“Well, yeah. There is that.”
“This doesn’t improve my trust issues with you. You know that, right?”
“Rock. Listen. Who else you got? Bandits? Not much for parlay, those.”
“Even your speech has changed. Why the hell should I trust you now?”
“Fine. Ask me anything. I’ll tell you the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Anything. Go ahead.”
I stared at him for a long moment, weighing whether or not I should just kill him, if only for safety’s sake. I was about to dive into a very dangerous situation in White Sands. If I were wise, I thought, I wouldn’t include a wild card like Kel in the mix. Still, there was something that drew me to him. It irked me to no end. I was walking a fine line, here. On the one hand, he could be exactly who he said he was. On the other hand, he could be some psycho playing a potentially fatal game.
“Siblings?” I asked.
“Nope. Only child.” He cocked his head and added, “You couldn’t tell?” I ignored him.
“So,” I said, needing to know the next answer more than anything else, “what was your plan? Just tag along with me until you got bored? Or, got me killed?”
“The former outcome would be much worse than the latter.”
“You are insane,” I said.
“No,” he replied, glancing down at his feet. His voice took on a sober, hesitant tone as he said, “Just lonely.”
It was the honesty in his voice that tipped the balance. I eased my pistols back in their holsters, observing him for several long moments, attempting to discern his motivations. In this dead world, loneliness was indeed a killer of souls. I admitted to myself that I had felt the same on more than a few occasions, since Uncle D got killed.
My thoughts were in turmoil. On the one hand I wanted to just get rid of him and the uncertainty he represented, and on the other hand, I had the very human need to have someone to talk to. Getting into White Sands was going to be hairy, at best. But, could I trust Kel? I decided to just ask.
“This place we’re going,” I said, “If any people are still there, I don’t think they’ll be all that glad to have visitors. I need to know the truth about the source of the virus. I have to go. You don’t.”
“I’ve got nothing better to do,” he replied. His face was calm, but I could see twinges in his muscles that belied his tone. He was looking forward to this, I thought. I realized that even though his father probably paid little attention to him, he was still Kel’s parent. A boy like Kel would strive to gain his father’s attention, his love. I suspected that finding the guys responsible for his father’s death would mean as much to Kel as it did to me. Maybe.
“That’s my concern,” I said. “I can’t afford to go in there with someone who might have second thoughts. If you’ve got something better to do or, worse, you discover something better to do once we’re in —“
“I promise you this, Rock,” he said, standing up a little straighter, his chin a little higher, “If I go in there, I’ll be there for one reason and one reason only: to back you up. This is your deal. I understand that. But, understand this, I don’t make promises I don’t keep. I swear to you, I won’t leave you hanging. That’s not my style.”
I felt something stir deep in my gut, but pushed it aside. It looked like I just might have a partner in this, after all. I turned and walked toward the car. “Don’t fuck it up,” I said over my shoulder. He caught up to me in a second.
“Not gonna happen.”
CHAPTER 5
I wheeled the Ford back onto Highway 70 just as I caught sight of the military Humvee barreling right for us. I hit the gas and saw Kel fall back into his seat, hand gripping the side door.
“We’ve got company,” I said, before he could ask. The Humvee was faster than I expected and caught up to us within a minute. I made a quick decision and jerked up on the handbrake, locking the back wheels as I spun the wheel. Blue smoke flowed from the rear of the Ford as I released the brake and hit the gas again. The car bounced across the median, turning back the way we came. The driver of the Humvee wasn’t able to turn as quickly, but the high clearance vehicle slewed around and he was soon right behind us again.
“There’s only two of them,” I said.
“You sure?” Kel asked, turning to scope out the pursuing vehicle. “I would ask what the hell they want, but who the fuck cares. Drive, girl. Drive!”
“I have a better idea,” I said, eyes glued to the road ahead.
“Say what?”
“We need to get into the White Sands base, right? We could either sneak in, break in or let them take us in.”
“Are you nuts? Let them capture us? That’s your plan? Mind if I throw up an opposing viewpoint?”
