Rise and Run

by RJ Plant

  “Shite does occasionally hit the fan?” I offered. He nodded.

  “Once I’m in, I’ll let Shaina in through this door,” Seth said, pointing to a spot on the blueprint he’d pulled up on his tablet. “She’ll change clothes, blend in, and meet you here.” He pointed at the entrance Kaitlyn had suggested the previous night. “Once you’re in, we’ll make sure no one disturbs you.”

  “Better than nothing, I suppose,” I said.

  Shaina snatched up a small bag from inside the duffel and started for the door.

  “I guess that means we’re leaving,” I said to Kaitlyn.

  *****

  31 October 2042, Dublin, United Irish Republic

  The cold wasn’t as bad as in Stockholm, but that didn’t make it fun to stand around in. The longer we stood here, the more visible I felt. When the door finally opened, Shaina appeared, wearing a gray skirt suit over a white button-up. Glasses rounded out the new look. I grabbed the door, ushering Kaitlyn ahead of me.

  “Make it quick,” Shaina snapped before disappearing around a corner.

  I made Kaitlyn take the strap on my bag again, staying behind, but close.

  “Steer me,” I said, and started forward.

  We walked through a couple of long, narrow, stone-gray hallways before coming to the stairwell for the subbasements. The whole of the environment was a stark contrast from the last time I was here. I cracked the stairwell door open and listened—we were alone, so far as I could tell.

  Kaitlyn poked me hard in the shoulder. When I looked around at her, she held up two fingers. We went down two floors, slowly and quietly, as I listened for any movement that wasn’t ours.

  I cracked the door to subbasement two and waited. When I felt sure enough that it was clear, I led Kaitlyn through. As we passed the first door to the left, the bag strap pulled tight. I turned, seeing Kaitlyn point at the door and give a thumbs-up.

  I held up the warrant card of the agent Seth wasn’t pretending to be. The light on the scanner flashed green.

  As Kaitlyn tried to squeeze past me, I put a halting hand on her shoulder and went in first. The room’s dark interior suggested that no one was around, but it never hurt to check. After a moment I motioned for Kaitlyn to come in.

  She threw the lights on.

  “Do you think that’s a good idea?” I asked in a low voice.

  “We have no flashlights, and I can’t see in the dark, so it’s the only idea.”

  “I can see fine in the dark,” I said.

  She shook her head, then walked off. I stayed by the door, just in case.

  “The subbasements don’t even seem like part of the GDI building,” I said, curiosity about the vast difference in environment gnawing at me.

  “They predate the main building,” Kaitlyn said. “GDI built on top of them, thinking they could be of use. Hey, since we’re here, there’s something else I need.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Well, I didn’t have proper storage for the blood I took from you in Stockholm. And then we had to run around the woods and all so … If I’d known I wouldn’t get to run any tests in Stockholm, I honestly wouldn’t have collected it. So …”

  “So, what, Kaitlyn?”

  “Please, sir, can I have some more?” she said, adopting a terrible cockney accent and an embarrassed blush.

  “More?” I repeated. “Un-fecking-believable. Is there even anything down here you can use to get it?”

  “Not here, no, but if Seth could grab my equipment …”

  “You … I … Shite.” I hailed Seth on the comm-tech. “Secondary mission now in play.”

  “Go on,” Seth said.

  “Kaitlyn needs some tools from her lab because she’s completely incompetent.”

  “Such flattery,” Kaitlyn said, deadpan.

  As she described to Seth what to look for, I caught movement from beyond the door. The door’s glass-panel window wasn’t big enough for much of a view, but the movement was unmistakable.

  I gestured for Kaitlyn to keep quiet with a finger to my lips, then cracked the door. I could hear movement about fifteen, maybe twenty feet off. Then I heard more movement from a greater distance and realized that Seth and Shaina were utter shite at blocking.

  I set the rifle down and took the ammo bag off so I could move a little easier, then squeezed through the door, pulling it quietly shut behind me.

