Sean hadn’t slept much. He’d grown accustomed to trying to sleep in uncomfortable places. It was part of what he did, both before working for IAA and at present. But his mind had raced with too many thoughts. In between insomniac productions, he dozed off a few times, maybe aggregating a total of two hours of sleep for the whole night.
Jabez and his men were already taking equipment out to the vehicles, allowing cold bursts of air to rush through the door each time it opened.
Dr. Firth was still sleeping when Sean made his way over to the older man and nudged him from his slumber. “Time to go, Doc.”
Firth had woken slowly, seeming peaceful at first. Once fully awake, he quickly returned to his grumpy self. “What kind of food do we…” he started to ask but Jabez tossed him a plastic bag with something that looked like dried meat. “What is this?”
“Goat jerky,” Sean answered for their new Arab friend. “I suggest you eat some. We have a long day ahead of us.”
The professor looked down at the plastic bag with an air of disgust. He apprehensively reached into the sack and pulled out a wide piece of the dark red meat then sniffed it to make sure it hadn’t gone bad. Sean was relieved when the man put the corner of the cut in his mouth and tore off a chunk, chewing it slowly, still unsure if he would like it.
An impressed expression lit up Firth’s face. “You know, it isn’t half bad,” he commented before putting the rest of the meat in his mouth.
Adriana was busily checking one of her two handguns, making sure everything was clean and working properly. She slid a full magazine into the black grip and clicked it into place.
“You think we may need that?” Sean asked. He was also armed, but wanted to know what she thought.
“You never know. Do you?”
He shook his head. “Can’t be too careful.”
“In some things…you can.” She left him with that thought and a sly smirk as she grabbed her bag and headed out into the cold air.
Outside, the snow had already been melting. A warm front had followed the storm, so any accumulation didn’t last long. Sean imagined up in the mountains that would not be the case. He knew their vehicles could handle most types of weather, but slippery roads on high mountain passes didn’t sound like something he wanted to test out any time soon. That was exactly what they were about to do.
“We should be alright, even with the snow in the mountains,” Jabez read his thoughts. “The roads are not paved, so the dirt and rocks will help us. And the shoulders of the road angle up, so it will be difficult to slide over the edge.”
Somehow, the man’s confidence didn’t resonate in Sean’s mind. The whole thing seemed like a sketchy proposition, but they didn’t have any choice. Time was running out.
He turned his phone on, remembering it had been off over the course of the night. Most of the battery had been used and he didn’t want it to die before getting a chance to recharge it in the SUV. After a few seconds, the home screen came on and the device began searching for a satellite signal. As soon as the connection was made, his phone began to ding. He had six voicemails and eleven text messages.
“That’s a tad above average,” he commented silently.
“What is it?” Jabez stopped as he was carrying his backpack out the door.
“I have several messages from Dr. Solomon at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. It looks like Mac and his wife were able to get a sample of whatever it is to her. She says it’s bad.” He scrolled further through the long text messages from his friend Joe. From the time they’d been introduced, Sean had always called Joe, Mac.
“How bad?” Adriana had overheard Sean’s comments and joined the conversation.
He looked up at her. “She says that it will make the Spanish Flu epidemic look like the common cold. Worst case outcome, ninety percent of the world’s population could be eradicated.”
“How could she predict that?” Jabez had to ask.
“I don’t know. But I know that Jenny knows more about that stuff than anyone I’ve ever met. She must have run some tests in her lab. It goes on to say that the World Health Organization has been alerted, but no one is going to take any action until the morning. They think she’s overreacting.”
Adriana was clearly concerned. “Someone has to stop that company from sending out any of those vaccinations.”
“Yeah,” Sean agreed. “She said Emily is sending a team down there to blockade the building. But the world authorities need to take over. And Axis can’t just hold a building siege for long. Eventually, the authorities will be called in, and her team will have to stand down.”
Firth’s demeanor changed to one of being unnerved. “So, it’s true about the virus?” His voice was filled with disbelief.
Sean turned his head and faced the professor. “Seems that way, doc. If it makes you feel better, I wish we hadn’t been right about it.”
“It sounds like we may not have much time,” Jabez interjected. “We must hurry to the canyon. If we can get there in time, we can destroy the chamber permanently.”
Chapter 47
The cold steel barrel continued to press hard into Helen’s skull while the man get a firm grip on her throat. He was much stronger than her so, struggling was like trying to push a three-ton boulder up a hill.
“Don’t make me say it again!” he yelled, painfully loud in her ear. “Drop your weapon and come out with your hands up. I know you’re sitting there in the front of the house with your gun aimed at those trucks. If you don’t come out right now with that vial and your hands in the air, I will execute your wife, and we will come in and kill you next.”
Helen never feared much in life. She’d been raised in the country, and as a country girl she had faced all kinds of things that would have caused most people to wet themselves. But now, knowing that she was five inches away from a bullet that could end her life, a twinge of fear entered her mind.
She didn’t want to die. But she wasn’t about to beg, either. Whoever the man was holding her neck would not get that satisfaction.
“You may as well shoot me,” she forced the words through clenched teeth. “He’s not going to give up that vial.” If the men believed the virus was in their possession, no reason to let them think otherwise. And she certainly wasn’t going to tell them where it actually was.
“Don’t worry, lady. We’re killing both of you anyway.” The gruff voice had a sinister sound to it.
The man was probably former military gone mercenary. Killing, for those types, was second nature. When the armies of the world no longer needed their services, those people still needed to get their fix. Their bloodlust would never be quenched, so it seemed. She’d met several in her line of work. While she spent most of her time in an office, there were occasions when Helen had bumped into people like that. She didn’t understand how they could enjoy something as wretched as killing other human beings. She had done it out of necessity, but never enjoyed it. Not like the man holding the gun to her head probably did.
“You may kill us both,” she said, “but there is no way my husband is coming out of that house and giving you that vial. You will have to pry it from his cold, dead hands.”
Taking a cue from her statement, he yelled out again. “This is your last chance! Come out with your hands up or your wife dies!”
Helen could feel the man tense as the finger on the trigger tightened slightly. She didn’t say a word. Instead, she closed her eyes. Memories of her life began to drift into her mind’s eye. Events and people from her childhood swept by. Christmases, Thanksgivings, weddings, funerals, school, graduation, and her own wedding day all came to her in a rush.