Condemn (BUNKER 12 Book 2) (28 page)

The inner fence was only slightly
shorter. It too was similarly topped, though it wasn't
electrified.

Between the two fences ran several
dozen very hungry-looking German shepherd guard dogs. There were
only two places where the animals didn't have access. One was the
main gate; the other was an unused gate in back, which did not
appear to be guarded. Instead, barriers had been erected around it
on the inside, and signs were posted warning people to stay clear,
suggesting the presence of booby traps.

He had slept little, napping whenever
he could, waking when he heard the sound of vehicles. But though he
hadn't seen Bren, he had caught sight of a few of the others from
Bunker Eight. In particular, he'd spotted Hannah and the two
Rollins boys and their mother entering what appeared to be a series
of greenhouses along the southern fence. And he thought he'd seen
Eddie slinking around near the back gate, though by the time he
managed to untangle the binoculars and raise them to his eyes, the
figure was gone from view.

There appeared to be only one option
for him to gain access to the base, and it wasn't one he favored.
He would have to walk up to the front gate and ask to speak with
this Captain Cheever or Colonel Wainwright. Based on what he'd
heard Ramsay say back in the town, he wasn't sure either of them
could be trusted.

He gathered his pack and tossed it
onto the raised ground before him in preparation for climbing out
of his hiding spot. From somewhere to his right, there came a small
clatter of stones tumbling to the floor of the arroyo. He froze and
stared into the night. Nothing moved.

Vinnie's pistol pressed against his
spine inside the waist of his pants. He thought about retrieving
it.

A hundred yards away, the new arrivals
were being led toward a pair of one-story buildings. Their shadows,
fanned by the flood lamps topping the fence posts, danced over the
desert sands.

But Jonah didn't see any of this. His
eyes remained glued to a spot of darkness some twenty feet away,
where another patch of sand and gravel suddenly collapsed down the
embankment.

Then came another, a few feet
closer.

Something was making its way toward
him.

Jonah planted his hands on the sand
and kicked a toe into the side for a foothold. He could feel the
earth crumbling beneath him, threatening to spill him back into the
dry bed. With a grunt, he jumped, landing flat onto the desert
floor, and rolled.

But something grabbed his leg. He
kicked out, felt his heel connect. The ground collapsed beneath
him, pulling him down. He slid into the arroyo and was immediately
smothered beneath an avalanche of sand. Darkness in the shape of a
human swept over him.

Jonah struggled to reach for the gun,
but a hand with the strength of steel clamped over it. Another
grabbed his face, choking him.

"Dammit, Jonah! Keep
quiet."

The hand slowly peeled away from his
mouth.

"Eddie?"

Jonah tried to wipe the sand away, but
it clung to his sweaty skin, got in his eyes and blinded
him.

"Let me help," Eddie told him. "I've
got some water." He formed Jonah's hands into a cup and poured a
little in.

"You scared the crap out of me," Jonah
sputtered. "I thought you were a Wraith."

"There aren't any around."

"How do you know?"

"Trust me."

"You could have let me know it was you
before grabbing me."

"How? I couldn't very well yell now,
could I? Not without them shooting at us. Sound carries out
here."

Jonah snatched the bottle from Eddie's
hand and put it to his lips. "God, that tastes good," he said after
swallowing several mouthfuls of the liquid. "What are you doing out
here anyway? And how'd you know it was me?"

"I saw you up in the rocks on the east
side of the base this afternoon. Been watching you ever
since."

"You saw me?"

"Well, smelled you first,
actually."

Jonah sniffed his arm pit, then
wrinkled his nose. "Is it that bad?"

"To me, yes." He took the bottle back
and shook it. There was only another mouthful left. "We thought you
were dead."

"Alive and kicking, although they did
try."

"That's what I figured. The search
team that went out looking for you reported that you'd been
attacked and killed. You and the other biker scout. I had my
doubts."

"They found him?"

"Nothing but the bike and a bloody
mess. The team claimed it was Wraiths."

Jonah shook his head. "I didn't want
to leave him, but I had no choice. I couldn't trust him. He was
alive when I took off."

Eddie's eyes glistened in the
darkness, reflecting the stray light from the base. He seemed to be
searching for something in Jonah's face. "Why'd you come
here?"

"What other choice did I have? It's
not like I could go back. Where else could I go?"

"It's just
that . . . ."

"That nobody here likes me? Hate to
break it to you, but they can't stand me back at the
bunker."

"You know that's not strictly true.
Hannah has always had a soft spot in her heart for you."

"But not you."

"You haven't always made it easy for
people to like you."

Jonah looked away. "Can we talk about
this later?" He stood up and turned toward the army base. The
streaks on his face made it look like he'd been crying.

"If you're thinking about going in
there," Eddie said, "that's not a good idea."

"Up until a minute ago, it seemed like
the only idea." He turned to Eddie. "Why not?"

Eddie stood beside him. He was shorter
than Jonah, yet he seemed larger. "It's dangerous." His face was
pale in the wan light, though not as translucent as it had been
just a few days before.

"You're changing," Jonah
observed.

