Salvation: Secret Apocalypse Book 5 (A Secret Apocalypse Story) (24 page)

“You still
cannot see the whole plan. You still cannot see the forest for the trees.”

“What the hell
are you talking about?”

“I am not
special,” he says. “But my work is. My work is special. And necessary. And you
are special. You are the star.”

“Maria is no
longer immune. There’s no point in killing her. She’s not a threat to your new
world. She’s not a threat to anyone.”

“But that is
irrelevant. It is irrelevant because they still
think
she is immune. They still think she is their savior. She
still represents hope. Even when millions have already died, they still hope.
They have sent countless teams in to rescue her. The military. The company.
They have all failed. Yet they keep sending them. Most of them have no idea
where Maria is. But they still hope. They still try. Do you not see how
desperate and pointless that is?”

He’s right. I
can’t see the whole plan. I can’t see the forest for the trees. I can’t fit the
pieces of the puzzle together.

“What’s your
point?” I ask again. “Why are you recording this? You failed!”

And my watch
beeps. I have ten minutes left.

“I am recording
this because people need to know the truth. They can no longer live in denial.
I need to set them free.”

“What truth?”

“That we can
never go back. We can never go back to the way things were.”

I am starting to
panic because I do not have long.

“We are locked
in this room,” he says. “You cannot leave. This room, this entire facility is
designed to survive any extinction level event. Once those doors are locked,
nothing leaves. Nothing gets in.”

Again, he points
to one of the screens. And this screen is enlarged. And in this screen are
choppers and other aircraft that I don’t recognize. And one that I do
recognize.

It is an Osprey.

Like the one
Daniel’s team of mercenaries used. Like the one I was sucked out of when we
flew into Sydney. These aircraft and the choppers and the Osprey are all
hovering close to the ground. Ropes are thrown out of the choppers. Soldiers
appear. They abseil down from the choppers.

They are in the
desert. They are in the outback. They are
here
.

“The company,”
the man in the gas mask says. “The
Evo
Agents. They
are close. But they are too late. In less than ten minutes we will be locked in
here with a rogue nano-swarm. A mechanical virus, a mechanical plague, a swarm
that is designed to hunt and kill. Eat and consume. I will not kill Maria. But
you will. And the world will watch. And they will remember you. The survivors
will remember you. They will remember you and they will remember Maria. And
they will understand.”

He hands me the
keys for Maria’s handcuffs. “Set her free if you wish. Set the world free.”

And the puzzle
pieces fit together and I can see the plan and the trees in the forest and I
feel like such an idiot.

This is why he
injected me with a time release nano-swarm. This is why he helped me in the
sick bay of the prison.

He wants to show
the world the nano-virus. He wants my nano-virus to kill Maria.

He will take
away hope. He will show them fear.

The nano-swarm.
And the Oz virus.

The world is
doomed. And he wants everyone to know. He wants everyone to know that the world
is about to be destroyed and burnt to the ground and eaten by a biological
weapon of mass destruction and a mechanical plague.

And we can never
go back to the way things were.

He has planned
this from the beginning.

He is a goddamn
psychopath.

I could’ve ended
it. I could’ve saved myself like a selfish son of a bitch and saved Maria from
being eaten by the nano-swarm. But I chose to help my friend, and now I am
being punished and Maria is being punished and everyone will watch. Everyone
will see what I saw, when I watched George the Warden, eaten alive from the
inside by the nano-virus. They will see me bleed and choke and scream and then
disintegrate. And then they will watch as the nano-swarm eats Maria alive.

I have the keys
for her shackles in one hand. The Knife in the other.

I need to kill
the man in the gas mask.

Tariq
Sayid
.

Kumar Singh.

Lucifer.

Whatever the
hell his name is.

No. I don’t
need
to kill him. He’s already dead.

But I
want
to kill him.

I raise the
knife, and again I study the blade. The serrations. The forged metal.

