The Ultimate Choice

by Lisa C Hinsley

  “I need to tell you something.” Maddy checked the hall, maybe to see if they’d been followed. “The mission you’re going on, Dan’s going to ask something of you. You have to do it, there’s no refusing him. Just make sure you get out of the building as quick as you can. It’s very important.”

  Cassie nodded dumbly.

  “You run. Got it?” She went into the kitchen and picked up the bag.

  “What are we doing in the laboratory?” Cassie had to know. “Is it to destroy some of those experimental humans I’ve heard about?” Were the humanoids going to come running after her – did they want to live as much as she did? Would that make it murder, and not a mercy killing? “Tell me!”

  “You’re…” She turned towards a slight sound from outside the room. Maddy clammed up and handed Cassie the backpack. “Good luck.”

  Chapter 16

  “Time to go.” Dan was at the end of the hallway by the exit door.

  Cassie stood at the end, behind all the men, feeling conspicuously like she didn’t belong. Maddy had wanted to tell her what was going on. If only they’d had a few more minutes alone together. At least she knew whatever it was he had her do, she had to run like hell afterwards.

  Dan opened the door, and the men filed out down the stairs. Maddy was right behind her, she brushed Cassie’s arm and gave her a sad smile. A walk down the dark stairs and across the warehouse, and then Cassie was out under the darkening sky. Would she ever see the sun again?

  The laboratory was a long way away. Dan had explained briefly to her they were going to be walking for four hours. They had just enough time to do the deed and get back before the sun rose.

  “But why can we only travel at night?”

  “Because we’re illegals, and we’re more likely to be spotted during the day,” came his curt reply. He was already looking past her. She looked over her shoulder to see John.

  “But how would they know we’re illegals?” Cassie moved her head to catch his eye.

  “Because we’re dressed in black. Obvious, isn’t it?” He tried to push past, but Cassie grabbed his arm.

  “You’re living above a warehouse full of worker clothes. Pick your profession and wear their colours. How would the police know then?”

  “You just don’t – or should I say won’t – understand. We have a look in our eyes the average citizen lost years ago. We hunger for life. We have the energy of people who have goals, missions, and the police would recognise that in an instant. And then we’d be caught, put to death. Don’t you get it? At night at least we have a chance.”

  With that he pushed past her and joined John. The pair walked close together for miles, their heads dipped in close, deep in whispered conversation. Cassie concentrated on keeping up. Liam stayed at the head of the pack. He seemed to be keeping away from her. She couldn’t blame him. For whatever reason, he felt the loss of the three who died the most. Maybe he was an especially sensitive soul. At least he wasn’t back here, near her, with his woeful eyes, making her feel even more like she didn’t belong. Dillon walked a few paces ahead. He checked on her every so often with a quiet, “Wotcha.” And occasionally, “Hurry up short legs.”

  The question of what she was expected to do kept popping up in her mind. Images of creatures, barely human and chasing after them because… why? What was the plan? Did Dan have a bomb? Would he stab the creatures as they slept, slitting their throats one-by-one?

  Cassie shook off the gory images and tried to concentrate on simply putting one foot in front of the other. The back pack was heavy, loaded with supplies. None of the others carried anything other than the clothing on their backs, except for Dan. He had a small bag which as far as she could tell had notes for the night’s raid. If she could get her hands on that, find out just a little of what they would be doing…

  “You alright back there?” Dillon surprised her out of her thoughts.

  “I guess.”

  They walked a little way in silence.

  “Could you tell me what we’re doing tonight?”

  Dillon shook his head, his eyes on Dan. “No can do. The boss would string me up if I breathed a word.”

  “Oh,” Cassie said.

  They walked a little way further.

  “You want me to take a turn with the bag?”

  “Won’t that get you in trouble?” Her shoulders ached, and they still had over an hour to walk.

  “Nah, he can’t rollick me for that.” Dillon reached over and took the bag from her. “Concentrate on keeping up, alright, short stuff?” he said, and gave her a kindly smile.

  Moments later, Dillon sped up and left her alone at the back. Her thoughts returned to the mission, what they were going to do, her part in everything. Did he bring her just to be a carthorse, to carry the provisions? Well Dillon had defused that plan. Dan had frowned at him a little while after she’d handed over the bag. But he didn’t make Dillon give it back. So exactly what was their fearless leader going to expect of her?

  It wasn’t until they were nearly there that she finally lost her temper.

  Cassie increased her pace and caught up to Dan. He’d whispered to the group that they were within a few streets of the laboratory. He’d been consulting the map with every turn they made, and the apprehension was building in her gut until she thought she might actually be sick. How dare he string her along like this? In the dark, alone, with only her imagination for company, thinking up so many worst case scenarios. She might as well turn around and go away. Walk to a place where she might find people who wanted her, ones that would give her just a little bit of respect. Deserved respect some might think, after what’s she’s been through. He had no right.

  She was just behind him when she spoke. “Tell me what is going on or I blow your cover.”

  Dan stopped and started at her, his expression cold. “You’d be dead before you got anywhere.” He flashed the hilt of a dagger hung from his belt.

