Acolyte (39 page)

‘Gold dust,' said Sly. She reached over what was left of Rico and lifted the bag. It came away with an unpleasant sucking noise, trails of clotted molasses-like residue clinging to it.

Jonah couldn't help but look at Rico's remains, unable to identify what it was he saw. Some of it had taken on an almost translucent quality, like chunks of rotting jellyfish, as if the flesh had been drained of far more than its blood. Andreas had fed on Rico's shadow, perhaps on Rico's
soul.

‘Here,' said Kendrick, snapping him out of it. ‘Copy what we do.' He passed Jonah a black harness; Jonah watched as Kendrick and Sly put theirs on. Kendrick dipped into the bag and produced one of the small discs that looked like ice-hockey pucks, along with what could have been a small cell phone. ‘Remote charge and trigger,' said Kendrick. ‘This is how we'll blow the generator, guarantee they can't just switch it back on. We'll split them up between us; that way, if any of us gets through, we'll be in a position to do something. To pair the trigger with the charge, hold the two close to each other with the pairing button depressed. You'll get a green light on both the charge and trigger. You can unpair by repeating it, and the light will flash red. You can pair the trigger with as many charges as you want. They pack a punch, so be in cover when you detonate.'

Kendrick showed him where to fix them to his harness, then shared out what charges they had – four each for him and Sly, three for Jonah. There were two flashlights, which went to Kendrick and Sly. Next, the satisfaction clear on his face, Kendrick took out the black cylinder, together with a compact gas mask, both of which he fixed to the front of his own harness.

Finally, he took a gun for himself, gave one to Sly, and offered Jonah another.

Jonah declined. ‘I'm more likely to shoot you,' he said, then added: ‘Not on purpose.'

Kendrick kept the gun held out. ‘As I recall, you're the one who jumps into the line of fire. Take it.'

Reluctantly, Jonah took it.

‘That's the safety,' said Kendrick, pointing to the side of the
gun. ‘No need to show you how to reload. The rest of the ammunition was with the bigger weapons, in the other bag.'

They made their way under Annabel's guidance by radio, heading for the Lab Two entrance. The security cameras showed deserted corridors ahead of them, the path clear. When finally they reached the door into Lab Two, Sly brought out the security card kit and plugged it into the lock.

Nothing happened.

‘Annabel,' she said. ‘Can you see the Lab Two entrance displayed on your screen?'

‘Ah … yes, got it.'

‘Does it say anything about the status?'

‘Nothing.'

Sly tried the security kit again. ‘What about now?'

‘It flashed up EXT DEADLOCK.'

‘Fuck,' said Sly. ‘It's deadlocked from the other side. That overrides the locking mechanism.'

‘So no way in?' said Jonah.

‘If we have to, we'll blow the door,' Kendrick said. ‘We lose all surprise but maybe we reach the generator before them.'

Sly winced. ‘With respect, boss, we're up against a small army of people who just stole our automatic weapons and can kill us with
shadows.
Surprise is everything. We need another route.' She spoke into her radio. ‘Annabel, the schematics showed a maintenance entrance to Lab Two at the other side of the building. It's from a plant room that adjoins the gym area of the residential block. Can you confirm that's there?'

It was thirty seconds before Annabel replied. ‘OK, Never says he sees it.'

Sly looked at Kendrick. ‘That's our way in,' she said.

Kendrick smiled. ‘She always does her homework,' he said to Jonah, then turned back to Sly. ‘Options?' he said.

‘We could cross the central courtyard directly to the gym,' said Sly. ‘But that leaves us exposed to anyone looking out of a Lab Two
window. Or, we go all the way through the residential block and canteen. There's a side exit from this building that's just ten metres away from an entrance to the residential section. It's the long way but we'd be far less exposed. As long as all the researchers are asleep it'll be a breeze.'

Kendrick nodded. ‘Annabel, did you hear that?'

‘Yes.'

‘Check the cameras, see if the path to the residential block is clear.'

Another pause.

‘There's nobody around,' she said.

‘So,' said Kendrick. ‘The long way it is.'

‘One
tiny
problem,' said Sly, with a grimace. ‘The central section in Lab Two would then lie directly between us and the generator. We'd have to get past Andreas's people unseen.'