This knife is
eerily similar to the one he was going to use to kill Maria, when he had her
tied up in the train, all those days ago. I remember his speech. He said a
weapon is an instrument of evil. But a weapon can also remove evil. Therefore
they are to be considered the divine will of the gods.

I had the chance
to kill him then. In the train. With the shotgun. I had the chance to remove
evil from this world.

But I missed. I
wasn’t ready for the shotgun blast. The recoil. It kicked like a damn horse.
The barrel pulled up and to the left.

I missed.

I failed.

But I will not
fail again.

Suddenly the
entrance to the Control Room slides open with a hiss and a thud. Movement
catches my eye.

A weird
shimmering mirage.

A red dot
appears on the inside of my wrist. An infra-red laser sight dot. From a rifle.

The
death squad is here.

But I don’t see
any soldiers. And the door is open.

Who opened the
door?

I see the laser
sight. I see the red dot on my arm. But I don’t see any soldiers.

The weird
shimmering mirage comes to life. And now I can see the soldiers. I can see a
whole squad of soldiers.

“Drop the
knife!”

My brain can
barely register what’s going on.

But I will not
drop the knife. I want to kill this psychopath. I begin to bring the knife
down. Like Kenji taught me.

Bring
it down. Stabbing motion. Through the skull.

But I don’t get
the chance.

Searing hot pain
shoots through my forearm. The knife is knocked from my hand and I am knocked
clear off my feet. I smack the back of my head on the floor.

I have been shot,
and my watch beeps, and I am not sure how long I have left.

Minutes.
Seconds.

But it doesn’t
matter.

It doesn’t
matter because I have failed again and the death squad has arrived.

And I am about
to be executed.

The Control Room erupts into chaos. I can’t find the knife. I can’t see it
anywhere.

I’m not entirely
sure what’s going on.

I can hear
voices shouting. “Hands on your head!

I am lying flat
on my back. And from down here, from this position, the man in the gas mask
looks massive as he kneels next to me, with his hands on his head. He has put
his hands on his head because I think the soldiers instructed him to.

Dark blood
continues to ooze from where I stabbed him with the knife.

And I still
can’t figure out what the hell is going on.

Did the death
squad take me out?

Why?

Because
I was about to kill one of the creators of the Oz virus.

The man in the
gas mask, Doctor Kumar Singh, Doctor Tariq
Sayid
.

This psychopath
is their security. He is their leverage.

Just like Doctor
Hunter.

Just like Kim.

The leader of
the death squad told us that the company was coming.

The company. The
Evo
Agents.

This is why they
needed security. This is why they needed leverage.

Who the hell is
the company?
YoshidaCorp
?

I have no idea.
And I’ll never know. Just like I’ll never see the sun or the moon. I’ll never
see the sky.

This Fortress is
my tomb.

I try and sit
up. I want to see my executioners. I want to look them in the eyes when they
kill me. But I can’t move. My right hand, my fingers are shaking. I can’t make
a fist. I can’t move my fingers at all. I can’t even wiggle them. Blood covers
my forearm and shoots and spurts in a huge red arc.

I lie back down
and stare at the ceiling.

More shouting
from the death squad. No gunshots though.

Maybe they will
just let me bleed to death.

I continue to
stare at the ceiling and suddenly I start to lose my vision. It becomes blurry
and unfocused, like I am staring into a heat mirage.

And then this
heat mirage takes on the form of a man.

A soldier.

Dressed in full
battle armor.

An NBC suit.

A suit that is
designed to withstand nuclear, biological and chemical threats.

It takes my
brain forever to realize what the hell is going on.

There is a
soldier standing over me, wearing an NBC suit. They had their cloaking device
activated. And now they have turned it off and they have shimmered back into
view.

He is no longer
invisible.

He is no longer
a ghost.

The soldier
takes his helmet and face mask off. And all of a sudden, Daniel is standing
over me.

I blink my eyes
and I try and focus my vision and I can’t believe it.

“She’s alive!”
he yells to I’m not sure who.

Doctor Hunter
appears over me and he inspects my arm. He applies pressure immediately. “You
clipped an artery.”

