Kim stopped as a pair of kids wrestled past her in the hall. Mary ran by with a wave. Kim put her head down and kept walking toward Room 5. Jessie stood at the door, staring at Dex. She turned around and jerked back when she saw Kim, smiling and embarrassed, almost like she’d been caught doing something. She started to question her friend when Savannah hobbled in from the cafeteria.
“Hey, Kim. Got a sec?”
She dismissed Jessie. “Give me a second, and I’ll be right in.” She turned back to Savannah. “The kids seem to be settling in great.”
“They’re still working things out. But everything’s mostly good. And, Fiona. She’s the youngest, but everyone’s treating her like a little sister.”
“They bond fast,” Kim agreed. “They had to survive on their own for weeks. That takes some teamwork.”
“They recover quickly.”
“Are they being good for you?”
“They’re getting to know me.” Savannah’s laugh turned into a deeper cough. Kim placed her hand on the woman’s shoulder, waiting for the fit to pass.
When she was done hacking, she straightened. “Get back to me in a few days.” Her eyes fell to the case Kim carried. “What’s that?”
Kim glanced up and down the hall. “Do you have a minute?”
Savannah followed her expression. “Dex is guarding them. They’ll be fine.”
“Come on in. You should probably be kept in the loop on this stuff.”
“What stuff?”
Kim plucked at her shirt and entered Room 5. Inside, Bishop, Bryant, and Jessie waited.
Their rooms were standard issue, simple and efficient with a few helpful technological perks. They came with bathrooms, a bed, desk, and small sofa. A thirty-inch monitor was mounted near the foot of the bed, and they had access to a tablet computer.
The design was sleek, with gray counters and sparkling white walls and sheets. A few simple pictures hung here and there.
“Is it safe having her here?” Bryant glanced at Savannah as he paced back and forth at the far end of the room.
“We don’t have to tell her everything,” Jessie said where she sat cross-legged on the bed, “but she should know something.”
“Ignorance is bliss,” Bryant stared.
“Ignorance will keep us weak.”
“Is she with us?” Bishop asked. He sat at the desk chair across from Jessie.
“Is it safe having me around?” Savannah looked back and forth between them. “What are you talking about?”
Kim kissed her husband on the cheek and then placed the case on the desk. She flipped the locks up and opened it. She pulled out one of Burke’s handheld devices and handed it to Jessie.
She powered it up and played with the applications on the screen. “Moment of truth,” she said.
Kim watched as she checked schematics, bio readings, and security systems. She finally dropped the device into her lap and looked around at them with a smile. “They aren’t monitoring our apartments. They either don’t have access to do it, or they trust us.”
“I doubt they trust us,” Bryant said. “They’re probably feeling us out. They don’t want to aggravate us since we have Burke down in Room 30. They also didn’t like that we insisted on bringing our rifles inside, though we agreed to keep them in one apartment.”
“I’d be a little confused if I were them,” Bishop said with a chuckle. “We stroll into Redpine with their boss in chains. We’re armed to the teeth, babysitting thirty kids. I couldn’t have written that in one of my books.”
“We definitely ruined their week,” Kim agreed with a glance at her husband. “They’ll start testing us soon. They’ll want to know what we’re about and if we have any weaknesses.”
“Agreed,” Jessie said. She held up her handheld. “And I think this is the key to our survival down here.”
Kim lifted a second device and handed it to Bryant. Then she took one for herself. She’d practiced with it on Burke’s bus but would spend more time working with it now that they were inside Redpine. She flipped to the structures schematics and watched as green dots floated throughout the facility. “I noticed the connection is faster here.”
“We’re closer to the central routers,” Jessie explained.
Savannah studied the devices they held with a mixture of curiosity and reserved fear. “What is all this?”
The others looked away as Kim turned to explain. “The man we have as a prisoner. Burke?”
“You said he was bad.”
