The Aegis Solution

by John David Krygelski

  Even as he finished his thought, Elias could see two figures, dimly lit, running toward them from the direction where Faulk had disappeared. He silently raised his hand and pointed. The others looked in that direction and saw what he was seeing. Even more began to round the bend, running.

  "Come on," Sweezea bellowed. "Let's move."

  "Shouldn't we let them in?" The question came from Lisa, who was still held tightly by her husband in the doorway.

  Elias was beginning to answer but Wilson spoke first, his voice urgent. "We can't."

  Matt and Lisa stepped back inside to clear the entrance. Crabill, Leah, Wilson, and Sweezea swiftly followed, with Elias coming in last, taking one more quick look back. He could now see multiple figures. They were close enough that he was able to barely make out shouting from their direction. Even at this distance he could hear desperation in their voices.

  As soon as Elias had cleared the metal door, Sweezea slammed it and called out to him, "We've got no lock! We need something to brace it!" He put his shoulder to the door, trying to hold it closed.

  Whirling around, searching for something useful, Elias barked, "The gang box!" He and Wilson seized the heavy steel box and manhandled it toward the door. "Tip it over! We need it off its wheels!"

  Wilson followed the order and lifted up on his corner while Elias did the same. Sweezea, moving out of the way, almost did not make it as the box fell against the door with a tremendous crash, followed by the clatter of tools tumbling against the lid. Crabill dashed out of the utility room with a hammer and two cold-chisels, and immediately began pounding one of the chisels between the door and the frame, wedging the door tightly shut. He was just about to drive in the second chisel when they heard the sudden banging against the outside of the door, accompanied by frantic shouts and pleas for them to open it.

  Lisa, who had been off to the side, let out a single loud sob, overcome by the harshness of what they were doing. Elias caught Clements' eye and motioned with his head that he should move her back away from the door.

  As Matt gently walked his wife to the far intersection, still littered with the corpses of Faulk's team, Leah joined Elias, who was leaning against the gang box, adding his weight to the barrier. She asked Crabill, "Are the keys to the truck still out there?"

  He answered her as he finished hammering-in the second chisel. "Yes. We left them in the ignition. Why?"

  "Because it isn't going to take those folks long to see that we aren't going to open this door voluntarily. My guess is that they'll try to ram it."

  "Anyone here know how to use a welder?" Elias yelled over the banging and screaming coming through the door.

  "I do," Crabill answered.

  "Put your weight against this. I'll be right back."

  Elias stood up from the gang box and dashed into the utility room. He realized that in the last few minutes, he had forgotten that his last sight of Tillie was of her lying facedown on the floor. He was instantly relieved to see her sitting up, with Sam and Hutson kneeling beside her, Hutson holding a rag to the side of her head.

  Keeping her head still, she turned her eyes to Elias. "What's going on out there?"

  He answered her as he raced past, heading for the last aisle. "Faulk's gone. A crowd has arrived. They want in."

  "We can't let them in?"

  "Wilson doesn't think we can take the chance. They might be infected."

  "Oh, my God."

  He glanced toward her and saw a tragic expression on her face.

  Elias was madly tossing aside ladders, sawhorses, and other building paraphernalia, when he spotted the portable welding rig that he had remembered from his earlier scouting of the room.

  "Mike, give me a hand with this."

  "Yes, sir." Hutson jumped up and grabbed the opposite side of the welder, helping Elias lift it above the jumbled pile of tools on the floor. After they cleared the pile, they set the rig on the floor, and Elias rolled it out to Crabill, who immediately began the task of firing it up.

  "Jay, will this work?"

  "Absolutely. Self-contained rig. Everything I need is right with it."

  The clamor from outside had intensified as Elias again put his back to the gang box and slid down so that he was sitting on the floor against it. Leah was next to him, as was Wilson. The people outside had ceased the disorganized pounding on the door with their fists and were now trying to break it down with coordinated slams. The three pushing against the gang box could feel the jarring vibration from the impacts. Sweezea had dug through the pile of steel they had dragged inside earlier when they were still trying to clear the opening, and found two lengths that suited him. He returned to the exit and tucked one end of a bar against the door so that it was angled against the shattered keypad. He then jammed the other end against the door frame of the utility room, providing an added brace.

  "Clear!" Crabill called out.

  Sweezea crouched in front of Elias and the others, placing his hands on the gang box above their shoulders, and pushing. With his back to Crabill, Elias saw the flickering light of the arc welder casting its harsh white glow down the hallway. It seemed like a constant bolt of lighting, striking behind him. He noticed Clements coming back around the corner toward them, using his hand to shield his eyes from the welding arc, and surmised that he had found a place to leave Lisa.

  Reaching the four of them, Clements knelt down and shouted over the din, "That's a hollow metal frame around that door. I didn't install it, so I can't be sure, but the normal method is that you drill the concrete wall in six spots, sink bolts in the six holes with epoxy, and then fill the cavity with grout. It's pretty strong, but I'm not certain it will withstand being rammed by the truck."

  Elias leaned closer to be heard and raised his voice. "What can we do?"

  "There are four flange-plates exposed on the sides of the opening, two on each side. If Jay welds the frame to those plates, that'll help a lot."

