Текст книги "Noah's Ark: Contagion"

Автор книги: Harry Dayle

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 17 страниц)

Kiera was a whole different matter. Her consciousness may have left her long ago, but the convulsions made it clear that this was a body very much still alive. Seeing a living human being in such a dreadful, awful state was almost more than she could bear.

Janice pulled the straps of her surgical mask tight, which helped to block the worst of the smell. She checked her latex gloves were on, and after a moment’s hesitation, made a grab for the arm. Kiera gave a moan, but Janice had got it, and she wasn’t letting go.

“Excellent,” Vardy said. “Try and keep it pinned down, and twist it a little away from me, so I have more chance of finding the vein.”

Janice did as she was asked, pushing the limb down onto the bed. Gripping the forearm with both hands, she rotated it carefully towards the two of them. There was a sound like an apricot being twisted open. Janice’s stomach turned as she felt Kiera’s flesh detach from the bone inside. She exclaimed, and dropped the arm, shaking her own hands as if they had somehow been soiled by the ripping flesh.

“Sorry,” she said from behind her mask. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t expecting that.” She stepped forward again and tried to retake Kiera’s arm. One of the nurses grabbed the other arm furthest from the two doctors.

“This is ridiculous,” Vardy said, watching the body twist and contort. “I’m going directly for the heart. Can someone get her chest uncovered?”

Nobody made any move.

“Oh come on, someone!” Vardy was clearly losing patience. Reluctantly, Mandy came forward. There was no sheet covering Kiera, but she was wearing a gown that buttoned down the front. The nurse undid the first four buttons and pulled open the garment, revealing a chest that was every bit as blotched and blemished as the patient’s bare arms.

“Hold her down,” Vardy commanded. He gave the syringe a quick flick with his finger, then in one smooth and confident motion he plunged it into Kiera’s chest.

Janice couldn’t help but look away. As she did so she caught sight of Lucya doing the same.

“There, all done. Thank you people, you can let go now.”

Within seconds, the convulsions had stopped. Kiera lay motionless, save for the gentle rise and fall of her chest.

“Well, it hasn’t killed her yet, so that’s a good start,” Vardy said, trying to keep the atmosphere light. Nobody seemed to appreciate the comment.

“How long before we know?” Lucya asked.

“No idea, to be honest,” Vardy replied. “She’s a long way gone; it’s going to take time to see any real improvement. If she comes round, that will be an excellent sign, but I’m not counting on that. Realistically, if we see some of her normal colour return then we can assume we are winning.”

• • •

The massive door laboured away, rising inch by inch like a portcullis, taking forever to open. Beyond it lay a black abyss. Jake waited for a full minute, hoping that perhaps some lights would come on of their own accord.

“Hello!” He tried to shout, but found he was weaker than he thought. His voice made barely a sound.

Hesitantly, he pushed his trolley towards the darkness. No light from the tunnel spilled into the space behind the door. It was as if there was another reality beyond, a place disconnected from the rest of level four.

The front wheels reached the threshold. He paused, then with the biggest effort he could muster, pushed hard against the floor, launching the little chariot forwards.

As he passed through the opening, the sound of the trolley changed. No longer was he rolling on grated metal. Instead he was on something hard, something solid. He realised for the first time just how much noise he had been making as he had trundled down the tunnel. Now he rolled forwards in silence.

Jake suddenly felt very tired. The buzzing in his head had grown more intense. All he wanted to do was sleep, to escape the sickness that was invading every part of his body, attacking every cell.

Something beeped once behind him. Directly above him a fluorescent tube flickered, trying to illuminate. It took its time, blinking on and off, before eventually catching with a little ding. Further away, another light was also blinking to life, and another, and another. While Jake observed, a whole line of lights were coming on, apparently awoken by his presence. Either side of the first tube, two more rows were also bursting into action. And more each side of those. With every one, a little more of the space was illuminated.

He remained on his trolley, awestruck, as he watched the strange place wake up. He gazed left and right. He looked up, and down. In spite of the pain and the fatigue, a smile crept across his face. In that instant, Jake Noah knew that this base was to be their saviour. No longer did it matter that he would surely be dead when they eventually came back for him; this amazing, wonderful, incredible place was going to help save the rest of the human race.

Satisfied with his discovery, Jake rested his head against the handle of the trolley and let his heavy eyes close at last.

