Sick (31 page)

“Answer my question.”

She held up her hand and wagged a finger at him. “You know very well how this works. Trade-off.”

“There’s nothing I can do for you.”

“Isn’t there?”

He stared at her for a second. “You obviously have something in mind. What is it?”

Her upper lip curled in a faux pout. “I get so little entertainment in here, and you deny me even a little negotiation. Fine. Here’s all I want you to do. When you find the fabulous Dr. Karp, just before you put the bullet in his head, because I know that’s exactly what you want to do, I want you to tell him hi from me, and ask him why he gave up on me. One more thing. If he says anything after that, tell him he’ll be heading to the afterlife before me.”

“That’s it? That’s all you want?”

Her smile was back. “It would mean the world to me.”

“That, I can do.”

“I thought you probably could.”

38

The only thing that kept Ash from speeding down the mountain was the fear of skidding off the side and plunging down the slope. Not only would he and Chloe die, but he’d be effectively killing his children, too. Still, it was hard to keep from pressing the pedal to the floor.

“I’d wish you good luck,” Olivia had said after she gave them the location of NB7, “but I’m guessing you’re already too late.” She stood up and walked right up to the glass, directly in front of Ash.

“Stand away from the wall,” the voice from the speaker ordered. “Stand away from the wall.”

She locked eyes with Ash, her feet firmly planted where she was.

“Stand away from the wall.”

“But just because they’re dead,” she said, “doesn’t mean you can’t deliver my message to Dr. Karp.”

She obviously hoped that whether his children were dead or alive, Ash would want Dr. Karp to pay for what had been done to his family. And though he wasn’t about to accept the possibility that Brandon and Josie were gone, she’d been right.

The biggest problem now was that NB7 was in Eastern Oregon, 370 miles away from the Bluff.

The jet Matt had sent them west on wasn’t an option. Mike had checked. The plane was apparently somewhere in Texas, and wouldn’t be able to get to an airport close to them for nearly four hours. Add on the flight time, and the fact that the closest place they could land would still be an hour away from NB7, and the balance decidedly tipped in favor of driving.

Mike had suggested they get at least a few hours’ sleep at the Bluff before they left, but that was out of the question. Every minute saved could be the difference between Ash’s kids living or dying.

According to the car’s GPS, the trip should take them six and a half hours. Ash planned on slicing at least an hour to an hour and a half off that once they hit level ground.

“You going to hold the steering wheel like that the whole time?” Chloe asked.

He shot her a quick look. “What?”

“You’re gripping it like you want to tear it out of the dash. You’re wasting energy.”

He glanced at his hands. His fingers were wrapped around the wheel so tightly his knuckles had turned white. Now that he was aware of it, he could feel the stress running up his arms and into his shoulders. He forced himself to relax, then looked back at the road.

“I can drive, if you want,” she said. “I’m pretty good.” She paused. “I didn’t forget how, if you’re worried about that.”

“I’m fine,” he said.

“Sure, whatever you want. I’m here though, okay? ‘Cause, you know, I think you’d want to be at your max when we get there. But that’s your choice.”

He didn’t respond, but he knew she was right. It would be after midnight when they arrived and he’d need to be sharp. Maybe after they got out of the hills, he’d let her drive for a couple of hours while he slept.

“What did you think of Olivia?” Chloe asked.

Ash shrugged. “I just wanted the location from her. I didn’t think about her otherwise.”

“Last time I saw her she was mad as hell because we’d just caught her, like a cornered wild animal.” She paused. “She used to work with Dr. Karp on the experiments. Yours wasn’t the first, you know. Not even close. But probably their most successful, huh? Not only did they find something that worked, they found you and your kids, too.”

Without looking at her, he said, “What do you mean?”

“The experiments. You know about that, right? Matt told you?”

“He just said we were part of a test.”

“Oh. Well, then…maybe…I shouldn’t…I mean it’s not my place. Oh, dammit. Just forget it.”

The silence lasted for nearly a minute.

“He was going to tell me,” Ash said. “Back at the ranch, but I just wanted to focus on getting my kids. That first day, he started talking about things that were bigger than I could imagine, like I’d been caught up in some sort of…of…”

“Conspiracy?” she asked.

“Conspiracy,” he said, nodding. “That’s exactly what it sound like to me. Some nut-job theory like NASA faking the moon landings or the U.S. Government being behind 9/11.”

“NASA landed on the moon?” she asked.

He looked at her, his eyes narrowing in concern.

“I’m kidding,” she said. “I forgot about who I was, but things that I learned, things that weren’t about me, I remember most of those.”

“How is that possible?”

She shook her head and shrugged. “Maybe we can ask Dr. Karp when we see him.”

“He did this to you?”

“Not him directly. One of his colleagues.”

“Now we’re back to the conspiracy theory,” he said.

“Yeah, except this one isn’t a theory. It’s conspiracy reality.”

Once Ash had realized his kids were still alive, the only thing he’d concentrated on at the ranch was them. He hadn’t cared one way or the other what Matt and his friends were really involved in, but he was beginning to think maybe that was a mistake. Maybe he should care, maybe there was something to whatever it was they seemed to think was happening.

“Who are they?” he asked.

“Who are who?”

“These people you all seem to be fighting, who are they?”

“I…I don’t know. It’s not my place.”

“Maybe it’s not, but Matt’s not here.”

“You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

“I already think you’re crazy.”

