Fear (Gone 5)

“The stuff we get used to,” Jack said, and shook his head.

Sam said, “Listen, guys, you’ll hear about it soon enough: there’s something hinky going on with the barrier.”

“Kinky?”

“No, hinky. Weird.” Sam told them what he had seen.

“Maybe it’s Sinder’s powers causing it,” Jack suggested.

Sam nodded. “Possible. So tomorrow we’re going to have to explore a bit, see if the same thing is going on anywhere else.”

They had crossed the fields and now had to make it through a strip of weeds and sea grasses that ran along the top of the bluff.

It had been a while since Sam had seen the ocean. Not since they’d gone to the lake. It was black, painted with only the faintest glimmers of starlight. The moon was not out yet. The sound of the ocean had long been muted: there were no real waves in the FAYZ. But even the soft shush … shush … shush of water lapping on gritty sand touched something in Sam’s heart.

They had miscalculated their location by a few hundred yards and had to walk north along the sand in order to find the crushed container. The steel box—a shipping container with MAERSK written down the side—had fallen from a great height when Dekka lost control of it hundreds of feet in the air.

The contents—long, heavily constructed crates—had spilled out onto the sand. One of the crates had popped open. Sam decided to use a bit of battery power and flicked on a flashlight. Tail fins were clearly visible.

He flicked the light off. Paused.

Something not right.

“No one move,” Sam said. He played the light around on the sand. “Someone smoothed the sand.”

“Say what?” Jack asked.

“Look how flat and neat the sand is here. It’s like when they drag the beaches at night and in the morning all the footprints and everything are gone.”

“You’re right,” Dekka said. “Someone’s been here and then covered their tracks.”

No one spoke for a few minutes as each thought through the implications.

“Caine could easily lift these things and move them,” Sam said.

“So why are they still here?” Jack asked. Then he answered his own question. “Maybe they took the other missiles and just left this one. We should check the seals.”

Sam took slow, cautious steps closer. He aimed the light’s beam at bright yellow tape that sealed each crate. The tape had been carefully sliced and then pressed back into place.

“They’re gone,” Sam said flatly. “Caine has them.”

“Then why leave the one?” Jack asked.

Sam took a shallow breath. “Booby trap.”

EIGHT

36 HOURS, 10 MINUTES

“YOU CAN’T LET him get away with this!??? Penny shrieked.

Caine wasn’t having it. “You stupid witch,” he yelled back. “No one told you to let it go that far!”

“He was mine for the day,” Penny hissed. She pressed a rag to her nose, which had started bleeding again.

“He tore his own eyes out. What did you think Quinn would do? What do you think Albert will do now?” He bit savagely at his thumb, a nervous habit.

“I thought you were the king!”