Twenty-Three

LUCYA HAD FOLLOWED Janice and Vardy back down to their deck one lab. They had waited and watched Kiera for half an hour, and she did indeed seem to be showing signs of improvement. Now the doctors had gone to check on their next batch of the antiviral remedy.

The three of them walked into the lab to find the machine beeping away impatiently.

“Looks like the next lot is ready,” Vardy said, silencing the equipment and removing the little jar of milky liquid. “This needs to be set aside; it’s the basis for replicating larger quantities.”

“What about the base liquid? You said we needed that, to make more?” Janice asked.

“That shouldn’t be a problem, it’s pretty common stuff.”

“Really? You think there will be some knocking around on a cruise ship?”

“Oh I think so, yes.” He smiled knowingly. “Okay, yes, there will be. The base liquid is milk.”

“Milk? As in the stuff that goes in coffee and on cereal?”

“Yes. It’s the lactoperoxidase enzyme in it—the machine uses that to grow the antiviral culture at high speed.”

“But—” Janice was momentarily lost for words. “But vaccines, antivirals, these things take months to manufacture. It’s a huge problem. The pharmaceutical companies have worked for years trying to come up with improved methods. And you’re telling me you can pour milk into this machine of yours, and produce our medication in half an hour? Come on…you’re kidding, right?”

“The pharmaceutical companies have…had, a vested interest in keeping an antiquated and very expensive system running. The Ministry of Defence, less so. These machines aren’t common, but I know this one had been on the base for years when I first used it. I wasn’t privy to the details, but it was my understanding that equipment like this was made in a secret government facility at Porton Down. They based it on a commercial machine, but it was very heavily modified. Like I said, I don’t know the details.”

“This is all fascinating,” Lucya piped up sarcastically, “but can we go and save Jake now?”

Vardy and Janice stopped and looked at her.

“Lucya, our place is here. Our priority is getting as much of this antiviral out there as we can. Talk to Coote. Maybe he can spare Eric and Ewan for another round trip.”

“What? You promised Jake you would help him!” Lucya was incredulous.

“And the best way to do that is to make more of this.” Vardy waved a syringe in the air; it contained a tiny amount of antiviral.

“If you’re not going to help him, then I am!” Lucya grabbed the syringe from his hand and stormed out. Vardy tried to come after her, protesting loudly, but she could hear Janice trying to calm him down. The pathologist’s intervention gave her the time she needed to get away.

She was heading for the Ambush, in search of someone to help her. She didn’t need to go far. Coming over the walkway towards her was Submariner Ewan Sledge.

“Ewan! I’m going to find Jake. We’ve got a cure, Vardy made it work!” She held up the syringe. “Will you and Eric help me?”

“Eric is with Coote, debriefing him. There’s no way Coote will let us go back over there until he’s finished filling him in on all the details. He’s not keen on anyone going back at all. He thinks the secret level we found is too dangerous.”

“Fine. Well I’m going, and he can’t stop me. He’s not my captain. Where can I get a rubber suit from?”

Ewan hesitated, weighing up whether or not to help Lucya.

“Come on! We’re wasting time. I need to get over there and give him this medication. Do you want to be responsible for him dying there?”

That made up his mind. “Wait there. The suits are back on the submarine. I’ll be two minutes.”

• • •

The two minutes felt like two hours to Lucya. She knew full well that the quickest time the virus had killed anyone was about twenty-four hours, and that Jake therefore was not exactly on the brink of dying. But she had seen the symptoms that led to death. She had seen the effect on the victim’s skin, the pain that accompanied the gradual paralysis. She’d seen the hair loss, the bleeding from the ears. And most of all, she had heard the screams of agony as internal organs failed, as muscle detached itself from bone, as bodies slowly and agonisingly decayed, making death a relief when it finally came. The thought of her beloved Jake suffering like that was almost too much to bear.

When Ewan returned and crossed the walkway, he was clad in black neoprene.

“If you’re going over there, I’m coming with you. Here, put this on.” He handed her a wetsuit. She nodded without saying anything, and began to strip right there. She pulled the suit on as quickly as she could. “You need these too, on your feet.” Ewan handed her the same cut-off sleeves that they had used previously. “It will give you more protection from the ash,” he explained. “There are gloves and gas masks in the raft.”

