Origins

“The Files don’t say,” Samuel said. “However long it takes for us to die out, and however long it takes for the Blights to cover the Earth. But we’re the only ones who can stop it. That is, if it can be stopped.”

Samuel walked from the computer. In that lab, with the hundreds of computers humming around us, Xenofall seemed like a date that would never happen. But it was real. It was coming. And we had no way to stop it.

“We need more information,” Samuel said. “But this…” He waved his arm around, indicating the entire room, “this is all there is. We know more than anyone else on Earth knows, and still, it’s not enough.”

“So what more can we do?” I asked. “We’re stuck here in the Bunker, surrounded by hundreds of miles of Blight and monsters, with winter coming on and no way out. And probably no food or water. Looks like we’re as good as dead.”

Samuel ignored my cheery assessment of the situation. “The only thing I can think of is going to Ragnarok Crater.”

My insides lurched at the thought. We had just gotten here, of all places, and Samuel was talking about picking up and going to the Ragnarok Crater, another thousand miles away?

“Why there?”

Samuel shrugged. “This is pure speculation, but it makes sense to think the Crater would be the center of it all. It’s where Meteor landed and began its work. There might be some central hub where everything communicates with each other.”

“Key words: pure speculation,” Makara said. “We came here. We found nothing. We lose. We found our answer. The answer is: there is no answer. This was all for nothing. All we can do is hope to get out of here, find the safest place we can, and wait for the end.”

“We’re not getting out of here,” I said. “Our ride blew itself up. It was a miracle that thing even flew.”

Something quite unexpected happened. A voice came from every speaker in the lab, booming from the walls.

“Apocalypse Team,” the voice said, “this is Dr. Cornelius Ashton. Can you hear me?”

We stared at each other in shock. So he was here.

“Yes!” Samuel yelled. “Dr. Ashton, where are you?”

“I am not in Bunker One,” Dr. Ashton said, “but there is little time to explain. With luck, there will be time for explanations later. You all will die if you stay in this lab a minute longer.”

“Die?” Anna asked. “What do you know? How are you even communicating with us?”

“Never mind that. I will explain later. All that matters is getting out of here alive. It knows you’re here. The Voice. Every turner within a hundred-mile radius is converging on this point. It never wanted you to know what you have learned here today. Remember that the old axiom is true: information is power. The Voice does not want you to have it.

“There will be time for answers soon, but for now, you must escape this place. Already they are inside.”

As soon as those words were said, there was a crash against the vault door. I could hear the creatures’ screams and wails coming from the other side. If they could get in the tunnel when it had collapsed, they could probably get in here, too.

“Go to the runway,” Dr. Ashton said. “I will provide your escape.”

With that, the voice cut off. The silence that followed was pierced by more screams from infected creatures.

We could hear groans. They were coming from within the labs.

Howlers.

I guessed that was where all the bodies had gone.

Chapter 22

Howlers charged from two corridors into the main lab. Their clothes had long since rotted from their bodies. They slunk toward us, flesh pink and thin, coated with purple slime.

“Don’t shoot!” Samuel said. “Head for the stairs!”

We followed Samuel away from our attackers to the staircase that led to the lab’s second level. I didn’t know if there was a way out up there, but there sure wasn’t one on the bottom floor.

We reached the landing and found no way out. The second floor was just a balcony that surrounded the entire lab.

“That vault was the only way out,” Makara said. “We’re trapped.”

“There has to be another way,” I said. “Let’s just keep looking.”

Some of the Howlers charged for the stairs. We had to keep moving.

We followed Samuel around the balcony, until we had reached the other side. We were above the computer where we had searched for the Black Files — there were no doors, no windows, nor any other way back down to the lab floor. And now Howlers spilling from the balcony doorway cut us off on both sides.

This time, Lisa wouldn’t be here to save the day.

“We’re going to have to kill them,” Anna said. “Explosions or not, we’re dead either way.”

“Kill these,” Samuel said, pointing to the left. “We’ll bring ’em down quick and jump off for the floor, and run deeper into the labs. I can see no other way.”

We rushed to do just that. I aimed my Beretta, firing it into the oncoming infected. They shrieked as my bullets connected. I was getting much better at aiming the thing. I hit one creature in the head, and it crashed to the floor; the one behind stumbled over its body. In quick succession, Anna sliced one of the Howlers in half, and beheaded another. Makara fired, each shot finding its mark right in the head.

They were starting to swell. They would explode in moments.

“Now!” Samuel shouted.

We hopped over the railing, landing atop what seemed to be a large computer. We jumped the rest of the way down. Though not as dangerous as the plane jump, the falls were a shock to my knees. I forced myself up, hoping I could run the pain out.

I hobbled after the others as they went to the empty corridor. Above us, the bodies popped, and purple goo rained down, drenching the floor. We made it into the corridor, following it as it circled downward.

“We do not want to be going down,” Makara said.

An infected man emerged from a nearby door, his mouth agape and dripping slime. Quickly, Anna stabbed him through the heart, retrieved the blade, spun, and sliced off his head. She kicked the torso into the room from which the Howler had come.

“There has to be some other exit,” Samuel said.

We followed the corridor at a near sprint. The infected were falling farther and farther behind, but their howls still pierced the air. The hallway ended in a giant chamber filled with large machinery. It reminded me of the nuclear reactor we had come across in Bunker 114. This chamber was much larger, though, which was saying a lot; that one had been big. Four reactors rose from the floor, the power source for all Bunker One. Only one was running — likely the only one that still worked.

“These things can run forever if maintained properly,” Samuel said. “Or maybe not even maintained properly. It explains how this place still has power.”

“This isn’t time for a lesson, Samuel,” Makara said. She pointed. “That ladder. If we can reach the top catwalk, we might find a way to make it to the runway.”

We ran for the ladder, which was on the other side of the chamber. We began our long climb. I felt dwarfed by the gigantic size of all the machinery in the room.

We had reached about two-thirds of the way up when the chamber was filled with echoes of hundreds of horrifying shrieks. I could not see where they were coming from, but looking up, I saw them.

Entering through the ceiling, through air ducts and hidden openings, came hundreds upon hundreds of birds. Turned birds. They swarmed for us like locusts, their white eyes glowing and their wings