A.L.I.V.E. (The A.L.I.V.E.Series Book 1)

by R. D. Brady

  “John, if I could do something—”

  “You can. You’re just choosing not to, and you’re signing the death warrant of dozens of Americans who placed their trust in us. Who dedicated their lives in service to this country, and now we’re just offering them up as lambs to the slaughter.”

  “It’s been done before.”

  “Yes, and history has judged them for it. This is our moment, Wanda. How do you want to be judged?”

  Wanda sat in silence for a moment before standing, extending her hand. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention, John. I’ll take it under advisement.”

  John ignored her outstretched hand. “Read the file, Wanda. And then tell me if that’s the man you want making this decision. You know what the right thing is to do here. For God’s sake, do it.” He turned and stormed out the door, practically ripping the door of its hinges.

  Wanda’s aide jumped to his feet, but John ignored him as he stormed down the hall, struggling to come up with someone else to speak with. Someone who would have the power to intervene at Area 51. But the circle of those in the know was small, and the circle of those with the power to do anything was even smaller.

  He pictured Maeve when he’d taught her how to ride a bike, and then he pictured Alice in her hospital bed as John held her hand, promising that he would look out for her daughter and for Alvie.

  Oh god, Alice. I don’t know what else to do.

  Chapter Sixty-Eight

  There were over two hundred aliens of various sizes and shapes roaming around the base. The only thing they had going for them was that the subjects had been split into two buildings, so only about a hundred were in this building. The bad news was they needed to get to the surface, and Chris was pretty sure most of the aliens would be heading there as well. Not to mention the elevators were out and that only left the stairwells, which the aliens also seemed to be using to make their way around the building.

  “So, what’s the plan?” Maeve asked.

  Chris looked down into her hazel eyes and wished he had one. But right now ‘plan’ seemed too structured a word for what he thought they should do—try to get to the surface.

  “We’ll take the southwest stairwell. We haven’t been in it yet.” Chris paused. “But we’ll have to leave it around level four. There’s a security door we won’t be able to get through.”

  “Why not?”

  “We don’t have clearance.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” Sheridan said.

  “Why not?” Maeve asked.

  Sheridan looked down at Alvie, who was staring intently at Sheridan’s tablet. “He’s so cute.”

  “Doc, why don’t we have to worry about the security door on four?” Chris asked.

  Sheridan patted Alvie on the head before swinging his head back toward Chris. “It’s not there anymore.”

  “What do you mean?” Chris asked.

  Sheridan shrugged. “One of them just ripped it out of the wall.”

  Chris stared at Sheridan. The security wall on the fourth floor was basically a vault door. It weighed tons.

  Oh god.

  Shoving his terror aside, he nodded. “Well, good to know.” He nodded at Alvie. “What’s he doing, by the way?”

  “Memorizing every password in this place,” Maeve said.

  “He can do that?”

  Maeve nodded. “Yup. And I made a copy of the alien files.” She held up a USB. “I don’t know if it will help, but I figured it couldn’t hurt.”

  “Okay, good.”

  “What are we going to do with Sheridan?”

  “You should take me with you,” Sheridan said.

  Maeve looked at Chris. They both knew he would not make it. And he would slow them down.

  “We can’t leave him to be found by them,” Maeve said. And Chris had known she was going to say that. He also knew that the chances for them all getting to the surface were incredibly slim. Bringing the doc along would reduce those chances to practically non-existent.

  “Hey, instead of going up, what if we went down?” Maeve asked. “You said they brought Alvie over in tunnels from one of the hangars.”

  Damn, I should have thought of that. “That’s right. There’s an entrance on—”

  Sheridan shook his head. “That won’t do you any good. All the tunnels will be sealed by now. It’s the first act during an emergency protocol. And I oversaw the installation of all the seals myself. They’re solid. That’s not an option.”

