Hot Zone (22 page)

"Keep moving Pete, we have to get through this room."

"You don't need to tell me twice mate, it's hot as balls in here."

They reached the other side of the office, another door, leading to yet another tunnel. With one swift movement Roo opened the door and closed it just as Jansen cleared the doorway.

"That doesn't help Ghost. We're not going to be able to go back through there you know." Jansen said

"Yeah. I have a feeling all of these tunnels are connected though. If we get lucky maybe we'll find our way back to where we started and we can sneak back to him that way. This place must have medical quarters down here somewhere. Obviously this was a post of some sort, people lived here, worked here, there has to be medical equipment."

"I'm surprised you guys don't carry stuff like that." Jansen said

"We usually do, but not on a trip like this. We weren't expecting anything more than a dive and maybe a rescue. Funny how things are never as simple as you think."

Still standing next to the door the two men looked down the tunnel and pondered the unknown of darkness.

"They all look the same and they all lead to something different. Where do you think this one is taking us?" Jansen asked.

"I'm done trying to guess, Pete. With any luck we'll run into Ice and Jordan, pick up Ghost and get the hell out of here."

"And if we don't?"

Roo didn't answer that question. He didn't want to think about the possible outcome. To him it was best to focus on what was in front of him. In this case another long, dark tunnel with no clues as to what lay beyond.

He knew the Frenchies were floating around looking for him, for the crew and he knew they had one task, to make sure the SEALs never left. Chances were that nobody on the surface knew any of what was going on and the French wanted to make sure it stayed that way.

34

There are just four of us left now. Things have begun to spiral out of control. The animals escaped their cages and are on the loose. We are now their captives. They themselves have taken four lives that I know of, and most likely more. There is no fighting them, no controlling them. Their fury rivals only their appetites.

My god what have we have created?

We do not dare leave our bunks, the door is closed and we are sure the animals have not yet trained themselves how to open them. Food and water is scarce, one of us will have to make a run to the cafeteria for more, that could well be a one way trip and no one is brave enough to step up and take the risk.

I know it will have to be me. This whole animal situation is my fault and I must live and die with the creatures I’ve created. I feel like Dr Frankenstein in Mary Shelley's novel.

Gerard brought up the idea of us killing ourselves before we turn on each other. He can see how this will end, better it be on our own terms than the terms of insanity or some crazed monster. In some ways I agree with him but I cannot bear the thought of taking my own life. There is still a chance the Legion will come for us. They have to. They must know we are down here, they put us here. While there is any hope I cannot give up.

So I will volunteer to get more food and water, how much is left and not spoiled I do not know.

If this is my last entry please know I died trying to redeem myself, I am not a bad man, I was doing my job for mother France and nothing more.

* * *

"Oh my god. Jordan, there's a map. He drew a map of this place before his next entry, look at this." Ice gasped.

Jordan took the dusty journal from Ice and studied the drawing carefully. She took what she knew from the view she got on the dive and from what she'd seen so far in the tunnels and noticed immediately that there was another underwater cavern leading out of the hillside. The picture also perfectly pointed out the tracks he wrote about but did not specify where those tracks lead.

"This has to help us right? Now we know where we're going." Jordan said.

"Not only that but we can guess where the others are, we just have to hope we aren't circling each other. We should try and get back to the main cavern where we came in. Roo and Ghost know if we ever get separated to converge back to our original insertion point."

"Maybe we should go. They could be waiting for us."

"We still have the Frenchman to deal with, he has to be waiting for us to come out of here."

"How do you know he didn't keep going by us?"

"Because it's what I would do."

"Then how do we get out of here?"

"In the dark. I counted the steps we took from where we turned into this area from the main tunnel. He has to be hiding in the dark, waiting for our green glow to give us away. He's going to be waiting for a long time."

"Yeah, yeah I like it. We can do it, he'll never see us." Jordan nodded.

"Take the journal, and when I open the door hold onto my belt, and whatever you do, don't make a sound. Don't even breath."

"You got it." Jordan said clutching the journal tight under her right arm. Ice turned off the lantern and shoved the night stick under the mattress of the journal's author. Instantly the pair found themselves in total darkness. Gone were the long shadows and the green orb that had touched everything they saw.

Total darkness.

Jordan did as Ice said, she held her breath.

That didn't stop her heart from pounding in her chest. She wouldn't be surprised if the sound resonating out of her gave them away. Ice slid with smooth and stealth precision across the room with Jordan gripping tightly to him. Without a sound he turned the handle and eased the door inward knowing full well that one creak from the rusted hinges would give them away.

