Fronk’s fingers danced rapidly across the keyboard of his laptop as he, Erin and Bandjough watched the scene displayed on the monitor. Fronk had an uncanny ability of being able to type at a fast pace without even looking at the keyboard. While at any other time, Erin and Bandjough would have been impressed with it, but this time their attention was focused on the woman, whom they had heard Carr refer to as Danielle Marie Anderson - and then Dozois.
LeBeau, for his part, was tired of looking at the monitor. He was a man of action and he wanted to do something other than to sit around and wait for something to happen. Unfortunately, he had his orders and those orders included waiting. With only one option open for him to take out his frustrations, he had begun to pace impatiently around the table the others were at.
LeBeau suddenly came to an abrupt halt in front of the screen doors and he glared out through the screen. He let out a weary sigh. “Anythin’ new happenin’?” he demanded with a scowl.
Fronk ignored the question. He concentrated on what he was doing.
Erin glanced toward LeBeau. “She’s just standing there, Keith. Nothing has changed. The toxin is still entering in through the vent.”
LeBeau turned his head, and even though it wasn’t aimed personally at Erin, he glared at her nonetheless. “What do you mean, nothin’s happenin’? Is that the toxin being pumped in there or ain’t it?”
“It is,” Fronk replied.
“It’s a deadly toxin, right?”
“It is,” Fronk said again.
“Then, how can it not be doin’ nothin’ to her? How can she just be standin’ there? Shouldn’t she be dead? I thought that toxin was deadly.”
“Maybe you’re doing it, Crazy Man,” Bandjough replied encouragingly. “Maybe you’ve kept it from going into the quarantined room.”
Fronk shook his head. His fingers continued its fast pace over his keyboard. “I wish that were so, but so it is not. I managed to close it off, yes, but…not in time. There’s enough toxin in that room to kill everyone here at the outpost.”
Erin leaned over for a better look. “William, I just don’t get it. What could possibly be protecting her from the toxin?”
No one had an answer.
“Well, what about the door?” Bandjough asked as LeBeau decided to join them over the laptop once more. “Can you open it so our guys can get in the unit?”
“Working on it, Jay,” Fronk quipped. “Now don’t be such a bird! That’s kind of absurd. If you want to stay, don’t get in the way!”
“What?”
“Never mind…I’ll try this.” Fronk typed in a series of random numbers, and encoded it so that the numbers would continue to change. At the rate the numbers were going, all they could do is wait to see if one of those series of numbers was going to open the sealed Quarantine unit. “Open…sesame!”
They all watched the monitor screen expectantly.
“Why aren’t you dying, Miss Dozois?” Carr asked, watching the events transpiring on the other side of the barrier. His question wasn’t out of frustration but because he was genuinely curious. He watched Danielle as if she were nothing more than a test subject…which was exactly what she was at the moment.
Danielle continued to stare up at the vent above her room, but she surprised herself by her response to her captor. “Thanks so much for your concern. Why don’t you come on in here and find out for yourself?”
Carr paused as he considered her words. “You know something? I think you have just offered us a splendid idea.”
She turned to regard him, puzzled. “What?”
“I like your idea.”
“Are you serious?” She glanced at the door, wondering if there was anyway she could get out when it opened.
Carr wagged a forefinger at her. “Ah ah ah! I know what you’re thinking, and even if you get past that first door, you won’t get out the second one. That’s the little decompression unit, which keeps the contaminated air from your room from escaping out here into ours. And we are the only ones who can open both doors. Naturally, for you, we won’t do that, so get those thoughts of escape from out of your head.”
She glared at him.
“As for your idea, let me clarify to you so you will clearly understand that it won’t be me who comes in there to you. This is why I have people who work for me.” He snapped his fingers at the two FEMA agents present with him. “One of you needs to go in there and find out why our guest isn’t dying.”
The two men glanced at each other. One of them reluctantly reached for an environment suit from a locker at the back of the unit.
Carr shook his head. “Without the suit.”
The man hesitated. “But, sir…I’ll be exposed to the toxin.”
“Well, of course, you will be. That is the idea.” He shrugged. “Miss Dozois is exposed. You imbeciles are doing something wrong because if that truly were the X-24 being pumped into her chamber, she would have already been gone. So get in there - without the suit - and find out what it is that you did wrong!”
