Eden Rising

by Brett Battles

  He pulled the wire cutters from his pocket and sliced down the middle of the tape. Inside the box were four smaller containers that looked identical to the ones full of vaccine he’d stolen. Trying not to get his hopes up, he opened one of the small boxes. It was full of vials containing an orange-tinted liquid. Holding his breath, he pulled one out and looked at the label.

  KV-27a/V/ASH VARIANT

  He opened another of the smaller boxes. It, too, contained the vaccine. All the boxes must’ve contained the vaccine.

  His excitement was momentarily tempered by the thought that maybe the survival station was exactly what it was supposed to be. That maybe anyone coming in would get one of these shots.

  But why would the same people who had brought the plague down on everyone be the ones who started handing out the cure?

  That’s when the likely truth dawned on him. It was horrible. Almost worse than unleashing the disease itself.

  The cure would be handed out, but only to those the Pishon Chem people—whom Leon had referred to as Project Eden—deemed worthy of it.

  Sanjay put the vials away and secured the top of the box. No, he would not allow this Project Eden to make that decision. If someone needed the vaccine, no matter who they were, Sanjay would make sure the person received it.

  __________

  KUSUM CHECKED HER watch again. It was closing in on thirty minutes.

  She stared at the door Sanjay had disappeared behind, willing him to open it and step through. When he finally did, she let out a gasp of surprise.

  Realizing he was having difficulty closing the door because of the box he was carrying, she jumped out of her hiding spot and ran over. As she neared, she realized it wasn’t just one box, but two.

  “Let me,” she whispered, putting her hand on the doorknob.

  With relief, he let go and watched her quietly close the door.

  “Is this all vaccine?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  “This is so much more than before.”

  “This is not even half of it. There are six more boxes.”

  “Six more,” she said. “How can we carry that many?”

  “We cannot, but we can hide what we cannot take with us, and come back for them later. Better in our hands than in theirs, yes?

  Instead of taking the boxes from him, she grabbed his face and kissed him. “You are a surprising man, Sanjay.”

  “Not surprising. What other choice do we have?”

  “That’s exactly what I mean.”

  “Take these,” he said, shoving the boxes toward her. “Carry them over to the hole and come right back.”

  She transported the first two boxes, and then boxes three and four.

  When she returned for the next pair, he said, “I will bring the last two. Take these and the others out of the compound, then start taking them to the building we used before. The sooner we can finish, the better.”

  Kusum nodded. “Do not be long.”

  “I’ll be right behind you.”

  __________

  DETTLING FOUND VAN Assen at the security office near the main gate, monitoring the search efforts. He motioned for him to come outside where they’d have some privacy.

  “Any progress?” he asked, after he’d led his assistant around the side of the building.

  “Unfortunately, no,” van Assen said.

  “What do you think the likelihood is we’ll find any of them?”

  His assistant seemed reluctant to reply, but finally said, “We’ll be lucky if we find one or two. It’s a huge city, and they know it better than us.”

  “I agree,” Dettling admitted. While it would have been nice to find them, the important thing now was the assigning of blame. “I need your help on a delicate matter.”

  Van Assen had proven to be a very trustworthy and competent assistant, who was of a similar mind to Dettling on most matters concerning the Project, so the senior manager had no reservations about filling him in on his plan to placate the principal director.

  “We can do this quietly,” Dettling said when he finished outlining his plan. “The report will go straight to the directorate. No one else here needs to know about any of it.”

  “Of course,” van Assen said. “I’ll handle the staging and the pictures immediately. There are plenty of empty rooms on the basement level. We can say we cornered him in one of them. He then put up a fight and, unfortunately, was killed in the process.”

  Dettling kept his expression blank, but inside he felt relieved. Van Assen understood exactly what he wanted. Everything was going to be just fine.

  “I think, perhaps, it would be good if we continue the search for a few more hours,” van Assen suggested. “The fewer people here at the compound while I take care of this other matter, the better.”

  “Yes, I agree.”

  “Well, then, I suppose I should get to work.”

  __________

  SANJAY ENTERED THE main building and returned to the medical room for the fourth time that evening. As he picked up the last two boxes, his gaze fell on the set of keys he’d put on the counter.

  For a few seconds, he wondered if he should return them to the senior manager’s office, but thought that the missing vaccine would be noticed long before the missing keys, so he left them where they were.

  As he’d done each trip before, he used the wall to help him hold the boxes while he turned the knob, and started to open the door.

  That’s when he heard the footsteps.

  __________

  VAN ASSEN RETURNED to the admin building and made a stop at his office. There, he retrieved a pair of gloves, a camera, and his set of keys. While he could have grabbed the Glock 9mm pistol in his drawer, he knew it would be better if the shots that “brought Weathersbee down” were not from the gun assigned to him.

  The main weapons arsenal was located back in the security building. There was, however, a weapons locker—albeit a less–equipped one—near Mr. Dettling’s office. He headed there next, and was considering which firearm would be best when he heard a door open behind him.

  He turned quickly, a thousand excuses for why he needed to be in the locker running through his head, but no one was in the hallway. As far as he could tell, all the doors were shut.

