The hall was just as Xin had described it; huge and largely empty with glistening white marble flooding out beneath their feet. The walls were also white, with wooden panelling around the bottom. From the lofty ceiling hung a monstrously sized chandelier, dripping with crystals and golden chain. The towering columns that stretched the length of the hall merely served to make the space seem even larger.
A couple of things were different, however. There were the stacks of chairs piled neatly at the back of the hall and a plinth at the front. Frank considered that he felt sorry for anyone who had the job of laying them out in a space of this size. There were also flags hanging limply in the stale air, protruding from high up the walls. The famous stars and stripes were most prominent amongst the others, most of which were unrecognisable.
Xin was the first to take a step towards the metal plate in the centre of the hall. Rebel stood around looking bored, but the others were taking in everything before them with deep anticipation.
Pete joined Xin by the disk, eager to inspect the embossed steel. She walked around it, hesitant to step on it after the fall she had experienced in her vision. Pete crouched down to trace his hand over the lettering around its edge. ‘In God we trust.’
Andy, Lucy, Frank and Rebel made their way over to join them, each wondering what was meant to happen next.
“There must be a way through it,” Xin marvelled. “...A button or a switch perhaps?”
“Can’t we just lift it out?” Frank asked.
“I doubt it. There are no ridges or grips that we could pry at, even with a crowbar,” Pete said contemplatively. “Not to mention how heavy it would be.”
“Rebel, did you say this one is the only one with an eye like that?” Andy asked, turning to question the girl.
She met his eyes but quickly turned them to the plate that the others were scrutinising. “Sure,” She said. “All the others are just a part of the design.”
“So maybe it’s something to do with that?” Andy speculated.
“Let me have a look,” Lucy requested. Xin stepped aside to let her kneel beside the oddity. Lucy touched and probed the shining red fleck and nothing happened. “Well it isn’t a button.”
“If it were, it might have been a bit of a giveaway when someone stepped on it,” Rebel rolled her eyes.
Lucy ignored her and carried on with her inspection. It struck her that the gem was the only part that was noticeably protuberant. This time she gripped it between her fingers and pulled. To her amazement, it rose upwards with her hand. The red gem was at the tip of a metal pole, which extended when she pulled on it.
“What the...?” Frank floundered.
Once the pole had extended to somewhere around waist height, there was a click. The shaft locked into place and wouldn’t extend anymore but neither did it retract.
“What now?” Xin asked her. The question was seemingly answered, by a series of clunking noises. The disk shifted slightly and Lucy leapt quickly off of it. The pole disappeared back into the metal and with another click, the plate began to rise. It seemed that the disk was actually the top of some sort of tube. The higher it climbed the more obvious it became that a doorway was appearing in front of them.
Once it had drawn to a halt, they marvelled at its full height. The gap in the metal appeared to be an entrance of sorts. Dark as it was inside, it was impossible to see where it led.
“Can I borrow your torch, Xin?” Lucy asked. Xin nodded and removed it from her belt. With the beam of light aimed carefully into dark space, understanding came.
“Huh, there’s a stairway,” She told the others, ducking cautiously into the shadowy tube. She heard behind her the rustling sounds of zippers and clinking of metal, turning back she saw Pete retrieving a larger floodlight torch from a bag.
“Here,” He offered it to her. She took it gratefully and returned the flashlight to Xin.
“Can you see anything down there?” Rebel piped up nervously.
“Not really,” Lucy turned back. “Should I go first?”
“No, I will,” Pete said, taking the torch back from her. Lucy stepped aside and allowed him to lead their descent down into the unknown.
The spiralling staircase was tight but mercifully short. When the last of them had reached the bottom, they found themselves at the end of a long corridor. The light that Pete carried was enough to see by, but it didn’t stretch to the end of it. This did little to calm the anxieties that were rattling inside of them all. Pete looked around at their faces for approval before continuing onwards.
The corridor was panelled with the kind of wood that could conceal many a secret door or hidden compartment. Pete wondered if there were any down here, but felt no desire to seek them out. Instead, the group trudged onwards, through the darkness, wondering how far it could go before they would reach its end.
Minutes passed before the torchlight found a break in the monotony. A door loomed before them, the kind with a push bar to open it. When Pete reached it, he seemed hesitant to press down and swing it open. He took a moment and then did so regardless.
Beyond the door, the atmosphere was different. It felt warmer and stuffier, as though they were heading underground. The floor sloped downwards, smooth tile replaced by simple concrete. The walls were much plainer too and set further apart. A handrail ran along either side and emergency lights were set into the walls beneath them, close to the ground so as to light the way. They flickered on as they passed through the door, a cause of surprise for everyone. Still, nobody spoke. It didn’t feel like the right time for chatter. Everyone was awaiting their destination with baited breath. Their ears straining for sounds that would indicate where there were going and if danger awaited.
The steady decline seemed to take them deep underground. Here and there it twisted and turned. After a while the affect was disorienting.
“How far do you think we’ve come?” Frank asked, breaking the silence. “It feels like we’ve been walking forever.”
