We all gaped at him. What he just said, we couldn't believe our ears. Ellis wiped his hands on his pants leg again and held them together tightly in a double fist between his knees, which were shaking violently. Did he tip his hand? Did he make a mistake? Surely these thoughts were zipping through his mind. But then he relaxed as he saw our faces. Suddenly he seemed calm and together. He gave us a small smile but there wasn't anything threatening behind it, more of that relief that you get when you realize that you made the right decision.
“I can see that you all have been thinking this over as well.” He smiled even bigger, “that's good because I can help you. I know this facility inside and out, I know the quickest way out of here and where we won't be detected.”
I looked over at Frank and saw him scowl at Ellis. “Dr. Ellis, you may know this facility inside and out but remember, I helped design and build this place, so you're going to need a better argument to make us believe that you want to get out of here. What did you mean we're all in danger?”
“Great danger” Ellis seemed to correct him, his smile fading. “From what I've gathered of our research, none of us are safe. This ...” he searched for a word, “plague, if you will, has infected all of us. If we die, even by natural causes, we'll all turn.” Maggie leaned forward on her seat, “What? What do you mean we'll all turn? Into one of those things? I thought you were working on a cure.”
Ellis shook his head, “a few days ago prior to your arrival, one of the perimeter soldiers had an accident. He was on night patrol and was too close to the edge of the quarry and fell. We brought him inside but he was already dead. As we were beginning our autopsy, to uh, see if he was inebriated or under the influenced, he came to life and nearly bit one of the technicians that was working on him. We were able to put him down of course and continue the autopsy and we found that he wasn't bitten or scratched or incapacitated in any way, it was just a stupid and unfortunate accident. The fact that he still reanimated told us that our attempts at a cure were at that point ineffective.” He looked over at me, “I'm sure, Mr. Handle that you've seen similar events?”
I was about to respond when I caught the inflection on “Mr.” and knew that the game was up. Instead of answering I replied. “So you know I'm not an advisor then.” Ellis smiled and nodded. “The computer did a complete background check on you Mr. Handle and after a discussion, we decided to not tip your hand. Your testimony has helped us understand “zombie” behavioral patterns much more clearly. It doesn't matter that you're a Presidential advisor or not.
“At least not to the superiors and supervisors of Wildfire. The lower ranks and technicians still think you're important and that will help us.” His voice though calm held the undertones of pleading. “I'm afraid that it really won't matter much longer. The zombies, as you call them, that are being detained will be destroyed. My concern is the older residents, the VIP's, the ones with health problems may die in their rooms without our knowledge and turn and thus eventually infect everyone on the base. The same good fortune that allows us to talk freely here is going to inevitably going to be our downfall. From your description, Mr. Handle, the spread of the ones that turn will be more than we can contain.”
Frank interjected, “What about the sentinel machines above us, the ones handling the storage, I was made to understand that they would take defensive positions should walkers be detected.” Ellis nodded, yes, but they're confined to that floor where the supply shipments come in. They will stop any from coming further into the base, but they cannot travel down to eliminate any threats on the floors below them. There is something else as well. The fail-safe.”
My eyebrows went up, “Fail-safe?”
Ellis nodded, looking uncomfortable, but before he could explain, Frank jumped in. “Since Wildfire was designed to handle biological or chemical warfare, should any contamination be detected then the fail-safe will destroy the entire facility.” He looked at me. “Remember John, this was not only supposed to be a safe haven in the event of a cataclysmic event, like a nuclear war or in this case a epidemic or pandemic but it's also used as a top-secret research facility. The CDC in Atlanta and Stovington Vermont, were made public to reduce panic, to provide reassurance to the public should an outbreak occur. They're all connected, but they're also designed to work independently. But in the event that one of them becomes severely compromised, as Dr. Ellis is pointing out, could happen, then they will activate their own version of the Fail-safe to prevent any contaminants from reaching beyond the facility.
“The one in Atlanta, as we learned activated theirs as well as the one in Vermont. Both of them used a version of fuel air-bombs.” He shook his head as if he still couldn't believe it. “We don't know exactly why but the fact that they have tells us that they failed in someway and were both destroyed.
I had to ask, “So, what is the Fail-safe for this place? Same thing? A fuel air bomb?”