  The intense, flickering light ceased as Crabill was repositioning for the next weld. Elias stood up quickly and tapped him on the shoulder. Jay turned and flipped up the welder's mask he was wearing. Elias could see that he had already placed welds on both sides of the door, welding the door directly to the frame, using small steel shims as bridges to reach across the gap. He passed on Clements' suggestion, shouting over the crashing and banging coming from the outside. Crabill turned and examined the face of the opening in the concrete wall, which was substantially thicker than the door frame, and saw the two upper flange-plates.

  "We'll need to push this gang box out of the way for me to get to the lower ones. We can do that after I finish up top."

  Elias nodded and dropped back into his seated position against the box. One or two minutes passed, with no one attempting to speak above the din, before Crabill indicated he was ready. As a group, they all pushed the gang box to the side, and he immediately began work on the two lower flanges. The almost rhythmic crashing at the door suddenly stopped. There was no more clamor from the other side. For a moment the only sound was from the welding operation, until they heard the unmistakable growl of the truck engine revving up.

  Crabill had finished welding the frame to one of the lower plates and was working on the second when the impact came. The crash was deafening and the door and frame shuddered from the force, but it all held. Unruffled by the violent distractions, he finished the bead on the second plate as they heard the truck back up for another run.

  "Add this!"

  Turning, Crabill saw Clements holding a three-foot-long piece of angled steel he had retrieved from the debris pile. "Weld it to the frame as a cross-brace, like this." He held it up to the door, showing Crabill what he meant. With a downward jerk of his head, Crabill flipped down the mask and touched the welding rod to the steel where it rested against the jamb. Clements and the others shielded their eyes just in time.

  The truck slammed into the door a second time, bulging the metal inward. Elias and Sweezea ran to the pile and scrounged for m
ore steel struts. They returned to the door and dropped them at Crabill's feet. He had finished with the first and selected another, positioning it lower on the door, closer to the height of the bumper on the truck. After welding the left side, he shouted for Sweezea and Elias to push the free end of the strut against the doorjamb. The bulge from the second impact was holding it away from the frame. They both put their weight into it and forced the face of the door back in, allowing the strut to touch the frame. The instant it made contact Crabill welded it, finishing the bead as the truck hit the door for the third time. The frame, the door, and the struts all held.

  The tension having lessened, they worked as a team and added five more struts. The truck battered the door twice more before the driver either gave up or had damaged the truck so badly that it would no longer run.

  Hutson looked at Matt. "You didn't leave the key in the backhoe, did you?"

  Clements reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a single key on a small ring, and answered, "No, I've got it."

  "Good."

  Now that they had done all they could think of to do, Elias, Crabill, Sweezea, Wilson, and Leah moved back from the former exit, physically distancing themselves from the sporadic pounding and shouts, trying to do the same with their emotions. Tillie, walking somewhat unsteadily and pressing a rag to the side of her head, emerged from the utility room, accompanied by Sam. She made a point of averting her eyes away from the direction of the barricaded exit door and walked to the group. The two of them joined the others as they sat on the floor. No one spoke.

  Soon the banging on the door gradually tapered off, until it stopped completely, as did the shouts from outside.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  The group, less Hutson and Crabill, who had decided to remain behind and keep an eye on the exit, walked slowly through the corridors which had been Kreitzmann's lab. The area was quiet and deserted.

  After their tumultuous episode, Elias' voice sounded unnaturally loud in the silence. "I wonder where they are."

  "Perhaps we should check at Madison," Wilson offered.

  Lisa Clements came to a halt and said, "Do you mind if I ask a question?"

  Wilson came to a stop beside her. "Of course not."

  The rest of the group stopped as well, circling around them.

  "I've been thinking about what you said before, about how all of this could have happened. I know you didn't mention God in your explanation...or theory...or whatever it is, but I believe there is a God, and I can't imagine anyone else able to do what you've described. Do you really think that God would cause that poor girl, Neve Walker, to put a gun to her own head? And do you believe that He would hand the monsters behind this plot a disease which would kill everyone on Earth? Not to mention all of the other horrible parts of the so-called script."

  Wilson looked at her intently for a moment, a gentle smile on his face, before he answered, "I only look at the facts, Lisa. I take them in, and I sort them out until, eventually, I can ascertain a pattern. My theory, as you described it, makes no value judgments. To answer your question in the same vein, and assuming that your belief is valid and there is a God, there are only two logical possibilities. Either all of the participants, including Neve Walker and her father...including the man who concocted the doomsday bug...including Boehn when he ordered the extermination of the residents of ZooCity...and including all of us, are merely actors in a script penned by the hand of God, a cold and pragmatic being who could wipe out essentially all of the people on Earth, if it served His purpose....

  "Or God is a more benevolent being, someone who watched with agony as the cataclysm unfolded and knew that He could, perhaps, intervene this time; but also knew that His actions would only delay the inevitable, that the tendency of man to destroy himself had reached a point of no return. And at some point in the procession of parallel events, He saw an opportunity to salvage a small piece of His creation, an opportunity to throw a group of us a life raft in the form of Aegis."

