Altered Genes: Genesis (18 page)

She heard the command, muffled by the ringing in her ears, and felt the man grab her by the hair. He yanked her up and away from Barb's body. She stumbled and fell to the floor. "Get up," he screamed and kicked her. ”Get up, bitch.”

She scrambled away on all fours and he followed, shouting obscenities and kicking even harder. When she reached the door she surged to her feet in a desperate attempt to escape and pushed it open.

Lucia stood at the bottom of the stairs holding a tire iron. Her pupils were tiny black pinpricks. She raced up the steps past Mei towards the man, catching him by surprise. Her first swing hit him in the arm, and he dropped his gun with a loud grunt. Before he could react, she screamed and swung again, this time striking him in the forehead. He crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

Jefe fired and the bullet grazed Lucia’s shoulder. Enraged, she swung the tire iron wildly and attacked. The momentum of her charge carried her into his arms. He grabbed her in a bear hug, crushing the air from her lungs and forcing her to drop her weapon. When she was no longer able to breathe, he threw her to the floor and stood above her.

"What's the matter, too tired to play?" He dropped to his knees and sat on her chest, taunting her as she struggled to free herself. Finally, tired of the game, he cocked his fist to punch her.

At the first sign of his swing, she grabbed the tire iron that lay on the floor beside her. She thrust upwards, driving the sharp end into his neck and then pulled it out. He clutched at his throat. His black eyes were wide in surprise as each beat of his heart sent a spurt of his blood out and onto the floor. She pushed him off her and climbed wearily to her feet. Hatred burned in her eyes as she look down at his corpse and spat. “Calle 18 pig.”

Mei stared at her with a mixture of awe and fear. She climbed to her feet and staggered to the table where a few hours earlier they had eaten dinner with the two people who now lay sprawled on it. From the amount of blood, she knew they were dead, but checked out of habit.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Lucia staring down at her. The anger was gone from the Latino woman’s eyes, replaced by cold determination. “Let’s go,” she said to Mei.

“Are you okay? let me check.” She reached for Lucia’s wounded arm but the Latino woman pushed her hand away. “Later, let’s go.”

“We have to get the police.”

"No police.”

She blinked.
Things were different now,
but were they that different? What would the police do? Arrest the other man? Question us? Put us in a cell?

She decided none of it mattered. Barb and Don were dead, she and Lucia were alive and the two men on the floor didn’t count.

“Okay,” she said, “Let’s go.”

Lucia rolled Jefe’s body over and took the money from his pocket. She pried the gun from his hand. She then did the same with the other man. As she passed the table, she grabbed the wallet and purse.

Mei stared at her.

“They don’t need them anymore—Lets go!”

She followed Lucia out of the motorhome. They ran to the van, ignoring the shouts from the people who had been woken by the gunshots. Lucia reached it first and jumped into the driver's seat. Mei paused and then ran to the passenger side.

"Where to?”

Mei looked at her. “Washington.”

T
hey drove
in a criss-cross pattern until they found the street. It was lined with oak trees and red-brick two-storey houses that had been converted into student apartments. Mei counted off the street numbers.

“That’s it,” she said, pointing to an older townhouse with 4424 stenciled above the pale yellow door.

Aside from a small sedan parked in front of a closed restaurant, there were no other cars on the street. Lucia edged the van up against the curb and stopped.

“I guess we can park here,” Mei said tentatively. She rubbed her hands back and forth on her pants and checked the address again.

Lucia gave her an odd look. “Are you okay?”

I haven’t been this nervous since my first patient. It’s been years since I last saw him.
She nodded and took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”

They followed a cobblestone walkway to the house. A cast iron ring sat in the middle of the door. She stared at the door-knocker for a second, lifted and dropped it. It clunked against the wood with a resounding thud. She picked it up and dropped it again for good measure.

The sound of footsteps approaching came from inside. Her stomach turned over and she jammed her sweaty hands into the pocket of her pants. The door opened.

A young woman with glasses gawked at them. “Ah…hi, is one of you, Dr Ling?” she asked after a moment.

“I am,” Mei answered.

The girl in the doorway beamed at her. “Hi, I’m Emma. It’s great to meet you. You must have had a long trip. Are you tired? I wasn’t sure if you got the email I sent—my email and phone stopped working—Professor Simmons isn’t here.”

