The Tide (Tide Series Book 1) (16 page)

“So have you uncovered what this amana...amajuka”—Meredith hesitated—“Have you uncovered what this Oni Agent does biologically?”

“Not yet, I’m afraid,” Chao said. “But if the Oni Agent, to use your term, is what turned those people into Skulls, it causes rage, violence...and hunger.”

“I see. Whatever this Oni Agent is, it’s spreading,” she said. “People have found mutated bodies all along the Eastern seaboard.”

Dom wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly. “You mean dead Skulls?”

A crackle of static drowned out her words. Thomas and Dom shared a nervous look. Chao’s fingers tapped at his keyboard until Meredith’s smooth voice replaced the noise.

“Yes, Skulls, whatever you want to call those people-turned-monsters. Several were found washed up across the Atlantic shore.”

Samantha caught Dom’s eyes, her thin eyebrows curved upward. He understood her skepticism immediately. “Several of those things jumped into the ocean after us,” Dom said, “but there’s no way the currents carried them so quickly to shore. They couldn’t have beaten us back to the States.”

“It’s not just the States, Dom.” She paused. “But you’re right. These bodies aren’t recent. My guess is they’ve been dead for a while. I’d also be willing to bet the washed-up corpses were casualties from when the IBSL went dark. Hell, there could’ve been a lifeboat full of people trying to escape that turned into those creatures.”

“And what’s the government saying about the bodies?” Dom asked.

“They aren’t saying much. At first they tried to write it off as a hoax.”

“If someone at the CIA was keeping it under wraps from you,” Dom said, “then it goes without saying that most of the federal government probably doesn’t know the lab, much less these Skulls, even existed.”

“That’s all true. The president declared a state of emergency. It’s not just—”

Dom’s heart stopped when static jumbled her words. Chao’s fingers clacked across the keyboard as he recovered her transmission.

“—in other countries too.”

“Can you repeat that?” Dom asked.

“It’s gone worldwide. People going crazy in Mexico City. A bunch of tourists wreaking havoc in Rome. Kids attacking their parents in Brazil.”

Dom, Thomas, and the three members of the electronics workshop remained silent.

“
Huntress
, do you still read?” Meredith asked.

“Copy,” Dom said. “You suspect all these events are connected with the Oni Agent?”

“Seems like it. I’m looking forward to hearing more about your team’s analysis to confirm this is the case, and in the meantime, I’m headed to Fort Detrick.”

“Hold on,” Dom said. “You’re on the run, and now you’re going to jump straight back into the Feds’ grasp? You’re our landside link. If you go dark again, we lose what little ties we have to the US government.”

“Dom, we’re already shut out from the government,” she reminded him. “I think all this has gone way over our heads. I want to feel things out, see if I can’t be of some help and—”

Dom cut her off as he understood better what she planned to do. “You want to see if
we
can be of some help.”

“Your team is potentially the best-equipped group in the world to study the Oni Agent. You have live samples, and you’ve recovered data from the rig. You’re trained for action against biological and chemical warfare threats, and I think this is about the biggest threat we’ve faced.” She paused. “That being said, if there’s any group on US soil that can help protect the population against this threat, they’ve got to be at Fort Detrick.”

“I would assume so, but what if the Army—and not just the CIA—had a hand in keeping the IBSL secret?” Another realization sprung up in Dom’s mind as he considered the destroyed oil rig and its former inhabitants. “And let me guess: if you want us to keep studying the Oni Agent, that means you don’t think they have a cure.”

“Correct,” Meredith said.

“If there was a cure—if the CIA or anybody else who knew how to reverse the effects of the Oni Agent—we wouldn’t have needed to infiltrate an oil rig filled with monsters, would we? The chaos in the US would already be contained.”

“My thoughts exactly. Unfortunately, I think the IBSL researchers were playing with a caliber of biological weapon they had no business messing with.”

“Then you might as well get your ass to Detrick,” Dom said. “I want to know what those people started cooking to stop the damn Oni Agent.”

“That makes two of us,” Meredith said.

Once again, Dom pictured the reigning chaos as people around the world succumbed to the Oni Agent. His thoughts turned toward Kara and Sadie, hundreds of miles away. “Meredith?”

There was a pause and flicker of static that told Dom she was waiting for his question.

