Mass Extinction Event (Book 8): Days 109 to 116

by Cross, Amy

  Suddenly I stop as I hear a brief metal clanging sound.

  “Have you come to check on me?” Carter's voice asks in the darkness, sounding angry and defiant. “Well, surprise, I'm still here. Now you can fuck off for a few more hours.”

  “It's me,” I whisper. “It's Thomas.”

  There's a pause.

  “Thomas?” she says finally, and now her voice is a little quieter. Weaker, too. “What are you doing here?”

  “I came to find you.”

  “Why?”

  For a moment, I'm not really sure how to answer that particular question.

  “Are you okay?” I ask, staring into the darkness but still not managing to see her. “What have they done to you?”

  “Done?” I think I hear a faint laugh. “Nothing much. Not yet. So far, it seems that their plan is to bore me to death, but I'm sure there'll be something else later.” She hesitates. “Thomas, I think I might owe you an apology. From what the soldiers were saying, I think maybe, somehow, Patterson might actually be alive.”

  “I told you I saw him!”

  “It doesn't make much sense, though,” she continues, before sighing. “Every time I solve a puzzle, another one turns up to take its place.”

  “I'm going to get you out of here,” I tell her.

  “No, you're not.”

  “What kind of -”

  “I'm handcuffed to some pipes,” she says, and I hear the clanging sound again. “I think the only reason I'm not dead yet is that Patterson wants something from me. He's probably still after the cure I developed. Do you have the vials?”

  “Yes, but -”

  “Keep them safe. If they fall into the wrong hands, they could be used by assholes like Patterson to gain power. It's not the vials themselves that he's after, it's something he can use them for, as leverage. I think he might be trying to gain access to Project Atherius. Usually a man like Patterson would never get close, but the vials could make him more important. In the currency of the post-apocalyptic world, he might suddenly be a very rich man.”

  “So what am I supposed to do?” I ask. “Run?”

  “Why would you run?”

  “To get us away from Patterson,” I suggest. “I could break you out of here, and then we could head away from Boston. You must know some people who can be trusted to use the cure properly.”

  “That's not going to happen.”

  “Or other people will develop the cure.”

  “Sure. Maybe. Eventually.”

  “You can't be the only one!”

  “Clearly you've never been around a genius before,” she replies. “I'm far from -”

  Suddenly she starts coughing. I wait, but in the darkness it sounds as if she's bringing her guts up.

  “Are you sure you're okay?” I ask. “Do you need any medication?”

  “I need lots of medication,” she replies.

  “Tell me where to find it.”

  “And then what? You're going to just bring it here for me, and ask the guards to let me have it?”

  “I'll sneak in.”

  “The two assholes on the door are paid grunts,” she replies. “They're supposed to stay with earshot of me, but they just hang around somewhere else. That's how you managed to get in, but you're risking a lot by being here. And if Patterson realizes you're around, he'll come to you for the vials. You've got to be smart, Thomas.”

  “Then what -”

  “Don't come back here.”

  I wait for her to continue, but after a few seconds I realize that she's serious.

  “Goodbye, Thomas,” she says finally. “The cure isn't going to save the world. Hang onto it, use it sparingly. Try to find somewhere far from the rest of humanity, and live out your days. Who knows? With any luck, you might not die in agony. The most important thing about that cure is that you keep it out of Patterson's hands. I can die with relative ease, so long as I know that a moron like Patterson isn't going to get anywhere.”

  “I'm going to find someone who can use the cure properly,” I tell her. “It has to be possible.”

  “Your optimism is nauseating,” she replies, “but -”

  Suddenly I hear footsteps in the distance, and I duck down just as the beam from a flashlight bursts into the room. Shocked, I see Carter over on the other side of the room, hunched on the floor with her right arm chained to a set of metal pipes. She uses her free hand to try covering her face, but for a moment I see that some of the skin around her jaw has started to come away, as if her body is decomposing even while she's still alive.

  The flashlight switches off, and I hear the footsteps fading away into the distance.

  “Now you have to leave, Thomas,” Carter says firmly from the darkness ahead. “Can you get that through your thick head? There's no-one who can use those vials responsibly. I was wrong about them. Either save them and run, or destroy them. Whatever you do, don't let Patterson get hold of them. Do you understand?”

  “I'm going to get you out of here.”

  “Goodbye, Thomas,” she says again, as if she didn't hear what I just told her. “No more heroics. That's not how the world works. Destroy those vials and then get out of town before Patterson realizes you're here.”

  Elizabeth

  “No, I'm fine, thank you,” I tell Caitlin as she follows me along the corridor. “Just taking another day to get my head straight, you know?”

  “And you're sure there's nothing you need?” she asks, sounding a little worried. “I was tasked with keeping you safe, so if there's -”

  “There's nothing,” I say, stopping and turning to her. What I really need is for her to leave me alone so that I can go back to Toad and continue making plans. For some reason, I really don't want Caitlin knowing that I have any more friends here in Boston. I think being associated with me might put Toad in danger. “I'll let you know if that changes, though. I promise.”

