Apocalypse Island (51 page)

He descended the stairs. At the bottom the blood trail led into a long hallway. Jennings moved forward with caution knowing that Wilder, as well as others of the “chosen children” possessed “special abilities.” He still couldn’t wrap his brain around how all this was possible, but that didn’t matter. It
was
real. He’d seen it with his own eyes.

At the end of the hallway near another security door lay two more dead soldiers. “Jesus,” he said under his breath, bending down and checking their pulses. He guessed they hadn’t seen Wilder coming. Jennings straightened up and looked at the door. His head was thrumming with that low-end noise he’d begun hearing upon entering the facility. Now it was so obnoxiously loud he thought his ear drums would burst.

His eyes trailed down the door to the blood pool which was smeared with several sets of footprints, all going in different directions. Several sets tracked along the floor and ended at the door Jennings guessed was the elevator. From what he could tell, none of the tracks were made by a woman. He suspected that two or more people had already left the facility and one of them wasn’t Wilder. He looked back at the door and was trying to decide how to unlock it when he saw movement from the corner of his eye. He raised his gun and whirled.

Laura and Wolf were moving swiftly toward him along the hallway. Laura had her gun out and her face was ruined.

“Jesus, Laura, I’m so glad you’re alive,” he said as she fell into his arms. He hugged her fiercely. “Who did this to you?”

“Ruben Van Horn,” Laura said. “Bastard broke my nose but I think I’ll live. I’m sure it looks worse than it is.” They quickly exchanged stories, bringing each other up to date.

“It seems Wilder and Van Horne were in this together,” Wolf said.

“It appears that way,” said Jennings. “Don’t ask me how or why. But she claimed she was doing it to protect you.”

“Protect me?” Wolf said. “From what?”

“From demons,” Jennings said with a shrug. “She was convinced that your girlfriends were demons sent by the church to seduce you to the dark side. She’s fucked up by all the things they did to you kids in this place. Doesn’t know right from wrong, fantasy from reality. She thinks you’re some sort of savior or something that needs to stay pure.”

“That’s pretty warped,” Laura said.

On the way through the facility Wolf had explained to Laura about Eli and Sam and said he believed his brother was down here somewhere and that he had been used by Wilder and Van Horne to help them do their dirty work. They now quickly related the story to Jennings.

“Wilder gave me most of the details,” Jennings said. “She’s nuts, but probably the least of our problems at the moment. Seems there’s something down here the feds don’t want anyone to know about. Appears they came here to destroy it, whatever it is. According to Wilder they’re getting ready to blow the entire facility.”

“Do you think they’re here now?” Laura said, looking at the door.

Jennings pointed at the bloody footprints leading toward the elevator. “By the looks of those tracks I’d say we’re too late.”

“Shit,” Laura said. “Let’s go after them.”

“Not until I see what’s behind that door,” Jennings said.

“I can get you in,” said a voice. They all whirled and saw a small, deformed creature standing beside a giant covered in hair. To Jennings the big guy looked like Lon Chaney as Wolfman.

“That’s the asshole tried to kidnap me,” Laura said.

Wolf took several tentative steps toward the pair of misfits. Jennings, his gun at ready, cautioned him to be careful.

“It’s okay,” Wolf said. “Eli’s my friend and Sam’s my brother. You won’t hurt me, will you Sam?”

The giant shook his head as huge tears streaked down his hairy cheeks. He began to sign. Wolf looked at him in frustration.

“He says he did it to protect you,” Eli explained. The giant continued to sign furiously. “Persephone and Ruben told him you wanted him to do it.”

Wolf approached the giant. “No, Sam, I didn’t want you to do those terrible things. They lied. You do believe me, don’t you?”

Eli nodded his head as tears continued to course down his cheeks.

“I’ve known we were connected for a long time,” Wolf said. “I saw you. I saw everything. I don’t know how that’s possible but it’s true. I’ve been somehow living through you and I’ve felt your pain, I’ve felt your emotions. There’s a lot I still don’t understand, there’s things maybe I’ll never understand.” He was thinking about waking up with dirt and blood smeared on his bedclothes, as if the two of them were linked more than just emotionally. “But all along I knew you weren’t responsible,” Wolf said. “You were just doing what you were told. I understand. They taught you to be obedient.”

