Chapter 45
45
In the helicopter, Ani’s eyes burned from staring down at the icy whiteness below.
Gil would be fine. He had to be. Ani hadn’t nursed him back to health just for him to get caught by mercenaries on a glacier. Gil was the most capable man she knew. He’d probably figured out some brilliant, creative way to handle those evil assholes. She just had to have faith.
Sergeant Thomson gestured for her to lean close, so she could hear the chatter over the headphones. “We’re sending in reinforcements. Our guy has visual confirmation of a group of twelve minors. We have one asset on the scene, with some civilian backup. Adversaries are armed. Seven confirmed so far, potentially more. Sending three aircraft.”
“They found the kids!” Ani could hardly breathe from stress. “Thank God.”
She stared down at the lake, the glacier, the wisps of mist between her and the ground. The shining thread of a creek caught her eye. It traced a meandering path through boulders and ice until it disappeared into the forest.
The virus was waterborne, she remembered, and those cases were the most severe.
If those mercs had any of the virus stashed here, they could have released small amounts into the watershed, resulting in only a few people getting sick enough to hallucinate. Only four, that she knew about.
But what if they decided to send even more of it into the wild? How quickly would it make its way through the creeks and streams? What about the drinking water? Very few people had wells in Firelight Ridge. They depended on rainwater and filtered stream water. Did the filters screen out the omegavirus?
What if it got into Snow River, which flowed all the way to the ocean?
Ani gripped Sergeant Thomson’s shoulder. “Can you communicate with them? With Gil and the others?”
“Indirectly.”
“Tell them the bad guys might be planning to infect the waterways with the omegavirus.”
“ What ? Why would they do that?”
“I don’t know. Just pass the word. We can’t let that happen.”
Sergeant Thomson nodded and spoke into her radio, while Ani launched an inward chanting prayer. Please let everyone be okay. Please be okay. Don’t let anyone else get hurt.
The helicopter turned back toward the area where the gunfire had come from.
“What now?” Ani asked the sergeant. “What do they want us to do?”
“We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing, distract them, then land when it’s safe so we get those kids home. We’re going to need you.” She gave Ani a sharp glance, probably noting her slightly green complexion. “Are you up for it?”
“Sergeant Thomson, you’re talking to the new Ani, who is really just the old Ani I’ve always been, and I am up for anything.”
Gil pulled the others in for a huddle. “Nyx, what do you think Victor’s mental state is right now, based on your knowledge of the fungus he’s been taking?”
“No telling.” Nyx shook his head, his eyes shadowed. “He thinks he’s saving the world, right? He might do something dramatic.”
Lachlan nodded his agreement. “Victor has a flair for drama. I hate to say it, but I don’t trust him to do the right thing right now.”
“If we can get those kids out, I say we go for it,” Sam agreed. He glanced at the soldier. “I know we’re supposed to wait, but if something bad happens while we’re just hanging out in this tunnel…”
“Yeah, fuck that,” Gil agreed. He turned to Walters. “We need to get those kids out if we can.”
Walters’ comms crackled, and he stepped away to speak to his commander. When he came back, his face was grim. “They’re saying to watch out for a canister of the virus. These people might try to release it into the water.”
Nyx clapped a hand to his forehead. “Fuck, that’s how they were strong-arming Victor. They were threatening to dump the omega into the water if he didn’t hand over his research. But he didn’t care because he had his magic mushroom cure, even though it doesn’t actually work. That’s why they grabbed the kids.”
“Maybe they already did a test run, and that’s why there’s a mini-outbreak. It’s just a few cases, but…”
Lachlan finished the thought. “But they could do it again, even worse this time. If their backs are up against the wall, who knows what they might do.”
“We can’t let that happen. We need to find where they’re keeping the virus,” Gil said. The others nodded in agreement, the ring of faces showing everything ranging from grimness to determination.
He looked down the tunnel toward the pile of rocks that blocked the entrance to the cave. “What do you think the chances are that they’re using those kids as human shields and that the virus is inside that cave?”
“The generator could be running cold storage,” said Lachlan. “And there’s likely a runoff stream somewhere close by. I’d say the chances are pretty good.”
With a worried frown, Sam looked from Gil to Corporal Walters. “I don’t think we can wait. Not with Firelight Ridge on the line. We’re all here to help, just tell us what to do.”
Gil nodded to the corporal, deferring to him. Walters assessed the four of them, then quickly issued his directions. “You three, stay back here and help with the kids once they come out. Gil and I will go in, since we’re the only ones armed. We’ll deal with the guards, then locate the canister. First priority is to get the kids out.”
