He just hoped Jon and Brandon had done what he ordered, and were already in the woods, trying to get as far from the Ranch as possible.
“Intruders on ground,” someone announced.
Matt looked at the monitors displaying feeds from cameras hidden around the compound. He zeroed in on a view of the open space near the Lodge, where one of the helicopters had just set down and a half dozen heavily armed men in fatigues, helmets, and body armor were jumping out. As they rushed toward the burning building, the second helicopter landed and more men joined the others.
“Dear God,” someone said.
Matt could sense fear filling the room.
“Hold it together,” he ordered. “They can’t get in. You all know that.”
There were a few nods, and a couple of grunts of agreement, but the anxiety level remained high.
On the screen, the attack squad circled the Lodge, while a smaller detachment raced over to the dormitory. When it was clear no one could be alive in the burning buildings, they regrouped, then split again, and headed in teams of three into the woods.
It’s okay, Matt thought. Jon and Brandon are far away. They won’t be seen.
“Matt?” Christina Kim called out from the communication terminal she was manning.
“In a minute,” Matt said.
“No. Now.”
He turned. “What is it?”
Her eyes never left the monitor in front of her as she motioned for him to hurry over. She said into her microphone, “Your signal’s weak, but you’re getting through.”
Matt walked quickly to her desk. “Who is it?”
“Pax,” she said as she handed him a second headset.
Matt donned it and pressed the earpiece tight to his head. Pax was his right-hand man, and was currently above the Arctic Circle in search of Bluebird, Project Eden’s control center. “It’s Matt. Are you there?”
“Good to hear your voice, Matt,” Pax said.
There was a lot of interference.
Matt put his hand over his mic and said, “Can you do anything about the signal?”
Christina shook her head. “I’ll keep trying, but that’s the best I’ve been able to do so far.”
He took his hand off the mic. “Any luck?”
“Bust here,” Pax said. “The science facility on Amund Ringnes Island is legit.”
The assumption had been that Bluebird was posing as a scientific research outpost on one of the far north islands. The Resistance had narrowed it down to the most likely ones, and sent the team — headed by Brandon’s father, Daniel Ash — to see if they could pinpoint its exact location, and do whatever they could to stop Project Eden from initiating its plan. The team had then divided in half so they could check the final two possibilities at the same time. Pax led one group to Amund Ringnes Island, while Ash led the other to Yanok Island.
So if Bluebird wasn’t on Amund Ringnes…
“I haven’t been able to reach Captain Ash,” Pax said. “Has he reported in to you?”
Though Matt knew the answer, he glanced at Christina. She shook her head. “No,” he said. “We haven’t heard from him since before they left for Yanok.”
“I was afraid of that. I’ve also been unable to reach Gagnon to arrange pickup.” Gagnon was flying the seaplane that shuttled the men to the islands. “I guess it doesn’t matter at the moment. Even if I did reach him, I doubt he’d be able to get here for a day or two.”
“Did something happen?”
“A storm happened. It seems to be a pretty big one. We’ve taken shelter in an unmanned research outpost, and won’t be going anywhere until it calms down a bit.”
“I understand.”
There was a pause. “Matt, Bluebird’s got to be on Yanok. I’m sure Ash has already figured that out, so I’m surprised you haven’t heard from him.”
“Could be caught in the storm, too.”
“Could be, but he wouldn’t let that stop him until he knew for sure. We’re running out of time. Implementation Day could be tomorrow, for all we know.”
Implementation Day, when Project Eden would activate the release of the Sage Flu virus on the world.
Matt glanced over at the others watching the assault team search the area around the Lodge. “Actually, Pax, I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be tomorrow.”
“Keep moving!” Hayes yelled.
Brandon jerked back around. He hadn’t even realized he’d slowed down, but he hadn’t been able to help glancing over his shoulder to search for the helicopters thumping in the distance. He couldn’t spot them, though, with the thick forest cover barely allowing him a glimpse of the sky. He picked up his pace, and soon caught up to the man who was trying to save his life.
“The emergency stash is only about five minutes from the top of the ridge,” Hayes said. “We can rest when we get there.”
“I’m fine,” Brandon told him, not wanting to show any weakness.
Hayes gave him a smile. “Glad to hear it.”
When they reached the top, the trees parted enough for them to see two columns of smoke rising into the air from back toward the Ranch. Brandon knew that at the bottom of the larger column would be what was left of the Lodge, and below it, underground, the Bunker where his sister Josie and the others were hiding. He hoped she was all right, and that the security measures Mr. Hamilton had taken would be enough to protect her and everyone else.
A part of him wanted to rush back, and do what he could to help them. What that would be, he had no idea, but running away just seemed wrong.
As they started down the other side of the ridge, he said, “Do you think they can get into the Bunker?”
“No,” Hayes said, and started walking again.
Brandon grabbed his arm. “You can’t know for sure.”
The man turned toward him. “Matt knows what he’s doing. The people from the helicopters won’t be able to get to them. You and I, we need to concentrate on our own survival right now. Playing guessing games about what’s going on back there isn’t going to help us. Okay?”
Brandon frowned, but said, “Okay.”
A few minutes later, Hayes stopped.
“Is this it?” Brandon asked, looking around. There was nothing there but more trees.
Hayes approached a broken branch sticking out of the ground. No, not a branch, Brandon realized — an old rusted stake.
Hayes aligned himself with it, then marched off a couple dozen paces to the west. The place where he stopped was just a small open space, maybe ten feet in diameter at most, and looked pretty much like everywhere else.
“Give me a hand,” Hayes said. He dropped to his knees and began pushing away the ground cover.
Brandon joined him. He almost asked what they were looking for, but as soon as he started moving the dirt and dead vegetation, he saw a flat metal surface. It took them less than a minute to completely clear it.
“Come over to this side,” Hayes said.
Brandon repositioned himself, and together they put their hands underneath the four-foot-square plate and lifted. The metal was heavy, but they were able to get it up and to the side. In the space beneath was what looked like a sewer lid, only it had no holes in the top, and instead of being metal, it was plastic. Embedded in the surface were two handles about six inches apart.
Hayes put a hand in each, and turned the whole thing like the lid of a jar. It took two complete rotations before it came free. Underneath was a round shaft stuffed with items in airtight packages.