Retaliation: The Mortis Desolation, Book Two (7 page)

I
looked
through the peephole of our room and saw Trevor standing there with Mila right behind. “Hey,” I said as I opened the door.

“Hi, Miles,” Trevor said with a smile. “I’ve come to take you three to dinner,” he said, making eye contact with John over my shoulder and then gesturing over his own to let me know Mila was the third. “I’ve also been instructed to answer any questions you may have the best that I can.”

Now
that
really piqued my interest. “Okay,” I said with a nod. “Let me grab my shoes.”

After putting them on, I met everybody outside the door.

“This way,” Trevor said as he walked down the hallway. He turned right at the end and began toward one of the large main hallways.

“Where are we eating?” John asked.

“In the main hub,” Trevor answered. “There’s a dining area there.”

We entered the large hallway, and there were a lot more people in it than usual. Most of them were walking toward the hub, although there were a few who were walking back toward the living area, wearing sweaty clothes like they’d just worked out.

“How many people live here?” I asked Trevor.

He thought about it for a moment. “I’m not sure the exact number. Probably somewhere around ten thousand. There were eight thousand to begin with a few years ago. It doesn’t fluctuate that much.”

“Do people not have children?” Mila asked. I looked over at her, and she seemed to have relaxed a bit, which relieved me.

“Oh yeah, they do,” Trevor said with a laugh. “You have to get permission first, though. We have to keep the population under control.”

I thought about our own population control at Jefferson Memorial and smiled at the thought of Kit, the baby who was a surprise to everybody. Just when we thought we had everything under control, Kit came along, breaking all the rules.

My stomach turned over and my knees felt week the more I thought about Kit. What was his fate? The Roves couldn’t turn him into a slave, of course, so what did they do with him? Surely they let him stay with his mother. They couldn’t have done anything else. They weren’t total monsters…at least that’s what I told myself. Truth was, they
were
total monsters, and I didn’t want to think what could have actually happened to Kit. Although I needed to find out, and sitting around in this Bunker wasn’t going to help me get answers. I had to get back to Jefferson Memorial. I had to save Kit.

The sounds of people talking and moving around came from up ahead. I looked and saw that we were coming up on the main hub. There were no doors at the end of the hallway, just a large opening. People spilled from the hallway and into what looked like a large circular room.

We reached the hallway and entered the main hub, and I was taken aback by it all for a few moments. It was massive—probably a few football fields across. The ceiling was twice as tall as the large hallway we were just in. It went up seventy or eighty feet. At the top, it looked as if I was looking up at the sky. It
was
the sky. It was a mixture of pinks and purples, as the sunset was off to the side where I couldn’t see.

“Is that actually glass?” John asked as he stared up at the ceiling and into the sky.

Trevor was looking up at the sky as well, taking in the beautiful sight that was the Texas sky at sunset. “Not quite. It’s six screens put together to make one giant one. If you look close enough, you can see the lines where the screens intersect.”

As soon as he said that, I could see the lines. I hated that he told me that, as it broke the illusion. Now I couldn’t unsee it. Now every time I looked up at the sky, I would know that it wasn’t real.

“It is a live feed of the outside, though. It helps people avoid cabin fever. Keeps morale up,” Trevor said as he turned his attention away from the screen.

“You ever have any animals come by and mess with the cameras?” John asked with a sly smile on his face.

“Nope. The cameras emit sounds that keep animals away. Or something like that. I’m not a scientist,” Trevor said.

“That seems like a lot of trouble to go through for just a couple of cameras,” Mila said.

“Maybe,” Trevor said. “But don’t go telling someone who never gets to go outside the bunker that.”

With that, Trevor turned to where a line was forming at a booth nearby. “Let’s stop standing here and get some food. Then I’ll answer more of your questions. I have a few of my own too.”

I followed him to where the food was being served, and I just knew that this was going to be one interesting dinner.

W
e walked
into a room that was built onto the side of the main hub. The room had a couple of booths and tables inside where people were sitting and eating. We walked to a table at the end and sat down. John and Mila sat on either side of me, while Trevor sat across from us.

The walls of the room were a dark wood and the floors cement. The room wasn’t dark per se, but the lights weren’t exactly bright either.

I grabbed a fork and began eating some of the mac and cheese on my plate.

“So here’s how this is going to go,” Trevor said. “You can ask me a question, then I’ll ask you one. Sound good to you?”

