“Am I the last one?” the driver asked.
“Everything else went out last week,” another man said. “According to my supervisor, production is almost complete, and they'll have everything they need by this afternoon.”
“Great,” the driver said. “I’m tired of making this drive every week. Got any idea where they’re moving to?”
“They don’t tell me stuff like that. I just keep my head down and do what I’m told.”
The driver hopped out of the truck and slammed the door before walking off with the other man. Hawk eased himself onto the ground along with Black.
“What is this place?” Black asked in a whisper.
“Let’s find out,” Hawk said.
He noticed most of the employees wore bright-orange vests and hard hats. On a nearby wall, a row of hooks held both items.
“Follow me,” Hawk said.
Hawk and Black rolled out from underneath the truck and scrambled to their feet before hustling over to the wall to get into the facility’s proper attire. Once outfitted, Hawk scanned the area before suggesting their next move.
The cavernous operation consisted of a half dozen steel vats that towered two stories high. Workers scurried up and down the steps and appeared to be checking valve readouts of some sort. Surrounding the open space were offices and labs.
“The U.N. was a trial run,” Hawk said. “They’re still producing a virus here.”
“Or an antidote,” Black offered.
“Either way, if this is what’s been going on, we’ve missed it—and it’s been right under our noses.”
“And they’re about to leave this place,” Black said. “Probably with everything they need.”
“We’re just looking for Walsh, remember?”
Black huffed a laugh through his nose. “That was before we laid eyes on all this. We need to end this now.”
“We need to complete the mission, which is apprehending Walsh.”
“Don’t tell me you would shed a tear if he went up in smoke along with the rest of this plant.”
Hawk shrugged. “Probably not. But Alex is right. I can’t let my personal vendetta get in the way. When we get out of here, if we don’t have Walsh, we’ve failed.”
“I guess that depends on how you look at things,” Black said. “Delaying Obsidian’s production schedule and incinerating this place before they’re through isn’t exactly a failure in my book. We’re supposed to be keeping America safe, aren’t we?”
Hawk glared at Black. “Stick to the plan, okay?”
“The plan needs to change, and I think you know that.”
“I’m not gonna fight you on this,” Hawk said.
“Good because you’d lose anyway.”
Before Hawk could respond, Black darted up a set of nearby stairs and made his way to the second floor. Hawk raced after his partner, catching him on the landing.
“What are you doing?” Hawk asked.
“I’m about to get this party started,” Black said.
“What about Walsh?”
“Have you seen him?”
“I’ve hardly had a chance to look.”
Black scanned the area below, keeping his weapon holstered. “With or without Walsh, this place needs to go up in smoke. You’ve got five minutes, and then it’s Operation Armageddon.”
“Come on, man. Give me more time than that. Besides, you can’t sabotage this place that quickly.”
“Bet me,” Black said before he paused to gaze across the production floor. “Okay, you’ve got ten minutes and then I’m going to light this place up.”
“Ten minutes and not a second earlier,” Hawk said.
Black nodded and followed Hawk down the steps. He watched as his partner dashed off toward a large tank of fuel, where one worker stood with a dispenser in his hand as he pumped gas into a truck.
“We’re all dead,” Hawk mumbled to himself.
He changed his focus toward the rooms encircling the main production area. The most challenging part was discerning which rooms were offices and which were labs. They all seemed roughly the same size, but he quickly noted that the offices were smaller and tighter spaces, while the labs extended deep into the exterior.
Hawk hustled down the steps and began a more in-depth reconnaissance mission, noting which rooms were reserved for management and which ones were designated for Obsidian scientists. While he was casually breezing past several of the rooms, he stopped and froze.
Dr. Becker was inside one of the labs.
Hawk spun around and hustled back to the floor where Black was working to sabotage the vats.
“This just got really tricky,” Hawk said.
“What is it?” Black said, continuing to leak fuel at the bottom of the steel structures.
“Becker’s here.”
“What?”
“Yeah, he’s in a lab upstairs and looks like he’s about to test some patients.”
Black sighed. “You want to bring him back along with Walsh—that is if we can find him?”
“That’s what I’m thinking.”
“Corralling both of them will be tricky considering what kind of hellfire we’re about to unleash on this place.”
“I don’t care,” Hawk said. “He’ll have some answers for us.”
“Okay, we’ll make it work. I’ll give you five minutes to convince Becker to go along with you. Then I’m going to light this place up. Hopefully, the explosion will flush out Walsh if he’s here and I’ll take him down. If we get separated, let’s meet back at the site where we breached the perimeter next to the communications tower.”
“Alex is gonna kill us,” Hawk said.
“Or rescue us,” Black said with a wry grin. “We haven’t escaped this place yet.”
Hawk nodded. “Five minutes.”
“Go.”
Hawk raced up the steps to the second level and returned to the lab where he’d seen Becker. The doctor was preparing some sort of mixture to inject in the patients with an assistant. Against the far wall, five patients sat blindfolded, apparently unwilling to be tested.
Hawk entered the room and locked it behind him.
