Chapter 10
The truck pulled up back at The Hive as the sunset got into full swing. Ana was managing to be beyond the point of exhaustion yet buzzing with energy at the same time. She'd exchanged the contact details of Sophie's parents with the young girl's father so they could keep in contact. Something told her that the twins would make sure this was the start of a beautiful friendship. Or a long-lasting one at very least. And despite it only being about half six when they pulled in, Ana was more than ready to hit the hay. So was Chloe. After their earlier hiccup, she and Ana had managed to have a great night out together with the twins. She could definitely see why she'd been missing them.
Yet she was frustrated as well. She'd managed to ambush the drummer of The High Seas- Pixie, she recalled- and asked her about the girl giving out leaflets. Unfortunately they had quite a few people giving out leaflets both in affiliation with the band and the charity. And Chloe's description of her- brown hair, fresh-faced and cute with freckles- was too generic to help. Even the t-shirt didn't do much. Pixie hadn't known of anyone wearing anything like that, but clothes weren't always a solid point of description since anyone who wasn't a complete human swab test changed those on a regular basis. Without a picture of her, it was a total dead end.
As soon as they were through the gates and out of the truck, they were all but ambushed by Inchy. He was there in an instant and speaking too quick for them to make out. And when Ana managed to calm him down, he settled on the condensed version.
"We need you over by the big board! We found something and it's big!" That got their attention. The girls allowed themselves to be escorted to the giant TV screen at the end of the park. This was the first time Chloe had seen it on and a map of Seattle was lit up on there with several dots all over it. As they approached, Melody, House and Percy saw them coming.
"Percy managed to crack the data on the phone Chloe recovered from the hospital." Melody explained. "She's done it for us again. It's a gold mine."
"What am I looking at?" Ana asked, gazing over the data on the screen.
"Potential targets of opportunity." Percy told her. "The gang we're up against is called the Tunnel Snakes. They're a gang of playboys who are somehow much more armed than they should be. They have several bases set up over Seattle, one of them right near the hospital and another about a block and a half from Heaven's Night. That explains why you were attacked at both locations. They were the easiest ones to get to you at."
"That and the fact I started this when I busted one of them for cheating at dice." Chloe added. "Sorry, guys."
"No apologies." Ana told her firmly. "You couldn't have known. And besides, I was the one who shot the fucker. He may have been acting without the knowledge of the others, but killing him certainly wouldn't have earned us prestige with them. Not that we'd want to. Even their name sounds misogynistic!"
"It is." Percy nodded. "I don't think I have to go into details about the many innuendos that surround a name like 'Tunnel Snakes'. But they're a big problem and need sorting out. The data on this phone details possible targets for us to hit that would really cripple them in Seattle. And our employer gave us those printers under the condition that we used them to try and clean up the area. So I say we do it."
"Okay, so each of these points on the map details what each area is used for." Inchy continued, picking up where Percy left off. "That also tells us what we can potentially do to really hurt them."
"Hang on!" Chloe jumped in. The direction the discussion was taking was making her gut hurt in a way that scared her. "Are you guys talking about potentially going in there and killing them? I mean, that Darnell guy and the dude in the hospital were one thing because they attacked us first, but actually going there and killing them unprovoked-"
"Unprovoked?" Ana turned to Chloe disbelievingly. "They've come after us twice! How is that not provoked?"
"Three times." Melody corrected her. "One of them went after Chloe yesterday. She went to Heaven's Night to tell Vic what happened to you."
"Well then I say we definitely need to strike back." Ana said, her tone dropping dangerously.
"I'm not killing them." Chloe said firmly. "I want to help, but shooting that one guy fucked me up enough. I'm not a killer."
"It's far from my favourite past time." Ana told her. "But we accepted a long time ago that there was a probability this might happen. It was an eventuality. Fair enough. If you're willing to drive us, we'll do the heavy lifting. Besides... Your truck is kind of the only road-worthy vehicle we have right now." Chloe still wasn't keen on it, but she had to admit it was a better option. The people of The Hive were prepared to do whatever meant survival for their way of life. It was something she could respect.
"I assume you've already found a good target then?" she asked, turning to Percy expectantly.
"I have." Percy nodded. "The one under the West Seattle Bridge. They're developing a prototype of some kind there. No matter what it is, it's liable to be dangerous. We can't have them threaten the community with it."
"Good choice." Ana nodded, her energy seeming to come rushing back. "Chloe, ready your truck. I'll grab our weapons from the room. Everyone else but Melody and Inchy, gear up! We leave now!" Everyone nodded and went their separate ways. Melody headed back towards the medical tent with Inchy. Clearly taking the only medic and the one who might have concussion into a fight wasn't the best idea. Chloe approved that decision. Percy and House headed to grab weapons while Ana headed in the direction of the room and Chloe beelined for her truck. She wanted the engine hot and running at all times to give them a clean way in and out.