Overwhelmed by the flurry of words, Mei stared at her. “What do you mean, not here?” she asked. “Where is he?”

Emma looked at her with a serious face. “The army took him. There were soldiers and everything. Please come in…come in and I’ll explain.”

They stepped inside. Mei watched the girl peer up and down the street nervously before she closed the door and spoke, “The army took Professor Simmons to Fort Detrick a couple of weeks ago, but he’s not there any more. He’s at a garbage dump.”

Mei shook her head, confused by the odd girl and her even odder story.
None of it was making any sense.
“I’m sorry, I’m not following you.”

“Yeah, I know, crazy isn’t it?” the girl said, bobbing her head up and down. “He sounded freaked out—said he had to leave the base and wanted me to come get him. But I don’t have a car, do you?” She smiled. “Of course you do, that’s how you got here, right?”

“A van,” Lucia answered. Her eyes narrowed as she studied the talkative girl.

“Okay, cool, when do you want to go?”

“Stop.” Mei held up her hands. “I’m sorry, but I’m completely confused.”

“Come in and I’ll explain again,” Emma said, inviting them into the living room. It was filled with cardboard boxes. “Sorry about the mess,” she said as she lifted two boxes off the couch and placed them on the floor. “I was just getting organized in case I had to leave. Do you want something to eat or drink?”

“No—thank you,” Mei said curtly. “Where’s Tony?”

She listened as the girl explained. It made more sense this time. She watched the girl get up and walk to the window for what seemed to be the tenth time.

Why do you keep looking out the window?”

Emma’s eyes lit up. She pushed aside a box of freeze-dried food and sat so close to Mei their knees touched. She leaned in and looked her straight in the eye.

“There’s an Asian man. I think he’s spying on me,” she said in a low voice.

Mei looked at Lucia who rolled her eyes.

G
ong chewed
on the ball of nicotine gum as he watched the three women carry box after box out of the house and down the steps to a white van. The van, with its two occupants, had pulled up around noon.
They’re preparing to go somewhere
,
but where? He’d find out soon enough.

He knew the young woman who lived in it was a student at Georgetown University and that her father was a colonel in the US Army. He’d been given that information a week earlier during his last and presumably final communication with the team in Beijing. Shortly after he had received the message, his cellphone stopped working. It wasn’t just his, none of them worked. Neither did the internet. He was on his own.

During the long and mostly empty hours he spent watching the house and the young woman who lived in it, he often thought of his daughter and wondered if she was alive or dead.
He didn’t know, might never know
. He pushed her image from his mind and watched as the young woman followed the other two out of the house and locked the door.

They’re leaving. They might lead him to Simmons.

He rolled the car window down a crack and spat the tasteless gum out before slouching down in the seat.

M
ei opened
the passenger door and Emma climbed in. The college student hunched over as she moved to the back. She pulled a box forward and sat on it.

“See,” she said, pointing down the street. “You can just see the top of his head. I’m pretty sure it’s the same guy who followed Professor Simmons and me from the university.”

Mei stood by the van’s door and looked. She didn’t see anything except a parked car, but the younger woman was adamant.

“Right there, he moved,” Emma exclaimed and pointed.

“Let’s drive past,” Mei said to Lucia as she climbed in and shut the door. Lucia nodded. She started the van and drove down the street.

“There, right there,” Emma cried as she leaned over the front seat and pointed. Mei pressed her face against the glass and stared. The car’s windows were tinted. The glare of the late afternoon sun made it impossible to see through them.

“Anything?” Lucia asked

“I saw him, he’s there,” Emma said.

Mei shrugged and looked in the passenger-side mirror as they passed the car. “Maybe—it’s hard to say. Let’s just keep going.”

They continued down the street and turned left. Lucia slowed to see if the other car followed, but it didn’t. She rolled the window down and listened for the sound of traffic. It was coming from the south.

“Do you know how to get out of here?” Mei asked her.

She nodded and pointed the van towards the noise.

“Which way are you going?” Emma asked.

“This way,” Lucia muttered under her breath as she twisted the steering wheel. They cut in front of a blue minivan and the driver honked his horn. She swore back at him in Spanish.

As they slowly made their way out of the city, Emma talked incessantly, offering comments on everything they passed. Mei glanced at Lucia who clenched her teeth. The girl was wearing on her.

Two hours later, they came to a complete stop near a bridge.

