Blood Harvest

by Michael Weinberger

  When Alpha reached the other two he found Chris studying a printout of the sewer system and caught the conversation mid-sentence.

  “…two hundred yards that way and then left twenty yards to the ladder.” Chris finished.

  The three men walked quickly through the shallow sludge and reached the ladder, which would bring them up to an area near the entrance into Pharmanetics. More importantly, their exit location was in an area housing multiple wireless routers for public use, powerful enough to allow Chris access to the internet. From there the security system would succumb to the assault Chris was about to hack into it.

  Chris set up the first of his two computers and his fingers began to fly across the keys. The first computer was going to remain at this location in order to hack into the security system and render it inert while they assaulted the building. He informed the rest of the group that the display on the screen depicted several individual red buttons which meant the alarms were armed and locks engaged.

  Then with a grandiose flurry of arm movements Chris announced, “Breaking the law!” and pressed the ‘enter’ key.

  Alarms formerly in operation silenced as the button they represented flashed from red to green. Electronic locks on doors clicked open while still appearing on the screen to be shut and secured. Next, Chris explained that a specific type of power surge was being sent, in such a way that the normal protection would be ineffective throughout all internal security systems. The result would be irreparable damage. However, once the power surge began to fry the circuitry, the security personnel would most likely be immediately alerted to the fact that their system was impaired, and would take steps to lock down the building.

  Chris gave a thumbs-up sign and waited for the word to send the surge.

  Chris used the second computer to tap into the security cameras. They revealed minimal personnel, all of whom would need to be incapacitated and secured before they moved on to the labs on the third through ninth floors. The plan was for all three of them to assault the first and second floors. They would each clear a floor and subdue any resistance personnel until they reached the warehouse space on the tenth through thirteenth floors. At this point Chris would fry the second set of security systems and then…well, then the “shit would hit the fan” and they would have to play the rest as it came at them.

  It was agreed that if, and only if, things went really south would Alpha signal his men and lethal force would be used. Steve said a quick prayer it wouldn’t come to that, but he sensed the reality of the situation was it probably would.

  “Okay,” Chris said, “everybody ready?”

  The others nodded their agreement. Looking at his watch, Steve calculated there was about another four hours of darkness before sunrise.

  “See you all in the penitentiary showers,” Steve remarked as he turned to Chris, “Okay, do it.”

  Chapter 42

  Lei sucked on her bottom lip, split under the barrage of punches that had pummeled her since Kunnert had begun questioning her. Her face was a mangled mess at this point. One eye was swollen shut and she couldn’t see clearly out of her other eye. Blood flowed freely down her throat every time she tried to breathe through her nose.

  When Kunnert tired of hitting her face he switched to hitting her in the ribs. Lei felt a painful grinding with every intake of breath, rendering her in a state of perpetual hyperventilation. Kunnert had released her from her bonds to prevent her own blood from drowning her. As he rested from his latest beating, Lei cowered naked, broken and bloodied in a corner. She had tried to enthrall him, but his rage and the pain he dealt her made the strategy impossible. All the while he had been asking her questions, most of which she had no clue of the answer.

  “How many survived the attack on the mine?”

  Lei recoiled at the question. She had been knocked unconscious in what she believed to be the middle of the battle, so how could she possibly know.

  “How many ‘hunters’ were there to begin with and how many were alive when you attacked me?”

  This one she knew the answer to but she decided not to share it with him. She mentally steeled herself for the coming abuse and made her decision to die before giving anything to this man who killed and kidnapped unarmed men, women and children for nothing more than profit.

  Her thoughts turned to Alpha, the father she never had. He will see this place brought down to rubble when he finds this location, and he will find out, maybe not before she died, but he would find out and everyone involved would get a preview into the hell awaiting them.

  “Get up girl.” Kunnert’s voice was quiet but still sounded angry.

  The last time he told her to get up and she hadn’t, he had kicked her in the ribs. She covered her potentially broken ribs with her arms and slowly rose to her feet, standing awkwardly before Kunnert.

  “It could have been so much easier for you. Easy or not, I promise you will answer my questions,” Kunnert said a bit patronizingly.

  Lei wanted to shoot an insult back, but her body hurt so much it was all she could do to remain standing.

  Kunnert picked up a kitchen towel he’d been soaking in the sink and began cleaning the blood that had smeared across her face.

  “Now there is one question I must insist you answer. And I warn you girl, on this I will tolerate nothing but the truth from you. If you don’t answer this then you are of no further use to me.”

  Lei could see from the look in Kunnert’s eyes he was serious. Whether he would put her in stasis with the rest of her people or simply kill her on the spot she didn’t know, but whatever question came next would be the last one for which he would not get an answer.

  Kunnert moved very close, “The albino, who is he?”

  Lei didn’t have an inkling of what kind of an answer Kunnert wanted. Did he want to hear that “the albino” was the leader of her people, the one who was saving them from society and from ourselves? Did he want to hear about her relationship to the man? She didn’t know any origins or history about Alpha; she had never asked. She was about to brace herself for the end when a realization sparked in the darkness.