“In your message, you mentioned you’d owe me a favor if we took your IBSL mission.”

“Yes, yes I did.”

“Meredith, I want you to protect my girls. They’re in Frederick, too.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. Dom hoped he wasn’t taking advantage of their friendship—a friendship that had threatened to blossom into more after his divorce. At last she said, “I promise, Dom. I’ll find them and keep them safe.”

“Thanks. And Meredith...be careful.”

“You too, Dom.”

Chao disconnected them.

Thomas laid a hand on Dom’s shoulder and gave him a slight nod of reassurance. “If she says she’ll help them, your daughters are probably some of the safest people on dry land.”

“I know. It takes one more worry off my mind so I can focus on business here.” But Dom knew he would be lying to Thomas and lying to his crew if he said his thoughts would solely be focused on uncovering the truth behind the Oni Agent. He strode to the exit of the electronics workshop, Thomas by his side. Lauren and her team would still be waiting for him, ideally with updates, and he wanted to interview the mechanic. But first there was something else he needed to do.

Policy aboard the
Huntress
was to shut down all personal communication with the mainland during a mission for the sake of security. But if Kara and Sadie were in danger, if things were as bad as Meredith said back home, what did policy matter?

“Chao, Samantha, Adam?” Dom asked.

The three techies, each at their respective bank of computer monitors, turned to him.

“Monitor all civilian news stations and track the spread of all Oni-related incidents. Also, I want you to open up secured lines so the crew can call any family they might have.”

“But—”Adam began.

Dom held up a hand. “You can be first in line. Call your parents, call your siblings. Whoever you’ve got. I don’t want anyone worrying whether their loved ones are safe or not. It’s better to know than to let our imaginations drive us crazy, wouldn’t you say?”

“Aye aye.” Adam picked up a handset for their sat-phone and handed it to Dom. “Captain, why don’t you try first? I don’t have anyone, other than an ex who’d hate to hear from me even if I was the last guy on Earth.”

Dom smiled and took the handset. “Much appreciated.” He dialed Kara’s cell. He waited with bated breath, but a message reported his call could not go through. He tried Sadie and Bethany. Still nothing. Maybe cell service had gone down. Then he recalled Bethany’s birthday was coming up this weekend. Since Kara was attending the University of Maryland, just a couple hours’ drive from Frederick, he assumed she’d be visiting her mother to celebrate. At least, he hoped so. He tried Bethany’s home number. His heart pounded as he chewed his bottom lip.

Still no luck.

“Not working,” he said. “Adam, try those numbers again when others aren’t dialing out. Let me know as soon as you make contact.”

“Sure thing, Captain.”

Dom nodded and started toward the medical bay with Thomas trailing him. Though eager to hear from his daughters, there was nothing else he could do but trust in his crew and trust in Meredith to do what he couldn’t: protect his family.

“You sure you don’t have anyone you want to call?” Dom asked Thomas.

The second-in-command opened his mouth to answer, when a scream echoed down the passageway. It had come from the medical bay.

***

K
ara tried the cellphone again, but the call still didn’t go through. “I can’t get ahold of her.”

“She was babysitting the Weaver kids. Can you try their landline?”

“I don’t have their number, and my phone’s not getting data. I can’t look it up.”

“Try my phone.” Bethany passed the cell to Kara.

Kara scrolled through the contacts until she reached Nina Weaver. She hit the call button and prayed that their neighbors would pick up and tell them Sadie was safe. It wasn’t long ago that Kara babysat the two blond grade-schoolers, Zack and Leah. Now she found herself wishing it was her who was with the Weavers and Sadie was safe with their mother. The line suddenly went dead. Kara tried to call again, but she couldn’t get through. “No luck.”

Her heart raced as her mother turned the Volvo into their neighborhood outside Frederick. No one shot baskets on their driveway hoop. No lawn mowers droned, and no children raced bicycles down the sidewalk. People had evidently taken the emergency broadcast warnings to heart and stayed inside.

“Almost home,” Bethany said. She remained outwardly calm, but Kara knew her mother must be filled with worry.

“She’ll be okay,” Kara said. “Aren’t Joe and Nina usually at home by this time anyway? They probably sent Sadie home hours ago.”

“Sadie, home alone?” Her mother floored the accelerator. “That’s even worse.”