  Chris closed his eyes. This just kept getting worse. He dropped his voice. “Maeve, I know taking him is the right thing to do, but I’m not sure he can walk. How are we going to get him out of here? I can’t carry him and neither can you.”

  “There’s an office chair,” Sheridan offered. “It moves easily.”

  Maeve nodded. “Okay, I’ll get it.” She headed to the back of the room.

  Chris watched her go, knowing bringing the injured scientist was the right thing to do. And also knowing it almost certainly confirmed that they were never going to get out alive.

  Chapter Sixty-Nine

  The office chair did slide easily. But even with it, it was slow going. And Chris knew the stairs would be impossible. But how the hell was he supposed to look Maeve in the face and tell her they needed to leave the man to die?

  Alvie took point. Chris switched with Maeve so that he now pushed the chair. The doctor’s head kept dropping, and blood soaked the bandage they had put on. But the doctor hadn’t given a word of complaint. In fact, ever since Chris had taken over the chair, the doc had been quiet. Although every once in a while, he’d mutter something quietly to himself.

  “There’s something you should know about the tunnels,” Sheridan said.

  Chris groaned silently.

  Great, now he’s completely losing it.

  “I know, they’re all closed. We already talked about this, Doc.”

  Sheridan shook his head. “No, that’s the thing. I’ve been thinking about that. I don’t think they are.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I think the tunnels on the old base are probably still open.”

  “The old base? What’s that?”

  “This base has been around for decades. It’s seen every generation of aeronautical innovation. But with each technological advance, older technology gets left behind. Some of the oldest hangars, they still have access to the tunnels. Of course, they’ll only lead you off the base. And none of the newer tunnels link up to them.”

  “Where are these older tunnels?”

  “The old hangars, the ones on the eastern side of the runways.”

  Chris pictured the base. Almost all of the buildings were on the western side of the runways. But Sheridan was right—there were some old hangars over there. But that wasn’t going to help them get to the surface.

  Besides they’d have to cross the huge expanse of open space that the runways were on. Doing that without getting any of them shot was probably going to be impossible. But maybe they wouldn’t need to. If they got to the surface, maybe they could speak with some of the higher ups. Like Maeve said, they just needed time. Maybe they could even reach John back at Wright-Patt and have him intercede.

  It wasn’t a great plan. But at least it was something. He tucked away Sheridan’s information just in case they needed a plan B.

  They passed Alvie, who had stopped to re-adjust Pop on his back. Even though the triplets were small, Chris knew that for Alvie they must be pretty heavy. But he didn’t complain. Come to think of it, Chris didn’t think he’d known Alvie to complain about anything.

  Sheridan was looking at him expectantly. Chris forced a smile to his face as he focused back on the man. “Thanks, Doc.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said softly. Then his head tipped to the side and he stared, his chest unmoving.

  “Doc?” Chris felt for a pulse at his neck. But there was nothing. Damn it. Sorry, Doc

  Alvie let out a squeak. C
hris looked up and had his weapon to his shoulder in an instant. At the end of the hall was a creature that looked like an octopus with six eyes and razor-sharp fins on each tentacle.

  Oh shit.

  Chapter Seventy

  Maeve heard Alvie cry out and her eyes grew wide at the thing undulating toward them. Chris unleashed a hail of bullets, but the octopus-like creature just slid out of the way.

  She swung two of the triplets to her back, grabbing the back of Sheridan’s chair. “I’ve got him,” she said as Chris stepped from behind the doctor’s chair.

  “No. Leave him.”

  “We can’t just—”

  “He’s gone, Maeve.”

  Maeve looked down at the doctor and saw he was slumped forward, not moving. She put a hand to his neck but couldn’t find a pulse. She started to shake.

  “Maeve, don’t lose it on me now. We need to move.”

  Maeve looked up at Chris. He stared down at her, his eyes intense. “Run, Maeve, run.”

  Alvie grabbed her hand and pulled her down the hallway away from the thing rippling toward them at speeds that should have been impossible. Maeve pounded down the hall.

