A lump forms in my throat and my cheeks burn thinking of the time we shared at the base and the things he’d said to me. “I care about him too, he’s a great guy.”
“Just don’t be a bitch to him or something. He can take rejection—but a guy like Wyatt…that’s a tough blow for someone like Cole.”
“Chloe—I just told you, there is no Wyatt and me. Seriously drop it.”
She holds her hands up innocently. “Okay. Fine. I’ve said my peace.”
“You have. It’s noted.” I take a deep breath. “For the record I’m focused on finding my family. Dealing with PharmaCorp and just…trying to figure out how to live in this world, okay? Boys aren’t really a priority.”
She laughs and says, “Word.”
She settles back in her seat and again I look out the back window. Cole’s leaning against the edge of the truck bed, sun beating down on his face. His eyes catch mine and he gives me the same sweet smile I’d just seen him give his sister.
I nod back, exhausted and unwilling to do anymore. With a firm push on the gas, we move forward—toward the end of this.
Chapter Fifty-Four
~Before~
? Days Ago
“That was the worst,” I say rubbing my tired eyes. I can only imagine how red they must be and how huge the bags under them look. I avoid my reflection in the stream. At least, once daylight returns, my nerves settle down. A little.
“Thank you for taking care of me,” Mom says. “You’re a pretty amazing daughter.”
I’m too tired to respond so I just finish up the remainder of my “breakfast” (crackers and a spoonful of peanut butter). Mom rewraps her ankle and attempts to stand. The grimace on her face tells me it hurts badly. It’s going to be a long day.
“Hold on,” I tell her and comb the area surrounding our little camp ground. Tiny footprints cover the sandy areas…we had more than just the deer visit last night, each one providing me with a near heart attack. At the top of the bank I find what I’m looking for.
“Here,” I say coming back down. I snap off the extra limbs and hand my mother the long branch. “Use that as a cane.”
“Hey! That works!” she says testing it out. She’s definitely limping but hopefully this will keep a little of the weight off which, according to my Girl Scout First Aid Badge, should help it heal faster.
Most of the day is spent in the forest. I have no idea where we are going other than following my compass southwest. I hold it up, checking it like I’d checked my iPhone in the past. Compulsively—hoping it will show me something new.
“We’ll have to find some sort of crossroads,” I say an hour or so in. “I’ve got to get our bearings.”
“So we need to head out of these woods and find a road.”
“Yeah, unless we find shelter first.” I cross a pile of rocks and turn to help my mom navigate across. “Once we get to the cabin we can hole up for a while. Maybe scavenge food from some other places. If we’re lucky maybe Dad is already there and he’s got it fully stocked for us.”
“That would be nice,” she says but something about her tone doesn’t ring true. She grins as she hobbles forward but the smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
“Are you worried?” I ask. “About Dad meeting us?”
She shakes her head. “No. I know we’ll find him. Eventually—that pouch he gave you. It’s important.”
“Do you know what it’s for?” She keeps moving forward, wincing with every step. I stop her and make her look at me. “Mom, what is going on? What are you being so weird about?”
“I’m not being weird, Alex. You know how your father is…he says a lot while saying nothing at all. Sometimes he talks about his work and it just makes no sense—totally over my head. Other times…things aren’t quite so boring. If I ask too many questions he clams up.”
“Okay,” I say relating. “Do you think he’ll meet us at the cabin?”
Her eyes water and she shakes her head again. “No. If he didn’t come back to the house before we left then something else happened.”
“Something bad?”
She frowns. “I don’t know. I doubt it. I have a feeling that your father is more involved in all of this than I ever imagined.”
I think back to the paperwork on his desk. The notes and details about the E-TR Virus. Oh he’s definitely involved. “Well, where is he then?”
She presses her hand against my chest, right over the pouch. “Again, I don’t know. I’m not sure he’s able to tell us, but what he did do is make you important to all of this. He left you that information for a reason. One way or the other he will find you when he needs to. We have to trust him. Have faith that everything will be okay.”
