Pale Horse (A Project Eden Thriller)

by Battles, Brett

  “I’ve already been vaccinated.”

  “I don’t care.”

  Sanjay spotted a box full of prepackaged, ready-to-use syringes on a nearby shelf. He opened one, and stuck the needle through the rubber cap on the bottle. He drew in the same amount the nurse had given him and, in turn, he had given Kusum. He moved the needle toward the manager’s arm.

  “No,” the man said before Sanjay could plunge it in.

  Sanjay held the needle just above the manager’s skin. “Why not?”

  “I…I made a mistake. That’s not it.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “I don’t know,” the man said, though Sanjay was willing to bet the man did know.

  Instead of asking him again where the vaccine was, Sanjay searched through the bottles, looking for the orange tinge. Finally he found two boxes of bottles sitting together in the first cabinet that matched his memory of the vaccine.

  He held one in front of the man. “This is it.”

  By the defeated look on the man’s face, Sanjay knew he was right. He added the box of syringes to the two boxes of vaccine, and headed to the door where the cook was waiting. Stopping just inside, he took a quick look around. There were no windows in the supply room, and the only way in and out was the single door.

  “Stay here,” he said to the manager, and went out into the corridor.

  Sanjay and the two cooks escorted the other managers individually into the medical supply room. The only exception was that they allowed Mr. Dettling to help his injured colleague.

  After making sure they’d taken all the mobile phones from the men, they shut the door and jammed a chair from the conference room under the handle. It wouldn’t keep them inside for too long, but it would be enough for Sanjay and his new friends to get away.

  He gave each cook a few of the needles and several bottles of vaccine, then instructed them on how to administer it.

  They thanked him, and left as fast as they could.

  Before taking off, Sanjay found a bag in one of the rooms, put the remaining vaccine and needles in it, then hurried from the building.

  “Your identification,” the guard said as he walked by the gate.

  “Oh,” Sanjay groaned. “I totally forgot. Look, you can call Mr. Dettling again while I wait, if you want. But please hurry. He told me I needed to deliver this across town as soon as possible.” He held up the bag.

  The guard frowned, then shook his head and waved him through. “Next time, don’t forget.”

  “I won’t,” Sanjay said. “Thank you.”

  Less than a minute later, he was speeding away from the compound, barely believing he’d actually done it. He had the vaccine, more than enough for Kusum’s family. He couldn’t wait to meet up with them again, sure that they were already out of town and nearing the rendezvous point.

  They weren’t.

  19

  MONTANA

  5:42 AM MOUNTAIN STANDARD TIME

  THE WHOLE NIGHT had been a nonstop race through the woods. The monsters, faceless but always close, hounded and teased Brandon as he tried to get away, but every time he thought he was free, he would hear them again.

  The forest seemed to go on forever. He knew there had to be a road somewhere, something that would lead him to others who could help protect him from the creatures hunting him.

  A howl. Not a wolf, but something else, and so, so close.

  “No!” he yelled. “No! No!”

  His eyes shot open as the final shout woke him from his sleep. For several seconds, the terror of the woods clung to him as if it were the real thing, then it began to fade and the world came back into focus.

  He was momentarily confused by how low the ceiling was above him. So low, in fact, he could reach up and easily touch it. But the air was freezing, and the last thing he wanted to do was pull his arm out from under his…sleeping bag?

  The fire at the Ranch. The helicopters. Mr. Hayes. Oh, God, Mr. Hayes. The endless hours of trekking through the forest. The house. The garage.

  The old station wagon.

  Now he remembered, and wasn’t sure which was worse—the nightmare or reality.

  Though he hadn’t wanted to expose himself to the frigid air, he had to check the time. If it was late enough, he needed to head out to the safety of the forest. Using the flashlight, he checked his watch.

  Eighteen minutes to six a.m. Definitely time to get out of there.

  He was about to turn the flashlight off when he realized something was wrong. The door to the car was open. He had shut it when he climbed in. He was sure of it. Had he woken at some point and opened it but didn’t remember? He didn’t think so. He’d never been the kind of person who’d get up during the night and forget about it like a sleepwalker in a movie.

  He played the light through the door but didn’t see anything there. Feeling a bit of the panic he’d experienced in his dream, he scrambled out of his sleeping bag and scooted through the car door. He spun around, shining the flashlight through the room. It was exactly as it had been earlier.

  Relax. Maybe you just didn’t shut it all the way and it swung open while you were sleeping. Just get your stuff together and get out of here.

  After allowing himself another few seconds to calm down, he pulled his sleeping bag out of the car, rolled it up, and tied it to the bottom of his pack. He thought about eating a little bit, but decided that could wait until he was back among the trees.

  He pulled his pack over his shoulder and headed for the door, but when he turned the knob the door only opened an inch before stopping. He tried again, and got the exact same results. Something was keeping it from moving any farther.

  He looked through a sliver of space between the door and jamb, but it was still too dark outside to see much of anything. Putting his hand over the lens of the flashlight, he aimed it through the opening near the ground and moved it upward, looking for the cause. He found it at about eye level. A closed hinge held in place by a padlock.