“I assure you, Mr. Carr…that is the toxin.”
Carr looked through the barrier at Danielle. “How do you feel, Miss Dozois?”
She blinked. “Do you really care how I feel?”
“How do you feel?” he repeated impatiently.
She let out a sigh. “I feel angry.”
Carr turned to the FEMA agent and shrugged. “There. Do you see now? Your toxin has done nothing more than to make our guest angry. Now I want you to get in there and find out why it isn’t working because if you don’t, all I have to do is make one phone call and -”
The man visibly paled. “Alright! I’ll…I’m going in.” He stepped up to the first door and keyed in the numeric code to open it. It hissed open and he hesitantly stepped into the small enclosed decontamination unit between the chamber and lab.
Carr and the other FEMA agent watched him as the first door sealed shut. The agent inside the small unit stepped up to the second door. He looked through the Plexiglas door at Danielle. She stood at the far end of the chamber, determined to do everything she could to make things extremely difficult for him if he came anywhere near her. But she was having second thoughts as she saw the fear and uncertainty in his eyes.
She didn’t have any idea what this toxin was that they were intentionally exposing her to. From the look on the man’s face as he prepared to enter, he appeared to be a man who was carrying out a death sentence. His own. That spoke volumes to her. It told her that she was going to share that sentence with him.
She couldn’t believe the sudden direction her life had taken. One day, she was happily married. The next, she was disowned by her husband, forced to leave her home, and suddenly found herself in a laboratory as a test subject for a toxin that was unknown to her. She felt like she was in a very bad Science Fiction film.
The man took one last deep breath, keyed in another series of numbers onto another numeric pad and opened the door. Then, he stepped inside, the door sealing shut behind him.
Danielle watched him, wanting to keep as much distance between them as possible. She didn’t have to be concerned about that. The very second the door sealed shut behind him, he began to tremble. He stood still, his body suddenly tense. His eyes widened in fear. He opened his mouth to scream, but no scream came out. The trembling became worst. He began to literally foam at the mouth, but the foam was the deep color of blood.
Danielle stared in horror.
Beyond the barrier, the other FEMA agent and Carr watched. The agent was horrified beyond words, but the Director of Justice watched dispassionately. It was as if he watched these types of horrors every day and was no longer phased by them. Or perhaps he just didn’t care. With no expression on his face, as the man he sentenced to death suddenly turned and made a feeble attempt to reopen the door.
The man just couldn’t do it.
He gasped but it sounded more like a gargle. He fell up against the door as his skin began to move.
At least to Danielle who was trapped in the same chamber, that’s what it seemed to be doing. Then, she suddenly realized what was happening. The man’s flesh was dissolving as if he had been dipped in acid. She backed up as far as she could until the wall was at her back. Her right hand covered her nose and mouth because of the nauseating smell that was filling the chamber. Tears filled her eyes.
The FEMA agent and Carr outside the chamber continued to watch. Neither one of them noticed the monitors behind them. On one of those monitors, Lenox and Barrington were right outside the door of their mobile quarantine unit, and the sealed door to gain entrance was just about to open.
“Lenox,” Averill exclaimed, focusing his attention on the two men in front of the sealed door, “you need to get away from that door!”
Lenox completely ignored him, but he withdrew his weapon once more.
Averill and the three agents with him also withdrew their weapons and leveled them toward Lenox and Barrington. Barrington withdrew his weapon and held it toward Averill while Shiva faced a standoff with two of the Justice agents. The ex-wrestler kept his firearm targeted on one of them, and then the other. Back and forth.
Fuller took Staci by the arm and placed himself in front of her. He did not, however, withdraw a weapon. He simply stood his ground and glared at the Justice agents.
Alyson also stood her ground, but no one was paying any attention to her. She looked behind the Justice agents, delighted to see that Meers was still filming everything. She felt extremely close to an award winning Pulitzer Prize. This story was going to be the biggest story she had ever done, and once it got out, she knew it would also have the biggest coverage since the vanishings. And she was the first reporter on the scene. No one in her field was even aware of what was transpiring in Allentown.