I press my hand to her forehead, then her cheeks, looking for the signs of a fever. She sounds crazy, but her skin is cool to the touch. She pushes my hand away. “Alex, I’m fine. Okay, well, my foot hurts. I’m tired. I’m hungry. Let’s just find somewhere to sleep tonight.”
“Okay,” I agree gesturing for her to go first. I keep an eye on her, on the woods and my surroundings for the rest of the afternoon. She may not be sick but she’s not making a lot of sense. Then again, no one knew my father better than her.
Right now I needed to get us somewhere safe, once there, I could figure out if I was ready to rely on faith or not.
Chapter Fifty-Five
~Now~
PharmaCorp’s corporate offices stand tall over the banks of the Savannah River. The high walls around it and the lookout points give the impression that it’s more of a fort than a laboratory. Guess that’s what happens when you have a heads up on the apocalypse.
“That’s where we’re going?” I ask peering through the truck window. I wrinkle my nose at the ashy, burning stench that permeates the air.
Still shiny glass windows reflect back what’s left of the city, which now is nothing more than a burning shell. We crammed Walker into the cab with us and Cole climbs in the back of the cargo truck with the other men before we crossed the bridge into town. The risk of Eater attack is high, although at the same time, the entire city is disturbingly barren.
“Yep,” says Walker. “It’s pretty nice inside too. We’ll be safe.”
“Showers?” Chloe asks.
“A whole bunker underground. Bedrooms, showers, food, electricity,” she lists.
“Sort of like the base?” I ask. Out of the frying pan, into the fire.
“But better.” She notices my expression. “Look, I know this is weird for you but I’ve worked for PharmaCorp for a long time. They’re not the bad guys. The world has just turned into a shitty place and they’re the only ones willing to fix it.”
“Sounds a little radical,” I say.
“Radical times, girlfriend.” She lifts her fist in the same gesture Richardson gave before falling to the Eaters. He’d also said something about “FF.” What did that mean?
She continues, “Once we get that antidote together, PharmaCorp, with their state of the art labs will be able to start shutting this thing down, but this time, all the shitty, murdering terrorists around the world will be gone and we can start over again.”
“Uh, yeah them and a whole lot of other people who didn’t deserve to die,” I say.
She shrugs in return. Shit. This girl bought into PharmaCorp’s view hook, line and sinker. I’m starting to realize Walker isn’t in this for the money like Wyatt but some other sense of deranged national pride.
The area surrounding the fortress looks like a complete warzone. Abandoned tanks, dead bodies. Roaming Eaters. Davis stands in the back of the cargo truck and signals to someone in the tower. A large metal gate begins to shift slowly to the side while armed guards line the top of the fence, guns ready.
Wyatt revs his engine and the walkie-talkie Walker carries crackles with his voice. “Wait here until I get the truck inside. They’ll do a sweep and re-secure the gate. Then you’ll get the signal to come inside.”
“Got it,” Walker replies.
His truck gains the attention of some of the Eaters nearby and they begin to follow with increased interest.
“I’ve got this,” Walker says pushing the back window open and leveling her gun.
“Ugh, just leave them. We’ll be inside in a minute,” Chloe says, with her forehead pressed to the window. I agree. We’re so close to being inside—being safe who needs the extra trouble?
The cargo truck disappears behind the gate and the walkie-talkie crackles to life again. “We’re inside. Proceed forward. Watch that group to the left. They’re a little agitated.”
“Let’s do this,” Walker says. I start the engine and begin to move forward once the man in the watchtower signals us in. There’s less than twenty feet between me and the gate when the first gunshots ring out from the wall.
“What was that?” I ask keeping my hands on the wheel and foot on the gas.
“Are they attacking the Eaters?” Chloe asks again looking out her window. “No, shit! Go! Alex, Go!”
The truck falls under a hail of bullets, pinging as they hit the ancient metal sides. I hear the back window snap, a shower of glass falling over our shoulders and we all duck.
“What the hell!” I scream, sparing a glance backwards to see where they’re coming from. The horizon grows dark as an army of military vehicles proudly displaying the American flag closes in. Erwin. He’s found us.
