Impetus (25 page)

CHAPTER
37
 

The instant Robert started back up the stairs, Mick wondered if he’d made the right decision. Even without Greg, their group could have overpowered Robert. They could have easily put him in the cell. Left him behind while Mick worked out a plan. The problem was that he had no plan. He was winging it now. And they did not have the luxury of time.

He turned to Solomon.
“Whatever happens, I want you to know that I’m really glad I met you in that alley. Stella was right,” Mick said, reaching out and touching Solomon’s arm. “You need to live your life, Solomon. So how about we start that now?” Unlike the first time Mick had tried to be tactile, Solomon reached up and braced Mick’s arm back.

Solomon almost smiled, but
he said nothing.

Mick
then turned to the rest of the group. “Okay. Here’s how this is going to go down. We have to pull out all the stops now. Our bodies are failing. Our time is running out. But now we have hope.” He turned and shot Solomon a glance. “And hope is what I will use against King.”

The group appeared to have a bit more life to them, even though, in reality, it was the exact opposite.

Mick went up the stairs first, stopping when he reached the top. He peeked from within the shadows. King sat on his throne. He held the auto injector in his hand, rotating it, mesmerized. Robert was to their right and had silently gathered a group of those he thought shared the same desire to survive that he did. Mick figured he would have to persuade the others. He committed this moment to one of both absolution and necessity. He fully understood there would be no do overs. This was the point where things either changed or ended.

Mick calmed his mind. He took a short, cleansing breath.
Let’s do this.

He leaned out of the shadows and into the main room.

“Is this the life you all want?” Mick shouted. His voice echoed off the walls.

“
How in the world did you get out?” King said. He stood from his throne and reached for his gun. “Robert. Do you care to explain what this is all about?”

There were a few clicks from his right. Robert and a few of the
other men held their rifles toward King.

“
What are you fools doing?” King said.

“
We want to hear what he has to say,” Robert said. “Don’t we?” He looked around at the group he had gathered. They slowly nodded in agreement. Those that Robert had not let in on the surprise appeared to go with the flow of the situation. For now.

King
laughed. “You’re serious?”

Robert nodded tentatively.

Mick figured they were all seconds from a gunfight.

But
King surprisingly relented. “Very well,” he said. He sat back down and waved his arm. “Speak your mind, Mick.”

Mick moved f
arther into the main room. He watched King as he went. The rest of his group eased out behind him. He instructed his children to stay within the stairwell. If things went south, then at least they would be afforded some protection from ricocheting bullets.

“
Is this what you all want?” Mick said. “To live in squalor? To wonder if today is your last on this planet?” Mick looked around the room as he spoke. “There is a better way,” he continued. “A way to change all of it.”

“
How?” someone said from the darkness behind Robert.

“
There is a place not far from here that has power. They have running water. They have everything we all thought was gone.”

“
Yeah, right,” someone else said.

Mick strained to see who
said it. He moved back a bit toward Sid and Alex. “These two men are from a place called The Facility. It’s located a few miles from here.”

“
Unlikely,” King said. He turned to his men. “Do you really believe this garbage? A secret facility a few miles from here? We have searched everywhere in the city. We know everything around here. Have any of you seen this place?”

Lots of heads began to shake.

Sid said, “You wouldn’t be able to find it even if you looked. It was built specifically to remain hidden. We have been down there for the past ten years trying to find a way to rebuild.”

“
So you know how to do that?” another voice chimed in.

“
No,” Sid said. “Not yet, anyway.”

“
So why are you here then?” asked another of King’s men.

“
We are here because all of you are infected with a virus,” Sid said. “We all are, actually.”

Mick said,
“We are here to offer you another way.” He looked toward the gathering of men to his right.

“
Another way to what? Die?” King said. “I don’t believe you will have many takers on such an offer.” He turned to his men. “But what say you? If you want to take this man up on his offer, then so be it. I don’t need you here if you don’t want to be here. But there is no coming back to my kingdom once you leave. Once you find out this little fairy tale is just that, you’re on your own and no longer in my good graces.”