Lenox, however, was fully aware of the tension behind him but his attention was focused on the sealed hatch in front of him. He didn’t care about the Justice agents behind him with their weapons trained on his back. With his own weapon at the ready, he was prepared to enter into the mobile Quarantine Unit the second the door opened. He could hear the telltale clicks, hums, and whirls inside the hatch’s mechanisms that indicated Fronk was attempting to break the numeric code.
“Lenox!” Averill shouted again.
Lenox continued to pay no attention to him whatsoever.
“Put your weapons away,” Fuller told the Justice agents.
Averill leveled his firearm directly at Fuller’s head. “Tell your men to back away from the door! Now! ”
“Put,” Fuller repeated once more, “your weapons away.”
Averill sighed in frustration. “Lenox! Man, you and I need to have a talk.”
Lenox didn’t reply because at that very second, there was a loud click and a hiss. The hatch was released. He pulled it open and with his weapon leveled before him, he entered into the unit. Barrington followed him, but he was wondering why Averill wanted to have a conversation with Lenox. There was something more to Averill’s request than just to tell them to keep away from the hatch. Barrington was certain of it.
Lenox stepped inside the mobile unit with Barrington behind him and he saw Ed Carr and another man standing in front of an enclosed chamber with a large Plexiglas barrier separating them from it. The FEMA agent turned to regard Lenox with a look of hopelessness as the ATD agent pressed the barrel of his Beretta against the back of Carr’s head. He was about to say something when Barrington interrupted.
“Michael…” he said softly.
Lenox turned his head and that’s when he saw what was in the enclosed chamber. A woman was huddled on the floor against the wall at the back of the room, and right in front of the only way in or out was a skeleton that was wearing tattered clothing and lying on what appeared to be a huge amount of red dust.
Fuller, Shiva, and Staci entered and when they saw what the others saw, they were horrified. As Alyson entered, she hung back. She was unable to see clearly what the others were looking at because space was limited, but she caught glimpses. Something horrible had happened. Even so, the only thing that disturbed her about the scene was that Averill and another Justice agent were at the doorway. This prevented Meers from entering the mobile unit to film what was happening. Sighing with frustration, she realized she would have to find a way to improvise.
Lenox turned his head to glare at Carr. “What is that in there?” He indicated the corpse in the chamber with the trapped woman.
Carr didn’t appear to be concerned about the gun pressed against his head. He actually smirked. “That is the answer to the so-called rapture theory.”
Larry and Faye Yeomans had met each other during the years of furthering their education at Colby College in Waterville, Maine. Larry Yeomans was majoring in Economics and Business, while Faye Bryce was majoring in Psychology. They each pursued after a Minor Course of Creative Writing.
During their first year of college, they attended only one class together - at least they attended the same class but not literally together. They sat opposite from each other; Yeomans was on the left of the auditorium while Faye was on the right. At the time, they didn’t know each other and during that first year, they rarely exchanged words. Faye did on one occasion begin to have a crush on him but did not actively pursue him for two reasons.
The first reason was because she wanted to concentrate on her classes. She did not attend college to pursue a relationship but a career. The second reason, however, was the real reason she did not try to pursue after Yeomans, and that was due to the obvious fact that he was already in a relationship with Shannon Coverton. Faye personally could not understand how a nice guy like Yeomans could be dating Shannon because any contact Faye had with her made her feel awful about herself.
Shannon complained about everything.
“These classes are just too long!”
“The projects they make us do are just too time consuming!”
“The reading assignments are just too much! I don’t have time to read three hundred pages of The Battle of Thermopylae!”
“Oh, these seats are just too high!”
“I just can’t write that many notes!”
Shannon also complained about everyone.
“Professor Bartlett expects too much from me and she‘s overbearing!”
“That boy over there looks like Harry Potter. I hate Harry Potter!”
“Look at those ridiculous colors on her! I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing that. I just wouldn’t!”
“Nice people are only nice because they’re just too stupid to be anything else.”
Shannon even complained about Faye.
“You need to have another zip code in another state. Preferably on the other side of the planet!”
“You must be mentally deficient because you like to stare at my boyfriend a lot.”
“Your hair needs to be longer in front…so that it covers your face.”