Sam lowered his head and sobbed.

“I knew you didn’t kill anyone,” Wolf said softly. “In my visions I could see what you were doing. You wanted to protect those young women. You wanted to help them, but it was too late. I felt your sorrow, Sam. I knew you could never hurt another human being.”

“I don’t know what’s happening on the other side of that door, but we have to move,” Jennings said. He retrieved the two dead soldier’s automatic rifles, handed one to Wolf. “Here, you might need this.”

Wolf stared at it like it was a relic from another world. “I’d be more comfortable with the hand gun,” he said.

“Give me that,” Laura said, exchanging her automatic for the rifle. Wolf made the exchange but he was unsure if he could actually kill another human being.

“You ready for this, kid?” Jennings asked Laura.

“I was born ready, Rick.”

Jennings gave Eli a nod. The small deformed man stepped up to the door, raised his hand above his head and punched in the combination. Jennings heard bolts sliding out of the way. He grabbed the handle, twisted, and the door began to open.

Chapter 134

They did not find a living soul inside the great room. The place was filled with tons of electronic equipment, all of it on and working it seemed, although Jennings had no earthly idea of its purpose. And there was a weird looking dome that dominated the center of the room with oval windows that emitted the strangest blue light he had ever seen. The light was so strange in fact, that he was having a hard time looking directly at it.

Laura circumnavigated the entire room, weapon at ready, just to make sure no one was hiding. No one was. She went back and joined the remainder of the group and said, “I guess we’re too late.”

“Damn,” Jennings said.

“I can’t look directly at that light,” Laura said. “Feels like it’s trying to get into my brain through my eyes. And that noise is enough to make me puke.”

Jennings cringed. “I’m with you on that,” he said.

“It
is
trying to get into your brain,” Wolf said. “That’s what it does.”

“What do you mean by that, Wolf?”

“It’s transferring knowledge telepathically. But it will only work with neutral personalities.”

“What the hell is a neutral personality?”

“It blocks all those who mean to use its knowledge for greed, power or personal gain. I now know why they tried to get us kids to communicate with it. Kids are guileless. They have no ulterior motives, so the paths to consciousness are clear, and innocent.”

“Jesus, Danny,” Laura said. “How do you know all this?”

Wolf was staring at the light, a rapturous expression on his face. “Because that’s what it taught me a long time ago. It’s talking to me now. It says it remembers me.”

“Yeah, but what the hell is it?” asked Jennings. “Where did it come from?”

“Those are two questions it can’t or won’t answer,” replied Eli, and all eyes turned to the small deformed man. “It says they’re not important enough questions.”

Jennings bristled. “Well what
are
the important questions?”

Wolf turned away from the light and spoke to everyone in the room. “It says we haven’t evolved enough as a species to know how to ask the important questions. It also says we should leave this place soon.”

Sam was staring intently at the dome-shaped room and Wolf was watching him curiously. Sam grunted and began to sign. “What’s he saying?” Jennings asked.

“He says there’s someone in that room,” Eli replied.

There was only one door in the room but it was closed and there was no obvious way to open it.

Eli dragged a chair over to a panel on the wall, stepped up and opened the panel door. Inside there was a keypad ruined by bullet holes.

“Bastards,” Jennings said. “Someone wanted to make sure we didn’t get in that room.”

“I might be able to fix this,” Eli said. He pulled the small screwdriver he’d used to remove air conditioning vent covers from his pocket and was tampering with the panel. All of a sudden something sparked and the door on the side of the domed room slid open. The low frequency hum scaled up, causing everyone to cover their ears. Two men in coveralls staggered from the room and fell to the floor. They were holding their heads and writhing.

“Who are you?” Jennings said.

“Technicians. We were hired to do a job. They promised we’d all go together but after we went in and set the charge, they closed the door behind us. Bastards.”

“What sort of charge?” Jennings asked.

“Nuclear,” said Tall Tech. “It was supposed to blow the facility and not harm anyone on the outside.”

“That seems unlikely to me,” Jennings said.

“In theory it’ll work,” said Short Tech, who was now trying to regain his balance. “We’ve done a shit load of calculations, but nothing is ever failsafe.”