With the door open just enough for them to squeeze through, Ice and Jordan slowly made their way out of the room and back down from where they had originally come. In his head, Ice counted the steps as methodically as he had counted them the first time. In some instances he felt his size ten dive boot step in his own tracks.

For her part Jordan did exactly as Ice had instructed and kept as quiet as one could while having a panic attack. The adrenaline coursed through her veins as she followed Ice into the darkness, her eye's remaining closed the entire time. She knew there was nothing to look at and yet she still felt she was better off not seeing what was up ahead.

Successfully reaching the turn without making a noise the pair continued down the main tunnel in darkness. Ice wanted at least fifty yards between them and the turn before he would crack another light stick. At fifty yards he thought it would be far enough that the light would not reach the turn and give them away.

They never made it that far.

The crunch under Ice's right foot was loud enough that he knew the Frenchman would have heard it. There was no doubt in his mind. Ice yanked Jordan's arm and broke into a sprint, snapping a light stick against his leg as they ran down the tunnel. Ice didn't know what it was he'd stepped on but it sounded a lot like bone being crushed.

Crap crap crap
, Ice said over and over in his mind. He had no idea what he was running into as the raced across the void, one foot in front of the other was all he was able to focus on.

Jordan easily kept pace with Ice, perhaps because of the five mile runs she endured daily but more likely because Ice had her arm almost pulled from its socket. She had heard the crunch also and it instantly reminded her of the skull she had tripped over earlier. Now knowing what had happened to many of the compounds inhabitants, Jordan was no longer surprised to see human remains scattered along their trail. And with every step she took she expected one of the mutant birds to swoop down on them and whisk them away to its lair.

She had images of the girl running through the woods in the middle of the night in the Blair Witch Project. The blurred vision, heavy breaths, no site of what was ahead and no idea of what was behind her.
Just keep running,
she told herself,
don't stop until Ice stops, you can do this!

* * *

Yanick heard the sound in the distance. He wasn’t sure what it was but he knew in his gut that it was the Americans. Somehow they had slipped by him. He sprung to his feet, turned on his flashlight and sprinted towards the noise. A few seconds later he came across the crushed remains of a human skull scattered across the ground as he kicked them with his foot.

He could not see them yet, they were too far ahead of him. He kicked it up another notch, his legs now carrying him as fast as they could. Moments later he spotted them ahead, the green light thrusting up and down, presumably in one of their hands. He just wanted to get close enough to take a shot at them with his spear gun. Yanick gained on them with every step. Closer and closer they grew, close enough that he could make out their outline, their clothing, and the fact that one was clearly a woman?

A girl? What is a girl doing down here?

Though the Legion took on a small number of females to serve under the flag it was rare and even more so that they be put into combat situations. This made Yanick believe he had the edge on his opponents.

Believing he was now close enough to be able to take a shot he stopped in his tracks, pulling out his spear gun and taking aim.

He fired.

As fast as the pair had appeared they had vanished into thin air. There was no sign of them or their light source.

They were gone!

His arrow zipped into the darkness, he didn’t hear it hit a thing.

He continued on down the tunnel, treading carefully and leading with his flashlight. They had to have taken another tunnel he thought and he didn’t want to miss the exit.

35

Jordan didn't know what it was that sliced through her right bicep but it hurt like hell. Surprisingly there was very little blood from the wound.

The pair had come across another large dome and immediately Ice had jerked Jordan to the left, taking them out of sight from the Frenchman long enough to catch their breath. Ice knew the moment they had disappeared from view the Frenchman would stop and take stock of what had happened.

Ice didn't realize that Jordan had been hit until he saw the gash in her arm. She hadn't made a sound when it happened and didn't say a word about it.

She'd kept quiet like he said.

"Are you ok? What happened?" He asked

"I don't know, we hit the corner and something ripped through it."

Ice grabbed her arm and noticed immediately how clean it was.

An arrow.

"He was firing at us. He was right on us. He friggin' fired at us. We gotta keep moving. It won't take him long to figure out what happened."

"Do you think we can hide in here?" Jordan asked.

Together they looked around the dome. A large expanse of overgrown plan life lay out in front of them.

It looked like a forest!

Nodding her head, Jordan said: "This was a greenhouse, Ice. Look at these plants, half of them shouldn't even be alive down here, they can't survive without sunlight. It has to be the radiation. Maybe they were conducting tests of how the radiation affected the plant life."