by Adrian Smith
She ignored it and screamed frustration in her mind. The hand gripped her leg and shook it harder.
“What?” Zanzi said, sitting up.
She nearly let out a yelp. It wasn’t Tilly sitting at the end of her bed. It was Milo, his flawless skin glowing in the dim light from the corridor. He held up a finger and pointed first to himself, then to her, indicating she was to follow him. She shook her head. Milo held up his hands and brought them together as though in prayer. Zanzi’s curiosity was piqued. What did he want? She had always prided herself on reading people’s body language. His was non-threatening. Either he was an amazing actor, or he was genuine.
Zanzi pulled back the covers and padded after Milo. He led her out of the sleeping quarters and down the linoleum hall through several doors, before holding open a large oak door. The room beyond was plush. From the thick red carpet to the leather couches and a mahogany desk. All but one of the walls were covered in shelves of books, old and leather-bound. A globe of Earth sat next to the desk. The only wall free had a floor-to-ceiling window looking out over the beautiful Sierra Nevada Mountains. In the moonlight, they looked even more majestic. Silver and black beacons shining, guiding spirits into the afterlife. Zanzi smiled, thinking of Brock, Kamal, and the old Multnomah woman who had helped her and Lisa. She said a prayer and hoped they had survived Offenheim’s purge.
Milo closed the door with a click and joined her at the window. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”
“It is. Pity there’s no one left to enjoy it.”
Milo smiled, blowing air out his nose so it whistled. “I guess you are wondering why I brought you here.” He clasped his hands behind his back, keeping his eyes focused on the view. “You might not believe me, Zanzi, but the world was sick. It needed healing. Offenheim, like his father and those before him, knew there was only one solution. A reset. Too many people equaled irreversible global problems. It was an extinction waiting to happen. All of us. Gone. Some billionaires looked to Mars, saw that as an escape. But Earth is our home, so we had to address the problem. People.”
“By killing everyone?” Zanzi said through clenched teeth. “How is that a cure? With all your resources, you could have poured trillions into research. Cured cancer. Grown food. Stopped world hunger.”
Milo turned to face her, his eyes flaring. “We ran out of time. This was the best and only way. And we didn’t kill everyone. I argued for half.”
“Half!” Zanzi raised her voice. “You sound like a madman. Save the world by wiping out half its inhabitants.”
Milo continued to stare but remained silent.
“How many survived, then? A million? Two?”
“Three billion is the estimate. But we can’t be sure until the satellites finish collecting their data.”
Her head swam. Not only at the figures, but the way he so nonchalantly talked about it. “Why did you bring me here? To brag?”
Milo walked away to his desk. He clicked an unseen button. A door sprang open next to him, and he grabbed a bottle of scotch and two glasses, setting the bottle on the desk.
“Drink?”
“Sure. Why not. Let’s make this week weirder.”
Milo poured them two fingers each and handed her a glass. “I brought you here so you could understand. To give you a chance to join us before Alba gets her hands on you. I’ve read your file. You’re a smart woman. We need people like you. We need people to help us create a better world. Somewhere where science and academic studies thrive. Free of religions and their petty squabbling. Free of idiots who infect the world like parasites, reproducing faster than insects, clogging up the world with their trash. Free of mundane sports. Think of what we could achieve. Faster-than-light space travel. Cure disease. Cure aging. Even cure death.”
Zanzi shook her head and looked again at the mountains bathed in moonlight.
“It all sounds like a cult to me. All those things made the world and humanity what it was. Messy and chaotic. You can’t have intelligence without stupidity. You can’t have academics without sports. I loved all those things, all at the same time. We need them. Religion, faith, science, and sports. Nature. Greed and charity. All those things, we need them. They make life. They make us human. You can’t have one without the other.”
“I guess you don’t understand then,” Milo said, sadness tinging his words.
“I understand. But what you psychos did, I never will. Sure, the world had myriad problems. But I’ve always believed that, by working together, we could have sorted them out.”
