As he’d done each trip before, he used the wall to help him hold the boxes while he turned the knob, and started to open the door.
That’s when he heard the footsteps.
Van Assen returned to the admin building and made a stop at his office. There, he retrieved a pair of gloves, a camera, and his set of keys. While he could have grabbed the Glock 9mm pistol in his drawer, he knew it would be better if the shots that “brought Weathersbee down” were not from the gun assigned to him.
The main weapons arsenal was located back in the security building. There was, however, a weapons locker — albeit a less — equipped one — near Mr. Dettling’s office. He headed there next, and was considering which firearm would be best when he heard a door open behind him.
He turned quickly, a thousand excuses for why he needed to be in the locker running through his head, but no one was in the hallway. As far as he could tell, all the doors were shut.
But it had definitely been a door. He closed the weapons locker door and tiptoed over to the nearest office. Placing his ear close to the surface, he listened for anyone inside. Not hearing anything, he moved quietly to the next office, but it was more dead air.
He knew he had heard a door, and it had been in this hallway. Not counting Dettling’s, there was one more office, the conference room, and a few storage rooms. He headed for the office.
When he reached the door, he stopped and listened again.
Kusum was almost caught while transporting the first two boxes to the safety of the building outside the compound.
She was only a block away from her destination when a car came around a bend. She barely had time to dodge into a narrow gap between two stores.
The car drove slowly down the road, flashlight beams shining out the open windows onto buildings and parked cars.
Kusum knelt down, intending to go all the way prone with the boxes beside her when she remembered the distinctive yellow and black tape. If they saw that, they would stop for sure. She snatched up a pile of food wrappers and newspapers and covered the exposed ends of the boxes, hoping that would be enough. Then down she went.
A few moments later, through the corner of her eye, she saw the wall beside her light up, less than an arm’s length above her head. She tensed, ready to make a run for it if the light dipped any lower, but the car kept moving, and the muted glow of the flashlight beam quickly faded.
She waited until she couldn’t hear the car anymore, and then jumped to her feet and ran the rest of the way.
She hid the two boxes in a storeroom of a first-floor shop, concealing them behind a stack of dresses and children’s clothes. Then she headed back to the compound to help Sanjay bring the others.
But when she arrived, Sanjay wasn’t there yet.
She nearly crawled into the hole, thinking he might need help, but stopped herself.
He’s being careful, she told herself. He’ll be fine.
She wasn’t sure if she believed that or not, but she knew if she went back in, there was as much of a chance she’d make things worse than better.
She grabbed two more boxes and started back for the building.
He’ll be here when I get back.
He’ll be here.
Both the office and the conference room were empty. Van Assen even went ahead and checked Dettling’s office. No one there, either.
So, which door had opened?
He looked around the hallway again.
One of the storage rooms? No one should be in any of those, not this late at night, and especially not on a night like they were experiencing. But those were the only places he hadn’t checked.
There were four of them: the weapons locker he’d been in, a maintenance closet, the medical storage room, and the telecom equipment room. The medical storage room was closest, so he went there first.
Sanjay heard footsteps approaching the storage room. Not knowing if the door had automatically locked when he shut it, he grabbed the knob and held it tight.
He realized too late that he should have put the boxes down first so he could use both hands, but there was nothing he could do about it now.
The steps stopped right outside, and then the knob shook, but it didn’t turn. It was locked, he realized with relief. As soon as the other person let go, he did, too, and thought, Go look somewhere else.
But instead of steps moving away from the door, he heard the rattle of metal, followed by the sound of a key slipping into the lock.
Van Assen inserted the J key into the doorknob and turned it. As he stepped forward, something grabbed his arm, yanked him inside, and shoved him to the floor.
As he looked back, he saw the culprit flee the room. But the man wasn’t one of the Project’s people; he was an Indian. And he was carrying two boxes sealed with yellow and black tape.
Van Assen pushed himself to his feet and rushed over to the back corner where the eight boxes of vaccine had been stored.
They were gone.
Every last one of them.
Sanjay sprinted down the hallway toward the exit, knowing the man he’d thrown to the ground would be after him in seconds. He’d recognized the guy. The man had been one of Dettling’s subordinates, but Sanjay had never known his name.
Faster! he ordered himself, sure that a hand was about to clamp down on his shoulder.
He knew he should have dumped the vaccine — it was slowing him down — but the idea of leaving any of it behind was not acceptable to him.
“Hey! You there! Come back here!” the man yelled behind him.
Sanjay kept running until he reached the door. As he banged it open and rushed outside, he would have collided with Mr. Dettling if he hadn’t spun at the last second out of the way. While the move saved him from hitting the man, the top box slipped from his grasp and fell on the ground.
“What the hell? What’s going on?” Dettling said. As Sanjay leaned down and picked up the box, Dettling narrowed his eyes. “Sanjay?”
“Leave me alone,” Sanjay said as he started to run again. “Leave all of us alone. Haven’t you and your Project Eden friends killed enough?”
Van Assen shoved the door out of the way. When he exited the building, he was surprised to find Mr. Dettling standing just outside, staring at the receding form of the intruder.
“He’s got the vaccine!” van Assen yelled.
Dettling had no reaction.
“Mr. Dettling, did you hear me? He has the vaccine!”
“The vaccine?” Dettling said, as if not comprehending the words.
“Yes! He’s taken all of it!”
More silence.
Whatever was wrong with Dettling, van Assen wasn’t about to let it take him down, too.
Pushing past his boss, he headed after the thief.
Sanjay didn’t even bother trying to hide. The faster he got out of there, the better chance he had of remaining free.
He weaved his way through the compound and into the back junk area. When he reached the barrels sitting in front of the hole, he risked a look back. He didn’t see anyone, but knew he couldn’t count on that for long.
He shoved the first box into the hole as far as it would go, then used the second one to push the first, and then he followed it. The first box cleared the other end, but the second seemed hung up on something. He pulled it back a few centimeters and wiggled it forward, hoping to avoid the obstruction. For a second, it felt like it would get stuck again, then it was free, and…