The Ark Series (Book 3): The Ark of Alliance

by Kotrous, Scott

  “John, you’re not fine. You’ll bleed out soon if we don’t stop the bleeding. Maggie’s just passed out and Kristie and the girls are okay, and I already took care of Nate.” Peter reaches over and grabs the medical kit. He pulls out a needle and thread and then grabs the antiseptic and looks at John. “You need to roll onto your stomach so I can stitch up your leg.”

  John twists his head again and looks back and sees both young girls tending to Maggie and Kristie, one taking care of the other. He turns back to Peter, nods his head, and then slowly flips over on his belly and puts his arms under his head. Closing his eyes, he passes out as soon as Peter squirts the antiseptic on the wound.

  Once Peter pours enough fluid on the wound, it reveals what he suspected, a slice in John’s leg about six inches long that has perfectly severed his calf. Unsure of how or even if he should try to stitch the muscle, he decides not to and proceeds to just stitch the skin. It takes him a while because he goes back over it twice; he doesn’t want it to tear if John is forced to put weight on it. Once the cut is fully stitched up, Peter cleans it one more time and then wraps it with a bandage. Once he feels confident in his wrap job, he loosens the belt around John’s leg, but doesn’t take it completely off.

  He then goes over to check on Maggie and Kristie and sees that the girls have cleaned most of the blood off their faces. He smiles at both girls and thanks them for their help and for being so strong for everyone. He reaches back into the med kit and pulls out a stick of smelling salt, then goes over to Maggie and cracks it under her nose.

  Her nose twitches a few times and then she violently wakes up, looking dazed and almost somewhat intoxicated. Once she’s coherent, she quickly backs herself up using her arms and legs to slide on the slick floor but then quickly stops once she hears Peter say it’s okay and that they’re safe behind the doors. She takes a second to fully process her reality and, once she remembers what just happened, the tears begin to well up in her eyes.

  She props herself up on her elbows and then drops her head back and looks toward the sky. She’s able to hold back the oncoming mental and emotional collapse even after she sits up and looks at her uncle and Nate’s lifeless bodies and their bandages, and then looks at the girls. “Are they okay?”

  Peter nods his head. “I think so. I patched their wounds the best I could, but they both lost a lot of blood, and Kristie is in good hands as usual.” He looks at the three of them and then back to Maggie. “We need to get help a—”

  Maggie places her hand on the back of his neck and slowly pulls herself toward him and hugs him. “Thank you, Peter. Thank you so much. You saved our lives, and I will never forget that.” She gets closer and then kisses him on his cheek.

  He instantly lights up like a Christmas tree with a blush that forces Maggie to giggle a little, but with a smile on her face.

  He clenches his jaw and then lowers his head, obviously trying to hide his embarrassment. “I—ah . . . you’re—ah—welcome.”

  She laughs a little again, but while still smiling. She takes his hand with one hand and then covers it with her other, then moves her head in order to gain eye contact but only gets it for a split second. She bobs her head while smiling, “Thank you, Peter. You’re my hero.”

  Their eyes lock and Maggie’s overwhelmed with a feeling of something she hasn’t felt in a very long time . . . if not ever. She has no choice but to break the seemingly endless stare by looking at the door and her smile instantly drops along with her head. She looks up and sees Peter looking at the doors as well and she pats his hand. “They’re in heaven now . . . they’re not in pain anymore.”

  He turns his head and looks at her, looking somewhat surprised by her words. He nods his head and then lowers it to his chest, then pulls his hand back and stands up. “We need to get some help and get John and Nate a blood transfusion.”

  She wipes her eyes and lets out a deep breath before looking at them. “When’s the last time you checked their vitals?” She turns back to Peter. “And how are we gonna move them?”

  He looks at John and Nate and then at Kristie and the two girls. “We gotta wake John using the smelling salts, because he’s the only one who knows the way.” He pulls out a salt stick. “I’ll carry Nate if you think you and the girls can carry the stretcher . . . but someone may have to help your uncle . . . I guess we’ll see.”

