“What about your troops?” Hatcher asked.
“They’ll be far enough away. They’re sending a MOAB, but it’s what is known as a Big BLU. An earth penetrating, thirty thousand-pound bomb.”
Hatcher shook his head, confused. “I’m not following you.”
As they walked out the door and watched the helicopter approach, Vickers explained, “We needed this to actually appear like a natural disaster. So, in order to throw up enough dirt and debris, they decided to send a ‘bunker buster.’ Something that penetrates deep into the ground and explodes with enough force that it looks like a natural disaster.” Vickers smiled. “Only an explosive forensic expert would know the difference, and since this place is basically a giant volcano, nobody would think to send one here.”
Hatcher grabbed the man’s arm and spun him around, “Is there any chance it could actually trigger a volcanic eruption?”
Vickers shook his head. “That’s why I directed them to the highest point and not the lowest. The crust would be thinner in the low areas and thicker in the higher areas.”
Hatcher’s mind was spinning. “Where did you send them?”
“To the top of a high hill. Up by some hot springs.”
Buck heard gunshots and he froze. The soldiers must be shooting the slow, stupid zombies…except, he thought he was farther away than that. He paused and looked back up the hill. He couldn’t see anything moving up the hillside and he had been travelling along the creek for a while. Unless his sense of direction was way off, he should be making a wide circle around the center. But he should be able to see some of the slow-moving zombies if they were still climbing the hill.
All hell broke loose and gunfire echoed throughout the low area that he was in. Buck instinctively lowered himself behind a tree and tried not to imagine the carnage the soldiers must be unleashing on the zombies stupid enough to wander into their camp. He shook his head and for a moment, even felt sort of sorry for the creatures. The ones he had encountered meant him no harm, he was certain. They seemed much more interested in getting somewhere, just, not in any kind of hurry.
Buck finally let out the breath he was holding when the shooting stopped. He stepped out from behind the tree once more and stood there a moment, thinking about what he was doing. He was alone in woods full of zombies. Army soldiers were out here, and they were shooting at anything that moved. His only weapon was a knife and as his grandpa used to say, only an idiot brings a knife to a gun fight.
Buck slumped down at the base of the tree and looked out at the creek he was walking by. Why did he have to be so stupid and run out on the ranger and Skeeter? Just because he had been crying and…his mom had…
Buck pushed the thought from his mind and stood up again. He wiped at his face and gripped the knife tighter. He’d go and find his dad. They’d fight their way out of the woods together and then come back and get Keri.
Yeah. That was as good a plan as any.
Buck stared up at the sky and tried to get his bearings again. Glancing up at the hill where he was sure the ranger station was, he began trekking off in the general direction where he was sure the RV had been left.
He hadn’t gone very far when he heard another helicopter in the sky. This one sounded close…like it was coming in for a landing.
The helicopter set down in a soft patch of grass outside the staging area. Numerous military vehicles and tents were already set up, people busily working. Vivian stared out of the helicopter as the pilot finished the shutdown sequences. “Thank you for flying Pterodactyl Airlines, be sure and put your seats back in the full upright position and your trays up in the locked position.” The pilot grinned at her.
“Will I have cell service now?” she asked, obviously perturbed.
His face fell at her ignoring his favorite joke, and he nodded. “Yes, ma’am. You should, if there is any signal to be had.”
She looked at her phone and sighed at the sight of two bars. She quickly pulled the headphones from her ears and dialed Joseph’s number. The phone rang until it went to voicemail. She cursed silently and tried again with the same result. “Why won’t you answer?”
The pilot turned in his seat and shrugged. “They could be busy, ma’am. Remember, they’re trying to get out of that place. Could be that he simply can’t hear it.”
She glared at him for butting in to her business and reached over to pull open the side door. As she stepped out of the helicopter, she hit the button on the phone again and listened for him to pick up. Again, the phone rang and went to voicemail. “Dammit!”
Vivian snatched up her bags and marched away from the helicopter, angry for being stuck out in the middle of nowhere, angrier that she couldn’t be at the site and able to help the people that were supposed to be used in the experiments, and even angrier that the military was planning to blow up the site and wipe away all the evidence.
Amidst the hustle and bustle of the crowd at the staging area, Vivian considered her options. She watched as soldiers, medics, and people she couldn’t identify hurried about her. She decided it was time to take Neils up on his offer.
She stepped away from the noise and confusion of the busy and growing crowd and dialed his number. It was time to tell him everything she had learned. She may not have any evidence to back it all up, but he needed to know where things stood in case anything happened to her.
Vickers walked out of the front door carrying his satchel with Maggie right behind him. She stepped in