  “Who says I plan to run anywhere? I’ll scream until you’ve bled me dry.” She put her hands on her hips. “Then I’ll haunt you - watch you from above as the police come and start ‘illegal hunting’.”

  His lips twitched, as if he wanted to say something. Probably not anything nice, Cassie reckoned. His hand was inching towards the blade.

  “Shall I start screaming now?” Cassie opened her mouth in mock, and Dan flung himself at her. They fell to the ground as one. He clamped a hand over her mouth and whispered hoarsely in her ear, “You would ruin everything? You would sentence millions to death simply because you thought you’d been treated unfairly?”

  Cassie shook her head best she could under his weight. Liam and Dillon hovered behind them. John had taken up a position off to the side, watching for police patrols.

  “I’ll explain everything. Just promise not to scream.”

  Cassie nodded.

  Dan released her and sat on the kerb. “We’re going to destroy vials of a virus the government has been developing. We’ve been desperate to find this place and destroy their experiments before they came to anything, but we couldn’t locate it until we had your map. My source has been keeping me informed. Apparently the virus is just about ready for release.”

  Cassie sat beside him. “What does the virus do?”

  “You get cold symptoms – a cough, a fever – within minutes. You’re dead within forty-eight hours, but most die after just twelve hours.”

  “You’re kidding me?” Cassie felt her blood run cold. They were going to destroy something so deadly? And get out alive?

  “Oh, I am very serious.” Dan ran his hands through his hair. “It’s the government’s latest take on population control. They will kill millions with this virus. How do you think they’ll control the spread? They won’t!” He threw his hands in the air.

  “Scary,” Cassie said.

  “It’s not only murder – it’s mass murder on a scale this country has never experienced. Just one thing needs to go wrong with their formulations, just one ti
ny error, and the entire country would be decimated. We’d be thrown back into the dark ages. France would probably invade, if not them, then Germany. Sprechen sie deutsche?”

  “Huh?”

  “My point exactly.”

  “What will we do, then?” Cassie was getting cold. It was the middle of the night, and she didn’t want to be a part of any rebel group. She wanted to turn time back to a year ago, and tell Pete to stuff it.

  “We split into two groups – Liam and Dillon, you and me. John stays outside as lookout. When he sees us at the door he makes a pigeon call to let us know it’s safe to come out. If there’s silence, we need to find a different route out. We destroy one laboratory, Liam and Dillon the other. In five hours we’ll be back at the safe house, tucking into our beds, victorious.”

  “Why don’t I act as look out? I wouldn’t know what to do in the lab.” Cassie rung her hands. She should run. Thirty seconds, and she’d be away down the next street. Thirty seconds wasn’t very long.

  “None of us know what to do. Do you think any of us have destroyed a laboratory before?” Dan stood and offered her a hand up.

  Cassie glanced behind him and into the dark street beyond. She wouldn’t make it. He’d catch up to her in moments. Leave her dead on the street in the time it took to run his blade across her neck. At least they weren’t murdering experimental humans. And smashing up a room wouldn’t take much effort. Cassie took his hand and followed them the last few yards up to the laboratory. She would escape afterwards, she vowed. And she was only helping them destroy the virus because she didn’t think she could live with herself if the government really did wipe out millions of people.

  Then she would run.

  Chapter 17

  Dan dug out his notebook from his bag and flicked through until he found the code to the entrance. He tapped numbers into a little keypad tucked away to the side of the door. Cassie had never seen anything like it. Something clicked inside the handle, and Dan pushed the door until it swung open.

  Four of them entered. John was already secreted within the deep shadows on the other side of the street. Cassie took one last look at the outside before the door closed. She turned around to find they were in a long white corridor. They walked together until they came across an intersecting corridor. Dillon and Liam split off in the direction of the manufacturing room. Cassie watched them go, silently hoping nothing would go wrong. Butterflies were growing in her stomach. What if something did go wrong? What if she got the virus on her and unwittingly infected everyone else?

  Georgie would have done this. She would have been here, playing her part in this insane mission. Cassie was only there as a replacement, Dillon had told her at some point during their march here. A thought suddenly struck her. What if the government unleashed this on the part of London her parents lived? What if Jack caught it? What about all the people who deserved to live? Maybe Dan was right. They needed to do this, for the people of the United Kingdom, they needed to do this.

  “What do I do?” she whispered.

  Dan turned to her, a slight smile flickering across his face. “Follow my lead. You do this for us, and I’ll see to it you are accepted into the group. No more treating you as an outcast.”

  “You’d do that for me?”

  “Just prove yourself tonight.”

  As you say, m’lord, she thought sarcastically. She wondered how true to his word he would be.

  Dan led her down identical corridors, turning so many times, she wondered if he was taking her in circles, as he had before, when suddenly he stopped by a door. There was another keypad here, like the one to access the building. He opened his notebook and copied the number written there.

  “It’s changed every week. Cross your fingers this still works.” Dan put in the last digit and looked about. “No alarm, that’s a start.” Then the lock released with a soft clunk.

  Cassie rubbed her hands together. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

  “Go in and destroy the lab. I’ll keep lookout. If you hear a banging on the door come running.”