  Right as she looks at him and nods, they are suddenly alerted to a sound coming from behind them. Peter instantly moves for his rifle, but just before he goes to pick it up, he hears someone yell,

  “Don’t do it . . . hands up and don’t move.”

  Maggie puts her hand on his arm and looks right at him. “It’s okay. We’re safe now.”

  Peter looks at her and then slowly raises his arms. She does as well, and then Maggie stands up. “We’re friendlies. We’re with John Angelite.”

  A figure moves out from a shadow, followed by two others all holding assault rifles but soon lowering them once they realize there’s no threat. They move closer and Peter and Maggie back away from John so they can check him. One of them checks for a pulse and then grabs him with both hands on his vest, looking like he’s going to flip him over.

  “He’s injured, but just passed out. You may want to be careful flipping him over with a calf injury like that.” Maggie looks at the man with furrowed eyebrows.

  The man takes another look at John and Maggie and then at his men. “Hey, guys, give me a hand turning him over.”

  The two men sling their rifles over their backs and move into position on either side of John’s body. After a three count, they turn him over and he springs to life with a wakeup scream that forces the men to let go at the same time and back away.

  “Ahh—sonnova bitch! . . . well, that fucking hurt!” John continues to writhe in pain.

  Maggie slides over to his side and pulls her hair behind her ear. “Uncle John, it’s Maggie. Are you alright?”

  He squirms on the ground in obvious pain but then stops and looks right at Maggie. “Yes . . . until you turned me on my leg . . . man, that hurt . . . wow!”

  “It wasn’t me!” She looks at the three men standing around trying to look as innocent as possible.

  He looks at Maggie. “Doesn’t matter, I’m just glad you’re alright . . . how is everyone else doing?”

  “They’re okay. And these men are here to help us get everyone some help. Can you stand?”

  John sits up and reaches out both arms. “Just help me up and take care of the injured so we can get the hell outta here.”

  Peter and one of the men slowly help him to his feet, forcing John to grimace in pain with every movement. They both get on either side of him, and John puts his arms around each guy and hops on one foot while the other two guys get Nate, and the three girls take Kristie.

  Along the way, the men tell him that they believe his wife and kids were kidnapped by Adam and his men . . . and John almost loses it. After they calm him down, he proceeds to ask numerous questions, but only a few can be answered for sure, since the men didn’t know much.

  Eventually, they get to medical and drop off Kristie, Nate, and the two girls, while John gets a blood transfusion and some crutches before they continue on to security.

  Chapter 22

  The Major stands in front of the bodies, some together, others in pieces. The amount of blood is astounding, even with how many bodies there are. He stands there with hands on his hips while shaking his head. “How did this happen? How the fuck did this happen?” He looks behind him at the private, who is looking like he just crapped his pants. “Private, how the fuck did this happen . . . I told you to use smoke grenades, not live ones!”

  The private stops staring at the bodies and looks at his commanding officer. “Sir . . . we—ah . . . I was just following your orders . . . you said grenades before rifles.”

  The Major jerks his head back. “I most certainly did not. I said to use smoke grenades before rifles, not frags!”

&nb
sp; “Sir, I specifically remember—”

  The captain cuts him off while looking directly at the Major. “Sir, he’s right. You did give the order for grenades before rifles. It was just a misunderstanding.”

  The Major darts his eyes to his captain. “What are—”

  “A misunderstanding . . . a fucking misunderstanding! Is that what y’all call this?!” Agent Smith turns away from the horror and directs his attention to the Major. “You call this a misunderstanding! You just slaughtered all these people and you chalk it up to a goddamn mistake!”

  “Calm down. It was a simple miscommunication. Happens all the time.” The Major smirks and looks away from Agent Smith and then at his men.

