The Aegis Solution (56 page)

Elias stood up, making certain that his hands were visible to Faulk the entire time. Hutson rose to
his feet next to Elias, moving slowly to not spook Faulk.

"Richard, it looks like a standoff," Elias stated flatly.

Faulk did not have the wild-eyed look of a madman, but was calm and steady. Shoving the barrel
of the shotgun another inch into Lisa's side, he ordered, "Tell your men to drop their weapons."

"Not going to happen. They lower their weapons, you start pulling the trigger. And I'm not sure
where you'd stop. Besides," Elias continued, recalling that Faulk knew nothing of what was happening
in the outside world, "we're all going to die anyway, remember? We might as well take you with us."

From Faulk's perspective, Elias' words made sense. He knew better than to negotiate with someone
who had nothing to lose.

"Very well. Tell them to back away from the doorway or step inside the room."

"Why?"

"Because I'm leaving, and if you try to stop me, she goes. And even though your days are numbered
anyway, I doubt that you or her husband would want to see her splattered all over the walls of this
place."

Leah, who was behind Sweezea and Crabill, standing off to the side and listening, said, "Elias, let
him go."

Deciding to maintain the charade for believability, Elias asked her, "What about the vaccines in his
truck? We need them."

Her disembodied voice answered, "Right after I cuffed him, I sent out Crabill. We've got them."

Appreciating her quick thinking, Elias turned to Sweezea and Crabill and, with a jerk of his head,
said, "You two move back down the hall that way, but keep him in your sights."

He turned to Faulk. "Richard, after you."

Faulk, holding Lisa as a shield, walked her to the open door. Sweezea and Crabill both slowly
back-stepped toward the interior of Aegis and away from the exit, keeping their rifles trained on Faulk.
Matt Clements had backed across the hallway, never taking his eyes off his wife. Once clear of the utility
room, Faulk glanced quickly at the exit door and saw that it was clear and open. Still clutching Lisa and
keeping the muzzle of the shotgun tucked into her side, he backed toward the exit, pausing when his
feet bumped into the threshold.

His face contorted, he snarled, "You know, Elias, I've been thinking. You have been a thorn in my
side…no, a pain in my ass...for a long time. I know that even though you have the vaccines…even
though you might live through the purge that's coming…we will come back for you and Leah…and the
rest of your little group. We will come back and wipe all of you off the face of the Earth. But you know
what? That's not good enough for me. I want to be there. I want to see it for myself. I want to be the
one to make you draw your last miserable breath."

He took another step back through the exit. The doorway was not wide enough to accommodate
Faulk, Lisa, and the shotgun with its stock pointed out to his right. Still holding Lisa tightly, he pulled
the shotgun out from her side and swung it around, aiming it at Elias. Before Elias could react, before
Faulk's finger could pull the trigger, something swung down from outside the doorway, slamming into
the top of the shotgun. The impact was enough to knock the weapon, unfired, out of his hands.
Instantly, Lisa stomped down hard on Faulk's instep, causing him to release her. She ran inside and into
her husband's arms.

Staggering, Faulk recovered and took off at a full run. Elias was clearing the doorway when he
heard Wilson shout, "ELIAS, DON'T! JUST LET HIM GO!"

He skidded to a stop and watched Faulk's rapidly retreating figure following the wall toward the
parking area. Standing in the shadows beside the door was Wilson, still holding the four-foot-long metal
rod he had used to disarm Faulk. As Leah and the others came out, Elias commented, "Nice work,
Wilson."

"Damn," Leah exclaimed. "I wanted to shoot the bastard myself!"

Wilson, dropping the bar, said, "No, you don't. At least I would hope not."

Leah looked at him in the glow from the open door. "Why not?"

His eyes fixed on the retreating figure moving quickly out of view, Wilson explained, "Because we
may be the only ones left. If I am correct, if we have been saved for a new beginning, I would think that
killing a man, unless in self-defense, is a trait we would all prefer to leave behind."

"But…."

Before she could continue, Wilson interrupted, "I understand, believe me. I am certain that every
hour of every day for the last two years of your life was a living hell. I wouldn't be surprised if your
thoughts, your fantasies of escape and what you would do to the man responsible for your pain and
agony, were what sustained you during the worst of those times."

He could barely make out a slight nod of her head, in agreement with his words.

"But we are now faced with an opportunity not only to survive, but to be the fundamental building
blocks of a new mankind. I know that it is too soon for any of us to yet grasp the overwhelming
responsibility of that, but we soon shall. Until that day arrives, we must help each other to ensure that
none of us do anything for which we will be later ashamed."

Elias was staring into the distance. "Jay, did you and Matt finish removing the radio?"

"We did," answered Crabill. "We heard the shot while we were on our way in with it."

Elias was still looking off. "Then I suggest we get inside and close this door as soon as possible."

"What's the rush?"

"If Wilson is right about everything, about the script we are all playing out, then the timing of the
destruction of the entrance is more than likely pivotal. With the news of the epidemic spreading, there
are probably people by the front entrance already, trying to get inside Aegis. If they haven't begun
looking for another way in, they will if they see Faulk coming from this side of the complex."

Even as he finished his thought, Elias could see two figures, dimly lit, running toward them from
the direction where Faulk had disappeared. He silently raised his hand and pointed. The others looked
in that direction and saw what he was seeing. Even more began to round the bend, running.

"Come on," Sweezea bellowed. "Let's move."

"Shouldn't we let them in?" The question came from Lisa, who was still held tightly by her husband
in the doorway.

Elias was beginning to answer but Wilson spoke first, his voice urgent. "We can't."