Ellis shook his head and was silent. Frank squared his shoulders and was quiet for a moment. “This facility being one of the oldest, is powered by a small nuclear reactor some floors below. It was planned to be changed out, but last I heard they never got around to it.” Ellis interrupted, “The appropriations committees in Washington found it cheaper if they left it as it was than go through the expense of changing it out and moving the nuclear material that powers the station. Since it's so deep underground, the resultant blast and fall out would be extremely minimal at best.”
Maggie asked: “How big of a blast?”
Frank answered, “It would be tight, smaller than a tactical nuke, about a ½ megaton. It's enough to destroy the central core and cause the quarry to collapse in on itself, burying everything.”
“Including us.” I responded.
Ellis pointed a finger at me, “Exactly Mr. Handle, exactly. Unless we find a way out of here before it happens. You see, if anything goes wrong as far as contamination goes then the whole system is shut down. The entire system; doors, elevators, everything. The computer is designed to lock everything down so the threat of the contamination cannot get out. Now all of this of course is top-secret and now you, among with the other department heads know. If they knew that I just told you this then my status is reduced and I'll be demoted which means my accessibility will be limited, severely limited. The only reason I'm telling you all of this is because of all the survivors of the plague that have straggled in here, you people,” now looking at each of us in turn, including turning his head to include James who still sat near the kitchen counter on a raised stool with his hands in his lap, passively taking it all in, knowing that his mother will explain everything later. “You people are probably the ones who would best be able to pull of an...an escape.”
I thought for a long moment, “What is to stop us if we wanted to leave right now? Pack our stuff and get back upstairs, get in our trucks and drive on out of here.”
Frank spoke up, “Protocol, John. As Dr. Ellis pointed out, we're here for the duration. I wasn't sure until I had the opportunity to speak to “Bob” personally, to gain that level of security information. It was one of the things I intended to talk about before he” indicating Ellis, “showed up.”
Calm but angrily I retorted, “So you lead us into a trap with no way out?” Maggie reached out and put her hand on my knee in an effort to calm me down. “John,” her voice was gentle, pleading, “Dad would've never brought James and I down here if he had the slightest clue that this would happen. Please you got to believe that.” I looked at her and saw the truth in her eyes. In the short of time that we known each other I was able to at least read her that much. I sighed and turned my attention to Ellis, who sat waiting for our little personal drama to play itself out. Suddenly, I wasn't sure if the rooms were indeed bug-free and our conversation wasn't being monitored. Staring hard at Ellis, “What assurances do we have that we are indeed having a “private conversation right now?”
Ellis sighed with relief, “Because I've been planning this for the past month and a half with my” he paused for a moment then shook his head, “my lover. You've met him, he was one of the researchers that interviewed you, he's also chief of security. You'll get to meet with him the next time we get together, right now he's on shift ... if we are going to still do this?” Somehow I knew that the decision was going to be on me. To trust this guy or find a way out on our own using Frank's knowledge of the base. I was going to need more information before saying yea or nay on this. “When we came in, we had two truck loads of weapons, ammunition, food, some other things. Would we be able to retrieve them or have the powers that be decided we won't need them anymore and dispose of them?”
Ellis was quiet for a moment as if thinking it over how best to answer. “I would say your things are still safe and in storage above ground in the main tunnel. I've no guarantee of it however, I'm largely on the laboratory floor or down here in living quarters.” He looked at Frank, “perhaps he can find out.” I didn't have to look back over at him to know he was already nodding that he would. When we found our personal effects in our rooms, my pack was there but the Katana, and hunting knife was gone. Deep inside I had also a .38 with a half of box of ammo for it. It too was gone, as were the cans of food, scavenged from the store where all of this began. Maggie had to take some efforts to calm me down when I went through my pack. A lot of work went into the items that I had in there. Now my pack weighed considerably lighter. Some of my other items were still there. More-n-likely because they couldn't figure out what they were for. If anything I was praying to get the katana back. I have a sentimental attachment to that blade in particular.
“Dr. Ellis,” I began. “Honestly, I'm struggling with whether or not we could and should trust you. We don't know you from Adam so I don't know if you are trustworthy. How you managed to figure out that we were planning an escape or even contemplating it is a mystery and I...” he held up a hand to stall me. “How I knew was simple.” He turned in his seat and looked at James.
“That young man is quite resourceful but I can see that he could use a bit more experience in being clandestine. His poking around here and there during our interview was noticed by our security monitors, reported to the chief of security, to place him on restricted access. All of this was done before I came down here.”
