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“So, what is the plan?” asks Chris.
“For right now, we are going to stay inside and wait for those things to move away from the building,” says Alex. “My dad is working on a plan to get your girlfriend’s car so you three can get out of here.”
Chris looks at Tina, who is moaning on the bed holding her arm. Her arm has started bleeding again. Danny enters the room. He sees Tina’s arm bleeding again and grabs the first aid kit. He opens it and gets out a needle and suture thread. Danny moves the towel aside and tells Chris to hold her steady because he’s going to try to close up that wound, hopefully, to stop the bleeding. Chris holds Tina down while Danny starts to sew up her arm. She lets out a yell as the needle penetrates her skin. “Keep quiet,” Danny tells Tina. “We don’t want to bring any of those creatures in here.” Tina bites down on a pillow as Danny continues to sew up the deep scratch on her arm. Alex helps hold her down. Once Danny is done, he grabs some gauze out of the first aid kit and wraps Tina’s arm.
“That should help,” Danny says. “Keep an eye on her for a while. We will go talk to our dad and see how we are going to get you three to that car.” Danny gets up and walks over to Judy. “I need you to go keep an eye out the back window to see if any more of those creatures show up, okay?” Judy nods and gets up and goes to the back room and looks out the window through the blinds. Danny and Alex go back downstairs to Dean.
“Dad,” Danny says. “I had to stitch up that girl’s arm. It started bleeding again. The blood is getting darker too. Turning black.”
“Sounds like she’s infected from the scratch,” Dean replies. “We need to get that car over here or get them to the car so we can get back on our way.”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” says Alex. “What if Danny and I take his bike and I ride on the back. We ride over to the car, I get in and drive it back here while Danny leads them off.”
“Are you sure you can guys can do this?” asks Dean. “Remember Danny said the stadium was where there seemed to be the biggest grouping of those things.”
“We can do it, dad,” Danny says. “I’ve already outrun those things once. I can do it again.”
“Okay,” Dean says. “I’ll get the keys and tell them to come down here and be ready to move to the car. You two get yourselves ready. Danny, are you sure you can ride the bike with your brother on the back?”
“Yeah,” replies Danny. “We’ve done it before back home.”
“Alright.” Dean heads up the stairs and gets the keys from Judy.
Dean has her go into the room with Chris and Tina and tells them the plan. He tells them to get whatever they need and go downstairs. Dean helps Chris pick up Tina and guide her downstairs while Judy packs a bag and grabs the first aid kit. Dean and Chris set Tina in a chair near the front doors. Dean hands Alex the car key and Danny opens the door and the two slip out, closing it behind them. The sound of a motorcycle starting can be heard and then switches to a low hum as Danny turns on the silencer. Danny rides off towards the stadium with Alex on the back of the bike. Dean moves to a window near the front door and sees his sons riding off. ‘Good luck boys. And be careful,’ Dean thinks.
Danny rides towards the stadium, with Alex on the back looking around for any sign of the creatures. Alex points ahead to a car sitting in the parking lot near the stadium.
“That’s it,” Alex says to Danny. “Get me close so I can get in before you take off.” Danny nods. Danny drives the motorcycle up close to the car, a late model Ford sedan, and stops. He looks around for any sign of anyone as Alex gets off the back of the bike and unlocks the door. Once the door is unlocked, Danny notices something moving near the stadium entrance.
“Get in the car and stay down. Wait until I’m out of sight before you head back to the dorms,” Danny says. “I think those things are near the stadium entrance. I’m going to head that way and lead them off.”
“Okay, but be careful,” Alex says with a concerned tone. “I’ll meet you back at the dorms in a little bit.”
Alex gets in the car and closes the door. He ducks down in the front seat and peeks out the window to see Danny ride off. Danny turns the silencer off on the bike as he gets close to the stadium entrance. The sound of the engine alerts the creatures to his presence and they start to chase him. Danny rides off away from the stadium and towards the back of the campus with about a dozen creatures chasing after him.
Once Alex sees Danny disappear from sight and the creatures are too far away to hear the car, Alex starts the car and drives it towards the front gate of the campus and then turns in towards the dorm. He figures to be a bit cautious and avoid going straight to the dorms just in case there are more of those things around. Alex doesn’t see anything so he pulls up in front of the dorms and gets out, leaving the car running. He runs up the steps and knocks on the door. Dean opens the door and Alex runs in.