Shannon was a young woman who simply did not have any consideration for anyone’s feelings but her own. Faye could not understand what Yeomans saw in her. In Faye’s mind, he had absolutely nothing in common with Shannon and it was a mystery even to his closest friends why he didn’t break it off with her.
Near the end of the first year, however, that break up did occur. It wasn’t Yeomans who ended it, but Shannon. She waited until the last day of classes to implement her evil schemes. They went to a party, had a great time, but just before the party ended, Shannon sang a karaoke song off key and changed the lyrics while singing. She sang about breaking up with a dweeb named Larry Yeomans because she no longer could be associated with the likes of him. By the time she was done, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Yeomans had just been publicly humiliated and dumped. Shannon seemed to derive a great deal of malicious pleasure at ridiculing him in front of everyone they knew.
During that summer, Yeomans remained on campus, but mostly he kept to himself. The second year came along and he and Faye had a few more classes together. Faye offered him friendship, but at first, Yeomans kept his distance. Not just from her, but from all of his friends. The pain of the breakup was still evident in his eyes, and the only reason he didn’t drop out altogether was because of his determination to succeed. He began to pour everything he had into his studies. He kept away from every campus activity. He refused to embrace the party lifestyle that his friends tried to get him into.
Nothing mattered to him but his studies.
But eventually, it happened.
By the time the second year of college came toward a close, he and Faye had become friends. When there were only two weeks left of classes, Faye decided to take that chance she had wanted to when she first met him. She sat at his table during lunch and simply started talking to him. At first, he seemed uncomfortable, but suddenly he paid attention to her. And then he talked back. When this happened, she smiled at him…and he had been smitten. Then, they shared a very long conversation.
During the third year of college, there was no Shannon Coverton. She had dropped out. But Yeomans and Faye had continued pursuing their studies and each other. They had begun to date and many on campus had begun to call them the PC simply because they had become the Perfect Couple.
After they had graduated, they had not only obtained their careers, but they had also married.
Several years later, they found themselves driving in a small convoy, loaded up with groceries, and heading for a shelter located outside of Belgrade, Maine. As they drove up the long driveway leading up to the burnt remains of a farmhouse, a barn and a silo, they could not help but notice several vehicles parked on a lawn in front of a wooden fence. Several tents had been erected. Several people could be seen moving about and most of them stopped what they were doing to watch their arrival.
Faye suddenly pointed. “Larry…look.”
Yeomans turned his head and to his surprise, he saw an RV. An RV he had seen before. “You’ve got to be kidding. What is she doing here?”
Faye didn’t have an answer for him.
Someone directed them to park amongst the other vehicles on the lawn. When Yeomans stopped the van and turned off the engine, the man who had directed them was waiting for him to exit the vehicle. Larry glanced at Faye as he opened the door.
The man approached him and held out his hand. “Welcome to our little abode,” he said. “I’m John Saint.”
Yeomans shook his hand. “Really? Saint you say?”
Saint grinned. “Don’t let the name fool you.”
“John!”
They both turned, noticing that they were being approached by someone.
“Hi, Peter,” Saint greeted. “I see that basic staples wasn’t the only thing you picked up.” He grinned at Yeomans and Faye to show them he was just giving Peter Chase a hard time. “I guess that means they’ll both get your share of the grub.”
Yeomans hesitated. “Oh, I’m sorry. We don’t mean to be any trouble.”
“Relax,” Chase told him, clapping him on the back. “As you can see, John isn’t a saint. He likes to tease newcomers and give them a scare, but he’s really a nice guy. John, this is Larry Yeomans and his wife, Faye. The Lord directed them to the shopping center in Belgrade where we met them and as they have no place to go, I invited them to join us.”
Saint nodded to the Yeomans’. “You’re both welcome to join us, of course.”
“Thank you.” Yeomans walked around the van and opened the door for his wife. “Is everyone here Christians?”
“Yes.” Saint paused, thinking of the man in the barn who was having a conversation with David King. “With one possible exception we need to continue to pray for.”
Yeomans misunderstood his reference for someone else. “You must mean Amber Eastwood.”
Saint and Chase exchanged looks.
“Who?” Chase asked.
