Zombie Dawn Exodus (21 page)

Dr Murphy smiled.

“Who says all security guards are simple?” he said
with a chortle.

“Simple? Nice.”

* * *

Jackson was already through the wire fence and was
busy watching the compound, whilst the rest of his men worked their
way through the narrow gap. Six months ago this would have been
impossible but now, after all that had happened, the security was
lax and nobody was going to bother entering areas like this
one.

He double checked on the guards near the entrance.
Though they weren’t paying attention they would be a problem once
Jackson and his men started removing the supplies. He turned
around, checking that the other two were now through the fence.
Jonathan was but Greg seemed to have got himself stuck. Jackson
gave him a stern look and waved his hand in the direction they
needed to go. With a final, almost desperate push, the man fell
through the hole and into the dusty compound.

“To the generator room, let’s go,” said Jackson
quietly. He moved off, keeping low and an ever watchful eye on the
rest of the guards.

The distance was short and in seconds they were
moving along the outer wall of the nearest building. They followed
it around until reaching a single room building that buzzed with
the running of a series of diesel powered electrical
generators.

Jackson pulled his rucksack from his back and placed
it on the ground.

“Greg, watch the entrance, Jonathan, help me with
these,” he said.

Greg cocked his M16 rifle and moved back a few feet
so he could keep the guard post in view. He lifted the rifle up to
his shoulder, watching them through the magnified telescopic sight.
Behind him he could hear the other two men unloading equipment. He
turned quickly to see how they were doing. On the ground next to
the bag were the charges, each the size of a man’s fist. A sound
ahead of him caught his attention and he turned back, watching the
guards.

With the shaped charges out of the bag, Jackson
double checked the detonators with his red beam torch before
handing them to Jonathan. With a nod he crept forward, Jackson
close behind. The entire building was locked down with a
substantial steel door securing the entrance to the fuel,
generators and transformers. Jonathan placed the first charge on
the frame of the door and then placed the second on the series of
reinforced pipes that fed the fuel to the generators. Jackson then
passed him the detonators, a series of simple electrically
triggered devices. Though basic they were reliable, but did require
them having to stay relatively close.

Both men crept back whilst Jackson unrolled the thin
wire that led from him direct to the charges. Greg was still
waiting as he covered the group with his rifle.

“All done?” he asked.

“Yeah, the charges are in place. Any change on the
guards?” asked Jackson.

“No change, they’re too busy with their game,”
replied Greg.

“Ok, once we take out the generators the security on
most installations here will be done. We need to be the other side
of the guards when everybody else turns up. Once the shooting
starts we start emptying the stores,” he said whilst looking at the
two of them.

“What about the barracks?” asked Jonathan.

“Simple, the charges are set for thirty seconds.
Once I hit the button we need to get there and be ready at the
doors. When the power goes down we get inside and control the room,
fast! Got it?” he asked.

The two men nodded in agreement.

“You’re sure you know how to cut the power to the
site?”

“Of course, all I need is the door off and I can
finish the job,” he said.

Jackson turned back, double checking the area. It
all looked clear, just the guards on the gatehouse and the rest
must still have been in the barracks. He clicked the lid open on
the detonator, noting the timer set to thirty seconds, and turned
the ignition key. The LED flashed three times and then switched
off, indicating the unit was now active and counting down.

“Go!” he whispered to Greg whilst Jonathan took
cover a short distance away.

Without looking to check on the area, he rushed out
from his hiding place and moved around the building. The barracks
building was adjacent to the generator room and the entrance could
be fifty yards at the most. In seconds the three men were out of
the danger zone and waiting on both sides of the closed door that
led inside.

Jackson double-checked his watch. They had exactly
twelve seconds to go before the charges went off. They were not
massive charges and in fact they were specifically designed to
cause the minimum of damage to the wider area. For many jobs this
made them useless, but for this operation they were perfect.

Greg and Jackson both drew pistols and cocked them,
making sure they were ready for the havoc that was sure to ensue.
Jackson looked at him and waved his finger, indicating the charges
were about to blow, Greg nodded at almost the same time as the
blast. It sounded like a car backfiring and certainly much quieter
than either of them expected.

Back at the generator room Jonathan was out of his
cover and running for the door. Exactly as planned the door was
blasted open. He noted with satisfaction that the control and
communication lines that left the building had all been destroyed
by the secondary charge. Once he cut the power the only way to
restore it would be for somebody else to physically come to the
generator room, rather than restart it remotely. He moved inside
and headed straight to the control panel. It was based around
several computer terminals as well as a series of valves. He turned
the valves shut, instantly causing the fuel system to stave on the
generators. There would still be enough fuel to drive the system
for another minute or so though.

Turning his attention to the computer terminals he
pulled out the keyboard and entered the sixteen letter access
password they’d been given. It was accepted and took him directly
to the management screen. In the top right it indicated a
communication failure with the control centre and at the bottom
indicated falling fuel pressure.

“Yeah, now we’re talking,” said Jonathan as he
started the shutdown sequence.

He double checked his work and then left the room to
join the other two. Within a few seconds the sound of motors
winding down started and with it the entire electrical system at
the compound failed.

At the storage area Greg and Jackson waited
patiently for the lights to switch off. It had been over twenty
seconds now since the blast.

“Are you sure he knows what he’s doing?” asked
Greg.

“He’d better, we’ve got a schedule to keep,”
answered Jackson.

Jonathan rushed around the corner and into their
view as the lights flickered and then died, along with the steady
hum from the generator room. In his hand he held the flare gun.