Kendrick looked at her for a few seconds. ‘Well,' he said, ‘as long as it's nothing
dangerous.
'

*

They made their way to the Lab One exit. Sly hooked up the security card kit, and this time there were no problems. The door unlocked. Outside, Kendrick took a quick look around him. To their left was the main compound entrance, a wire-fence gateway two metres high, closed but brightly lit. To their right, they could see an outdoor recreation area, a large playing surface with basketball hoops either end, none of the lighting on at this late hour. Indeed, only the lights on the gateway and perimeter fence seemed active. Very few of the windows ahead of them showed any illumination, and even those were dim.

Ahead they could see the entrance to the residential block, the light on the lock red. Sly went first, moving without a sound, and took care of the lock. The moment it went green Kendrick ran across the exposed space in the same near-silent manner. Jonah
tried his best, aware that his own scuffling run was far from quiet. They stopped at the other door.

‘Look at Lab Two,' Kendrick said, pointing diagonally across the courtyard. ‘Everything's dark.' Not a single light in any window. The levels below ground, Jonah thought, had to be where Andreas was.

Sly led the way indoors, the corridor much dimmer than those in Lab One had been, just low-level lighting in the ceiling. ‘Annabel, I need you to check the route I'm about to give you,' said Sly. ‘Check I've got it right, and see which cameras we have feeds from.'

‘OK,' said Annabel.

‘We go twenty metres, then right,' said Sly. ‘Takes us to the rec room, then the canteen. Past the canteen, right turn takes you through to the gym and swimming pool. We need the plant room, connected to the swimming pool maintenance area. You get all that?'

‘Got it,' said Annabel, then, after a few seconds, she spoke again. ‘We have cameras up to the canteen entrance, all clear. Wait a second, though …' They could hear indistinct mumbling as Never and Annabel conversed. ‘OK, none of the cameras from the recreation area and canteen are active – and nothing from the gym either.'

Kendrick and Sly gave each other a wide-eyed look, but Kendrick shook his head. ‘Probably nothing to worry about,' he said, clearly for the benefit of Annabel and Never. His expression made it obvious he didn't like it, not one bit; Sly was the same.

‘Hold on, Never has something,' said Annabel.

‘How are you doing, Never?' asked Jonah.

‘Bit fucked, if I'm honest,' he said. He sounded frighteningly tired, the voice on the radio weak and distant. He took a slow breath before continuing. ‘Look, I spotted something – on the cabling in the schematics.' He paused again, for another breath; Jonah had a horrible realization of how similar it was to a revival,
short statements with gaps for breath between, as if Never was already dead. ‘The lower floor of that circular area, sublevel two, doesn't have access to the generator, but there's what looks like a power hub there. You could take out all the power by hitting that. It might mean not having to go through the middle of everyone to reach the generator.'

‘Where is it?' said Kendrick.

‘With the southern door at twelve, it's at three o'clock,' said Never. He paused for a few seconds before he continued, the effort clear in his voice. ‘Probably a big wall-mounted box, shitload of cables leading to it.'

‘We'll bear it in mind, Never,' said Kendrick. Suddenly, the already-dim lights in the corridor dipped low, leaving them in near-darkness for a moment before coming back up. Jonah and Sly shared a look, then Kendrick went back on the radio. ‘You get that, Annabel?'

‘Power drain?' she said. ‘Yes, we got it. Systems are still up, though.'

The drain happened again after ten seconds or so, a slow cycle that kept going; Kendrick looked at Sly and Jonah, and they were all thinking the same thing. Whatever Andreas was doing, it had started.

They continued along the dim corridor, Sly a few metres ahead. Jonah felt tense; whatever the hour, there was always a risk of somebody opening a door at any time, and Jonah didn't want to think about what Sly or Kendrick might do to them as a reflex, innocent or not.

To their left, they could see numbered doors, presumably individual living quarters for each of the revival and research staff. Sly stopped, holding her hand up and waiting for Kendrick and Jonah to reach her. She took a flashlight from her belt and switched it on, pointing it at the floor ahead.