“It’s the fastest way in. But we’re going to have to make it look good.”
“Wait,” he said, “How do we even know these guys are from the lab you’re looking for?”
“Seriously? Where the hell else is there around here that would actually have military personnel still alive? I’ve lived around here my entire life and haven’t seen a military vehicle since the pandemic. My best guess is that they’ve been holed up until now.”
“That is a whole hell of a lot of speculation, Rock.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I know.” I just had a feeling and I’d learned a long time ago to trust my gut. I ran the plan by Kel in just a few sentences. He was silent; his eyes wide, but nodded in acceptance. It would be a dangerous game to play. I prepared myself. What choice did we have? No time like the present. “Hang on,” I said, reaching for the handbrake again.
The Ford’s rear tires screamed for mercy when the axle locked up. I whipped the steering wheel to the left and then steered into the slide. The car rocked to a halt and I stepped out, guns drawn, at very nearly the same moment. Kel rolled out and hit the ground on the opposite side of the Ford.
I expected the windows in the Humvee to be bulletproof, but I was mistaken. It only took three shots to take out the passenger. The driver turned the truck around, the side of the vehicle blocking my view of him, giving me no open target. I heard his side door open, and even though I I knew it was coming the burst of automatic gunfire shook me, as I dove for the pavement. Bullets ripped into the Ford behind me and I hoped Kel had kept his position. I was spread-eagle on the road as the soldier shouted at me.
“Stay where you are! Do not fucking move!” I didn’t. I had let my pistols fall a few feet from my hands and made no attempt to retrieve them. It seemed to take forever for the soldier to make it around the Humvee to me. I heard him kick Wilma and Betty away and felt a twinge of loss. Nevertheless, it was my plan. I had no one to blame but myself.
“Why are you after me?” I asked, using the singular to indicate I was alone.
“Where’s the other one?” he asked, pressing his boot against the back of my neck.
“What other one? It’s just me. You started chasing me. Why?”
“Shut up!” He knelt down and I heard him pull something from his pocket or belt. He grabbed my hands and slid a plastic zip tie around them. Pulling back on the tie to latch it, he lifted me from the pavement. I winced in pain as my shoulders were jerked up and back. I was on my knees when I heard him hiss out, “Shit.”
“Drop the weapon, asshole,” Kel ordered.
Even as the soldier dropped his rifle to the ground and raised his hands, Kel rapped him on the head with the barrel of the Beretta and forced the guy to get down on his knees. The blow wasn’t hard enough to knock him out but certainly enough to convince him we meant business. Kel kicked the rifle away before moving beside me.
Covering the soldier, Kel flicked open a knife with a snap of his wrist and squatted to cut the zip ties from my hands. I stretched my arms and shoulders as I stood up, even though I hadn’t been cuffed for very long, being yanked to my feet with my hands tied meant I couldn’t ease the strain, my left shoulder felt bruised.
I didn’t move to retaliate for the rough treatment; frankly, I was surpri
sed the soldier hadn’t just gunned me down when I shot his partner. That was always the risky part of the plan; we had to assume these guys wanted us alive for some reason. I didn’t want to think about what would have happened if I’d guessed wrong.
“Stay put,” Kel said to the soldier, who had a nametag stitched to his jacket that read Harmon. Kel retrieved the rifle and slung it over his shoulder. He looked at me with a grin. “He’s all yours, ma’am.”
“Whatever,” I said noncommittally. Turning my attention to the soldier, I addressed him with a measured tone. “Harmon, is it?” He just stared off into the distance, anger and embarrassment on his face. We had caught him off-guard and he was obviously not happy about it. “Listen. We don’t want to hurt you. We could have killed you. But we don’t want that, do we? I’m sorry about your partner over there.” I indicated the Humvee.
“Fuck him.” Harmon’s tone was empty, as if he really didn’t care. I wondered if it was something I might be able to use to my advantage.
“That’s cold. What, was he an asshole or something?” I asked.
