Thank Christ, it’s empty, we’re good—
“OK, so obviously they were trying to avoid any light giving away their position at night, makes sense I guess. All sorts of people would’ve come flocking to any sign of power once the grid went down—” Annalise said, looking at the windows.
They searched the room. Mercy took a large map from the central table and shoved it into her pack. The radio crackled on her belt and Rose’s voice erupted from the tinny speaker.
Rose here. Mercy do you read? Over—
Mercy held the radio up and pressed the talk button, “Mercy here, what’s your status? Over—”
“We’ve found a generator room, looks as if the army maintained this stuff pretty well. We’re just figuring out how to use it. Tawny seems to know what she’s doing, over—” Rose said.
Mercy nodded, “Copy that. We’re in the admin building, it’s the next building along from you. We’ve found the command room which has nothing, we’re just going to check the air traffic control room. Just a heads up, there’s stiffs in the car park out front, they seem calm enough right now but don’t let your guard down, over—”
“Understood. Out—” Rose replied.
Mercy secured the radio to her belt and joined Annalise at the door, “OK, let’s do this.”
They moved down the corridor to a large set of double doors. A sign above read: AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL.
Please, please, please—
Mercy waited at the doors, listening.
Nothing—
She glanced at Annalise who smiled and raised her crossbow. Mercy opened the door and shone her torch into the dark room. A familiar stench wafted out into the corridor.
Christ—
A scream tore through the air followed by a second scream. A figure moved across the torch beam and hurled itself at the doorway.
Alphas—
Mercy squeezed her trigger.
Chapter 40
Deep Blue Dark
Mercy’s rounds entered the alpha’s chest making it stagger. It recovered and charged at the door again. Mercy swore and shot twice more, this time the alpha’s skull exploded as her rounds found their mark. It fell to the floor with a wet slap. A high pitched keening sound came from inside the room.
Shit, there’s another one in there. I can’t close the door, it opens inwards. Deal with it—
Mercy took a step towards the door and shone her right angle torch into the room. Her eyes widened.
A radio… no, two radios, on the far side of the room. Jackpot—
A hiss came from the shadows on the left. Mercy swung the torch around in time to see a flash of pale skin disappear behind a row of filling cabinets.
OK, got you—
Mercy stepped into the room, her Glock 17 levelled at the cabinets. The alpha snarled and burst out from cover on all fours. Mercy fired too high and the alpha slammed into her, knocking her to the ground. She dropped her pistol and brought her arms up to protect her neck and face. The alpha pulled at Mercy’s arms then moved its head in close, to her unprotected shoulder.
A soft hissing sound punctured the air. A crossbow bolt burst out of the alpha’s forehead with a spray of black blood and bone. The alpha slumped on top of Mercy. The bolt tore through Mercy’s jacket, narrowly missing her shoulder. Mercy screamed and shoved the alpha’s corpse off her. She sat up and pushed herself away, her breathing ragged.
“Bastard… oldest trick in the book, they go low when you’re gonna shoot high,” Mercy said, her voice angry. “That, that… right there, that shows they’re thinking… they’re not stupid, they’re getting better at this shit—”
Annalise stood in the doorway, “You’re welcome—”
Mercy blinked. “Sorry Annalise, that sly bastard just got to me. Thanks for… Jesus that was one hell of a shot. How did you know it wouldn’t—?”
Annalise stepped over to the downed alpha and pulled the bolt from its skull. “I can judge these things—”
Mercy gave her an appraising look, “I’m so glad you can. That shot saved my life. Thank you Annalise—”
“Don’t mention it,” Annalise replied, shining her torch over at the two large radio sets on the far side of the room. “Well, if one of those suckers doesn’t reach California… nothing will—”
Mercy picked up her Glock 17 and the right angle torch. She swept the rest of the room with the torch then brought the beam back to the dead alpha at her feet. “They’re both wearing military uniforms, they’re probably the radio operators. Let’s check out the merchandise—”
Mercy fixed the torch onto her webbing, walked over to the radios and sat down in the operator’s chair. Her eyes widened and she shook her head, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me—”
“What is it?” Annalise asked, crossing the room.
Mercy buried her head in her hands, “My rounds… they hit the bloody radios—”
“What? Both radios?” Annalise asked, her voice incredulous.
“Yes, both radios,” Mercy said, she hit the table with her fist.
“For fuck’s sake,” Annalise said.
“Yes, I second that, for fuck’s sake—” Mercy replied, she laughed out loud.
If you don’t laugh, you cry, if you don’t cry… you die—
“After all that,” Annalise said, leaning back against the table.
The laughter was infectious and Annalise’s shoulders started shaking, she joined in with Mercy.
“Shame, I always wanted to go to California,” Annalise said, “I’ve got a good friend out there, up near San Francisco. Big Bear, he used to brew the most amazing dark beer, he has a microbrewery in his back yard—”
Something wet dripped onto Mercy’s hand. She froze. Annalise stopped laughing.
“Mercy—” Annalise’s voice, almost breathless. “Above you—”
I fucking know it—
Mercy threw herself back in the chair and snapped her head up. The right angle torch on her webbing flickered, its battery weakening. The naked alpha dropped down from a gap in the ceiling tiles. It crashed onto the radio table, shrieking. Mercy reached to her thigh holster for her pistol then cursed when she saw it lying on the table beside