“The car is outside,” Alex says winded. “The engine is running. Danny has lead the creatures towards the back of the campus. I’m worried about him. I want to go help him, dad.”
“Okay,” Dean says. “Let’s get these three in the car and then we will go find your brother.”
Alex helps Judy carry the bags and puts them in the car. Dean and Chris pick up Tina and carry her to the backseat of the car. Chris opens the door and they start to put her in the car when she starts shaking uncontrollably. She starts to spit up blood. Chris gets scared and lets go of her. Dean sets her down on the ground as Judy comes around the side of the car.
“What’s wrong with her?” Judy says. “Somebody help her.”
“Get back a bit,” Dean says. “She might be infected.”
“Infected?” Chris asks. “What do you mean infected?”
“Her scratch. I don’t know what those creatures are but they may have passed something to her when they scratched her.”
“Help her!” Judy exclaims. “We need to get her some help if you aren’t going to help.”
“Alex, get to the bike,” Dean yells. “Chris, help me get her into the car and you guys can go find some help. There’s a hospital back down the road on the other side of Decatur. It’s about five miles.”
Chris helps Dean put Tina in the back of the car. Dean puts the blanket on her which seems to help stop her shaking. Chris asks, “come with us. We can use your help.”
“I have to get my son and we have to find my coworker,” Dean says. “She could be in danger, seeing these creatures are out here.”
Chris gets in the driver side of the car and Judy gets in the passenger side. They close the doors and drive towards the front gate. Dean runs over to his motorcycle and gets on and starts it up. He and Alex ride off in the direction of the back of the campus, hoping to find Danny and get out of this place. After passing a couple of buildings, they see Danny heading towards them from around a building. They turn their bikes to the front of the campus and wait for Danny. Danny races up beside them.
“Let’s get out of here,” Danny exclaims. “I ran into some faster ones by the science building and they are catching up.”
Dean looks back and sees a couple dozen of the creatures chasing, with a small group leading the others, obviously faster than most of the group. Dean, Alex, and Danny race off towards the front entrance to the campus and turn left when they get to the gate and head back towards their objective. Alex looks back to see if they are being followed and sees a car driving towards them, nearing the campus gate. Once it gets close to the gate, the small group of creatures swarms the car and the car stops. The creatures push at the car and fight their way to get in. Alex doesn’t know who is in the vehicle but they are too far away to help. He keeps driving with Danny and Dean.
About three miles down the road, Dean starts to slow down. Alex and Danny slow down as well. In front of them is a car that looks a lot like the one from the campus that they put Chris, Judy and Tina in and told them to head to the hospital. But why did they go this way? Decatur was the other way. And why is the car sitting on the side of the road. Dean moves closer to take a closer look. He is looking both directions as he approaches closer to the car to see if there is any sign of the three. As he gets next to the car, he sees the passenger door open. In the driver seat is Chris, with his chest and throat all scratched up. He looks dead. Tina is not in the back seat but the blanket that covered her is torn and laying on the floor. Could something had attacked the car or could Tina’s infection have gotten worse and she turned on her friends?
“What is it, dad?” Alex says as he and Danny approach on their bikes.
“It’s Chris from the school,” Dean responds. “He’s dead but the girls are missing.”
“What?” Danny asks. “Dead.” Danny starts looking around. “Any idea what killed him?”
“I don’t know, but we need to keep going,” Dean says. “Come on, let’s get out of here before whatever killed him and took the girls comes back.”
They put their motorcycles in silent mode and ride quickly down the road heading towards Emory. Alex soon indicates that they are close to Emory, according to his GPS. They pull over near some woods next to a small barbeque shack. Dean pulls up next to Alex and looks at the PDA and slides the screen to the side to reveal a picture of the aerial map of the area that they took at the train yard. Dean studies it to see the best way to approach the CDC campus. Dean notices that there is a river or creek that runs along the southern side of the CDC campus. There appears to be one guard tower nearby that they may be able to cut their way through the fence without being seen.
Dean points to a spot where they will leave their bikes. They push their bikes to the hiding place Dean had pointed to on the map and park and cover their bikes and cover them in case anyone comes by. They start walking into the woods and down a hill to the creek. The follow the creek towards the CDC location and see the guard tower in the distance. Danny pulls out his binoculars and looks towards the fencing. He sees two guards walking along the fence away from the tower. This looks like a good time to go to the fence and try to cut through, while the guards are moving away. Danny, Alex and Dean move in closer to the fence, crouching down so as not to be seen.