“I think we’ve come far enough that we’re no longer beneath The Pentagon,” Andy said.
“I can’t tell for sure but I don’t think we are either,” Pete agreed. “I have no idea what we could find that would be this far underground.”
“What if this is it?” Frank wondered. “Maybe this is the escape.”
“That would be seriously disappointing,” Andy frowned. “Unless it takes us to an underground city, or something like that.”
Frank snorted, “I highly doubt it.”
“Alright, if you think this is the escape, where do you think it’s taking us?”
“Probably just to some kind of fallout shelter,” Frank shrugged.
“Guys,” Xin interrupted. “Look...”
The ground was levelling out up ahead. They were coming to an area that was dominated by two huge doors. As Pete lifted the floodlight to illuminate them further, it flickered and went out. He gave it a couple of heavy handed whacks and it flashed on and off as he did so, but it didn’t come back on.
“Damn it,” He sighed.
“Do you want my flashlight?” Xin asked.
“It’s alright, the emergency lights mark the way well enough.” Lucy cut in, “we’re almost there.”
There was another surprise in store for them when arrived in front of the doors. A hissing sound that made them jump, and then the doors sighing open for them.
When the huge doors parted, light blossomed beyond them. Everything ahead of them was bright white and there was a collective gasp when the group took in what they had found.
“Wow,” Rebel breathed. “I wish I’d known this was here.”
Past the doors was a small room. Directly opposite them inside the room was a glass wall and through one glass wall, they could see another. Together they created a small chamber. The chamber housed a panel of controls and a door, and it was all that separated them from their goal. They had travelled miles and miles for what looked like, a strange kind of train. Its body had the appear
ance of a plane without any wings, but a huge fan dominated the front of it. It wasn’t possible to see from where they stood, whether the craft was sitting on a set of tracks or something else entirely.
“It looks like that’s what we came for,” Xin said quietly.
Whilst the others were staring at the strange vehicle, Pete was keen on getting a closer look. The door inside the chamber was on the left, so he ignored the door to his right and focused on the other one.
“How will we know what to do with something like that?” Frank questioned sceptically.
“We’ll figure it out,” Lucy told him.
Pete had wandered over to the door, his hand rested on the handle. When he pushed it open he got the fright of his life.
“STOP! Don’t come any closer!” A voice shouted. That was when he saw the gun pointed at his head. “Put your hands up!”
Pete slowly raised his hands, using his foot to keep the door open a crack. Out of sight in the room behind him, Andy silently swung the machine gun from his shoulder. The others reached for their pistols and handguns.
“I know you’re not alone. I want you to tell them to drop their weapons,” The man told Pete.
“I can’t do that,” Pete replied calmly.
“I’m the United States Defence Secretary; you’ll do as I say!” The man raged, spittle flying from his lips.
Andy chose that moment to appear in the doorway beside Pete. The machine gun levelled at his chest made the secretary visibly recoil.
“We’re not here to hurt anyone,” Andy told him.
“Nobody should be down here. This is a top secret...” He paused, reconsidering what he’d been about to say. “It’s all confidential.” The Secretary’s gun was shaking in his hand now. “How did you...? Why did you...?”
“Why don’t you put the gun down?” Pete suggested calmly.
There was a groan from behind a cabinet across the room, and then coughing. “For God’s sake...” The voice was weak but undoubtedly male. “Lower your weapon.”
The Secretary looked over at someone that the others couldn’t see. “But... Mr President, they’re...”
“Damn it! Put the gun down, that is an order.” There was some noise and movement as he struggled to get up, but then the man appeared. He looked drawn and stressed. Movement seemed to take a lot of energy from him.
The Secretary lowered his gun and Andy did the same, his mouth hanging wide. Pete’s raised hands slowly drooped back to his sides in disbelief.
In the other room, Frank frowned, looking at the girls with confusion. “Did I hear that wrong or did he just say President?”
“That’s what he said,” Lucy confirmed, uncertainly.
“I think you guys should get in here,” Pete called.
41.
‘The President sat and listened to their tales. They said that they wanted to keep it short for him, but I think that they were really just hiding something. Why else would they have thought to travel here, of all places, from Nevada? How did they even make it so far? Most suspiciously, how did they just happen to find the very person we were waiting for? As Secretary of Defence, I know that our secrets are very hard to uncover. Yet somehow, here was a band of misfit survivors who seemed to have figured out much more than they ever should have.’
“Well, it seems then, that I owe you my thanks,” The President concluded. “You brought this young lady safely here and she could well be the one who saves us all.”
Rebels eyebrows shot up on her forehead and her eyes blazed. “Why would I help you? Your government made me what I am, and they did it against my will! This is your fault.”
“Perhaps,” The President said sadly. “My ignorance does not absolve me, but surely you would like it if there was still an inhabitable world left for us?”
“Wait, are you saying that you didn’t know about the tests?” Xin cut in.
“About every piece of research being conducted in my country?” The President spread his hands in a questioning gesture. “How could I possibly?”
