Broken Worlds Super Boxset (72 page)

The cellar of Todd’s house was full. Emma, Ray, Nelson, and Ben were all there. With the signal going off last night, they knew that Alex should be arriving in the morning, and tomorrow Emma’s brother would roll in with enough men to take the Coalition down in northern Wyoming. This would be the birthplace of the revolution.

“We still need to send the final orders to Emma’s brother tonight. Nelson and I will be heading there to finish it and grab whatever supplies we can for tomorrow. I suggest everyone get a good night’s rest,” Todd said.

“Let me go instead,” Ray said. “You and Emma should have some time tonight. You know. To be alone. Together.” Ray immediately followed it up with a few lewd gestures, which only Emma laughed at. “But seriously. I’ll go.”

“Thank you, Ray.”

Nelson and Ray left, and Ben followed. Once they were alone, Emma gave Todd an inquisitive smile as she walked toward him. He cupped his hands around her face and brought his lips to hers. They were chapped and callused and they lacked the fullness he remembered, but they were hers, and he could still feel the warmth.

Emma pulled back and ran her fingertips through his hair and then down into the scruff of his beard. “That’s not something I’m used to.”

“I’ve missed you, Todd said. “I’ve missed us, and sleeping with you and talking with you, and I want us to have that again.”

Emma gave a light smile. “Me too.” She leaned in for another kiss. The two bumped into walls and furniture on their way to Todd’s bedroom. The bed springs squeaked as both of them collapsed on top of the mattress. There was no telling what tomorrow would bring, and if this was going to be his last night, then he was going to spend it with his wife.

***

The blades of the helicopter swirled over the now fake turf of the White House lawn. Like the rest of the country, Washington DC wasn’t immune to the effects of GMO-24. However, in order to keep up appearances, all of the dead plants were replaced with fake ones. Many of the Washington outsiders mocked that the exterior finally matched the interior’s intentions.

Jared kept his head low as he made his way up the steps of the White House with Marcus by his side. The West Wing was busy with activity. Office aides and assistants flew down the halls, bustling past Jared and the Secret Service agents that escorted him. The Secret Service cleared the path all the way to the Oval Office where the President eagerly greeted him upon his arrival.

“Jared, thank God you made it out of there in time,” the President said. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, Mr. President. I think you remember my associate, Marcus Semp.”

The President extended his hand, and Marcus shook it gratefully. “It’s good to see the two of you well.” He motioned for a few of the Joint Chiefs to come over and have a seat with them on the couches. “Now, what happened back there?”

“Gordon ordered his men to attack our administration wing in Topeka,” Jared said. “I had Marcus send General Mears what data I was able to collect on the Coalition’s resources. Now, I’m sure you’ve already been briefed on the incidents in the Gulf as well as the refineries in Texas. Mr. President, Gordon has sent us a very clear message. He wants the country.”

The President nodded. He rubbed his face, stretching his wrinkled skin, and then stood up. The rest of the room rose in respect. “I knew this day would come. But Gordon knew too much about our involvement with GMO-24, and I couldn’t risk giving the American people one more reason to start a coup. It would have been a bloodbath.”

Jared straightened himself and cleared his throat. “Mr. President, that brings me to my next order of business. I think it’s time you let me in on Wyoming.”

The President turned around with a look of perplexity plastered over his face. He looked to his Joint Chiefs, who mirrored his own confusion. “What’s happening in Wyoming?”

“Sir, you don’t have to pretend. I already have a good idea about what’s happening over there, and so does Gordon. Now, I don’t think we have a lot of time before he moves on the area, so the less time we spend pretending, the better our situation will be.”

“Jared,” the President said. “We don’t have any operations happening in Wyoming. Military or civilian.”

“You’re not aware of the soil sample that was found there?”

The President took a few steps forward and then made his way back to the couch and sat down. He motioned for Jared to do the same. “Jared, I think it’s time for you to tell me everything you know about what Gordon has been up to.”

Before Jared had a chance to speak, Admiral Frizen cut between them. “Mr. President, I think I might be able to fill in some of the blanks that Mr. Farnes can’t answer.”

***

The journey to the lab would take Alex most of the night, but if he was lucky, he’d make it back to the community by morning. When Alex finally made it to the general area where the entrance to the lab was, he dropped the rifle and collapsed to his hands and knees, sifting through the grey ash, searching for chains or the metal top concealing the lab’s entrance. He pushed through like a small bulldozer, and his heart jumped when his fingertips smacked into the linked metal attached to one of the plate’s corners.