“Not just bad, but downright evil. He’s the most conniving, tricky, narcissist you’ll ever meet. He was the CEO of the company which caused all this.”
“You mean, the infections?” Savannah’s brown eyes opened wide.
“The spores,” Kim nodded. “Your illness and the loss of everyone you loved.”
“How do you know?”
“It’s a long story, and I’ll tell you over dinner.”
The former teacher nodded, appearing confused. She shook her head. “Sorry, I’m still a little cloudy from the infection.”
“Told you we shouldn’t have let her in.” Bryant stared at her. “One slip of the tongue, and they’ll know what we can do.”
“No, I’m fine.” Savannah shook off the confusion, standing up to the soldier. “I won’t slip up. I’m not going to talk to anyone.” She regained her curiosity. “What are the devices? Tell me what they can do.”
Jessie’s eyes moved around the group. When no one protested, she shook the device in her hand and explained. “These enable us to monitor all the public spaces, and some private. We can follow the Redpine personnel, and we have access to the camera and communication systems.”
“The three apartment sectors are connected to a security wing,” Jessie gestured out toward the hall. “But we can block the corridors and lock them down. We can control air filtration and any automated processes. But we can’t leak any of this.”
“Why would you do that?” Savannah looked confused. “Don’t they want to help us?”
“We don’t know,” Kim shook her head. “Maybe. I’m sure they’re good people. We won’t be one hundred percent certain until we start working with them.”
“You knew their names when we came in,” Savannah pointed out. “Wouldn’t that have tipped them off?”
Jessie nodded. “That’s true, but we could have gotten that information from Burke. If anything, it will keep them guessing.”
“Which is right where we want them,” Bryant said.
Bishop gave Savannah an imploring look. “The important thing is, we have to hold down the fort here. We want to keep a close eye on the kids while Kim works on the cure. And we have to guard Burke. If they get to him and set him loose--”
“He’ll start a war with us,” Kim frowned, “destroying any evidence of a cure before systematically wiping us out.”
Savannah shook her head. “I won’t let that happen. I wasn’t much of a fighter before, but I learned how. I had to if I wanted to stay alive.”
Kim felt sorry for her. “Look, you probably feel like you’ve jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. That’s why I felt it was important to bring you in. You’ll be spending a lot of time with the kids, and we have to keep them close.”
“Things will probably be fine,” Jessie assured them. “Everyone will get along, we’ll make the cure, and deliver Burke to General Miller. We’ll save the world.”
Savannah nodded and stood straighter with her crutch tucked under her arm. Her big eyes moved around the group. “You can count on me.”
“I’ll swing by later to give you an exam,” Kim said with a smile. “We want to get you out of that mask as soon as it’s safe to do so.”
“Thanks,” she nodded. “I guess I’ll get back to the kids now.” She turned and hobbled from the room, stifling a wheezing cough on her way out the door.
“Can we trust her?” Bryant asked, looking around.
“Who can we trust?” Bishop responded.<
br />
Kim watched the two men, saw doubt written across their faces. “I think she’ll be a boon. She was a K-12 teacher back in a past life.”
“Well, that’s great news,” Jessie said.
“That’s what I thought.” Kim looked at the men and scoffed. “But these two seem to have their doubts.”
“I’m sure she’s a good person,” Bishop explained, crossing his massive arms across his chest. “But we all know how the infection affects people. It makes them confused. What if she tells one of them about our devices, or lets it slip that we’re taking Burke to General Miller?”
“But what could happen if she doesn’t know what’s at stake?” Jessie reasoned. “If she trusts these people too much, she might not be on guard. No, Kim made the right choice. She needs to have a healthy fear about the situation.”
“She’s recovering fast, and she’s quick-witted.” Kim stood straighter. “She tried to protect us back in Salina. She’s dedicated to the kids, and she was excited when I asked her to look out for them. We’ll watch her.”