‘Glass,' she said, running her flashlight beam along a thin trail of smeared blood. They walked slowly to where the broken glass
lay, outside the door marked 17. The shattered fragments looked like the remains of a drinking glass. Kendrick frowned, then turned to the door. He reached out and tried the handle, taking his own flashlight out.

Inside was a small room, a single bed, desk, television, PC. Dark and empty. Kendrick turned to the smear of blood again, which continued in a trail. ‘That's a cut to a foot,' he said. ‘Dragged along. Presumably unconscious. The blood's dry, so it happened hours ago, maybe longer.' He looked back the way they'd come, then to the far end of the corridor. His flashlight picked up something else on the floor at the far end – a coffee pot, upended. Slowly, he cast his light on each door, before pulling his gun and walking purposefully back to room 16.

Sly came over to Jonah, and pulled her gun too.

‘What is it?' whispered Jonah.

Kendrick reached for the door handle. It opened. He looked inside, then shook his head.

‘Empty,' explained Sly. ‘Whatever happened in 17, it had to be noisy. There's been time for someone to clean this up, but nobody did.' She shook her head, then caught Kendrick's eye as he reached room 15. She tipped her head further along the corridor, and Kendrick nodded. ‘Stay here,' she told Jonah.

Jonah stood and watched as Kendrick and Sly covered both ends of the corridor, getting faster as they went. It didn't take long before every room had been checked. They returned to where Jonah was standing.

‘Nobody,' said Kendrick. ‘Two of the rooms had signs of struggle.'

‘Nobody in mine either,' said Sly. ‘What are you thinking, maybe kolokol? I can't smell anything obvious.'

Kendrick shook his head. ‘Doesn't need to be a mass agent. They could do it one room at a time.'

‘Do what?' said Jonah. ‘Where is everyone?'

‘Whatever happened here,' said Sly, ‘few of these people
resisted. Andreas's men used something to incapacitate them.' She looked up to the ceiling; Kendrick and Jonah looked up too.

‘What, everyone?' asked Jonah. ‘You think all the other rooms are empty?'

‘We don't have time to look,' said Kendrick. ‘Come on.'

The trail of blood outside room 17 was going the same way they were. They followed it, taking a right turn into another corridor and soon reaching a set of closed double doors. A sign above them declared the recreation area to be on the other side. Kendrick put his hand on the door but hesitated. He shook his head and frowned. ‘I smell blood,' he said. He glanced down at the trail by their feet. ‘A lot more than
that
.'

Sly nodded. ‘Something happened,' she said. ‘Something big.'

‘Before we even got here,' said Kendrick. ‘Long before.' They both switched off their flashlights and checked their guns.

Jonah was getting a bad feeling, a very specific one: a sensation of
imminence
that was curiously familiar, something that had begun soon after that first fading of the power, something he'd not yet been able to place.

The lights around them continued to dip and rise, a slow pulse of energy drain, and with each pulse he could swear the sensation was growing.

Then he had it, and it wasn't comforting. The nearest thing he could relate it to was a point in a revival just before the surge, as the reviver was hunting, waiting for the subject to come into their grasp.

The last moments of quiet before a plunge into the dark.

‘Annabel?' said Kendrick.

‘Go ahead.'

‘We're outside the rec area. Aren't there
any
cameras inside?'

Pause.

‘No,' said Annabel.

In the background Never's weak voice chimed in. ‘They're supposed to be there, but there's no feed from them,' he said. ‘Could just be unplugged.' He coughed and cried out; Jonah felt physical pain in his own chest, his old wound taking a bow. ‘Sly, can I have more drugs yet?' pleaded Never.

‘Not if you want to continue to live,' she said.

Kendrick and Sly shared a look. ‘We have to keep going,' said Kendrick; Sly nodded. ‘On three.' The count was silent, but Jonah felt the tension grow all the same. Sly and Kendrick pushed open the double doors and they entered.

The recreation area was a large open space. It was fully dark; Kendrick and Sly pulled their flashlights, quickly scanning the room, one half each, picking out the telling details in rapid succession: security cameras high on the walls, torn from their mounts; all the lights smashed; large black circular tables heaped in a haphazard pile at one end of the room, intermingled with plastic chairs, the centre of the room entirely clear of obstacles.