They raced down the curving street. Parked cars lined the road, and ancient trees with thick branches shaded green lawns. The speed limit of the historic neighborhood was twenty miles per hour, but Kara knew no sign could convince Bethany to pull back from the gas pedal. Rubber screeched on asphalt as they rounded a corner. The street narrowed as they approached the cul-de-sac where their house lay.

At the cul-de-sac’s entrance, black smoke filled the air. Flames licked from a four-door Honda Civic. The car’s front end was crumpled around a thick oak, and another vehicle lay abandoned and burning near it. Between the crashed vehicles and billowing smoke, the street was blocked.

“Oh my God,” Kara whispered.

“We’re going to be okay,” Bethany said, seemingly more to herself than Kara. She parked the vehicle a couple driveways down from the smoke.

Kara scanned the houses, looking for signs of life. But no one was brave or curious enough to stare at the wreckage. Then a shiver snuck down her spine as a terrible thought occurred to her: maybe there was no one around to witness the spectacle.

“Try calling her again,” Bethany said. Her eyes remained glued straight ahead.

Kara did. Still no answer. Just a recording stating the call could not be placed as dialed. She shook her head.

“Home line?”

Again Kara dialed.

Nothing.

Bethany brushed back the auburn bangs from her eyes and leaned forward. “I don’t see anyone around.” She switched the car into drive, and the vehicle bolted forward. Dodging the burning wreckage, she drove through their neighbors’ front yards. The Volvo’s tires left trails of kicked-up sod and soil. Kara gripped the handle on the side door, her fingers trembling. It wasn’t her mother’s driving that scared her as their car burst through the smoke. A body lay sprawled out in the grass before the Civic. The Volvo sped past the mangled corpse, rendered unrecognizable by scorched flesh. Kara cupped her hand over her mouth, nausea rising inside of her.

Where were the ambulances? The police?

She briefly wondered if the wreck here had been like what they’d seen on the highway. Her only hope was that Sadie had made it home before the crazies started running rampant in the streets.

Their house lay at the end of the cul-de-sac, far too close to this sickening scene for Kara’s comfort. Beige siding and black shutters decorated its front. On the first floor, a bay window jutted out from the front room. Kara loved to read in that nook with sunlight filtering in through the leaves of the elm tree just outside the window.

But now someone else was trying to get in
through
the bay window. It was a woman of a slender build wearing a jogging suit, her hair tied back in a ponytail.

“Who the hell is that?” The car shuddered as the anti-lock brake system reacted to the sudden shift in speed and tires screeched on concrete.

The woman pounded on the panes of the bay window, seeming not to notice the Volvo. A crack splintered the glass. It shattered as the woman punched into it. She withdrew her arm from the jagged shards, a fountain of blood spewing from the gashes in her skin. That didn’t stop the woman. She pulled the shards away and squirmed through the window.

Bethany rolled down her window. “Hey, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

The woman spun, her nose twitching. Her eyes seemed to bulge at the sight of Bethany. She sprinted toward them, abandoning the window. Bethany threw the car into reverse. The crazed woman jumped, her arms extended and fingers reaching out. Even as the car backed down the driveway, the woman reached it and slapped a hand against the passenger-side window. Kara drew back from the glass as the woman drove her shoulder into it. The window shattered, and fragments of safety glass rained down as Kara undid her seatbelt to crawl farther from the woman’s grasp.

Bethany turned the car and threw it into drive. But the woman was quicker. She reached in and yanked Kara through the window by one arm. Concrete scraped against Kara’s skin as she tumbled out.

The woman leapt at her, but Kara rolled to one side. The woman in the jogging suit slid across the concrete, and fresh cuts formed along the side of her face and arms. She stood, seemingly unaware of her injuries, and charged Kara again.

“Mom!” Kara called, struggling to her feet.

Bethany jumped from the parked car and waved her arms as she ran into the front yard. “Come and get it, bitch!”

The crazed woman’s neck twisted, and she let out a growl. She barreled toward Bethany. At the last second, Bethany sidestepped her charge and jabbed an elbow into the woman’s shoulder. The woman staggered but regained her footing. Her hand swung in a quick arc and connected with Bethany’s side. Bethany fell back from the blow. Her feet slipped on the grass, and she landed on her side, crushing one arm. She yelped in pain as the woman pounced.