  Agent Smith stands there stunned and in obvious shock. He shakes his head in a hasty manner and starts to walk past them. “I’m done. I didn’t sign up for this. Y’all can go fuck yourselves. I’m out.”

  The Major grabs his arm as he walks by and stops him. “Not so fast, cowboy. You ain’ts goin’ nowhere ’till I gets in ’dis here place,” he says mockingly with a poor southern accent, but then stops. “Now, you can go when I say you can go, and not until I’m in there.” He points to the blast doors.

  Agent Smith turns to the man he came with. “Give ’em the tablet so he can find a way into this place.”

  The man goes to take the tablet out of his bag, but stops when the Major speaks. “Sorry, guys, but you’re not going anywhere.”

  Agent Smith starts to walk again. “Fuck that shit.” Multiple soldiers raise their rifles and point them at the agent, and so he stops and looks at the Major. “You gotta be kiddin’ me, right?”

  The Major walks over to the carnage and stops in the middle of the bloodshed. “Tell me, Agent . . .” He bends down, picks up a head, and holds it up for everyone to see. “How the fuck is this not war?” He looks at the head. “Sure looks like war to me.”

  Agent Smith turns to look at him. “You think you’re at war right now, Major? Is that what you think this is? Fuckin’-H-Christ . . . you’re one f’d up sonovabitch, ain’t ya. Slaughtering a buncha innocent people and callin’ it war doesn’t justify it, no matter how much you think it will.”

  “Oh, shut the fuck up, you downhome country-ass hillbilly; don’t give me some pussy ass comment on how you’re feeling right now, because I don’t have time for your faggot ass to release a little cum from your cock hole. Get back in line and shut your fucking dick hole before I have Private Ass-lick over here shut it for you . . . even with his tiny needle dick.”

  A few of his men laugh for a few seconds, but then stop when they see how intensely pissed off the Major looks.

  He drops the head and then wipes his hands on his pants while walking toward Agent Smith. “Do you know what the penalty for desertion is in the time of war, Agent?” He stops directly in front of him and stares with murderous eyes.

  Agent Smith doesn’t look him in the eye when he chuckles while shaking his head. He scrapes his bottom lip with his upper teeth and then turns his head ever so slightly in his direction. “Fine. I show you a way into this place and my job’s done.” He turns more toward him. “We clear?”

  The Major’s smirk and laugh sounds and looks so chilling it would send chills through even the coldest of hearts, even with the flames burning behind his eyes.

  Agent Smith doesn’t look at the Major when he hands him the tablet and points at something on the screen. “There’s supposedly an evac tunnel with a manual door lock that’s located on the other side of the mountain. Now, it’s never been confirmed, but my inside man reported it a while back. It’s a long shot, but it might just be a way in. So, there. My job’s done.” He shows his palms and then starts to walk away.

  The Major looks over the tablet and then hands it to his captain. “On second thought, looks like we don’t need you after all . . . and you call yourself an Opock.” He pulls out his handgun and shoots both Agent Smith and his man.

  Chapter 23

  Jason and Dave both continue to shovel snow with their makeshift shovels. They both look equally as exhausted with every toss of such heavy snow. They’ve discussed multiple times over the days if they’re even in the right spot since they still haven’t found this so-called hatch that’s supposed to be underneath the more than two stories of snow they’ve already dug down.

  Martin confirms something with Von and then walks over to Jason and Dave. He starts to speak, forcing both guys to stop digging. Then Jason falls to the snow, which triggers a hole to collapse, sending all three men sliding into a hole and slamming up against a metal door.

  Jason waits for the snow to stop falling before speaking. “Well, I’ll be damned. I was starting to think this didn’t actually exist.”

  They squirm around for a bit, trying to get untangled, and eventually manage to all stand up and brush the snow off themselves. Martin goes over to the handle and pulls while telling them that Von has confirmed spotting at least three soldiers just outside the gates.