My watch beeps
and I finally speak. “How long? How long do I have?”

How
long does everyone have?

“What is she
talking about?” Daniel asks.

“She is
contaminated,” Doctor Hunter explains. “She is a threat. We need to get her to
the research lab.”

“What the hell
do you mean? Is she infected?”

“She is carrying
a time-release nano-swarm. We only have a few minutes before it activates.”

Daniel swears.
“How long do you need?

“Not long.”

“Where is
Maria,” I ask.

Daniel looks
down at me and wipes some blood off my face. “She’s safe. We’re getting out of
here. We’re going to be all right.”

And then the
voices become distant and muffled. I keep talking but I don’t think anyone
hears me.

“Not safe,” I
say. “Not as long as I’m around. Not as long as the man in the gas mask is
alive.”

They don’t
respond to me.

Suddenly I am
picked up and placed on a stretcher.

“The codes have
been confirmed,” Daniel says. “We can’t override it. We can’t stop it.”

“How long do we
have?” Doctor Hunter asks.

“Eight minutes.
Which means you’ve got four minutes to do what you need to do and make it to
the exit point. The express elevator takes thirty seconds to reach the Vehicle
Access Point directly above us. I’m sending two men with you, but if you’re not
ready, they will leave you here to die. Understand?”

“Yes.”

“Move!”

I feel myself
lifted up on the stretcher. I am being carried out of the room. I have no idea
where Maria is.

Did they kill
the man in the gas mask?

Did they find
Kenji and Jack and Ben?

What about Kim?

“Remove the
targets,” Daniel says. “Get to the extraction point. Secure them in the Osprey.
We are leaving.”

I can feel my
blood pumping from the wound in my arm. I feel weak.

I pass out.

A loud thumping
noise wakes me up. I wake in complete darkness. I am inside a coffin. I have
been buried alive. No, I have been locked inside one of the morgue freezers.

This has bought
everyone some time.

When the
nano-swarm eats its way through my body, it will be locked up. It will take
time for it to make its way to the surface, to make its way out of the morgue.

This will give
the
Evo
Agents and Daniel and Doctor Hunter time to escape.

This was a smart
move by Doctor Hunter.

Another loud
noise. Another loud thump.

“We’re out of
time. We
gotta
go!”

“It’s done.”

Lightness
returns to my world and I realize I am not inside a coffin or a morgue freezer.

I am in the
research lab. I am inside the MRI machine. And I realize that Doctor Hunter has
just saved my life. He has destroyed the nano-virus inside me with the
electromagnetic field created by the MRI machine.

I am slid out of
the machine and I want to speak, I want to stand up but I can’t. I am weak from
blood loss. I am delirious from blood loss.

The bandage
around my arm is completely soaked red.

“Come on,” a soldier says. “This
way. We’re leaving.”

“How long?” Doctor Hunter asks.

“Three minutes.”

I am carried into an elevator by
a soldier wearing an NBC suit, but in my mind they look like a medieval knight
in shining armor.

The elevator rises to the heavens
and I feel my stomach rise to my mouth.

Thirty seconds later the doors
open.

We have arrived at what appears
to be a Vehicle Access Point.

It is smaller than the other one.
A lot smaller. Barely any vehicles. A few choppers. A few Humvees. That’s it.

There are subway tunnels situated
to my left and to my right.

Standing behind the Humvees, like
they are taking cover, like they are hiding, are my friends.

Kenji.

Jack.

Ben.

They are hiding behind the
Humvees, and the
Evo
Agents are keeping watch, rifles
raised and ready for action.

I don’t see Maria or Kim.

Suddenly, the blast doors high
above us open up and the platform is lowered.

And I can see
the sky.

It is so
unbelievably blue.

The Ospreys and
the choppers, and the aircraft that I don’t recognize, are hovering above the
access point. Hovering and waiting for us.

Daniel was
right. We are safe. We’re getting out of here. We’re going to be all right.

