Encrypted (73 page)

Quirk surveyed the water. “Where’s Francois?”

He turned to find Ronnie pulling a blanket over her shoulders. The way she
didn’t
look at him told Quirk that Francois was lost. Even though he hadn’t really
liked
the guy, seriously, black loafers with khaki pants, the Frenchman did smell of freshly
baked
sourdough bread.

Still, he didn’t think Francois would want them moping around. Not with the Hidden Hand’s castle afire and their precious vaccine in the hold. No, Francois would want them to haul ass out of here.

Which was exactly what Quirk had planned. Shutting the door, he gave the pilot the thumb
s-
up. Without hesitation
,
the seaplane skimmed out over the water. Quirk rushed to take his seat as the pilot lifted them off the ocean and directly into the storm’s wake.

* * *

Zach peeled off his sopping-
wet
T
-shirt. His chest and abdomen mottled black and blue
—a
harsh reminder of the last few days. Gingerly
,
he dried off with a towel. He glanced up to find Ronnie staring at his injuries. Zach had dreamed of her staring at his body like that, but not for this reason.

Donning the clothes
that
Quirk provided, Zach turned to Ronnie. “Your turn.”

He held up a towel to provide her with some measure of privacy. It was almost hard to imagine that they had beaten the Hidden Hand. Well, they couldn’t exactly declare “mission accomplished”
yet.
Not with Plum Island ignoring their
hails
. He wouldn’t let himself consider the possibility that the Hidden Hand had taken over the facility.

Even under the best of circumstances, you know
,
those circumstances
where
everyone has succumbed to the plague rather than being hostilely taken over by a cult, the Hidden Hand needed to manufacture vaccine, lots and lots of vaccine. How could they do that if there was no one left alive with the skills necessary?

“We’ll know soon enough,” Ronnie said, touching his arm. He’d call her out on being a psychic, but they were all probably thinking the same thing.

“We couldn’t come this far…”

He couldn’t even finish the sentence. Instead
,
he lifted his arm, letting Ronnie tuck down against his chest. Heat mingled as their bodies tried to thaw out from their icy plunge.

As they flew, Zach thought of his mother and sister. Had they done as he told them? Stayed home? Avoided contact with
anyone
and everyone? Or would he go home to find a red “X” upon their door?

As Ronnie snuggled up against him, he put thoughts of his family aside. If there was one thing his grandmother had taught him
,
it was “no sense in worrying until the worry finds you.”

Besides
,
he had the woman in his arms
who
just saved the freaking world. She
deserved his undivided attention. He pulled another blanket over her back,
and
then on second thought, pulled another one over his.

“Thank you,” she said, still
with
her cheek against his chest.

“For what?”

Ronnie tilted her chin up. “For riding to my emotional and
physical
rescue.”

Zach leaned in, ready to taste her salty lips, but Ronnie laid her head back down on his shirt.

“Not here. Got it,” he whispered as he kissed her forehead. The way her head rose and fell with his breath and how her arms wrapped around his waist, Zach wasn’t going to complain.

* * *

Amanda huffed a breath as she inched the crash cart up the last stair. Winded
,
she leaned against the wall, trying desperately not to cough again. Her lungs hurt
—
physically hurt. She could feel where the bacterium had taken hold and burrowed in. She could feel her immune system trying to fight
Yersinia
pestis
—
to no avail.

She looked down the long, empty hallway. Amanda knew it was only a couple
of
yards, but it felt like five
end-
to
-end
football fields. Okay, it was time to admit
that
she
,
too
,
was in the last stage
s
of the plague. Turning on the tank of the crash cart, Amanda put the mask to her face and inhaled. She stood there probably longer than she should
have,
replenishing her body’s desperate need for oxygen.

But standing her
e
sucking on the mask wasn’t going to help Jennifer, if her friend could be helped at all. With one last inhale, Amanda turned off the tank and pushed the cart forward. The one wobbly wheel complained as they made their way down the hall.

After the gruesome
scene
in the infirmary
,
Amanda shouldn’t have been shocked by all the blood pooling around Devlin’s head, but she was. No matter
what a
jerk he’d been
,
i
n the end, he’d saved her life
—
and paid the cost with his own.

Guiding the cart, she gave Devlin’s body
a
wide berth as she made her way to Jennifer. The woman didn’t rouse as Amanda turned her over onto her side. Pulling up more epinephrine, this time in a therapeutic dose, Amanda heard a groan. Dropping what she was doing, she rushed over to Devlin.

“O
h,
man,” he said weakly. “That hurt.”

Amanda dropped to her knees, wiping away the clotted blood. Underneath it was
a
perfect line where the bullet had grazed the scalp. Okay, not just grazed it but dug into
it
, only bouncing off the skull bone.

“Is it going to scar?” Devlin asked as he sat upright
,
seeming stronger by the moment.