  But it had definitely been a door. He closed the weapons locker door and tiptoed over to the nearest office. Placing his ear close to the surface, he listened for anyone inside. Not hearing anything, he moved quietly to the next office, but it was more dead air.

  He knew he had heard a door, and it had been in this hallway. Not counting Dettling’s, there was one more office, the conference room, and a few storage rooms. He headed for the office.

  When he reached the door, he stopped and listened again.

  __________

  KUSUM WAS ALMOST caught while transporting the first two boxes to the safety of the building outside the compound.

  She was only a block away from her destination when a car came around a bend. She barely had time to dodge into a narrow gap between two stores.

  The car drove slowly down the road, flashlight beams shining out the open windows onto buildings and parked cars.

  Kusum knelt down, intending to go all the way prone with the boxes beside her when she remembered the distinctive yellow and black tape. If they saw that, they would stop for sure. She snatched up a pile of food wrappers and newspapers and covered the exposed ends of the boxes, hoping that would be enough. Then down she went.

  A few moments later, through the corner of her eye, she saw the wall beside her light up, less than an arm’s length above her head. She tensed, ready to make a run for it if the light dipped any lower, but the car kept moving, and the muted glow of the flashlight beam quickly faded.

  She waited until she couldn’t hear the car anymore, and then jumped to her feet and ran the rest of the way.

  She hid the two boxes in a storeroom of a first-floor shop, concealing them behind a stack of dresses and children’s cl
othes. Then she headed back to the compound to help Sanjay bring the others.

  But when she arrived, Sanjay wasn’t there yet.

  She nearly crawled into the hole, thinking he might need help, but stopped herself.

  He’s being careful, she told herself. He’ll be fine.

  She wasn’t sure if she believed that or not, but she knew if she went back in, there was as much of a chance she’d make things worse than better.

  She grabbed two more boxes and started back for the building.

  He’ll be here when I get back.

  He’ll be here.

  __________

  BOTH THE OFFICE and the conference room were empty. Van Assen even went ahead and checked Dettling’s office. No one there, either.

  So, which door had opened?

  He looked around the hallway again.

  One of the storage rooms? No one should be in any of those, not this late at night, and especially not on a night like they were experiencing. But those were the only places he hadn’t checked.

  There were four of them: the weapons locker he’d been in, a maintenance closet, the medical storage room, and the telecom equipment room. The medical storage room was closest, so he went there first.

  __________

  SANJAY HEARD FOOTSTEPS approaching the storage room. Not knowing if the door had automatically locked when he shut it, he grabbed the knob and held it tight.

  He realized too late that he should have put the boxes down first so he could use both hands, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

  The steps stopped right outside, and then the knob shook, but it didn’t turn. It was locked, he realized with relief. As soon as the other person let go, he did, too, and thought, Go look somewhere else.

  But instead of steps moving away from the door, he heard the rattle of metal, followed by the sound of a key slipping into the lock.

  __________

  VAN ASSEN INSERTED the J key into the doorknob and turned it. As he stepped forward, something grabbed his arm, yanked him inside, and shoved him to the floor.

  As he looked back, he saw the culprit flee the room. But the man wasn’t one of the Project’s people; he was an Indian. And he was carrying two boxes sealed with yellow and black tape.

  Van Assen pushed himself to his feet and rushed over to the back corner where the eight boxes of vaccine had been stored.

  They were gone.

  Every last one of them.

  __________

  SANJAY SPRINTED DOWN the hallway toward the exit, knowing the man he’d thrown to the ground would be after him in seconds. He’d recognized the guy. The man had been one of Dettling’s subordinates, but Sanjay had never known his name.

  Faster! he ordered himself, sure that a hand was about to clamp down on his shoulder.

  He knew he should have dumped the vaccine—it was slowing him down—but the idea of leaving any of it behind was not acceptable to him.

  “Hey! You there! Come back here!” the man yelled behind him.

  Sanjay kept running until he reached the door. As he banged it open and rushed outside, he would have collided with Mr. Dettling if he hadn’t spun at the last second out of the way. While the move saved him from hitting the man, the top box slipped from his grasp and fell on the ground.

  “What the hell? What’s going on?” Dettling said. As Sanjay leaned down and picked up the box, Dettling narrowed his eyes. “Sanjay?”

  “Leave me alone,” Sanjay said as he started to run again. “Leave all of us alone. Haven’t you and your Project Eden friends killed enough?”

  __________

  VAN ASSEN SHOVED the door out of the way. When he exited the building, he was surprised to find Mr. Dettling standing just outside, staring at the receding form of the intruder.

  “He’s got the vaccine!” van Assen yelled.

  Dettling had no reaction.

  “Mr. Dettling, did you hear me? He has the vaccine!”

  “The vaccine?” Dettling said, as if not comprehending the words.

  “Yes! He’s taken all of it!”

  More silence.

  Whatever was wrong with Dettling, van Assen wasn’t about to let it take him down, too.

  Pushing past his boss, he headed after the thief.

  __________

  SANJAY DIDN’T EVEN bother trying to hide. The faster he got out of there, the better chance he had of remaining free.

