Fronk was busy working on the task that Shiva had given to him. Using his computer skills on his laptop, the video cam and the details of the mystery surrounding Allentown, he believed he and Erin could get the job done.
Meanwhile, Shiva had been walking back toward the Quarantine Mobile Unit when his cell phone rang. He took it out, answered the call, and as he listened to Fuller on the other end, he stopped walking.
“Certainly, sir,” he said without hesitation. “I understand completely. I’ll have them ready to move out on a moment’s notice.”
Then, he snapped his phone shut, turned around and retraced his steps back to their quarters. As he got to the door, he remembered that he hadn’t seen LeBeau or Bandjough inside. Just Fronk and Erin.
He opened the door and looked inside. “Hey, do either of you know where Ace and Rookie went off to? I‘ve got to relay a message to them from the Director.”
“Ooh, a message!” Fronk exclaimed. “What is it?”
“Ah…it’s just for them.”
He snapped his fingers. “So it’s a decoded message!”
Shiva nodded hesitantly. “Sure, it is. If that makes you happy to think of it as being decoded, knock yourself out. Are you gonna tell me where they went or do I have to guess.”
“Nah. I’ll tell ye, me giant ex-wrestling junkie.” Fronk leaned back in his chair and looked at the ex-wrestler. “They headed on over to the Storm Breaker.”
“What for?”
“They want to be ready to fly over Allentown,” Erin answered.
Shiva nodded. “Oh. It’s just as well. I’ll catch you guys later.”
Fronk waved at him. “Coitenly! Nycuk, nyuck, nyuck!”
Shaking his head at Fronk’s imitation of Curly from the Three Stooges, Shiva purposefully strode through the Outpost until he came to the outskirts of it. He saw two of Justices Bell ARH’s on separate landing pads while the Storm Breaker was on an assigned landing pad for the ATD agents. Observing the Bell ARH’s, Shiva clearly remembered when a Bell ARH similar to the ones he was looking at chased the Storm Breaker over Albany. That had been a close call.
He marveled at how they could still be working with Justice when deep in his heart, he knew the time was coming when Justice would be hunting those who called themselves the Gatherers. Ed Carr would be leading the hunt personally.
Shaking off the thoughts, Shiva found the pilots inside the Storm Breaker. He slid open the door, climbed in and closed it. Then, he stuck his head inside the cockpit.
“Hey,” he said, “how soon can you have the Storm Breaker ready for flight?”
Bandjough turned his head to look at him. “Why do you want to know? Are we going over Allentown?”
Shiva shook his head. “No. That’s not the plan.”
LeBeau held his clipboard in his lap. It contained the preflight checklist he knew like the back of his hand. He was tapping it against his leg because he was bored to tears and itching for some action. “We can be in the air in ten minutes. Less if we were goin’ somewhere now.” He let out a sigh. “Do you have a destination in mind?”
“I’m afraid I don’t…but the Director might have something in mind. He told me to tell you guys to be ready to move out at a moments notice.”
“We’re ready.”
Bandjough nodded in agreement. “We’ve been ready.”
Shiva paused. “Yeah, it does get pretty boring when all you have to do is wait, doesn’t it?”
“You should talk!” LeBeau exclaimed. “You’re out there in the action, Fury! I know how to fly but sometimes, I’d much rather be in on the action. I don’t do well when all I got to do is twiddle my thumbs and listen to Rookie rant about how much he likes tennis!”
“Tennis is a very relaxing sport,” Bandjough told him.
“It’s relaxin’ because it’s borin’. It puts me to sleep just thinkin’ about it!”
“Well, I’m sorry I brought it up.”
“So am I.” With a sigh, LeBeau turned to Shiva. “So, yeah, Fury, we’re ready to go. Go back and tell the Director…to hurry up!”
Grinning, Shiva climbed back out of the Storm Breaker and headed for the Quarantine Mobile Unit.
“Why can’t we hear what’s going on in there?” Carr asked suspiciously as he glared at Barrington, Staci, and Danielle through the Plexiglas. The three were huddled together, and he didn’t like it that he had no idea what was going on inside the chamber.
Lenox couldn’t help but grin. “I’m sure it’s probably Doctor/Patient confidentiality or something like that. Or maybe your toxin fried the communications.”
“My toxin doesn’t affect electronic systems.”
Lenox and Fuller exchanged knowing looks.
“So you admit it’s your toxin?” Fuller inquired.
Carr hesitated. “What are you talking about? Of course, it isn’t my toxin. I’m sure you know that’s not what I meant.”
