Fuck—
“Mechs—” Flynn said.
“They look like fucking dinosaurs,” Tawny said. She walked over and took the other set of curtains from Mercy. She covered herself and looked up, “That Deadfall Protocol is looking pretty intense, we’d better get moving then—”
Mercy looked up, “But you guys must be tired and hungry? Can you keep up?”
Flynn glanced at Tawny, “Yeah, we’re good to go, believe me.” He looked across the room at Reyes. “Can that guy get us out of here?”
Mercy’s jaw hardened, “Yeah, well, he’s not got a choice.”
Mercy marched over to Reyes, “Right Reyes, you’re still alive. That’s a bonus for you. You’re gonna find us a way out of here avoiding bots, mechs and alphas and all the other shit you’ve got stashed down here. Oh, and you’re gonna come up with some clothes for my friends here before we leave.” She chambered a round and held her HK45 to his forehead, “Any double cross and the last thing that will cross your mind is this 9mm parabellum right here. Understood?”
Reyes nodded and closed his eyes, “There’s a tunnel to L’Enfant Plaza VRE station. The president has a train there on standby for the Charlottesville redoubt. We can take the tunnel, there’s personnel lockers on the way. We should be able to get some clothes and shoes—”
Barnes was fiddling with the GPS tracker. His face was illuminated by light from the screen. He frowned and looked up at Mercy.
Rose—?
Mercy felt her chest tighten, “Barnes—?”
Barnes looked down at the screen, “I’ve found the alpha queen.” He held up the tracker’s screen to show Mercy. Twelve red dots flashed on a digital map of the city.
Mercy stepped forwards and grabbed the tracker. She examined the screen, “They’re outside the wall. How in hell did they get outside do quickly?”
“Could be they left the same way we came in, maybe found another passage. Who knows? They’re clever bastards. They’re south of the wall, on 12th Street Southwest,” Barnes said. “There’s one of them underground pens opened up under Maryland Avenue Linear Park. Maybe they’re heading there to join up with the other alphas?” He looked up at one of the monitors, his eyes searching. He pointed, “See camera sixteen, that’s labelled Maryland Park. It’s lit up by spotlights from the pen—”
Mercy examined the monitor. Her face crumpled. “Christ—” she said, her voice a whisper.
Maryland Avenue Linear Park was teeming with alphas.
Flynn edged close to the screen following Mercy’s gaze, “Shit. There must be ten thousand of them at least—”
And Rose is being dragged into the middle of that shitfest—
Chapter 15
L’Enfant Station
Not on my watch—
Mercy grabbed Reyes by the shoulder and shoved him across the laboratory, towards the door. “Time to move Dr Death, get us the fuck out of here.”
They entered the corridor. Flynn and Tawny each took an M4 carbine and a Glock 19 pistol from the dead NSA soldiers outside the laboratory. Reyes led them down the corridor to a locked door. He took a key card from his pocket and opened the electronic lock. Strip lights flickered on as they entered the new corridor. They continued to a set of double doors. A sign on the doors read: ACCESS TO LOWER LEVELS: AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY. Reyes went through the doors. They found a broken elevator and a staircase.
Mercy checked her watch; 3:19 am.
It’ll be dark outside. Just concentrate on finding Rose. Flynn and Tawny seem strong enough. We can catch up and regroup once we’re through this next layer of shit—
Reyes took them down the stairs, two steps at a time. The alarm receded as they descended into the lower levels. Mercy started counting the steps but stopped when she reached sixty.
A short while later Reyes slowed and stopped beside a new set of double doors. He turned to Mercy, “We’re here. The escape tunnel is just up ahead. There’s a corridor with lockers through here. Some staff use the lockers to store bug-out bags and clothes, so we might be lucky. Follow me—”
Reyes opened the doors and led them down the sloped floor. Rusting full length lockers stood on either side. The corridor was damp and the floor lights were broken in places. Mercy pulled out her torch and switched it on.
Reyes began opening random lockers, he let out a cry of triumph at the fifth one he tried. “Here… there’s a coat, hat and a pack.” He pulled out a parka and a waxed cotton trail hat.
Barnes lifted an old fire extinguisher from the wall. “Stand back,” he ordered. He smashed the locks off six of the lockers with the extinguisher. Tawny opened three of the lockers and let out a whoop on the fourth.
“Boots, socks, jacket and trousers in here… there’s a shotgun, some shells and a pack,” Tawny scooped out the clothing and began pulling the trousers on.
Flynn found a stained boiler suit and boots in another locker, “Got me some fancy duds.” He pulled on the boiler suit and struggled with the boots.
Reyes changed his lab coat for the parka and trail hat.
Barnes lifted a bloodstained alloy baseball bat from another locker. “This has seen some action, got some miles left in her I’d guess. Light enough… and silent.” He handed it to Tawny, Barnes turned towards Reyes, “Shit, what about the sat phone? Reyes where’s the sat phone?”
Reyes shook his head, “Comms is based in internal security. That’s back where we came from, near the president’s quarters. We’d have to go back—”
Barnes pulled a face, “Goddammit—”
Mercy hefted her M16 and checked her watch; 3:57 am.
This is all taking too long. We need to speed up for Rose—
“It’s too late. We’re not going back. Come on, every second counts. Let’s go—” Mercy said. She pointed her M16 at Reyes and waved him on.
Barnes cursed under his breath.
Reyes nodded and moved down the corridor. They passed more lockers then came to a set of fire doors.
“We’re here,” Reyes said. “The tunnel is on the other side, it leads to
