Where The Dead Men Lie (The Secret Apocalypse) (27 page)

"Where’s the armory?" Daniel asked Tariq.

"I am not sure," he replied. "But it would have to be located on the military side."

"We need to get over there."

"How?" I asked. "And how do we get out to the EMP generators?"

"We should be able to use the footbridge that connects these two buildings to get to the military building," Daniel answered. "As long as it’s not completely destroyed. As for the EMP generators, we’ll have to make a run for it."

"But the infected are out there," Maria said. "Hundreds of them. We can’t just go running around."

"The SCG," Jack said.

"What?"

"The Sydney Cricket Ground. The stadium. When we rescued you. We basically diverted the infected away from the point of entry."

"So?"

"So we can divert the infected away from those EMP generators with a vehicle. One of the Humvees in the garage. Once we lead the infected away, we can run out there, turn each one on and destroy the nano-swarm before it gets too close."

"Provided the Humvees actually work," I pointed out. "And provided we can find keys for them."

"If we can’t use the Humvees," Kenji said, "We’ll have to clear out as many infected as possible before we set foot outside."

"I think we should do that regardless," Daniel suggested.

"Yes, I totally agree," I added. "The less infected we have to outrun, the better. But um, how are we going to do that?"

"What about the security system?" Kenji asked. "Ben mentioned something about it earlier."

"Yes," Tariq said. "That is an excellent idea. There are four sentinels, situated at each gun tower. Very effective."

"How many rounds for each gun?"

"At the Fortress each sentinel had ten thousand rounds. The ammunition is stored within the tower."

"Yep, that’s a lot of bullets," Jack said.

"Can you turn it on from here, Tariq?" Kenji asked.

He searched through the computer, typed a few commands. "It would appear not. It must be controlled from the military facility."

"OK, we do that first," Daniel said. "Maria, you’re staying here with Tariq."

"No way. I’m coming with you guys. I want to help."

"We’ve been over this. You’re too valuable. We can’t risk you."

Tariq cocked his head to the side. "Risk her?"

"No," Kenji said. "Maria is right. We need her for this one. We need all hands on deck."

Daniel was about to protest but just then I noticed a clock on the top right hand side of the computer monitor.

A clock that was counting down.

"Hey, what the hell is that?" I asked.

"What?"

I pointed at the screen. "Top right hand corner. Numbers. A clock."

It continued counting down.

It read:

Twenty-three minutes and forty-five seconds.

Forty-four.

Forty-three.

"What the hell?" Jack said.

"It’s a timer," Kenji pointed out.

"A timer for what?"

"I don’t know."

Daniel moved in front of the screen and typed in a few commands.

"What do you think?" Kenji asked.

Daniel’s face turned pale. He shook his head and kept saying ‘no’ over and over. "It’s rigged to blow," he said. "Self destruct. A fail safe. In case there was a containment failure."

We all crowded around the monitor and stared at the countdown in disbelief.

"So we can’t stay here?" Maria asked.

"We should be able to turn it off," Daniel said. "There’s got to be a password, an override system. Something."

Daniel punched in a few more commands but nothing happened. The only thing he could access was the security cameras.

"Let me try," Tariq said.

He sat back in front of the computer. His fingers moved with expert dexterity and blinding quickness over the keyboard. But nothing happened.

"I’ll have to check the system over in the military compound," Daniel said.

"What if we can’t turn it off?" I asked.

"If we can’t turn it off then we’ll have to get the hell out of here. Gather up as much food, water and ammo as we can carry and get as far away as possible. We don’t know what kind of explosives they’ve rigged."

"Are you saying this thing could be nuclear?" I asked.

"It’s possible," Kenji said. "Most likely thermobaric."

"What’s that?"

Kenji shook his head. "Bad news."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Jack said. "If there’s a possibility that this thing is nuclear or thermo-whatever, let’s go. Right now. It’s not worth the risk."

"You cannot leave," Tariq said.

"Why not?"

"The nano-swarm. We need to take care of it."

"He’s right," I said as I remembered what Ben had said about it earlier. "We can’t leave. If it knows we’re here, it will hunt us down."

Jack lowered his head in defeat.

"All right, let’s move like we got a purpose," Daniel said as he synchronized his watch with the self destruct clock. "We haul ass over to the military compound and turn on the security system. After the sentinels do their job, Kenji will move up to one of the gun towers to provide covering fire for us. Jack will use one of the Humvees to distract the remaining infected. Maria, Rebecca and myself will turn on the EMP generators. Any questions?"

"Does everyone have their walkie-talkies from earlier?" Kenji asked.

"Mine’s busted," I said.

Maria shook her head. "I never got one."

"Here, use these," Tariq said as he gave Maria and myself a radio each. "I’ll monitor the nano-swarm from here."

"Tariq, you’re our eyes," Kenji said. "Let us know where the damn thing is at all times, all right?

"Yes."

Daniel waved us forward, urging us out the door. "Let’s go. We don’t have long."

CHAPTER 42

Sometimes, I don’t know why we even bother making plans.

They never go as expected.

Anyway, when we had moved out and away from the communications room, Kenji told us he didn’t want to leave Maria there by herself. I guess he didn’t fully trust Tariq, even though he was proving to be quite useful with the computer. And his knowledge of the nano-swarm was a big help. If he hadn’t taken control of the surveillance cameras, we might never have known it was coming for us until it was too late.