Jackson nodded, giving Jonathan the signal to fire
the gun. With a crack he fired directly upwards, the flare arced
upwards and burst into colour, for a moment it illuminated the
entire site before it started to drop back down. With the signal
made Jackson then booted the door open, and ran into the storage
warehouse with his pistol at the ready. Greg was close behind and
Jonathan followed once he reached the door. As Greg went inside a
few feet he was stopped by the surprising view of Jackson standing
in the middle, his pistol hanging down at the ground.

“What is it?” asked Greg as he moved past him to
look.

Jonathan entered and stepped up to the left of the
small group.

“Holy shit! Did you know about this?” he asked in
horror.

No fucking way!” muttered Jackson. “We’ve got a big
problem!”

* * *

Dr Murphy and Decker examined the data on the
computer screen. The images showed massive amounts of information,
most of which meant little to Decker.

“I can see why you’ve got so many of us on retainer,
with this kind of work going on,” he said.

The lights in the room flickered before changing to
a much lower tone of red. Some of the computer terminals switched
off, though at least half stayed on. A flash from the end of the
room indicated the failure of one of the emergency lights.

“What the?” said Decker as he watched the laboratory
staff start running around.

Dr Murphy pressed a few keys on his terminal to
bring up a map of the island. They were positioned on the outskirts
of the city, though this part had been abandoned for some time.

“What’s going on?” asked Decker, sounding more
confused than concerned.

“Well, it’s kind of obvious, but we’ve lost part of
our power.”

He moved the mouse and brought up the power system
schematic for what was still working of the power grid on the
islands.

“It looks like the power lines to the power station
are down. What concerns me more though is that the auxiliary
generators near the docks have been triggered to shut down.”

“We still have power here though?” asked Decker.

“For now, but we don’t have the capacity to run
everything, that’s why the non-critical gear has already lost
power. I’m much more concerned about our storage sites that the
military are supposed to be guarding.”

“You’re kidding? I thought they were the most secure
parts of the island?”

“Well yes, that is kind of the point, Decker,”
answered the Doctor sarcastically.

The map of the island zoomed in close to the dock
areas. A series of coloured lines indicated power and data paths to
the research laboratory’s various sites. The laboratory was
connected to three other sites, all of them close, as well as
several smaller ones on the nearest islands. The lines to the
smaller islands were still displaying as solid green but three,
including the docks’ site, were showing as flashing red lines.

“Look here. The generators have been sabotaged.
Somebody is attempting to access the sub warehouse.”

“Isn’t that where the…” said Decker before he was
interrupted.

“Yes, we kept them there for maximum security.
They’re away from the population and near the sea for removal
during testing.”

More lights started flashing on other parts of the
map.

“Damn, somebody is trying to gain access to our
storage sites.”

“Why, what is the point?”

“Well, being as nobody here knows what we have
there, there can only be two possibilities. Number one, they want
our experiments. Two they think we have something else there.
Either way I need all security teams out and to the sites
immediately,” said Murphy.

“Could it be Ford?” asked Decker.

“Ford?” answered Dr Murphy dismissively. “I don’t
think so. Since he left the company he’s turned to petty crime. He
wasn’t interested in us before the outbreak, why would he be
interested now?”

“Well, he did say he would get his revenge one day,
maybe this is his plan.” Decker replied.

The Doctor paused for a moment, considering Decker’s
idea before dismissing it out of hand.

“I think that you give him more than he’s due. He’s
an amateur. Just make sure you and your teams secure the sites and
get the power back up in the next six hours.”

“What if there is any contamination?” asked Decker,
as he made for the door.

“We need containment. Under no circumstances can any
of the experiments be allowed to get into the general population,”
ordered Murphy.

“Got it!” said Decker as he walked through the door.
He turned and called out to the Doctor.

“Six hours, what happens then?” he asked.

Dr Murphy turned and stared hard at Decker.

“In six hours the reserve power of this facility
will fail. When that happens we will lose access to all our
security facilities here and at all the storage sites, including
the dock warehouse.”

“Fuck,” muttered Decker, as he turned and left the
room.

He pulled out his radio as he headed for the
elevator.

“Decker here, get the team at the truck in sixty
seconds, we’ve got a Code Red security situation. As in a holy,
shit storm situation. Make sure you’re packing, we are facing
unknown numbers.”

He entered the elevator and hit the key to take him
to the surface.

“Oh, and bring the hazmat suits, all of them,” he
added.

“Fuck, you mean really serious,” came the reply on
the radio.

* * *

Jackson stood in the middle of the large storage
warehouse and looked on in both awe and surprise. The area was
divided up into dozens of cubicles, each like a prison cell but
protected with very thick transparent plastic. The room was dimly
lit by a series of low power red lights. In the centre of the room
was a large pillar surrounded by half a dozen computer terminals
and screens. All the computer equipment was off, apart from one
small screen that showed a horizontal bar graph. Jonathan moved
forward to examine the screen whilst Jackson and Greg went closer
to the cells for a better look.

“According to this the life support systems are all
active and running on reserve power.”

“Life support?” asked Jackson to himself, as he
tried to look through the thick plastic door to one of the
cubicles.

“Maybe it’s a hospital of some kind?” said Greg.

Jackson moved his hand along the sides of the door,
trying to find a button or switch to gain access.

“I very much doubt this is a hospital. It’s unmarked
and is guarded by military units,” said Jackson.

He put his hand in his pocket and fished out his
torch. It was a small pencil type design and low power but with a
very long battery life, perfectly suited to their current
predicament. He pointed it at the door and hit the button. The red
light gave a dim glow to the cubicle and after a few seconds
Jackson could just make out the shapes inside.