“What about the device?” Jennings said. “Did you disarm it?”

“Couldn’t,” Short Tech said. “Once it’s armed it’s too late.”

“You just said nothing is failsafe.”

“That is, trust me. If it wasn’t, that puppy would’ve been disarmed by now.”

“How much time do we have?”

“Tall Tech glanced at his watch. “Forty-one minutes exactly.”

“There’s an injured woman in there,” said Short Tech pointing at the room. She’s been shot. Doesn’t look like she’s gonna make it. They caught her and threw her in before they left.”

Jennings stepped up into the open doorway. Persephone Wilder lay on the floor in a pool of blood. Wolf came in behind him followed by Laura.

“Cavanaugh’s alive,” Wilder told Jennings. “He caught me trying to sneak up on those bastards and put my lights out. I guess they set us both up.” Wilder coughed blood from her lungs as her body spasmed.

“Where’s Van Horne?” asked Laura.

“I don’t know,” Wilder replied, her words now slurring. “Probably dead.”

“Do I know you?” Wolf said.

“I’m a reporter.” Wilder coughed more blood. “Maybe read my stuff.”

“I have but there’s something else.” Wolf thought for a second. “Wait a minute, I know you from this place, when we were children. You and Siri were the only girls.”

“I hated her because you loved her,” Wilder said. “I tried to protect you from everyone but I failed.”

“Why’d you think you needed to protect me?”

“Because you were special. You were the chosen one.”

“You’re her baby brother,” Jennings said. “I’m surprised you didn’t figure it out.”

Wolf put his hand to his mouth. “Oh my God. Is it true?”

“You were the one supposed to survive and take the knowledge with you.” Wilder stopped, and again coughed up blood. “I was supposed to protect you, but everything got so screwed up. I’m so sorry I hurt you, Danny. I love you.” Wilder noticed Big Sam standing behind Wolf. Great alligator tears slid down his hairy face. “I love you too, Sam. We were supposed to be together forever. I was supposed to protect you from all the bad things.”

“You sure picked a fucked up way of doing it,” Laura said, but it was too late, Wilder’s body sagged and her last breath expelled from her.

Wolf knelt and took Wilder’s hand. “I don’t understand any of this,” he said as tears welled up in his eyes. “Why did she do it? I mean the murders and everything?”

Laura tenderly rubbed Wolf’s back.

“She was psychotic,” Jennings said. “I don’t know what else to say beyond that. I thought she was normal but she had me fooled. She had everyone fooled. I think the things they did to you kids made her that way. She hated the church because they were a part of it. She thought of you as pure and she imagined that the church was sending those girls to corrupt your soul. She and Van Horn were in cahoots. God knows why he went along.”

“He wasn’t exactly normal,” Laura said. “I never knew what my mother saw in him.” She heaved a deep sigh. “Jesus, my poor mother.”

Jennings glanced over at the strange blue light then quickly looked away. “She’s been using this facility for years,” he said, speaking of Wilder. “She told me she’s been coming back here to get her batteries charged. I guess I now know what she meant.”

“What about the people who did this?” Laura said. “It’s not too late. Maybe we can catch them before they take off.”

Jennings shook his head. “They’re federal agents. You can bet that whatever they did down here, no matter how terrible, was sanctioned by Big Brother himself.”

“That doesn’t make it right,” Laura said.

“No,” Jennings agreed, “but it probably makes it legal.”

Laura shook her head in frustration. “Jesus, Rick, they murdered people.”

Tall Tech appeared in the doorway. “Hate to be the buzz kill here,” he said, “but we have to go. Now.”

Wolf looked over at the locker that contained the bomb and then at the blue light streaming up from the earth. He spun back around and faced the tech. “Are you sure there’s no way to disarm that thing?”

“Quite.”

“Then why can’t we drag it out of here?”

“What? And take the chance that the blast or the radiation would spread to the residents of the island or even the mainland? Bad idea. This dome will probably contain most of it and direct the blast into the hole where it belongs.”

The low end hum became more insistent and now licks of blue lightening were shooting up from the hole like Tesla’s coil gone awry.

“It wants us to leave,” Wolf said resignedly. “There’s nothing we can do.”