“So what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

The two of them ran down the metal steps to the platform that had been designed for boarding the ship’s tenders. Those had both been destroyed. Now there were just two inflatable life rafts tied up. One had no bottom; it was still waiting to be repaired. She clambered into the other. Ewan untied it from the platform, pushed it away, and jumped in. He located an oar and used it to push them further away from the ship.

“Ready to start rowing?”

Lucya didn’t need to be asked twice. She grabbed the second oar, and the two of them began to paddle, making for the stumps of the ship lift that marked out the entrance to the base.

• • •

Mandy Chalmers was becoming increasingly concerned. Following the jab, Kiera had initially calmed down. Her convulsions had stopped, and for a time, her temperature had started to come down. But then things had gone downhill, and very quickly.

The first sign that all was not well was the gurgling noise. Mandy hadn’t gone far; she was outside in the corridor talking to one of the other nurses. Yet even out there, with the sounds of groaning patients emanating from almost every room, she had heard that strange gurgling noise.

She had rushed back into the cabin, worried that Kiera had vomited and was choking. Something was indeed stuck in the nurse’s throat, and it was blocking her airway, but it wasn’t vomit. Mandy had rolled Kiera onto her side, into the recovery position. She had put two fingers into her mouth, knowing the gag reflex would force out whatever was stuck. Kiera had heaved, just as expected. Something had come out. Something slimy, something rotten. It snaked from of her mouth, but it wasn’t all out. With her latex-clad hand, Mandy had grabbed the part that had evacuated and tugged, hoping to dislodge the rest of whatever it was and clear Kiera’s throat. As she pulled, more and more of the slimy, putrid mess slid from her lips until the tail end flopped free, slopping onto the bed. Mandy stared at it, covering her nose with the back of her hand to try and block the repellent smell, and realised with horror that it was Kiera’s stomach lining. She had thrown up her own gut.

Matters went from bad to worse. Kiera was no longer choking, but she wasn’t breathing either. Mandy rolled her onto her back and with the end of a sheet, wiped the residue of the regurgitated innards from her mouth, then placed her own lips over the patient’s and blew into her lungs. She performed the mouth-to-mouth for a full minute before Kiera coughed and spluttered, sending more blood spraying everywhere. Mandy stepped back, turned around, and threw up on the floor.

At that instant, another nurse came into the room. The blood drained from her face as she saw the state of the bed.

“Call Janice, or Vardy. They need to get up here. Go, now!” Mandy croaked. She found a bottle of water and gulped half of it down, washing away the taste of her own vomit.

Looking back at Kiera she saw with some relief that the girl was still breathing, but only just. She was wheezing and straining, every intake of breath an effort. Mandy didn’t want to leave her on her own, but she needed equipment, and that was in another cabin. In a few seconds she had made up her mind, and sprinted out of the door and down to a room the team had been using for storing what few medical supplies they could get their hands on. It took her almost two minutes to make the round trip and, to her relief, when she got back to Kiera she found she was still alive.

“Stay with me, Kiera,” she said as calmly as she could manage. Hands shaking, she fixed a plastic mask over her patient’s mouth and nose. A thin tube ran back to a small cylinder. Mandy twisted open a valve and oxygen hissed out. Almost immediately, Kiera’s breathing became less laboured.

Mandy sank down into a chair next to the bed, and watched the wretched girl before her. Even with the aid of the oxygen, it was clear that she wasn’t out of the woods yet.

“It’s okay, Kiera, you’re going to be okay. They’ve given you a cure. Your body is fighting the virus, but you can do it, you can pull through.”

To her absolute amazement, Mandy saw Kiera’s eyes open. She even managed to turn her head very slightly to the side, and look Mandy directly in the eye. There was a brief moment of absolute clarity, of complete understanding between the two women. With one look, Kiera conveyed her gratitude to Mandy for the care she had given, and her resignation and acceptance of what was about to happen. Mandy felt her eyes fill with tears.

“No! Kiera, hang in there!” she shouted, leaping to her feet.

Kiera’s head was flung back, as if an unseen hand had been thrust against her chin. Her mouth opened, and through the mask she let out the longest, most blood curdling scream Mandy had heard in her life. It filled the room. It echoed down the corridor outside. It seeped into every other cabin on that section of deck eight. The fear and the pain in that single scream silenced everyone who heard it; those who were well, and those who were themselves suffering and in agony. The scream seemed to carry on forever.

