There were head shakes all around the table.
“Do you really think she’s alive?” the Director of Facilities asked.
“How would Captain Ash have known her name otherwise?”
They had just watched Ash and an unidentified woman rescue his children from NB7. The video had lasted right up to the point when the flames flared up. Ash had clearly stated the name Olivia and mentioned she’d been left for dead.
At the end of the table, the Principal Director leaned forward. “I think it would be unwise to assume Olivia is still alive based solely on a single brief conversation. But I also think it would be unwise not to try to find out more.”
“Yes, sir,” the DOP said. “I’ll get a team right on it.”
“There are several things, though,” the Principal Director went on, “that concern me more at the moment, lapses of security on this operation that were totally unacceptable. The loss of the NB7 facility, in particular, does not make me happy.”
“Yes, sir,” the DOP said. “I agree with you one hundred percent. Though it should have been unnecessary, we will definitely learn from these mistakes. To that end, if I may…” He glanced at the Principal Director, who gave him a nod. “Bring up channel four, please.”
The monitor came back to life, this time showing what looked like a conference room.
Sitting on one side of the table was Mr. Shell, and on the other, the soon-to-be former Director of Recovery. Ostensibly, the meeting was for the DOR to critique Shell’s performance during the outbreak. That in itself was highly unusual, given that project members almost never met face to face with the Directors, but it was not entirely unprecedented. Given the gravity of what had just played out over the last several days, neither man questioned its necessity.
The DOP used the remote to turn up the volume.
“…more. You must understand that,” the DOR said. “These kinds of slips are completely unacceptable.”
“Yes, sir,” Mr. Shell said. “I understand. There were problems that were unforeseen.”
“Nothing should be unforeseen!”
The DOP couldn’t resist the opening. He touched the button for the microphone that was clipped to his collar. “You’re absolutely correct. Nothing
Both men on the screen looked up toward where the voice must have been coming from.
“The Directorate would like to thank the Director of Recovery and Mr. Shell for their contributions to the project,” the DOP went on. “It is our unanimous decision that neither of your services will be further required.”
“What?” the Director of Recovery said. “Wait. You can’t-”
The DOP hit the mute button. “Terminate,” he said.
He waited until the two men in the other room started choking as the air to their room was cut off, then had the monitor turned off. He looked back at the group.
“Even with these unfortunate incidents, there is much good news. From Dr. Karp’s own calculations, we know that the effectiveness of KV-27a exceeds our hopes. Even the safeguard that he encoded into the virus of turning it into a simple flu after the fifth or sixth host worked perfectly. And with the discovery of the Ash family’s immunity, we should have a working vaccine within weeks. It is unfortunate that the doctor isn’t with us anymore, but his work still goes on. I think we can safely designate stage one of the delivery agent complete. That is, unless anyone has any objections?” He looked around the table, but no one said a word. “We will concentrate on stage two now, which is already well on its way. At this time, I see no threat at all to the implementation timetable.”
The Principal Director leaned forward again. “What about Captain Ash? He’s still on the loose.”
“He is, sir. But I don’t believe he’s any kind of problem. He only wanted his children.”
“And these missing journalists?”
“We believe they were scared off, sir, and will resurface soon. When that occurs, they will be dealt with.”
“Yes, but who is helping these people? They couldn’t have done this all on their own. And if Olivia is alive, where is she?”
“We’re looking into all of that, sir, but, again, we don’t think any of it is a serious threat. The boulder is running downhill. It’s too late for anyone to stop it.”
53
As they sped away from NB7, Chloe called Matt, requesting a safe house and a doctor. They were directed to the home of an elderly woman in a small, Western Idaho town. Despite the fact the sun had yet to come up when they arrived, she smiled at the children and told everyone to make themselves at home, then disappeared into a room in the back.
Ash hunted down some aspirin for Chloe, then found a couple of bedrooms upstairs and told Josie and Brandon they could use them. But instead of separating, they chose to share a room. He could tell they were still unsure if it was really him, but he didn’t want to push himself on them.
After they were settled, he cleaned out his wound again. The first time he’d done it had been in a gas station restroom, not exactly the most sterile of places. This time he found some rubbing alcohol in the medicine cabinet, and poured it into the groove on his arm. It burned worse than when he’d actually been hit, but he knew he had to do it, and dumped nearly half the bottle over the wound before he stopped.
When he returned downstairs, he found Chloe propped up on the couch.
“Why don’t you get some sleep,” he suggested.
“I tried, but this isn’t going to let me,” she told him, touching her leg.
He wished he could do something more for her. The pain seemed to be hitting her in waves. She’d be fine for a bit, then, with no warning, would close her eyes tight and cringe.
Just short of an hour after they arrived, there was a knock on the door. It was Pax and Billy. Billy quickly checked both patients, then gave Chloe a sedative that allowed her to fall asleep. As soon as she was out, he dealt with Ash’s wound.
“Clean this yourself?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Remind me not to use you as a nurse.”
More burning, then a bandage to cover the gash. When he was through, Billy examined Ash’s face, looking at the scars of the surgery from what seemed so long ago.
With a simple “It looks like nothing’s going to fall off,” Billy went to see what he could do about Chloe’s leg.
“You got ‘em,” Pax said, once he and Ash were alone.
“Yeah, I did.” Ash knew he should be happy, but the worry he’d had for his kids’ safety had turned into worry for their mental well-being. Sometimes being a parent sucked. “Thanks for your help. Those mini-explosives you gave me, I couldn’t have done it without them.”
“Don’t even worry about it.”
They talked a little longer, but at some point Ash fell asleep. How Pax and Billy got him into a bed upstairs, he had no idea. But that’s where he woke to an afternoon sun shining through the window.
He showered, put on the new clothes someone had laid out for him, and headed downstairs. He found Pax and the old woman in the kitchen, laughing and having a cup of coffee.
“Where’s Josie and Brandon?” he asked, alarmed.
“Your kids are fine,” the old woman said. “They’re out back, playing with the dog.”
Ash walked over to the open back door and looked out the screen. Josie was sitting on a picnic bench, petting the head of a golden retriever while Brandon was trying to coax the dog away with a ball. It seemed so… normal.
“And Chloe?” Ash asked.