“
Why don’t you explain to
your
men how you injected yourself?” Mick said.

“
What I did was for all of you. I injected myself to preserve leadership. Without me there is nothing.”

Mick laughed.
“I don’t think even they believe that. Everything you do, you do for yourself. You have made that one point very clear.”

King
stood. He stepped from his throne and neared Mick at a quick pace.

“
What are you trying to do, Mick? Huh? You want to turn my men against me? Walk out of here with my army behind you? It will never happen.”

“
It’s true,” Robert said. “He injected himself with what he thought was a way to stop the virus from spreading inside him.”

King
paused. He looked down at the fading red circle on his arm. He then looked at Robert. “What did you just say?”

Robert shied away for an instant. He then stiffened his back and said,
“What you put in yourself was not what you thought it was. And thank you for denying me it. It turns out that you may have just saved my life.”

King
looked from Robert to Sid. Fire in his eyes. “What did you inject me with, you little shit?”

Mick turned to
King’s men. “You are all expendable to him. Each and every one of you. This man sees no value in your lives.”

“
What did you inject me with?” King screamed, furious that his question had gone unanswered. And more so that he had been duped.

Mick answered.
“The injector has an accelerant in it. It supercharges the virus.”

King
laughed nervously. He shook his head. “No,” he said. “That can’t be. This is part of your plan. Make me doubt myself, my decisions. I have to say, I didn’t see that angle coming. Well done, Mick. Well done.”

“
I have no plan,” Mick said. “Your own greed and callousness finally got the better of you.”

King
turned his attention to Sid. He stared through him in anger. He pointed his gun toward Sid. “Get it out of me now,” he said. “I warned you what would happen if you double-crossed me.”

“
That’s impossible,” Sid said. “I can’t remove it.”

“
Make it possible!” King shouted.

“
N-no,” Solomon said. He stepped in between King’s gun and Sid. “N-no m-more.”

“
Solomon,” Mick said, almost under his breath. “What are you doing?”

“
Oh. Isn’t that sweet?” King said. “You’ve turned the boy into a man.”

“
Solomon,” Mick repeated.

Solomon looked to Mick.
“It’s all right,” he said without a stutter, then turning his attention back to King. “L-l-leave them b-be,” Solomon said. He then slowly walked to the side of King. “If y-you l-leave them, I w-will let you t-take m-m-me.”

“
Take you where, boy? I don’t want to take you anywhere.”

“
Solomon, no,” Mick said.

“
T-t-to The F-Facility.”

“
And why would I want to do that?”

“
B-because I a-a-am th-the c-cure.”

King
pointed the gun at Solomon’s head. He looked toward Mick and the group. “What is he talking about?”

“
Solomon. Why?” Mick said.

“
Someone better answer me quickly,” King said, pulling the hammer of the pistol back.

Sid spoke.
“Solomon is somehow immune to the virus. We think we can create a cure from his antibodies.”

“
So you can get this out of me,” King said.

“
I’m not sure,” Sid said. “But it’s the only hope we have.”

King
smiled at Mick. “How things can change so suddenly. Eh, Mick?” King then reached out and brought Solomon in front of himself. He put the barrel of his gun in Solomon’s back. He then nodded to Sid. “You’re coming with us.”

“
I don’t think that would be wise,” Sid said.

“
I was not asking, Scientist. You will take me and the boy here to your ‘Facility.’”

“
I understand what you’re saying. What I am telling you is if they see me back there, they will kill all of us on sight,” Sid lied. “Phillip told me as much. So if you want to die quickly, then take me.”

King
pondered the lie. “All right then.” He pointed to Alex. “You’ll take us then. And don’t say no or he dies.” King pushed the gun harder against Solomon’s back.

“
There has to be another way,” Mick said.