They glanced at each other, then she laughed.

“All right,” she finally said. “Are you buckled in?”

He rolled his eyes, then smiled. “Yeah. I’m buckled in.”

“I’m serious.”

He held up a defensive hand. “Okay, sorry.”

She was quiet so long that he looked over to see what was wrong. She had twisted in her seat and was studying him.

“What?” he asked.

“I’ve never been the one to tell anyone before. I’ve only listened as others have done it, so I want to get it right.”

“Okay,” he said, drawing the word out. “Just let me know when you’re ready.”

He heard her take a breath, then she said, “I’m ready now.”

Outside, the mountains had finally started to fall behind them, and the road started to straighten out.

“The end of our world is coming. And it’s happening on purpose.”

39

“Can you hear me?” Tamara said into her phone. She was sitting in the front seat of the van, with the door closed so that no competing reporter might overhear the conversation, trying to figure out who she was talking to.

“Yes, I can hear you,” the female voice replied.

Tamara glanced into the back of the van where Bobby was sitting at the editing console. “Is it okay?” she mouthed.

He gave her the thumbs up, nodding. Often phone conversations needed to be recorded, so they had a device that hooked Tamara’s phone into the van’s equipment, only this time the setup was a little stranger than other times, as the voice of the person on the other end was coming via another phone being held up to a CB radio.

“Can you please give me your name?” Tamara asked.

“It’s Martina Gable.”

Tamara gave it a beat so that Bobby would have a place to cut out the first part of the audio, then said, “Martina, can you tell us where you are, please?”

“Yes. We’re in Cryer’s Corner, California.”

“Who’s we?”

“Well, I’m here with the Burroughs High School softball team. We were headed home from a tournament when we got stuck here.”

“Because of the quarantine?”

“Yes.”

“And there are others there, too?”

“Yeah, there’s the people who live here, and a few others who showed up in cars and got stuck, too. And Ben, of course. Ben Bowerman. He’s the one who figured out the CB.”

“And that’s how you’re talking to us?”

“Yeah. All the phones and the Internet stopped working. And there hasn’t been any cell service here since we arrived.”

Now that Tamara had gotten the basics out of the way, she started in on the more important questions. “It’s our understanding that Cryer’s Corner is in the quarantine zone. How did you get there?”

“Well,” Martina said. “It wasn’t
in
the zone when we arrived. Until this morning, the roadblock was west of us.”

Interesting
. “And then they moved it east?”

“Yes.”

“Any idea why?”

Martina didn’t respond right away.

“Are you still there?” Tamara asked.

“Yes, I’m here. We think they moved it because of Paul.”

“Who is Paul?”

“Paul Unger. He’s the one who took the video your channel’s been playing.”

Tamara smiled. This was exactly what she wanted. “And you’re the one who uploaded it?”

“Yes.”

“How long after this did the Internet go out at Cryer’s Corner?”

“Maybe an hour or two.”

“So, after it started playing on television.”

“Yeah.”

“I’d like to talk to Paul about the video. Is that possible?”

A pause. “He was…injured just as he got here. He’s in the café across the street.”

“How bad is he hurt?”

“Messed up his knee and hit his head when the guys in the helicopters took a shot at him.”

Tamara froze for half a second, stunned. “Can you repeat that?”

Martina did.

“Can you tell me exactly what happened?”

“Sure. I saw most of it from the roof of the gas station.”

The girl then proceeded to tell Tamara about Paul’s escape. After that she relayed the story Paul had told her about his brother and his girlfriend, and their murders in the desert canyon. Through it all, Tamara and Bobby kept sharing shocked looks.

“There’s…there’s something else, too,” Martina said as she finished Paul’s story.

“Yes?”

“Coach Delger thinks Paul might be sick. You know, with the Sage Flu. We’ve split into two groups. One that was exposed to Paul and one that wasn’t. No one else has shown signs of anything, though, so maybe he just has a cold.”

Tamara had already been feeling a strong connection to the girl, but now she felt her stomach sinking. “Which group are you in, Martina?” she asked, afraid she knew the answer.

“I…I was exposed. That’s how I found out about the video. Bu please don’t put that part in your story. I don’t want my mom to know yet.”

“Sure. We’ll keep that part out,” Tamara said, meaning it. “Can we talk again in the morning?”

“We’ll have to come back to the truck where the radio is. What time?”

“Eight?”

“Zee?” Martina asked. “Is eight okay for you?”

“As long as I’m still sitting here, which looks pretty likely,” the trucker who’d connected them said.

“Great,” Tamara replied. “We’ll talk to you then.”

As soon as she hung up, she turned to Bobby. “Oh, my God.”

“Oh, my God is right,” he said.

“I’ll bet you that the helicopters that shot at this Paul guy are the same ones we saw. The same ones who killed his brother and his girlfriend.”

Bobby didn’t reply, but the look on his face said he was thinking the same thing.

There was a knock on the passenger window beside her. Joe was standing right outside. He’d been on lookout to make sure nobody got near the van while she was on the phone. She motioned for him to climb into the back.

“So?” he asked, once he’d joined them.

“You’re not going to believe it,” she said.

“Tell me.”

While Bobby worked on cutting the important parts of the interview into their already prepared piece, Tamara filled Joe in.

“I think we should go up with it on my next spot,” she said once she was done.

She could see the hesitation in Joe’s eyes.