The Devil's Vial

by Brumbaugh,Byron

  “Emily, is he okay?” asked Alex.

  “No. He’s dead,” said Emily blankly.

  “Come here and watch this guy,” said Alex. “Let me check him out.”

  Emily picked up the gun Doug held and put it in her belt. She paused, then stood beside Alex, her gun pointing at the guard. She said nothing.

  Alex took the pocket knife and cut through Emily’s bonds, careful not to disturb her aim. He handed her the knife and she held it out so Alex could cut his bounds without her looking. Her eyes were fixed on the guard.

  Alex moved over to where Doug lay. He ripped open Doug’s shirt - his chest was covered in blood. Some blood still oozed out of a small hole. The floor was a sticky mass of sweet-smelling red goop. Alex reached over to Doug’s carotid artery, then dropped his hands to his knees and sighed. “He’s gone,” he said, as he pushed himself up to his feet.

  The guard looked Emily in the eye. “This changes nothing, you know,” he said. “Others will be coming soon. There’s no way you can get out.”

  “Shut the fuck up!” said Emily. She was breathing heavily, struggling to keep it together.

  “There is a way,” said Richard. He bent down to Todd’s body, felt around his neck and pulled off a key held on a chain. “Alex, go over to Martin. He should be wearing a key, too. We’ll need them both.”

  For a moment, Alex stood without moving. Then understanding took him and he moved over to where Martin lay. Buddy moved over to the body and sniffed uncertainly. He seemed calm and a little puzzled. He ignored Alex’s approach.

  Alex felt around in the bloody mess at Martin’s neck until he felt a chain. Pulling sharply on it until it broke, he held up the chain which bore a key like the one Richard had. “Got it,” he said.

  “Hey!” said the guard. His eyes were wide. “What’re you guys going to do?”

  “End this,” said Richard.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Blood dripping from his hands, Alex looked up at the guard, then turned his attention back to Martin. He wiped his hands on Martin’s pants and briefly searched his pockets. Pulling out some wire-ties, Alex went over to the guard and bound his wrists together. All the while, Buddy stood next to Martin, panting softly.

  “You guys aren’t going to set off the failsafe, are you? ‘Cause if you do, it’ll kill us all!” said the guard.

  “What do you mean?” asked Richard.

  The guard stared back at Richard as if uncertain of just what he should say.

  Alex went over to Richard, then Oscar, and cut their bonds. Was this possible? Had this really happened? Would they actually be able to turn this around? “Oscar, can you bring up surveillance video and see what’s happening outside?” he asked.

  Hands now unbound, Oscar’s fingers raced over the keyboard and images and text flew across the screens in front of him. “Give me a minute and I can,” he said.

  Alex scanned the room around him. Todd’s body sat up against the far wall, his head fallen against his chest. Doug lay on his side in front of him, the guard was against the wall to Alex's left. There was a lot of blood. Red footsteps crossed the floor and there were crimson wheel tracks leading from Martin’s body, which was near to the center of the room, to the computer where Oscar now sat. The guard scooted along the wall toward the door, trying, apparently, to get away from an expanding puddle of blood centered on Todd and Doug.

  Alex looked down at the key in his hand. He was going to have to clean it up a little before it could be used. Searching around, he spotted a cup of coffee next to Oscar. He dropped the key in and swished it around. “So, where do the keys go?” he asked Richard.

  Richard nodded toward the console. “One goes in the lock over there, the other over here by me. They have to be turned at the same time for the bomb to be actuated.”

  “Hey, let me out of here,” said the guard. “I don’t want to die.”

  “This will only take two of us,” Alex said. “Emily, take the guard and Buddy and wheel Oscar outside.”

  “You do know that as soon as you turn those keys, the place will be locked down and nobody will be able to get in or out, don’t you?” said the guard. He was now next to the door.

  Oscar, staring at the computer screens, said, “I’m not going anywhere. I’m busy. Here’s the video now.”