“
The only way right now is my way,” King said. He nodded to Alex. “Now, Scientist.”

Mick nodded to
Alex for him to comply. The only thing to do at that moment was let one of the most villainous people he had ever met walk away with their only hope. And that was just how he wanted it.

CHAPTER
38
 

Like a three-car train, Alex led the way, while King walked Solomon along with the help of his gun. They weaved in and out of debris on track toward The Facility.

Solomon walked silently with
the gun to his back. His mind was stuck on a constant loop of all the fond memories he had of Ms. Stella. He tried to remember her sweet smile from before the meteorites hit—a time when he’d thought his world had started to change for the better. But the one image that became unshakable was that of her lifeless eyes as they stared up at him from his lap.

He was happy
that Clyde was dead. No use trying to convince himself otherwise. Clyde was rotten to the core. And the man who now held a gun to his back was the catalyst that started the darkening within Clyde. Solomon was sure of that. They shared the same blood, the same issues. A wretched father and his wayward son.

“
Are we almost there?” King said like a child from the backseat.

Alex
stopped for a brief moment. He looked around and then nodded left. “It’s this way. We’re close.”

A few minutes more
and they stopped again.

“
This is it,” Alex said, turning to face King. “I’m not sure if they are going to welcome me back with open arms.”

King
ignored what Alex was saying. He looked at where they had stopped. “Where is this grand ‘Facility’ you spoke about? All I see is a lot of nothing.”

“
Like I said before, you wouldn’t have found it.”

Alex
squeezed in between a few cars, past a downed light post, and up to a leaning parking meter. He turned the broken change dial on the front of the meter until the large red Expired tag fell out of sight. He then turned the dial again until the green Paid tag rose from within it. When he did, a keypad flopped down from behind the dial. He entered a long string of numbers. He then backed up to where King and Solomon stood.

“
You may want to move back a bit,” Alex said.

The ground
shook. The piles of debris in front of the group began to part. A steel entryway encased the thick doors of The Facility. What was once hidden now towered in plain sight.

“
Now what?” King said.

“
We wait.”

CHAPTER
39
 

It was Solomon’s idea. One that Mick was initially reluctant to accept. But Solomon was insistent. So Mick simply took his idea and constructed a crude plan around it. Solomon told Mick that King would never willingly let any of them walk out of the old police station. His own men included. And even if King was able to kill only one of them, it would be one too many. So Solomon gave himself up so they could live. But that was only the beginning.

Mick was not
about to let King walk away with Solomon. Not without a fight. After all, without Solomon there was no hope. But Solomon’s idea did help Mick to gather the rest of King’s men. King leaving the way he had helped to show his men that their allegiance was misplaced. And Mick knew King loved himself far too much to ever hurt Solomon at this point. By killing Solomon, King would in essence doom himself.

Mick
instructed Robert and the rest of the men to stay behind at the police station. It took a little convincing, but Mick made him realize how such a large band of men would hurt their element of surprise. And they needed to beat the other three to The Facility. A small group was a fast group.

During the formulation of the plan,
Alex told Mick that he would take their group the long way to The Facility to buy him some time. Thankfully, King believed Sid’s whole “they’ll kill me” routine. Mick needed Sid with him.

“
Are you sure they are going to let us in?” Mick asked Sid.

Sid
turned. “No.” He entered a set of digits in a hidden display on the side of a downed wall. “This might not go so well,” he said. “You may want to be prepared.”

Leaving his kids behind with that group left a sour taste in Mick
’s mouth. This was the same group that had held them all captive. The same group that had kept Ms. Stella and Solomon all those years. But Mick had little choice. He could not bring them with him. There was no telling what was about to happen. Chester, Deep, and Laurel were all there. Mick knew they would give their lives to save the kids. He just hoped it never came to that.

Five long minutes later the wall
in front of them split down the middle. It then pushed toward the sides, revealing a thick door behind it.

“
This is the back door?” Mick asked.