Once next to the fence, Alex pulls out a circuit board with a couple of wires attached. He attaches one wire to the fence and a red light on the circuit board lights up. He attaches the other wire about a foot away from the first wire and the light turns green. Alex nods at Danny takes out his pocket laser and starts cutting the fence. Once he has cut the fence, Dean holds it open so Danny and Alex can slide in. After they slip in, Alex holds it open for Dean to slide through the opening. Once Dean gets through, Danny fastens wire ties to the opening in the fencing in a couple of places so as to make it appear normal. Alex waits for Danny to be done and then disconnects the wires from the fencing and puts the wires back on the circuit board.
They move slowly, while crouching, to the base of the guard tower and then move in behind a nearby parking garage. Alex takes out the PDA and pulls the picture up of the aerial view of the campus and points to a building near the center of the campus. There is the parking garage and a building between them and the target building, so maybe they can use the parking garage to get over to the nearby building and then find a way between the two buildings. They sneak around into the parking garage and to the stairwell. They go up the stairs to the top level and slowly open the door.
Alex sets his drone just outside the door and launches it. He flies it straight up in the air so as to avoid being sighted. Alex sees that the top level of the parking garage is higher than the top of the guard tower so the guard shouldn’t see them up there. The nearby building is the same height as the parking garage. There doesn’t appear to be anybody on the top level of the parking garage so it is okay for them to exit the stairwell. Alex flies the drone back to the door as he, Danny and Dean exit the stairwell. They stay crouched down and move to the side nearest the building.
“Okay, dad,” Alex asks. “What is the plan?”
“Hmm,” Dean says. “We need to figure a way to get to that other building. I am hoping that the underground passage is still open between this building close to us and our objective. If so, we can use that. If that passage isn’t open, then we are going to have to move between the buildings out in the open and that is going to be dangerous.”
“How do you know about an underground passage between those buildings?” Danny asks.
“I had to visit this location a couple of times shortly after the ‘Pulse’ started spreading. I was assigned to be a courier for classified information from here to the military base.”
“So, what is in that building that we need to get into?” Alex asks.
“It was a lab building,” Dean replies. “They had several viruses in there that they would test on and were working on a couple of biological weapons. Not exactly a place I want to spend too much time in because there’s no telling what viruses may still be in there, or worse may be loose in there.”
“Isn’t that where that name we found in the book was last known to be?” Alex asks.
“Yes,” Dean says. “As I thought about it last night, I thought I recognized the name. I think she worked in one of the labs on a lower level, away from the contagious viruses. I’m hoping she’s still around and that we can get some information from her.”
“Okay. So, how do we get to this building?” Danny asks. “I don’t see any easy way over there from up here. We are going to have to go back down and cross over and go in through a door or something.”
Alex looks over the side of the wall down to the ground near the building. There is a passageway connecting the parking garage and the nearby building. It looks to be one level down from where they are now.
“Dad,” Alex says. “There’s a passageway connecting the garage and the building. We might be able to use it to get into the building.”
Dean looks over the side and sees it. “Looks like it is down one level. Let’s go see if we can use it.”
They get up and move back to the stairwell. Danny opens the door and they go in and go down one flight of stairs. Danny opens the door a little and glances out. He doesn’t see anything so he opens it enough to slide out and moves around the corner. From there, Danny looks around in the empty parking garage and only sees a guard near the entrance of the passageway tunnel. Danny taps on the door twice and Dean and Alex open the door and slide out and around the corner near Danny.
“One guard at the entrance to the tunnel,” Danny reports. “I don’t see anyone else on this level.”
“Okay,” Dean says. “We will circle around on his blind side and I will subdue him.”
“You’re going to kill him,” Alex asks concerned.
“I’m going to subdue him,” Dean says. “Now, come on and stay down.”