Making it to the truck, she started the engine and waited. Ana emerged seconds later carrying her own folding pistol and handing Chloe her butterfly knife. Percy and House jumped into the cargo bed carrying a rifle each. This time, Percy's rifle had a silencer on it. And the silencer, just like his scope, looked almost military spec. It certainly hadn't been printed. She couldn't help but wonder where they were getting this stuff from as she took her knife and started pulling up to the gate. House jumped out to let them out and then shut the gate behind them before jumping back on. Once he was secure in the cargo bed again, Chloe pulled away as Ana started feeding her directions to the bridge. As she did, she pulled out her phone and called Melody.
"Hey, Melody? Is there anything else you can tell me about this prototype? Any clues from the surrounding area?"
"A large number of people have reported feeling mildly ill recently after being in that area." Melody reported. "It could be chemical. Be careful. You don't have masks or suits."
"Thanks." Ana said before hanging up again and turning to Chloe. "Looks like you're getting the easy end of this deal."
"I guess so." Chloe nodded, unable to stop her hands from sweating as she kept a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel.
They pulled up at the bridge a little while later. By this point, night had almost completely fallen. Chloe parked up but sat idle at minimum RPM, ready to move at a moments notice. Ana and the boys jumped out, ready to do what they came to. The mission was simple: capture the prototype if it was able to be transported. Otherwise, destroy it.
As they ran off in the direction of the hideout, Chloe's phone pinged. She checked it to see she'd been sent a link by Ana. When had she obtained Chloe's number? When she was unconscious after the crash? It didn't matter. She clicked the link to see her screen split into two. One half was camera feed from Ana's phone as she walked with her pistol out in front of her. The other was from back at The Hive and she could hear Melody's voice coming through. Clearly she was coordinating the mission remotely.
"Okay, there should be a ridge overlooking the hideout. Percy can snipe from there." Percy was already heading for it. And in everyone's sights were two men out front. They had shaved heads and snake tattoos running up their arms, although one man's tattoos were obscured by the worst case of eczema Chloe had ever seen. A second later, both men were down. Ana beckoned House forward and they vaulted the gate before going internal. As they did, the feed to Chloe's phone started breaking up. It was an odd pattern of static that she hadn't seen before. It certainly wasn't any kind of weather interference, not least because there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
"Melody, can you hear me?" she asked. "This is Chloe. Ana linked me to this feed."
"Chloe, do you have visuals on Ana or House?" Melody asked. "I got nothing here! Her feed really started playing up!"
"Nothing." Chloe replied. "I lost them as soon as they went inside. Do you think they have some kind of signal jammer? A cell blocker?"
"They're a lot better armed than they should be." Melody reasoned. "Can you seen anything around that might give us a clue? Anything at all?" Chloe looked around, scanning what she could see of the hideout for an antenna. There was nothing.
"Nope." Chloe sighed. "Just your typical bad guy hideout. Place looks like a disorganised pile of crap with a literal pile of crap at the side of it. There's metal scrap and trash bags off to the left. A massive pile, too. The flies are going berserk. That's probably why people have been getting sick. I bet there's some animal carcasses too. This place reeks of death." But despite her casual tone, Chloe was getting worried. Things were beginning to join together in her head in a way she didn't like- old lessons from her science classes resurfacing in her mind- painting a picture that utterly terrified her.
"How many guards were on the door?" Melody asked.
"Two." Chloe replied. "We didn't see anyone else out front. And one guy had eczema." But now she didn't even believe herself. She found her body moving of its own accord, taking the key from the ignition and climbing out of the truck. "I'm leaving the truck and heading for that trash pile. If my signal starts to get fucky at any point, I want you to sing out immediately!"
"Chloe, no!" Melody protested. "You're barely armed! What if you get jumped?"
"Then I'll tell them to get out and save themselves." Chloe hated the heavy note in her voice. As she approached the trash pile with terror bubbling inside her, she wondered how she could have gone from being at a High Seas gig with Ana to doing this in only a couple of hours. She reached the first trash bag and pulled out her knife, too terrified to acknowledge the phone stuttering in her other hand. As she cut into it, she recoiled in terror and disgust as a human arm flopped out. She knew from the weight of it that the rest of the body was still attached. She couldn't tell what ethnicity they were. It was too coated in the markings that she'd initially mistaken for eczema. Only now did she realise just how hopelessly optimistic that had been.
Sprinting for her life, she made it to the truck. As she did, she realised that her phone signal had started bugging out. In her fear, she hadn't taken notice of it. And Melody's warnings were only just starting to get through.
"-king up!" Chloe didn't know what to do. She just grabbed her phone in a blind panic and started screaming into it, praying that Melody heard her.
"It's radiation! The prototypes are fucking nukes! They're trying to make nuclear devices out of old radioactive waste metal!"
"What?" Melody spluttered over the phone, not believing what she was hearing.
