This was also the product of the head doctors, telling Terrell and the others that feeding into the survivors’ sense of hope as the gases were introduced made everything humane. The doctors even pointed out that the survivors were really the luck ones. In place of a painful death at the hands of the flu, they would be drugged to sleep before a second, toxic gas was added to the room to ensure they would never wake again.
People were going to die. That was basic knowledge if you were a part of the Project. What Terrell had not thought through before Implementation Day was how it would truly feel to be alive with so many dead filling the world. When he’d begun seeing the bodies on TV, knowing it was real, he’d gone numb. But what was infinitely worse, what had never ever crossed his mind, was that he would have an active hand in eliminating those who had survived the flu but did not fill a need within the Project.
For days they had been killing survivors. Hundreds, thousands — he wasn’t sure anymore how many. He and Diaz and the others escorted people into the airtight room, waited for the cycle to pass, then transported the bodies to the mass grave outside of town.
Despite what the doctors said, it wasn’t humane. The humane thing would have been to let people know what was going on, give them a chance to fight for their lives. The stories, the double dose of gas — that was for the psyche of Project Eden personnel, Terrell had finally realized.
Grasping this allowed him to see the truth.
He was a killer.
“Hey, watch out,” Diaz said.
Terrell looked up and straightened the gurney right before it would have hit the wall. “Sorry.”
A few minutes later they reached the Kill Room. Quickly they loaded up one of the two remaining bodies and headed back into the hallway.
They hadn’t gone far when a voice called out behind them. “Are you almost done?”
They stopped and looked back. Walking toward them was Theo Gates, head of processing.
“One more after this,” Diaz said.
“Is there a problem?” Ward asked.
Diaz looked confused.
“No, sir,” Diaz said.
“Then do you want to tell me why you aren’t already at the dump site?”
Dump site, Terrell thought. The words hammered home the utter disgust he was feeling, but he appreciated that Ward wasn’t covering it up by calling it the safe zone like they were suppose to.
“We should be on the road in ten minutes,” Diaz said.
“You’re behind schedule. We’ll be bringing in another group in four hours, so I expect you to be back and everything ready by then.”
“Won’t be a problem,” Diaz said. He looked at Terrell. “Let’s move.”
As they headed down the hallway, faster than before, all Terrell could think was, Another group.
29
Bobby could hear the sat phone ringing as he exited the bathroom. He figured Tamara would answer it, so he made no effort to hurry back to the surveillance room. Then he heard the toilet flush in the women’s bathroom.
In a burst of speed, he ran down the corridor, his shoes squeaking loudly as he skidded around the corner into the big room. He paused inside the doorway, unsure where he’d left the phone. Another ring solved his dilemma.
“Hello?” he said, even before he had it pressed against his ear.
“Bobby? It’s Leon.”
By the time Bobby hung up the phone, Tamara had returned.
“Pack up,” he said. “We leave in ten minutes.”
“Leave? Where are we going?”
He smiled. “We have an assignment.”
Sanjay sat up with a start. He blinked as he looked around.
Kusum was still asleep beside him, and while the room was still dark, he could see the unmoving lump of Darshana on the other bed.
Had a dream woken him? He could feel his heart racing so he assumed the dream had been a pretty wild one. As he took a deep breath to calm down, he heard a buzz behind him. Looking back, all he saw was the dark form of his pillow. And then he remembered.
The phone.
He had switched it to vibrate and put it under his pillow to prevent anyone outside the building from hearing it ring. He pulled it out and hit CONNECT.
“Yes?” he whispered.
“Is this Sanjay?”
“Yes. Who is this?”
“Crystal. I know it’s early for you, but do you have a moment?”
“Hold on.”
He carefully climbed out of bed and exited the room into the nearly pitch-black hallway. “Okay,” he said. “We can talk now.”
He returned to the room four minutes later.
“Kusum, Darshana, you need to wake up.”
The women stirred but neither opened her eyes.
Sanjay walked over to his wife and kissed her on the forehead. “Wake up, my love.”
A low grunt escaped before her eyes finally fluttered open. “Sanjay? What’s going on?”
“Time to get up.”
She looked confused. “It is still dark.”
“There are things we need to do.”
He straightened up and turned to wake Darshana, but saw her eyes were already open.
“Are you going to kiss me, too?” she asked.
“Don’t count on it.”
The runways at the Ely Airport had not been long enough for the plane that had flown north from Isabella Island, but the largest was long enough for the Gulfstream G550 executive jet that was on its final approach from San Francisco. This was the first of four such aircraft that had been called in from Resistance locations on the West Coast. The other three would be arriving within the hour.
Ash, pensive, looked at the jet’s lights.
“Now would be a hell of a time to second-guess yourself,” Pax said.
“Tell me this is going to work and I’ll stop,” Ash said.
“Whether it works or not doesn’t matter,” Chloe threw in. “If we wait we’ll definitely fail.”
“I’m pretty sure whether it works or not is going to matter,” Ash said.
“You know what I mean.”
He gave her a half smile. “I do.”
A screech of rubber announced the jet’s touchdown.
“I believe your ride is here,” Pax said.
Ash watched the plane for a moment longer, then turned to his friends. “Call us as soon as you have a feel for the situation,” he said to Pax. “Crystal should have everything set by then, but if you need to act, don’t wait.”
“Don’t worry about us,” Pax said. “We’ll handle our end.”
“I don’t doubt that for a moment.”
Pax looked over at Chloe. “Watch out for him. He’s liable to forget he’s still injured.”
She hugged him. “I’ll do my best.”
The two men shook hands.
“Good luck,” Ash said.
“You, too, Captain.”
Robert and the other volunteers were waiting in the small terminal building. If any of them was regretting raising his or her hand, no one was saying anything.
“Freshen up your coffee?” he asked Estella.
“No, thank you,” she said, setting down her nearly full cup.
“How about you?” he said to Renee.
“I’m with Estella,” she replied. “I think if I actually drink any of this, I’m going to throw up.” She put her cup down next to Estella’s.