Five minutes later Mark pointed to the screen. “That’s the program. The last time someone logged in was April seventeenth. We’ll be in as soon as I figure out the password.”
“It will be something simple,” Grace said. “Mr. Edgar isn’t, or wasn’t, the brightest guy around. Try his wife’s name—Beatrice.”
Mark typed it in and it was rejected.
“Try his dog’s name—General.”
He typed it in and was rejected.
“Try the word ‘password,’” Sherry said.
He typed it in and the program opened. He held up his hand and Sherry high-fived him.
“Now, let’s see what we have access to on this.” He scrolled through the menu and whistled. “Old Edgar was a pervert. There’s cameras in every building and in every room, even the showers and bedrooms. There’s even a master list of what camera is assigned to what room.” He flipped through the cameras. Most of the rooms were dark and they could barely see anything. “We’ll have to wait until the sun comes up. Hopefully, it’ll light up the rooms and we can see what’s going on.”
“This really creeps me out,” Sherry said. “He watched us while we slept and showered.”
Megan and Sabrina nodded.
“Can you zoom in?” Luke asked.
Mark nodded. “Yes, but this is even better.” The screen changed, glowing green. “Night vision.” He scrolled through a hall and into a bedroom.
“Megan, that’s your room,” Sherry said. “Everything’s destroyed.”
Megan pointed to a corner. “There’s my bag, packed and ready to go on break.” She rested her hand on Mark’s shoulder. “Go back to the hallway for a moment.”
“Why?” Mark asked.
“Just do it, please,” Megan said.
Mark clicked back to the previous image, and Megan pointed at a dark doorway at the end of the hall. “I’ve always hated my room because that door opens onto the stairs that go down to the basement.”
“So, you’re afraid of dark places,” John said. “Big deal.”
Megan gave him a playful punch on the arm. “No, look at it. The door has always been closed and locked. Now, it’s not just open—it’s almost torn off.” She pointed to a door that hung by one hinge then tilted her head to the side and pointed at the screen. “What’s that stuff on the wall? It looks like lumpy, twisted plastic or that fruit leather stuff mom makes for you Luke.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” Luke pointed to the dark stairs. “Is there a camera in the basement on the list?”
Mark searched for and found it. He clicked it and a new view opened, glowing green in the darkness of the basement.
Neal pointed to a row of lumps on the wall. “Is that an arm covered in that stuff?”
“Yes, I think so,” Grace said.
“Look how many monsters there are in there,” Sabrina said.
The creatures scurried around the room, up walls and over the ceiling. One of the prisoners managed to free his arm and tried to pull the rest of the stuff away from his face. His movements attracted the attention of the monsters. A large one jumped on him, taking a bite from his arm while another one spit a wad of goo on the wound. The prisoner continued to fight and several more creatures swarmed him, covering him with the gooey substance.
Grace fought down the need to throw up. “What are we going to do?”
“First, we’re going to use the cameras and check every building for cadets. Then, we’re going to rescue them,” Luke said. “The missions will be volunteer only. Hell, I don’t want to go out there again but we have to do something to save those people.”
“Count me in,” Mark said and stood with his fist out. One by one, each of them stood, forming a circle with their fists meeting in the middle.
Grace stood to one side, watching them with a feeling of pride. She’d known them they’d first begun attending the Academy. She’d watched them grow from scared kids to courageous cadets. Megan surprised her when she reached out, grasped her hand and pulled her into the group.
Luke bumped each of their fists. “From this moment on we’re not just survivors. We’re the resistance.”
FIVE
May 8th, 2015
THEY GATHERED IN the security room after supper. Stephan and Damien had carried a table into the room and set it up with chairs on either side. They’d set Grace’s chair at one end and Luke’s at the other.
“Neal, Sherry and Sabrina saw Jefferson with Rogers yesterday so now we know he’s alive and also collaborating with the monsters,” Luke said, his contempt for the other cadet rang clear in his voice.
“None of us has seen Maggie on any of the cameras. Even though she was always rude to me it still makes me sad to think she’s dead,” Megan said.
“You didn’t answer the text that night so Jefferson doesn’t know you made it to the shelter which is a good thing now that we know he’s a traitor,” Damien reminded them.
“What about the cadets who refused to come with us the night of the attack?” Sherry asked. “Where are they?”
“None of us wants to say it but we have to face facts,” Stephan said. “They were either killed or infected by the creatures. If they were infected, they might be dead from the poison the military dropped. If they survived the poison, then they’re one of the evolved monsters.”
“Or they’re stuck to the wall in the Main Dorm basement,” Damien said.
“That’s so sickening,” Sabrina said.
“Yes it is, but it also means Jefferson can’t be sure any of us made it to the shelter because he can’t identify bodies that have been eaten or who these new creatures used to be.”
“When they were just creatures if you looked close enough you could almost see who they used to be but now that they’ve evolved I can’t identify any of them,” Neal said. “Even though they move around in the open now.”
“Rogers can’t be sure I’m alive either,” Grace said. “We saw him find my car but there’s dried blood all over the back of it and my purse and phone are on the front floorboard.”
“Where did the blood come from?” Sherry asked.
Grace told them about the creature she’d almost hit on the road, how it had attacked her car, and about the second one in the garage.
“Even if Rogers thinks you made it out of the garage alive, he can’t be sure you made it back to the cafeteria,” Luke said.
“Exactly,” Grace said. “There’s one thing I’m worried about though. If we rescue people what if we bring another collaborator into the shelter?”
“First we rescue people who appear to have been hiding since the night of the attack,” Stephan said. “Then, we rescue smaller groups of prisoners in buildings other than the main dorm.”
“I agree,” Neal said. “We don’t tell them the secrets of the shelter until we know we can trust them,” Neal said, then added, “And, we don’t tell them any of the door codes.”
Luke nodded. “After a mission we secure our weapons in the armory and only Grace, Stephan, Damien, Mark and I will carry pistols in the shelter.”
Once we increase our numbers with rescued cadets, then we go after the nest in the main dorm,” Damien said.
Sherry, Megan and Sabrina smiled. “We’ve studied martial arts almost all our lives,” Megan said. “We can handle a traitor or two.”
Luke chuckled. “I feel sorry for anyone who takes on my little sister. She may be tiny but I know for a fact she fights dirty.”
Megan laughed. “Because that’s how you taught me to fight.”
They all laughed, and he relaxed in his chair. “Bravo is made up of me as squad leader with Neal, John, and Sherry. Stephan is squad leader of Charlie with Damien, Sabrina, and Mark. Stephan and I will pick another person from the other team to fill out our fire team. Security is Megan with a second person assisting. Grace is Mother. Someone will always be with Grace on the doors.” He looked them over. “We know Jefferson and Rogers stay in the basement and that the monsters slow down around noon. That’s when Rogers and Jefferson sleep.”