Alex pulled the chain from the dirt until he found the corner. He braced himself and gave as much effort in lifting the door that he could. The contraction of every fiber of muscle in his arms was visible through his skin. Alex dug his heels into the ground and his fingers slowly grinded off the chain links until the aching joints in his hands lost their grip and the chain fell to the ground.

Alex massaged his hands, trying to revive what elasticity still remained. After a few minutes of rest, he picked the chain up again, this time wrapping it around his forearm a few times. He entrenched his heels deeper into the earth and allowed himself enough leverage to give it one powerful tug. Every muscle along Alex’s arms, legs, and back strained against the massive weight of the metal door. When his back reached the point where he thought his spine would snap in half, the hefty metal slid back an inch. Feeling the momentum, Alex gave one final push that slid the door back another two feet, then crumpled to the ground. Every last fiber in his body was spent.

Alex unwrapped the chain around his arm, brushed the dirt off him, and picked up the rifle. His efforts had granted him room to provide enough leverage to push the sheet of metal the rest of the way to expose the lab’s door. Once inside, he started the generator and found the computer he saw from his previous visit. He pulled the small thumb drive out of his pocket and slid it into the USB drive.

Then, without warning, the computer turned on and ran through its startup options. Whatever Sydney had given him seemed to work just fine. Hundreds of lines of code scrolled down the screen. Finally, after working through whatever systems it needed to gain access to the files it was looking for, it began downloading.

***

Ray and Nelson stumbled along the path to the lab under the night sky. Ray was half asleep, but Nelson was alive with excitement. For the first time in their friendship, Nelson talked Ray’s ear off.

“I can’t believe it’s happening,” Nelson said.

“Uh-uh.”

“I mean, just think about what’s going to happen! This is the start of not just having our lives back, but better ones than before. The results of Todd’s work were just so…so…”

“Uh-uh.”

“So incredible! Can you imagine the level of health people will have? We could see the next stage in human evolution because of this. Amazing.”

While Nelson raced forward with vigor, Ray kept pace with a more shuffling, zombie-like approach to his movements. But Nelson’s quick patter of footsteps quickly stopped, and Ray reacted with an eyes-half-open glance to Nelson standing frozen just before the entrance to the lab. “Nelson?”

Nelson quickly turned around, motioning for him to be quiet. Ray perked up slightly from the sudden change in events. The metal cover to the lab had been exposed.

“What do we do?” Nelson asked.

“We have to check it out,” Ray answered.

Before Ray could take a step forward Nelson threw up his arms to block him. “What if it’s a sentry? What if they’re armed? What if-”

“What if they aren’t even there?” Ray said. “Look, with the time it is now, we won’t get back to the community until just before dawn. We need to figure out if anyone is down there and what they took or are trying to take. Todd will want to know.”

Nelson stepped aside hesitantly, trying to calculate any other course of action the two could take, but after realizing that Ray was right, he followed him over to the lab’s door. The two crouched down and Ray whispered over the hum of the generator. “I’ll go down first. If you hear gunshots, then I want you to run back to the community as fast as you can. If I call for you, then be prepared to come in guns blazing.”

“But I don’t have any guns,” Nelson answered.

“Well, come in swinging then. Christ.” Ray shook his head and took his first few steps down into the lab.

***

The loading bar on the computer was at ninety percent when Alex heard the first light step of someone coming into the lab. He immediately turned the lights off and ducked behind the desk. He didn’t think that the rest of the group would be here, not tonight.

Each light tap of the intruder’s foot signaled the end of his charade. And for some reason, he desperately didn’t want it to be Todd. He knew Todd would find out eventually, but not now, not like this. When the figure finally descended, it was too dark for Alex to make out who it was.

“If you’re still in here, then show yourself.”

Alex let out a slight sigh of relief as the New York accent gave Ray away. The loading bar signaled it was at one hundred percent. Alex quickly detached the thumb drive from the computer and stuffed it into his pocket. The sudden ejection triggered a beep from the computer that alerted Ray to Alex’s location. Alex, staying crouched, maneuvered to his left to elude Ray before he made it over to where the computer was stationed.

Alex kept his breathing soft. Nothing but short, soundless pants escaped his mouth. His shirt clung to his skin as a sudden burst of sweat broke out over his body. He scooted down the narrow aisle, making sure to keep his head below the desk line. He gripped the rifle in his hands, praying that he wouldn’t have to use it.