Lenox shook his head. “I’m not sure at all about anything you say. Everything that pops out of your mouth always seems to have some kind of a double meaning.”
“That is ridiculous.”
Alyson couldn’t resist. She had been silent for a while now, but the journalist inside wanted answers. “Mr. Carr, are they insinuating that the toxin - the X-24 - is actually owned by the government?”
Carr glared at her. “Of course, that’s not what they’re insinuating. They’re not insinuating anything.”
Lenox looked at Fuller. “He’s right.”
Fuller shrugged. “Of course, he is.”
“We’re not saying the government owns or even created the toxin to begin with.”
Alyson tilted her head. “What are you saying?”
“Ed Carr has his own agenda. I wouldn’t put it past him if he had people create the toxin for him…or they found it and are now keeping it for themselves. He does a lot of things while he works for the government, but many of those things aren’t always in the best interests of the American people. In fact, our government might not even know about this toxin.”
“But they will because of what happened here.”
Carr nodded his head. “Of course, they will. This is where the toxin was used by terrorists.”
“What terrorists?” Lenox demanded.
“We may never know.”
“Yeah…well, I think you really know what happened here and it isn’t exactly as you’ve told us.”
“You’re out of line.”
“I tell it like I see it.”
Carr glared at him but didn’t say anything further. He wanted to, but decided to seek out an opportunity for a private conversation with Lenox at another time.
At that moment, Alyson’s eyes widened. “What is she doing?”
They all turned and looked into the chamber.
Staci was taking her helmet off.
Lenox pounded on the Plexiglas barrier. “Staci!” he shouted. “What are you doing?!”
Carr stared in fascination.
Inside the chamber, Barrington moved toward Staci with intentions of stopping her, but he was too late. She had the helmet off and was standing there with her head tilted to the side. It was as if she were listening for something. What she was waiting for was for something to happen or not to happen.
After a moment, she realized that those outside the chamber were staring in at her. She turned around and saw Barrington and Danielle watching her. Danielle slowly got back up to her feet.
“Staci, are you out of your mind?” Lenox demanded, using the communications panel.
She smiled at him. “No. I just wanted to prove a point.”
“What point?”
“Danielle was unaffected by the toxin…because she is a Christian. She is one of His. Just as I am…” She turned her head to regard Barrington. “And just as you are.”
Barrington shook his head. “You…are something else. How do you feel?”
“I feel fine.”
Outside the Plexiglas, Lenox shook his head. “Staci, as much as I respect you for your faith, I can’t accept that. Why would God protect you and not those who reject Him?”
“Because we are living in the End Times, Michael,” Fuller responded. “And this toxin is being used to make the rapture - something God did - into a lie. It makes sense to me that God would protect His people from the toxin.”
Carr snorted. “I’d love to test your ridiculous idea, Director. Perhaps I should round up a few Christians and a few non-Christians, put them in a room together and release the toxin.”
Fuller turned to glare at him.
“Hypothetically speaking, of course.” Then, he turned to regard those in the chamber. “However, your idea has no basis, Dr. Cohen. It will take more than faith to prove what you say is true, and I, for one, do not believe it.”
Barrington took off his helmet and dropped it on the floor.
Carr shook his head. He turned to the FEMA agent. “Has the X-24 levels decreased any inside there?”
The agent consulted a monitor screen and shook his head. “No.” He swallowed. “There’s still enough toxin in there to wipe out everyone in the Outpost.”
Carr pursed his lips in thought. He looked in there once more and wondered how he would ever be able to get his hands on Staci, Danielle, and Barrington to run further tests. If what Staci said was true, what else would they be able to endure.
Lenox narrowed his eyes. “Don’t even think about it.”
Fuller stepped up to the communications panel beside Lenox. “Danielle…?”
Danielle turned her head, regarding him through the Plexiglas with suspicion. “Yes?”
“We’re getting you out of there. Justice has agreed to turn you over into our custody.”
“I don’t need to be in custody. I didn’t do anything.”
“Trust me. You will be treated fairly. And you can be certain we won’t put you through any of this…nonsense.”
Danielle looked at Barrington and Staci.
“You can trust him,” Staci said. “He’s one of the good guys.”
“Then, can’t we get out of here right now? Why do we have to wait.”
Carr leaned toward the Plexiglas. “The levels of toxin are still too high. You have to wait until it clears. If we let you out, you could expose us to the toxin.”