“Go! Go! Go!” Walker screams. The cab gets hot and I slam on the gas, pushing as fast as I can. We’re close and I have no fear we’ll make it in—I’m just not sure we can keep them out.
We burst through the gate and see that on the other side there isn’t much room. Wyatt’s truck is blocking our way and I have no choice but to slam on my breaks, crashing hard into the side of the green camouflaged vehicle. The front window splits and cracks on impact.
“You okay?” I ask, while checking the gate we just came through. The guards already have it locked down but there’s a battle going on outside. Like Erwin said. This is a war.
“I’m okay, but hey…Chloe,” Walker says. Her head is slumped over. She tilts her neck back and brushes her blonde hair out of her eyes. A thin sliver of blood runs from a wound on her forehead. Walker flips on the walkie-talkie and screams, “We need medical. Now!”
I jump out of the truck and race around the back. Bullet holes riddle the outside. Cole rushes over when he sees me. “What happened?”
“Chloe’s hurt! Something happened! Maybe when we crashed?” He’s gone before I can even move and I follow him around the passenger side of the truck.
“Chloe,” he calls lifting her head. Panic washes over his features and he repeats her name. When she doesn’t reply he rips off his shirt and presses the cloth to the bleeding wound on her head.
“Hold on, girl, I’ve got this, okay,” he mumbles checking the wound. His fingers frantically search her neck. “She doesn’t have a pulse. There’s no pulse!”
Two women from the fort run over, carrying medical equipment. Cole grabs her in his arms and meets them halfway across the driveway. All around us rockets fire and bullets crack and God, where’s Wyatt?
“Follow them,” Walker says pointing to Cole and Chloe.
“Is she dead?” I ask, frozen in my spot. I can’t wrap my head around what’s happening.
“Alex, girl, I’m really growing to like you, but please follow directions for once in your freaking life. You have got to get off this driveway and into the building—where it’s safe.”
“What are you doing? Staying out here to fight?”
“That’s what I do. All of us. Wyatt, Davis, Cooley. You? You’ve got bigger purposes.” She waves over two guards dressed in the same black as Walker. I notice though that theirs have a patch on the sleeve. The letters FF embroidered in thick white thread. It dawns on me that these must be official PharmaCorp uniforms. “Take her inside. Follow the medics.”
I don’t fight when they lead me away. I’m not a soldier and this isn’t my war. I’m just a girl with a father who is a genius. Whose father gave her information to save the world.
Now it’s time to follow through.
***
I step through the front doors and it’s as though time at PharmaCorp stopped pre-virus. It feels like I’ve entered a time warp, where there’s no virus, no Eaters and no battle raging on the other side of the bullet and soundproofed glass walls of the building. I’m greeted with cool air conditioning, florescent lighting and soothing music piped into invisible speakers.
It’s weird as hell.
Cole and the medical team rush ahead of me, through the entrance and disappear behind a set of doors to my left. I chase them but just before I get to the door I’m stopped by a man in one of the black uniforms. Yep, white “FF” patch on the arm. His name tag says Hale.
“Ms. Ramsey?” he asks. He looks young, Wyatt’s age probably. Same solid soldier build. Same confident shoulders. Do they make them in a mold?
“Uh, yes.”
“You’ve been requested upstairs.”
“But my friend…I need to make sure she’s okay.”
“She’s in good hands. The medical team will give her the best treatment available.”
“But…”
“Please,” he says, his voice kind but firm. “Follow me.”
I do as I’m told, half-dazed and totally confused. He stops in front of an elevator with shiny silver doors and presses the up button. In moments I hear a quiet ding and the doors slide open.
“How?” I ask. There’s no need to expand on the question.
“PharmaCorp runs on its own, private power grid. Mostly solar power, from what I understand. Engineering isn’t my specialty,” he says with a smile and gesturing me inside.
I hesitate, because…well, falling down an elevator shaft seems like a pretty stupid way to die after the last month, but Hale seems confident enough.
I step inside and wait as he presses the button for level fifteen. The top floor.
“Can you tell me who I’m meeting?” I ask.
“The CEO of PharmaCorp.”
“Who is…?” I prompt. “I’m not really up on Fortune 500 companies and the evil bastards that run them.”