As Mandy looked on, horrified, Kiera’s back lifted up off the bed. She knew what was going to happen next. She had seen Scott’s demise, but she stood rooted to the spot, paralysed by the scream, unable to look away. And then, with a terrible, horrific ripping sound, Kiera’s whole body seemed to split in two. A tear that started in her chest, ran the full length of her torso. At the exact same moment, her insides liquefied, and spilled out onto the bed. The scream stopped abruptly, and what little remained of Kiera Stevens collapsed, slopping into a black, oily puddle of pulp.

Twenty-Four

EWAN SET ABOUT securing the raft, searching for somewhere to tie it up. Lucya was already out of the craft and scrambling over the concrete boulders, desperate to get inside the base despite his protestations. He hadn’t explained to her exactly where the entrance was, and didn’t want her to risk spending any more time in the ash than was strictly necessary. As she disappeared out of sight over the top of the pile of debris, he realised he was going to lose her. He looked at the rope in his hand. It wasn’t very long, and there was nothing obvious to tie it to at the spot where they had alighted. Instead, he wedged it between two huge lumps of concrete, where it stuck fast, and set off after her.

When he reached the former base he realised he needn’t have worried. Lucya was following the footprints in the ash. They led directly to the door in the base of the ship lift support.

“Lucya! Wait for me,” he called, jogging after her. Every foot fall sent a little puff of ash into the air. Lucya didn’t have her gas mask on, and seemed oblivious to the dangers the ash posed. Ewan’s own mask muffled his voice, but as the wind had dropped, there was no other noise and she heard him calling. She let him catch up to her, impatient to get inside.

“Here,” he said, handing her a torch that he had detached from his belt. “You’ll need this. And put your mask on. If you breathe in this ash, you’re no use to Jake or anyone else.”

“Come on, we’re wasting time.”

The two of them trudged on through the grey powder. It had only been a matter of hours since Ewan and the others had left the base, but he had the impression the ash was deeper than before. Some of the footprints had been partially covered.

“I think this stuff has been drifting in the wind,” he said. “We need to be careful. If the wind gets up again it could drift more and get quite deep.”

“I don’t plan on hanging around that long.”

They crossed the rest of the distance in silence. When they rounded the giant pillar, Ewan let out a gasp.

“I guess I won’t need this after all?” Lucya said, waving her torch in the air. A wide shaft of light spilled out of the doorway, falling across the ash and making it sparkle like snow under moonlight.

“It might be best if you stay behind me,” Ewan said, putting himself between Lucya and the doorway. “If there are people inside, we don’t know what kind of state they will be in—mentally, I mean. They could see us as a threat.”

“I think you’re being a bit dramatic, navy boy. I reckon Jake put the lights on for us.”

“I hope you’re right, but I’m still going first.”

“Whatever. Let’s just get a move on!”

• • •

Janice Hanson stood in the doorway in a state of shock. She had just witnessed the horrific final moments of Nurse Kiera Stevens. She tried to speak, but found her mouth had gone completely dry.

Mandy became aware of her presence, and snapped out of her own stupefaction.

“Janice,” she whispered.

The pathologist tore her eyes away from the mess on the bed and looked at Mandy. She spotted the water and pointed to it, wordlessly. Mandy understood at once and handed it to her.

“Did you…see?” Mandy asked.

Janice took a swig from the bottle, and nodded.

“What does it mean? The antiviral doesn’t work?”

“That’s one possibility,” Janice said, finally finding her voice again. “Another is that Kiera’s condition had deteriorated to the point of no return.”

“She died more quickly than Scott. And you said Scott was already sick, that the others would hold out longer?”

“Yes, and the antiviral looked like it was working, to start with. Let’s not jump to conclusions though. Kiera is only one case. We need more test subjects before we can say whether or not there is a problem with the drug. Did you administer the other dose? The second one we left here after injecting Kiera?”

“Yes. A man down the hall. He was admitted this morning. You said you wanted to try it on someone who was in the early stages.”

“Right, that’s good. We need to go and see him now, see how he’s doing.”

Mandy nodded. She led Janice out of the cabin and along the passageway.

The cabin they were looking for was not far away, just a few doors down from the one Kiera had been in. Which made the discovery of what was inside even more startling.

“Oh, Jesus!” Mandy said as soon as the door was open. The stench hit her even before she saw the mess on the bed.

Janice held it together better; she was more used to dealing with death.

“I assume from your surprise that there was no scream when this happened?”