  Emily turned toward Alex. “I‘m not going anywhere without you guys - “

  Alex heard a swoosh of air and turned in the direction of the guard. The guard was on his feet, lurching through the now open door. Emily brought her pistol up quickly. Alex reached out and put a hand on hers. “Let him go,” he said. “Just follow him and make sure he goes up the elevator and doesn’t hang around to give us trouble.” Emily nodded and rushed out the door in pursuit.

  “We seem to be alone in here,” said Oscar, as he searched over the monitors. “I’ve got the cameras up and there’s no one else around.”

  Alex put a friendly grip on Richard's shoulder. “Let’s wait for Emily to come back, then we do this thing. Help me get Martin off to the side. I hate stepping over the son-of-a-bitch every time I cross the floor.” He commanded Buddy to go over by the wall, out of the blood. The dog obeyed as if nothing happened since he left his home in Georgetown. Dogs are weird. Alex was grateful. But he was not yet sure if he would lose a hand if he tried to pet him. Buddy sure did some damage to Martin.

  Richard nodded and helped Alex pull Martin out of the way.

  Emily returned. “I followed him to the elevator. He seemed to go up. Can you tell where he is?” she asked Oscar.

  “Yup. It looks like he’s going all the way to the surface,” said Oscar.

  Emily walked over to where Doug lay and stared down at him. She knelt down, rolled Doug over onto his back, picked up his hands and placed them across his chest. Pausing for a moment, she stood with a deep sigh.

  “Emily, you need to go too,” said Alex. “Take Oscar and Buddy with you.”

  Emily glared at Alex, but said nothing. She turned to Oscar. “Anything happening up topside?”

  “It seems our friend is outside and is trying to raise an alarm,” said Oscar.

  “I guess we need to do this soon,” said Richard. He was shaking the key as if hefting its weight.

  “Wait a minute,” said Oscar, intent on what was happening on the computer screens. “From what I can gather here, once those keys are turned, the doors are locked and can’t be opened from either side. Five minutes later… Poof!” His fingers continued to fly over the keyboard. The computer screens were flashing and changing as he worked. “Give me just a couple of minutes to do something…”

  “Emily…” said Alex.

  “Alex, can it!” said Emily. “I’m not leaving, so save your breath.”

  “Uh-oh,” said Oscar.

  All eyes turned toward the monitors. They could see suits rushing in the door to the building above.

  “I can bring the elevator down and hold it here, but that'll only slow them down. “

  “Good idea,” said Alex. “Do it.”

  “Done,” said Oscar. “Now, give me five more minutes and then go.”

  Richard turned to Alex and Emily. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I never meant to get you two into this.”

  “Richard,” said Alex, “you never had any control over what happened. None of this was your doing.”

  “If it hadn’t been for Doug, we’d probably be dead now,” Emily said. “I remember seeing a movie called ‘Khartoum’ a long time ago. In it, a General Gordon allowed himself to be trapped in an Arab insurrection, knowing he would die. He did it because he knew that by dying, he would force the British Government to send troops to Khartoum to help the people there. There is this scene where he’s looking up at a wall full of swords, knives and other weapons. He says something like, ‘Every man has one last final weapon he can use. His life.’” She paused. “If we pull this off, Doug will have used his life to save not only ours, but of billions of people.”

  Alex p
eered up at Richard, who was standing, again contemplating the key in his hand. He seemed resigned. “There is one further weapon,” he said. “Your soul.”

  . . .

  “Okay,” said Oscar. “I‘m ready.” He turned toward the others. “Are we sure this is going to destroy the virus? Are we sure this bomb won‘t just blow it up into the atmosphere?”

  “Todd told me the bomb has a super-high-temperature explosive designed to sterilize the place in an emergency,” said Richard . “Have you noticed how this place is built? It’s like a pressure cooker. It’s encapsulated in thick strong walls. I don’t know if it‘ll survive the blast, but I’m pretty sure it’ll last long enough for the heat produced by the bomb to vaporize everything in it.”

  “But what if it doesn’t work?” asked Alex. “Then we’ve gone through all this, and died, for nothing.”

  “This is what it’s been designed to do,” said Richard. “These people are neither incompetent nor stupid. It’ll work. It has to.”