  Kunnert had asked “who is he?” Not “was” but “is.” Alpha was still alive! She hadn’t known for sure until this moment and her heart swelled with relief.

  “Why? Is he giving you trouble?” Lei said with a smile.

  She never saw Kunnert unsheathe the blade but the next thing she knew the tip was inches from her right eye. Kunnert grabbed her hair from the back of her head and held her in place.

  “Last chance girl before this gets very, very bad for you.”

  “He’s in charge.”

  “I didn’t ask his position in the hierarchy of your little cult. WHO IS HE?”

  Lei realized she had no answer for that. Even if she wanted to answer, she couldn’t. This was it, she knew from this point forward all the future held for her was pain and death. She spoke back to Kunnert with words she hadn’t expected to say.

  “I don’t know anything about him that can help you.”

  Lei felt the grip on the back of her head loosen slightly, but the tip of the knife held firm an inch or so away from her eye.

  “Then tell me what you DO know.” Kunnert said calmly.

  “Alpha will try to destroy this place and kill everyone here if…WHEN… he finds you.” Lei chuckled, “You don’t know what you are dealing with.”

  And then, there it was. A not so subtle shift in Kunnert’s expression spoke volumes. The knife was lowered from her eye and the grip on her hair went slack as the stern face of Kunnert widened into shock. She had surprised him, even scared him, but how would that be possible unless…

  Kunnert looked away from her as he spoke out loud to himself.

  “N-No. It can’t be.” Then with sudden fury he grabbed Lei again.

  This time Lei actually started laughing as he grabbed her.

  “I see, maybe you DO know.”

  Kunnert studied her face, his eyes darting back a
nd forth as if reading a hidden message in the context of her contours.

  After a moment his eyes widened again. He released his grip on Lei and backed slowly away from her as he whispered the same word over and over again.

  “Impossible…Impossible…Impossible.”

  Chapter 43

  Kunnert screamed into the radio he’d removed from the clip on his belt, “I want everyone! No exceptions! Meet in Daniels’ office NOW for an emergency briefing! That means you too Daniels! Anyone not there in five minutes will deal with me directly.”

  Multiple responses squawked back at Kunnert, all confirming their being en route to the executive’s office.

  Turning back to Lei, now lying in a bloody heap on the tile floor she’d slithered down to, he said in a voice thick with malice, “You’d better be wrong girl.” He then locked the door behind him as he left the room and sprinted into the hallway.

  Kunnert arrived in front of the large double doors to Daniels’ office and was in the process of reaching for the doorknob when he noticed his hand trembling. He made a fist and took a few deep breaths to slow his heartbeat. It would not do for his men to see him in a state of near panic; he concentrated on calming himself despite the urgency he felt to mobilize his crew. He could feel his body easing to a more relaxed state. His heartbeat quieted and his breathing slowed to a normal pace after several moments. He would have been the better to continue for a few more moments, but the urgency of the situation prompted Kunnert to open his closed eyes and reach again for the doorknob.

  That’s when, quite literally, the lights went out.

  Chapter 44

  The three men stormed the front door of the Pharmanetics building with weapons drawn and attitude to spare. Glass doors shattered under the force of Alpha’s impact making the entrance for Steve and Chris. Each immediately found cover from what they expected would be an onslaught of security personnel and gunfire.

  To their breathless surprise nothing happened. The first and second floors appeared to be deserted. Silence screamed at them as Chris, Steve and Alpha all stood and looked around the space. There had been at least a half dozen security personnel roaming the floor less than 10 minutes ago when Chris hit the button sending the surge.

  Alpha looked around and then to Steve whom shrugged his shoulders in confusion.

  Chris said, “Ah, okay. What the hell?”

  “I know you wanted to keep casualties to a minimum, but…” Alpha said guardedly.

  Steve thought for a moment trying to regroup. They had come too far and the lack of resistance didn’t change the desired outcome.

  “Okay, we move forward as planned. Chris, is there any way they may have been alerted to our presence before the system went down?”

  “I don’t see how, but anything is possible.”

  Steve’s mind was drawing a blank.

  “All right, Alpha hit your floors. Maintain radio contact. Be careful. It would be the strangest one I’ve ever seen, but this whole scenario could be a type of trap. Chris, see if you can re-establish a link with their security system and cameras. I’d really like to find out where everyone is.”

  “On it!” Chris sprinted to the computer terminal where the security personnel should have been stationed and began hooking up his own computers in a frenzy of wires and hand movements.

  “Chris, once you’re in, give a shout and let us know what’s up.”

  “Okay, you’ll be hearing from me soon. Go find our people.”

  Alpha and Steve rushed to the stairwell then cautiously proceeded through the door. No sounds coming from inside; Steve let out an anxious sigh, “C’mon, let’s move.”

  The third through fifth floors turned out to be exactly as they expected: working labs which, despite the heightened security measures, were relatively easy to access after Chris had permanently damaged their systems. The machinery was moving at what appeared to be full operation, an unmanned operation at the moment, with no evidence of base materials or indication of final product.