“
Yes. This is it. Nobody noticed me the first time. But they are obviously paying attention now. I put in my code, but that was just to let them know we were here. Dr. Jones is the only person with the authority to open either set of doors now, according to Alex. Since those doors are opening, I can only assume it was done on Phillip’s authority.”

The door pushed open to reveal three heavily armed security guards dressed in dark
-blue jumpsuits.

“
Dr. Roth,” the guard in front said. “Welcome back.” His tone was less than welcoming. “Who is this?” he asked, nodding toward Mick.

“
Jon,” Sid said to the head of security, “this is Mick. Dr. Jones will want to speak with us. We found the immunity.”

The guard soaked in the words and then reached for the communication device on his sleeve. He backed away. All
Mick could hear was, “Dr. Roth has returned with the subject,” as Jon walked away.

The two other
guards watched both Mick and Sid. Their fingers resting lightly on the triggers of their automatic rifles.

“
This way,” Jon said. “Dr. Jones is waiting.”

The guards parted
only after patting both of them down and taking Mick’s rifle.

“
Not much to look at,” Mick said as they walked down the pipe-lined hallway. Though it was strange to see the string of working lights that lined the hall. It had been ages since he’d seen electricity in action.

“
The real stuff is upstairs,” Sid said.

The small group went right at the end of the tunnel and stopped at the elevator. The guard pushed
the button for the first floor. Mick felt as if he had gone back in time as soon as the elevator doors shut. He had not seen an elevator work since before Colossus. Now he was in a fully powered one, complete with working lights and even the digital display showing what floor they were on. To think this had existed the entire time made him both angry and sad.

“
This way,” the guard said, exiting the elevator.

H
e led them down a long white-walled hallway.

Many a scientist stopped dead in their tracks
as they walked past. Mick heard one whisper, “He’s the one.” Another said, “I can’t believe they let Sid back in after what he did.”

Above all, Mick quic
kly realized how understated Sid was when he’d said the real stuff was upstairs. The Facility looked nothing short of something from another world. Pristine white walls. Clean glass. Electricity. Lights. People working. Everything he thought he would never see again in his lifetime was right there in front of him.

“
Where are we going?” Mick asked.

“
To see the man responsible for this mess.”

The front guard stopped at Phillip
’s door. He opened it and held his arm out, signifying for them to enter.

Phillip stood fro
m his clean desk. “Sid,” he said. “Have you come crawling back?”

“
This is Mick,” Sid said, ignoring Phillip.

“
Security told me as much. They also said that he is the one we have been looking for?”

“
That was a lie,” Sid said. “But we have found the immunity strand.”

Phillip quickly shook off his confusion.
“Are you sure you’ve found it?” he asked.

“
Positive.”

“
That is amazing news, Sid. Amazing. But where is that person?”

“
They should be here soon. Alex is leading them to the front entrance.”

“
And why did you bring”—he looked at Mick—“him here if he is not the one we need?”

“
Mick saved all our lives,” Sid said. “He’s been through hell. And he is the one that will lead us out of it.”

Phillip
chuckled. “Lead us out? Out of what? We are all that is left.”

“
That’s not true,” Mick said. “There are thousands of us out there struggling to survive.”

Phillip smiled.
“Let me rephrase that. We are all that is left of those worth saving.” He then sneered at Mick. “No offense.”

“
There are children out there,” Mick shouted.

“
Please lower your voice. There are children in here, too,” Phillip said. “However, these children have been raised in a manner more fitting the continuation of our species.”

“
More fitting?” Mick turned to Sid. “You were right about him.”

The communication station on Phillip
’s desk began to beep. He reached down. “Yes?”

“
Sir,” came a voice from the device. “We have Dr. Cole outside the main doors. He has two with him. One is armed.”

“
I will be right there.” He shook his head. “What a mess.” He then waved Jon inside his office. “Escort these two to the front door. They will be leaving from it shortly.”