  Lisa absorbed what Wilson had said before she asked, "Which do you believe?"

  With a subtle shrug, Wilson placed his hand on her shoulder and said, "If there is a God, I much prefer to see Him in the latter role."

  None of the others had anything to add, and they resumed their trek.

  Walking slowly, as if they had all just finished a marathon, the eight of them trudged through the reception area and out into the main Aegis corridor, which was also absent any residents. With Sweezea walking point, carrying his rifle at the ready, they traveled through three connecting hallways without encountering a soul.

  "Madison is around the next corner," Sweezea muttered over his shoulder.

  "I think I heard voices," Tillie remarked with a tinge of relief.

  The rest of them heard the voices, too. It sounded as though a relatively large gathering had assembled ahead. Immediately upon reaching the intersection, Sweezea motioned for the rest of the group to stay back as he edged forward and carefully peeked around. Signaling an "all clear," he lowered his rifle and proceeded, the others close behind.

  Ahead of them lay one of the zig-zag entrance barriers. As they came closer, the voices coming from the other side grew louder. No one was stationed at the barrier, and they passed through the series of switchbacks, still not encountering anyone.

  Emerging from the final corner, Elias, following Sweezea, saw that they were entering a larger open area he had not visited before in his earlier travels. It was almost filled with people, far too many for him to be able to determine a count. They were all facing away from him, looking in the direction of a man on an elevated platform, whom Elias recognized as Milton Pierce. He was obviously in the middle of addressing the crowd when he spotted the six newcomers.

  "Everyone…I see that we have a few new arrivals. If you would bear with me for a moment, I would like to speak with them. Perhaps they can shed some light on what is happening."

  The members of the assemblage began looking over their shoulders and saw Wilson, Elias, and the others, as Pierce came down from the platform and worked his way to the back. Breaking through the last of the crowd, he strode up to them, a nervous smile on his face. "Wilson, it is good to see you and your friends. Rudy Kreitzmann was brought to us earlier for medical care and he has been telling us some very bizarre things. Frankly, I'm not one hundred percent sure he isn't delusional."

  "I don't know for certain what he has told you," Wilson responded, "but I would venture to say that he is not."

  Pierce's brow furrowed with concern. "He was talking about the end of the world."

  Wilson glanced over Pierce's shoulder for a moment before turning back. "We should probably find a quiet place to talk."

  Reading the seriousness of Wilson's face accurately, Pierce turned to the gathering and, in a raised voice, said, "If you could all excuse me, I will be back shortly."

  The people murmured and began breaking into small groups as Pierce led Wilson and the others to a nearby room.

  As soon as they all entered, he closed the door behind them. The room was filled with tables and chairs, arranged cafeteria-style. "Please, everyone, have a seat."

  They did, and Wilson, augmented occasionally by Elias and Tillie, told Pierce everything, including the final standoff at the exit. Elias could not get a good read on the man, who attempted to absorb both the facts and Wilson's theory, and whose face remained impassive throughout the narrative. They finished, and Pierce sat back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. No one spoke, giving him an opportunity to assimilate what they had said.

  After minutes of silence had passed, he looked back down and leaned forward. "Well, it looks as though we have some work to do."

  At that moment, Elias' respect for the man multiplied exponentially.

  As calmly as if he were planning a family vacation, Pierce began, "We have already formed a salvage team to sift through the damage on the roof. We have found a surprising number of intact solar panels, and we have a team of ele
ctricians struggling to segregate them from the debris field and connect them to the grid. The winds are making their work incredibly difficult, not to mention the suddenly cold temperatures."

  He paused for a moment and a slight smile crossed his face. "But now, I do not believe we will be referring to them as the cursed winds any longer."

  "More like blessed winds," acknowledged Matt. "I'm the contractor who built Aegis, by the way. I'd be happy to help with that project."

  "Excellent. We are very happy to have you. To continue, a large contingent of our citizens volunteered to clean up ZooCity. The bodies have all been moved to the nearest atrium in that part of the complex, and we have steadily been performing ceremonial burials."

  "A most onerous task. I'm impressed," Wilson commented.

  Pierce shrugged as if it had been a minor undertaking. "It had to be done. Medically, we are in excellent shape. Our stocks of antibiotics, asthma inhalers, and other medications are high. At Madison, we have encouraged the practice of monthly blood donations for quite some time and have built up an excellent bank. Now that Rudy Kreitzmann's staff have joined us, we have three physicians and two surgeons as a part of our community, as well as a number of researchers with skills and training in the areas of biology and psychology."

  "In the coming days, I suspect that a few trained psychologists will prove to be invaluable."

  "I'm sure you are correct, Wilson. On the subject of supplies…at our current level of population, even with all of today's arrivals, we have enough stored water to last for well over a month. We have turned off the pumps to preserve battery power. But when the solar panels come back on line, maintaining an adequate reserve will be a high priority."

  Tillie's interest was piqued by one of his statements. "Today's arrivals? Did we get a lot of newbies today?"

  "Hundreds. We don't have an accurate count yet, as many of them are still wandering about within Aegis, but we had quite an influx – that is, until the entrance was destroyed."