Fulcrum: V Plague Book 12 (2 page)

Once inside the building, Rachel steered me to a small cafeteria. 
The base had been well stocked with canned and freeze dried food, so everyone
that had stayed behind was eating well.  A large platter was waiting on
the warming tray, and Dog dashed across the small space to thoroughly sniff the
edge of the serving line.

“I’m not hungry,” I said, trying to turn and head out the
door.

“You need to eat,” she said, grabbing my arm and pulling me
to a table.  “Sit your ass down and I’ll get your food.”

With a sigh, I pulled a plastic chair back and lowered
myself.  Half the weapons strapped to my body clanged and I stood back up
and started removing them.  Soon, there was a respectable pile of
firepower on an adjacent table, and I sat back down.  Rachel was already
seated across from me, a steaming plate in front of my chair.  I picked up
a fork and poked at it, still not hungry. 

“So, how are we getting to Australia?”

I shook my head and lipped a small bite of beef stroganoff
off the end of the fork.  It hit my pallet like a bomb, and I was suddenly
starving.

“What does that mean?”  She asked after watching me eat
for a couple of minutes.

“It means that I don’t know,” I said in between bites.

Dog rammed his muzzle into my hip, and I scooped up a hunk
of noodles, speared a piece of meat and held the fork out for him.  He
delicately pulled the food off the fork and swallowed after only chewing
once.  I picked up another bite and put it in my mouth with the same fork.

“OK, that’s just gross!”

I turned to see Nicole standing in the entrance to the
cafeteria.  Her red eyes still startled me every time I saw them, but this
time I managed to stop myself from visibly tensing.  She walked forward, a
smile on her face.

Navy Master Chief Gonzales followed her, most of his face
swaddled in bandages.  I hadn’t seen the wounds but had heard that a
female had bitten off much of the flesh on his lower face.  He had to be
in some pretty serious pain, but the man didn’t reveal a glimmer of what he was
going through. 

“He’s earned it.  About a hundred times over,” I said,
feeding some more of my meal to Dog.

As Nicole approached the table, Dog took a step away and
growled softly.  He still hadn’t accepted her, but at least he wasn’t
attacking.  I spoke to him, and he came back to sit by my side, keeping his
eyes locked on the woman.  He was no longer interested in the food.

Gonzales walked to a large, chrome urn and filled a ceramic
mug with steaming coffee.  Nicole had backed off because of Dog, and they
took a seat a couple of tables away.  It didn’t escape my attention that
they were sitting closer together than would be normal.

“So?”  Rachel asked, prompting me to answer her earlier
question.

“I still don’t know,” I said, sighing.  “The Russians
are patrolling the whole west coast to keep the Navy bottled up in
Hawaii.  There’s no way they can pick us up.”

“There has to be a way,” Rachel said, staring at me.

“Not without the Navy’s help,” I said.  “It’s a damn
long way and a whole lot of ocean between here and there.  Besides, even
if we could get there, the Aussies are protecting the Russians.”

“Then you need to figure something out,” Rachel said. 
“You always come up with something.”

I looked at her for a long moment, then put my fork
down.  There was still some food on the plate, and I put it on the floor
for Dog.  His eyes flicked down as his nose twitched, but he didn’t start
eating.  He didn’t trust Nicole.  Rubbing his head, I spoke softly in
his ear, reassuring him.  After a long pause, he slowly lowered his head
and devoured the remnants of my meal.

“You’re the resident genius,” Rachel said, turning to
Nicole.  “Can’t you come up with a way to get us there?”

Nicole looked at her, a flicker of resentment passing across
her face before she answered.

“It doesn’t matter how smart you are.  There’s only so
many ways to make the trip, and as the Major pointed out, none of those are
viable options.”

Rachel stared back at her, then turned to me.  For the
first time, I realized how exhausted she was.  Her eyes were puffy with
dark circles bruising the skin beneath them.  She was drawn and looked
like she’d reached that point where even your hair hurts.  She needed
sleep.

And, so did I.  After the food, my body was telling me
it was time to shut down for a while.  But, I was afraid to sleep.  I
feared the dreams that I knew would come.  The loss of Katie had done more
to me than the infected or the Russians ever could have.  However, I knew
my body needed to rest.  To recover.  How else was I going to be able
to avenge my wife once the opportunity finally presented itself?

