Where the Dead Men Lie (26 page)

"Yes."

"But now they’ve turned against us, they’ve turned hostile."

Tariq nodded.

"And there’s no way we can control them?"

"Like I said, they are programmed to be apex predators. We are merely part of the food chain."

"So you’re saying, they tried to fix this whole mess, they tried to cure the Oz virus and get rid of the infection, and they what? They, completely screwed up? They released a mechanical, robotic virus that will not only destroy the Oz virus, but every other living thing on the planet?"

"They will ultimately achieve a state of equilibrium with the environment. It is known as homeostasis. Well, that is what we hope will happen."

"Hope?"

"There is really no way to be sure."

"Like we didn’t already have enough to worry about," Jack said. "How the hell did this happen?"

"It was rushed through. Everybody panicked. The military. The government. Everything was given the green light. They wanted this virus stopped. It posed too much of a threat to the rest of the world. That’s why the green light was given for Project Salvation."

I was getting déjà vu. They way he talked about the nano-swarms and Project Salvation reminded me of Doctor West and his explanation of how they messed up with the Oz virus. You think they would’ve learnt from their mistakes.

"I can’t believe this," Maria said. "Two viruses? We can’t keep doing this. We can’t. Why did they do it? Why a nano-virus, why a mechanical plague?"

"The nano-virus had been tested on cancer patients and other viruses. In the lab it had proven to be extremely effective. The nano-bots would enter the blood stream, find the viral cells and destroy them. With cancer patients, provided the nano-bots were injected into the cancerous cells early enough, they would eat the tumor. Completely."

"Wait, are you saying they’ve cured cancer?" I asked.

"No. It is merely a different form of treatment. A more effective form of treatment."

"Did they test it against the Oz virus?" I asked.

"It was tested against an earlier strain."

"What are you saying?"

"Like, I said they panicked, they rushed it through. The nano-swarms were released into the atmosphere before they really knew what would happen. And as a result, it did not work out as planned. Project Salvation failed."

"How did they release it into the atmosphere?"

"Obviously we couldn’t inject the nano-bots into each infected individual. So the plan was to release it into the atmosphere, like spraying a pesticide over vegetable crops. As I said, the nano-bots were programmed to find the infected hosts and destroy the virus. They were like, microscopic heat-seeking missiles. We released the nano-virus over the middle of Sydney and other population centers along the eastern seaboard. But in Sydney, something went extremely wrong. There was an explosion. We think the nano-virus reacted with the jet fuel of the B-2. We think it did this on purpose."

"Wait a minute," Jack said. "We actually saw that explosion. Well, we didn’t see it. But we heard it. It was massive."

"Yeah," Maria agreed. "Louder than anything I’ve ever heard before. And what was the deal with the dust storm?"

"You must understand, nothing went to plan. We don’t know exactly what happened, but it appears the nano-bots are acting on their own now, outside of their original programming. The dust storm was completely unpredicted. But we think it was a survival mechanism of the nano-bots."

"Survival mechanism?"

"Essentially they spread out as far and as wide as they could. They increased their surface area to the absolute maximum."

"Why would they do that?"

"They have the ability to store and convert solar energy. The dust storm; it was the nano-bots absorbing the sun’s energy."

"But we were covered in dust, in nano-bots," Maria said worriedly. "Are we going to die?"

It was such a blunt question. Full of fear and paranoia. But Maria was right. We had been covered in dust and nano-bots for weeks. We had walked right through the middle of the storm, breathing them in. We all looked at Tariq at that moment. He had our undivided attention.

"Truthfully, I do not know."

Not the answer we were looking for.

"It would seem doubtful," Tariq continued. "If you were to die, it would have happened already. The nano-bots, the first generation of nano-bots, were designed to invade the body of an infected person. A person with a normal, healthy immune system would be in no danger."

"Wait, what do you mean by ‘first generation?" I asked.

"And the dust storm covered the entire country," Kenji added. "How many nano-bots did you release into the atmosphere?"

"Trillions."

"That’s a lot of goddamn microscopic robots," Jack said.

"Yes. But even that amount is not enough to cover the entire country," Tariq pointed out. "Something else is happening. Something else we did not, could not prepare for."

"And that is?"

"The nano-bots are reproducing."

"Reproducing?" Jack said. "You mean like, making babies? Baby microscopic robots?"

"Not exactly. We can’t be certain, but it appears the nano-bots have learnt how to build, to manufacture and replicate."

"Like an actual virus," Daniel said."

"Yes."

"So why did the dust storm suddenly disappear?"

"Next stage of life. The next stage of evolution."

"Stage of life? What do you mean? How many stages are there?"

"Stage one, invade. Stage two multiply and spread. Stage three, adapt and survive. Not long after we released the nano-virus, we started getting reports of rogue nano-virus swarms and other anomalies. The swarming, the other behavior, it was completely unpredicted."

"Oh great," Jack said.

"So what now?" Kenji asked. "What do we do? We need a plan of action."

"They are self-replicating, self-sustaining," Tariq answered. "They can manipulate metal at the atomic level and they are programmed to hunt and kill. We need that EMP field up. It is the only way to stop the nano-swarm."

"The only way?"

"Yes. It can penetrate through almost anything. An airtight, vacuum sealed room will keep it out initially, but eventually the nano-bots will eat through metal or concrete or reinforced glass. It does not matter."