Still, Kenji wasn’t comfortable leaving Maria by herself. So Maria came with us.

Unfortunately, this would prove to be just as dangerous.

Before we left though, Daniel untied Tariq. He said he needed to have his hands free if he was going to help us. And it was obvious we needed his help. He was manning the surveillance cameras. Daniel and Kenji both agreed that without him, we’d be flying blind.

We left the mess hall of the research room and came to the enclosed walkway that connected the research building to the military building. The walkway was suspended about two stories above the ground.

Each end had a pressurized, automatic door that required a password to open. Just as before, with the door in the rabbit hole, we didn’t know the password. But again, we didn’t need to. Both sets of doors, the ones on the research side and the ones on the military side had been blown apart.

"Looks like someone used C4 on the doors," Daniel said.

"And the actual walkway doesn’t look too good either," Maria pointed out.

She was right. The whole thing was tilted to one side. There’s no way it was stable. To make matters worse, the floor of the walkway was basically a metal grate. And we could see the infected walking around directly below.

They didn’t know we were standing above them yet. But we were bound to make noise as we walked across the metal walkway.

"Why would someone blow these doors up?"

"Don’t know," Daniel answered. "Doesn’t make any sense."

"Maybe they malfunctioned," Kenji offered.

"Great," Jack said. "There’s no way we’re crossing this thing. It’s busted."

"There’s gotta be another way." I said. "Maybe underground?"

Daniel shook his head. "There’s no time. We have to cross. If we do it quickly, it should hold."

"Should?" Jack said. "I don’t know, man."

"Look, the infected are inside the perimeter," Daniel replied. "The nano-swarm thing is on its way. We need to get the security system back on line or we’re all dead."

Jack swallowed hard. He looked at the walkway.

"I’ll go first," Kenji said.

He took a tentative first step out on to the grated floor. He put some weight on it, and then some more.

The metal structure groaned and complained. But it held.

"Seems OK," Kenji said.

He then jumped up and down on it.

"Whoa, settle down!" I said.

"It’s fine," he replied. "It’s perfectly safe. Let’s go."

Unfortunately, the few infected, milling around below us, were now looking up, and trying to figure out the noise they had just heard. Some of them had moved underneath us, reaching up with their arms and their black fingernails. I had to remind myself that we were at least two stories high. They couldn’t get to us.

"They can’t get to us." I whispered to myself.

We followed Kenji out on to the walkway when suddenly we could hear the proximity alarm again.

Daniel spoke into his walkie-talkie. "Tariq, speak to me."

"Ah. It is coming. Something big."

"The nano-swarm?"

"No."

I looked out the blackened windows of the walkway, through the small, scratched out peep holes. Nothing.

The only sign of danger were the infected. Through the grated floor we could see them mindlessly reaching up for us. But most of them were still clawing at the walls of the compound.

"I don’t see anything." Daniel said to Tariq.

"It’s on the far-side of the research building."

"What the hell is it?"

"I do not know. Something big." he said, pausing, hesitating. "It is moving around the facility. It is coming for you. Hide."

We were all looking now. Out both sides. Still nothing. But then we felt the walkway shake. It was only a small vibration at first, but it was noticeable. The vibration was followed by another. And another.

Slow and methodical.

We heard a snorting sound. Something growled.

Maria let out a little, tiny yelp. "Guys, I see it." She then put her hands over her mouth so she wouldn’t make any more noise.

"Hit the deck," Kenji whispered.

We dived for the floor of the walkway, flattening ourselves as much as we could.

"Did it see us?"

"No. There’s no way. The windows are completely blacked out."

"Do you think it’s the same one from the town?" Jack asked. "Did it follow us here?"

No one answered Jack. I for one was too scared to speak. And I think Kenji and Daniel were trying to think of a way out of this situation.

"What do we do now?" Jack continued.

"I don’t know. Just be calm," Kenji said. "Calm and quiet."

Daniel’s radio squawked to life with Tariq’s voice mixed in with some static. "Do you see it yet?" he asked.

"Turn that thing off," Kenji whispered.

Daniel switched off his radio.

But it was too late. The monster had heard. It let out a deafening roar as it continued to walk slowly towards us, each footstep caused the walkway to vibrate and shake.

I got to my knees so I could see through a small gap in the paint, right near the window sill.

And that’s when I saw it. If what Jack had suggested earlier was true, it meant that this thing was once a human being. A person who had been transformed into something huge and grotesque. Something from a crazy person’s nightmare. It definitely looked like the one we had seen the other day, the one that had taken those two women. Maybe it had tracked us down because it was mad at us for taking away its food source?

Maybe it wanted revenge?

It kept moving around the research building, sniffing the walls and the windows. It moved on all fours. Hunched over. Heavy footsteps shook the footbridge, the metal structure groaned.

"We’re two stories up," Daniel said. "We should be fine."

And as soon as he said it, the monster stood up on its hind legs. And just like that, it towered over the walkway.

We scuttled underneath the windows, making sure it couldn’t see us. And we were trying to be as quiet as possible so it couldn’t hear us.

"Now what?" I whispered.

Kenji shook his head.

"If we stay down, keep quiet we should be able to make it into the military compound," Daniel answered.