“Let’s try one of the apartments,” Kusum suggested. “The view should be nearly as good from there, yes?”
“I hope so.”
They went down one landing and entered the top floor of the building. The apartments to the left were the ones they were interested in. There were fourteen doors on that side. One by one they began trying them. Number eight was unlocked.
Sanjay pulled the top of his shirt over his mouth and nose, sure that once he pushed the door open, they’d be greeted by the familiar putrid smell. When Kusum was ready, he gave the handle a shove.
“I don’t think anyone is here,” he said as he lowered his shirt. While the air inside was stuffy and stale, it was thankfully free of death.
Together they made a quick search of the apartment. Not only was it unoccupied, there was no sign that whoever had lived in the flat had made a run for safety. Everything was neat and in its place. It was as if the person had been out when the plague started and never come home.
With the place secure, Sanjay stepped over to the window of the main living area. Kusum followed right behind him. She had been right. The apartment was high enough to see over the buildings on the next street and into the compound.
The place was lit up with the same bright white floodlights that had been used when Sanjay and the others had worked there. What was different was the United Nations flag flying high above the administration building, and the white-helmeted, blue-uniformed soldiers stationed at various points in the compound.
The staging area Pishon Chem had used to distribute the spray tanks full of the virus had been clear of the former equipment and turned into two areas, each surrounded by double fences, separated by a gap large enough to drive a couple of trucks through side by side. Both areas contained a long building at the far end. While the zone on the left appeared empty, two people were standing outside the building in the zone on the right.
“Those look like prisons to me,” Kusum said. “Are they locking people up?”
Sanjay traced the fences with his eyes until he found the gates. He couldn’t tell from here if they were locked, but they were definitely closed. “I’m not sure what they are doing,” he said.
He turned his attention to a group of men standing near the administration building. Unlike the others walking around outside the fenced areas, these men were not in uniform.
Studying them, he was drawn to the way one of the men was standing. It seemed familiar. Unfortunately, he was too far away to get a fix on the man’s face so couldn’t make the connection.
He scanned around, moving his gaze away from the compound to the street that ran just outside it.
After a moment, he said to Kusum, “Stay here. I will be back.”
“Where do you think you are going?”
“I need to get a closer look.”
“Then I am coming with you.”
“No. You are staying here. If you are with me, it will be easier for us to be spotted.”
“If you get into trouble, you may need my help,” she countered.
“Kusum, I am not trying to argue with you. But I can make the trip faster and react quicker if I am alone. Please tell me you understand.”
From her expression, he wasn’t sure if she did, but she said, “If you are not back in fifteen minutes, I will come look for you.”
“Make it twenty.”
“Fifteen.”
He blew out an exasperated breath. “Fine. Fifteen. But it does not start until I leave this building.”
When it was finally agreed, he gave her that kiss he’d wanted to give her earlier, and headed out the door.
Back on the street, he threaded his way over to the rear of a structure directly across the road from the compound’s administration building. Instead of trying to find a way in, he climbed a drainpipe affixed to the outer wall, all the way to the roof.
His new position was not as high as the apartment where he’d left Kusum, so he only had a partial view of the men he’d spotted. But he was close enough now that he could make out their faces.
He had hoped his doubts would be unfounded, that he’d find this was indeed a UN operation. But instead, Sanjay’s fear turned out to be true.
The man with the familiar stance was Mr. Dettling, one of the Pishon Chem managers Sanjay had worked with, and most decidedly not a member of the UN. Dettling’s wasn’t the only familiar face, either. Gathered with him were several other Pishon managers.
When he’d seen enough, he climbed off the building and returned to Kusum.
“Could you see anything?” she asked.
“They are not the UN,” he told her.
She stared at him for a moment. “Are you sure?”
As concisely as possible, he described what he’d seen. “There is no question. They are the same people who had us distribute the flu.”
“Why are they doing this, then? Why are they saying they are the UN?”
“Whatever the reason, it can’t be good.”
She glanced at the window. “The people inside those fences. Do you…do you think maybe they’re ones who came here for help?”
He paused, then nodded. “I think very likely.”
“What are they going to do to them?”
“That, I do not know.”
Kusum put a hand on her husband’s arm. “Sanjay. Are they going to kill them?”
He said nothing.
“If they are, we can’t let that happen,” she said.
“No, we can’t.”
4
A bitter, cold wind cut through the air, stinging Daniel Ash’s cheeks as he gingerly climbed out the open hatch. Above, low gray clouds pushed in over the valley as if they couldn’t fill the sky fast enough, the storm a lot closer than he had thought.
Josie Ash leaned down over the tunnel exit and grabbed her father’s arm. “Let me help you.”
“I’m fine, honey,” he said, though that was far from the truth.
Ignoring his response, Josie guided him up the final rung of the ladder and onto solid ground. Once Ash was out of the way, Dr. Gardiner came up next, then Lily Franklin, and finally Chloe.
With the Bunker now empty, the hatch to the tunnel was shut and quickly covered by a few feet of dirt, some pine needles and branches, and a top layer of snow. When the job was done, it was almost impossible to tell anything was buried there.
“You all right?” Ash asked Matt. They’d been standing to the side, watching the others work — or at least Ash had been watching. Matt had been staring into the trees, lost in thought.
A few seconds passed before Matt pulled himself back and looked at Ash. “Sorry. Yeah, I’m fine. Just glad to be getting on the road.”
Ash glanced up at the sky. “If you want my opinion, we’re cutting it pretty tight. We could have gone yesterday.”
The right corner of Matt’s mouth ticked up. “Not according to the good doctor. Hell, he didn’t even want to leave today. Said you needed more time.”
“I’m good,” Ash said. “Don’t worry about me.” The truth was, Ash was grateful for the extra night’s rest. He nodded his chin in the direction of the hatch. “So are you going to destroy it?” Like the Lodge had been, the Bunker was wired for self-destruction.
“Not yet. I guess…I guess I’m hoping we’ll be able to come back.”
Ash could understand that. The Ranch had been Matt’s home for a long time.
Matt rubbed his hands together. “No sense in waiting around here any longer,” he said, then raised his voice. “All right, everyone, load ’em up.”
They made their way over to the road, where four military-issue, light-armored Humvees they’d appropriated from Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls stood waiting, engines idling.