  Alvie turned down a hallway, and Maeve saw an exit sign to the right. They had passed right by a stairwell. Alvie ducked into the stairwell as an explosion sounded down from the other hallway.

  Maeve gasped and started to turn. But Chris pushed Maeve into a stairwell and slammed the door shut behind them. Debris battered the door as Chris held it shut.

  “What was that?”

  “Grenade,” Chris said.

  Maeve closed her eyes, picturing Sheridan’s body. Oh god.

  Chris took her arm. “We need to keep moving.”

  She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “He died. They killed him.”

  “I know, and now we need to move so we’re not next. Okay?”

  She nodded, feeling numb as Chris gently took one of the aliens from her.

  How did we end up here?

  But she knew. Someone had let these things out. Someone had intentionally set up this little game pitting the humans against aliens. She hugged Snap to her chest, and Snap’s little head rested on her shoulder. She was shaking. Her breaths came out in soft sighs. Someone had created these three and decided they didn’t get a chance to live. Anger began to replace her sadness. If Maeve got out of this, she would make it her life’s work to make sure whoever started all of this paid.

  Dearly.

  Chapter Seventy-One

  Greg walked down the hall next to Leslie. He’d gotten rid of the fire extinguisher. He’d had to use it on another starfish-looking thing and emptied it. But he did currently have a machine gun of some type. He hadn’t caught the name when Leslie had explained to him how to use it. And at least now he was confident he would not shoot off his own foot—although he couldn’t guarantee anyone else’s.

  Now he and Leslie were on level nine, two levels lower than when they had first started their attempt to reach the surface. It was like some horrible video game—every time they went up a level or two something appeared to knock them back down.

  The only good thing they had going for them was that the underground facility was a maze, which gave them lots of room to move around and hide. So far, they had found five stairwells. And by found he meant barged through an exit door in a blinding panic and sprinted either up or down one, depending on who was chasing them and from what direction.

  But even in his panic, Greg had been mapping out the structure in his mind. The underground facility was at least twelve levels deep and shaped like a rectangle, though there were some offshoots unique to some of the levels. But the stairwells were all consistently located. Which meant there should be another one at the end of this hall.

  All the stairwells ended at the first floor, where only two stairwells led to the ground level. They’d been forced out of the last stairwell by debris—someone, or more accurately something, had ripped part of the stairwell apart and flung it down a few flights. Greg wasn’t sure if it was done intentionally to block them or by accident. He hoped it was the latter, because if the creatures were planning, well, that was just too terrifying to consider. He had enough real life nightmares to keep him company, no need to create some imaginary ones if he didn’t need to.

  “There.” Leslie pointed down the hall where the exit sign was clearly marked with an arrow pointing around the corner.

  Greg sighed with relief. Yes. “We haven’t seen anyone, alien or otherwise, in a little while. Do you think everybody is out but us?”

  Leslie shrugged. “Well, somebody has to be last.”

  Greg put his hand to his chest. “Personally, I think—” The sound of an explosion cut him off. The floor rattled and the walls shook. Greg put out a hand to the wall to keep his balance. “What the hell was that?”

  Leslie glanced back down the hall in the direction the blast had come from. “Not sure, but I think it might be one floor below us.”

  “Well, that’s good news, right? I mean, that means there are other people still fighting.”

  “You have a strange idea as to what constitutes good news.”

  “Well, not being the only ones in a building full of aliens, that kind of makes me feel better.”

  “Hate to burst your bubble, but it could have been an oxygen tank or hell, a Bunsen burner. This building is full of explosive chemicals. It could just be something knocked a tentacle into a table and blew himself up.”

  They had reached the door to the stairwell. Greg shook his head. “Nope, I’m going with optimism. Some human took out one of the bad guys. And I’m pretty sure we won’t be seeing any more creepy crawlies.”