  Martin’s been saying for the last couple days that he thinks someone is out there, but they haven’t had visual confirmation until now.

  He pulls again on the handle and this time is moves. He yanks on the door and, after a few tries, it finally opens to a gust of air so strong that it makes them take a step back.

  A few lights flicker on at first, but more and more eventually turn on that reveal a long, narrow, circular-shaped corridor that seems to go on forever.

  Martin yells for Von to displace, and shortly after he slides down the snow and lands right on his feet. “It’s not gonna take ’em long to get in those gates once they realize we’re gone. So I say we double-time it.”

  “Copy that. I’ll take point. Von, you’re on cleanup. Let’s move.” Martin enters the tunnel and then takes off, followed by the guys.

  Chapter 24

  John and his group enter the control room and see the entire room scrabbling around in a panic, not noticing any of them enter. He moves to the chair next to the door and Maggie bends down to check his bandages.

  They hear someone call out John’s name from the control room floor, and they see someone walk over, but John can’t tell who it is until he gets close.

  “Terrence . . . nice to see you. How are you?”

  “John . . . it’s so good to see you! Things just haven’t been the same around here without you. How’ve you been?” Terrence shakes his hand when he gets close.

  “Hangin’ in there, buddy; thanks for asking. So, where is everyone? Where are Sonia and Chris and everyone? I figured they’d be up here taking care of damage control.”

  “Well, Chris and Isla and a few others took off after Adam to try and track him for as long as they could. They came back with an update a little while ago, which is how we learned about Kate and the kids, and they said they’ll come back as soon as possible with more updates. And Sonia and a few of her staff went down to central control in an attempt to override the emergency evacuation button that was activated and the panel then destroyed by Adam.” Terrence points behind him. “Everyone else has been scrambling to try and fix the control panel from here . . . but so far without any luck.” He turns back to John. “Other than that, other groups went to try and activate the manual door buttons associated with the corresponding blast door, but only a few have been activated so far.”

  John looks around the room at everyone still in a panic and not paying any attention to much else. He drops his head and shakes it. “How’d this happen? Why would Adam do something like this? And why would he kidnap my family? Someone I trusted like a brother goes and stabs not only me, but this entire community in the back . . . Judas motherfucker.” He bites his lip while shaking his head.

  John doesn’t wait for Maggie to finish before standing up and getting his crutches situated under his armpits. “Alright. Do we know which way Chris and Isla went?”

  Maggie finishes checking his bandages and looks up. “Uncle John, you really need to stay off this leg and rest . .
. but I know that’s not going to happen, so I’m not even sure why I’m saying it.” Her words start to taper off as she finishes.

  John just continues to stare at Terrence.

  Terrence looks at the ground again before speaking. “I’m not sure, John, and . . . I’m really sorry about Kate and the kids, but I’m confident we’ll get them back safely.”

  John starts to move toward the door, but then stops and turns toward Terrence. “I know we will, buddy . . . I know we will.” He again turns to start moving toward the door, when it bursts open.

  Isla runs through the door gasping like she’s out of breath. She stops and looks at John for a second before speaking. “John? Holy crap! Is that really you?!” She walks over, hugs him, and then backs away and lowers her head. “We weren’t sure if we’d ever see you again.” She raises her head ever so slightly. “I’m glad you’re home,” she finishes with a smile.

  “It’s good to be home, but if you can tell me where my family is I’d feel a lot better,” John says.

  Isla instantly lights up. “Chris and I tracked them moving toward the emergency evacuation port on the opposite side of the Ark. He and his men stopped just outside the tunnel leading to the exit and then started setting something up, but we couldn’t determine what it was. Chris is waiting to see if they move again, and he sent me back to tell the others.”

  John looks at Maggie and Peter. “You guys ready to roll? I need my team with me if we’re going to have any chance of getting my family back.” He looks at Terrence. “Is there anyone in here who has weapons training and is able to go with us?”