“Can I help you?” Becker said without looking.
Hawk clicked the safety off his weapon and trained it on Becker. “Doc, I need you to come with me.”
Becker stopped and looked up at Hawk. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m saving these people,” Hawk said. “And I’m taking you hostage.”
The patients started to murmur amongst themselves.
“What’s going on?” one of them asked. A man on the far end of the row removed his blindfold.
“I warned you there would be consequences if you took off your mask,” the assistant said as he drew his weapon. He did hesitate to pull the trigger, hitting the patient in the head. The man crumpled to the ground.
“Anyone else have questions?” the assistant asked.
Hawk wheeled around and put two bullets in the assistant, one in his chest and the other in his head.
Becker shook his head and stamped his foot. “I thought you were one of the good guys.”
“I am,” Hawk said. “That’s why I just shot and killed your murdering assistant.”
Becker picked up his syringe and squeezed it slightly as he watched the liquid drip from the point.
“I’m about to save these people’s lives,” Becker said. “And they don’t even know it yet.”
“No,” Hawk said as he retrained his gun on Becker. “You’re going to let these people go and come with me.”
Becker rolled his eyes. “I don’t think so.” He marched over to the patient next to the dead man slumped on the floor and searched for a vein.
“If you value you your own life, you’ll drop that syringe,” Hawk said.
“If you valued yours, you’d let me inject you with this,” Becker fired back. “You just don’t get it, do you? I’m the one who’s going to save all these people, not you
.”
“I’m not going to warn you again,” Hawk said as he moved closer to Becker. “Drop it.”
Becker glanced back at Hawk. “What are you going to do? Shoot me?”
“If I have to, yes.”
“I thought you were nobler than to shoot an unarmed man.”
“Nobility has nothing to do with it. If you want to keep testing my limits, just make another move.”
Becker ignored Hawk and tapped the forearm of the patient in search of a vein. Hawk fired his gun, sending the patients into a further panic.
“I'm not doing this anymore,” one of the women said before ripping off her mask and lunging toward the door.
Becker reached up and grabbed her, flinging her against her chair. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Yes, she is,” Hawk said as he jammed his gun into Becker’s back. “In fact, you’re all free to go. And I encourage you to run as far as you can away from this place.”
The remaining masked patients almost in unison removed their blindfolds and dashed toward the exit, leaving Hawk alone with Becker. Once the door latched shut, Hawk turned his gaze toward Becker.
“You can’t say that I didn’t warn you,” Hawk said.
“Feel free to warn me all you like, but you are in way over your head here,” Becker said. “If anyone is going to survive the virus that’s about to be unleashed on this planet, it’s going to be because of the brave men and women who donate their bodies to science.”
“How many have survived?” Hawk asked.
“That’s the beside the point.”
“No, that’s exactly the point. If people aren’t surviving, you are failing. And nothing Obsidian wants to do is going to work without making sure that they have an antidote to extort nations and their key influencers to do what’s necessary to help this organization take control.”
“That’s right. And I figured it was better to get on board now before it was too late,” Becker said as he grabbed his shoulder.
“Getting shot is painful,” Hawk said. “But I don’t need to tell you that.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Then drop the syringe and come with me. We can help put an end to these ridiculous notions of Obsidian.”
“They're more powerful than you can even imagine,” Becker said. “I heard they even got to your mother, who was under federal protection.”
Hawk glared at Becker. “Watch it.”
“I’m not as evil as you think, Mr. Hawk. We’re on the same side, you know.”
“And what side is that?”
“The side of humanity.”
Hawk huffed. “If you cared about humanity, you wouldn’t be doing what you’re doing.”
“And what do you think I’m doing? Killing patients for sport?”
“You’re certainly not healing anyone.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Becker said. “We’ve had several cases where people have recovered thanks to the antidote I’m studying.”
“Several cases out of how many trial subjects? Hundreds? Thousands? Millions?”
“Don’t be absurd. Nothing would ever get that far without drawing attention from watchdog groups. No, what we’re doing is so special and so secretive that nobody even knows about it.”
“And you trust the patients who just sprinted out of this room to get away from you?”
“They’re being monitored,” Becker said. “Any sudden change in pulse and we can activate something we planted inside of them, killing them instantly. It’ll look like a heart attack to everyone investigating the death, but I will know the truth—and so do you now.”
“Why tell me all this?” Hawk said. “You’re certainly not endearing yourself to me by pulling back the curtain on your operation.”
“You won’t make it out alive,” Becker said. “That much I know. I figured you ought to know before you die.”
“Doc, I’m the one holding the gun here.”
“But I’m the one holding the syringe,” Becker said.
With that, Becker injected himself in the arm.
“What are you doing?” Hawk asked.
“Saving the world,” Becker snapped. “Just you watch.”
Before either of them could move, an explosion rocked the area downstairs. Hawk rushed over to the window and watched as the production portion of the hideout began to explode.
Hawk couldn’t do anything but watch as Becker jammed the need into his arm, convulsed, and then shake back and forth on his own. The seizure overtook his entire body. He thrashed all around before falling to the ground in a heap of exhaustion.