Danielle folded her arms. “Well, turnabout is fair play, don’t you think?”
The FEMA agent at the console outside the chamber looked up from the readouts on his monitor. “Actually, sir, if they come out through the opening, we could decontaminate them before they leave the chamber. The toxin will be cleanse through the process and we won’t face the risk of exposure.”
Carr glared at him. He had been attempting to keep them in there as long as he could until he came up with a plan. “We can’t be certain that some of the toxin won’t escape out here.”
“Yes, we can. There will be no danger after they have been decontaminated.”
Carr wanted to kill him.
Fuller leaned toward the panel. “Albert, each one of you come through decontamination one at a time. We’re getting you out of there now.”
Danielle’s eyes began to fill with tears at the thought of finally escaping the chamber of horrors. She turned to Staci and Barrington. “Can I…?” she trailed off.
Barrington nodded. “Of course. Go ahead.”
Taking a deep breath, Danielle rushed to the door as he opened it for her. She passed through the doorway and stood inside the small decontamination cubicle as Barrington resealed it closed. The FEMA agent on the outside ran the decontamination process, which to Danielle’s relief finally ended with a hiss.
The exit door opened and for the first time since the nightmare began, she finally stepped out of the chamber.
Fuller was waiting for her. Gently, he took her by the arm. “Why don’t you allow me to lead you out of here?”
“That would be nice,” she replied, smiling gratefully.
Carr did everything he could not to withdraw his gun as Fuller took Danielle out of the unit.
Fuller and Danielle walked together through the Outpost. “You’ll be safe now,” he told her. “I promise you that.”
“Who are you people?” she asked, grateful to be outside where the weather was clear and the air was fresh. “I mean, you, Staci, and Albert. That other guy in there…Michael?”
Fuller glanced at her. “We’re the ATD. An extension of the FBI.” He paused. “But, with the exception of Michael who we’re continuously praying for, we’re something else, too. We call ourselves the Gatherers and it is our purpose to gather as many people as we can for Christ before the end comes.”
Danielle considered his words. “That sounds noble.” She paused. “That also sounds like something my mother would get into. She always loved noble causes.”
Fuller paused. “Is…your mother someone you can go to right now?”
“Well…if I can get out of here, I can get to her. She’s in London.” She stopped. “Wait…I can’t. My husband…my…Andy took everything I had. Everything was in his name when he kicked me out. I don’t…” She stopped as the tears finally came. “I-I don’t have anything.”
Fuller placed his hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes. “Yes, you do, Danielle. You have a new family. One who can love you unconditionally. One who will always be there to help you in your time of need. I’ll get you to London to be with your mother. You’ll recover from this. I swear it.”
“Not that I’m ungrateful, but why are you helping me?”
“God’s people always take care of their own.”
She smiled wryly. “Because we’re family.”
“Yes.”
She shook her head. “This world just gets crazier and crazier, doesn‘t it?”
“It does indeed.” Fuller nodded in agreement as he continued to lead her toward the outskirts of the Outpost where LeBeau and Bandjough were waiting in the Storm Breaker. He had a plan, and that plan was simply to get her there where his pilots could fly her to safety far away from Allentown.
King considered thoughtfully what Morris had told him. Then, he turned to Saint, Chase, and Yeomans. “It would seem that I am required elsewhere.” He paused. “Larry, before I go, what is your idea?”
“Well,” Yeomans began, “it seems to me as if you’re running out of room here and starting to look like a campground. Someone’s bound to think this is odd and might come just to cause trouble.”
“That thought had crossed our minds as well,” Saint assured him.
“I know a place…It’s about a two hour drive from here, almost three actually. It’s a campground my cousins own. They had it closed for renovations on the cabins and facilities there so I don’t believe anyone’s there now. I figured that maybe we could take a drive up there and check it out.”
King nodded thoughtfully. “This is something to pursue, my brother. John, perhaps you would care to look into it?”
Saint shrugged nonchalantly. “Sure. Peter and I can go with Larry.”
“Excellent. Then, I shall see you in about six hours when you return.”
They shook hands, and King lead them in prayer for safe traveling mercies. Then, King thanked Morris for getting him. As he headed back for the barn, he prayed that God would use him to help make Sheriff Hoag see the Way.
Unfortunately, when he stepped into the barn and closed the door, Hoag pressed his gun against King’s head.
The Sheriff’s finger tightened on the trigger. “Glad you could make it, Musad. I just wanted another chance to see if you can survive a second bullet. Only this time, it will be right up close and personal.”
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