“You’re a hypocrite,” said Reid.
“I know it. But that was five minutes ago. Miracle of miracles, I have officially come to my senses. Now how about that? And from now on I’ll do whatever I can, whatever I need to do, to atone for being a pigheaded jackass and a company man for way too long.” He took a small step closer. “Oh yeah, and theft. I’m going to steal one of those helicopters so I can try and find Dr. McReady.”
Benny nodded to Nix and the others, and they lowered their weapons.
“You don’t want to do this, Captain,” said Reid.
He stepped back and shrugged. “I’m not a captain anymore.”
Joe walked over to the helicopter, entered it, and did something that caused the big motor to whine to life. Then he climbed out, crossed to the wall near the door they’d entered, and pressed a big red button. Immediately the massive hangar doors began rolling sideways, letting the hot afternoon air spill in, bringing with it the stink of zombie flesh.
While Joe did all this, Colonel Reid stood exactly where she was. She said nothing and did nothing.
The ranger came back to the table. “Once we’re airborne,” he said, “we’ll radio you with the coordinates. Just in case. Maybe once you see where we’re going, you’ll understand.”
Reid’s face was wooden.
Joe paused. “I know what you’re dealing with, Jane. And you know that I’m doing the right thing.”
Her lips curled slowly back to reveal small, hard teeth. “I hope you die out there,” she snarled.
Joe sighed and walked away. Benny felt sad. That was exactly what Morgie Mitchell had said to him before they’d left him behind in Mountainside. Even now Benny didn’t think the colonel meant those words, any more than Morgie had. Sometimes you can be so hurt, so sad, and so confused that the only words you can force out are hateful ones.
Benny started to turn, but paused as Lilah pointed a finger at Reid. “Take care of Chong.”
“Louis Chong is a patient in this facility,” said Reid. “Don’t insult me.”
Lilah shook her head. “It’s not an insult. It’s a threat. I thought that was clear.”
She turned and walked toward the helicopter.
It occurred to Benny that this had all been going on a long time without any of Reid’s soldiers interfering. That didn’t seem right.
“Colonel?” he asked, keeping his voice neutral. “Where are the soldiers? Where’s everyone else?”
He expected a sharp answer or at least some sarcastic remark. Instead he saw sadness flood into her eyes. Her shoulders sagged for a moment, as if some tremendous weight pressed down on them.
But she did not answer Benny’s question.
CHAPTER 60
They climbed into the helicopter, and Joe buckled everyone into a seat. Grimm threw himself onto the deck with a loud clank of armor. Only Riot remained standing.
“You need to buckle up, girl,” said Joe.
But she shook her head. “I ain’t going. I don’t like to leave Eve here alone. Little bird’s been hurting something bad, and I want to keep an eye on her.”
No one could argue with that. Lilah did something that surprised Benny. The stern, detached Lost Girl reached over and took Riot’s hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. For a fierce moment Riot clutched that hand like it was a lifeline. Lilah bent and kissed Riot’s hand. There was no romance in it, just a connection on a wordless, human level. A conversation through action rather than words.
It stirred Benny’s heart. Since Chong got sick, Lilah had become almost a nonperson. Cold, incredibly remote, and harsh. Could she be thawing? Or was Eve too powerful a reminder of Annie?
Benny said, “Give Evie a kiss from me.”
Riot gave him a sad little smile. “She liked those balloons.”
“It was nice to see her smile.”
That changed Riot’s expression, but she turned away to hide whatever was in her eyes. At the door she paused.
“Y’all come back safe and sound, hear?”
Then she stepped outside, and they could hear her crunching steps as she ran back to the bridge.
“Balloons?” asked Joe.
Benny explained about the pack of brightly colored balloons he’d found in the reaper’s quad. “Can’t figure why he’d have them, though.”
“Everyone’s a scavenger these days,” observed Joe. “Maybe he knew some kids and thought they might like them.”
That thought didn’t make Benny feel any better. Kids waiting for the reaper to return with a present for them.
He sighed and busied himself with trying to adjust the straps. Seats requiring buckles were as far outside Benny’s experience as helicopters were. However, he couldn’t tell if the hammering of his heart was because of the thought of actually flying—particularly in a machine that was as extinct to his experience as the dinosaurs — or because of the confrontation he’d just had with Colonel Reid. He suspected that it was both in roughly equal measures.
Nix sat next to him, her small hand in his, fingers entwined, skin icy cold. Lilah sat across from him, and her thoughts were clearly directed inward. Shutters had dropped behind her eyes.
Joe slid the door shut, squatted down, and shouted over the whine of the engine. “We used to have an expression: ‘This just got real.’ Well, that’s where we are. We’re stealing government equipment, and we have no friends here at Sanctuary except a bunch of monks.”
“Is that meant as a pep talk?” asked Benny.
“Just stating the facts.”
“Thanks,” said Nix, “but I’m pretty sure we’re already scared enough as it is.”
Joe grinned.
“Do we even know where we’re going?”
“We do.” Joe removed a big map from his pocket and spread it out on the floor and tapped a spot with a forefinger. “Right here.”
Nix leaned in and read the words printed on the map. “Death Valley National Park. Oh, isn’t that wonderful.”
“ ‘Death’ Valley?” asked Benny. “Seriously? Death Valley?”
“That’s the DVNP on the note we found,” observed Nix. “It fits.”
“I get that, but really… Death Valley?”
“I think we all appreciate the irony,” said Nix.
“Not sure you do,” said Benny. He reached out with the toe of his shoe and tapped another spot. “Does that actually say the ‘Funeral Mountains’?”
“Don’t let it spook you, kid,” said Joe. “Those names were given long before the dead rose.”
“That’s actually not a comfort,” said Benny, and Nix nodded agreement.
“We’re heading to a spot called Zabriskie Point on the eastern side of Death Valley, south of Furnace Creek. It’s in the badlands….”
“Oh, ‘badlands.’ Also very comforting.”
Joe said, “Look, if we pool all of what we know, we come up with a picture that’s a little grim and a little hopeful. I think we can safely deduce that Dr. McReady was not on the C-130 when it crashed. It seems clear that the plane stopped at the Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon, where I believe Doc McReady and Field Team Five deplaned and took alternate transport to Death Valley.”
“Why did Dr. McReady stop at the base in Oregon?” asked Lilah. “What’s there?”
“Ah, well,” said Joe diffidently. “One of our dirty little secrets. Even though that base had been officially decommissioned, it was actually still in operation at the time of the outbreak.”
“You mean there were still chemical weapons there?” Benny asked.
“Were,” agreed Joe, “and are. Chemical and biological weapons, agents, compounds, and ingredients. It was all stockpiled there. The decommissioning process was a smoke screen. The government was making a show of complying with the Chemical Weapons Convention, an arms control agreement that outlawed the production, stockpiling, and use of all chemical weapons. The international agreement was administered by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons based in the Netherlands.”