A dozen feet from the first body, she stopped. It was a woman, middle-aged. The clear signs of the flu were etched on her face.
Her chest tightening, Chloe turned and looked toward the other bodies. Though they were farther away, there was no question they had also been downed by the flu.
It seemed as though the planned safe haven hadn’t worked out the way the government had intended.
She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, “Brandon!”
His name echoed off the buildings and across a small lake.
She turned to the larger buildings. “Brandon!”
There was a noise behind her. She whipped around and saw two teenage girls emerge with some difficulty from one of the rectangular buildings.
After a false start, one of them managed to call out, “Are you here to help us?”
Chloe took several steps toward them. “I’m looking for a friend of mine. A boy.”
“Everyone’s sick here,” the other one said. “You should go. It’s not…safe.”
“My friend’s name is Brandon.”
“Brandon?”
“Yes.”
“He’s not here,” the girl said, wincing in pain.
Chloe’s brow furrowed. “I’m sure he was brought here.”
“I mean…he’s gone. Him and some others. They got away last night.”
Got away? “How? Where did they go?”
A man wearing an army uniform staggered out from between two of the other buildings. “You can’t be here,” he said.
“I’m not staying,” Chloe told him. “I just need to—”
“This is a private…facility,” he went on as if he didn’t hear her. “You can’t…be…here.”
“I said I’m leaving.” She looked back at the teenagers. “Do you know where the others went?”
“No,” the first girl said. “But they’re in the…in the…truck.”
“What kind of truck?”
“Like an SUV but…big.”
“A Humvee?”
“No. Like a…um…”
“A Suburban,” the other girl said. “It was a Suburban.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Chloe saw the uniformed man raise a gun into the air.
“I said you need to leave!”
She started to back away. “I’m going, all right? See?”
Whether he believed her or his weapon was too heavy for his condition, it dropped back to his side.
When she reached the edge of the parking lot, she turned and sprinted into the woods.
“Come on!” she yelled at Miller and Josie as she neared them. “Back to the car!”
“What about Brandon?” Josie asked.
“He’s not here.”
“Where is he?”
“Come on!”
Chloe raced past them and back to the road, confident they would follow. As soon as she reached the car, she got behind the wheel and started the engine. Several seconds later, Josie and Miller climbed in, too.
“If Brandon’s not there, where is he?” Josie asked, breathing hard.
Chloe swung the Audi into a Y-turn and headed back to the main road. “I don’t know,” she said.
“We could hear you talking to someone. Didn’t they know where he was?”
“Josie, please. Just wait until we get out to the highway, okay?”
Chloe checked her watch. Scouting the camp had taken longer than she’d planned. The last place she wanted to be was on this dirt road when the Project Eden team arrived. She pushed the Audi as fast as she dared, the bumps and jerks doing more to keep Josie from asking more questions than Chloe’s request had.
When they finally reached the highway, she slowed momentarily, and peered down the road in the direction of Colorado Springs. Less than half a mile away it turned out of sight. What she could see of it was clear, but she knew going that way would be too risky.
It turned out not to matter one way or the other. As she turned left to take them farther up the mountain, Miller said, “There they are!”
She looked over her shoulder. Sure enough, a dark-colored sedan, nearly identical to the one they’d originally taken from the base, had come around the far corner. Chloe gunned the engine and the Audi accelerated up the slope.
“What are they doing?” she asked.
Miller, looking back, said, “They’ve seen us. They’re speeding up.”
Chloe banked around a curve, putting part of the mountain between them and the other car. When the sedan appeared behind them again, it was closer than she expected.
“What the hell?” Miller said.
Chloe increased their speed as the road continued to wind back and forth like a snake.
“Careful!” Josie screamed as they went wide around a curve.
“Not helping,” Chloe said.
“Sorry.”
The highway straightened out for a bit. Chloe glanced at the rearview mirror. The sedan was about the same distance behind them as it had been at the last check.
Great, she thought. Leave it to the air force to be sure their cars performed above expectations.
Once more the sedan disappeared as Chloe rounded another bend. They passed a sign indicating an intersection ahead. If she could get there before the other car appeared again, she could take the new road and maybe lose them.
She pressed the pedal to the floor, hoping they wouldn’t hit any hidden ice.
The turn was nearing.
Going right would be the logical way. The easy way. The way most people would turn.
She went left.
The new road dipped into a shallow valley full of trees. Without reducing their speed, she raced through it and up the other side. Just beyond the ridge, she spotted a dirt road leading into the forest. She took the turn, and didn’t stop until they were a good two hundred feet within the trees. There, she found a wide spot, turned the car around, and killed the engine.
“Everyone out,” she said.
“Why?” Josie asked. “Aren’t we safer in here?”
“I need your ears.”
They exited the Audi.
“Listen for them,” Chloe instructed.
“What are you going to do?” Josie asked.
“I need to make a call.”
Chloe walked farther down the road so that the sound of the other car wouldn’t be masked by her voice. When far enough away, she called the Ranch.
“Yes?”
Chloe recognized the voice. “Devin, I need to speak to Christina.”
“Who is this?”
“Chloe.”
“Did you find him?”
“Working on it. I need Christina.”
“Hold on.”
The line was silent for a few seconds before Christina picked up.
“Chloe? What’s going on?”
“Do you still have satellite access?” Chloe asked.
“For the most part. There’ve been some access issues cropping up on a few systems. Why? What do you need?”
Chloe gave her the location of Camp Kiley. “Sometime in the last twelve to eighteen hours, a Suburban left there and didn’t come back. I need to know where it went.”
“Could be difficult. How are the skies?”
Chloe looked up. “Clear. Have been since we arrived last evening.”
“That’ll help. Let me see what I can do.”
“Thanks, Chris.”
Chloe hung up and returned to the others. “Anything?”
Miller shook his head. “Quiet.”
“What happened back there?” Josie asked.
Chloe hesitated, then said, “Everyone at the camp was sick. Brandon and some others must have realized this, and got out of the camp last night. I know what kind of car they were in, so I’ve asked Christina to figure out where they went.”
“Can she do it?”
“She’s trying.”
Josie was silent for a moment, then nodded. “She’ll find them.”