“He was a total prick. Out-ranked me and never let me forget it. Even in this wasteland of a world, where it really doesn’t fucking matter.” He turned tired eyes to me. “What do you want, anyway?”
“Actually, I was going to ask the same of you. You were the one chasing us, remember?”
“Thyssen wants new test subjects. You were the first people we’d seen in months.”
I held my breath. Thyssen. That was the name. That was who I was after. I spared a glance for Kel, my eyes betraying my excitement. “Who’s this Thyssen? And, what the hell does he want test subjects for?” I asked, although I already had a pretty good idea.
“Dr. Eliot Thyssen. Scientist. Self-proclaimed genius. Always working on some serum that extends life and makes humans more resilient to disease. Always pushing us to find more people to test it on. Blah, blah, blah. Just another REMF.”
“Wait a minute,” Kel said. I could hear it in his voice, the rise of realization. “This Thyssen guy, he’s been doing this research of his since before the pandemic. Hasn’t he?”
“Of course,” Harmon replied. “Why the hell do you think we survived when everyone else is dead?” His eyes darted between Kel and me. “He said that a few would still be out here, alive, strong enough to have fought off the virus. We’ve rounded up a dozen or fifteen since the die-off, but I was surprised to see you two so close to the base. You must have been kids when it hit, huh?” He stared at us. Harmon looked to be in his late forties, so he would have lived through it as an adult.
“You’re an idiot,” Kel said to Harmon. “You haven’t got a fucking clue do you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Thyssen created the pandemic. He destroyed the world. He killed damn near everyone. How can you not get that?” Kel shifted back and forth on the balls of his feet and I saw his finger tighten on the trigger of the Beretta. I leaned in and whispered to him.
“The time will come,” I said. “But not right now. We need this guy to get into the lab. You’ll have your moment. Okay?” I knew how he felt. Thyssen had killed my parents, along with Kel’s father and billions more. Retribution was coming. It was coming hard.
“You’re lucky you’re such an ignorant ass,” Kel stated.
“I swear I didn’t know, man,” Harmon said, hanging his head. “I’ll help you. If you want to take Thyssen out, if that’s what you’re after, I will do what I can. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Kel and I glanced at each other when we realized that Harmon was crying. He really didn’t seem to know that the man who had been ordering him around for the past thirteen years was responsible for the worst genocide in human history. Nevertheless, I would keep an eagle eye on this guy. I trusted no one. Not even Kel, for that matter.
“You really want to help us, Harmon?” I asked. He wiped his eyes and looked up at me. Kel kept the pistol trained on him.
“Absolutely.” His expression changed and I saw the familiar glint of barely contained rage floating across his face. “I lost my wife and daughter to the sickness. I lost everyone. Everyone.” His fists were clenched, now, his jaw set and his teeth grinding together.
“Just get us in to the lab complex. Help us put some payback, some justice, where it belongs.”
“Thyssen.” Harmon said the name through his teeth. It sure sounded like Kel and I had a new ally. There was no mistaking the hatred in Harmon’s voice.
“Harmon,” Kel said, lowering the pistol, “I appreciate your situation. More than you might realize. But, be aware. If you try and fuck with us, I will make certain you die. Painfully. Are we clear?”
“As a bell,” Harmon nodded. I reached out my hand. He took it and stood. Looking back at the Humvee and then back to us, his eyes narrowed and he almost grinned. “What’s the plan?”
CHAPTER 6
Harmon had been more than willing to share the layout of the lab complex with us. There were six levels, the main lab being on the lowermost level. The first level, on the surface, was the garage, and then came the main living level, with a kitchen and entertainment room. Below that were the living quarters for the civilian staff. The military barracks was on the fourth level — there were only three soldiers left, according to Harmon — and the science staff level was above the lab.. The cadre, as Harmon called them, were the small group of scientists who ran the show.
Thyssen was in charge, with Hollister and Cameron next in line. I was not surprised to hear that Thyssen ran the lab with an iron fist. If my father had hated him as much as I remembered, there would have to have been a good reason. It was strange. I was actually looking forward to meeting this Thyssen guy. For a great many reasons. I couldn’t understand how someone could live with themselves, knowing that they were responsible for billions of deaths. It seemed unfathomable to me.