  The room opened into a labyrinth of steel frames holding plywood shelves with metal bracers to keep them from collapsing. Boxes with dates written on them lined some of the shelves. Others had visible stock—gloves, masks, scrubs, and such—but it all looked in pretty poor condition. From the thick layer of dust to the intricate webbing in corners and between boxes, it was fairly evident that these items were not in high demand.

  I crept through the maze, stopping every few feet to listen. I snuck a glance around the corner of my aisle and saw someone looking through a filing cabinet. I crept toward File Cabinet Guy, moving from aisle to aisle to keep hidden. He was in a suit, nothing fancy, a little shabbier than what Seth had on. I stayed low as I came up behind him, not wanting to expose my shadow or affect the play of the dim lighting.

  When I was finally close enough to reach out and touch him, I heard the second person coming closer. The footsteps were steady. I had time. I grabbed File Cabinet Guy by the neck just as he turned toward the sound of the footsteps. The angle at which I had him was too odd for a clean break and trying to strangle him would have been louder and taken longer than I’d hoped for. So, running out of time and options, I did the only thing I could think of.

  I let Felix out.

  *****

  31 October 2042, Dublin, United Irish Republic

  It was barely more than a split second, not even long enough for Felix to form a thought—which was probably something of a blessing—but it did the job. I leaned over for a moment to catch my breath and spat out the little bit of blood that had accumulated in my mouth. My hands were splotchy red, like before, but the discoloration began to fade. It wasn’t long before I felt normal again.

  I tried moving the body to a slightly less conspicuous spot, but all my effort got me was a detached arm.

  “Fuck it,” I whispered, mantra of my life.

  I returned to stalking the aisles, but I couldn’t see or hear anyone, so I circled back to the body. I crouched in the space between the file cabinet and the nearest run and started counting. If I got to thirty without hearing anything, then I’d head back to Kaitlyn.

  Thirty seconds passed. Nothing. I started moving.

  I hadn’t walked two feet when I heard the footsteps again. Two sets this time. I ducked back into my hiding spot. These footsteps fell heavier and moved quicker, maybe ten feet apart from one another, running my way. I heard the gasp before I saw the person.

  I launched myself toward the sound.

  The man didn’t have time to react by the time I was in front of him. A quick jab to the throat made sure he wouldn’t be able to make another sound. He grabbed at his throat with one hand and swung at me with the other as his eyes teared up. The swing went wide, and he collapsed.

  I grabbed him by the back of his suit jacket and pulled him toward me before his face could meet the floor. His body came back up like a yo-yo and even as I wrapped an arm around his chest, intent on keeping him still, I could tell something was wrong.

  Which was about when Seth appeared, skidding to a halt. I followed his line of sight to File Cabinet Guy and saw a big handprintlike streak through the mess of goo. It was at about that time when I noticed my grip on the second guy was slipping as his body melted. I let go before he decomposed enough to become a part of my wardrobe and he slid to the floor to join the remains of File Cabinet Guy, which resulted in a pile of two-man-stew.

  I looked back to Seth and raised my hands in a non-threatening gesture, but he wasn’t looking at me. He stood motionless, as if any movement, no matter how small, would finish him off. From the paleness of
his face, I thought maybe he was about to vomit. But he just stared at the bodies, taking it all in. His forehead broke out in a fine sweat.

  “Seth,” I said, quietly. I slowly pointed to what looked like a medical bag in Seth’s left hand. “Is that Kaitlyn’s stuff?”

  Nothing.

  I moved closer to him and pried the bag from his hand.

  Still nothing.

  I clasped him on the back, made a final sweep through the aisles, and headed back to Kaitlyn.

  I looked down at myself before opening the door, double-checking that I didn’t have any bits of agent on me. When I didn’t see anything that shouldn’t be there, I entered the lab archive and closed the door behind me. I handed Kaitlyn the medical bag.

  “You did it again, didn’t you?” she asked, looking at my hand as she took the bag from me. The red spots had faded almost completely, but they were still there.

  “Not going to get all squeamish on me, are you?” I said.

  I took a seat on one of the tables, in a spot not covered in boxes and files.

