Gabriel opened his mouth to protest, and then closed it again. Jay was right, that was how it had happened, basically. “Yes, but they…” he started, but realized it was pointless and stopped. He let out a sigh of defeat. “Fine,” he consented, “I’ll do it. I’ll wait for your prison sentence. Where’s Robert now?”Jay tapped on the wall next to them. “Inside. But he won’t be for long. If you’re gonna do something, do it quickly.”“Yes, mother,” Gabriel muttered. He turned and hurried off around the back of the building, and then broke into a slow run across the field. His body immediately began protesting the exertion and he dropped back to a quick walk. Once he reached the dormitory he hurried inside. The rGabriel ever himself and used the sinks to freshen up a bit, even though in his heart he felt that nothing short of full immersion could possibly hope to wash away the grime of the past few days. On his way out, almost as an afterthought, he grabbed his bag of supplies and weapons. H
When he reached the top he burst through the door and into the room. Gabriel was standing, leaning against the console, looking through binoculars at the tree line across the street from the base. He barely glanced at them as they entered.“Okay, Gabriel , what the hell is so important?”Gabriel finally stepped back and held out the binoculars. “Take a look for yourself.” Gabriel made room for Robert as the older man grabbed the binoculars and took up the lookout position. “Sorry, I only have one pair of binoculars. I did only invite one person up here though.” Jake shot Gabriel a vicious look. He coughed and shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “However, you can basically see it all well enough with just your eyes. Just take a look out along the tree line.”Jake and Aliyah lined up next to Robert and peered out. At first, Jake saw nothing, and then after a moment she saw what looked like movement. She thought it might just be her eyes playing tricks on her.Then, fin
Before him was a wall lined with computers.“So, these all work?” he asked. The excitement tightened his chest so much he was barely able to get the words out.Paul was busy messing around behind one of the computers. “No, just this one,” he answered, nonchalant, completely oblivious to Gabriel ’s demeanor.“Oh,” responded Gabriel , his heart and shoulders immediately sinking.With a flicker and hum the screen to the computer Paul had been working on sprang to life. “Excellent,” he muttered to himself as he sat down in the nearest chair. Then, to Gabriel , he said, “I didn’t want to use up too much power at once by letting a bunch of computers I didn’t need run all at once.”“Yes, that would be awful.” Gabriel ’s voice was flat and emotionless, as though he were no longer able to work up the energy to be expressive.Paul’s fingers blazed across the keyboard in clearly familiar patterns. The computer beeped some noises as it loaded up the operating system. “Here, come take a look at th
The door had a thick metal handle and no lock. It had no window or door jam, but instead smoothly slid into the wall with only the slightest of seams to give away that it was even there at all. Even with the metal handle, it was almost invisible.Jay pulled on the handle, but the door did not budge. On the wall next to the door was a panel that looked like a key card reader. On the reader was a small, red light. It was dim, almost imperceptible, but it was definitely glowing. Jay rubbed his finger across its surface. The light being on meant there was power running to the door. Which meant whatever was beyond the door Paul had considered important enough to make sure he would continue to have access to it. He also considered it important enough to block access to everyone else, since he could’ve left the power off and the door open or at least unlocked. This, he knew instinctively, was the secret Paul was hiding. This was the mystery Jay had sensed since they first arrived.If only he
With a new wave of excitement he began running around back to the locked rooms, peering inside through any windows, hoping to see if there was some indication of a devastating secret. Something, anything, that would make Paul’s warning seem rational. Most of the rooms were still dark. Of the ones he could see inside, all the rooms were empty. A couple looked badly trashed, with some dried blood splatters on the walls and chairs and tables upturned. One had a light fixture hanging loose from the ceiling on a single cable, its light occasionally flickering like lightning. But nothing good, nothing he had not really already seen upstairs.His fear of disappointment washed over him again. It didn’t make much sense to him that Paul would go through all this effort to keep these secrets, and then there would be nothing to him. Maybe he had been telling the truth. Maybe behind these locked doors, there were only dangerous diseases that Jay had risked letting loose on the world. Maybe Gabriel
“It’s bullshit!” Jay shot back, finally recovered enough to speak properly. “It’s all bullshit. Everything Paul said. He’s a lying, backstabbing, no-good son of a…”Jay stopped himself and glanced around, seeming to realize for the first time that there were other people there.“Look, just come with me,” he finished, almost meekly.“Fine,” Robert agreed, just wanting to get this over with. “Lead the way.”Jay had not intended for anyone other than Robert to come, but the whole group, enveloped by their own curiosity, decided to follow along. As they traveled, they passed Matthew, Donald, and Gabriel, who took note of the procession and decided that they, too, belonged in this group and fell into step behind them.They entered the office buildings and followed Jay down a maze of corridors until they came across a door none of them had noticed before. It was propped open only thanks to Jay’s shirt, which Robert figured to be a much more reasonable explanation for where the item of cloth
“-Alpha 10,” finished the voice, and as it did the faint image of a young man in army greens became visible. “The time is 0807. We are here assisting Dr. Totenberg and his assistant Dr. Delambre on their expedition of the caves.”“Blah blah blah,” came another voice, and the camera shifted to reveal another soldier, walking toward the first. “Do we really gotta do this shit?”“This ‘shit’ as you call it is important scientific research,” came an angry German voice. Now the camera focused on a third man, a man wearing khaki work clothes over a button down shirt and tie. He was balding, his dark brown hair making a little scoop along the center of his head like it was a solitary starfighter in the epic battle against time and age. Tall, thick glasses hung on a small, round nose that looked as though it would not be able to support this weight without the aid of the bushy brown mustache standing so firmly beneath it. “Need I remind you that Ryerson pays your bills, Private?”The impertin
By now, the unit had begun firing, and the sound of semi-automatic rifle bursts filled the cave. At various moments shouts could be heard to the effect of, “Over there! Something moving! In the shadows! What the hell?” These exclamations would always be punctuated by more rapid gunfire.Despite their frantic efforts, however, the soldiers were being picked off one by one. In the corner of the screen, two more were pulled away by an unseen force. Something large and white pounced on a third and disappeared out of the frame. Only two soldiers remained on screen. They took a few steps as they fired, and then when something landed on the man furthest away from the camera the last man turned and fled. He was definitely not the only one in the group, as the echo of footsteps resounded like cannon fire against the walls, and shouts of “Retreat!” and “Get the hell out of here!” could be heard.The camera man yanked up his camera and turned from the room, quickly running back the way they had