“That is exactly why we did it. Now we can.”
Zanzi gulped down the last of the scotch, savoring the feel of the amber liquid as it slid down her throat. “Take me back to my room.”
Milo stood, fists clenched on the mahogany desk. His white marbled skin glowed. “I’m trying to save you. Offenheim has given you until tomorrow, until sundown, to decide.”
“Why would I? So I can participate in your crimes?”
Milo sighed and sat back down. Zanzi wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw a tear form in his right eye. “I loved her, you know. With all my heart.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Amelia. Offenheim betrayed me and killed her. I don’t know if I can do this without her.”
Zanzi blinked, realizing he was talking about the woman in the viewing room. She had combusted in his arms. Zanzi’s own father had spoken like this after her mother had died, and Zanzi had felt the same. Especially when Liam too had been killed on that horrible day four years ago. Killed protecting others. Given them a chance to climb out windows, even as the bullets slammed into his torso. Zanzi had been on the far side of the school and had been amongst the first students ushered to safety by the police. It wasn’t until hours later that she heard the news, and still had only vague recollections of the days that followed.
She glanced back up at Milo. Was this her way out? Was he the key?
“Tell me something. Were you responsible for the attack on LK3?”
“Yes. As Offenheim mentioned, plans had to be ramped up. Since Harriet escaped, Dr. Kohli called it in. That her blood samples had been sent there. That you had seen something odd. It was necessary to silence LK3. We weren’t ready. Unfortunately you and the director escaped, but it still allowed us enough time to speed up the plan.”
“Phones? Internet? Was that you too?”
“Of course. Cause fear before chaos. It was beautiful watching it unfold. Except I had to deal with you.”
“How did you do it?”
“My dear, ReinCorp controls nearly every major satellite orbiting earth. Nearly every telecommunications company throughout the world.” Milo snapped his fingers. “It was like flicking a switch.” He chortled. “Poof. No more stupid people becoming famous for saying something idiotic.”
Zanzi was right to call ReinCorp a cult. Milo was as convinced of their right to play God as Offenheim. She wanted to swear at him and call him a prick. Instead she said, “And the virus? How does it work? I’ve never seen anything take effect so quickly.”
Milo pushed back his chair and pointed to the door. “That’s enough. I’ll take you back to your room. Try to spend the next while thinking about my offer. Maybe then you will discover the answers you seek.”
He ushered her out the door without another word and led her back to her room. Tilly was still sleeping soundly as Zanzi climbed back under the covers.
Her heart thundered in her chest. Sometimes the best way to destroy an empire was from within. And to do that, she needed to be alive.
She prayed to Liam and Cal, asking them to give her strength for the sacrifice she would need to carry out her plan. Milo had given her an in. Zanzi planned to take it and use it.
Twenty-Nine
Koyasan, Japan
The screeches from Siphons reverberated up the maintenance shaft, chasing Ryan up every rung he climbed. It didn’t take him long to reach the elevator, stuck at the first floor, and maneuver past it to stan
d on top. He dropped through after Sofia and wiped the grease off his hands before locking the trapdoor. Allie crouched in a corner, drinking from a water bottle, panting from the climb. She saw Ryan looking and managed a smile. She offered him the water. He shook his head. He didn’t blame her for being exhausted. It had been non-stop action since the world went sideways with people, dogs, and even cats suddenly combusting. He grimaced as he recalled the passenger jet howling above him before slamming into the forested mountain. The death squads, and now the Siphons. Their shrieks were present but faint, and he heard no further signs of their pursuit.
Sofia already had the doors pried apart and was peering through the small gap. Ryan strained his ears, listening for either the commandos or the Siphons. The office building remained quiet.
“What do you see?” he said, keeping his voice low
“It’s clear,” Sofia said and turned to face him. “What are you thinking?”