  Oscar turned back to his screens. “Those guys upstairs are milling around. Let’s do it.”

  Richard studied his key again. “I'm not sure I can do this if it means someone else dies...”

  “It's okay, Richard,” said Emily as she took the key from Richard. “I can.”

  Alex nodded at Emily and the two of them went to their respective locks. They inserted the keys and looked at each other. “On three,” said Alex. “One… two… three.” They both turned their keys.

  “Failsafe initiated. Auto-destruct will occur in four minutes and fifty-nine seconds,” said a mechanical female voice.

  “Uh, couldn’t you have programmed a few more minutes for us?” asked Emily. She took one of Alex’s hands and intertwined her fingers with his.

  “No time,” said Oscar as he pushed himself away from the console. “Give me a hand, will you?”

  Alex glimpsed at Emily, then at Oscar. “To do what?” he asked.

  “To get the hell out of here, of course!” said Oscar.

  “But aren’t we locked in?” asked Emily.

  “I don’t know for sure,” he said. “But I’m not going to give up without trying, are you?”

  “Hell no!” said Emily as she grabbed the grips on Oscar’s wheelchair.

  “Auto-destruct in four minutes, thirty seconds,” said the mechanical voice.

  “What about all those guys outside?” asked Alex. He glanced up at the monitors. They showed people scattering from the building above like ants scurrying from a smoking anthill. “Never mind. Alarms must be going off up there too.” He rushed over to the air lock door and grabbed the latch. Nothing happened.

  “Try entering one, two, three, four,” said Oscar as Emily pushed him toward the door.

  Alex raised his eyebrows in question.

  “I reprogrammed it.”

  Alex punched buttons and there was a reassuring ‘whoosh’ as the door popped ajar. With a light push, it swung the rest of the way open easily. Alex smiled and stepped through, the others close behind. “Buddy, heel,” he called behind him. The dog followed dutifully.

  “Auto-destruct in four minutes.”

  Alex rushed to the large door at the end of the arced hallway. Stopping there, he surveyed the keypad. The massive door was shut tight. Alex reached out and punched in one, two, three, four on the keypad.

  Nothing.

  He turned to Oscar, rolling up behind. “What code do I enter here?”

  “The same,” said Oscar, “one, two, three, four.”

  Alex tried again. Nothing.

  Richard reached past Alex. “Let me try. I watched as Todd opened the door.” He punched in eight numbers: two, eight, four, three, two, eight, four, three.

  Nothing happened.

  “Auto-destruct in three minutes thirty seconds.”

  “Do you still have a gun?” asked Oscar.

  “Yeah…” said Alex.

  “Give it here,” said Oscar.

  “What for?” asked Alex.

  “Alex, trust me,” said Oscar. “Just give me the damn gun. We don’t have much time!”

  Alex hesitated, then handed Oscar the pistol.

  Oscar turned it around, held it by the barrel and raised it over his head.

  “That won’t work, Oscar. Who’d design a lock that would unlatch if you smash it? It might make it impossible to ever get the door open.”

  “Auto-destruct in three minutes.”

  Oscar swung the gun, butt first, into the keypad. Plastic shattered; sparks flew; small flames and smoke spewed forth.

  There was a 'thunk' and the door swung open.

  “That should not have worked,” said Alex. He grunted as he pushed the heavy door out of the way and stepped over the threshold.

  Oscar shrugged as he struggled to stand. “I redesigned it a little. I just wasn’t sure it would work.”

  “Two minutes thirty seconds to auto-destruct.”

  They left the wheelchair behind. It would take too much time to get it through the airlock. If they had to, they would drag Oscar the rest of the way. Alex took one of Oscar’s arms, putting it around his shoulders. Richard took the other, and they moved as quickly as they could toward the elevator. Buddy jumped over the airlock jamb and followed them without any command. He walked next to Alex, panting lightly. Alex hesitated, then reached out with his free hand and patted him on the top of his head. Buddy looked up at Alex appreciatively. Except for the human blood smeared around his mouth and on the bottom parts of his feet, he seemed to be the same dog Alex knew and loved.

