Author: Brett Battles
Category: Thriller
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The map shifted to a farm in Louisiana, where a family of twelve had gathered for Christmas and barricaded themselves in an old farmhouse. The closest vaccine to them was with the Resistance’s contingent in Atlanta, and would take three hours to get there.
The third location was across the Atlantic in the town of Luleå in northern Sweden. A group of students and teachers who’d been involved in a research project during the winter break had taken refuge in one of the science buildings and been able to keep all others out. Their problem now was not only trying to avoid the flu, but it had been over twenty-four hours since they’d eaten the last of their food. Unfortunately, the closest vaccine to them was outside Amsterdam, and the nearest plane that could fly it up was currently on a mission in Macedonia. The survivors were told to hang tight and someone would get to them by tomorrow.
“And the fourth?” Matt asked.
“Bring it up,” Kenji said.
When the final map location appeared, the image was all white—no roads, no town name, no anything.
“Where the hell is this?” Matt asked.
“Pull back,” Kenji said.
The view zoomed out. It was an island, just off the coast of…
“Antarctica,” Matt said.
“Uh-huh. King Sejong Station. It’s Korean.” He looked at Matt. “They have seventy-five people there.”
“What about other facilities? There are dozens down there. Have we reached any of them?”
“Not yet. Sejong, however, says they’d talked to several other bases a couple days ago, and at least four had reported outbreaks.”
“But they’re okay?”
“Apparently. The station is closest to South America. I can send one of the teams but the problem is, that’ll tie our people up for nearly twenty-four hours.”
Which would leave a hole in their coverage. “I assume supplies aren’t a problem for them,” Matt said.
“They could go six months if they needed to without a new shipment.”
Their isolation was a big plus, too, Matt knew. “Tell them…” He paused, hoping he was making the right decision. “Tell them we’ll get to them as soon as possible. When you feel confident you can free up a team, send it.”
It would have to do for now.
“Anything else?” Matt asked.
“We’ve picked up a few other faint signals that we’ve been trying to home in on, but no real info yet.”
“Okay, let me know the moment that changes.”
Sixteen
BOULDER, COLORADO
11:12 AM MST
JACK CUTROY’S HEAD was beginning to pound. And no wonder—it had been almost three days since he’d had any real sleep. Such was the life of an EMT in a world that was falling apart.
He and his partner Allen Descantes had spent the first few days decked out in biohazard suits, trying to save lives. That hadn’t worked out so well. While they were still wearing the suits every day, their mission had changed.
Allen’s phone rang again as they pulled up to the next address on their list. He checked the display and sent the call to voicemail.
“Sheila again?” Jack asked.
A nod.
“Dude, go home. I can handle this.”
“That’s not the job.”
“Screw the job.”
Allen’s situation made Jack’s headache seem trivial. Allen’s wife Sheila had taken to calling him nearly every thirty minutes to plead with him to come home to her and their two kids. That was one problem Jack didn’t have. He hadn’t been in a relationship in nearly four months, and had never been married.
Jack knew his partner was being pulled by his conscience in both directions—a duty to a job he swore to undertake no matter what, and a duty to his family that he’d vowed to protect at all costs.
Allen stared at the floor, then looked out the window. “Which house is it?”
Jack looked at the list. “Uh, 4324. That brown one there.”
As they climbed out of the truck and headed to the house, Jack said, “I’m serious. Go home. If I can’t handle this on my own, then I’m useless.”
A frown from Allen. “I don’t know. I can’t just leave you alone.”
“Yeah, you can. And you can do it without feeling guilty. All we’re doing now is a glorified body check. It’s not what we were trained to do.” He paused. “Be with your family.”
More silence. “You sure?”
“Absolutely.”
They turned down the path that led to the front door.
“All right,” Allen said, looking relieved. “After we drop off this one.”
“Good. Then let’s get this over with, huh?” Jack knocked on the door. “Boulder Fire Department!”
Dead silence from the other side.
He knocked again. “Boulder Fire Department. We’re responding to your call.”
Nothing.
He glanced at the list and read through the details of this particular stop. “All right,” he said. “Let’s try around back.”
There was no lock on the gate, so they were able to get into the backyard without climbing the fence.
It was a nice place. Not a huge yard, but not too small. No pool, but there was a Jacuzzi, though there was no water in it at the moment. A pair of French doors along the back opened into what looked like a family room. Jack tried both handles. They were locked, so he peered through the window, but detected no movement.
Like pretty much everywhere else they’d been in the last day, they were probably too late.
He tapped on the glass. “Boulder Fire Department!”
Was that a noise? He cocked his head and listened, but decided it must have come from outside somewhere.
“You want this one?” he asked Allen.
“Sure.”
Once Jack was out of the way, Allen picked up a small potted plant from the patio, and struck it against the glass of the French door near the handle. Cracks rippled, but the window stayed intact. He hit harder on his second try, and this time the window shattered. After he knocked out the pieces stuck in the frame, he reached in and unlocked the door.