Pete and Xin exchanged a look. It reassured her that she wasn’t the only one having difficulty believing his words.
“The first I heard about any of this, they’d already started closing down access into the city,” he continued. “Naturally, I was horrified to learn what had happened.”
“Oh, I bet you were,” Rebel frowned angrily. “Meanwhile, I was being shipped across the country so that they could test on me some more. You’re a liar!” With her last statement, she spat at him. The secretary inhaled sharply, a sound filled with horror.
“How dare you!” He bellowed.
“It’s fine, Sir.” The President waved a hand dismissively. A stringy glob of saliva dribbled down the front of his expensive suit jacket. “I can, of course, understand your anger...”
Andy sensed that Rebel was about to explode with rage. He put a hand on her shoulder but she got up and stormed from the room.
“I don’t want to hear anymore!” Rebel screamed as she left. Andy followed her, thinking on how thus far she was truly living up to her name.
“It’s alright,” he told her, as he shut the door behind them.
“No, it’s not! I’m stuck here now. There isn’t anywhere else for me to go and I’m outnumbered, so I doubt anyone would let me go even if there were! So just take me wherever it is and be done with it already!”
“Easy,” he soothed. “We’re gonna work this out. Nobody’s going to be treating you like a guinea pig anymore. I promise you.”
She looked up, into those eyes that she remembered from just one glance. She scrutinised him for a sign that he was just placating her but didn’t find one. Without her consent, angry tears leaked down her face. This made her even angrier. She couldn’t believe that she was letting him see her this way. She wiped the tears away roughly and shook her head trying to dislodge the emotions that she couldn’t handle right now.
“We need to go back in there and find out what’s going on. Please... I know it’s hard, but try and stay calm.” Rebel snorted and looked at the floor. “Hey, look at me,” Andy said firmly but kindly. When she did, he smiled and said, “We won’t let anything happen to you.”
Rebel nodded sullenly and he held the door for her to re-enter the storeroom.
“We came down here to wait when the last barricade was overrun,” The President was saying. “I deployed all of the men we had, to resolve the situation and take back the area. Coming down here was just a precaution, so that we could leave as soon as possible. I knew that they’d arrived with the patient...”
Rebel took a deep breath, in an effort to maintain her self-control.
“With Rebel, my apologies,” He said. Her face betrayed exactly what he could do with his apologies. “Rebel was supposed to be escorted down here by one of the sergeants.”
Rebel wanted to tell him that they’d all been more preoccupied with the zombies that had been threatening to overrun the place. She wanted to ask why he’d sat around down there long after everyone else had died. If she was so important, then why hadn’t he gone to find her himself? Nonetheless, she maintained her stony silence.
“When nobody arrived, we assumed that something bad must have happened,” The President told them. “But the hyperloop was our only hope, and once it was gone it would be too late for anyone to follow with the young lady.”
Lucy gasped at the word hyperloop, but nobody thought it the right time to ask about it.
“It’s a good job that we had plenty of supplies down here. I told Mr President that we ought to leave anyway,” The Secretary wrinkled his nose. “Those food packets are just awful.”
“Well, it’s lucky that we didn’t,” The president finished and then coughed some more.
“Mr President needs medical attention,” The Secretary informed them. “If we’d left, he could’ve been receiving that right now.”
“Nonsense,” The President said. “It’s just a bug that I picked up. I doubt that the
smoke when they were burning all the bodies helped.”
Again, Xin and Pete shared a look.
“Anyway, let’s not wait around any longer,” The President said to The Secretary. “Now that Miss Rebel is here, we can go.”
“Great,” Frank said. “So, where is it that we’re headed?”
“Oh, my apologies,” The President said sadly. “But I think you misunderstood.”
Frank’s brow furrowed and Lucy looked at The President with confusion.
“He thinks that we won’t be going with them,” Pete said with annoyance.
“Unfortunately, it’s not possible for all of you to come with us.” The President was still adopting a solemn manner and it was beginning to grate on Pete’s last nerve. “Rebel will join us, of course. I’m of a mind to allow Dr Yao to accompany us also.”
“We won’t split up,” Xin protested.
“The hyperloop was not made to carry eight people,” The President said simply.
“Well then, we’re just going to have to make it work,” Frank replied menacingly, adjusting his rifle. “I know that nobody wants to have to resort to violence, but-- And I don’t know about everyone else when I say this-- I know that I will if I have to.”
“You cannot threaten The President in that way!” The Secretary bawled.
“I’ll threaten anyone that wants to leave us behind to die!” Frank finally lost his calm and rounded on The Secretary. “Do you know what we’ve been through to get here? What we’ve lost along the way? ...And all because of people like you, I might add! After all of that, we’re still here to offer our assistance. So you’re going to gratefully accept it, and to hell with the old standards that somehow deem you to be more worthy than us. You can keep your arguments because we’re coming with you, all of us, whether you like it or not. You’re an idiot if you think it’s going to happen any other way.”
There was a desire amongst the group to applaud his little speech, but they managed to contain it. Instead, they nodded or vocalised their agreement.
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