"There's a reason there were only two guys out front! They were the only two left!" Chloe continued. "All the rest are dead! They're in the trash bags out front!" She was aware that tears were streaming down her face at that moment, but she didn't care. Ana and House were in there! If something happened to them- it didn't even bare thinking about. Everyone she'd cared for had either died or left her. She was damned if she was going to let that happen to these people!
"Okay, don't panic." Melody instructed, sounding impossibly calm. "Percy is on the ridge. I'll tell him to use a screamer. It's a retreat signal in case communication breaks down." She heard a click as Melody switched channels. Seconds later, Chloe saw a metal rod of some kind go arching into the courtyard. As soon as it made contact, a horrible wailing noise tore the air apart. Chloe knew they had a limited time to get out of there. It sounded like the sort of scream someone might let out if they were being cut apart while alive and conscious. A noise like that was sure to bring in cops. Where the hell had they got this kind of hardware?
It took less than thirty seconds for Ana and House to come charging out of the hideout. Percy had started descending from the ridge and met them in the middle as they sprinted for the truck. By that time, Chloe had climbed back in and restarted the engine. Now she was more glad than ever to be leaving in a hurry. The split second they were in, Chloe pulled away. And not a moment too soon, either. By the time the sirens reached them, she'd only just managed to rejoin a lane of traffic. It was sparsely populated at night, but only just heavily enough that she knew they were unlikely to connect her truck to being anywhere near the hideout unless by some freak instance of chance. Meanwhile, she heard Melody putting out a separate message while leaving their own channel open.
"Mayday, mayday, mayday! I am broadcasting on Invictus level clearance! Authentication: Delta, India, Charlie, Kilo! We have confirmation of nuclear materials under the West Seattle Bridge! Possible attempted production of home-made nuclear devices! Police forces on-site!"
Needing no further invitation, Chloe floored the gas and sped back in the direction of The Hive. Her phone rested in her lap, the noise of network chatter really not helping matters. Her mind was racing with possibilities of what could happen now. What could they have been near in there? Touched? Interacted in some way with? What would happen if they got sick? They couldn't send Ana back to hospital so soon after getting her out and certainly not the one they'd been attacked in only earlier that day. Both the Tunnel Snakes and her family would be monitoring that one as soon as they got back from Tacoma. If they hadn't already. She'd blocked Iidazan as soon as possible, but now her own name had been dragged into this. If they didn't go after Ana, they'd be trying to find her now!
"How are you feeling?" she asked, determined to think about something else. "Are you nauseous at all?"
"Kind of." Ana nodded. "But I can't tell if that's from exposure or because it's sinking in that I just led my people into a nuclear death trap. How the fuck did they get fissile material?"
"They didn't." Chloe told her. "The companies aren't supposed to dump radioactive material. There's, like, a thousand different laws against it worldwide. Very few of them are enforced. You can literally walk into virtually any site with a Geiger counter, a long pair of tongs and a lead-lined Kevlar baggie and grab as much as you want. All that scrap metal out front was irradiated. What did you see inside?"
"Grenades." Ana replied. "I think they were trying to prime them with radioactive sources."
"Well then I need to take you guys to get treated for radiation sickness." Chloe said, her voice sounding entirely too calm. "The only question is where, since you're not safe at the hospital and can't use the family insurance again. Not for maybe another five years, anyway."
"The Hive." Ana told her resolutely. "Melody has the stuff we'll need. Our employer makes sure we're well taken care of in exchange for trying to clean up the are in any way we can." Chloe let out an exasperated sigh. Of course! The Hive just seemed to have literally everything!
"Okay, you're gonna have to tell me who the fuck employs you!" She let out a sigh as she debated the merits of banging her head against the steering wheel in the hope it might help everything make slightly more sense. After a few seconds, she decided it was a bad idea while the truck was moving. "Seriously, you have everything! 3D printers, an entire decommissioned amusement park, treatment for fucking radiation sickness..."
"I'll tell you everything." Ana promised. "Once we're sure we're all going to be okay. This is a bit of a quantum leap from a High Seas concert, isn't it?"
"It really is." Chloe nodded. With a grip of iron on the steering wheel, she drove on back towards The Hive.
Author's Note: So here we are- another day, another chapter. So a quick progress update for anyone who doesn't already know... The last chapter was uploaded very hastily because my technology issues have grown worse. In fact, I'm back to using the family computer again. I will get it sorted over the next few days, finally, but that's the reason my updating has been a mess. Why I've been posting up so late in the day some days. It's because I couldn't get the laptop to boot up at all. Usually it acted up once or twice every couple of months and then ran flawlessly, but it's crashed out on me five times in the last week so it's getting to the point where I can barely use it. Not to worry, though. Once I get it fixed or swapped out, I will be back better than ever. There might be a slight delay to uploads while I transition between computers, but once that's done I will be back with a vengeance. If I miss an upload day, I will post the next chapter on the day I get back to make up for it and then it will be back on schedule as usual.