“Go, go, go!” Beckham shouted.
The convoy rolled forward, chugging along once again.
“Is Timothy okay?” Kate asked.
“Yeah, he’s the reason we’re moving again,” Beckham said. “Took a big risk, but it paid off.”
He let out a sigh and rested his back against the bulkhead.
The scientists from Kate’s team simply stared.
The rest of the ride fell into solemn silence. Kate kept expecting another roadblock or for screeching Variants to descend on them, but the ride was smooth. When they finally made it to the outskirts of Outpost Houston, the sky was turning purple and the first few bright stars were beginning to show in the descending darkness.
“We’re here,” the driver said.
Beckham nodded. “SDS crew, with me and Horn. Everyone else is moving out to the tunnels.”
Horn stood, stretching his arms, then patted his belly. “Wonder if they prepared that good old Texas barbecue for us? I’m hungry as hell.”
Beckham tossed him an energy bar. “There. That’s dinner.”
A Ford pickup pulled up toward them. Kate shielded her eyes from the beams until the truck killed its lights. Six soldiers sat in the pickup’s bed.
“That must be the welcoming party,” Horn said.
Beckham led the group out of the Stryker, and a man stepped out of the pickup to greet them. He was tall and muscular. His sleeves were rolled up to reveal arms rippling with what looked to be burn scars. When he approached, Kate saw that half of his face shone like it was plastic from more burns.
“I’m Commander Leo Jacobs,” the man said. He stretched a hand out to Beckham.
“Captain Reed Beckham.”
“I know who you are. Practically a celebrity.” Jacobs nodded toward a group of men that had jumped off the bed of his pickup. “We don’t have much left of the city, but I take pride in what little we’ve managed to cling to. My boys will get you and your team oriented with the base so you can set up that SDS equipment and consult with our defensive operations.”
“Yes, sir,” Beckham said.
The six soldiers split up to help the Canadian engineers offload the SDS equipment into the pickup.
“You better go with them,” Jacobs said to Beckham.
“Yes, sir.” Beckham turned to Kate. “I love you. Be safe.”
“You, too,” she said.
Beckham, Horn, and Rico took off in the pickup with the engineering team, disappearing into the base.
“You must be Dr. Lovato.” Jacobs extended a hand to Kate. “Thanks for coming.”
“Thanks for hosting us,” she said, shaking his hand.
He climbed into the Stryker. Kate and her team jumped into the back again. This time, six of the commander’s armed guards joined them.
Once again, they passed through a steel-paneled gate, this time taking them outside the protection of the walls. A single hospital was to their right surrounded by crumbling apartment buildings. Unlike the apartment buildings, the hospital looked mostly intact.
The soldiers hopped out of the truck first, forming a perimeter.
“All clear!” one said.
The group exited the Stryker with their computers in tow.
“Alpha Security, Jacobs here,” the commander said. “Light the place up.”
A buzz like a gigantic hive of bees coming to life grew from the hospital. Lights flickered on inside the cracked windows, glowing as the last remnants of daylight faded from the Texas sky.
“The last time the Variants hit us, they tunneled into this hospital’s parking garage,” Jacobs said.
As they walked up the sidewalk toward the hospital, Kate noticed dozens of soldiers posted in windows, silhouetted against the light. Jacobs led them down stairs in the hospital’s lobby to a cavernous underground parking garage with an entrance ramp sealed by rubble.
Banks of lights illuminated the space, and twenty soldiers surrounded the far side. There, a handful of spotlights shone into a sight that had become all too familiar. Pulsating red vines roped out of a tunnel, spreading from the dark soil and over the concrete. Kate’s stomach lurched. It wasn’t just the sight of the webbing network, but the overwhelming odor of death that came with it.
“This is the tunnel the beasts used when they nearly destroyed us,” Jacobs said. “We’ve got generators down here to keep the lights on and power your equipment. We also requisitioned a clinical laboratory upstairs you can use if needed.”
“Excellent, thank you,” Kate said. She wasn’t used to military commanders anticipating all her scientific needs like this.
“I’m heading back to base. If you need anything—more men, more computers, more generators—don’t hesitate to let me know.”
“Thank you very much, Commander,” Kate said.
The commander retreated, leaving behind the soldiers who had carried down the scientific equipment. Kate immediately began directing her team to set up near the tunnel. It took them a half-an-hour to prepare.
“All the software is ready,” Sammy reported, sitting at her station.
“I’ve got the microarrays prepped,” Leslie reported.
“Initiate the computer connections,” Kate said.
Sammy nodded, fingers typing on her keyboard as Leslie inserted the connector.
“I’ve established an active connection,” Sammy said. “We just need you to plug in.”
This was the part Kate hated. They had discovered computer communications alone with the Variant network were inadequate to sabotage the messages being sent between enemy forces. Like the difference between a computerized operator on the telephone and an actual human customer service representative, the creatures on the other end of the webbing preferred to talk with “biological” voices.
In other words, they could tell when Kate’s team was using solely the computer, which would blow their cover.
“This one’s for you.” Ron held a piece of webbing in one hand and motioned for Kate to take a seat with the other.
She did as instructed, trying to keep calm and preparing for the voices transmitting over the networks. Hundreds of them, some calling out in horror, others giving orders. Filtering through them was how they had learned the master of the New Gods they were seeking was actually called ‘the Prophet’, something she had discovered during the last time she connected.
Ron placed the webbing on the back of her neck, and