James took note that we were all looking/talking about him. Maggie had to shift in her seat so she could have line of sight while interpreting for him what Ellis just said. The effect was immediate. James hopped off his seat and stood defiantly and signed briskly back to his mother. She responded with calm and I presumed reassuring signs and then made a few brusque gestures to silence him. She turned to us, “He's not happy that he gave the game away. But, he'll be more careful.” Her tone was harsh as she wasn't happy about it either. All that training and he still had a long way to go. She told me that when things like that happen his games get taken away from him. What better way to discipline a 12 year old to do things right the first time around? Still, the kid didn't know that he would be closely watched. Naturally he assumed that he would be viewed as a ordinary kid and largely ignored.
I took this all in and then sat back and folded myself into my mind and thought deeply about what I would have to do. I didn't like it. It was something I'd promised myself that I wouldn't have to worry about anymore. I was going to have to jump a bridge that had been burned, to get to the other side.
This John Handle would have to go back to being who he was. Long before he was a tour-guide and longer than the salesman at various trade shows. This part of my past would have to resurface because there was no other better suited for what was about to happen in the next few days. Not a proud past but not a shameful one either. A hunter of men, depending upon his prey, should never be ashamed. The prey were the wolves among human society's sheep. I was the sheep-dog. A few wolves had been put safely away but others had to be put down, permanently. One of my previous professions, was bounty hunter, among one other prior to that, where I could hang my head in shame. That is if I were ever to admit it.
My eyes snapped up to Ellis who gave a quick start. Hmm, a lab rabbit indeed. Fine, easier to control but it'll have to be watched. “Alright,” I began with a tone in my voice that made even Maggie turn her head and look at me as if she'd never seen me before. “Ellis, you're going to go on back to your quarters or where-ever the hell you can go and work on how you're going to convince us to look at your plan and whether or not to include you, and your,” I kept my voice even, “boyfriend.
“The four of us have to come to a mutual decision then I'll give you mine.” I made sure my tone was one of dismissal and the period at the end of my sentence was final. Ellis stared at me for a long time, then swallowed. I half expected a sheen of sweat appear on his brow and I wasn't disappointed. He swallowed again with an audible click, wiped his hands once more on his pants and stood up. He seemed hesitant between good manners and wanting to get out as quickly as possible, lest I change my mind. Apparently he had planned to have us by the jewels, and found his own, via a single word from me, clutched tightly in my hand.
He worked his way around the sofa and to the door. Again he hesitated and finally spoke. “I'll, uh, contact you when my... he gets done with his shift.” As he reached for the door-handle, Frank stood up quickly, “Uh, Doctor?” he called out friendly enough.
Ellis' hand froze above the palm plate that would activate the door. He half turned, his eyes like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Frank moved quickly and lightly to where Ellis stood by the door and activated the palm lock himself. The door slid open quietly. From beyond we could see the hallway and a person walking by quickly. That got me raising an eyebrow, and I watched Frank smoothly take Ellis' hand and give it a good shake, friendly, non-threatening at all. A diplomat's hand of velvet over a steel fist. “Remember, dinner here tonight at 7:30.”
My eyes quickly went to a digital clock, resting on the desk top, by the computer station that was set along the same wall as the main door. Roughly 2 hours. Frank gave us enough time to hash out something but I doubt that Ellis had enough. Having to wait til his lover was off shift which would be at 7, as I learned later. They would have less than half an hour to go over everything and meet us here. Bloody brilliant. Also giving Ellis the fair excuse of being invited by one of the VIP's for a social dinner. After all in a place like this what else is there to do?
Ellis forced a smile and nodded almost too eagerly. “Yes, of course, we'll be here. Umm Red or White?” he asked. Obviously hoping to try and stay ahead of the game. Frank smiled and let go of Ellis' hand but not before I noticed, even at my distance the knuckles of Frank's hand turn white before letting go. He gave Ellis a good squeeze just then. “Red” he replied with just a touch of irony that nearly had me grinning but I bit my inner cheeks to prevent that grin from appearing. “I'm in the mood for a good ole fashioned man chomping steak.” While Ellis paled he still held his smile and jovial exterior. “That sounds wonderful. We'll be here.” then stepped out of the door. A moment later the door slid shut and we were alone again.
