The Dead Years (Volume 7) Page 6

  “Parker, this doesn’t feel right, does it?” Savannah asked.

  “I really don’t know what to think at this point, none of it makes any sense. We need to get this information to Tessa; she may have a few ideas.”

  Leaning back against the door frame, Savannah let her weight carry her to the floor where she sat watching Parker run through the remaining areas for anything she may have missed. “Parker, we’re gonna die, aren’t we?”

  “Yes, someday… although if we stay put, inside this building, we can bet it won’t be today.”

  “You know, I’ve been through some pretty bad things in the last few weeks, although something about this place just feels wrong. I can’t put my finger on it, but I just feel scared, more scared than anytime I can remember. Something is coming… I can feel it.”

  “You’ve just had time to decompress since you got here. Everything is coming at you all at once. You now have had time for it to wash over you. The anguish that you haven’t had time to deal with has finally settled in. Believe me, you are safe here. Let’s go talk to Tessa.”

  Savannah stood and moved out into the hall, waiting for Parker to finish scribbling something on a sheet of paper. They scooted around April, still transfixed on Justin, and continued to the other end of the hall.

  Her back now turned to the women outside the room; Tessa duplicated the video footage of Justin’s recent change onto multiple hard drives, ensuring the breakthrough they’d witnessed would live on even as the occupants of this facility may not.

  13

  His mother, though only inches away, would never get to hold him again. She’d never get to tell him about her day. He’d never again get the chance to run out of his last class of the day and jump into her waiting car. The little things he remembered would be missed the most. He loved his mother more than anything else. He could see her. He remembered her smell. He knew her voice, although he was dying.

  Trapped inside himself, Justin knew his time was running out. He could feel his body fighting a losing battle with the virus. His lower leg on either side of the bite had begun to rot away from the inside. His arteries stiffened with each breath and the darkness pulled at his mind.

  Watching his mother weep, he cursed himself for not letting the monsters finish him off in the stadium corridor. He’d be gone and it would have ended there. She would have been devastated, although the pain of watching him die slowly like this was going to kill her.

  With every ounce of mobility he had left, Justin removed his hand from the glass and stumbled toward the door. The pain, that for the last day destroyed what was still human inside his wrecked body, slowly faded. His mind and his body were giving up. He knew it.

  . . .

  For more years than he cared to remember, Mason hated this man and everything he stood for. The many embattled conversations ending with either of the two declaring to never again speak to the other. He wanted to blame his ruined marriage on this man and at times had wished him ill. His pompous arrogance, the confidence with which he carried himself, Mason couldn’t imagine he could have cared less about one human being.

  Today all he could think about was how to convince his father-in-law not to leave the tree line and walk right into the middle of this lunatic’s trap. “He’s going to kill you. He’s here for a reason.”

  “Mason, we are out of options. He’s holding all the cards and if he wants me dead, that’s what will happen.”

  “We can come up with another plan. There’s got to be something else he wants, something that can change his mind.”

  “There isn’t, I played the wrong hand a few months ago. I underestimated him and he’s here to collect on that mistake.”

  Major Daniels stood, tossed the empty handgun to the ground and gave one last glance at Mason. “I have to go. It’s gonna get bad real fast and when it does, you need to get everyone down the other side of the mountain. If you get a good enough lead, they won’t have a chance to catch you.” Looking out into the clearing he continued. “Please get April out of here. I have faith in you, I always have.”

  Watching his father-in-law break free of the cover provided by the wall of spruce and head across the snow dusted clearing, Mason said, “Thank you, Richard.”

  The man he had banished from this facility only months ago was back. One way or the other, it would end today. Richard Daniels now walked toward the man he’d partnered with to create the end of the human race. If he was being honest with himself, he’d admit to his fear of this man, although his pride wouldn’t allow that emotion to enter into the equation.

  There wasn’t a chance Goodwin came here just to talk. He’d exact revenge the moment the opportunity presented itself. With less than twenty paces between them, Major Daniels was able to make out the six men armed with assault rifles positioned along the perimeter of the clearing. Realizing every weapon Goodwin had at his disposal was trained on him felt oddly comforting. Did they not have intel on Mason or Randy? Did they assume they’d killed Travis as well as Anton? Daniels was about to find out.

  “Richard, come on over,” Goodwin said as Daniels approached. “We have some things to discuss.”

  The two came together and stood less than one hundred feet from the rear entrance to Blackmore, sunlight running out of the sky as dusk approached. Goodwin reacted first, extending his right hand and waiting for Daniels to respond in kind. The Major simply continued to look directly into the eyes of his old friend.

  “So,” Goodwin said. “After everything we’ve accomplished together, I don’t even rate a handshake? That hurts my feelings.”

  “What have you accomplished?” Daniels said. “All your project has managed to do is eradicate humanity and has taken your sanity in the process.”