  “Where’s Seth?” she asked, ignoring my question.

  “He’s a bit occupied just now.”

  Kaitlyn started to say something but thought better of it and shook her head instead. She pulled on a pair of gloves that had come from the med bag and started prepping my arm. I watched an easiness come over her as she moved into autopilot as she went about her work. After a while, I started to get a bit lightheaded.

  “Jesus, you vampire, just how much blood do you need?” I asked. I’d stopped playing attention to how many of the little vacutainer tubes she’d filled and stashed away.

  “I want to be sure I have enough to work with,” she said.

  “You do realize I can make more if I’m still alive, yes?”

  Kaitlyn gave me a warning look. “Don’t be an ass.”

  “Ah, it’s swearing at me now, she is. I think you officially have more of my blood than I do,” I said.

  She finished filling another tube, then took the needle from my arm with a little more force than seemed necessary. She dropped the last of the new samples into the same container with Felix’s.

  “Not going to get them mixed up, are you?”

  “Felix’s are labeled,” she said.

  Satisfied that there would be no more bloodletting, I hailed Seth and Shaina on the comm-tech. “Finished on our end. Let’s make like a fetus and abort.”

  “That not really accurate,” Kaitlyn said. “Aborting insinuates terminating something before it’s finished.”

  “Seriously, Kaitlyn?” I said, shaking my head.

  17

  31 October 2042, Dublin, United Irish Republic

  “Don’t fuckin’ set that on the bar,” Sully said.

  Kaitlyn stopped mid-motion, then set the lunchboxesque blood-transport container on the bar anyway, eliciting a slew of profanity from Sully. She sat down. I took the seat next to her.

  “Seth had a bit of a shock,” I told Rian before he could ask where he and Shaina were. “That’s probably why they’re—”

  The door slamming open stopped me mid-sentence. Shaina stormed in like the devil was on her heels. She marched over to me until there was less than a foot between us.

  “Seth had told me that it was bad, what you did in Stockholm. I believed him, of course, but I couldn’t even … I saw what you did to the agents back there. You’re sick, Conor.”

  She slapped me. I let it slide. When she raised her hand to slap me again, I stood and caught both her wrists. I looked over my shoulder at Kaitlyn, who just shrugged. Still holding Shaina’s wrists, I pushed away, hard, and then pulled her to me with equal force, the jerking movement shocking the rage out of her for a moment.

  “Why is it any different than a bullet?” I asked in a whisper. I pushed her away again, releasing her, and reclaimed my seat at the bar, facing out so I could watch her.

  Her anger seemed misplaced. I hadn’t given Felix this virus. If I could use it to my advantage, that was all well and good, but I hadn’t chosen this. I would never have chosen this.

  “Where’s Seth?” Rian asked.

  “Apartment,” Shaina said, staring at me like I’d just insulted her mother.

  Which I had not done.

  “Come on, then. Let’s go.”

  Rian expended some effort getting Shaina to turn and leave. Before they were out the door, Rian looked back at me with an expression I can only describe as disapproving. When they were out, I swiveled on the stool to face Sully.

  “So, then. Are you all set?” I asked.

  Sully scowled at me but nodded.

  “Good. We leave in the morning. Early. Come on, pretty little Kaitlyn, it’s sleep we’ll need to be getting after.”

  The walk from O’Cairn’s to the flat was uneventful. Scratching and scuffing sounds rang out in the quiet. Every now and again it sounded like debris fell from a building.

  I carried Seth’s bag of goodies, since no one else had decided to take it, and let Kaitlyn pass me as I headed into Felix’s flat. Seth sat on the couch, examining the contents of the laptop we’d brought back from Stockholm.

  I set the bag down. I took a few steps but kept my distance.

  “Find anything useful?” I asked.

  Seth leaned back a little but didn’t look at me. He rubbed a hand over his face, then went back to typing.

  “It’s linked to an external source,” he said. “The laptop itself is pretty much useless. Uploading a virus to the main server is our best means of wiping everything, including all information related to Kazic. Rian has some ideas on that.”