“Hello?” he called as they moved inside. “Hello. Anyone here? Boulder Fire Department.”
There was a Christmas tree all lit up in the living room, surrounded by wrapping paper and ribbons and boxes and toys.
“I don’t think I’m going to like this,” Allen said.
They checked the kitchen and dining room. Both were clear. With a sense of foreboding, Jack led them to the hallway entrance and flipped on the light. Before heading down it, he checked the seals around his wrists and neck, making sure everything was secured. The first room they came to was dark. He reached inside and turned on the light. Bathroom. Empty.
The next room appeared to be some kind of home office. The room opposite it was a child’s bedroom. The bed was short and unoccupied. He motioned to the closet, and Allen slid the doors back. No one there.
The master bedroom was the only place left. Jack sent up a silent prayer, hoping that the residents had abandoned the place, and he could strike this address from their list.
No such luck.
There was a body on the bed. A woman, young, maybe late twenties at most. Even with the marks on her face, Jack could tell she’d been pretty.
“Dead at least a day,” Allen said, leaning over the body.
There was a doorless walk-in closet along the wall on their right. Jack looked inside. Clothes and shoes, both women’s and men’s.
He eyed the door to the en suite bathroom. Not wanting to, but knowing they needed to be thorough, he forced himself over to the opening.
From there he could see it was a good-sized room. Comfortable. Dual sinks, a linen closet, separate shower and bath. The only thing out of place was the body lying in the tub.
It took all of his will to step over the threshold and walk across the tile floor for a better look.
Not just one body, but two.
The m
an, presumably husband to the woman lying on the bed, took up a majority of the space. Curled across his chest was a little girl.
Jesus, maybe I should go home, too.
There was something in the guy’s right hand, shiny and metallic. Jack only needed to take another step closer to see it was a gun.
Oh, God. Had the guy killed his little girl then himself?
The message the man had left on police voicemail had been transcribed and included in the notes they were given. Even in print, the man had sounded desperate—a father scared of what would happen to his daughter after he died. Having not received an immediate response, had the guy decided he had no options left?
Wait, wait. Where’s the blood? There’s no blood.
Perhaps the man had been unable to follow through. Or maybe he’d succumbed to the flu before he could. Whatever the case, Jack was thankful the trigger hadn’t been pulled. That was one sight he didn’t think he would be able to stomach.
Still, they were both dead, which meant he and Allen had to—
He froze.
The girl was looking at him. Her eyes were only slits, but she was definitely looking at him.
He dropped to a knee. “Hey, there. Are you okay?”
Her eyes squeezed shut and she turned her face against her father’s chest.
Jack looked back at the clipboard and skimmed through the man’s message again. “Are you Ellie?”
He could tell this surprised her. After a moment, her head twisted enough so that she could look at him with one eye.
“Don’t be afraid, Ellie. I’m a fireman. I’m here to help you.”
“Fireman?” she whispered.
“Uh-huh. Your daddy called us to come get you.”
“Daddy won’t wake up. Mommy, too.”
“Yeah, they’re in a deep sleep right now. That’s why your daddy wanted you to come with us.”
“He did?”
“He sure did.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I stay with them.”
“Hey, Allen,” Jack called out. “I found the girl.”
When Allen entered the bathroom, Ellie pulled tighter to her father.
“It’s okay,” Jack said. “He’s my friend. Another fireman.”
“She’s alive?” Allen said, surprised.
“Yeah.”
“Sick?”
“I don’t know. Can’t tell yet.” To the girl he said, “It’s okay. Can you tell me how you are feeling?”
It took a bit more coaxing before she finally said, “Scared.”
“Of us?”
She nodded.
“Don’t be scared of us. We’re only here to help.”
“Okay,” she said, less than convinced.
“Can you tell me if you’re feeling sick? Headache? Sore throat? Have you been coughing?”
She shook her head. “No. Just…just hungry.”
“I think we can do something about that. What’s your favorite thing to eat?”
She thought for a moment. “Peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”
“Why don’t I go make you one?” Allen suggested.
“Okay. Grape jelly. Not Mommy’s strawberry.”
“Grape. Got it,” Allen said, then left.
Jack held out his arms. “Let’s go into the living room and let your father rest.”
She hesitated.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
She held on to her father a few seconds longer, then reached up. Jack picked her up and carried her out of the room.
“Why do you have that on your head?” she asked, touching his hood as they headed for the living room. “Makes your voice sound funny.”
“It does, doesn’t it?”
“Uh-huh.”
“It’s one of our uniforms,” he told her. “For special days like today.”
“Because it’s Christmas time?”
“No, no,” he said quickly. “Not Christmas. I just meant some days we wear them.”
“Oh.”
Allen appeared a short time later with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich wrapped in a paper towel. “Here you go,” he said, handing it to her.