"So basically, what you’re saying is, we need the EMP field on," Jack surmised.

"Yes."

"Well, let’s get to it."

Tariq typed in a few commands. The monitor now showed footage of the Humvees, and the tank that were parked around the facility. Three Humvees. One tank. Each vehicle had a satellite dish attached to its roof.

"There," Tariq said. "The dishes, they emit the EMP. We need to turn them on."

They sat there, quietly and dormant. They were smack bang in the middle of no man’s land.

It was up to us to go out there and turn them on.

Out there in the desert.

With the nano-swarm

With the infected.

CHAPTER 41

I think all we wanted to do at that point was sit down, chill out. Rest. Recover. Sleep. But we did not have that luxury. Once again, we were forced into action. And once again we answered the call. Like robots, I thought. We each had our own basic programming. Stay alive. Don’t die.

Simple. Basic.

Tariq had switched the views of the surveillance cameras back out to the motion sensors. He was trying to pick up the nano-swarm again when suddenly; one by one the images began to cut out.

The monitor now showed four separate images of static.

"What happened?" Daniel asked.

"It’s the nano-swarm," Kenji said.

"What’s it doing?"

"Blinding us." Tariq answered, smiling. "Amazing, isn’t it?"

"How did it know?"

Maria was staring at the monitor, confused. "Yeah, how?"

"Maybe the movement of the cameras?" I suggested. "Maybe the noise?"

"Noise? The cameras couldn’t be very loud."

"The nano-swarms have excellent sensory capabilities," Tariq answered.

"Do we have any other cameras available?" Kenji asked. "We need eyes on this thing."

"There are no more cameras out there. But we have a surveillance drone available. Raven."

"Can we launch it from here?"

Tariq typed in a few more commands. "Yes. Launching."

The monitor now showed a camera view of the military building. On the roof was a small launch pad, no bigger than a pizza box. What appeared to be a toy, remote controlled plane was sitting on top.

"That’s the drone?" I asked.

"Yes," Tariq answered.

"But it’s so small."

"That’s the point," Daniel said. "It’s a short range, surveillance drone."

The launch pad swiveled and tilted into position and the toy plane was launched into the air by a sling shot mechanism.

The small drone flew higher and higher. We could only just hear the whir and strain of its propeller. It climbed steadily, until we could no longer see it on the monitor, or hear it.

"Zoom in," Daniel said to Tariq. "Find the swarm."

I moved over to the blacked out windows and peeked through one of the small holes. It looked like someone had scratched the paint away with a knife or something. But I supposed they could’ve used their fingernails. Outside, I could see the horde of infected, pushing against the perimeter fence. Some of them had tried to climb over but had become tangled in the razor wire that ran along the top of the fence.

The Sun was setting.

Maria stood next to me, looking to the outside world. "Wait," she said. "I can see lights."

"Lights?" I asked.

"Yeah, like headlights."

"Where?"

"Over there. Two lights."

Way out near the horizon, I could see two bright lights, zigzagging back and forth. She was right, they looked like headlights.

"It's a car," Maria said. "They're headlights."

We took another look at the computer monitor.

"Are they survivors?" I asked. "Soldiers?"

"They are not headlights," Tariq said. "It is the nano-swarm. It is mimicking the headlights of a car."

"It can do that?"

"Yes."

"How? Why?"

"I am not sure how. But it would appear to be a camouflage technique. A hunting technique. Like I said, it is learning, evolving."

"This is not good," Jack said. "We need to take care of it. It’s hunting us. I do not want to be hunted. We need to do something."

"Yes, I agree," Tariq said. "We need to get the EMP field back online. Right now."

"OK, but if we’re going outside we need to get to the armory," Daniel said. "It’s too dangerous to go outside un-armed."

"Yes," Jack agreed. "Can we please get some guns? The bigger the better. Maybe even a rocket launcher or something."

"What good would you be with a rocket launcher?" Maria asked. "You don’t know how to use one."

"It would mainly be for security," Jack replied. "You know, peace of mind."

"Yeah, right."

"Guys, come on. Focus." Kenji said.

Daniel continued with a plan of action. "Once we’re armed, I think it would be best if Kenji provided cover fire from one of the gun towers. Jack, myself and Rebecca will turn on the EMP generators. Hopefully we’ll have enough time."

"How long before it knows we’re here?" Maria asked Tariq.

"I am not sure. Although, it would appear that the nano-swarm has been here before. Based on its behavior."

"So we should hurry," she said.

"Yes."

"All right," Jack said. "Let’s go."

Before anyone had made a move, we heard a loud crash that came from outside. This was followed by the howling and moaning noises of the infected.

"What’s going on out there?" I asked.

We moved over to the windows and peered out through the tiny peepholes in the paint.

"Oh no," Kenji said. "The perimeter fences, both of them. They’re down."

"So the infected are inside the compound?"

"Not entirely," Tariq informed us. "These facilities were built off the ground. They have blast proof walls. As long as the doors are all locked and secured we should be fine."

"Are they all locked?" I asked.

We looked over at the door way that led to the stair well. We held our breath, waiting for the sound of running footsteps.

Nothing.

Down below, the infected had crammed up against the reinforced, blast proof walls of the research facility.

Kenji immediately picked up Ben’s shotgun, wiping the blood off the handle, making sure it was loaded. "We’re definitely gonna need more guns."