We are nearly
there.

I finally stand
and I walk over to my friends. I hug Jack. And Kenji. I hold on to him and I
don’t let go.

Ben is standing
behind everyone. Keeping his distance. He keeps looking over at the elevator.
It’s almost like he doesn’t want to leave. Like he wants to get back down into
the Fortress. I wonder if he knows about General Spears.

One of the
Evo
Agents says, “We have hostiles in the area. They are
closing in on our position.”

Daniel says,
“Secure the extraction point.”

The
Evo
Agents are taking no chances. They are keeping watch by
the elevator and both of the entrances to the subway tunnels. I notice some of
the
Evo
Agents are carrying EMP weapons. I guess they
know about the nano-swarm.

“Where is Maria?”
I finally ask. “Where is Kim?”

Daniel turns to
me and puts his hand on my shoulder. “They’re safe. They’re both sedated.” He
points to a couple of stretches. Maria and Kim are both secured and strapped in
with oxygen masks over their faces.

Next to them is
the man in the gas mask. Again, he is kneeling down. His hands are tied behind
his back and he has a black hood over his head.

But they have
bandaged his wound. They have stopped the bleeding.

This lets me
know that they want him alive.

“Sir, we’ve got approximately
two minutes before the countdown expires.”

“We’ll be long
gone by the time this place blows,” Daniel says.

The choppers
hover in closer. Ropes are dropped down to us.

“Do we have to
use the ropes to get out of here?” Jack says. “Why can’t we use the platform?”

“We don’t have
time,” Daniel says. “The platform is too slow. We need to fast rope out of
here.”

“Wait. This
place is set to self-destruct?” I ask.

“Yeah,” Daniel
answers as he points to the man in the gas mask. “We believe he set the
charges. It might’ve been the military. But that seems unlikely.”

I shake my head.
“No. He didn’t set the place to self-destruct. He wouldn’t do that.”

“Why not?”
Daniel asks. “He’s done it before.”

“Because he
wanted to publicly execute Maria. He wanted the world to watch. Blowing this
place up doesn’t make any sense.”

Daniel has a
worried look on his face.

Ben starts
moving away. He knows something is wrong. So do I. Something is indeed wrong.
Something is messed up.

Daniel moves
over to the man in the gas mask and removes his hood. “Did you set the self-destruct
sequence? Is this place set to blow?”

No response from
the man in the gas mask.

“What happens
when the countdown reaches zero?”

The man in the
gas mask is on his knees. He has several rifles pointed at his head. But he
doesn’t seem to care. He is calm. He is at peace. He is staring up at the
unbelievably blue sky.

And he does not
answer Daniel.

“One minute.”

Daniel draws his
sidearm and presses the barrel against his temple. “Answer me!”

Suddenly we hear
several explosions. Three of them. One after the other.

But they are not
explosions. Not really.

The noises
sounded like they came from outside. From out in the desert somewhere.

We all look up to
the sky through the blast doors. A few seconds later we see the smoke trails.

We see three of
them.

Missiles have
been launched. They are arching high into the sky.

Majestically.
Beautifully choreographed.

They are soaring
to the heavens.

Higher and higher.

Until we can no
longer see them.

We can only see
the smoke trails.

The countdown
was not for a self-destruct sequence. The countdown was for a missile strike.

“I had a dream
about freedom,” the man in the gas mask says. “About a world on fire.”

Suddenly a
bright flash lights up the sky, turning it from blue to white. It’s like the
sun has intensified a million times. And after the flash, the sky turns the
color of fire. And I think to myself, he is going to burn down the old Empires.

The Ospreys and
the choppers and the aircraft that I don’t recognize, begin to spin out of
control.

They are falling
from the sky.

They are coming
right for us.

“Secure the
targets!” Daniel says, “Take cover! Run!

We turn away
from the platform, from the blast doors; we turn away from the sky and the one
and only exit point.

We run.

The Ospreys and
the choppers and the other aircraft have all spun out of control. They have
collided with each other.