Condemn (BUNKER 12 Book 2) (37 page)

"Bixby Michael!" Mister Blakeley said.
"Enough."

"But—"

"Dammit, Bix!" Finn snapped. "You,
too, Jonah. Both of you just shut the hell up for a
second?"

Everyone stared at each
other before Finn spoke again. He didn't apologize for swearing,
though he could see he'd hurt his friend's feelings.
If Harper were here—

But he's not here, so shut
up. SHUT UP!

"There are three possible ways in," he
said, forcing himself to breathe slow and deep. "The front
door—"

"Which is probably locked," Susan
said.

"The back door on Level
Six."

"Blocked."

"And the cave to Level
Ten."

"Also blocked. Probably."

"If they got the monitors fixed, then
they'll have eyes on the front and back doors. The cave is our best
bet of getting inside without being seen."

"Dad just said it'd be blocked," Bix
grumbled. "Jeez, don't you listen?"

Finn ignored him. "We've got Eddie. He
tore his way through it once before, he can do it
again."

"I'm not so sure about that, Finn,"
Eddie piped up. "That was when I—"

"You can still do it."

"I was going to say, it was a highly
emotional time. I'm not sure I could summon the same
strength."

"We'll just have to see, won't
we?"

He shouldered his rifle and stepped
away from the edge. The rest of the group exchanged worried glances
before following him.

They made their way through the trees
to a point directly above where they guessed the hidden opening for
the gate was, then descended. Finn led with Eddie and Kari bringing
up the rear.

They all strained their senses for
signs of Wraiths. But it seemed the ones that had attacked them
nearly a week before were gone. Jonah theorized that they had
probably been the ones that attacked the bus. They'd been scattered
or killed since then.

"And I think they followed that guy
from Bunker Two," he finished.

Finn didn't say it out loud, but if
that were true, then his brother may have been one of them. He gave
a shiver and stepped out onto the gravel path leading to the hidden
cave opening.

They found the gate wired shut, but it
had clearly been meant to foil Wraiths, not people. Eddie unwound
the wire and pulled the gate open.

"Anyone remember to bring a
flashlight?" Bix said.

Jonah pulled the cell phone out with a
smirk. "Always prepared."

"You're no boy scout," Bix
grumbled.

"Okay, Jonah, you lead," Eddie said.
"I'll bring up the rear. Everyone take hold of the person in front
of you. Keep your rifles at the ready. If you encounter anything,
only those at the front fire. Those in back, retreat. Kari, you
follow Jonah, since you have the most experience with a
gun."

"Hey, I know how to shoot," Bix
argued.

"Back here with me," Harrison
said.

"This party sucks," Bix
remarked.

Jonah grinned and pushed past him.
"Sucks even more when your folks chaperone."

The heavy steel plate door at the bottom of the tunnel had been
seated back into place, but not reattached. Instead, Seth had
blocked it with objects he'd cannibalized from other parts of the
dam complex— wooden crates, heavy equipment, furniture. He'd wedged
it all tightly between the door and the metal railing of the
walkway, making it impossible to push the door away.

After several minutes of trying, Eddie
reported that he'd only managed to move the pile an inch or two.
Jonah suggested he try sliding the door to the side. With his help,
the two men were able to clear a space big enough for Hannah to
climb through. She began moving what she could away.

An hour later, they regrouped on the
catwalk above the sump pumps and made their way over to the
chamber's inner door.

"At this rate, we should hit the
stairwell sometime around next week," Bix said.

Finn pulled him aside while the rest
went to check out the door. "You've been in a sour mood since we
arrived back here," he said. "What's going on?"

"Look at him," Bix said,
nodding in Jonah's direction. "The guy's like a bad case of jock
itch. Just when you think you've gotten rid of him,
bam!
He's back with a
vengeance."

"That's not really it, is
it?"

Bix was quiet for a moment. "It's this
damn place. I thought we'd left it behind for good. I mean, it's
bad out there, but I'd still take it over being back inside
here."

"Last time I checked, nobody's trying
to cage match us with Wraiths in here."

There was a loud grinding noise from
the direction of the door, then the sound of crumbling cement. With
a grunt of effort, Eddie pulled the door open. "We're in," he
panted, and dropped the piece of metal piping he'd used as a
lever.

Finn clapped Bix on the back. "Let's
get Bren and leave."

It felt strange to walk those halls
again. Like Bix, Finn had thought he'd never return, never have to
hear the familiar echoes and the low throb of the turbines. But
here he was, back where he'd spent the last three years of his
life, the one place that had kept him safe and
alive . . . .

And killed his father.

They made their way to the end of the
hall and stopped by the door to the stairwell. With some
trepidation, Finn typed in his old code, expecting it not to work.
But the light turned green and the latch released. He pulled the
door open and listened for any sign that someone might be above
them. All was quiet save for the seashell rush of air swirling
through the ten-story shaft.

"You know," Bix whispered at Finn. His
voice shook as they ascended. "You always talk about your brother
like he was some kind of hero."