  He grabbed ahold of the stairwell door, yanked it open, and let out a scream.

  Chapter Seventy-Two

  Maeve threw up her hands as Greg screamed. “Greg, no!”

  Greg stared at her, or more accurately, Snap, peeking over her shoulder. His weapon was pointed toward her and his hands were shaking so hard that Maeve tensed, waiting for him to accidentally jerk the trigger.

  Chris grabbed the front of Greg’s weapon and pushed it to the ground.

  Leslie pulled Greg back, all the while keeping her weapon trained on the aliens. “Uh, Chris, you want to tell me what the hell’s going on?”

  “Well, we’re taking three baby aliens for a walk along with the clone from which they were created. What are you up to?”

  Leslie glared at him. “Not in the mood, Chris.”

  Maeve jumped in before Leslie could yell at Chris or just shoot him. “This is Alvie. And like Chris said, these are his kids—sort of. We’re taking them to safety.”

  Leslie looked between the two of them. “Did you miss the termination order?”

  “These guys aren’t dangerous,” Maeve said quickly. “I’ve known Alvie for practically my whole life.”

  Greg stepped forward, his gun still pointed at the ground as he inspected Snap sitting on Maeve’s back. “He’s a lot cuter than my guy.”

  “Your guy?” Chris asked.

  “Yeah, think the alien from Predator, but slightly smaller and scarier.”

  Maeve winced. “Oh.”

  “So, Alvie, huh?” Greg stepped toward him.

  “Back up right now, Greg.” Leslie trained her weapon on Alvie.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Chris stepped in front of Alvie. Crackle hunched lower on his back. “Look, Les, I know what the order is. But this guy is not dangerous, and these little ones aren’t either. And I’m not about to kill them just because. And I mean, look at these little ones, do you really want to hurt them?”

  Crackle peeked out over Chris’s shoulder and then ducked back down with a squeak. Alvie reached up and placed a hand on Pop’s back.

  “What the hell?” Leslie stumbled back. “What was that?”

  Maeve winced. Oh no, Alvie. Not helpful. “Um, did you see something?”

  Leslie nodded. “I saw a little girl playing with one of these s
mall ones.”

  Maeve shook her head. “No, that was me playing with Alvie. He showed you a memory of us to demonstrate that we’re not dangerous.”

  “How come I didn’t get one?” Greg asked.

  “I guess Alvie doesn’t sense any threat from you,” Maeve said.

  Greg frowned. “Why does nobody seem to think I’m a badass? I am holding a weapon.”

  He started to lift it when Chris stepped forward, pushing the nuzzle back toward the ground again. “Yeah, okay, Rambo. No demonstration needed.”

  Maeve would have laughed, but her focus was on Leslie. Alvie’s attempt to calm the situation only seemed to have frightened her more. “Leslie?”

  Leslie flicked her gaze to Maeve.

  Maeve put up her hands. “Leslie, it’s okay, really. He won’t hurt you. He can’t speak, that’s why he communicates that way. He’s just trying to show you that he won’t harm you.”

  “Yeah,” Leslie drawled. “Not really feeling that.”

  “Oh, come on, Les. Look how cute they are.” Greg stepped forward. “Who’s the cutest little alien ever?”

  “Greg, I swear to God, I will hog-tie you and carry you over my shoulder if you step near that thing again.”

  “Ha, like you’d really fulfill one of my fantasies.” Greg slowly reached for Snap. “It’s okay, boy. I won’t hurt you.”

  “Girl,” Maeve corrected.

  “Right, girl,” Greg said, his hand outstretched.

  Snap cringed back, but then slowly leaned forward. She placed her cheek on Greg’s hand and closed her eyes, giving off a little purr.

  Greg smiled. “Aw.”

  Leslie watched the interaction, her whole body tense.

  “Leslie, we have bigger issues than these guys. The real threats are out,” Chris said.

  Leslie nodded “I know. We already met a dozen or so.”