“Mierda!” Lucia swore. She pointed at the jumble of cars on the other side of the intersection. The road was completely blocked with vehicles turned every which way.

“What now?” Mei asked.

“The bridge,” Lucia said simply as she inched the van into the left-most lane. The van brushed against another car. Mei cringed at the angry honks sent their way.
She’s going to get us shot.

They headed onto the viaduct that crossed the Potomac river connecting Washington and Virginia. They needed a new route. As Mei pulled up directions on the GPS, Emma leaned forward and draped herself over the seat.

“It’s not so bad,” the girl offered without being asked. “Once we cross the bridge, we can go up the George Washington Parkway and then cross back over at the Legion Bridge.” She fiddled with the GPS and toggled through more options. “See, or maybe even up the Pike to Seven and onto Fifteen.“

Annoyed, Mei pushed her hands away. “The Parkway to Legion Bridge is fine.”
She’s going to drive me crazy
.

By late afternoon, they had reached the on-ramp to the Legion Bridge only to find it closed. A few minutes later, they discovered why.

“Wow,” Emma exclaimed as she looked down from the overpass. “That’s freaking insane. There must be thousands of cars down there.”

The highway below was in a state of bedlam. Without police to control the traffic and tow-trucks to move the abandoned vehicles, it had become a giant parking lot. Hundreds of people milled around, some partied while others shouted and fought.

“Keep going,” Mei said in a worried voice as she watched a group of men climb up from the road below. They stepped over the guardrail onto the shoulder and waved their hands, signaling for the van to stop.

Lucia nodded and swerved quickly to the left as one of them moved further on to the road. Mei looked in the mirror. She watched him give them the finger.

They turned onto the Georgetown Pike. The tree-lined road with its stately country homes smelled of money. Mei looked out the window at a colonial-style mansion and wondered what life was like behind the gates and stone walls.

She saw a man clad in black watch the van as it approached. He stood by a closed gate. His eyes were hidden behind mirrored sunglasses. The stock of his rifle was tucked under his armpit. He relaxed when they passed by.

I wonder what he’ll do when things get desperate? Will he take from his employers or from others?

The forested landscape gave way to rolling fields of green pasture. Emma pointed at a chestnut-colored Arabian horse that stood by a white wooden fence. Its silky tail flickered back and forth as it contently munched on the grass that grew along the base of the posts.

“She’s beautiful. Look, another one.”

The majestic white stallion that galloped across the field was a stunning horse, nearly sixteen hands tall. Its hind quarter muscles rippled with each stride. They watched as it joined the other horse and muzzled it aside to get at the grass.

As the horses grazed, a girl appeared over the top of a nearby hill. She ran desperately towards the road—towards them. Mei watched her stumble and fall to the ground. Her face hit the turf with a force that snapped her head back. Disoriented, she staggered to her feet, looked over her shoulder and began to run again.

A man, carrying a rifle, chased her. Startled by the commotion, the chestnut Arabian scampered away while the stallion raised its head and snorted.

The girl screamed.

“Something’s wrong,” Mei said. “Pull in there.” She pointed to the lane way up ahead.

Lucia turned without looking. “Mierda!”

A pickup truck blocked the road. She slammed on the brakes, knocking Emma forward and onto the floor.

“What is it?” the girl asked in a concerned voice as she dusted herself off.

“Trouble,” Mei and Lucia said at the same time.

Two men stood by the side of the truck. They menacingly pointing their rifles at the van.

Lucia lifted her hands from the steering wheel. She slowly raised her left one in the air and motioned at Mei with her right. “Give me a gun,” she whispered through closed lips.

Mei took a pistol from the glove compartment and placed it in Lucia’s open hand. “Stay here, I’ll see what’s going on.” She opened the door, slid off the seat and was on the pavement before anyone could stop her. She didn’t dare turn to check but prayed Lucia had the gun and was ready—just in case.

She took a couple of tentative steps towards the men who grinned when they saw the van’s occupants were all women. She motioned towards the girl in the field and spoke in a tight voice. “Does she need help? Is everything alright?”

The older man laughed a mocking little laugh and elbowed the man beside him. “Things are good, even better now. Ain’t that so, Jimmy?”

The younger man, Jimmy, smirked and licked his lips as he adjusted the ball cap that covered his greasy hair. “Yeah, things are good.”