Mandy shook her head. She was leaning against the door frame, trying to regulate her breathing.

“Could you have been somewhere where you just wouldn’t have heard?”

The nurse shook her head again. “I was with Kiera, or just outside her door. I didn’t want to leave her. If he had screamed like she did, I would have heard it.”

Janice walked slowly around the bed. In the middle lay a black oily puddle, surrounded by a confusion of bones and shreds of muscle tissue. The man’s head, as much of it as remained, had become completely detached. Eyeless sockets stared at the women.

“You say he was admitted this morning?”

“Yes,” Mandy confirmed. She had regained her composure, and had entered the room to better see what had happened. “His legs became paralysed. It’s how all the other cases start. His son alerted me to his condition. He got some of the last of the painkillers, but that was all we could do for him. I felt sorry for the son, so when you left the second dose, and as Kiera looked like she was doing better, I decided to try it on him.”

“I need to take a sample of his blood down to the lab. Kiera’s too. We have to find out what the hell is going on here, because right now I’d have to say it looks like the antiviral is speeding up the effects of the virus.”

• • •

“This place is amazing! We never had a base like this. Ours looked more World War Two, and early era Cold War. This one is modern, clean.”

“How long were you in the Russian Navy, Lucya?”

“I served five years. And I loved every minute of it.”

The two of them were descending the stairwell. With the lights on, the base did indeed seem modern, almost friendly. It had the atmosphere more of an office block than a military installation. Some carpet on the floors and a few windows and it would have been impossible to tell the difference.

“So why did you leave? If you loved it so much?”

“Oh you know, the usual reason. I wanted to see more of the world. That’s what they promised me when I joined up. See the world, they said. But really, they meant see the Barents Sea.”

“Yeah, that sounds familiar.” Ewan nodded slowly. “The Royal Navy said more or less the same thing. See the world, make a difference, all that. And to be fair, for a couple of years we did get about a bit. But then, like you, we ended up patrolling. Same old same old. I probably would have moved on if I hadn’t had the chance to become a dolphin.”

“You mean a submariner?”

“Yes.”

“Surely you see even less of the world down there?”

“Yes, for the most part. But it’s different. It’s hard to explain. We’re more of a team on the Ambush. Like a family. Everyone is completely dependent on everyone else. And we know that we’re the last line of defence, too. The ultimate deterrent. Keeping the peace.”

“We’re like a family on the Spirit of Arcadia too, but I suppose it’s not really the same. Being cooped up in that tiny space, it must be difficult.”

“You get used to it. And we do get to go to some interesting places. Here, level three. This is as far as the stairs go.”

They exited into a brightly lit corridor that looked exactly like the one on level one. Ewan showed the way to the lift shaft.

“Jake’s down here.” He pointed to the hole in the bottom of the lift car. “Follow me.”

He climbed through the rip in the floor and descended the ladder hidden underneath. Lucya watched, eyebrows raised, and followed when he called her from the bottom.

The two of them emerged from the shaft into the hidden level’s main tunnel. The lights were on there too, taking the edge off the intimidating nature of the industrial space.

“Ah, now this? This is more like what I’m used to!” Lucya looked around, impressed. “This would be the height of luxury for us.”

“Come on, this way. He’s down here.”

• • •

“You said it was harmless, Vardy. You said that it was deactivated!” Janice was enraged. She stood up from the microscope and pointed at it. “Look! Take a look yourself!”

He did as she asked, without saying a word.

“You see what I mean? Oh sure, your mutated vaccine is attacking the virus. And then it’s annihilating the healthy cells too!”

“No, that can’t be right. That’s impossible…” Vardy adjusted the microscope. He stood up straight, rubbed his eyes, and bent down to take a second look.

“Apparently not,” Janice said sternly. “Or tell me, have I misinterpreted the situation? I mean, there are a lot of dead cells there. It’s like the antiviral is doing the same thing as the virus, just faster.”

“I can’t comprehend how this is possible. The vaccine is deactivated. It’s made of dead cells. Yet I cannot argue with your assessment. The effect is plain to see. I don’t understand the mechanism by which this is happening. The antiviral is mutating within the blood, turning into the very virus it is meant to destroy! We appear to have made the situation worse.” He stood up again, looking at her. “And the other sample? You checked that too?”

“Of course. It’s the same. We should never have tried this on a patient. We should have given the test samples longer, waited to see the full effect.”