“Just another thing to keep an eye on,” Bryant gave a heavy sigh. “But I trust you ladies. So, we invite Savannah to all our stakeholder meetings.”
“Speaking of meetings,” Jessie straightened in her chair as she stared at the device screen. “Our hosts are coming.”
“Who is it?” Kim tensed.
“Mueller. Two of his guards. Nancy and the other two facilitators.”
“Let’s go meet them.” Kim turned and headed for the door with Jessie and Bishop following close behind.
“Hold up there, folks,” Bryant said. “Let me and Kim meander out there. We don’t want to go out there full force and ready to tangle. They’ll wonder how we knew they were coming.”
“Right,” Kim nodded. “Where are they?”
“In the elevator. They’ll be in the rec room in less than a minute.”
Kim stuffed her handheld device into her front pocket and led Bryant outside. They stepped to the makeshift guard table where Corporal Dex watched over the cafeteria and rec room beyond.
Kim had just met him, but she’d instantly taken to his wide smile and chipper attitude. She’d inspected all the soldiers before entering the facility. She’d stuck them into quarantine and then measured the air quality. They’d checked out okay, but they still showed weakness and occasional bouts of confusion. The most notable symptom was the coughing up of dead and dying fungus material. Black mucus strung together with thin mycelium strands. Not pleasant, but necessary to clear out the lungs.
They wouldn’t infect anyone, and that was the most important part.
“Hey, folks.” Dex stiffened in his seat as the pair came up.
Bryant nodded a greeting.
“Hi, Dex,” Kim said. “How are you feeling?”
He smiled thinly, still with dark bags beneath his eyes. “It’s been a little rough...” Something caught in his throat, and he looked away and spit into a nearby cup.
Kim and Bryant glanced around as the soldier cleared the obstruction. She watched the kids play and chatter in the cafeteria.
It was an octagon-shaped space with food stations set up on their left and seats and tables spread throughout. A long archway stood on the other side of the chamber, leading to the rec room.
Their primary source of sustenance were the vending machines lining the left wall. They weren’t the standard soda or snack machines she was used to seeing at rest stops and in office break rooms.
These were nondescript, stainless steel affairs with rows of prepackaged meals and a single selection button beneath each. There were no slots to accept money or credit cards. The meals could be baked or microwaved, the appliances capable of heating a half dozen at one time.
While she had yet to eat, a brief glance inside a machine showed a wide variety of options, plus apples, bananas, and desserts. Kim wondered how they replaced the produce.
Savannah stood in the middle of it all, helping the kids with their selections or choosing sets of silverware and plates. As far as Kim could tell, they never used foam or plastic. Everything was washable, each person responsible for their own pieces.
The smells of beef gravy and butter filtered through the air, making Kim’s stomach grumble.
“I need to eat something after this.” Kim held her belly.
Dex finished his coughing fit and stammered a suggestion. “I know it’s in every cafeteria you ever ate in as a child, but I’d recommend the Salisbury Steak.”
“I promise to give it a try,” Kim chuckled.
“Here they come,” Bryant said, tensing up as a group marched in from the rec room.
Kim took a quick breath. “Let’s go greet our guests.”
Mueller strode in with his hands behind his back, leaning this way and that like a general doing an inspection. His soldiers wore dark fatigues and sidearms, their stone-faced expressions neither threatening nor friendly.
The thin facilitator, Nancy, walked beside him, looking around for someone in charge. Her assistants, Mike Smith and Sally Green, followed her. Mike was an average man with a balding head. His flannel shirt and light brown beard gave the impression of a woodsman, but Kim thought him too soft and relaxed for that. He looked more like a college professor than a man who chopped wood.
Sally Green’s roundness countered Nancy’s thinness. She carried her stout body well, waddling slightly on big legs, her arms pushed out to the sides by her barrel chest. She only matched Nancy in hair color and style, both mousy brown and tied back to be more functional than fancy.
