Silence, followed by a flurry of white noise.
Dom waited with bated breath.
“Anything?” Meredith asked.
“Nothing yet.”
Frank repeated the call. “Fort Detrick, do you copy?”
“Civilian aircraft, we copy. This is Second Lieutenant James Mendelson. You’re not authorized to approach our airspace. I repeat, you are not authorized.”
Dom clicked on the private line to Frank. “Time to play our hand. Let them know what we’ve found.”
“Aye aye, Captain,” Frank said before switching from the private line. “Fort Detrick, we think we’ve found a potential cure to the biological agent causing this mess. Get one of your superiors on the line so we can talk.”
“Civilian aircraft, you do not have permission to enter our airspace,” the man repeated.
“A cure, Mendelson. If you don’t let us land, we can’t help you.”
“Civilian aircraft, you do not—”
Another voice interrupted. “Civilian aircraft, who do you represent?”
Dom clicked on the private line. “Go ahead and tell him, Frank.”
“I’m flying out from the Huntress, a Visby-class corvette anchored near Annapolis. We’re with a private covert contracting agency.”
“And who has contracted you to approach Detrick?”
“No one, sir,” Frank said. “We’re just looking to lend a hand.”
There was a pause and then, “I’m sorry, but you are not authorized to land at this time.”
“Patch me in,” Dom said through the private line.
“You’re good to go, Captain,” Adam said.
“Fort Detrick, this is Dominic Holland, captain of the Huntress. With me is Meredith Webb, representing the Biological and Chemical Warfare Defense division of the Central Intelligence Agency.”
There was a pause before the voice said, “I’m sorry, Captain Holland, but I have to deny your request. We can’t—”
“Who am I speaking to?”
“You’re speaking to Deputy Commander Shepherd, currently acting Commander in place of Colonel Steven White. I’m requesting you turn your aircraft around. We aren’t allowing civilians into the base.”
“I’m not sure you’re understanding, Deputy Commander. My researchers may have found a cure. We’re looking to make sure this cure finds its way into the right hands.”
“I’m sorry, Captain Holland, but there’s no way for me to authorize your landing. For all I know, you’re bullshitting us. Hell, you could be in league with the bastards responsible for this mess. If your bird enters our airspace, we will shoot it down.”
Dom’s pulse quickened as he pictured his daughters, all the people he’d sworn to protect. All of them shot out of the sky before they could reach safety. “Deputy Commander, you are allowing that bird to land. I realize you’re in a desperate situation, but we’re equipped to help. My group specializes in bioweapons. Commander, we’re ready to take down this Amanojaku Project bullshit. Let my chopper land.”
The line was silent for a moment. Dom had played his cards, and it wasn’t a particularly good hand. But now was time to see whether it was enough. “Captain, can you repeat that last part?”
“We’re ready to blow this whole Amanojaku Project to hell.”
“Where did you get that name?”
“I told you, Deputy Commander. We’re covert ops.” He was ready to press his luck a bit more. It was all he had left. “If I’m not mistaken, the Amanojaku Project originated from World War II technology developed by the Japanese that made its home at Fort Detrick for a time.” He let his words sink in for a beat. “I’m going to repeat this once more, Deputy Commander, and I want you to deeply consider how many lives are at stake if you don’t believe me: We may have found a treatment, a cure, something to help people suffering from the results of this weapon. You can put us in cuffs once we touch down if it makes you feel better, but we’re here to help.”
The radio chatter went silent for a moment.
“Captain Holland, your aircraft has permission to land.”
“Roger that, Detrick.” Dom fought to withhold the deep sigh of relief. “Just one more request. We also have a school bus with the rest of my crew. We’re going to need clearance for that, too.”
“I’ll make you a deal, Captain. If you can get your bus to the base, we can let it in. But I can’t make any promises of clearing the contacts outside.”
“Deal, Deputy Commander,” Dom said.
Once the conversation ended, Frank’s voice crackled back over the comm link. “Thanks, Captain. It should be smooth sailing from here.”
“Be safe, and get the bird on the ground,” Dom said.
