Whimper (14 page)

Elliott cocked his head like he was listening for the scuffling steps too, but said nothing. We circled to the side of the building, where a sliding wood barn door was secured with a simple padlock. “That looks easier to handle than the steel door and a whole lot quieter than the overheads,” Elliott reasoned. I was willing to bust into anything to get out of that dark yard, so I dug through my pack until I found bolt cutters and a standard screwdriver. I handed the tools to Elliott, looking over the lock as he tried to get the cutters around the lock’s clasp. The lock itself was pretty new, but the door and its clasp were old and crusted with many layers of crusty, peeling paint. “Let me try something,” I said, grabbing the screwdriver and sliding it under the metal plate the lock was attached to. With a little pressure, the whole piece popped off, bringing the lock with it. “You’ve got your tricks and I’ve got mine,” I quipped, stashing the tools back in my bag. Taking a deep breath I asked, “Ready to go in?” Not that it mattered if he wasn’t, my nerves were too on edge to stand here chatting about it.

A crunch of loose gravel from somewhere relatively nearby gave me a renewed jolt of nervous energy as I tugged the door to the side, opening it just far enough for us to shimmy through and then slam back shut.

I could hardly believe my luck. The lab was simply sitting there in all its glory, unattended and free for the taking. Oh the plans I had for her equipment! I started forward, almost forgetting about Zoe in my rush to reach the trailer door. The keypad panel glowed with a single red light, indicating that it was locked and alarmed. I’d expected that and had already planned a way around it. “Hand me the screwdriver again, please?” I whispered to Zoe.

She placed it into my palm, watching over my shoulder. I pressed a quick kiss to her temple for luck as I gently pried the plastic cover off the keypad. The U.S. government is
very
into training. They train for all kinds of situations and scenarios, and kill entire forests printing thousands upon thousands of policy and procedure manuals. Luckily for me, there was a point in one training simulation I had to participate in where the forward biohazard team was locked out of their mobile lab and had to find another means of gaining access. They’d actually trained me to steal a multi-million dollar piece of equipment. Well,
borrow
it anyway. I’d love to drive the damn thing out of here and stash it somewhere safe so I could experiment as long as necessary, but that would pretty much guarantee we’d be caught. It was tracked by satellite and very conspicuous in its own right. I’d have to be selective about which tests I ran, and prioritize. I patted my bag, reassuring myself that the samples I needed were safely stowed inside.

The wiring behind the plastic panel looked exactly as I remembered it. I carefully selected the wires I’d need to disconnect. I had to cut and reconnect them in the proper order or I’d set off alarms both inside the trailer and at the monitoring center. That would be bad, to put it mildly. “I don’t have any way of knowing if there’s someone in there,” I reminded Zoe. “If there is, there’s a big red panic button on the wall at each work station. If one of those is activated, this place will be swarming with CDC soldiers in minutes.”

“Right. We’ll just make sure that doesn’t happen.” She nodded, readjusting her pack.

I snipped the final wire and breathed a huge sigh of relief when the red light flickered and turned to green. I grabbed the door and yanked, jumping inside as quickly as possible while praying the lab would be empty. Zoe barreled in after me, allowing the door to snap shut behind her. As I clambered to my feet, I realized two things immediately. One, we weren’t alone and two, I was totally fucked.

The woman across from us had been bent over a microscope, her bright copper curls pulled back into a messy bun held up by an ink pen. She jerked to her feet as we burst in, her wheeled stool spinning away behind her. Her mouth hung open in shock and the tablet in her hand slipped from her fingers to clatter on the floor. The sarcastic part of my brain thought, “Huh. She looks like she’s seen a ghost.”

“Elliott?” she cried, her voice high and frantic. “But, they said you were dead! I…” She stopped talking, her face scrunched up with confusion. Then she spun, reaching out frantically for the panic button.

“Freeze or I’ll shoot!” Zoe ordered with all the steely command of a veteran homicide detective as she leveled a nine millimeter handgun right at the other woman’s head. “Don’t move!”

I hadn’t even realized Zoe was carrying a gun, let alone that she’d seem so comfortable with it. The scientist froze, her shaking hands raised in the air as she turned to face me again, her eyes bright with tears. “I had a memorial service for you. You let me believe you were
dead
all this time, Elliott. How could you do that? How could you let me suffer all this time?”

I shrugged, my neck and cheeks hot with embarrassment. It never even occurred to me that Amie might be suffering. I hadn’t thought about her, let alone her feelings, since the day I’d injected myself in my lab and walked away. “I’m sorry, Amie. I couldn’t tell you anything. It was too dangerous,” I lied. I could have told her, but I hadn’t wanted to. She wasn’t worth the potential risk.

“Who is
she
?” Amie demanded, staring coldly at Zoe, despite the firearm still aimed at her face. “What’s going on?”

“I need the equipment in here to run some tests. I’m trying to stop this virus. I’m close to a vaccine, Amie. Please, just let us do what we came here to do and then I’ll be out of your way,” I reasoned. She’d helped me in the past, maybe she would again. Amie kept shaking her head “no” but she didn’t try to make a dash for the panic button again.

“Where do you want her?” Zoe asked, looking at me out of the corner of her eye. It must be driving her crazy not knowing who Amie was or how we were connected. I’d told her that a friend had fed me information about the research being done on my virus, but I hadn’t mentioned her by name or exactly
how
friendly I’d had to be in order to entice that information. I’d hoped she would never need to know. I certainly never expected to run into Amie Winters at midnight in a mobile lab a full four states away from her usual offices. Yet, here she was, giving me a full on death glare that deep down I knew I deserved. The gun Zoe still held in a white knuckled grip might have had something to do with it as well. The ticking clock on the wall reminded me that I simply didn’t have time to stand here and feel bad about using Amie to get what I’d needed. I had tests to run and a very small window of time during which we might be able to accomplish them.