  “Be careful old man, I’m not here to mend fences. You should know that by now, you’re smart enough to have figured it out.”

  “Marcus, you seem to forget, I still have control over Blackmore. The six men you brought here are of no concern to me. Shoot me dead right where I stand, it doesn’t matter. You will never get inside. You should have been able to figure that out… you built this place. Now go back home to that retched fortress in the city and let’s both go back to what’s left of our lives. You’ve done more than enough to destroy this planet.”

  “This place WAS my home. It was your misplaced greed that changed the game. The day you decided to sell my research to the highest bidder was the day our partnership ended. You destroyed the opportunity for perfection; your small mindedness became your undoing. Giving my formula to other countries for your personal gain ultimately destroyed the world. Does Eleanor know this? Does anyone in your precious little family know that you are responsible for what is about to happen to them? My guess is they do not.”

  Taking a step closer, Major Daniels stood nose to nose with Goodwin. “Your flawed research did this and with Lockwood’s death, it can never be reversed.”

  “Lockwood was eliminated, you fool. His loyalty to you and your new project got him killed. Once the virus was replicated and invariably altered, we had no need for him.”

  “Yes, I figured you killed Lockwood,” Daniels said. “And with him any chance for redemption.”

  “I created an improved subset of the human race that would be capable of things we could only dream of… I did this… alone,” Goodwin said. “On the other hand, it was your obscene fascination with wealth that created the monsters locked up in these buildings. I’m here to insure you pay your debt to society.”

  “Marcus, you are a smart man. That much is a given, although your intelligence is also your Achilles heel. The things you didn’t and couldn’t account for are going to bring you to your knees. You can have one of your men kill me, but you will never get to my family. I guarantee it.”

  “Don’t be so sure.”

  14

  It was clear; if he stayed hidden under this tree he’d have to someday tell April the story. The story of how he sat on his hands and watched his
father-in-law be executed. Without any action, it was going to happen, this he knew. Even with the odds sorely stacked against them, Mason made the decision to at least attempt to level the playing field. No one knew he was here. They couldn’t know.

  “Travis,” Mason said pointing out the rear door of Building One. “Watch that building. The rest of our people are there and may need help at some point.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to help. Just watch that building and do what you can,” Mason said.

  “OK, I’m on it… go.”

  Taking a wide arc around the trees lining the clearing, Mason pinpointed the location of two of the six men staked out awaiting orders. Putting one down would be easy enough as these soldiers were focused on the meeting between Goodwin and Major Daniels. Remaining hidden in the shadows, he moved quietly from one tree base to the next until he stood no more than ten feet from his nearest target.

  Through the clearing and just beyond the last of six men, Mason spotted Randy emerging from beyond the cover afforded by the wall nearest Building Six. They would be fighting a losing battle either way, although he now at least felt like he had a bit more control. With one last tree between the two, Mason stepped lightly through the underbrush and raised his pistol.

  Out of options and with the man in front of him obviously done talking, Richard Daniels pushed back. “Have your men come out of the trees and I will let them live. You can fly back to the city and we’ll call this a draw. You can fight for your survival from your own fortress and we’ll continue doing the same from ours. Now, GET OFF MY MOUNTAIN!”

  Through the grin that slid across his face, Goodwin began to laugh. He shook his head and turned back to the helicopter. “Your mountain? You have no idea.” Motioning for Dalton, he shouted. “OPEN IT UP.”

  Returning his attention to Daniels, he said, “That’s as far as you and I go. I only brought you out hear so you could watch your family die at the hands of those things.” Looking toward Blackmore, he continued, “It’s going to be brilliant.”

  “What did you do?” Major Daniels asked before he took a swing at his nemesis, squarely making contact with the larger man’s jaw.

  Unflinching, Goodwin laughed. “Did you think I would just hand you the keys to this place and not have a way back in? I’ve had control of this place from the moment we dropped concrete. Just watch.”

  . . .

  The interior space of Blackmore was now still. The ventilation ducts ceased spewing cool air as the programmed temperature found its number. Feeders tucked neatly into their impenetrable rooms far off the main corridor and the mayhem caused by the drone turned missile burned itself out as fast as it arrived.

  Alarmed by him moving to the door and what that meant, April and Eleanor followed. Justin managed to also catch Tessa’s attention as she finished her work at the rear of the room. The five women paused and waited for his next action. Justin moved even with the last cabinet next to the door and turned to Tessa who’d started in his direction.

  Savannah backed away as Parker stood directly in front of the glass door and started to raise the paper to eye level for Tessa to read. We may have a problem, check the monitor…

  Before she was able to get to the last word of the note, the security pad whispered to life and the door to the Cage slowly slid open.

  Savannah was the first to react as Justin walked through the door, with Tessa not far behind. Pulling April and her mother toward the exit, Savannah called for Parker to follow. “What is happening?”