“Okay, that’s enough theatrics,” Hawk said as he looked at Becker, who had progressed to writhing on the floor.
Becker spewed bile out of his mouth. He was still alive but barely hanging on.
Hawk cursed as he rushed over to check on Becker. There was a pulse, but not much of one.
“Damn it,” Hawk said as he started to pace around the room. “What a fool.”
The fire outside the door started to rage. Hawk turned and looked at Becker, who was moving toward his dead assistant.
“He can’t help you now,” Hawk said. “He’s dead.”
Becker ignored Hawk and kept inching his way toward the assistant spotting the gun. Without hesitating, Becker picked it up and placed the barrel underneath his chin.
“Don’t do it,” Hawk screamed.
“The pain,” Becker stammered. “I’m dead anyway.”
Becker squeezed the trigger. His body fell limp as he crashed to the floor.
Hawk rushed over to the window as large chunks of the ceiling started to plummet downward. The ground shook as more explosions rocked the mountain. He ran outside, grabbing onto the railing to maintain his balance as he searched for Black.
After a brief scan of the space below, Hawk didn’t see his partner. However, Hawk noticed Mack Walsh.
Stay calm, Hawk.
Hawk’s adrenalin surged, blood rushing to his head as he unleashed a primal scream. He hustled down the stairs and sprinted straight for Walsh. When the two men collided, Hawk sent Walsh flying against the wall. Hawk stumbled but managed to maintain his balance, while Walsh grimaced and shook his head.
“You’re coming with me, you son of a bitch,” Hawk said with a growl.
Walsh narrowed his eyes and glared at Hawk.
“Don’t try anything,” Hawk warned. “I won’t hesitate to take you out right here.”
Another explosion drew their attention away from the conversation as they both watched another vat become engulfed in flames. Hawk was about to make his final appeal to Walsh when Black rushed over to the scene.
“We gotta get out of here, Hawk.”
“Already? I just found Walsh.”
Black looked around. “Where?”
Hawk turned his focus toward the spot where Walsh had just been. “He was right there.”
“In about thirty seconds, it won’t matter who we’ve got because we’ll both be dead if we don’t hurry,” Black said. “Come with me.”
Black ran in the opposite direction of the entrance, instead sprinting away from it.
“What are we doing?” Hawk said. “The gate is that way.”
“Just shut up and run,” Black said. “Trust me.”
A few seconds later, Black flung open a door and barely stopped his momentum in time to avoid plunging headlong off a cliff. Hawk poked his head out and saw that they were standing on a rock that jutted out over a snow-covered ravine. By his best estimate, Hawk figured they were about twenty meters off the ground.
“What do you want to do now?” he asked.
“Jump,” Black said. “It’s our only option.”
“I don’t think so,” Hawk said. “We have no idea what’s underneath all this snow.”
“It’s either that or get consumed in the fire.”
Hawk eyed the craggy rock face nearby to see if he could climb it or maneuver around another way to safety.
“This mountain is going to explode in about ten seconds. We don’t have time to plot our way down. We just have to jump.”
“I know you’re not serious,” Hawk said. “We should just—”
An explosion rattled the floor as it started to split beneath them. Then Black lunged forward, wrapping his arms around Hawk before the two tumbled off the ledge and plummeted toward the snow below.
CHAPTER 19
HAWK BRACED FOR IMPACT, covering his head and hoping that if he died, his death would be a quick one. He looked at Black, whose eyes were wild with delight. He seemed to enjoy flirting with death.
“Here goes nothing,” Black said with a wink.
Black released his hold on Hawk as the two crashed into the snow. Once Hawk regained his bearings, he could tell he fell feet first and only needed to climb up a few feet to reach the surface.
“Black? You there?”
“Alive and kickin’,” Black answered. “But we can’t afford to stay here for long.”
“Why’s that?”
“Look at the mountainside. These are prime conditions for an avalanche. Fresh loose snow, warming weather, and a seismic event.”
“What’s happening out there?” Hawk asked as he worked his way up and out of the snow.
“That explosion is acting like a seismic event. It can easily shake loose an avalanche.”
A few seconds later, Hawk reached the surface first. He took a deep breath, inhaling a lungful of mountain air tinged with smoke. Black's head popped up out of the snow next.
“Ready to run?” Black asked as he wriggled out of the shallow cave he made for himself when he fell.
“I had Walsh,” Hawk said. “But you screwed it all up when you came over.”
“If I hadn’t interfered, you wouldn’t have him now anyway,” Black said. “You’d be dead right along with him.”
“Until I see his cold dead body, I’m not so sure I’ll believe that he’s dead.”
“Don’t be so stubborn,” Black said. “It’s highly improbable he could’ve survived that explosion. Speaking of which, we need to move.”
Hawk stood and started to follow Black through the snow.
“Pick it up,” Black said.
Hawk started to run but stopped suddenly when he heard Alex’s voice crackling over his earpiece.
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