MuTerra-kindle (18 page)

“Hey Chief,” Cam said breaking his train of thought, “Got a call from Gibbs. He’s in the west tunnel and said you need to come out and see what he found.”

“The west tunnel? There’s nothing there….is there?”

“Not the last I heard.”

“He didn’t say what it was?”

“Nope, just said I was to tell you he thought you should go out there.”

“Alright; not much going on around here anyway. I’ll have my radio if you need me.”

―

Keith walked through the passages greeting people as he went. The corridors he walked through were products of necessity. They were impersonal walls of conduits, stone, and metal occasionally interrupted with glass windows. There was nothing comforting or ’soft’ about them. The west tunnel was mostly unused. He had to descend two levels to get to it. When the elevator opened, he walked into the corridor to which Gibbs had called him. He was still uncertain about the man because he could never engage him in any informal conversation. Gibbs had a talent for avoiding answers to any personal question he was given.

Keith was wearing his utilities, carrying only a radio and his two knives. He did not carry any munitions or control devices as the rest of his men had recently started to do. There wasn't much he couldn't handle with his hands alone. His knives were just a long time habit. There was no sound of any activity from the tunnel, and no signs of life. The area was well lit for it being so far out of the way. He tried to reach Cam on the radio to see if he could get an exact location for Gibbs. There was no answer so he figured he was too far away. He finally came to one of the many vault-like doors within the complex. He spun the handle, and the door opened. He called out Gibbs’ name, but there was no reply. He walked on and decided he was going to have a talk with his men when he got back to explain his desire of relaying more detailed information when they called him for assistance.

The few doors along the passage way were all closed so he assumed Gibbs was not behind any of them. He did not think anyone worked in this part of the mountain anyway. He came to another vault like door, similar to the first, but this one was opened. When he stepped through, he saw his wife lying unconscious on the ground about twenty paces away.

“Terri,” he said as he ran over to her.

She was lying on her side, and he rolled her to her back gently. She was breathing normally and she looked fine. He continued to talk to her to see if she would awaken. As he did this, he heard the door close behind them. “Hey. Is that you Gibbs? We need some help in here,” Keith said looking at the door. He got off the ground and walked back to it. It was locked. He pounded on it with the palm of his hand, “Hey. Open the door. We need help in here.”

A look of relief came over him as he saw the image of a person coming near him through a small glass panel in the door itself. It was Gibbs. “Hey, get some help. My wife is in here. She seems okay, but she isn’t responsive… Open the door, will you?” he said hurriedly.

Gibbs just stood there expressionless looking at him through the window.

“Gibbs, open the goddamn door. You’re starting to piss me off.”

Gibbs did nothing.

“If you don’t open this door now, you’re going to see a side of me I guarantee you won’t ever forget,” Keith said with as much menace as he had ever felt.

Gibbs turned to a control panel along the wall and typed in a code. The next thing Keith heard was the sound of compressed air being released, like a vacuum seal. He turned to see that the far wall also had a door in it, but smaller than the one he had come through. It was now open. He then realized this was the tunnel used to expel people from the facility. He had never been this far into it as Gibbs always volunteered to handle that job.

He turned once again and said, “Gibbs don’t do this. I’ll leave, but let my wife back in,” Keith pleaded with him.

Gibbs turned and walked away, as Keith continued to call out to him.

“Son of a bitch,” Keith said out of frustration, and to no one that could hear him as he walked to his wife.

Keith knew Gibbs had done what he was told to do. There was only one person who passed this sentence on them. Only one person who was ruthless enough not to care about losing every single family-member he had if it interfered with his plans.

Keith smelled the air coming through the open door. He knew the smell. It was the outside. He sat down next to his wife and cradled her in his arms. The door could be closed, but it did not matter. They would die if they just stayed where they were. 

―

Keith stroked his wife’s hair as she lay across his legs. He looked at the wall in a blank stare as the realities passed through his mind. The tears he‘d shed had long since dried leaving only their salty trail down his face. The only thing that really mattered to him was with him now. The reality they faced was time. They were all educated on the effects of massive amounts of radioactive exposure. Body cells would die en masse. A person would then experience fatigue, dizziness, and shortness of breath. Feelings of sickness and discomfort would follow. If the amount of exposure is high enough, internal bleeding occurs. It was not a pleasant way to die.

Eventually she stirred from her sleep. He was not sure of the time, but they had obviously given her something strong to affect her for so long. He looked at her as she raised her face to his.

“Hi there,” she said with a faint smile and kissed him chastely on his lips.

“Hello,” he said in reply.

She struggled to regain full control of her body, but sat up on her own. “What is that smell?”

“The outside air,” he said as he pointed toward the opened door.

She looked at the door, then back at him in horror. She realized what was going on, even though the fog from her mind had not fully dissolved. She looked at his expression, then back at the door again. She placed her head in her hands and started to sob. He placed his arm around her shoulder. It was not overly long, nor extreme. It was an emotion of certitude, which he understood. She wiped the tears from her eyes and turned to him, “I’m so sorry Keith.” She assumed their fate was the same.