“They’re in?” Meredith asked. The rest of the Hunters, Joe, Shauna, and Eric were listening in. Even Maggie seemed to perk her ears, her furry head cocked in attention.
Dom turned to address the group. “We’ve got clearance for the chopper.”
The crew cheered and clapped. A brief flutter of hope buoyed Dom’s spirits. Miguel pounded his fist on the seat and then hugged Maggie. The golden retriever’s tail beat the seat next to her. Then the bus jerked hard right. Dom slammed against the window, unprepared for the sudden shift in direction. Meredith offered no explanation as the diesel engine roared.
Dom caught himself and leaned over the seat. “Meredith, you okay?”
The vessels in her neck bulged as she strained to control the wheel. Her brow wrinkled in concentration. Then he saw the swarm of Skulls she’d avoided. Bodies with warped appendages ran at the bus, pure bloodlust radiating from their faces. Their voices called out, signaling that the hunt was on. The hundreds of surging bodies made the smaller group that had been chasing them seem suddenly trivial.
“They came out of nowhere,” Meredith said, her eyes glued straight ahead.
Back in the neighborhood, Dom and his team had been lucky to fend off a good forty or fifty of them. But the sheer mass of Skulls now sprinting after the bus numbered in the hundreds. Bodies swarmed like a tidal wave. They leapt over the wrecked cars and corpses littering the street and pounded along the sidewalk past strewn garbage and the chewed bones of humans unlucky enough to be caught outside.
“Holy shit,” Hector said. “We don’t have enough rounds for that.”
“Can everybody keep their comments to themselves while I concentrate on the goddamned road?” Meredith’s tone was venomous.
Dom didn’t blame her as she wound the clumsy bus between the husks of burned-out cars. The bus jostled when it crunched over a half-eaten carcass. The Skulls chased after them as if each individual were a single cell contributing to a massive creature with an insatiable appetite. Their voices rose up like a choir from hell as Maggie barked back, her tail between her legs.
“I hate to state the obvious, but we need to go faster,” Miguel said.
“Don’t I know it.” Meredith cranked hard on the wheel.
Dom pulled the second grenade from his vest. He steadied himself on the seats as he made his way to the back of the bus. Yanking up the red lever on the rear emergency exit, he pushed open the door. Cool air rushed past him, rustling through his hair as he brought his throwing arm back and held onto a bus seat with the other. He launched the grenade, and it soared over the snarling creatures, landing amid them and lost under their feet.
A second passed before fire and chunks of flesh and asphalt exploded upward. The explosion took out at least a dozen of the monsters, but the resulting void was quickly filled with jostling, rabid Skulls. The creatures seemed not to even notice the flames as the remnants of their clothes burned.
Dom shut the rear door. “Well, anybody else got any bright ideas?”
Joe set down the machine pistol Renee had loaned him. He closed his eyes and crossed himself, mumbling a prayer. Eric and Shauna leaned into each other as if saying a final goodbye.
“Bigger explosives?” Hector offered.
“I’ve still got some C4. Yo
u didn’t use it all back at the house,” Miguel said.
Dom propelled himself back up the aisle. The howls of the encroaching Skulls penetrated the bus, threatening to drown out the words shared among his team. A plan began to coalesce in his mind. “Perfect. Get it ready for me. Meredith, we going near a bridge anytime?”
“Wasn’t planning on it, but I’m up for the detour,” she called back. The bus swung hard to the left as she barreled down another street lined with empty storefronts. “There’s a river that runs through downtown Frederick.”
“I’m familiar,” Dom said. “Quite scenic. Hope the city doesn’t mind if we do some remodeling.”
“I can head that way. It’ll put us en route to Detrick, too.”
“Perfect. Let’s lose these bastards.” With so many threatening to overtake them, Dom found himself no longer caring about whether these Skulls might be saved with Lauren’s cure. Survive now, guilt later.
The bus rumbled down the street, crushing the occasional Skull in its way. Ahead, Dom could see the red-brick buildings of downtown Frederick and the faux antique–styled streetlights lining the riverwalk.
Miguel worked quickly to secure the blasting cap in the C4. Perspiration trickled down his forehead. “How long?”