  Cassie stared at him for a moment. “We’re not going in together?”

  “What – you think it takes two people to smash a few things?”

  Cassie shrugged her shoulders. “How would I know anything? You tell me the bare minimum of everything.”

  “This is how we do things here. Need to know basis. And like I said, you do this I will make sure you are welcomed into our group. You’ll have a home.” He patted her on the back. “Maybe we can even go and find your Jack.”

  “My baby? You can do that?” She could have the room she slept in last night. She’d have Jack, forever. Maybe she could be Violet’s surrogate mother. Make up for the fact that she took her parents away. Her head whirled. “I just smash things?”

  “Make sure you get the vials. There’ll be maybe a dozen in a fridge or cabinet somewhere.”

  Cassie nodded. Get her Jack back! Cuddle him, hold him, watch him grow. She took a deep breath and went in.

  Dan closed the door behind her, and for a moment she was plunged into darkness. She felt along the wall and found a switch and all at once the room flooded with light. There were a couple of laptops on a worktop with several white boards covered in notes hung on the wall above. She grabbed a cloth and wiped the boards clean first. No need to leave them the instructions on how to do this again. Mass murder, how dare the government think of doing such a thing? Next were the computers. She lifted up the first and threw it to the floor. There was a giant crash, briefly she wondered if there was security within earshot. Then she grabbed the next one and did the same. One side of the room had a large window. Next to the edge of the frame was a switch, and before she could stop herself, she’d flicked it on. She picked up the clipboard hung next to it, almost dropping it as the light came on in the next room.

  It was a hospital room with a trolley style bed in one corner. In the middle of the floor, a body lay in a crumpled heap.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered. She couldn’t see much, the head was tucked out of view. What had they been doing? Cassie read from the clipboard. There were hourly slots, the last check had been fifteen minutes ago. Dan really did have this all planned out. Or was it merely luck?

  The first entry read: Subject coughing within five minutes of infection. Fever already present. She skipped ahead and read the last record: Fourteen hours since infection. Subject now unresponsive.

  Christ. That person in there had the disease. If they got out, hundreds, perhaps thousands would die within a few days. Cassie cupped her hands against the glass and tried to catch a glimpse of the face. A cough blasted out, like an explosion, and Cassie jumped back. The body straightened a little, and then came more hacking. The face turned towards the window – a woman. Cassie dared to take a step closer.

  “You poor thing. Those bastards infected you,” she said simply.

  The woman must have heard her, as she nodded. The undersides of her eyes were dark, as if bruised, and her glands were swollen giving her the appearance of a thick neck. “You’re not one of them,” the woman said. Her voice was croaky, barely audible.

  Cassie shook her head. “What’s your name,” she asked softly.

  “Jessica.” The woman tried to stand, but it was too much for her. She collapsed onto all fours, coughing violently. “Can you kill me?” she said as the spasms died away.

  “I don’t think so.” Cassie put her hand on the glass. “I’m so sorry. I’ve come to destroy the virus stored here.” Maybe this would be better than nothing.

  The other woman nodded then retched. Red came out, bloody vomit that splashed up one wall and puddled on the tiles. This was not the nice illness and death Dan had described. This was not dying with a cough and fever.

  “Do it. So no one else dies like me.” Red tears fell down her cheeks. “It hurts so much.” She grabbed her stomach and heaved a second time.

  “I’m so sorry.” She should do something, help Jessica somehow.<
br />
  “Stop watching me and hurry, they come every hour to check on me. You haven’t long.” The woman collapsed back in the middle of the room.

  Cassie backed up a step. This is what she had come to do. Dan had been right all along. She needed to learn to trust him, realise that he did know best.

  At the far end of the room was a fridge with a glass door. Inside were two racks filled with small glass vials. This must be it. She checked the cabinet below and found some latex gloves. Seemed like a good idea. She didn’t want to die, not now when there was a possibility she’d get Jack back. A big possibility. If these guys could break into a government lab, they could steal her baby away from her parents. Coughs erupted from the other room. She didn’t want to die like that. Cassie snapped on the gloves and opened the fridge.

  “Dan,” she called over her shoulder. She picked up the tray and backed away from the fridge. “Dan, open the door.”

  Nothing.

  Cassie put the vials down gently on the worktop and ran to the door. She tried the handle, but the door was locked. “Dan, open up!” she yelled, banging on the door. “Get me out of here!”

  Still only silence from the other side.

  There was a throaty laugh. “Been double crossed?” Jessica was by the window, propped up against the glass.

  “No.” Cassie banged on the door again.

  “Smash them anyway. Die like me, but with the honour of knowing you’ll be the last.”

  “But they’ll just make more.”

  “Takes them months and months. I heard them talking. It’s a very complicated process, and most batches fail.” She paused to hack, her face turning bright red as she struggled to breathe. Finally the coughing died down. She collapsed against the glass while Cassie looked on in morbid fascination. Then Jessica said, “They might not try again.”

  “I have a son. I need to be there for him.”

  “You too? This was my suicide option. Nice, eh?” Jessica looked like she might throw up for a moment. Then she said, “Bastards.”