Gil nodded, since that was exactly how he would have planned it. Except for one thing. “Nyx should come with us. Those kids will trust him more than us.”
“Fine,” the corporal agreed. “Nyx, stay back behind the rocks, out of the line of fire. Once we get the kids out, you work with Sam and Lachlan.”
Nyx nodded eagerly. Gil figured he was happy for the chance to redeem himself.
“I can find us a good escape route,” said Lachlan. He met Gil’s eyes, and didn’t have to use words to express what both of them were feeling— be careful. Get out safely. See you on the other side.
He pictured Ani up there in that helicopter. Hadn’t she said something about wanting a normal life without all this drama and adventure? And yet she’d climbed aboard a helicopter to help deal with this crisis. Should that give him hope?
He needed one more chance to make his case to her. Just one more. But first, they had a town to save.
Back to business. “How are the guards situated?” he asked Walters.
The soldier used a stick to draw a little diagram in the dirt. “This one has his back to this tunnel. They’re not really guarding it, it’s just a crack between rocks. I can handle him. The other two are on the western end of the cave. The kids are to the right.”
Silently, the three of them crept toward the cave at the end of the tunnel. When they reached the crack, Gil saw the silhouette of a man in combat gear—his stance was relaxed, unworried.
Walters moved quickly, disabling the guard in one swift stroke. He dragged him back through the crack. He and Gil worked quickly to put him in zip-ties and pull him out of sight, while Nyx hung back, eyes huge in the dark dankness of the tunnel.
With the guard out of the way, they had a clearer view of the cave. Gil and Walters took stock of the situation. The other two guards stood together at the far end of the cave, weapons relaxed at their sides. They were entirely focused on the gunfire ringing out overhead, and the in-and-out drone of the helicopter.
A group of fifteen teenaged kids sat together in one part of the cave, over to the right. Some were curled on their sides, half asleep. They looked hungry and exhausted, in need of showers and food and reassurance. One boy caught Gil’s eye and made a surprised noise.
Gil put a finger to his lips and shrank back into the shadows.
One of the guards looked over. “Keep it down over there,” he said lazily. He obviously didn’t consider them a flight risk.
Where was the canister holding the virus? The hum of a generator came from the left, behind another jumble of rocks. The ceiling of the cave was much lower there, and he imagined it was also colder. Maybe everything was stashed back there.
No sign of Victor Canseco.
He gestured to Corporal Walters—you take the guard on the left, I’ll take the one on the right. These were mercenaries, in peak condition. Gil was still recovering from the virus. The only advantage on his side was surprise, so he had to act fast.
But the corporal shook his head. “I got the guards,” he said in a barely audible whisper. “You look for the virus.”
Gil nodded to accept the assignment, then flattened himself against the wall so the corporal could squeeze past him. They parted ways, Walters headed toward the guards, Gil to the other branch of the cave. As he crept along the wall, Gil kept an eye on Walters. If the corporal ran into trouble, he’d spring into action. But in the meantime, he focused on the hum of that generator. The closer he came to that pile of rocks, the louder it got.
A series of grunts and shouts from the western part of the cave had him looking back. One guard was down, sprawled on his back, unconscious. The other was fighting back, locked in a tight grapple with Walters.
The kids were on their feet, clustered together, watching and murmuring among themselves.
“Nyx,” Gil called. “You’re up.”
At the crack in the rock, Nyx poked his head through. “Come on, guys!” He kept his voice low, then added something in another language. That worked.
The teenagers scrambled across the cave, with the stronger ones helping those who seemed more exhausted and weak. The boy who had caught Gil’s eye ran across the cave toward him. He was a tall young man with dark hair past his shoulders, dirt on his face. He looked weary and pissed off. “There’s something fucked up going on here,” he told Gil. “They have a generator and a freezer and some canisters. It’s all back there. I can show you.” He gestured at the area Gil had already zeroed in on. Good. Confirmation.
The harsh grunts of a fierce battle sounded from the western end of the cave. Corporal Walters was trying to pin down the guard, who was fighting to get a hand on his weapon. If bullets flew inside this cave, it could be disaster for everyone.
“Get out of here,” Gil urged the teenager. “Go take care of your friends. I got this.”
The boy hurried away, and Gil headed for the rocks that protected the other branch of the cave. Back there was the virus, and maybe Victor’s research, his samples, a potential bioweapon in the making.
It had to be stopped, all of it.
He found an opening in the rocks and gingerly poked his head in to see what he was up against.
Something struck his head, hard, and he reeled backwards. Everything went black.