be tied to stay up.

  Rachel looked down at my feet and laughed. The pants were also too short, ending several inches above my ankles. And, the way they fit, they left little about my anatomy to the imagination.

  “Really? You couldn’t find a larger size?”

  “This is it for scrubs,” she said, trying not to keep laughing. “Want me to go find you a clean uniform?”

  I shook my head as I pulled the top on. The fabric brushed across my damaged eye and I hissed when raw pain blossomed in my skull. Getting the shirt over my shoulders, I tugged it down by the hem. It ended a couple of inches above my waistband and hugged me like a speedo.

  Rachel stared for a second, then had to turn away, laughter threatening to double her over. I glared at her and rolled my shoulders forward, trying to stretch the fabric that was binding so tightly. Instead, there was a ripping sound as it tore down the middle of my back.

  For a moment, she paused, staring at me with wide eyes and a huge grin on her face, then she completely lost it. While she tumbled into a chair against the far wall, gales of laughter pouring out of her, I ripped the shirt the rest of the way and tore it free. Tossing it onto the bed, I ignored Rachel and headed for the door.

  “Where are you going looking like that?” She asked, holding her sides and trying to catch her breath.

  “Find a uniform,” I grumbled, trying to suppress a smile.

  “Well, slow down a little,” she said, hurrying to my side and bringing a rifle around to hang in front of her body. “We’ve been encountering the occasional female inside the facility.”

  “Is there a breach?” I asked, forgetting about the pain in my head.

  “Not that anyone can find,” she said. “The best guess is they were trapped in here and are as lost in the maze as we are.”

  I nodded and made a mental note to talk to Johnso
n as soon as I could find him. Ducking into the quartermaster’s area, I grabbed fresh clothing and a hygiene kit, then went into the latrine. Dog followed me, giving the place a thorough inspection while I peered at my battered face in the mirror. Rachel, who had promised to wait in the hall, cracked the door open within ten seconds.

  “OK to come in?” She asked.

  “Why not,” I said. “Don’t think you’ll see anything you didn’t get an eyeful of while you were cleaning me up.”

  She pushed through the door with a smirk and came to stand next to me. Together, we looked at my face in the mirror. Frankly, I was a little shocked. I’ve been in a lot of fights. Kicked some ass, and had mine kicked. But this was about the worst I could ever remember looking.

  The flesh around my left eye was red and swollen. The eyelid was puffy where Rachel had reattached it, and drooped lazily. That whole area of my face was dramatically larger than the right side and made me look like an alien. Well, I was at Area 51. I’d fit right in.

  “I’ve got some painkillers if it’s hurting too bad,” Rachel said, the mirth from earlier completely gone from her voice.

  I shook my head, then regretted the movement as a lance of pain shot through my eye.

  “I’m good,” I said, looking down at the items I’d brought with me.

  It was difficult trying to do things with only one functioning eye. Hardly impossible, but it was going to take some getting used to. And, how was I going to function in combat? I’d lost the peripheral vision for the left half of my body. About the only good news was that I’m right eye dominant, so aiming a weapon shouldn’t be a problem. Hopefully.

  I shaved my face, then Rachel helped with my head. There were too many nicks, bumps, bruises and stitches for me to do it on my own. Brushing my teeth, I shooed her and Dog out, used the facilities and stepped into a steaming shower.

  The water cleared the last of the cobwebs and five minutes later I shut it off and walked around the privacy wall. Not surprisingly, Rachel was seated on a long bench, waiting for me.

  “Really?”

  “Deal with it,” she said, tossing me a clean pair of underwear.