  “I have no idea; it’s not something that’s been activated from this location. We’ve got to get out of here,” Parker said as she passed the Command Center and watched the monitors. Every room, every secured area within Blackmore had now been breached. Feeders poured into the halls from every direction as the group of women hurried toward the rear doors.

  The long corridor started to fill as they looked for another way out of the building. They stayed close and made it to the end of the hall adjacent to the kitchen. “We have to get around them,” Parker said.

  “That’s not going to be possible,” Tessa said. “We’ve got them coming from both sides. That rear door was our only chance. Do we have any weapons?”

  Justin approached and the five women backed against the wall as he passed, not making eye contact with any of them. April called to him and reached out as he moved by, although he didn’t react. Once he reached the midway point, he turned toward the growing horde headed toward the women. He stood momentarily between the women and the horde as they approached. His mother would die in this hallway within the next few minutes. His sacrifice would save her life. This was a choice he had already made. Justin loved his mother more than he wanted to live.

  Turning to April, he took one last look into her eyes and as she began to scream, he lowered his head and marched toward the ravenous crowd, one struggled step at a time. In passing the exit doors, the horde followed, taking him to the ground within seconds. They began tearing at his clothes and pulling apart everything they laid their hands on. A Feeder toward the front of the pack sat on Justin’s chest and leaning over, dropped his mouth in and returned a velvety red mess, a chunk of Justin’s throat as its trophy.

  His life, whatever had been left after leaving the stadium was slowly extinguished as he lay motionless under the ravenous horde. Justin was gone.

  Feeders continued to file in from behind as the women scrambled to get to the door. Bodies smashing into one another as they fought to get themselves and one another to safety. Savannah was hit from behind and although the Feeder was in search of flesh, it wasn’t hers. The scent of the fresh kill only feet away had the crowd incensed.

  Frozen and unable to find even the most basic of human responses, April slid to the floor. Feeders dashed by as Savannah came for her. Pulling April to her feet without speaking a word, the pair hit the door as Eleanor, Parker and Tessa moved into the yard.

  With the exterior even more chaotic than what they’d just seen, Parker yelled for the group to head for the chopper that April and her family had arrived on. As they ran, Savannah pulled April along as she continued to search the area for some sort of rationalization. There wasn’t any.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Eleanor caught a glimpse of her husband being struck repeatedly by the man she knew as Mr. Goodwin. This man continued to beat him until he sank to his hands and knees in the middle of the clearing. With the others still headed away from the building, she stopped running. “RICHARD!” she yelled as April also slowed, almost upending Savannah in the process.

  Seeing him for the first time briefly snapped her back to present. Her father’s face, battered and almost unrecognizable, was now tattooed among the other atrocious images from the past several days. She fought Savannah’s urges to proceed. “He needs our help; we have to go back for him.”

  “There’s no time, we’ll all die if we go back,” Savannah said as she pulled away and ran to catch the others.

  Feeders from every corner of Blackmore tore at each other and began heading for the men at the rear of the facility. As they reached the wall, they were cut down by Goodwin’s sharp shooters. Laying waste to the horde, each with a round to the head, they fired rapidly without wasting a single round. Bodies littered the area as Marcus Goodwin reveled in his dominance.

  Richard Daniels rose to his feet and spat a mouth full of blood into his old friends face. He took another swing at Goodwin, this time coming up short. The pair squared off, with Daniels taking a majority of the abuse.

  One of the sharpshooters emerged from the forest, moving in and handing Goodwin a pistol as he laid down a few additional Feeders. The soldier took two steps back and dropped to a kneeling stance throwing down cover fire as the crowds began to taper off.

  Spotting the women exiting the building and April heading for her father, Mason quickly moved to the shooter three feet ahead and with the handle of the nine millimeter, knocked him unconscious with one
blow. Spinning to the right he squeezed off one round as the next shooter fired on him as well. Both men missed their targets. As the second shooter reloaded, Mason lifted the unconscious man’s AR-15 rifle and sprinted toward April and Eleanor. To his right, Randy had eliminated three of the other shooters and was also headed out from the trees toward the women.

  Goodwin took one final swing knocking Major Daniels to the dirt as the remaining shooter positioned in the trees finished reloading. He ordered the last of his men back to his chopper before addressing Daniels. “Richard, your family will never make it out of that courtyard alive, I want you to know that they will suffer because of you and only you. Say goodbye to your wife and daughter.”

  Mason reached the women and shouldering the rifle began taking down the approaching Feeders. With Randy arriving, the two men pulled the women toward safety, pausing only to eliminate any new threats.

  Their attention turned to Building Six as the next wave of Feeders poured out into the courtyard, Mason and Randy continued to fight off the growing horde. With her husband occupied, April broke free. She stumbled forward, falling to the grass and moved to her mother. Focusing on the men in the middle of the clearing April held her mother tight and begged for mercy.