The girl in the field cried out and Mei watched helplessly as she was knocked to the ground by the man who chased her. Before she could climb to her feet, he jumped on top of her and pinned her with his substantial weight. When she struggled to free herself, he slapped her face and yelled at her to shut-up.

“Go help him with that silly bitch,” the older man said. The younger man placed his rifle in the bed of the pickup and began to climb the fence that lined the driveway. When he reached the top of the fence, the older man turned his attention back to Mei.

“I think I’ll take you up to the house for some fun, but first, let’s see you dance.” He lowered his rifle and pulled the trigger. The sharp bark of the gunshot came at the same time as the chips of asphalt peppered her legs. She flinched and cried out, certain she’d been hit.

The next two gunshots surprised her even more. She watched the older man drop to the ground, blood hemorrhaging from the wounds in his chest.

“Pops!” The younger man cried out. He jumped from the fence and began to run towards his father’s crumpled body but stopped and grabbed his rifle from the back of the pickup truck.

Another flurry of gunshots erupted. Mei dropped to the ground, unsure who was shooting at who. She felt hands on her.

“Are you okay?” It was Lucia asking.

She nodded.

Another shot rang out. They watched the younger man fall by the side of the truck. His rifle clattered uselessly to the ground near him.

Mei turned her head to see an Asian man make his way up the driveway towards them. He held his pistol loosely and pointed down to show he wasn’t a threat.

“It’s him,” Emma cried out from inside the van, “It’s the man who followed Professor Simmons and me.”

Lucia pointed her gun at him. He froze and then slowly placed his weapon on the pavement by his feet.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said in a calm voice.

Mei placed her hand on Lucia’s arm. “It’s okay, I think.”

Lucia slowly lowered her arm. He picked his gun up and walked cautiously towards them.

The girl in the field began to scream. Mei jerked her head towards the sound. The man who had been chasing the girl lay on the ground moaning in pain. When he moved, the girl screamed even louder.

Mei climbed to her feet and ran to the fence. She stepped on the bottom rail and threw her body over the top. She fell to the ground on the other side and slipped in the mud as she clambered to her feet.

“It’s okay,” she called out to the girl. “You’re safe.”

The white stallion reared up. It tossed its head and snorted through its nose. It pawed at the ground as she approached the girl. Mei held her hand out and spoke gently to the horse. “It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt her.” It reared up one final time before galloping away.

The girl who was fourteen or fifteen years old had bruises all over her face. Their deep purple color was offset against her dark brown skin. Eyes wide, she stared at Mei and backed away.

“I’m a doctor, let me help you,” Mei said. “I’m not going to hurt you.” She held out her hand. The girl studied it for a moment before nodding. She trembled when Mei touched her.

Aside from the bruises and ripped blouse, Mei couldn’t see any physical wounds but the girl was petrified. “Let’s get you patched up. I have a medical kit in the van.” She took the girl’s hand and guided her across the field. Lucia and Emma helped her over the fence.

She ran back to the man in the field. He had stopped moving and was dead.

She returned to the girl. They had sat her down on the ground in front of the van. She crouched down beside her. “I’m Mei, what’s your name?”

“S-s-saanvi,”the girl said with a quiver as her body shook from the adrenaline that coursed through it. She grabbed desperately at Mei and cried out. “She’s dead…The teachers too.”

“Who is dead?“ Mei asked gently.

Before the girl could answer, the younger man groaned. Mei glared angrily in his direction. She wanted to ignore him, but her conscience wouldn’t let her.

“Get a blanket and the medical kit,” she said to Lucia. She turned to Emma. “Stay with her, cover her with the blanket and keep her talking.”

They both nodded and she jogged over to the younger man. His rifle lay on the ground. She kicked it away before kneeling down to examine him. The bullet was lodged in his shoulder. The wound probably hurt, but it wouldn’t kill him. “I’ll get a bandage on that and you’ll be fine.”

He glared at her with soulless eyes and spat, “You’re dead…You’re all fucking dead.”

Lucia returned with the medical kit and gave it to her. “Are you sure he’s worth it?”

He heard her. “You fucking spic bitch, just wait ’til the rest of them get here. They’ll fuck you over good.” Spit bubbled and foamed from his mouth as he screamed at her.

The Asian man was beside them in seconds. “We must leave. There are more. You heard him.” He spoke without emotion but held his gun in his hand.