“Give it five seconds after I toss it.”
Miguel’s eyes widened, but he cut the fuse to Dom’s specifications. He handed the explosive device over. “Don’t kill us, all right?”
After taking the explosive, Dom hobbled to the back of the bus and tore open the emergency door again. He braced himself as the wind hissing over the bus threatened to pull him out and feed him to the voracious crowd following them.
The bus jumped slightly as they hit the bridge. Dom almost lost his grip but braced himself. He ignited the fuse and dropped it out the back. Almost immediately, it disappeared under the swarming Skulls.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
The explosion rocked the bus. A wave of Skulls lifted into the air. Chunks of concrete and twisted metal flew upward as blood and flesh rained down.
An enormous rumble heralded the complete collapse of the bridge. The rear tires of the bus lost their hold as the concrete fell away beneath them, but the engine roared as the bus pushed forward.
They barely made it to the other side. Like lemmings, the Skulls continued their pursuit, straight over the opposite bank and into the river. The ones that survived the blast swam through water now running crimson with blood and clogged with corpses.
But at least the risky move might’ve given them an extra couple minutes or so as the Skulls struggled to swim across the river.
“Oh, shit,” Meredith said.
Ahead of them, another horde of Skulls rushed straight at the bus. So much for an extra minute, Dom thought. Surrounded on both sides by brick buildings several stories high, there was nowhere to turn. Meredith leaned forward in her seat, pressing her foot down on the pedal.
The Skulls charged, their cries and shrieks drowning out the diesel engine as it struggled to keep up with Meredith’s demand.
Dom threw himself in the seat directly behind her. He clenched his rifle hard enough to turn his knuckles white. Like some macabre jousting match, the bus closed in on a Skull leading the pack’s charge. The monster bellowed as it threw itself at the bus’s cracked windshield, straight at Meredith.
-35-
Kara held her sister's hand as the AW109 lowered to the tarmac behind the tall fences surrounding Fort Detrick. Beside her, Zack and Leah whimpered, their mother doing the best she could to comfort the children. Her other hand held the tiny fingers of the boy her father had rescued. He'd finally spoken, only to tell them his name was Tyler before he asked where his mother was again.
Tyler looked up at Kara now. “Is Mommy mad at me?”
The tears Kara had fought to restrain trickled from under her eyelids. “No, Tyler. Mommy wasn’t mad at you.” She tightened her grip around his fingers to reassure him. “Mommy was just sick.”
“Like a tummy ache?”
“Different from that.” Kara thought back to her own mother still suffering from the Oni Agent. She knew this boy's mother was dead, and she wondered who was luckier.
“Prepare for landing,” Frank said.
The chopper's wheels hit the asphalt, and Frank clicked a series of switches. The thrum of the rotors started to wind down as Adam helped open the cabin doors. Bright sunlight filtered in. Kara held up a hand to shield her eyes and gulped hard at the sight before her. Men in green fatigues surrounded the chopper. They held black rifles aimed at the passengers of the chopper. One man stood a couple of steps behind the line of soldiers, his brow creased and gray hair tousled by the wind. Kara could tell he was important by the way he carried himself.
The leader held a bullhorn to his lips and directed it at the chopper. “Come out with your hands up.”
“Are we in trouble?” Tyler asked.
“No, no,” Kara said, even as she stood with shaky knees. “Just do what the man says.”
Nina helped her children down. The trio stood with their arms in the air. Adam and Frank did likewise as Sadie leapt down from the chopper's fuselage. Kara followed her sister and lifted Tyler from his seat to the ground.
“On your knees!” the leader barked.
As everyone sank to the asphalt, Tyler started to cry.
“Come on, Tyler,” Kara said in a cooing voice. “Just do what the man says.”
“I don't want to! I want Mommy!” Tyler twisted from her grip and started to sprint across the tarmac.
“No!” Kara heard the mechanical click of guns being shouldered and aimed. She could practically feel the soldiers tensing, ready to fire on what they clearly thought must be a young Skull loose in their base. She threw herself in front of the boy, shielding him with her body, and closed her eyes. She waited with bated breath, anticipating the crack of gunfire, the hot pang of bullets tearing through her flesh. But it didn’t come.