  He weaved his way through the compound and into the back junk area. When he reached the barrels sitting in front of the hole, he risked a look back. He didn’t see anyone, but knew he couldn’t count on that for long.

  He shoved the first box into the hole as far as it would go, then used the second one to push the first, and then he followed it. The first box cleared the other end, but the second seemed hung up on something. He pulled it back a few centimeters and wiggled it forward, hoping to avoid the obstruction. For a second, it felt like it would get stuck again, then it was free, and…

  …pulled from his grasp.

  As the hole above him cleared, he saw Kusum looking down. “What took you so long?”

  “Go! Run! They are chasing me!”

  Instead of running, though, she grabbed his arm and helped him out.

  “Come on, come on,” he said, grabbing two of the boxes.

  Kusum picked up the other two that were there, and they ran.

  __________

  VAN ASSEN’S ENCOUNTER with Dettling ended up causing him to lose the intruder. He ran in the direction he thought the man had gone, but could not find him. When he ran into the junk area, he noticed that the barrels covering the hole by the wall had been moved.

  Dammit!

  Without hesitating, he dropped into the hole and squirmed under the wall. It was a tight fit, but he was just able to make it. When he climbed out the other side, he whirled around.

  But there was no one there.

  __________

  DETTLING STARED INTO the night.

  Sanjay. My God.

  The last time he’d seen the kid, Sanjay was holding a gun as he forced Dettling and several other managers into a storage room. And now here he’d been again, not only saying words that Dettling had often thought himself, but actually using the name Project Eden. Where could he have heard that?

  Dettling knew he should have been running right behind van Assen, knew they should be doing everything they could to retrieve the vaccine, but the final straw had broken him.

  What have we done?

  He numbly walked into the building and down to his office. From one of the desk drawers he pulled out a bottle of whiskey, intending to drink himself into a stupor. He was halfway through the bottle when he thought about the gun in his other drawer.

  The first shot went wide as his head swayed from the alcohol.

  He was smarter the second time, and had the gun’s barrel firmly planted against the top of his mouth when he pulled the trigger.

  __________

  “I DO NOT see anyone,” Kusum whispered.

  “Neither do I,” Sanjay said.

  They were lying on the roof of the building where the boxes were hidden, scanning the streets between them and the compound.

  “I think we are okay,” he said.

  She slapped his shoulder. “Not okay. Why did you let him see you?”

  “Because I thought it would be more fun that way.”

  She slapped him again.

  “We need to talk about you hitting me so much,” he said.

  “What is there to talk about? If you stop doing stupid things, I will stop hitting you.”

  “And you are the judge of whether the things I do are stupid or not?”

  “Of course.”

  He frowned. “I am not sure I am enjoying marriage so much.”

  “You are enjoying it fine.” She turned on her side. “Now come here and put your arms around me.”

  He snuggled into her. “We really should be going,” he said. “The sooner we can ge
t all the boxes to where the others are, the sooner we can leave the city.”

  “Soon,” she said. “But not yet.”

  24

  WALSENBURG, COLORADO

  5:18 AM MST

  THE VEHICLES HEADING south into New Mexico were lined up in the hotel parking lot, their engines running. Ash, Josie, Brandon, Chloe, Dr. Gardiner, and Ginny stood outside the lobby shaking hands and wishing everyone good luck. Rick was up in his room. According to Ginny, he was sulking about being kidnapped, but wouldn’t fight continuing on with them.

  “Be safe,” Ash said to a couple of the men coming out of the hotel.

  “You guys, too,” one of them said.

  “Take care.”

  “Same for you.”

  Lily Franklin came out. “Wish you guys were coming with us,” she said.

  “I hope you’re bored to death and don’t need to patch anyone up,” Ash said.

  “You and me both.”

  Matt came out with the last two men. “Davis and Sorrento here will be your drivers,” he said.

  The two men didn’t look happy about being left out of the raid, but they nodded to Ash and Chloe.

  “If you guys get going here pretty quick, you might be able to make it all the way to Salt Lake City tonight,” Matt said. “But don’t push it. Stop when you’re getting tired.”

  “We’ll be fine,” Ash said.

  “Anything else you need?”

  Ash shook his head. “Don’t think so.”

  “No,” Chloe said. “Think we’re good.”

  “All right, then. I guess we’ll be off.”

  Before he could turn away, Ash held out his hand. “Good luck.”

  “Thanks, Captain,” Matt said, shaking it. “If we can pull this off, we all might have a chance.”

  “Then I suggest you pull it off.”

  After Matt had climbed into his Humvee, Ash said to Chloe, “You could have loosened up a little. At least said good-bye.”

  “Yeah. I could have.”

  In a mighty roar, the convoy turned onto the road toward the interstate.

  As soon as the last truck disappeared onto the on-ramp, Ash said, “Ginny, get your cousin. It’s time to leave.”

  __________

  ASH ASSIGNED RICK to ride in the snowplow with Davis, which seemed to suit the kid fine. The rest of them piled into the Humvee. For the first time since they’d left the Ranch, Ash took the front passenger seat.