  She hesitates, clearly a little suspicious, but finally she forces a smile.

  “Okay, then,” she says. “I'll check on you later, though. By the way, have you seen your friend Thomas this morning?”

  “Uh, no. I'm sure he's fine, though.”

  She mutters something under her breath, and then she turns and hurries away. There's something strange about that woman, something that makes me feel distinctly uneasy, but I guess that's one mystery I really don't need to solve. Turning, I make my way along the corridor, determined to get back to Toad with this bread and milk so that we can get back to the task of planning our next step. I want to be out of Boston by the end of the day.

  Suddenly, as I head around another corner, I almost slam straight into somebody who's coming the other way. Startled, I step back and find myself face to face with Charles Bloom.

  “Elizabeth,” he says with a smile, “how fortunate. I was just coming to find you.”

  “Oh, I -”

  “I went to your room. There was a soldier there. I don't know what he was doing, but I sent him back to his post. You don't know any soldiers, do you?”

  “I...”

  For a moment, I'm not sure what to say.

  “No,” I manage finally. “I mean... I don't know anyone.”

  “Perhaps he was just snooping around,” Bloom says, furrowing his brow, “or perhaps he was looking to steal. Don't worry, he's gone now. I gave him a good talking-to, so I don't think he'll be back. I really should have noted down his name, though, so that I could investigate further. Still, I'm sure it won't matter, not in the long run.” He stares at me for a moment, before looking at the bread and milk in my hands. “I see you're being well fed.”

  “Yes. Thank you.”

  “That's quite a lot, for just one person. You must be very hungry.”

  I nod.

  “Walk with me, Elizabeth,” he says, turning and starting to make his way along another corridor. “Don't be shy.”

  Figuring that I have no choice, I glance around in case there's any sign of Toad, and then I start to follow Bloo
m. I desperately want to get away from this guy, but I know that I need to make sure I don't arouse his suspicions. Right now, he thinks I'm just some scared girl who might be useful to him because of my father, and I don't want him to think that I'm up to anything. I'll catch up to Toad later. For now, I just have to pretend to be naive and a little oblivious.

  “I asked around about your father,” Bloom explains, “and I'm afraid I've not had much luck. He certainly wasn't captured after the battle, and nobody seems to have seen him escape. You mustn't give up hope, though. He could well be alive. And if he does show up, I assure you that I'll do everything in my power to give him full protection.”

  “He's probably just in another part of the city,” I reply.

  “That's possible,” he says, “but I think the most likely explanation, if he's alive, is that he fled.”

  “My father isn't a coward.”

  “Your father is a man, like all men,” he replies. “In the heat of battle, facing near-certain death, who could blame him if he turned around and bolted? Perhaps he thought of you, Elizabeth, and decided he couldn't leave you completely alone. I'm not judging him for that, by the way. I'm simply saying that the world isn't black and white. People aren't either brave or cowardly. Circumstances dictate our actions.”

  “He wouldn't have run,” I tell him. “He wouldn't have abandoned the fight.”

  “We'll see,” he says. “You certainly seem to have faith in him, which is a good sign. But I have to warn you that, if he stayed, he's most likely dead. What would you prefer, Ms. Marter? A brave but dead father? Or a cowardly but alive father?”

  Realizing that there's no way I can answer that question, I grit my teeth and hold my tongue until we reach a window at the corridor's far end. Looking out, I see the city spread out before us. After a few seconds, I spot the train station in the distance, and even from here I can tell that there are lots of people around that area.

  I know Bloom isn't going to tell me the truth, but his choice of lies might be informative.

  “What's going on with the train?” I ask.

  “What train?”

  “There's a train.” I turn to him, and I swear I can see the shiftiness in his eyes. “I've heard a few people mention it, that's all. And there's a name they use. Project Atherius.”

  “Really?” He hesitates. “I had no idea that the grapevine was so healthy around here. Tell me, who exactly has been mentioning such things?”

  “Pretty much everyone,” I lie.

  He smiles again, but I can tell that he's seething on the inside.

  “As you can no doubt imagine,” he says cautiously, “we are attempting to run multiple projects at once. Getting a train up-and-running seems rather sensible, but it's not a matter of any huge importance.”

  “There seem to be a lot of soldiers there.”

  “You really are curious, aren't you?”

  Realizing that I've maybe gone a little too far, I decide that I shouldn't risk any more questions, at least not for now.

  “There'll come a time when we have to leave Boston,” he says suddenly. “You seem like a smart girl. I'm sure you know about the telephone messages.”

  “I heard one,” I tell him. “Before I came here.”

  “They're a very encouraging sign, are they not?”

  “Maybe the government survived,” I suggest. “Maybe they're going to put things right.”

  “You mean the government in Washington?” He pauses. “Well, that's always a possibility. I've heard different things, of course, but one never knows what's true. Still, order is always better than chaos, and it would be good to know that we're not the only ones who are trying to rebuild. It's entirely possible that the message is automated, but one must always cling to hope, must one not?”

