“Chloe, switch,” the man holding the gun on Luke said. “I’ll deal with him.”
“No,” the woman, Chloe, replied. “I got this.” Her gaze bore into the man’s eyes. “Knees.”
He grinned and started to shake his head. “Now that’s not going to-”
The bullet tore through his leg just above his knee. The pain was so intense he didn’t even realize he’d fallen to the ground.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” she asked, as she removed the gun from his holster.
Dr. Karp had just started to drift off when the general alarm began to pulse. In his half-asleep state, it had at first confused him. He reached for the clock he assumed was on the nightstand to turn it off, but there was nothing there. That’s when his eyes popped open and he sat up.
The alarm.
NB7 had always been considered a safe location, its whereabouts known only to a handful of project members. The only reason Dr. Karp and his team were there was because the outbreak in California meant there was a microscope on the state, and the Directors had felt moving the assets-the Ash children-out of state was a good idea. NB7 was the closest and most logical location. Since the doctor had used the facility a few times in the past, he had no problems with the plan.
But now the alarm was going off. Why?
He grabbed the room phone and pushed the number for Security. After the fifth ring, he hung up. His confusion was now turning to concern. He hoped it was just a false alarm, but what if it wasn’t?
He pulled his clothes on as quickly as he could. If this was real, and the facility had somehow been breached, then he knew exactly what he had to do.
The children. He had to dispose of them.
Now.
“Well, if they didn’t know we were here before, they do now,” Ash said, as the low pulsating alarm droned through speakers in the lobby.
“Here,” Chloe said.
She tossed him a couple of long, plastic strips she’d taken out of a pouch on the wounded man’s belt. They were ties that could be used as handcuffs. As Ash bound his man’s wrists and ankles, Chloe did the same with her guy.
“My leg,” the man pleaded. “I’m going to bleed to death.”
“Yeah,” Chloe said. “You probably will.”
Ash came over and looked at the man’s leg. It was a mess. “You want me to tie that off?” he asked.
“Yes. Yes, please!”
Ash crouched down. “Then tell me where the children are.”
“The…the children?”
Without hesitation, Ash placed the muzzle of his gun against the man’s other leg. “I’m not going to ask again.”
“They’re inside. Bottom level.”
“How many kids?”
“Two,” the man said quickly. “A boy and a girl.”
He ground the muzzle into the man’s leg. “Where on the bottom level?”
Behind them, a door that led into the rest of the building flew open, and several men poured out, opening fire. Ash was in a poor position with his back to them, so he dove through the doorway into the security office. Chloe had been better situated, and was able to get a couple of shots off before she joined him.
“How many?” he asked her.
“I counted four.”
He was tucked right up against the doorjamb. “Hit any?”
“One down for sure. Maybe two.”
“You’re pretty good with that.”
“Yeah. Bet you’re glad I came along now, aren’t you?”
Instead of answering, he peeked around the edge, his gun ready. Apparently, the men who’d come rushing in hadn’t known exactly in which direction to fire. There was plenty of damage all over the room, not the least of which were the two now dead men Ash and Chloe had just tied up. Wherever the others were, though, they were staying out of sight.
“Here,” Ash said, handing Chloe his gun.
He retrieved the box of little bangs, pulled out four of the gray crackers, and checked their numbers. He then activated the controller.
“You in the office,” a voice called out. “There’s only one way out of that room and we’ve got it covered. Toss your weapons out here, then step out with your hands where we can see them.”
The man had asked for weapons to be tossed out, so that’s exactly what Ash did. He threw the four crackers into the room, trying to arc them around so that they wouldn’t all fall in the same place.
“You have ten seconds to toss your guns out here,” the voice said.
“We’re not going to wait that long,” Ash told him.
He set off the little bangs, mentally crossing his fingers that they did what Pax had promised.
They did, and then some.
Even from behind the wall where he was, the bangs were so loud Ash immediately threw his hands up over his ears. Chloe tried to do the same, but was holding the two SIGs so was less than successful.
“Gun,” he yelled.
She didn’t seem to hear him, so he grabbed his pistol from her and raced through the door.
While the lobby looked basically untouched, the four men who’d been there were all on the ground. Two were unconscious, while one looked like he wanted to be. The fourth guy still had enough wits about him to try to aim his weapon at Ash, but Ash’s bullet hit him in the forehead before the guy had a chance to pull his trigger.
Chloe found some more ties and secured the other three men.
“You all right?” Ash asked her.
She touched her ear. “Ringing. But I can hear you now.”
Ash grabbed a security card off the nearest man’s belt, then used it to open the door to the rest of the building.
Dr. Karp had just left his room when a loud explosion reverberated down from the ceiling.
“What the hell was that?” someone said.
Several of the doctor’s technicians were in the hallway because of the alarm. Now most looked truly scared. Although their jobs were ultimately concerned with death, they were not interested in putting their own lives on the line.
Neither was the doctor, but he knew he couldn’t show that. There had always been the possibility his life might need to be sacrificed. It was something he understood from the very beginning. It was also expected that in the face of sacrifice, a full project member would still keep the goals of the project in mind, and carry out whatever tasks were necessary to protect it.
So, despite whatever the explosions on the floor above might mean, he knew he still had work to do.
“Learner, Ramos, I need you to come with me.”
Two of the technicians broke from the crowd and followed the doctor to the elevator.
46
Most everyone at Cryer’s Corner was asleep. The Flu Crew, as the segregated group had come to call