"Still no hair." He turned to Jonah.
"Something bad is going on here. Our people are disappearing.
First, it was Danny."

"Danny made it back? Did he say
anything to you about why they tried to get rid of me?"

Eddie shook his head. "I never got a
chance to talk to him. He was here, then gone."

"Where?"

"I don't know. They claimed he left on
his own."

"He wouldn't."

"Yeah, I know. He's not the only
one."

"Who else is gone?"

"Jonathan and Nami. When I confronted
Cheever, he tried to say they'd died, but I went to the graveyard.
There were new graves, but our people weren't in them."

"How do you know?"

"The smell."

Jonah frowned. "You could smell them
through the dirt?"

"I know it sounds
ridiculous."

Jonah shook his head. "I guess if you
could smell me at that distance, then why shouldn't you be able to
smell through the ground."

Eddie didn't respond.

"Those nanite things really did a
number on you, didn't they? The ones Bren's dad was talking about
in your blood. They really did make you . . .
better."

"Some people wouldn't say so." Eddie
sighed and shook his head. "They made me . . . more,
yes. But maybe not better."

"Anymore disappearances?"

Eddie nodded. "Last night. The group's
really spooked by it. We've been demanding that they tell us what's
going on, but neither Cheever nor his boss will say. I was planning
on breaking into their office tonight and taking a look around, but
one or the other has been inside it all day. And now this." He
gestured at the activity in the camp. "I'm going to try once things
settle down."

"Who was it this time?
Harrison?"

Eddie studied Jonah's face for a
moment. "It was Bren."

Jonah frowned. "Well, at least we know
she's not in the cemetery. I saw her leave with a bunch of people
last night. They took the bus and a truck and several
motorbikes."

Eddie's face tightened.
"Dammit."

"Why, what's the matter?"

"I think she took them to Bunker
Eight."

Rising slowly to his feet, Finn's eyes never broke away from the
creatures at the center of the cage.

I'm so sorry, Bix. I was
wrong about the nanites. Goddamn it, I was wrong about
everything.

The din from the crowd behind him
began to grow. He could feel their nervous energy, their need for
violence, and he wanted to shout at them to shut up, but he knew it
would only make them even louder. They were looking for a show, not
a quick and easy kill. They wanted blood and murder.

They'll get it either
way
, Finn thought,
whether I deliver it or not
.

He edged backward, moving toward the
gate until his heel contacted the metal. "Give me a cattle prod,"
he muttered, and reached a hand back.

"Screw you," Luke replied.

"Adrian said he'd give me
one."

"Use yer hands."

"Aw hell," someone in the crowd said.
"At least give the kid a fighting chance. That thing isn't going
anywhere near the wire."

"Give me a cattle prod," Finn
repeated.

Something hit the ground beside his
foot. Moving slowly, he reached around and found a stun gun
instead. He brought the pistol-like device forward, bracing it
against his belly. It was good for a single zap. But to do it, he'd
have to get close enough to almost touch.

Better not miss
then.

Luke poked him in the back with the
end of his cattle prod. "Get moving, boy," he growled. "Or else
I'll shock you."

Finn shuffled forward, raising the
weapon. His hands trembled. He placed his finger on the trigger and
took another step.

What good will it do? All
it'll do is buy you a few seconds. Then what? There's no place to
run.

He knew with absolute certainty that
it was all a charade. He'd seen the truth in Adrian's eyes when he
told him as much.

You don't know. It might
work. Shock Bix and then—

He nearly tripped on one of the buried
electrical cables. It had come loose during an earlier scuffle. He
caught himself and cursed.

It's not Bix, not anymore.
Bix is gone so don't call it that.

He wanted to lie down and
die.

Just zap it. You can
figure out what to do then.

Zapping it would give him —
what? — a half minute to come up with an escape plan? That
wasn't enough time. Maybe he could use the butt of the gun to smash
in Bix's head without touching him.

It's not Bix!

He wanted to throw up. There was no
way he could do it.

The Bix-thing slunk toward him, edging
closer on all four limbs. It slid a little to Finn's left, forcing
him into a corner. Finn stepped forward deliberately. He needed it
to get within ten feet to be sure the darts embedded in its skin.
Even at that distance, however, he didn't feel confident enough in
his aim, not with his body shaking as much as it was.

The Wraith matched his movements, and
Finn instinctively edged even further to the right, keeping the
distance between them constant. He didn't dare blink, afraid that
it would charge at him the moment he did. He knew how quickly and
suddenly they could move. He had witnessed it too many
times.

"Get to it!" the crowd screamed.
Something hit the cage and bounced away, sending a ripple across
the fencing. The Wraith didn't seem to notice it at all. Its focus
was entirely on Finn's feet and nothing else. For every step Finn
took away, it edged the same distance closer. "Zap it! Zap the
feral! Zap it dead! Kill it!"

The two boys circled each other,
pivoting around Nami's body. Out of the corner of his eye, Finn saw
Luke standing just outside the cage, the cattle prod held at the
ready. He slid his body toward the Bix-thing, taking advantage of
its blind spot to edge close enough to reach through the wire. He
really wanted to be the one to shock it.