She took a big bite, and stopped mid-chew. Through a stuffed mouth, she said, “Tanks.”
“Ellie, how about you eat that in our truck?” Jack asked.
Her head moved rapidly from side to side. “No. Have to stay here with Mommy and Daddy.”
“Remember what I told you? Your daddy asked us to come and get you?”
“Stay here.”
“Someone will come to take care of your parents,” Allen said. “We need to take you someplace else…someplace where you can have more peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches.”
Looking skeptical, she said, “But Mommy and Daddy.”
“Your mommy and daddy wanted you to come with us,” Jack said. “Okay?”
She looked like she might cry, but she said, “Okay.”
As Jack carried her toward the door, she suddenly stiffened and looked over his shoulder. “Bear!”
“What?”
“Santa brought me a bear. I need it!”
He looked at the toys around the Christmas tree but didn’t see any bear. “Where is it?”
She began squirming in his arms. “I’ll get it.”
Not sure if he should take the chance, he set her down. The moment her feet touched the floor, she bolted across the room and into the hallway.
“Do you want to draw her blood or do you want me to do it?” Jack asked Allen as soon as she was gone.
“She’s gotta have it already,” Allen said. “She’d been breathing the same air as her parents. God only knows how long she was lying there with her dad.”
“We still have to check.”
Allen frowned. “Yeah. I guess. All right. I’ll do it.”
A few seconds later, Ellie ran back into the room, a black, curly-haired bear hugged to her side. Jack lifted her up.
“Ready?” he asked.
She nodded.
“All right. Let’s go.”
Seventeen
THE BUNKER, MONTANA
2:17 PM MST
THE FIRST THING Ash felt was the IV needle in his hand. Of course, he didn’t know it was a needle at the time. To him, it just felt odd. Next came the pain in his ribs, tight and throbbing. His knee was sore, too. And there was an especially sharp pain along his abdomen.
What the hell’s going on?
He blinked.
A white room, and some noise off to his side.
He closed his eyes again and tried to recall the last thing that had happened.
Night. The forest. No, a house in the forest. He’d been at a…a door. He’d been trying to talk to the…woman inside. What then? The window, right. He’d moved over to it and…and…and the current pulled back and she was there, looking startled. And then…?
There was no “and then.” This was the “and then,” this room. He’d been standing on the woman’s porch, and now he was lying in this room, apparently injured.
Why had he been out at her house in the first place? Why had he wanted to talk to her?
He tried to remember the reason, but his mind was still mush.
He heard a door open. When his eyelids parted again, a man in a white jacket with a stethoscope around his neck was standing next to his bed. A doctor, Ash guessed. That would make sense, wouldn’t it? But Ash had never seen him before.
The doctor was taking Ash’s pulse. As he finished, he noticed that Ash’s eyes were open.
“Welcome back,” the man said.
Ash licked his lips. “Where am I?”
“That’s a good question,” the man said. “Not really sure I know the answer.”
“I…don’t understand.”
“Hold on.”
The doctor disappeared from view. There was the sound of the door opening again, and then the doctor’s voice saying, “He’s awake.”
The
re were more voices, far away and not easy to understand. When the doctor finally came back to the bed, a familiar woman was with him.
“Captain Ash,” she said, smiling. “How are you feeling?”
“I know you,” he said.
“Lily,” she told him.
Right. Lily. Nurse at the Ranch. Then this must be…
“The Bunker?” he asked.
“That’s right.”
He looked over at the doctor, confused.
Lily said, “That’s Dr. Gardiner. He saved your life.”
“Thank you.”
“Apparently we’re even,” the doctor said as he pulled back the sheet and looked at the wounds on Ash’s torso.
“Even?”
The doctor answered with only a smile. When he finished his examination, he pulled the sheet back into place. “I’ll check back in a little while.”
Once he was gone, Lily said, “Chloe kind of, well, kidnapped him and his family from Great Falls. If she hadn’t, they would’ve died there. Coming here to save you meant they got inoculated.”
The door burst open, and Matt and Rachel rushed in.
“Thank God,” Rachel said, grabbing Ash’s hand and smiling. “How are you feeling?”
“He still needs a lot of rest,” Lily told them.
“Of course, of course,” Matt said.
It seemed to Ash as if they were all going to leave again. “Hold on. I…I…”
“What is it?” Lily asked.
He gave himself a moment to get his words in order. “Why am I here? What happened?”
“You don’t remember?” Matt asked.
“I remember standing in front of a house. That’s it.”
“The house exploded,” Matt said. “Knocked you into the yard. Thankfully Miller was with you, or you’d have died out there.”
“But why were we there?”
Matt’s brow furrowed, surprised. “You were looking for Brandon.”
Brandon! It all came back in a rush.
He tried to sit up, but his torso screamed in pain.
“You just had surgery yesterday,” Lily said. “You need to conserve your strength.”
Ash grabbed Matt’s wrist. “He wasn’t in the house, was he?”