  “Of course he does. If you load a virus onto the laptop can it be sent to the server?”

  “No. The laptops are just access points, receivers.”

  “Well, is there anything there we can use?” I asked. “Anything about Kazic? About a cure?”

  Seth stopped typing, displaying a stillness that was eerie.

  “You’re not really such a bad guy, Conor. Kind of a dick at times, sure …” He shrugged. “Which is why I’m sorry to have to tell you that there ain’t no cure.”

  He stood and looked at me. He had a gun in his hand, hanging by his side. His face reflected some inner conflict. He fingered the trigger.

  “Right. Okay. Just hold on a minute. Where is this coming from? Just … Steady on,” I said to him, then yelled for Shaina.

  “I’m sorry,” Seth said. “I just don’t think you grasp the danger you represent. If GDI gets hold of you, we’re all fucked.”

  “Well, that’s a little dramatic, mate,” I said.

  Shaina came out of the bedroom and started toward me. Then she froze when she saw Seth with the gun.

  “What did you do?” she asked me.

  “Why is it that I’m the one who has to have done something?” I demanded.

  I grabbed her wrist and pulled her to me, then wrenched her arm behind her back and put my free arm around her throat, shielding myself as much as possible with her body. After this, she’d surely guard her neck more carefully. It had to have been getting sore by this point.

  “First, I did nothing. Second, tell your husband that killing me isn’t the only way to keep me from GDI. And if I die, Felix dies.”

  “I ain’t deaf, man,” Seth said. “I’m being practical. I’ve read the reports. There ain’t no cure. That means Felix is already dead and if GDI gets you … You’ll be their weapon, Conor. You could kill the population of entire continents.”

  “Again, a little dramatic,” I muttered. “You said yourself that laptop feeds from another source of information. If GDI knows we have it, then they could be feeding us false information.”

  But Seth was shaking his head.

  Shaina frantically tapped my arm. I let up on her throat a little and she took in a deep breath.

  “Our priority was to get Kaitlyn to safety,” Seth said. “That’s been accomplished. It’s … it’s a shame what happened. A damn shame. But you’re a
huge threat, Conor. You must know that,” he added, pleading.

  He almost looked pitiful, standing there with the gun at his side. I’d never been afraid of Seth, nor had Felix, but at that moment I was just about brown-trousered.

  “Seth, put the gun down. There are bigger concerns,” Rian said from the entryway.

  “It’s in his head now, Rian,” I said, not taking my eyes from the gun in Seth’s hand.

  “I know you loved Felix,” Seth said to Rian. “I did too. But he’s dead, Rian. I’m sorry, but he’s gone. If you’d seen the damage … If you’d seen what the virus did, you’d know this needs to happen. I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  He raised the gun and fired. The bullet hit my left shoulder just to the side of my meat shield, the impact knocking me back a step. I threw Shaina at Rian and lunged for Seth as he shot again.

  We fell to the couch, then rolled onto the floor. I landed on top of him and another shot went off as I tried to subdue him.

  “For Christ’s sake, Kaitlyn’s upstairs!” I shouted, unsure where the shots were going.

  I landed a couple of blows to Seth’s face with my elbows, not wanting to give him enough room to fire the gun again while I searched for the leverage to disarm him.

  “Just fecking drop it, you eejit,” I yelled.

  The only response I got was wild eyes and more thrashing.

  I’d thought that between the adrenaline and the fire in my shoulder, I wouldn’t be able to feel it if Seth shot me again.

  I was wrong.

  The sudden surge of pain and fear brought Felix forward and I tried to hold him back but I …

  *****

  “Seth,” I said. “What …”

  Let go.

  Conor’s voice.

  “Felix?” Seth asked, the noise barely a word, more a wet gurgle, eyes wide with shock.

  Let go.

  Conor again, more insistent, more desperate.

  Seth said something. Might have said sorry. Couldn’t tell. His face was collapsing.

  I couldn’t hear. My vision started going. I think I said his name. I think I said …