John nodded, his mouth full of food.

“Yeah,” I said as I reached for my water.

“Okay,” Mila said.

“Miles, why don’t you start us off?” Trevor said.

Suddenly put on the spot, it took me a moment to think of a question. When one came to me, I felt stupid for not thinking of it immediately. “What’s with all the aliens around here? I thought they were all Xenomortises.”

“Well, we like to call them Genari, not
aliens
. And never call them Xeno’s. But, the Genari made a deal with the government so some of them could stay in the bunkers. The Xenomortises are just the ones who weren’t as lucky.”

“But why would the government just let them in here? They’re the ones who brought the virus in the first place,” Mila said.

“I think it was my turn to ask you a question,” Trevor said, eyeing Mila playfully. “But I’ll answer that one anyway since it ties in. They didn’t bring the virus; theirs mixed with ours. And before you waste any more of your questions,
the virus
and the viruses that caused
the virus
aren’t in any of the bunkers. Plus, everybody here is immune to them.”

I opened my mouth to ask another question, but Trevor stopped me before I could.

“
And
before you ask, no. I have no idea how or why we have an immunity. They just told me I had it so I could stay in the bunker. I didn’t argue with them. I’m not a scientist.”

I wasn’t satisfied with Trevor’s answer, but it was clear it was the answer I was going to get. I wanted to know more about the Genari, the deal they made with the government, and about the immunity. How could the aliens get spaces inside the Bunker, when, I assume, space was limited in the first place? What kind of deal did the government make that would presumably bump their own people so they could let some Genari in? Those were the things I
really
wanted to know, but it was clear to me that I was going to have to ask someone else besides Trevor if I wanted to get answers that would satisfy me.

“Who would I go to if I wanted to know the answers to those questions?” I asked.

Trevor sighed. “You really don’t know how this ‘I ask a question, you ask a question’ thing works, do you? You’d go to Dr. Wes, the guy with the white hair you spoke with when all that stuff with those atra creatures was going on.” Trevor took a sip of his water, and when he placed it down, let out a sigh of satisfaction. “Now, my turn. My question is this: which one of you wants to join my squad and get out of this bunker?”

T
hree Rove soldiers
approached the alley—Daniel could only guess that they were securing the perimeter. He didn’t stay around to find out, however, as he turned and ran back down the alley. His feet carried him fast, but he wasn’t going to reach the other end of the alley in time.

He reached the dumpster that blocked the back door to the newspaper. He lifted the lid, climbed inside as quietly as he could, and slowly let the lid down above him. He forced himself to breathe as quietly and slowly as he could, ignoring his lungs screaming for air. This meant breathing through his nose, which he immediately regretted. The stench was almost unbearable. Daniel fought back gags, as the sounds of retching would no doubt give up his location.

Three sets of footsteps echoed down the alley, reaching Daniel’s ears. His mind raced, trying to figure out what he would do. He pulled his assault rifle close, making sure the safety was off. His heartbeat raced in his ears. He wasn’t ready to fight the Roves. He wasn’t ready to fight anybody. He highly doubted he could negotiate his way with the Roves. If push came to shove, he was going to have to fight. Fight for his life. Not just for that, but for the vials of atra liquid he held in his backpack. He had to get those back to Peter.

Even if he got out of this mess though, he would have to figure out how to get back to Riven. By now, he knew that Jorge and the other guys were long gone, especially with the Roves around. Daniel tried to tell himself that not leaving with them was a mistake, but he wouldn’t allow it. The atra liquid was important enough to stay behind for.

All thoughts left his mind when he heard the footsteps right outside the dumpster. He held his breath and glued his eyes to the lid of the dumpster. He wanted to swing his gun into position, but he couldn’t afford the noise it would make. He tightened his grip on it, though, ready to swing it into action if need be.

The footsteps passed by unceremoniously, and Daniel allowed himself to breathe slowly. Now that the Roves would have their backs to him, he wanted to poke his head out and get a peek at their location. It was too risky, though, so he just continued to lay in the dumpster, trying not to throw up from the smell.

“Alley clear,” he heard a Rove say from a bit further down the alley.

Okay, we’re getting readings now. Return to the truck and stand guard. There’s a lot of activity in the area,
a voice said from the other end of a walkie-talkie.

The footsteps once again passed by the dumpster; this time they were leaving the alley.