  He immediately shut the door and stepped back.

  They know I’m here.

  Whirling around, he looked toward the roll-up door. It was his only option.

  There had to be a switch inside somewhere that would open it. It would make a lot of noise, but he didn’t care. He just needed to get out of there.

  Usually the switches were near the door people used to walk in and out, in this case the one that had been padlocked. He moved the flashlight beam over the wall near it, but there was nothing that looked even close to what he thought the switch would look like.

  He turned in a circle, desperate to find the button. Then, as his gaze passed over the car, he realized he was being an idiot. There would be a remote in the station wagon.

  He pulled the driver’s door open and searched around. With a “yes!” he found the device tucked down next to the seat. He climbed back out of the car, and moved as close to the door as possible so he could make a quick escape.

  He pointed the remote at the shadowy form of the motor hanging from the middle of the ceiling, and pushed the button.

  Nothing happened.

  He pushed again, then hit the back of the remote in case the battery wasn’t sitting right. That’s when he noticed the tiny green light next to the button. When he pushed, the light lit up. Apparently the remote was getting power, but it wasn’t turning on the motor.

  The only possibilities would be either the motor was busted, or the power to the garage was off. It didn’t matter what the answer was. The problem was the same.

  Wait, wasn’t there something about remote doors? Something his father had told him once?

  He shined the light on the motor, and saw the wooden handle dangling from a rope a foot below it.

  The emergency release!

  After dumping his pack on the ground, he climbed onto the roof of the Subaru and stretched as far as he could, but his fingers just barely missed the handle. He hopped down and went to the storage area at the back. Half a minute l
ater, he found a box that he was sure could handle his weight. He lugged it over to the car, and manhandled it onto the roof. Once he climbed back up, he scooted it until it was directly under the handle, and stepped on top.

  This time he had no problem reaching the piece of wood. He pulled it down as hard as he could. There was a groan and a pop, then the door moved upward an inch or so.

  Relieved, he jumped down and raced to the exit. Putting his hands underneath the door, he was able to easily raise it enough to get out. The noise was loud, but probably less than it would have been with the motor.

  He pushed his bag outside, snaked through the opening, and stood up.

  Keep moving. Get to the woods!

  He picked up his pack and started to pull it on.

  “You’re pretty smart for a kid.”

  The voice belonged to a woman who couldn’t have been more than twenty feet away. Brandon turned slowly toward her, but all he could see was a shadow where she stood.

  “Find everything in there you wanted?”

  “What?” Brandon said. “I didn’t take anything. I was just—”

  “Right. You left everything there.”

  “Check for yourself. The only things I have are what I came with. I just wanted someplace where I could get out of the cold and sleep.”

  “Then why didn’t you just knock on our door?”

  “Because it was late,” he said quickly. “I didn’t want to disturb you.”

  “Because you wanted to see what was in the garage.”

  “No! I told you. I just wanted to sleep.”

  The flashlight beam swayed just enough to the side that he could see the barrel of a rifle.

  “Please,” he said. “I’m just trying to get to the highway, that’s all. I didn’t take anything from you. Please, just let me go, okay?”

  “Not okay,” she said. “Before we let you do anything, we need to make sure we get all our stuff back.”

  Brandon took the pack off and held it out toward her. “You want to check? Okay, check. There’s nothing there.”

  “Oh, we’ll check. But first we need to do something about you.”

  ARCTIC OCEAN

  7:03 AM CENTRAL STANDARD TIME

  SOMETIME DURING THE night, the icebreaker Danus Marko moved out from under the storm into a slightly less rough, open sea. Ash was unaware of this, though. After his radio conversation with Matt, he’d been given a meal and had fallen back into a deep sleep from which even the rising and falling and rolling of the ship couldn’t wake him.

  When he finally opened his eyes, the ship seemed to be barely swaying at all, the vibrations of the heavy-duty engines cut back to a level that was almost unnoticeable. He pushed himself up, confused.

  Chloe lay on the bed across from him, her eyes still closed. Their hosts had decided not to treat them as prisoners anymore but as guests. They had been given a second room next to the one they’d been sharing with Red and Gagnon.

  Ash checked his watch and was surprised to see it was already after seven a.m.

  “Chloe,” he said.

  No movement.

  He sat up. “Chloe.”

  She rolled onto her back, but her eyes remained shut.

  Ash rubbed his face, and ran his fingers through his hair. Stretching his neck, he rolled his head from side to side, then stood up and gave Chloe a shake.

  “Wake up.”

  A groan, then lids parting. As soon as she focused on him, her eyes shot open all the way. “What’s wrong?”

  “I think we might have stopped.”

  “Stopped?” She sat up.

  “I’m going to go check.”

  “Not alone.”

  They stopped first to check on Gagnon and Red. Both were still out. Ash checked Gagnon’s temperature and was encouraged by the coolness of the man’s brow, and the color that had returned to the pilot’s face. Seeing no reason to wake up Red yet, they headed for the bridge.