The stairway was right next to Alex. He could see the faint light from the moon and stars shining down into the lab. He was so close. Just one quick leap to the staircase, and once he was outside all he had to do was sprint to freedom.

Alex could hear Ray inching closer. The circle of light from Ray’s flashlight on the wall in front of Alex grew smaller, more focused, the closer Ray moved.

“It’s over. Whoever is there, just give it up,” Ray said.

Just one quick jump.
One quick jump.
With every last bit of strength Alex had in his muscles, he leapt for the steps that would lead him to freedom. But Ray matched Alex’s vigor and grabbed hold of the back of his collar, pulling Alex backwards, and the two men tumbled into the table behind them.

Beakers and test tubes crashed to the ground, shattering the containers that concealed different soil samples. Ray and Alex grappled on the ground with Alex still doing his best to conceal his face. Ray managed to wrap his arm around Alex’s neck and get him in a chokehold.

“Nelson! Get down here now! I’ve got him!” Ray said.

The pressure around Alex’s throat tightened, slowly closing off the airway. The lack of oxygen slowed the responsiveness of his brain activity. Black blotches hindered his vision, but in the small patches of sight that Alex still had, he could see the shocked faced of Nelson making his way down the steps.

“Alex?” Nelson asked.

“What?” Ray replied.

Ray’s vise grip around Alex’s neck loosened after Nelson’s identification of the assailant, and Alex took advantage of it. Alex delivered a breath-stopping blow to Ray’s ribs, which caused the rest of Ray’s grip on Alex to completely disappear. He quickly aimed the rifle at the two of them.

“What? What are you doing here?” Nelson asked.

Alex dripped with sweat, and his eyes squinted from Ray’s flashlight that was now directly in his face. “Put the light down and step over to the corner.”

“You son of a bitch,” Ray said. “You played us!”

“I’m sorry. I really am. I’m not trying to stop what you guys are doing, but I have to save my community. Gordon has them hostage. I’m trying to help them.” Alex tied the two of them up and rushed up the steps. The night air burned his lungs as he ran. He didn’t look back. He couldn’t look back. Nelson and Ray’s reaction were all he needed to see. Betrayal cost a man a part of his soul, and Alex wasn’t sure how much soul he had left.

***

Todd watched Emma fall asleep and just lay there looking at her, caressing her hair. She looked so peaceful when she slept. The sun would be up soon, and with it would bring war. A war he never thought he’d have to fight. He gave Emma a kiss and carefully slid off the bed.

The floor felt cool and grainy under his bare feet on his way to the study. He was wondering if his house would survive the fight to come. Then, he wondered if he would survive. His world had grown beyond that of the lab. His work there was done. Now was the time for action and application.

Outside the lab the world had variables that he couldn’t control, variables that would appear unexpectedly that he couldn’t account for. He wasn’t naïve enough to believe that he would make it through unscathed, but the rewards outweighed the risks. This could be the final night in his home. This could be the final night of his life.

On his way out of the study, his eye caught a book on one of his shelves. He stopped and ran his finger along the novel’s spine. It was a collection of Hemingway’s short stories. He wondered if Alex had finished the other book he’d given him. He grabbed it and decided he’d drop it off at Alex’s place. He thought it would be a nice surprise for when he came back.

Todd closed the back door softly and stuck to the path behind the rest of the houses until he made it to Alex’s. He opened the back door and stepped inside. The house was dark, but unlike Todd’s place, there wasn’t much furniture to bump into. He hugged the wall to help guide him and when he turned the corner of the hallway to Alex’s room, he saw that the door was cracked open.

Todd tapped his knuckles on the door gently and kept his voice at a whisper. “Alex?” There was no response. Todd repeated the faint assault on the door, and it nudged open a little further. The crack widened and Todd could see that Alex’s bed was empty. Todd pushed the door open wider. “Alex?” Todd stood in the doorframe as the door hit the adjacent wall. He wasn’t back yet. Todd dropped the book on Alex’s pillow when his knee scrapped against something hard on the edge of the mattress. Todd looked down to see a small sliver of black sticking out from under the bed.

Todd squinted. The shape of the object was something he’d seen before. The conflict of invading Alex’s privacy was overridden by the growing sense of dread coursing through his veins. He grabbed the corner of the object and slowly pulled it out. Todd’s heart rate doubled with every square inch that the laptop was revealed. There was only one way Alex could have obtained a piece of equipment like that. It had to have come from the Soil Coalition.