Rick shook his head. “I’m sorry. Lilly, she wasn’t ready for this. Not yet.”
“I understand. Please tell her, I love her.”
“I will and…” the solider tugged his arm. “I have to go.”
“But…”
“Listen, I’ll see you soon. They let me come out to say hi. We’ll talk later.”
“Okay.” Nora tried to touch him once more through the plastic, but the soldier led him away. She stood there watching as they took him into the old store and that was when she saw it. Her eyes widened. “What the hell? Guys? Marilee.”
Marilee backed up against the window, she grabbed on to Dillard, clutching him tight and protectively, it was apparent she was frightened and tried to back up with nowhere to go. Then she was grabbed and disappeared.
All nine in the tent vocally cried out their protest when Nelson entered the room.
“We have your results.”
Malcolm saw Richard enter the building and Marilee and her son vanish from sight. It was starting, just as Norris said.
Malcolm replayed his conversation in his mind.
“Why would they pull your team out?” Malcolm asked.
“So there would be no witnesses. I don’t think anyone is supposed to leave here alive. This is what I think, because the team that’s here are assassins for Salvation. The sweep team.”
“What about Rick? Marilee? Her son?”
“Again, this is my guess. I have no hardcore proof and I’m making a guess on what I see. Marilee and her son are expendable. Rick, well, in Salvation, when someone turns seventy, they are released from life. Rick turned seventy two days ago. His wife, daughter, family and friends already said goodbye to him. They think he was euthanized.”
“Oh my God.”
“Here’s what I know from what I have seen. Aside from the four man medical team, you have six soldiers on the sweep team. One at the gate, one in the bio room, two snipers on the roof, two inside the building, I believe to take care of Marilee, her son, and Rick. That’s all I know that are here.”
“I need to move the van to take a look.”
Norris agreed.
Hands and insides shaking, Malcolm hurried to the van. He peered around. “Okay, two soldiers inside I can’t see. I do see the one by the gate.” He slowly moved the van to be near the other trucks. “Two on the roof. Where? Where? I can’t see them.” Just as he parked the van, he spotted one, rifle aimed and ready. “There’s one. Oh my God.”
He returned to the tent, as Norris was packing up his things along with the evidence that Malcolm had given him.
“If you left, no one would stop you.” Norris told him. “But I know you won’t do that. You’re one man. I don’t know what you can do, but God Speed.”
Malcolm was as ready as he could be. He didn’t want to jump the gun any further and initiate something that wasn’t going to happen. There was still a chance that the sweep team was there in case they all tried to escape. He had to wait. That’s all he could do.
Nelson and his three colleagues had entered the tent with the soldier. Their announcement that they had the results did little to instantly calm those who questioned about Marilee.
Finally, in a stern voice, Nelson said. “If you want this over, we need to finish now.”
Nora and the others stood before them. All nine of them waiting, they all joined hands, like contestants on some reality talent show, waiting on elimination results.
“You’re trembling,” John whispered to Nora, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.
“I’m scared. I just want to get out of here,” Nora said.
“Soon,” Jason whispered in her other ear. “Soon.”
“We ran the results twice to be sure,” Nelson said. “Good news or bad, however you want to look at it… only one of you nine is a carrier.”
Nora exhaled, but still trembled. Only one. Only one of them carried the virus.
Nelson looked down at his clipboard. “The carrier is…. Which one of you is… John?”
Nora felt his hand immediately shake and her heart took a nosedive to the pit of her stomach. No, not John. He was shoulder to shoulder with her, and Nora felt his inhale of courage just before he clutched her hand tighter
“I am,” John said.
“Very well. Thank you.” Nelson stepped back.
Without a pause or inkling of hesitation, the second Nelson moved out of the way, the soldier raised a pistol, extended it and fired once, point blank into John’s head.
The execution bell rang out in the form of a gunshot.
Meredith screamed, shrill, loud, and hysterically.
The warm sensation of blood splattered across Nora’s face, John’s hand still secured to Nora’s pulled her down when he flew backwards. Her mouth opened and she tried to scream, but she couldn’t. Blood rushed to her ears and muffled the sound of everything.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Her heart beat in her ears, the room spun, she looked up to Nelson.
“Our time chasing you all is done,” Nelson said.
The soldier aimed at Nora. At that instance, she remembered what Hunter taught her, how he told her she was quick. But Nora couldn’t react. Her body trembled in fear and shock that even with everything moving in slow motion, she couldn’t command her hand to reach back and grab her arrow gun.
Yet, someone did. Jason. She saw him pull, then fire his weapon. The short arrow from the small crossbow style gun sailed through the suit and into the neck of the soldier. His gun went off as he flew back.
“No!” Malcolm screamed. It was unexpected and something he didn’t have time to stop. John was killed instantaneously. And all hell broke out in that tent.
Were the assassins there to ensure that no one fought back, or there to execute the entire bunch, Malcolm didn’t know? He would never know.
He didn’t just have the arrow gun he also had a pistol given to him by Norris. He pulled it out to shoot, and before he could fire into the tent at the only soldier, Jason had taken him out.
Malcolm rushed for the bio room only to see one of the medical team had drawn a gun.
He lifted his own weapon to fire, but just as he aimed, through the corner of his eye, he saw the soldier from the gate running his way, then he felt the bullet sear into his leg and Malcolm went down.
From the ground, still aiming on that tent, Malcolm discharged his weapon.
One of the medical personnel took a hit to their gut and dropped his gun as he fell to the ground. Meredith clutched to John’s body as if she were protecting him. She held his head close to her body, crying out in agony as she hovered over him.
Nora pulled her hand from John’s and watched as one of the DC lab crew, Patricia, took a bullet to the back as she raced for the door.
They were sitting ducks, frantic sitting ducks and all that occurred happened in seconds. Blake was physically fighting with one of the medical workers, trying to get his gun, another one of the medical workers aimed, and Nelson ran out.
She had to do something. They were armed as well.
As she reached for her arrow gun, Jason grabbed hold of her, pulled her toward him, bodily blocked her and then reloaded his weapon. It was then a soldier entered the bio room. He wasn’t armed with a handgun; he had a rifle. An automatic rifle.
Nora knew there was no chance against that. Nowhere to hide. Nowhere to run.
The end was at hand.
The soldier lifted his weapon but before he could depress the trigger, a huge spear came from behind, plunging straight through his torso. His arms went outward, the rifle dropped and his body shook for a second. As he dropped to the ground, Nora watched as Hunter ripped through the plastic of the room. He stepped inside with a determined stride. Without missing a beat, knife in hand, he swung out cleanly slicing through the neck of one of the medical workers, then threw the knife at another. It spun, end over end, and landed in the chest of the last standing man. Hunter turned, pulled the spear from the soldier and walked back out.