They move around the edge of the level, staying close to the walls and pillars as much as they can. Dean motions for the boys to stay behind a pillar near the entrance to the tunnel. They pull out their knives and stay low behind a pillar. Dean moves in closer to the guard, staying low until he is right behind the guard. Dean covers the mouth of the guard from behind and wraps his other arm around the neck of the guard. The guard struggles a bit and Dean tightens his grip around the neck of the guard until the guard passes out. Dean drags him away from the entrance and off behind a nearby vehicle. There, Dean undresses the guard and puts the guard’s uniform on over his clothes. He puts the guard’s hat on and then handcuffs the guard’s hands through the opening of the car’s tire rim. Then Dean puts a gag in his mouth. Once done, Dean picks up the guard’s rifle and motions for the boys to come closer.
Dean moves towards the tunnel entrance and looks down the tunnel. There are double doors at the end of the tunnel that leads into the building. Dean motions for Alex and Danny to stay put while he walks down the tunnel and looks through the double doors. There is a magnetic card reader outside the door. Dean sees another hallway with a couple of doors on each side on the other side of the double doors. Dean checks the pocket of the uniform he stole from the guard and finds a card with a magnetic strip on it. He swipes it against the card reader and the light turns green on it and there is a clicking sound. He grabs the door handle and opens one of the double doors. Dean looks back and makes certain the boys aren’t following him.
He walks into the hallway and checks the first door. It has a sign on it that says ‘Storage’. Dean opens the door to see cleaning supplies, mops, buckets and that sort of thing. Dean closes the door and checks the next door. It says ‘Administration’ on it. Dean listens at the door to see if he hears any voices or sounds inside. He hears the faint sound of a fan but no other sounds. He opens the door, keeping his head slightly tilted down and looks in. There are a couple of computers in the room on desks, some file cabinets but no people. Dean closes the door back up and walks down the hall to the next door.
There are no signs on the next two doors so Dean listens at the first one and hears the echo of a voice. Dean looks up and notices an ‘Exit’ sign in the hallway above the door. That must be a stairwell downstairs. Dean goes to the next door and listens. He hears a couple voices inside. It sounds like a couple of men and a woman. Dean walks past the door and turns at the corner and sees the main stairwell going up and down. He stops and listens and doesn’t hear any voices. He turns and goes back to the double doors and swipes the card against the card reader and he hears the door unlock. He pushes the door open and goes back to the end of the tunnel. He stops and looks towards the vehicle that Alex and Danny have moved behind.
“Okay,” Dean says softly but loud enough for the boys to hear him. “Beyond the double door are four doors. One is a storage closet with cleaning supplies. One is an administrative office. One goes to a stairwell and the last door I don’t know what is inside, other than at least three people. The hallway turns at the end and goes to the main stairwell.”
“So, what is the plan, dad?” asks Alex.
“We can take the emergency stairwell and go down to the basement level, but if someone comes into that stairwell, we are stuck. There shouldn’t be much reason for anyone to be in that stairwell when there is the main stairwell in the center of the building.”
“What about the people in the room?” Danny asks. “Should we see who they are?”
“No. We need to get to the other building and find Desiree Jenkins, and get her out of here without being seen if possible.”
“Okay,” Danny says. “I can rig up something in the storage closet on a timer so if we need a distraction, we have one.”
“Alright,” Dean says. “Nothing too big, Danny. Alex, I want you to check out the admin office. See if you can find any information on this Desiree Jenkins.”
Dean looks around and doesn’t see anyone in the parking garage so he subtly waves them over closer to the end of the tunnel. Alex and Danny sneak around the edge of the vehicle and move over near the dad. Dean turns and walks down the tunnel, with his sons staying at the end of the tunnel. Dean looks through the double doors to make sure the coast is still clear. Dean swipes the card on the card reader and the door unlocks. Dean opens the door and waves Danny and Alex down the tunnel and through the door. He points to the first door that is the storage closet. Danny goes into the storage closet. Dean motions for Alex to go into the administration office.
Danny opens the door and goes into the closet. Danny grabs some of the cleaning solutions and mixes them in the mop bucket except for one. Danny then grabs a broom and puts the bristles into the mop bucket and leans the handle against a shelf. He then turns a small bottle of ammonia on its side and punctures the top with his knife. He balances it on the top of the broom handle and ties an extension cord to the handle of the broom. Danny opens the door and as he starts to close it, he wraps the other end of the extension cord to the inside door handle. That way, if anyone tries to open the door, it will pull the broom from under the ammonia and it will fall into the mop bucket with the other cleaning supplies and cause an explosion.
“Okay,” Danny says. “We are all set.”
Alex comes out of the administration office with a folder. “I found her human resources file as well as an extra memo in it labeled ‘Gamma 2’.”