The three of us had cleaned up the Humvee, burying Richards as best we could. The plan was to have Harmon bring us in as prisoners. That would gain us entry and then we were on our own. Harmon would follow ten minutes later, so that we would have back up if we needed it. I was placing a lot of faith in the soldier, but twice since we left the highway, I had caught him wiping tears away. I could only hope he maintained his composure and stuck to the plan. We talked on the way to the lab, which was located within the White Sands Missile Base.
“So,” I said, over the clatter of the Humvee’s diesel. “What did Thyssen tell everyone to keep them in line after the pandemic struck? Why did folks not leave to join their families?”
“Well, the facility was locked down weeks before the pandemic really took hold and wiped everyone out. Looking back, I must have been a true idiot not to see the signs. Thyssen had to have known ahead of time that the pandemic would go widespread. Otherwise, why lock it all down so quickly?”
“You were just following orders,” I said. “Being a good soldier.”
“Being an ignorant fool is more like it.”
“So no one questioned the lockdown?” Kel asked.
“Initially, there were some folks who wanted to leave, to go to their families. We were all afraid, getting the reports and stuff on television and radio. Two people, Franks and Bertram, were phlebotomists. They were the most outspoken about getting out of the lab.”
“What happened?”
“Well, we thought they left. Snuck out somehow. Went AWOL. No one ever knew for certain. They just disappeared one day.” Kel and I exchanged glances at Harmon’s reveal. That didn’t sound foreboding. No, not at all, I thought sarcastically.
“Anyway, Thyssen gathered us all in the living area one day and explained that he had had conference calls with doctors and scientists all over the world and there was no doubt that this super virus was wiping out the human race. He said that he and his team were working on a cure, but it would take time. He needed all of us to help maintain a semblance of order and ensure a future for humanity.” Harmon glanced at me in the r
earview mirror, where Kel and I sat supposedly bound in the cargo area. “Thyssen is one hell of a speaker. He could probably sell ice water to an Eskimo.”
“Nice,” Kel said. “Another Hitler.”
“Who’s that?” I asked. To which I received some shocked looks from both Kel and Harmon. “What? I was only six when it happened. Schooling for me was learning how to survive more than anything else. I take it that it’s some nasty historical person, right?”
“You could say that,” Harmon replied. Then they gave me an unnecessary history lesson. In the end, though, I could see the Hitler reference might be applicable, in a fashion.
We all grew silent as we entered the gates of the missile base. Harmon wove the Humvee through the streets and toward what looked to be a solid concrete wall. Just as we came upon it, the road dipped down into a significant grade and I realized we were about to go underground. Into the lab complex.
Harmon stopped the Humvee and reached out to swipe an access card on a metal pedestal. There was a speaker that crackled into life.
“Access code?” The male voice demanded.
“Seven zulu eight eight two. Staff Sergeant Harmon.”
“Welcome back, Matt,” the voice said. “Any luck?”
“Two. One male, one female. Good shape, too.”
“You guys good?”
“Lost Richards. You gonna let me in or what?” Harmon put enough angst in his voice to sound like he had just lost a good comrade, but I felt that the emotion was coming from a different place entirely.
“Sorry, man. Sure. See you inside.” As the speaker crackled and then went silent, the concrete wall in front of us began to lift and slide into some hidden recess far above us. Harmon idled the Humvee ahead and as we cleared the door, I saw that the concrete had to have been at least two feet thick. In no time, we were sealed inside with whatever our future held.
“Listen,” Harmon said and he pulled the truck into a parking space in the expansive garage area. “The elevator is over in that far corner. Entry code is eight echo seven two foxtrot. Got it?” We both nodded. He paused and turned to look directly at us. “I really don’t believe everyone here is evil and dangerous. Ignorant, like me, maybe. But, try not to hurt anyone unnecessarily, you know?”
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