Ryan squeezed next to her and glanced out into the hallway beyond. The carpet was adorned with hexagon shapes in dark browns and beige. Gold rubbish bins were dotted along the entire length, and the walls were covered in portraits of men in suits. Some were old and gray while others were younger. But all had stern and staring eyes. Ryan scanned the area, looking for any hint of what the building was used for other than offices. Through the windows, he noted two things: night had fallen, and this side of the building was wrapped in scaffolding. He let the door snap shut with a thud.
“I still think the best option is to hike down the pilgrimage trail,” he said. “Allie and I discussed it earlier. There’s a track that leads to the next village and the train station. We can either find a vehicle or, last resort, take one of the trains.” Ryan looked at each of them in turn. “Obviously we can’t go down. We know what’s there.”
Hogai groaned and sat down. His baseball jacket bunched up as he buried his head in his hands.
“What then, gaijin?” He threw a hand out and hit the wall next to the glowing buttons. “You said if I came with you I’d be fine.”
Keiko placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him. Hogai shrugged it off and turned away.
“Leave it, Keiko,” Sofia said. She crouched down next to him. “Hogai. I know it’s scary and you just want to be safe, but believe me, I’ve known Connors for a long time. If anyone can get us out of this nightmare, it’s him.”
She handed Hogai a bottle of water. “Drink, you’ll feel better.”
“What’s the plan then, Spy-boy?” Allie said. “We can’t hide in this elevator forever.”
“We go up.”
“Up?” Allie and Sofia chorused together.
“Yes. There’s scaffold on the side of the building. So we go to the roof and climb down. From what we’ve seen of the Siphons, they’re congregating inside, for now. The forest and the trails are just across the road. Inside is too risky. The death squads will be sweeping the building soon. So we go up and then down the outside.”
“Siphons?” Sofia let out a small bark of laughter and shook her head. “You’re always coming up with crazy names. All right. Up it is.”
“But we saw Siphons outside too. Those monks.” Allie shivered.
“I know. But if we can sneak into the forest without being detected, I think we’ll be clear for now. It’s our best shot. We can’t fight our way out, even with all three of us armed. Gunshots will alert the death squads in seconds. Stealth is our only option,” Ryan said.
“What I’d give for a good MP9 or even an AR-15. Anything.” Allie grinned.
“You in, then?”
Allie tilted her head to one side, conceding to the plan. She was reaching out for the elevator buttons when gunfire erupted from the corridor. Controlled short bursts in rapid succession. Then shouts and screams rang out, with small pops of handguns returning fire.
Suddenly the boom of a shotgun rattled the elevator.
Ryan opened the trapdoor and poked his head out. The Siphons were far below, struggling to climb into the shaft. He ignored the creatures and lifted Keiko, then Hogai and Allie, back on top of the elevator. Sofia scrambled through just as the crack of the assault rifles intensified. More screams and shouts followed.
Ryan picked out snippets of the shouts. The voice was trying to instruct others to stand and fight. He shook his head. Handguns and shotguns weren’t going to last long against rifles. If he had to guess, the death squad were attacking the leftover YamTech security.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Something slammed against the elevator doors with a thump. The doors dinged open and a bloodied figure fell into the elevator, clawing at the walls. He turned his face toward Ryan, blinking as blood ran into his eyes. He gasped once and lay still.
Ryan slid the trapdoor shut just as a black figure stepped into the elevator. He turned and shushed the group. Keiko and Hogai clung to Sofia while she held the cable with one hand.
The commando’s radio squawked. “Status?”
The language was German, just like in Tokyo. “Clear. Over.”
“Sweep the next floor and move on to the next location. Beta team has finished on the top floors.”
“Affirmative. Out.”
Ryan held his breath, not daring to make a sound. He tried to get a better footing and looked down. The Siphons had strangely disappeared. He craned his neck farther, checking their immediate area. Thankfully, it remained clear.
“We need to stay here on the elevator until those commandos have gone. No talking, okay?” Ryan whispered.
Everyone nodded.
He cracked the trapdoor open. The commando was gone, and the doors shut. Ryan began to climb down into the elevator.
