by Lizzy Ford
Brady returned from surveying the supplies in the well-stocked medical facility. He had a mental list of what they should take when they left. Unfortunately, there was nothing to quicken the healing of his neck. He’d heal four times faster than a normal human, but it wasn’t fast enough. He returned to the main medical bay, where he’d taken up a bed near Dan’s. Their gear was strung across three other beds, much to the doctor’s irritation.
“They’re all dead,” the doc said in a tight voice as he entered through the other door. “Antidepressants?” He held up the med-gun.
“What?” Brady asked, wondering if the doctor was already high. “Who’s dead?”
“Everyone. The VP … everyone.” The doc was slumped on one of the hospital beds. He prepped a med-gun for himself.
“What’re you talking about?” Dan rose and joined Brady.
“Gassed. Everyone hiding inside the mountain. It was supposed to be the safest place on the planet.”
Brady felt both surprise and some relief as the doc qualified his statement about everyone being dead. He looked at Dan, and the two shared a thought without speaking. They both reached for their combat suits and weapons.
“Doc, you got a real gun?” Dan asked.
The doc waved his med-gun.
“Something’s not right here,” Brady whispered.
“Yeah, it’s creepy,” Dan agreed.
His thoughts went to the injured woman he was charged with protecting. Whatever was going on, he hoped he had time to prepare his own men to evacuate before worrying about her. The majority of the Appalachia militia was at the base of the mountain.
“Doc, we’re taking supplies,” he said.
The doc was grinning and glassy-eyed after his med-gun shot.
Brady looked at Dan, who rolled his eyes. He strapped on his weapons and strode into the storage area, looking with admiration at the boxes of medical supplies.
“Jem,” he said into his communicator. “Y’all get ready to go and meet us here at the med center.”
“Roger.”
“Think we’re safer at our base camp?” Dan asked quietly, joining him in the storage room.
“I do.”
“When you wanna move?”
“Before dawn.”
Dan nodded and limped away, speaking into his communicator. Brady began to sort what supplies they needed and handed off a list to another soldier.
An hour before dawn, the alarms wailed. Brady froze and straightened from packing supplies, striding into the med center. The doc was asleep on one bed, his med-gun beside him. The rest of his men were awakened by the alarms.
“Doc!” It was the blond special security woman, Elise, who burst into the med center. “Doc!” She shook him awake. The doc sat groggily.
“What happened?” Brady asked. After watching the madman named Arnie last night, he knew better than to assume anything about the deceptively quiet Peak.
Elise gave him an irritated look, reminding him again of how little respected the army-types were.
“Doc, I need some meal bars, anti-sleepers, and pain killers.”
“You’re maxed out,” the doc said.
“Don’t give me any shit, doc! The walls were breached. I need ’em for the spec security guys. All of them.”
“When were the walls breached?” Brady asked.
Elise was agitated at more than him. She glanced at him then around at his men. An odd look crossed her face. She shook her head.
“Dammit, Lana,” she murmured with a look at her watch then barked, “Doc, hurry!”
“Lana’s the little girl who got shot, right?” Dan asked.
“The missing little girl who got shot,” Elise replied.
Brady moved forward at her words.
“She’s too naïve …” Elise drifted off.
“What happened?” he demanded.
“Aside from the whole mountain coming down and the Peak being overrun by God-knows-who?”
There was more. She wiped her face and whirled, following the doc into his office. Brady signaled his men to ready themselves. If what she said were true, the oasis around them was on fire.
“How bad is it?” he asked, following her. “Are you moving your men?”
“We’ll fight until Greenie gives the order to leave. God help me, I hope it’s soon,” Elise responded, stuffing the meds the doc placed on his desk into a tactical bag. “Anti-bacs, too, doc. Greenie’s holed up in the hub trying to figure out what to do.” She slung the bag over her shoulder.
Brady caught her arm. The pretty blond glared at him, but he saw the worry in her gaze.
“What happened?” he growled again. “I won’t ask you again.”
A look of incredulity crossed her features, and he doubted any army-type had ever threatened one of the elite class member forces. She wrenched away, saying, “Lana locked out all the systems and left.”
“Left the compound?” Dan asked, equally surprised.
“Yep. She’s somewhere out west over there,” Elise said with a wave of her hand towards the forest.
“How do you know?” Brady asked, suspicious.
Elise turned away and stormed off, supplies in hand. His instinct told him there was something else going on aside from the insurgents and Lana leaving. Lana didn’t have the mettle to survive the way he knew how. He doubted she’d ever seen blood before she was shot. What would possess her to leave the safety of the compound for the insurgent-infested forest?
“This ain’t right,” he said, his Southern accent plain even to his ears. “Get the teams ready. I have a feeling leaving here is going to be a pain.”