  “Emily, close the door as tight as possible,” said Alex. “We need to seal up the lab as best we can.”

  Although Oscar helped as much as he could, stumbling between Alex and Richard, he was heavy and it took some time to get to the elevator. Too much time.

  Emily, having closed the door behind, ran ahead and pushed the call button. She stood in the door, keeping it open, as Alex and Richard carried Oscar into the elevator. Emily pulled Buddy inside by his collar. “Come here, boy,” she said.

  “Two minutes to auto-destruct.”

  “I couldn’t close the airlock completely,” said Emily. “It’ll just have to do.”

  The doors closed and Emily pushed the button for the ground level above and their way out.

  Electric motors whined and the floor of the elevator gave a good jolt. They were moving upwards.

  For the first time, Alex was beginning to feel they were going to make it.

  There was another jolt and the elevator stopped. The light in the car flickered out.

  “What the…” said Alex.

  Oscar turned on a flashlight and moved over to the control panel on his knees. “You still have that knife?” he asked Alex, handing him the light.

  “How’d you get a flashlight?” Alex asked as he gave Oscar the knife and aimed the light for him. Oscar said nothing and ripped the panel cover off and began cutting and reconnecting wires.

  “One minute thirty seconds to auto-destruct.”

  “Come on, come on,” said Emily.

  Oscar worked quickly. Wires stuck out of the small hole like porcupine quills. “I thought they might try something like this,” said Oscar. “I prepared for it.” He grabbed two wires and paused. “This should do it!” he said as he touched them together. Sparks flew and, with a jerk, the elevator began moving upward again.

  “Oscar, you beautiful…” Alex wasn’t sure how he wanted to finish that sentence. He slapped Oscar heartily on the back. The lights remained off.

  “One minute to auto-destruct.”

  They passed floor “C”.

  “Can’t this thing go any faster?” asked Alex. He didn’t remember it taking so long to go up in the elevator before.

  They passed floor “B”.

  “Thirty seconds to auto-destruct.”

  They passed floor “A”.

  “Is there going to be an army up there waiting for us?” asked Alex.

  “I doubt ther
e’s anybody close,” said Emily. “That’s one advantage of cutting it so close.”

  “Twenty seconds to auto-destruct.”

  The elevator again jolted to a stop. What now? thought Alex. But then, blissfully, the doors opened. Buddy bolted out of the elevator as if he too knew what was about to happen. Emily was close behind.

  “Fifteen seconds to auto-destruct. Fourteen, thirteen…” the mechanical voice counted on.

  Alex and Richard grabbed Oscar and dragged him out the door. They were on the loading dock in the garage on the ground floor.

  “Ten, nine…”

  Oscar was really heavy. Emily jumped off the dock. Buddy lay on the ground beneath the ledge with his ears held back. He whined nervously. “Hurry,” Emily said with obvious desperation in her voice. “Get down here under the ledge!”

  Richard jumped off the dock and reached up to help Oscar down the three feet to the ground.

  “Five, four…”

  “Alex, come on!” said Emily.

  Alex held Oscar by his arms, helping to lower him to the ground.

  “Two, one…” Oscar was down.

  Alex was at the ledge. Before he could get over it, he felt a distant thud and the ground convulsed violently, throwing him up into the air.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Alex felt himself pulled forcefully downward - a pair of hands gripped tightly to his shirt. As he fell, his feet hit the edge of the loading dock, forcing them upward. He dove nearly head first, arms outstretched in front of him. There was a violent explosion of white light and the dark garage was brighter than high-noon in the Sahara. An intense dry heat accompanied the light - it flashed on the skin of his downturned face like the blast from a just-opened oven. A grunt burst from beneath him as his chest hit something solid, yet giving. He couldn’t see, except peripherally - the flash of light nearly blinded him. He sensed, more than saw, a large flat object fly violently overhead and crash into a wall beyond. As his legs found the level of the rest of his body, the bright light diminished nearly as quickly as it appeared. But it wasn’t as dark as it had been. Objects in the garage were ablaze all around them. The room cooled, but remained uncomfortably warm. Smoke began filling the air.