“No, I should never have trusted my father. If I would have just dealt with it myself then this wouldn’t be happening.”

She smiled at him in appreciation. No matter what she said, he would not let her take the blame. It did not really matter anyway. She lifted herself from the ground, and he followed. Once she was sure she had her balance, they started on their way.

“It is really a nice change. I haven’t felt the outside in a long, long time,” she said as they walked along hand in hand.

He knew what she meant, but he could not say anything in reply. If he did, he would have lost control of his emotions. Instead, his anger steeled his resolve. He would give her as much support as he could until it was over.

―

They came to the opening and saw a rather pleasant sunset. Terri was tired and said she wanted to stay where they were and enjoy the view. “It’s not like we have any pressing engagements,” she said wearily.

He nodded and found a comfortable place for them to sit.

“That is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” she replied as they gazed through the broken clouds to see the red colored horizon.

He understood what she meant. These moments would be precious to her. They remained where they were until morning. It was on the western side of the mountain complex, in an area he had never been before. It was likely at least a three-day journey to the main entrance on the other side. They were not going in that direction.

He set the pace and found the easiest route through the rocky slope of the mountainside. There was no trail, but he did recognize the faded signs of previous travelers. His thoughts went to those few who had been expelled over the years.
He wondered if he would come across their bones along the trail. Or maybe,
he thought
, there were more of those creatures he found in that cave that took the bones as well.
He did not think it would be good if Terri saw either. He pushed the thought out of his mind.

The terrain on this side was not the same as the other. There were more mountains and hills in the distance compared to the wide-open spaces on the other side. Terri was able to keep up if he kept the pace slow. They rested frequently and walked more out of a necessity of
having something to distract their attention than for going to anywhere specific. They came across some small streams and drank their fill. They saw no animals or any other signs of life. He was able to forage some edible plants and berries. He knew they would not be much help, but it had a psychological benefit for his wife. After six days, she said she could not go any further. She sat on a large rock, and gasped for air. “This looks like a nice spot,” she said as she tried to catch her breath.

He sat next to her but did not say a word. There was nothing to say. She leaned her head into his shoulder and her breathing eased a bit. She nodded off for a few moments then lifted her head from him. “I know the timing for this is terrible, and I debated on whether to let you know, but I have to tell you. I’m pregnant; about 3 weeks now. I wanted to wait until you came back from your last trip, then it just wasn’t the right time to say anything. I’m sorry.”

He did not trust himself to speak. He did not say anything. He pulled her to him and kissed the top of her head. He held her there and realized that she was no longer breathing. Her face was peaceful. The ground beneath her feet was covered in blood. She had been coughing up small amounts of blood the previous night, but she had not complained to him about any other problems.

He pulled her back to him and held onto her until the remnants of the sun started their slow descent into the skyline. When he finally released her, there were no more tears to be found in his body; not now, not ever again. Even as the darkness cast its shadow, he did his best to dig a proper grave. His heightened sense allowed his vision to adapt to the minimal light available in the shadow of the mountains. It was a shallow grave, but it would suffice. When the earth was packed firm over the grave, he started collecting rocks to place on top of it. They were the size of boulders, none of which an ordinary man could carry by himself. When he was through, he knew that no animal or creature could ever get to her remains. He was determined that she would not be violated any more than she already had been.

He wiped the sweat from his brow, and made a mental note of his bearings. They had been traveling west mostly because it was the easiest country for walking. Now, he would go south. He saw no reason to travel through the mountains as food supplies would be more difficult to come by. He knew wild life existed on the plains. He would find what he needed, and learn. He had a will to live now,
which had escaped him since going into the mountain so many years ago. He also had a purpose.
God help whatever stood in his way.

EIGHT

Frank Bishop and Martin Maddow
met not long after Keith and Terri had been expelled. It was Frank Bishop’s decision to use Gibbs for that. He knew he was the man for the job and explained his reasoning to his friend, “He isn’t like the others Martin. We’ll always need, and have always needed people like him.”

“I just don’t like him.”

“Neither do I, but then, we don’t have to.”

“I still need the planarian,” Dr. Maddow said.

“Nothing has shown up yet?” Bishop asked.

“No. We’ve certainly gathered much useful information from what Keith recovered, but still no planarian.”

“Then, we’ll just have to wait until Jim is up and running at full speed. We have suits and vehicles ready to go. When we can, we’ll send others out several at a time to turn over every rock and log within our available range. We‘ll tap into every water source there is,” he said confidently.

Dr. Maddow just shook his head because there was nothing else he could do. “Do you really think letting that information out would have been more than we could have handled?”

Frank Bishop knew the question was coming. Martin understood why the decision had been made, but he was not happy about it. Bishop did not think it was so much for the loss of his son, or another lab assistant in his department, but because his son was able to give Martin what no one else could.