Given the fact
that
bone glistened back at her…oh
,
yeah
.

“Here,” she said
,
putting his hand against the gauze squares. “Put pressure on the wound.”

He winced but obeyed. “And Henderson?”

“Let’s just say
that
he got the sixty
-
second version of the plague.”

Devlin cocked his head
,
but then seemed to think better of it. “As long as he’s dead.”

Yes, Henderson was definitely dead, but how much longer until Jennifer and Amanda joined him?

CHAPTER 34

Over the Atlantic Ocean

5:43
p
.
m
.,
EST

Ronnie took aim. “Hold still!”

Quirk bobbed and weaved. How her assistant could avoid her in this cramped seaplane, Ronnie had no idea.

“No!” Quirk said
,
avoiding the hypodermic
needle
in her hand. “No needles.”

Ugh
!
F
or such a hypochondriac
,
Quirk certainly did not like to take his medicine.

“It is the vaccine for the
plague
,” Ronnie reminded Quirk as he tried to crawl under the plane’s dash. She pulled him back into his seat. “Or
,
would you rather get the plague
, and
then have the antiserum injected into your belly?”

Quirk’s eyes dilated. “No way. They have to put it in my abdomen?”

Of course they didn’t, but Quirk didn’t need to know that
,
so Ronnie solemnly nodded.

He gulped
,
then yelped
,
grabbing at his
other
arm. “Ouch!” Quirk yelled at Zach.

The ploy had worked perfectly. She’d spent the last five minutes convincing Quirk
that
she was the danger
—
only to have Zach come in from the other side with the vaccine at the last moment. Her syringe didn’t even have any of the precious vaccine in it.

“Totally uncalled for,” Quirk mumbled as he inspected the tiny pinprick. “Don’t I get a bandage or something?”

“Better buckle up,” the pilot said as he pointed to a lighthouse on the horizon. At least something on the island still worked, indicating the facilities still had power. Score one for the Plague Busters.

Ronnie strapped into her seat watching the vague outline of the island came into view. The pilot banked as they flew over the narrow finger of the island. That wasn’t where they were headed
,
though. It was to the broader stretch of the island
,
where the laboratories were positioned. As they descended
,
Ronnie noted the
gray
and blue buildings. Although
,
it was eerie. Not a person or animal moved. However
,
given the weather
,
she seriously doubted
that
anyone would be running around
—
with or without the plague.

Smoothly the pilot brought the seaplane around, landing on the surging waves, drawing them up alongside the small pier.

Zach cocked his gun.

Yeah. They still weren’t done with those yet.

* * *

Zach urged the trio between the two main buildings.
Protected
from the rain, Quirk pulled out his palmtop.

“This is the entrance closest to
the
conference room,” he reported.

Quirk shouldn’t have known that. After 9/11
,
the island had come under Homeland Security jurisdiction. The plans to the laboratories were locked behind one of the highest security clearances you could get. This was Quirk
,
after all, so it came as no great surprise
that
the hacker was in the know.

Zach checked the door handle. The metal turned easily under his palm. Not good. Or at least not good for any hope of finding survivors. He looked
at
Ronnie as she frowned. What else could they do but investigate? Opening the door
,
they
crept along the empty hallway. Blood smeared the walls and pooled on the tile.

“Aren’t you glad we poked you
?
” Ronnie asked Quirk.

The young man simply checked his lymph nodes as they turned a corner. Several bloated bodies littered the floor. Quirk clutched Zach’s arm. Under any other circumstances, Zach would have pushed him away, but seeing this? Zach was giving Quirk a pass.

They made it to the stairs. Just one floor up. Taking each step carefully, Zach
led
the way. Only the echo of their footsteps marked their passage. No other noise met them. Making sure the others were behind him, Zach jerked open the door to the second floor.

No bodies. Not even any blood. That gave him hope that maybe someone was still alive to help. If there wasn’t? They didn’t have enough fuel to make it to the CDC headquarters in Atlanta. And the rest of the level four laboratories simply didn’t have the facilities to produce vaccine in the massive quantities they needed.

“It should be that one,” Quirk whispered as he pointed to the conference room.

Hoping for the best but prepared for the worst, Zach made for the door.

* * *

Amanda held Jennifer’s hand. It lay slack under her fingers. The woman still breathed
,
but that was about as much as they could ask of her. Despite all the medication pumped into her body, Jennifer was dying.

Coughing and spitting up blood, Amanda wasn’t far behind. The glands in her throat had nearly cut off her breathing
,
and the pain in her joints? At least
,
Jennifer didn’t feel the pain anymore.

Devlin sat in the opposite corner
,
still holding the gauze against his head wound.

How many hours had passed since Quirk’s last communication? Was his team all dead
,
like
Amanda’s
colleagues?