“Let’s talk about this tomorrow,” I said, standing and
collecting my weapons.

Nicole and Gonzales nodded, staying where they were. 
Rachel stood, her and Dog following me out into the hall.

“Do you want to be alone?”  She asked as we headed for
the sleeping quarters.

“No,” I said after a long beat. 

She took my hand and led me to the room she was using. 
There was nothing special about it other than it had two single bunks. 
While I piled my arsenal in the corner and took my boots off, she pushed them
together and spread blankets. 

Rachel turned the lights off, and we lay down, holding hands
across the gap where they didn’t quite meet.  Dog curled up on the floor,
between us and the door, grunting as he got himself into a comfortable
position.

I didn’t think I’d be able to sleep.  Expected this to
be a frustrating exercise in futility.  Planned to wait until Rachel
drifted off, then take Dog and go back outside to hunt some more
infected.  But, as usual, my plan didn’t work out the way I wanted it
to. 

Within minutes, Rachel was breathing slowly and
softly.  Sound asleep.  Soon, Dog was snoring.  I stared at the
ceiling in the nearly perfect darkness, the only illumination coming from a
faint light in the hall that leaked under the door.  Several times I told
myself to get up and put my boots on, but my body didn’t cooperate.  I
went to sleep.

I was alone when I woke.  Rachel and Dog had gotten up
at some point and left the room.  With no watch or clock, I had no idea
what time it was and didn’t really give a shit.  I was content just to lay
there for a while, staring at the ceiling and thinking.

Somehow, I’d made it through the night without dreaming
about Katie.  Well, at least if I did, I didn’t remember having a
dream.  Now, I let my mind drift.  Remembered our life
together.  Our dreams and hopes.  The plans we’d made for the
future.  A future that would never come.

Then I thought about the reason that future would never
happen.  Not just for me, but for billions of other people on the planet
that had died because of a madman in the Kremlin.  All of the pain and
loss that had been visited on the world in the past few months could be laid
squarely on his doorstep.

Anger surged through me, both for my loss and the evil that
had been unleashed on humanity.  And now, the fucker directly responsible
was sitting somewhere in Australia, living a life of luxury.  Somehow, I
was going to make the journey.  Creep into his bedroom late at night and
make him experience true terror.

The need for vengeance was invigorating, and I threw the
thin blanket off and sat up.  And got a whiff of myself.  I was
ripe.  Well, maybe ripe didn’t do justice to the smell coming off my body
and clothing.  The first order of business was to get clean.

Taking only a rifle and pistol, I grabbed my boots and
headed out in search of clean clothes and a shower.  Wandering down the
hallway, I stuck my head into the cafeteria and spotted Nicole and Gonzales
huddled at a table, talking in low voices.  Her hand was on top of his,
and he quickly pulled it away when he became aware of my presence.

“Relax, Master Chief,” I said, smiling.  “And, tell me
where to find some clean clothes and the showers.”

“Better I show you, sir.”

He stood and stepped into the hallway, leading me in a
direction I hadn’t been.

“Sorry about what you saw, sir.  I know it’s not
exactly…”

“Knock it off,” I grumbled.  “The world where you
aren’t supposed to fraternize like that is long dead.  If you two want to
be together, well then be together.  And if your LT gives you any shit,
come find me.”

“Actually, sir,” Gonzales chuckled.  “He warned me about
you.”

“Me?  Why the hell is he worried about me?”

“Just doesn’t know you, sir.  That’s all.  That,
and from what we’ve heard you’re pretty tight with Admiral Packard.”

“Don’t know if pretty tight is the right way to characterize
it,” I said as we entered a new hallway.  “Never met the man.  Only
ever talked to him on the phone.  There’s just been a lot of shit I’ve
been involved in that has been on his radar.  Regardless, you do what your
heart tells you.  Before it’s too late.”

We reached a door marked
Quartermaster,
and he turned
to face me.  Held my eyes for a moment before nodding.

“Heard from a few of the Rangers that you were OK. 
Glad they weren’t shining me on.”

“I’m a gold-plated asshole,” I grinned.  “But I was an
NCO, not an officer.  I’ve got bigger things to worry about than who
you’re romancing.”