"He was. Everyone liked
him."

"It just got me thinking."

"Drop it, Bix."

"No, I mean, you're always comparing
yourself to him and—"

"I said drop it."

They lapsed into silence at the
landing, hastily checking inside. But there were no sounds of
people. They repeated the quick checks at the next two
landings.

They skipped Levels Six and Five,
which Seth Abramson had sealed off, as well as Level Four, which,
other than the storage of heavy equipment and other nonconsumable
items, had served no real function for them during their stay.
Instead, they hurried up to the quarters on Level Three, impatient
to find the others.

Eddie held back, a frown on his face.
When asked what was wrong, he commented that the air smelled stale,
rotten.

They opened every door that wasn't
already open, but it quickly became evident that the old rooms were
no longer being used. Everything useful had been removed, leaving
only garbage behind.

"They might have consolidated
upstairs," Finn said. "Closer to the kitchen. We'll find them. I
know we will."

He could see the doubt and concern
growing on the other's faces.

They proceeded to check the remaining
rooms on the level and eventually arrived at the door of Sato and
Asuka Fujimura. Finn remembered thinking that the couple would
never leave the bunker.

"I was thinking about what Byron said
about Harper," Bix said.

"Seriously, let it go,
Bix."

"Don't you think it's strange he never
mentioned you to anyone in his bunker? Or your dad? I mean, you
talked to us about Harper all the time."

"I haven't given it much thought,"
Finn lied. He tried the door, found it locked, and punched in his
code.

"I'm just saying."

"Harper made the best of the moment he
was in, Bix. He never dwelled on things he couldn't
control."

"Break it up, lovebirds," Jonah said,
stepping out of the room across the hall. "Let's check upstairs and
get the hell out of here. This place is giving me the
creeps."

"Yeah, well, you give me the creeps,"
Bix replied.

Jonah rolled his eyes and hurried
away.

"Why do you always have to antagonize
everyone?" Finn asked.

"Because I care, bro. Sometimes I
think I care too much."

"You never know when to
stop."

Finn pushed the door open, then reeled
back, gagging. He slammed the door shut before Bix could get a
glimpse inside. But the smell was enough to tell what happened.
Finn had caught a glimpse of the couple laying arm-in-arm on their
mats. He'd seen no blood, no signs of trauma. They appeared to have
been dead at least a week.

They checked the top two levels in
silence, but found them empty as well. The kitchen had been
ransacked, and most of the food was gone. The game room was left as
they'd remembered it.

"They didn't take the homemade
Monopoly board I made," Bix said, picking up the box. "Sammy
Largent loves this game." He tossed it back onto the
table.

"We still haven't checked the power
plant," Finn said. He turned to head for the stairs.

"They're not going to be down there,"
Jonah said.

"You don't know that!"

"Why would they go there? Why would
they take everything and go there, Finn?"

"We still need to check!"

"It's a waste of time! God, you are
just like your father! You know that?"

"Don't you dare talk—"

"Stop!" Eddie shouted. "That's enough
out of you boys." He turned to Jonah. "Finn's right. We have to
check."

"We should be on the road, going after
them."

"Where?" Finn challenged, pulling out
of Eddie's grip. "Tell me, where did they go? Huh?"

"I don't know! But how is checking in
the power plant going to help? They are not there!"

"If you're so worried about time, then
why don't you use your mouth for something useful. Go pump some
fuel out of the tanks for the truck."

Jonah glared at him for a moment, then
pushed through the group and headed for the stairs.

"Uh oh, you've hurt his feelings," Bix
mocked.

"You really are a jerk sometimes,
Bix," Hannah said, shoving him into the wall before going after
Jonah.

"Stop, Hannah!" Eddie said. "Jonah! We
stick together. Now, we're going to check Level Four. As a
group."

"There is nothing there."

"We go and we check it off our list,
Jonah. Then we head down to the power plant. If we still don't find
them, then we put our heads together and come up with a plan. But
until then, let's finish the search."

Once more, they entered the stairwell,
this time heading down. They exited at Level Four and stepped out
into the hallway.

Almost immediately, Eddie raised a
hand to stop them. He had a troubled look on his face, and he
raised his nose into the air and took a sniff.

"What is it?"

"Feel that?" He raised a hand to his
cheek. "A breeze. There's a breeze.
And . . . ."

"What?"

"Nothing." But the furrows on his brow
deepened.

They ran the length of the hallway
toward the front door. Rounding the curve, they could see that it
was slightly open. It didn't seem to have been forced.

Eddie arrived ahead of them and pulled
it wide. His rifle was up, ready to shoot anything that might come
through. But nothing did.

"Oh my god!" Hannah screamed, seeing
the scene. She tried to run out, but Harrison Blakeley stopped
her.

Bodies littered the ramp outside, at
least a half dozen. Blood was everywhere. Bags and boxes of
supplies, some of it food, sat in heaps, as if it had been readied
to move. Everything, including the concrete walls, was riddled with
bullet holes.

Strewn throughout the killing field
were the motorcycles.