Yeomans nodded his head toward the parked RV. “Amber Eastwood. That’s hers. I recognized it when we arrived, but I admit I‘m a little surprised by it.”
Saint regarded him. “What makes you sure that Amber’s not saved?”
Yeomans paused as he glanced at his wife. “Well…she stole something.”
“Jesus forgave the thief who was on the cross beside Him.”
“Well…yes, I know. I don’t mean to say that Amber can’t be a Christian. For all we know, she accepted Him and is a child of the King.” He shrugged. “It’s been a few months since we’ve seen her.”
“If you don’t mind my asking…what was it that Amber stole?”
Yeomans paused. “She took $60,000 from the company I worked at and I was the one who was held responsible for it.”
King was having a hard time processing what he had just heard. Bollinger had not only just professed that he was a new Christian, but that he also had a desire to follow the Lord by serving Him. Bollinger had deliberately sought out David King so that he could personally join in the cause and help the Gatherers.
King regarded Bollinger for a moment as he tried to discern the truth. Bollinger by his own nature was a trickster. A deceiver. What he was doing at this very moment could be just another one of his deceptions.
On the other hand, it could also be the truth. King himself had been a terrorist, but he had turned his back on his old life as a Muslim and embraced a new life with Jesus Christ as his Lord. There were many personalities in the Bible who had similar life changing experiences, and their names had also been changed. From Abram to Abraham. From Jacob, the Deceiver, to Israel, the Overcomer. From Saul of Tarsus to Paul, the Apostle of Jesus Christ.
Was Bollinger sincere?
King wanted to believe that he was. “If you truly want to join in the work that we are doing,” he began thoughtfully, “then why do you hide yourself in the hayloft? Why do you not come out and be among us?”
Bollinger paused. Finally, he shrugged. “I…was uncertain of the kind of reception I would get from you, knowing our history together.”
“But our history is behind us, is it not?”
“Yes. Of course, it is.”
Now it was King’s turn to pause. “Tell me, James…what were the events you’ve experienced that finally led you to your conversion?”
Bollinger again paused, but intentionally. “Everything that I have been witnessing in the recent aftermath of the vanishings and the attack has finally caused me to…to re-evaluate my standing. I’ve begun to realize that I may have always known the truth - and believed it…but until recently, I…I’ve never really accepted it. I became…” He turned to look at King thoughtfully. “I became restless, David. I began to see the Book of Revelation becoming fulfilled right before my eyes…and I became afraid.”
“So your conversion then has been motivated by fear?”
“That…and an emptiness I’ve been unable to fulfill since…” Bollinger trailed off and avoided eye contact with King. “Anyway…I recognized my need and I…I did something about it. Because of it, my restlessness has finally come to an end.”
King regarded him for a moment. It had not escaped his notice that Bollinger had been about to reveal something personal, but had stopped himself. King decided not to inquire about it at the moment. He was certain another opportunity would present itself for further discussions at another time. At the present, he felt that it was time to remove Bollinger from his seclusion and invite him to come among those at the shelter.
“Come with me, then,” King replied with a welcoming smile as he clapped his hand on Bollinger’s shoulder. “It’s time for you to join us and we can all celebrate your conversion by singing our praises to Him and sharing our testimonies.”
Bollinger smiled at him. “That’s great,” he said.
When King walked ahead of him and had his back to him, Bollinger’s smile faded and he actually rolled his eyes with reluctance. He didn’t feel as if he were ready to share his testimony with anyone. As he followed King out of the barn, Sheriff Hoag climbed out of the stall he had been hiding in.
Cautiously, the Sheriff moved toward the barn doors and he peered out through the small opening King and Bollinger had left when they had closed it. He watched their backs as they walked away from the barn to join up with the others who were out there as well. Hoag silently watched them as he considered his options.
But then a voice from behind him interrupted his thoughts.
“Sheriff…”
Hoag spun around, withdrawing his revolver and leveling it at the intruder in one quick move. To his surprise, Anthony Morris was standing there, having entered through the entrance at the other end of the barn.
“What are you doing here?” Morris demanded.
Hoag wasn’t all that certain that Morris was going to like his answer.
No comments:
Post a Comment