“Now what would make you say that?” The new voice was different from the others, echoing loudly in everyone’s ears and carrying the telltale hiss and static that indicated it was coming through a radio. Rick, Jane, Dr. Evans and Oles all looked around the room, searching for the source of the voice.

“Who’s there?” Jane shouted, pulling out her pistol at the same time as Rick readied his rifle.

“It’s funny, you know,” the voice continued. “I was certain you knew. Carl was not. Listening in on you was impossible until fortune smiled upon us.”

“The masks.” Oles hissed, pointing to the bulky piece of equipment covering his whole face and wrapping around to cover his ears and part of his head.

“Transmitters in them.” Rick felt his stomach churn again, though it wasn’t from the smell.

“Very good.” The voice was different, not coming through the small speakers in the masks but from somewhere nearby. “Drop your weapons. All of you.”

The group turned to see Carl and Ostap standing at the end of the hall. Ostap’s rifle was leveled at the group while Carl had Jacob in a headlock with a pistol pointed at the technician’s head. Jacob clawed at Carl’s arm but the officer’s hold was tight and unbreakable.

“Oles, did you know about the transmitters?” Rick gave the technician a sideways glance, but the surprise in Oles’ eyes gave him a confirmation of the answer from Ostap.

“No, neither of these bumbling idiots knew. Which also gave us insight into something curious about Jacob, t—” He looked at Jane, who had started moving to try and get into a position where she could fire on him. “Make another move and Jacob joins the former inhabitants from this bunker.” Carl tightened his grip on Jacob’s neck and Jane clenched her fists, resisting the urge to try and help the man.

“Now,” Ostap continued, “I want your weapons on the ground. Slowly.”

Rick’s face twisted in anger as he unslung his rifle. “Why’re you doing this, Ostap?”

“To save my people.”

“We’re trying to save everyone! I thought you wanted to do that, too!”

“He was undoubtedly told to get the codes to disable Damocles, but they will probably only use them to save our country.” Oles shook his head as he spoke, then addressed Ostap. “Don’t you realize what’s going to happen if this continues to spread through the world? It won’t matter if our country is saved. It’s on the verge of moving from infrastructure collapse to complete destruction!”

“I’ll be happy to give the keys to the program to everyone in the world,” Ostap smiled. “For a price.”

If the questions and confusion and wondering had all been puzzle pieces flying around Rick’s head, Ostap’s statement was what put them all together, forming a complete picture that Rick felt foolish for not seeing sooner. “You’re not going to use the access codes to order Damocles to stand down on Russian soil, are you?”

“Of course he is.” Oles scoffed. “And he’s going to kill all of us in the process.”

“You’re only half correct,” Ostap sneered. “Now come on. Kick the weapons across the floor, then send the old man and Oles over. Damocles awaits a bearer and I intend to be the one who wields it.”

Chapter 9

Ellisville, VA

The trip out to the gas station was long at the slow pace the group of vehicles was traveling. Dianne was expecting to be spending a long period of time in the back of the truck bouncing around but was distracting herself by tossing over shell casings several times per minute. She had wondered, at first, whether or not they would run out but every bump and turn brought forth more. They rolled and tumbled end over end out from behind boxes, from underneath a hole-filled tarp and from within holes in the sides of the truck bed.

“How have they not seen what we’re doing?” Dianne murmured to Sarah as she watched the driver of the vehicle—

her vehicle—behind them.

“Just be thankful it’s still dark, okay? And pray that we get wherever we’re going before the sun goes up or even that blind sack of crap’ll notice the brass flipping in the air.”

“You think we’re going to the gas station?”

“Where else would we be going? The way you all described it makes it sound like the perfect base of operations for them.” Sarah snorted and gave a slight chuckle. “Guess I’ll get to see it for myself.”

An abrupt bump came next, then the noise of the road vanished, replaced with the smooth hissing and gentle popping of asphalt. The brass tinged softly as it hit the ground, bouncing and rolling around in the dark, but the sound was impossible to hear over the roar of the engines. The speed of the vehicles picked up momentarily, but Dianne was surprised when she slid over toward Sarah as the truck took a sharp left-hand turn.

“Where—wait.” Dianne craned her head around, trying to catch a glimpse of something recognizable in the lights of the truck. “We’re heading into town.”

“Yeah, so?” Sarah pulled Jacob closer as the truck swerved to avoid an obstacle in the road.

“This isn’t the way to the gas station.” Another casing went over the side, followed by two more in quick succession. “They’re taking us somewhere else.”

Tags: Mike Kraus Surviving the Fall Science Fiction
Source: readsnovelonline.net