  Steve was on the fourth floor when Chris’ voice echoed into his earpiece.

  “Okay my fellow “B and E”ers, I am up and running. Security cameras coming online now; give me a second to check each level.”

  Steve waited through the silence as Chris studied each floor.

  “Weird…” Chris’s whisper could be heard over the com-link.

  “Want to let us in on what’s so weird?” Steve responded.

  “Sorry, yeah, the first seven floors are completely deserted. I have a good visual of each space; these levels show nothing but assembly line type machinery. No security or scientists or any of our people.”

  “That’s what we’ve found as well,” Alpha confirmed.

  “And it seems that’s all you guys are going to find on the next few levels. My recommendation would be to start moving directly to the tenth floor. It may yield some new discoveries.”

  “Prudence would dictate clearing each level as we went,” Steve warned.

  “Yes, but we don’t know how much time we have before someone is alerted to our being here,” Alpha replied. “My people are also saying we are clear on these levels. I say we hit the stairs and move to the tenth floor,” Alpha spoke up from his position.

  “You’re still in contact with the hunters?” Steve asked incredulously.

  “Always,” Alpha said with a slight tone of indignation at the thought he would be out of contact with his few remaining people for even the slightest moment.

  “How?”

  Alpha turned his head to the side, pulled his white hair over his ear and pointed to a small earpiece practically invisible inside his ear canal.

  “When the hell did you start using those?”

  “A lot has changed since you left youngster.” Alpha smiled.

  “I’m not that young anymore.” Steve grumbled.

  “Compared to whom?” Alpha chided.

  Steve changed the subject and spoke into his hand held radio. “Chris, how sure are you that we aren’t going to have any unexpected company on the remaining four floors.”

  “Right now I am one hundred percent sure. If anything changes though, I’ll let you know.”

  Steve really didn’t like the idea of moving forward without clearing each level, but the reality of their time constraints weighed more heavily.

  “All right Alpha. Let’s move straight to the tenth floor. Chris you be our eyes and let us know if any bad guys pop up.”

  “You got it.”

  With that the two men began the long ascent to the tenth floor totally unaware and blind to anyone who might be waiting for them there.

  Chapter 45

  The manner in which the highly trained and disciplined mercenaries reacted when the power initially surged off could not accurately be described as panic. Controlled chaos perhaps, but not panic. Kunnert fired two rounds into the ceiling thereby restoring order among his currently agitated security force.

  “Now listen to me and listen good. There is a fair chance the building has been breached by the remaining force of what we all faced down in the silver mine. Their numbers are unknown but there couldn’t be more than a handful of these people left alive; this should not be a difficult undertaking. However, it has been brought to my attention that a new player may have entered the fray. This individual is not to be engaged in any way. Do I make myself clear? If you want to live to see tomorrow do not engage this individual.”

  One of the security staff spoke up from the crowd, “Sir! How will we know who to engage and who to avoid?” The man was large and gruff and looked totally out of place in the suit jacket and slacks of the security uniform.

  “If you see someone who looks as though death itself has come for you, that’ll be the guy to avoid. Believe me, you’ll know.” Kunnert left it at that and changed the subject.

  “Your priority is the lockdown and removal of any aggressors within the building. Lethal force is authorized, so collect your weapons and resume your po
sitions.” Kunnert looked around the room and realized Alex Daniels was absent from the rest of the group.

  “Oh Goddammit! Where the hell is Daniels?”

  Dr. Whelan, who had arrived with the rest of the security personnel, spoke up. “He went into his private office where his video feeds are connected to see if whatever shorted the power also crippled the rest of the computer systems.”

  Kunnert knew it had. There were no coincidences in this world. He doubted that whatever had sacked the power would spare the systems.

  “I’m sure he will find the system’s well-fried. I want those of you with the appropriate skills to go to Daniels’ office and see if you can get the system up and working again. You will be our eyes as we move through the building.”

  Two men and a woman stood and walked from the conference area, heading toward Daniels’ private office. Kunnert watched them go, wondering if he should go with them to see what state Daniels was in. No, that could wait.

  “Okay, move people,” Kunnert finished and called Dr. Whelan over.

  “Do you have enough equipment in a mobile state to make a hasty getaway if it comes to that?”

  “Well, no, not really; however, I could get all I really need in a couple of minutes if it becomes necessary.”

  “Really?” “All I need are the research files. Everything else, equipment and the like, can be purchased anywhere in the United States.” The doctor studied Kunnert and could see the man was worried. “Are you thinking I should start packing?”

  Kunnert thought about it for a second and replied. “I think that would be prudent, especially if it would only take a few minutes. If we can contain this then you will have only lost a small amount of time. If not…”

  “No problem then, I’ll get started.”

  With a questioning look Kunnert said, “Check your cell phone. Are communications out?” The doctor reached into a pocket and pulled out his cell phone. Normally his phone had full connectivity; however, as Kunnert had predicted, the line was unable to connect with a signal for use.