“Maybe, but we were running out of time.”

“Running out of time?” Janice was raising her voice. “Running out of time? Now look where we are! We have a drug that not only doesn’t work, it makes things worse. We have to destroy the batches we’ve made so far, burn them. And then? We’re back to square one. We have no way to tackle the virus, and a deck full of people on the brink of death.”

“The batches, yes, we have to destroy the batches,” Vardy said, looking around. On the table were five small jars of antiviral, freshly out of the machine and ready to be administered. “We must mix them with bleach, then burn them in a controlled environment, it’s the safest way.”

• • •

“Jake? Captain Jake Noah? It’s Ewan, and Lucya. Where are you?”

They waited, but there was no sound, save a distant humming that seemed to be coming from a long way away.

“Are you sure this is where you left him?” Lucya was poking her head through the doors to the dormitory, office area, and kitchen of the laboratory.

“Yes, certain. I mean he was outside, in the tunnel.”

“He can’t have got far if he’s paralysed.”

“And yet, he’s not here. Come on, let’s see where this tunnel ends up.”

They left the lab and continued along the tunnel. Neither of them said it, but both were wondering if Jake had been found by someone else, someone who had been in the base all along.

It only took them a few minutes to find the first room Jake had come across.

“Wait here,” Ewan said. “We don’t know what or who is in there.” Gingerly, he pulled open the door and peered inside.

“What is it? What’s in there?”

“It’s another laboratory. Jake? Are you in here?” He called out three times, but in vain.

“Let me see,” Lucya said, and pushed past. She checked every corner of the suite, familiar with the layout from the previous laboratory. She looked in all of the smaller rooms, just as she had done minutes earlier. “He’s not here,” she said finally.

Without a word, they left the lab and carried on, deeper into the secret level.

“What’s that sound, Ewan? It sounds like the engines on the Arcadia.”

“Could be a generator. That would explain the lights.”

“You think Jake found one and started it?”

“In his condition? Unlikely. There must be someone else here, somewhere. I really wish I’d brought a gun.”

“I’m really glad you didn’t.”

As they walked on, the sound became progressively louder, until finally they came upon the door to the plant room.

“Okay, I’ll go first. Wait—” Ewan began, but before he could finish, Lucya had already opened the door and was inside.

“Jake! It’s me! Where are you?”

Ewan sprinted in after her, on high alert, eyes darting left and right, ready for danger. But there was no sign of life.

“You were right,” Lucya said. “A generator. And look, diesel reserves. We could have done with those after I crashed the ship and lost half our fuel.”

“He’s not here, Lucya. Come on, we have to keep looking. This tunnel can’t go on forever.”

Reluctantly, she left behind the noisy room and returned to the gloomy concrete passageway outside.

• • •

“Is that the last of it, Janice?”

“I think so. You’d made five batches, right?”

“Yes. And the one that was injected into Kiera and the other patient.” Vardy looked around the tables, to make sure no more of the lethal remedy remained hidden among the equipment and test tubes. “Sealing it here will keep it out of harm’s way until we have time to destroy it safely.”

Janice nodded. She was more concerned with how they were going to treat the patients upstairs than getting rid of their failed attempt at a cure. “Wait!” she exclaimed suddenly. “There are two more doses!”

“Where?”

“In the machine.”

“Shit, of course. You’re right.” Vardy pressed a red stop button on the front of the Gemini 5001. The machine complained with a series of bleeps before eventually shutting itself down. As it did so, the drawer at the front opened and it spat out the bottle of medication it had been in the process of preparing, along with the original jar of antiviral that provided the template from which it could fabricate more. He collected the two jars and added them to the collection of bottles in the box. On the lid he had already written in large letters: “Biohazard. Do Not Open.”

“There. We’ll keep this in a safe place. At least we know that nobody else is going to be treated with this stuff.”

“Right. So, where do we go from here? Because I can tell you, I have no idea how we treat this thing now.”

• • •

Ewan and Lucya didn’t see the end of the tunnel until they were almost upon it. The down-lights in the ceiling were bright, but well-spaced. They created pools of light within a small radius, but did not illuminate their surroundings, making it difficult to see far.

“There he is! Jake! It’s us!” Lucya ran to him. He was collapsed, hanging off the transport trolley, unconscious. “Ewan, help me. Let’s get him upright, back on the trolley. Jake, can you hear me? He’s breathing. I think he’s breathing.”