Hale doesn’t answer but I note the slight lift of his eyebrow. I’m glad he finds this amusing.
The elevator trip to the top is quick and the doors open directly into the reception area of an office. Sleek leather chairs line the walls. Crisp magazines sit on the spotless coffee table. Once again I’m struck by how
normal
everything is.
A secretary sits at the desk. She’s older, with graying hair. I blink, taking in her familiar face and ask, “Josie?”
The receptionist from my father’s lab, the one that checked me in and out each week was here. Working at PharmaCorp. A sense of uneasy dread rose in my stomach. “Alexandra, I’m so glad to see you.”
“How did you get here? What…where’s my dad? Do you know where he is?” I ask. My stomach clenches with nerves—both excited and scared. I can’t believe she’s here. Why is she here? How did she get here from Durham?
“I know you’ve had a long journey to get here. Come with me. They’ve been waiting.”
“Who? Who has been waiting?”
Again, she doesn’t answer—what the hell is it with the no answering thing? She starts toward a door behind her desk, but I push past her, wrenching the door open.
Inside is a small seating area. A couch and two chairs. A plate of food sits on a coffee table in the middle. Fresh fruit, cheese, meat. My mouth waters just looking at it but I dart past it, toward the large desk positioned before a wall of glass windows, where two people stand in front of it, looking at what I can only assume is the battle below.
“Dad?”
My father turns wearing a wide, relieved smile, his arms stretched wide. “Alexandra!”
I move toward him—eager to touch him. To make sure he’s real. He pulls me into a tight hug and as excited I am to finally see him, dread fills the pit of my stomach. I have to tell him about Mom.
“Dad, we waited for you but you never came,” I say. The other person shifts in my direction and I look over his shoulder. I gasp, dropping my arms. My sister is here.
“Jane?”
Her hair is short and tidy. Professional looking. Her makeup understated but perfect. I look between her and my father. They’re both clean. Both safe. Both living in this tower of luxury. While I…a lump forms in my throat. I can’t even begin to comprehend the things I’ve had to do to get here. Who I’ve lost, who died. The hair on the back of my neck tingles and out of instinct, I reach for the handle of my hatchet. “What are you doing here?”
“Alex,” she says coming in my direction. “It’s so good to see you.” Her dark eyes flick downward at the weapon. “You don’t have to be scared.”
“I don’t understand.” Suddenly I’m hyperaware of how filthy I am. How out of place I am in this room. I look around, searching for an out—an escape. Something. A glint of gold catches my eye on the desk. It’s a nameplate.
Jane Ramsey, CEO PharmaCorp
.
“You?” I ask. “You’re PharmaCorp?”
“Just figured that out?” she asks tossing her short hair back. She’s proud.
“You did this then,” I accuse. I look at my father. “And you. You did this. You brought this on all of us.”
“No, Alexandra,” my father says. “We saved everyone. We’re not the bad ones here.”
Jane nods her head in agreement and walks toward me. I go for my hatchet but strong hands grab me from behind. Hale overpowers me easily, although I fight against him out of sheer rage. “You’ve lost your mind,” I say to my sister, who is now inches away. She reaches for my neck and finds the string holding the pouch around my neck. She yanks it off with a snap.
With all my strength I lift my legs and manage to kick her with both feet in the gut. She stumbles backwards, off balance, but manages to recover before falling completely. I’m not surprised when she charges back over, palm open and slaps me hard across the face.
“Jane!” my father shouts.
She ignores him and grabs me by the stinging cheeks. “I’ll throw you back outside these walls, Alex. Don’t test me.”
My head is spinning and not just from the slap. Who is this woman? She’s certainly not the sister I grew up with and fought to find. “Don’t test you?” I spat. “Trust me, I’ve been tested. I was tested when I left home with Mom, with nothing but the bags on our back. I was tested when we watched our friend get murdered by the military. I was tested when I killed my first Eater.” She rolls her eyes but I keep going. “And yes, I was tested when I shot our mother, your wife,” I shout in my father’s direction. “In the head after she’d been infected. You left us out there to die.”