“Where are you going?” Sofia said, her voice barely audible.
Ryan held up his hand in a finger-gun gesture. Sofia raised an eyebrow but remained quiet. As dangerous as it was, getting ammunition was an opportunity he wasn’t going to miss. He also wanted to get a better look at the death squad. From the little he had seen, they looked extremely competent and ruthless. He dropped back into the elevator. The dead guard still gripped a Minebea 9mm pistol, a popular handgun for the Japanese Defense Force. Perfect. The ammo would fit both his Glock and Allie’s and Sofia’s Sig Sauer P365s. He ejected the magazine and slipped it into his satchel, along with the two spare magazines. He rolled the body over and noticed a black metal baton. A stun baton. Ryan shrugged and unclipped it. Allie was looking down at him through the trapdoor. He turned the electroshock weapon over before handing it up to her. Anything, at this point, was useful.
Seeing the prod took him back to the Congo. The crowds swelling around him as villagers choked the streets, demanding the government do something more about the worsening Ebola epidemic, among other issues. The authorities had responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, and stun batons, incapacitating hundreds. Ryan, Booth, Sofia, and Cal had done all they could, but the sheer number of citizens had overwhelmed them. In their panic, the crowd had stampeded, killing dozens.
He would never forget the image of the bodies of trampled children, twisted and lifeless on the filthy road. He grimaced. And now, like many times before, he vowed to rid the world of such callous behavior. He hated losing. It frustrated him. If ReinCorp was indeed responsible for the recent events, he was going to do everything he could to end it.
Ryan put his ear to the doors. The klaxons and robotic voice had long been silenced. He counted to three and cracked open the door. From his position, he spotted five bodies. Just like the man next to him, they were all in gray fatigues. As quick as he could, he grabbed four more magazines and two more stun batons. He went back into the elevator, closed the doors, and handed the spares up to Allie and Sofia while he kept the batons. He took up a position at the closed doors and left everyone to their own thoughts.
After twenty minutes, he cracked the doors open again. The corridor and beyond remained silent.
“Time to go.”
“Up?” Allie asked.
“Y
es.”
Using her bō staff, she pressed the button marked “Executive Offices.” The label next to it was written in both kanji and English.
As the elevator hummed and began to move, Ryan ejected the magazine from his Glock and double-checked how many rounds he had left. Eleven. He added some from his newly acquired spares and smiled. At least the adults were all armed now.
The elevator doors opened with a ding, revealing the same hexagon carpet as on the first floor. The corridor was empty. Just the hum of the air conditioning system filled the space. Ryan ushered everyone out and, using one of the trashcans, jammed the doors open.
“Just in case. Don’t want anyone following us,” he said.
The group padded up the hallway, each of them aware that any sound could trigger the Siphons to attack. He headed to a white door at the end of the wide corridor. He couldn’t quite make out the text on the label next to it. It was different to all the other doors in that it was painted and not some exotic timber coated in clear varnish to a luster glow.
As he slipped past the last office, he spotted that the door was ajar. Slivers of moonlight shone on the carpet. He held up his hand in a clenched fist, bringing the others to a halt. Ryan inched the door open with his Glock and scanned the room and its contents in seconds. He grinned. An ancient suit of Samurai armor and a rack of swords in various sizes were on display. Behind the desk, a leather chair lay on its side. A body-shaped pile of ash coated the arm rests and the carpet. Ryan spent a few seconds watching and listening at the door, wary of any threats. He wanted to get everyone out of this building as soon as possible, but the soldier in him knew they needed more food and water.
After waiting for a few more moments, he stole inside and waved the others in.
Allie rifled through the cupboards behind the desk, adding more water and snacks to her rucksack. Hogai sat down on the lounge suite, feet on the coffee table, and folded his arms. Ryan grunted, remembering his own teenage years, and watching Liam go from a happy-go-lucky kid to a sullen teenager almost overnight.