The facilitators wore hopeful expressions, while Mueller and his guards moved like a mobile stone wall. They met in the middle of the cafeteria. Kim folded her arms across her chest, and Bryant held his loose at his sides.
“Greetings.” The captain offered a thin smile. “It seems everyone is fitting in well.” His eyes lighted on Savannah. “Is that woman the nanny?”
“Her name is Savannah,” Kim replied. “We picked her up in Salina with the kids. She’s a former teacher, K-12.”
“It’s nice to see they have such a good influence,” Nancy chimed. “Especially after what they’ve been through.”
Kim nodded, suddenly worried at the captain’s narrowed eyes.
“I see by her crutch and the way she carries herself that she’s been wounded.”
“That’s right,” Kim admitted. “It’s just a scratch. Scraped herself on some scrap metal before we left Kansas.”
Mueller scoffed and turned toward the facilitator. “The way Nancy described it, I would have thought the woman got shot.”
Kim held her expression straight, cursing herself inwardly for not shielding the wound better when she’d dressed it.
“I’m sure it looked that way,” Kim affirmed. “I stitched it up and probably didn’t do a good job.”
“Well, if you’d like anyone on our staff to have a look, please let us know.” The captain regarded them with eyes the color of granite. “We have two surgeons and a handful of nurses. It takes a small army to protect our little flock.”
“How many do you have on site?” Kim asked, acting curious.
“A little over a hundred and fifty,” Mueller replied, and Kim smiled at his under-representation of the facts.
Kim gave a low whistle. “That’s a lot of people.”
“As you probably know, our apartment wings are interconnected through the passageways behind me.” Mueller gestured with his head. “Security will be to your left. The rest of the Redpine staff will be on the right. Should you ever need anything, please let us know.”
“We will,” Bryant nodded.
“And I thank you for abiding by my request to not carry rifles.”
The soldier held up his hand to reveal he wore only a pistol on his hip. “It was a fair request. I stowed all the rifles in my apartment and locked them up, in a show of good faith.”
“What room is that?” Mueller’s voice crept up with a quizzical note.
&n
bsp; “I’m in Room 20.”
“Good to know,” the captain smiled pleasantly.
Nancy craned her thin neck forward, directing a question to Kim. “Are you finding the facilities adequate?”
“Definitely,” Kim looked around. “The kids already love it here. They’ve been cooped up in a tiny bus for two days. And before that a boiler room beneath their school.”
Nancy’s face grew pinched, and she winced as if the words hurt her heart. “That is just terrible.”
“Thanks for clearing out this hall for us, too.” Kim was honestly grateful. “The kids appreciate being all together.”
“We had to relocate some people,” Nancy admitted, “but we explained the situation, and folks were happy to move for the children’s sake. It’s probably for the best. You know, to give our sides some time to mingle.”
Kim glanced at Bryant before beaming her a warm look. “We were just saying that.”
“I assume you’re planning on staying a while?”
She nodded. “As long as it takes to create the cure and mass produce it.”
“Probably weeks or months,” Nancy calculated, and her voice rose hopefully. “Maybe we can set up some movie nights in the gym. You know, get everyone together on a positive note.”
“That sounds great.”
“There aren’t many kids around,” the woman explained, “so I’m sure they’ll inject a lot of energy into the mix.”
Mueller shot Nancy a look, and she squelched her enthusiasm.
“When can I get started?” Kim asked. “I loaded the laptop you provided me with all Paul’s data. But I want to tour the lab and the chemical facility.”
“You should be hearing from the Brewers soon. They’ll be the ones to walk you through. Did they set you up on the lab chat channel?”
“Yes, I’m on there,” Kim nodded, her next words genuine. “I can’t wait to get into a real lab again. I feel like I’ve been working in a closet.”
Nancy smiled wide, straightening with a sense of pride. “I think you’ll find our labs are quite good. Not that I’m a scientist.”
Spore Series | Book 5 | Torch Page 16