After a minute passed and he was sure they were gone, Daniel poked his head out of the dumpster. There was no Rove to be seen, so he climbed out as quietly as he could. Once out, he didn’t even go get a second glimpse of the Roves. He turned and ran to the other side of the alley.

To his left was a fence that marked the boundary of Brinn. Daniel looked past it and saw that the zombies were continuing to crowd around something, but he couldn’t see exactly what it was. He had a sick feeling that it was the reason the Roves were here doing whatever they were doing. Daniel couldn’t help but think that were some sort of Rove
scientists.
That was something he never thought about with the Roves. They seemed like they were just a savage gang, not people who were interested in science. That is, unless whatever they were researching would help them conquer more land and expand their territory.

Daniel stopped thinking about those things. He didn’t have the time. He had to focus on getting out of there.

He ran to his right, away from Brinn and the Roves. He had no idea how he was going to get out of there, but his plan at the moment was to get where Jorge had parked the truck. Even if they’d left, he’d be able to find his way back to Riven from there. He just hoped that he’d be able to get to Riven before dark. He looked down at his watch, and it said
1:23.
He had six to seven hours before it dark. If he wanted to get back in time, he knew he’d have to get a move on. Daniel put his body into overdrive and began to run for his life.

D
aniel reached
the spot that they’d parked the truck before proceeding to Brinn on foot. Of course, Jorge, Mike, and Ron were long gone. Even though he’d been expecting it, Daniel still cursed under his breath. He had a tiny sliver of hope that maybe they’d waited for him, and he wouldn’t have to walk—or
run
, rather—all the way to Riven. Deep down, though, he knew that they wouldn’t be sticking around, especially if they saw the Roves pull up. Riven had flown under the Rove’s radar so far, and they wanted to stay that way for as long as they could.

Daniel began jogging alongside the road, his gun and backpack jumping up and down with every step he took. It annoyed him, but his annoyance levels were the least of his worries at the moment. It was now two o’clock, and he had quite a way to go. He hoped he’d get lucky and come across an abandoned vehicle, but he didn’t remember seeing any on his way to Brinn. Besides, three years after the world as he knew it ended, there weren’t exactly any vehicles just sitting around. Everything that could have be taken had been. Most of it by Jefferson Memorial, which was an irony that Daniel didn’t want to think about.

He grew anxious running alongside the road with his back was to Brinn. The Roves could come driving up behind him, and if he wasn’t paying close enough attention, they would see him before he could hear them. Daniel was grateful when trees began to appear as he moved further away from Brinn. He started running a few feet inside the tree line. He could still see the road, but he had some cover to keep him hidden from the Roves should they drive by.

He stopped running for a moment to catch his breath. He took off his backpack, not only to give his shoulders and back a rest, but to also check on the vials of atra fluid. He pulled the rag that they were wrapped in out, and unrolled them. The two vials were sitting there, unharmed, filled with the black liquid.

Daniel wasn’t even sure if he
could
call it a liquid, though. He guessed that it was technically a liquid, but as he moved the vials around, the substance barely moved as it stuck to the glass. It was like really cold syrup or caramel.

An approaching truck ripped Daniel from his observations. He moved up against a tree, holding the vials tightly in one hand and the handle of his gun in the other.

He poked his head out from behind the tree and saw the truck that the Roves had been driving. It went flying by, showing no indication that he’d been spotted. He watched their truck disappear around a curve in the road, and once he could no longer hear the engine a few seconds later, he stepped out from behind the tree.

He felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He no longer had to worry about the Roves sneaking up behind him while he was running down the road. Now his only obstacle was time, and his only enemy were zombies. He ’hadn’t seen any so far. Now that he’d thought about it, he didn’t see many on the drive to Brinn either. But one was all it took if you weren’t ready for it.

Daniel knew he had his work cut out for him. He looked down at his watch, and it said
2:30.
Daniel started making his way toward Riven again, still staying in the trees, as he’d rather be safe than sorry. Plus, the shade was nice. Still, he found himself sweating and hot.

After what was only a mile but felt like three, Daniel stopped to get a drink of water from his canteen. He unzipped his backpack, but before he could get a drink, he felt a rumbling sensation. Almost like a very minor earthquake.

Daniel thought for a moment that he might be experiencing one of the rare, minor Texas earthquakes. However, he glanced out toward the road and saw something approaching. Something much worse than a Texas earthquake but just as rare for the region.

A Xenomortis stopped across the road and headed straight for Daniel.