Matt and Lisa stepped back inside to clear the entrance. Crabill, Leah, Wilson, and Sweezea swiftly
followed, with Elias coming in last, taking one more quick look back. He could now see multiple figures.
They were close enough that he was able to barely make out shouting from their direction. Even at this
distance he could hear desperation in their voices.

As soon as Elias had cleared the metal door, Sweezea slammed it and called out to him, "We've got
no lock! We need something to brace it!" He put his shoulder to the door, trying to hold it closed.

Whirling around, searching for something useful, Elias barked, "The gang box!" He and Wilson
seized the heavy steel box and manhandled it toward the door. "Tip it over! We need it off its wheels!"

Wilson followed the order and lifted up on his corner while Elias did the same. Sweezea, moving
out of the way, almost did not make it as the box fell against the door with a tremendous crash, followed
by the clatter of tools tumbling against the lid. Crabill dashed out of the utility room with a hammer and
two cold-chisels, and immediately began pounding one of the chisels between the door and the frame,
wedging the door tightly shut. He was just about to drive in the second chisel when they heard the
sudden banging against the outside of the door, accompanied by frantic shouts and pleas for them to
open it.

Lisa, who had been off to the side, let out a single loud sob, overcome by the harshness of what
they were doing. Elias caught Clements' eye and motioned with his head that he should move her back
away from the door.

As Matt gently walked his wife to the far intersection, still littered with the corpses of Faulk's team,
Leah joined Elias, who was leaning against the gang box, adding his weight to the barrier. She asked
Crabill, "Are the keys to the truck still out there?"

He answered her as he finished hammering-in the second chisel. "Yes. We left them in the ignition.
Why?"

"Because it isn't going to take those folks long to see that we aren't going to open this door
voluntarily. My guess is that they'll try to ram it."

"Anyone here know how to use a welder?" Elias yelled over the banging and screaming coming
through the door.

"I do," Crabill answered.

"Put your weight against this. I'll be right back."

Elias stood up from the gang box and dashed into the utility room. He realized that in the last few
minutes, he had forgotten that his last sight of Tillie was of her lying facedown on the floor. He was
instantly relieved to see her sitting up, with Sam and Hutson kneeling beside her, Hutson holding a rag
to the side of her head.

Keeping her head still, she turned her eyes to Elias. "What's going on out there?"

He answered her as he raced past, heading for the last aisle. "Faulk's gone. A crowd has arrived.
They want in."

"We can't let them in?"

"Wilson doesn't think we can take the chance. They might be infected."

"Oh, my God."

He glanced toward her and saw a tragic expression on her face.

Elias was madly tossing aside ladders, sawhorses, and other building paraphernalia, when he spotted
the portable welding rig that he had remembered from his earlier scouting of the room.

"Mike, give me a hand with this."

"Yes, sir." Hutson jumped up and grabbed the opposite side of the welder, helping Elias lift it
above the jumbled pile of tools on the floor. After they cleared the pile, they set the rig on the floor, and
Elias rolled it out to Crabill, who immediately began the task of firing it up.

"Jay, will this work?"

"Absolutely. Self-contained rig. Everything I need is right with it."

The clamor from outside had intensified as Elias again put his back to the gang box and slid down
so that he was sitting on the floor against it. Leah was next to him, as was Wilson. The people outside
had ceased the disorganized pounding on the door with their fists and were now trying to break it down
with coordinated slams. The three pushing against the gang box could feel the jarring vibration from
the impacts. Sweezea had dug through the pile of steel they had dragged inside earlier when they were
still trying to clear the opening, and found two lengths that suited him. He returned to the exit and
tucked one end of a bar against the door so that it was angled against the shattered keypad. He then
jammed the other end against the door frame of the utility room, providing an added brace.

"Clear!" Crabill called out.

Sweezea crouched in front of Elias and the others, placing his hands on the gang box above their
shoulders, and pushing. With his back to Crabill, Elias saw the flickering light of the arc welder casting
its harsh white glow down the hallway. It seemed like a constant bolt of lighting, striking behind him.
He noticed Clements coming back around the corner toward them, using his hand to shield his eyes
from the welding arc, and surmised that he had found a place to leave Lisa.

Reaching the four of them, Clements knelt down and shouted over the din, "That's a hollow metal
frame around that door. I didn't install it, so I can't be sure, but the normal method is that you drill the
concrete wall in six spots, sink bolts in the six holes with epoxy, and then fill the cavity with grout. It's
pretty strong, but I'm not certain it will withstand being rammed by the truck."

Elias leaned closer to be heard and raised his voice. "What can we do?"

"There are four flange-plates exposed on the sides of the opening, two on each side. If Jay welds
the frame to those plates, that'll help a lot."

The intense, flickering light ceased as Crabill was repositioning for the next weld. Elias stood up
quickly and tapped him on the shoulder. Jay turned and flipped up the welder's mask he was wearing.
Elias could see that he had already placed welds on both sides of the door, welding the door directly to
the frame, using small steel shims as bridges to reach across the gap. He passed on Clements' suggestion,
shouting over the crashing and banging coming from the outside. Crabill turned and examined the face
of the opening in the concrete wall, which was substantially thicker than the door frame, and saw the
two upper flange-plates.

"We'll need to push this gang box out of the way for me to get to the lower ones. We can do that
after I finish up top."

Elias nodded and dropped back into his seated position against the box. One or two minutes
passed, with no one attempting to speak above the din, before Crabill indicated he was ready. As a
group, they all pushed the gang box to the side, and he immediately began work on the two lower
flanges. The almost rhythmic crashing at the door suddenly stopped. There was no more clamor from
the other side. For a moment the only sound was from the welding operation, until they heard the
unmistakable growl of the truck engine revving up.