“She can sit over there in the corner.” I pointed. “Amie, wheel a chair over there, but stay away from the alarms and leave your cell phone on the table. We can’t afford any interruptions. Please.”

Zoe shot me another puzzled look, dying to ask questions, but silently followed Amie as she moved. I slipped on a lab coat and helped Zoe into another.

“Who are you?” Amie challenged her as soon as my back was turned. “Did you put him up to this? Are you part of some kind of terrorist group?”

“Leave her alone, Amie. She’s a friend and none of this is her fault.” I sighed as I unpacked my supplies. In some ways Amie’s presence was a blessing. She was already logged in to most of the computers and programs I’d need to use. That would save me some time. On the other hand, she rarely shut the hell up on a good day. She was a babbler. The entire time I was working on something in the lab, she’d talk non-stop. I’d used it to my advantage when I needed information, but even then it irritated me. She wasn’t likely to clam up now and god only knew what she’d say.

I tried to ignore the fact that she was over there and focus on my samples and getting everything ready for my first run of tests.

Amie drummed her short fingernails on the countertop next to her, looking Zoe over from head to toe. “Whatever he’s promised you, you aren’t likely to get it. A few months ago, I thought he was in love with me. I thought he died in a horrible, tragic accident while working to keep others safe from disease. Clearly, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Are the two of you behind this outbreak? You do know your virus is killing people, right, Elliott? AND instead of allowing me to work on finding a way to stop it, you’ve got this bimbo holding a gun to my head!” She slammed her palm against the countertop, trying to draw us into a confrontation. I wanted to confront her, to defend myself and protect Zoe from her slander, but I couldn’t let myself be distracted. The first set of tests was in and running, the samples of Zoe’s blood would be analyzed and catalogued. Next I would run Zack’s and then check my own. If I had time to study the results then I’d see if it related in any way to vaccine development. Hurry up and wait. Could Zoe and I put up with Amie’s tirades for hours? Would we even have that much time?

I set up the next set of slides on the opposite work station. If I could use both sets of machines, everything would go that much faster. Unfortunately, Amie had been following protocol and was only using one station. I would need to log on to everything. It would take me longer to hack my way in than to run the tests. Shit.

“Amie, I need to get these results as soon as possible. These samples might be the key I’ve been looking for, the key to unlock a real cure. I’m trying to find a vaccine to stop this virus. I need you to unlock these computers for me. Help me, save me some time, and maybe together we can save lives.” I stared deeply into her eyes the entire time I spoke, trying to force my own sense of urgency upon her.

“Someone is releasing this vaccine, Elliott, and right now you are my prime suspect!” she shrilled. “Why on earth would I help you?!?”

“Because you know me, Amie! Regardless of how it appears, do you honestly believe that I’m capable of condemning thousands of people to a horrible death? You know how I felt when I found out they were moving on to testing this virus on live subjects! If I couldn’t stand the thought of primates being injected with this damn disease, why would I go out and subject college kids to it? You know better. Everything I’ve done was to stop this virus from being used as a weapon and that’s all I’m trying to do now. Ask yourself, who benefits from this virus spreading? It certainly isn’t me. Why do the outbreaks get worse after they start giving out those immunizations?” I kept moving closer to her, invading her space. “Now please, log into the computers so I can get something accomplished before security shows up to check on you.”

The words no sooner left my mouth than the door behind us clicked open and a CDC patrol agent stepped inside. “Everything okay in here?”

Zoe and I both froze, her eyes wide with fear. The gun was out of sight, hidden by Zoe’s body, but one word from Amie and it was all over. She knew it too. The look on her face was purely smug as she hopped up out of the chair we’d assigned her, swinging her coppery ponytail behind her.

“We’re fine, thanks. My team and I were merely going over a few more tests before we shut down for the night. Thank you,” she said dismissively.

If the guard thought anything was unusual, he didn’t let it show. “There’s been some more outbreaks so far tonight. If you folks don’t feel comfortable driving back to the dorm, give us a ring and we’ll escort you back. Probably be wise if you did. These kids turn into something straight out of a horror movie when whatever this is kicks in.”

Amie thanked him again, promised to let them know if we needed any help, and waited for him to leave before she turned one me. “The only reason I did that was because of what we used to share. You had better start providing information quickly if you want me to continue covering for your string of felonies.”

One of the computers beeped, signaling that the initial test results from Zoe’s samples were complete. There was no way I was telling Amie that the samples belonged to Zoe, or even giving her name since it would be easy for us to be tracked down with that information alone. I could, however, share the results. I could have my unbiased second opinion and discover if Amie noticed the peculiarities as well. “Let’s start with these test results and samples,” I suggested. “Why don’t you look at a few of my prepared slides while I go over the results?”

Zoe cleared her throat, trying to get my attention. She placed the gun back in the waistband of her pants, but the tension hadn’t left her body. I wanted to touch her, to reassure her and explain this whole “Amie” mess to her, but I couldn’t risk doing any of that in front of Amie. Not if Amie might be able to help me overcome the last few stumbling blocks between me and a cure. Amie was annoying and needy, but she was also brilliant. She’d earned her spot on the research team.

“These slides are from a subject who may have been exposed to the virus within the last 72 hours,” I explained, pushing the sample towards. “She’s asymptomatic.”

While Amie started inspecting the slides, I set Zack’s samples up for testing. “When you get to a point where you can break, I really need to set up this other workstation,” I reminded her. I was itching to move this all along faster.