Tyler cried into her shoulder.
“Hold your fire!” the leader yelled, his voice booming over the tarmac.
Kara opened her eyes, holding Tyler tight against her chest, and gazed down the gun barrels. She’d done plenty of target shooting, she’d hunted with her dad, and she’d taken down those Skulls—but she’d never been on this end of a gun, much less the couple dozen that bore down on her now. Her limbs shook, and she felt like collapsing. It was all too much.
The head of the frightening welcome squad stepped past his soldiers. “Stand down,” he said.
“He’s not...I’m not...we’re people.” The words flew from her mouth. “We’re not Skulls or crazies or whatever.” Another tear rolled down her cheek. “We’re not, I swear.”
Tyler peeked out from Kara’s embrace. His face was red and wet from bawling. “I’ll be good. I will. I promise.”
Kara thought she saw a crack in the commander’s stolid face, a single moment of pity quickly swallowed up by rote duty.
He turned back to his men. “Round them up and send them to quarantine for processing.”
Boots beat across the ground as the soldiers surrounded Sadie, Frank, and the others. Shivers rippled across Kara’s flesh at his words. They’d escaped the hell outside only to be at the whim of this man. Tyler sniffled as Kara rubbed his back. “It’s okay,” she said, not sure if it would be.
Then the commander bent down to her, kneeling by her side. He locked eyes with Kara. “You’re safe here.” His tone was stern, but his eyes were kind, reassuring. “We just have to make sure you’re not carrying the disease that all those”—he gestured to the outer fences of Detrick, where Skulls clambered over one another—“things are carrying.”
The man held out a gloved hand to Kara. She took it, and he said, “I’m Deputy Commander Shepherd.”
“Kara. This is Tyler.”
“Tyler, Kara. I’m pleased to meet you. Now please follow my men. We just need to be safe, b
ut if all goes well, I promise everything will be okay.”
Kara repeated the words in her head. Everything will be okay. Just one thing at a time. She wanted to believe Shepherd, but her mom had told her everything was okay too, and now...Kara shuddered as she stood. She took Tyler’s small, clammy hand. She had to be strong. If not for herself, for Tyler. For Sadie.
She glanced at her sister. Sadie’s face was ashen, and her lower lip trembled as a couple of soldiers escorted her away. Against every fiber of her being telling her she couldn’t, she shouldn’t, Kara smiled. A simple gesture. It was all she could offer.
“Don’t worry, Sadie. Everything’s going to be okay.”
She hated herself for saying it, but what else could she do?
***
Lauren examined the latest results of the Oni Agent antibody study. Scott, Amir, Divya, Ivan, and Glenn all showed levels indicating the agent was all but eliminated from their bodies.
“Final test,” Peter said, “is seeing how they feel. If their anger issues are gone, we’ve hit pay dirt.”
Lauren nodded and entered the isolation chamber, followed by Peter.
“How’s it going, Doc and Doc?” Glenn greeted them.
“The real question is how are you doing?” Peter asked.
“Any pain, headaches, nausea?” Lauren checked his vitals and recorded his temperature.
“Negative, negative, and negative.” Glenn exhibited none of the symptoms associated with the Oni Agent and, as far as Lauren could tell, was perfectly healthy. He gave her a warm grin that Lauren couldn’t help but return one of her own. A wave of giddiness spread through her. She refrained from wrapping her arms around him, an instinct she found hard to resist. She wasn’t completely victorious yet, and Glenn wasn’t her only patient.
She and Peter moved to Divya’s bedside. The invalid doctor forced a smile. Bandages covered her arms and face, yet she too seemed in good humor. “I’m not used to being in this bed. I’d rather be up in the lab again. What do you say?”
Lauren rubbed the top of Divya’s hand. “Hey, you deserve a couple days of rest before I send you back to monitoring cell cultures.”
Divya chuckled, her brown eyes glimmering in the overhead lights. “Boy, I can’t wait.”
The Tide (Tide Series Book 1) Page 27