“Good,” Dean says softly. “Let’s get in the stairwell and you can fill us in.”
They move down the hall and Dean listens at the door where he heard the three people. They are still in there talking about something. Sounds like one of them is asking for dating advice. Dean opens the emergency stairwell door and Danny and Alex slide in. Dean glances around the corner and down the hall towards the main stairwell and hears voices. He goes into the emergency stairwell and closes the door behind him. They go up one level in the stairs and talk softly.
“What did you find, Alex?” Dean asks.
“Well, her HR file talks about her being a lab tech for about seven years. She went to college at Emory and graduated with a bachelor of medicine and chemistry. She interned for the CDC for a year before they hired her and within two years she was a supervisor in the infectious disease wing. No husband. It says her only child, a son, died during the first year of the ‘Pulse’. She has good evaluations in here. There’s also a memo labeled ‘Gamma 2’.”
“Gamma 2?” Danny says. “That was the name of the test subject in the book.”
“Yep,” Alex responds. “It says after her son died, she dove hard into her work, wanting to do anything to find a cure. It says she was a great candidate for some study. A blood test showed an unusual enzyme that could be an antigen for the virus. It says they reassigned her to a military base for a year and a half.”
“Then how did she end up back here if she was such a good candidate for a possible cure?” Danny asks.
“I don’t know, but I plan on asking her that when we find her,” Dean says. “Let’s go, but stay quiet. I’ll take the lead since I blend in more.”
Dean starts down the stairs with Alex and Danny one flight of stairs behind him. They get down to the basement level and Dean opens the door, using the card key. He steps out into the hallway and looks around, keeping his hand on the door and it slightly open. There are a couple of guards walking down the hall towards him. Dean closes the door and bends down pretending to tie his boots. The two guards are talking about the lunch menu. They stop talking when they see Dean tying his boot.
“Hey there,” says one guard. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” Dean responds. “Just want to make sure I don’t trip over these laces again. I did that last week in front of the commander and it was totally embarrassing.”
“Yeah,” laughs the other guard. “She can be such a prude at times. Are you coming to lunch?”
“Not yet,” Dean replies. “I’ve got to get back to my station and sign out. I just came down here to take a peek at the menu.”
“Anything good on it today?” asks the first guard.
“Didn’t get there yet. I should get back and sign out. Have a good one,” Dean says.
“Okay. See you in a bit,” says the second guard as they turn and continue to walk down the hall and turn the corner.
Dean looks up and sees that they are gone and that there is no one else in the hallways. Dean opens the door and waves for Danny and Alex to come down the stairs. They come down the last flight of stairs and enter the hallway next to Dean. He closes the door behind them and motions for them to follow him. Dean goes down the hall in the direction the guards came from, with Danny and Alex following behind him. They get to the end of the hall and see a door with a card reader on it like the one at the tunnel doors. Dean swipes his card on the card reader and it unlocks the door. Dean opens the door and glances left and right. There is a metal detector down to the far right and another door to the left.
“Dammit,” Dean mumbles.
“What is it?” Alex asks.
“I forgot that to get into the lab building that we have to go through a metal detector,” Dean says. “And there is a guard always on watch.”
“So, what are we going to do?” asks Alex.
“I can hit him with a tranquilizer dart,” Danny says.
“Where did you get a tranquilizer dart?” Alex asks.
“A little something I picked up back at the train yard when they weren’t looking,” Danny smiles.
“Okay,” Dean says. “Stay back out of sight while I go through and distract the guard. Then you shoot him with it.”
Dean goes down the hall towards the metal detector. Danny follows with Alex behind him. Danny and Alex stop and crouch down about six feet behind as Dean reaches the metal detector.
“Hey,” Dean says joyfully. “How’s it going today?”
“ID please,” says the guard. Dean walks through the metal detector and it goes off. “Stop and empty your pockets. And put your weapon in the tray.”
Dean starts to take his pistol out of his holster and glances back down the hall just as the guard grabs his neck and starts to fall towards the ground. Dean catches him and lays him down gently on the ground. There is the tranquilizer dart in the neck of the guard, which Dean removes and sits the guard in the chair near the x-ray machine. Dean positions the guard like he fell asleep. He motions for Danny and Alex to come through the metal detector and they quickly go down the hall and through a double door at the end of the hall and into the lab building.