Frank waved James over to him as he walked back to where Maggie and I sat. She was looking back and forth at both of us as if somehow the two men she loved were replaced without her knowledge. I don't know about Frank but she was probably right about me. Luckily for her, I still found an attachment to her and her family. I took her hand in mine and tried to give her a reassuring squeeze. As James joined his grandfather, Frank wrapped his arm over the boy's shoulders and guided him gently to his previous spot, gave him an affectionate squeeze of his own before letting go and taking Ellis' place on the sofa.
“So, we got two hours,” he signed and talked at the same time. “John, I think it's high time that you start learning the art of talking without speaking.” I had to grin this time and nearly laughed aloud. “That's a Paul Simon lyric there old man.” I replied.
“Yes, yes it is” he agreed, “and it's a good line that suits our purpose. I don't know what got in to you with that damned fairy Ellis', but I liked it. It put him in his place and let him know who was in charge. Very nicely done.”
I allowed that confidence to show forth, now that the hunter was back with me, I could afford to. Yet I wasn't going to let the compliment go unreturned. I roughly remembered a couple of signs, that James showed me back at the hotel where we last saw the sniper, and was glad I could use them, “Same goes for you sir” finishing that last word with what I hoped was the right sign. They all burst out laughing. “What?” I asked puzzled and feeling sheepish.
Maggie leaned over and kissed me hard on the cheek and rested her forehead against my temple, “You nut” she giggled practically in my ear, “you signed “sir” with a salute. Normally it's finger spelled or not used at all.” She leaned back and was grinning at me.
Frank tapered off quickly but still held his grin. “I asked you to please, just call me Frank from now on” he reminded me. “For now, however we got two hours to come up with a plan of our own and then see how well it will mesh with Ellis' and his,” his voice dripped contempt, “boyfriend.” Clearly, old school as he was, the thought of having dinner with two men who were intimate with each other was not high on his favorite things. Personally, I couldn't care one way or another. In the old days, I had friends of that leaning and didn't bother with it. What two people chose to do with each other in private was up to them. Frank was able to put up the diplomatic front well enough but inwardly he was not happy. Fortunate for us he was a professional enough soldier to let it all pass, in favor of carrying out the mission ahead. Getting us out of this place before it all goes to hell.
He clapped his hands together once and got our attention. “I suggest that we get started. John,” he began, “what do you need to know and how can we help?”
Yeah, it was all on me. Didn't like it but if I wanted out I'd have to think of a way for all of us. For the next twenty minutes I outlined what I thought were the most important things and why. The three of them sat quietly and listened, asking questions but briefly and requiring no more than a yes or no answer with little or no explanation. Frank took us over to the computer and called up the interior and exterior lay out of the facility. With his clearance we had a brilliant 3-D model on the 22 inch flat screen. The model was able to be rotated, zoomed in or out and came with overlays of the surface and underground blue-prints. What got me was the exposed central power core and the way that the river that flowed along side through several hundred feet of rock could be re-routed and sluiced down on top of it should a melt down occur. It was also one of the other factors which would help destroy everything by flooding the entire complex. This would be after the nuclear blast from the core brought the whole hillside we were under, right on top of it, effectively burying the whole place in a grave made of stone and water. The very top of the shaft was a huge disk of lead which was also designed to be the cap. As the underlying rock supporting the disk from beneath gets broken up by the blast of the nuclear center, it would drop down over the whole mess, sealing in the radiation and anything else. The disk had perforations here and there for maintenance and emergency escape hatches by those who would be above the contaminated levels.
Their window would be short. They would have fifteen minutes to evac to the surface after their level had been deemed compromised. The time it would take for that would depend largely on how fast the contaminants spread throughout the complex. We were located 8 stories underground. The laboratory was on the 7th level. Why they arranged it this way I'll never know and didn't bother to ask, only thing I needed to concern ourselves with was the way out. As I suspected it would be via the central shaft. The shaft was an open air pit and a cat walk jutted out from the walls of each level. There were three sets of ladders that lead up to the surface. A long climb up to the lead disk and then to the surface above that. However one of us would have to leave the others and get at least one of our trucks which are parked in the tunnel set at the base of the quarry. The rest would need to continue climbing up til they reached the surface. The truck would then be driven to a predetermined meeting spot, pick up those that made it to the surface and haul ass out of the area before the whole thing blows up.
That was the rough of it. If we could get away with planning, setting supplies, getting weapons, making it to the surface and getting away clean, it'd be a miracle. Unless Ellis had something else in mind, we'd have to form our plan around that. There were all kinds of problems that were popping up in my mind. All sorts of things that could go wrong.
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