He grinned back at me and nodded.

“Good supply of Air Force issue inside,” he said, gesturing
at the door.  “Showers are about five doors down on your left.”

“Thanks, Master Chief.”

He nodded and walked away, heading back to the cafeteria
with a spring in his step.  I pushed through and turned on the
lights.  Stepping around a counter, I saw row upon row of steel shelving,
loaded down with neatly folded and cataloged uniforms.  Clean clothes in
hand, I snagged a hygiene kit sealed in plastic and headed for the showers.

Opening the door, I was greeted with a billow of steam and
the sound of running water.  Putting my weapons on a bench, I stripped out
of the offending garments that were stiff with blood and sweat.  Picking
up the towel, I stepped around the wall that divided the showers from the
dressing area and came to an abrupt stop.

Irina stood under the closest shower, rinsing soap from her
body.  She was turned away from me and hadn’t heard me enter over the
sound of the water.  I quickly retreated, wrapped the towel around my
waist and pulled the door open to check.  Yep.  I was in the showers
designated for men.  Softly closing the door, I began gathering my clothes
and weapons, intending to make a strategic retreat before she knew I’d
inadvertently invaded her privacy.

Before I had everything in my arms, the water shut off, and
Irina stepped around the wall.  She came to a surprised stop with a sharp
intake of breath when she saw me, arms automatically covering her breasts.

“Sorry,” I said, turning away and snatching up the last
piece of my clothing.

“It is OK,” she said.

I could tell from the sound that she had ducked back around
the wall into the shower area.  I was reaching for the door when she spoke
again.

“Can you please hand me a towel?”

I paused, wanting to get the hell out of there.  Yes,
Irina is a beautiful woman, but the whole situation made me really
uncomfortable. 

Glancing around, I saw a stack of fresh, white towels. 
Picking one off the top, I edged up to the wall and held it around the
corner.  Irina took it from my hand and a moment later stepped back into
view with it wrapped around her torso.  The lower edge ended only a few
inches below her hips.

“I am sorry,” she said, appearing more composed with her
nudity covered.  “The showers for women do not have good pressure.  I
did not think anyone would be coming along.”

She stepped around me and quickly disappeared through the
door.  I caught a flash of her ass as she moved, and all it did was make
me think of Katie.  I peeked around the wall to make sure I was alone,
then dumped my stuff back on the bench and tossed the towel over a rack. 

Nearly half an hour later I was clean and freshly
shaven.  Turning the water off, I stepped into the dressing area and came
face to face with Rachel, holding a towel for me.

“Can’t you women read?”  I asked sarcastically. 
“It says, MEN.  Right there on the goddamn door!”

I snatched the towel and wrapped it around my waist.

“Irina said you were in here.”

“Yeah, well, she shouldn’t have been in here, either,” I
groused.

Moving to the sink, I loaded a toothbrush with paste and
began brushing my teeth.  Rachel came to stand next to me, leaning her hip
on the counter.

“Feel better?”  She asked with a small grin.

“I’d feel better if I could take a shower without
participating in a peep show,” I mumbled around the brush.

“Suck it up,” she said.  Then, “You’re going to be
interested in what we found.”

I turned to look at her, then had to spit toothpaste into
the sink.

“What?”

“No one’s sure,” she said, still grinning.

That got my attention.  Despite everything that had
been going on, it hadn’t failed to register on me that this was Area 51. 
If even a fraction of the conspiracy theories were right, there had to be some
pretty fantastic things hidden in the massive, underground facility.

“If you tell me they found aliens,” I stopped to spit again
and rinse my mouth.  “I’m going to take your rifle away before you hurt
yourself or someone else.”

“I’d like to see you try,” she said.

With a smile, she stepped away and moved her slung rifle
behind her back and put her fists on her hips.  Despite myself, I laughed.

“OK, tell me,” I said, turning to face her.

“Un-uh.  You’ve gotta see this.”

“Jesus Christ,” I said under my breath.  “Fine. 
Get the hell out and let me get dressed.  I’ll be right there.”

Rachel stuck her tongue out, then left the room. 
Shaking my head, I stripped the towel off and pulled on my new clothes.