  “So you're planning to leave Boston?” I reply. “Where will you go?”

  “I never said that I was planning to leave,” he says calmly. “You really shouldn't mis-represent my words.”

  “Who's really in charge here?”

  “There are several -”

  “But someone's the big boss, right?” I continue, cutting him off. “Do you know anything about General Bill Patterson?”

  As soon as I say that name, Bloom seems a little troubled. He smiles a very unconvincing smile, and then he looks out the window for a moment as if he's trying to pick his words very carefully.

  “We must all work together,” he says finally, “for the common good. There's no point dividing up into factions. That's something I realized during the battle, when bombs were going off all around. I could have made a stand and died for some random grouping of men and women, but I decided instead to make myself useful.”

  “You switched sides.”

  “I chose to remain relevant.”

  “You betrayed the Council.”

  “I tried to make them see the error of their ways.”

  “And the bodies in the square?” I ask, before I can stop myself. “Was that your idea too?”

  “You've seen those, have you?” He pauses. “They're quite the spectacle. An unfortunate result of an angry mob, but still, one can't entirely stymie popular anger, can one? The people were angry at their former leaders, and that anger spilled out. We've left the bodies there as a reminder of what happens when a ruling class forgets where their power comes from. I myself go to that square daily and contemplate the lessons to be learned.”

  “Have you managed to learn any yet?” I ask.

  Damn, I can't help myself, but I need to be a little more careful here.

  “I came today to make a request,” Bloom replies. “Elizabeth, if your father gets in touch with you, in any manner whatsoever, you must let me know at once. There are others who might cause harm to him, whereas I can make sure that he's protected. Do you understand? If he reaches out to you, please implore him to come to me. It might be his only chance.”

  “You think he's still in the city?” I ask, with a flicker of hope.

  “I think that's a distinct possibility,” he tells me. “All I want to do is help him. I hope you can appreciate that.”

  “Sure,” I say, even though it's a lie. “If he contacts me, I'll tell him.”

  I won't, though. Because – as he makes an excuse and leaves – I feel a visceral loathing of Charles Bloom rising up through my body. It's as if I can sense his shadiness, as if his double nature is filling the air all around me. I wouldn't trust that man to hold a door open for me, let alone keep my father safe. And as I stand alone at the window and look out once again across the city, and as my gaze falls upon that extremely busy train station, I can't shake the feeling that Bloom is definitely up to something.

  Thomas

  After glancing around to double-check that I haven't been followed here, I make my way to the rear of the truck and climb into the back. I guess military rule means there aren't too many looters around, and I'm surprised to find that all our equipment is still here. Climbing over the various boxes, I head to the section just behind the front seats, and then I reach down into the small gap.

  Sure enough, the little box is still there.

  I pull the box out and open the lid, and to my relief I see that the two vials are still intact. My hands are trembling slightly, and it's crazy to think that right now these vials might be the only cure to the sickness that has spread cross the planet. I have no idea what I'm going to do with the vials, but I know that right now there's no-one I trust to look after them. I can't leave them here in the truck, either, so I slip them into my pocket before climbing back out. I need to find a better hiding place for the box.

  ***

  “I've been watching that station for days now,” Ringcroft says as we make our way along the street. “They can claim whatever they like, but it's quite clear that they're up to something. All their resources are going into getting that train up-and-running. They also have some soldiers working on the track.”

  “Where does the track lead?” I ask.

&nbs
p; “It's an old steam line,” he explains, lowering his voice for a moment as two soldiers hurry past us. He glances over his shoulder before turning to me again. “From what I can tell, the steam train is being altered so that it can run on the main lines as well. That's not an easy job. In fact, I'd have thought it would be impossible, but I suppose they're pretty motivated to get the work done.”

  “There's something we're not seeing,” I point out.

  “Oh, I know that,” he replies. “That's always the way, though, isn't it? The people never really know what's going on. Not truly. The people are just turned into an angry mob from time to time, and used wherever their fury might be useful.”

  “Are you sure you haven't heard anything about Project Atherius?” I ask.

  “Doesn't ring a bell.”

  He starts climbing up a pile of rubble at the side of the street.

  “Where are we going?” I call after him. “I have places I need to be.”

  “You said there's something you're not seeing,” he replies. “That's not quite true. There are several things you're not seeing. I'm going to show you one of them.”

  Sighing, I realize that he might have a useful point, so I start clambering after him. I should really be finding a hiding place for the box, but hopefully I'll be able to do that later. Right now, Ringcroft is very insistent that I should follow him.

  “What about General Patterson?” I shout. “Do you know anything about where he might be now?”

  “Something's definitely going on with him,” he replies, sounding a little breathless now as he reaches the top of the pile and stops for a moment. “There's a lot of activity around his quarters.” He looks out past the top of a damaged wall. “Wow,” he adds. “It's getting so much worse.”