  There were four people present when they arrived—three crew members and Gleason, the male half of Adam and Eve. Out the window Ash could see lights, maybe a mile or less from the ship. Not lights from another vessel, though. The way these were strung out, they could only be on land.

  “Where are we?” Ash asked.

  Gleason looked over, surprised. “You’re up. Good. We can get going.”

  “Get going?”

  Gleason nodded out the window. “We’re dropping you off here.”

  “And where is here?”

  “Grise Fiord. Thought it might be where you wanted to go.”

  Ash looked toward the lights again, his turn to be surprised. The small, isolated village of Grise Fiord was the location from which Ash and his team had left on their flight to Yanok Island. It was also at Grise Fiord where they’d left the Resistance’s private jet with its crew, waiting for them to return.

  A way home.

  “There is a little problem.”

  “What problem?”

  “We’ve been in radio contact with authorities on the island. They’re not exactly in a welcoming mood at the moment.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Apparently the world has gone a little paranoid in the last twenty hours or so.”

  “They know about the virus?” Ash asked, hopeful. If people knew what was going on, maybe there was a chance to limit the damage.

  The look on Gleason’s face was not as optimistic. “People know something’s going on, just not what, exactly. There’ve been rumors, apparently bolstered by a video that showed up on the Internet, telling people what they need to do. But from what I understand, nothing official has been determined. The people at Grise Fiord apparently don’t want to take any chances.”

  “Then how are we going to get there?”

  “We’ll move in some, then you and your friends can take one of the Zodiacs in.”

  “That still doesn’t mean they won’t try to stop us.”

  Looking tired, Gleason said, “You’ll have to convince them not to.”

  Ash stared at him for several seconds. “Where are you going?”

  Gleason shook his head. “I don’t know yet.” He paused. “Unfortunately, my people and I haven’t received the vaccine. So isolation seems like a good idea, but we’ll take a vote. This isn’t a decision for one person to make.”

  “I’ll get my people ready,” Ash said, turning for the door. “You get us as close as you can.”

  As he and Chloe walked back to Red and Gagnon’s room, Chloe whispered, “There’s vaccine on the jet. We could have bartered that, maybe gotten them to take us all the way in.”

  “These are the same people who raided the Bluff and freed Olivia, who killed almost everyone there. Do you really think they deserve to be inoculated?”

  She frowned. “Okay, maybe not. But it would be safer coming into the dock in this than a small boat.”

  He made no reply.

  She sighed. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  So did he.

  MONTANA

  6:23 AM MOUNTAIN STANDARD TIME

  THOUGH THE WOMAN had never pointed her rifle directly at Brandon, the double-barreled gun had always been aimed at a spot nearby. He’d had no choice but to do everything she ordered.

  The first thing she had him do was return the box he’d put on the roof of her car to its shelf, then she’d marched him across the yard to the house. He’d been terrified to go inside, but he had no other options. She directed him to a set of stairs that led down to the basement, and locked him in a room crowded with canned food and bags of grain.

  At least she’d left the light on. And, he reminded himself, she hadn’t shot him. Yet.

  Trying to think like his father, the first thing he did was check to see if there was any other way out of the room, but the only exit was the door he’d come through, and that wasn’t budging.

  Exhausted, terrified, and not sure what to do next, he sat down on a large bag of rice and did his best not to cry.
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  “I should have just stayed in the woods,” he told himself. “I should have just kept going.”

  If his dad had been there, he would have probably said something like, “Don’t deal with should haves. Deal with what is, and staying alive.”

  But how was he supposed to do that? He was locked in a cellar. If he’d had his bag with him, he might have found something inside to use as a weapon, or something to force the door open. But as far as he knew, his bag was still sitting in front of the garage.

  Wait. Maybe there was something in the room he could use.

  He jumped up and took in every inch of his makeshift jail cell. His gaze fell on the shelf against the far wall. Stacked four high and five deep were cans of Campbell’s soup. Apparently the woman was fond of cream of mushroom.

  He thought for a moment. A soup can had some weight to it, and would fit nicely in his palm. A nice fastball into the woman’s leg might at least knock her down or stun her enough so he could make his escape.

  Buoyed by this idea, he grabbed one of the cans and tossed it up and down. Not quite the baseball he and his dad played catch with, but it would do.

  He figured the best place for him to stand to guarantee he wouldn’t miss would be about five feet straight back from the door. The problem with that was, it would also give her enough time to see what he was up to. The smart place to be was off to the side. He wouldn’t necessarily see her as soon as she opened the door, but she wouldn’t see him either, and would be forced to take a step inside. As soon as she did, he could let the can fly.

  The only wild card was that he assumed there was at least one other person in the house. The woman had said we, so she wasn’t alone. It would be horrible if he disabled the woman, only to be stopped by other people who lived in the house.

  He went back, picked up a second can he could take with him, and returned to the spot near the door. Once settled, he focused his attention on the creaks of the floorboards above him. It sounded like there was only one person moving around—the woman, he assumed—so maybe her friend was on the second floor. If whoever it was stayed there, Brandon thought he should be able to get out of the house before the other person even knew he’d escaped.