“Isn’t he down in Florida somewhere? Don’t you need to check on him?”

  The woman had an aggravating way of cutting right to the chase on everything. “We aren’t exactly close,” I offered weakly.

  “You have my offer. I don’t see where you have any options.”

  And dammit, she was right. Things were getting way more complicated.

  * * *

  .

  CHAPTER

  THIRTY-EIGHT

  The two women quickly brought what they considered essential out to the truck. Damiana’s house was next door, but Murphy’s top man had forced her out days earlier, said they needed it for its strategically important position. It had been where one of the snipers had been posted. She didn’t strike me as someone who would have been bullied easily. When I asked her about it, she just smiled.

  “Just a house, Kovach. Sometimes you must pick your battles.”

  She wasn’t wrong. Somehow, I felt she could have handled these men if she wanted. I got a vibe of hidden reserves within her compact frame. The two of them didn’t have much to add to my own supplies but brought along bedding and spare clothes.

  “Why did they let you go to the store alone?” I asked Carol.

  “I didn’t ask,” she replied with a snort. “We weren’t prisoners, not exactly. They kept telling everyone they had made a food order that would be delivered soon, but we both knew that was a lie. Most of the homes were well stocked. Not everyone came home that day so…” She left the rest unsaid. “Also, I had hoped I could get a connection so I could talk to Lux.”

  “Lux is your son.”

  She nodded; I could see the tears forming before she looked away quickly. “I’m sorry.”

  “Joe,” Ada said in a soft, internal voice. “I managed to bypass the Wi-Fi firewall and access the satellites again, although the signal is noisy. I think someone here was running a jammer, but I am running a search for her child. Also, I see no information on any government associate using that name of the other woman.”

  Interesting, I thought. I subvocalized for her to go ahead and run the search. Minutes later, she gave me the update.

  “I’ve found an autocar pickup in an Atlanta suburb for one Lux Reynolds last Wednesday, the day of the attack. Destination was here.”

  I did my best to hide the concern on my face.

  The AI continued, “His nanny-bot posted an emergency message a few hours into the trip.”

  Ada read off the rest of the details, and it became clear. Carol’s son was dead already or on his own out there somewhere in the north Georgia or Tennessee hill country. I stepped away from the women, who were grabbing final supplies and offering goodbyes to a few of the more friendly women who’d gathered to watch.

  “Fix the crash coordinates and map a route from here.”

  “Already done, Joe, but that data point was nearly a week ago. One small boy on his own for that long…”

  She didn’t bother finishing the thought. I understood completely.

  “Will you tell Carol? She deserves to know.”

  I looked over at the woman; she was a mother, and while she had not been particularly friendly to me, she was justified in how she felt. “I will,” I finally said. “But I want to have a plan first. See if we have any assets we can call on down there. Anything you can find that might offer some hope. Also, please see if you can get an update on my team’s evac.”

  Selfishly, I wanted the two women in a helpful mood until I found the drugs I needed. I knew if I said anything to Carol now, they likely wouldn’t want to go back to the Iron River facility to help me look. What can I say? I’m an asshole? The thing is, five weeks from now… I still want to be an asshole, a living, breathing one.

  It surprised me that we got out of the neighborhood with no other shit coming down on us.

  “Oh, my God, look,” Damiana said, pointing.

  I thought my fly was down, but no, she was pointing a little higher.

  “It has a steering wheel.”

  I smiled. “Yeah, they are kind of handy now that the roads and cars can no longer talk to each other.”

  Carol was still quiet; I knew she had concerns about her son and leaving her home behind. She had no plan other than wanting to get to her child. I was a convenience, a means to an end—nothing more. Damiana was a bit of a talker, though; it was okay; I liked it. She was personable and obviously smart and, yeah, rather attractive, too. Honestly, both women were, but Damiana was more comfortable with it.

  “Just call me Dami,” she said. Her face wrinkling into a slightly adorable grin.

  Was she flirting with me?

  She sat up front in Sumo’s seat, and Carol sat nervously in the back with Sumo.

  “Can you get a move on? I don’t want to be in that place come nighttime,” Dami said with a tone of dread.

  Nope, she wasn’t flirting. Also, I agreed with her. I had no intentions of being there when the sun went down. “You said you had heard rumors. Care to share?”

  Damiana pursed her lips, clearly unsure of what she could talk about. “Stuff went on in all of those buildings. We aren’t supposed to ever discuss any of it, but well… you know, people talk. The guys especially. They love to brag.”

  “Did they do a lot of bio-warfare stuff? You know, like more of the genetically edited biologics?” I asked, hoping she would open more quickly. We were only ten minutes away. I wanted a better idea of what I might be facing.

  She laughed. “Like you?”

  “Touché.”

  She nodded. “At least a third of the base was involved in advancing biological weaponry in one form or another. Essentially, the ability to weaponize both flora and fauna.”

  “Fauna? You mean like plants?”

  “Like everything. I know they have a vine that can wrap around a person in seconds and deliver a natural neurotoxin through tiny hairs on its tendrils. I had to write up the field trials on that one. Some of the other stuff… well, no one’s talking about it. I saw the cages they had built, though, scary as fuck.”

  Visions of the dead scientist and the ceiling monster invaded my thoughts.

  She went on, apparently feeling better about sharing now that she was away from Murphy and his minions. “Iron River is essentially an R&D facility, a skunk-works, so it had a little of everything Hammer was into. Being so close to D.C., it was a convenient air hop for influential senators and military brass to come out and get the full dog and pony show.”

  “Joe, the batteries are at twenty-eight percent and dropping,” Ada said internally. I’d been too distracted to notice how fast the meter was falling.

  “Shit.”

  “What?” both women said at once.

  “I should have fully charged the truck back at your house. We may not have any juice to leave the facility afterward.”

  I couldn’t see Carol, but the look in Damiana’s eyes let me know that wasn’t an option.

  “Don’t worry, it’s okay. I’ll come up with something. We can lay out a charging blanket, still have a couple of hours of sunlight.” Right on cue, I noticed clouds building off to the west. We had a storm moving in. Maybe I could make it back to the little store and wait it out there. Have I mentioned that I wasn’t thinking strategically? Whatever mental upgrades I supposedly got were obviously on vacation.

  CHAPTER

  THIRTY-NINE

  LUX

  “I’m really hungry, boy.” Lux didn’t know if the dog was a male, but that was what he thought of him as. The two had roamed the woods all day. He did not know how far away from the road they’d come, but it felt like a million miles, maybe more. He dug around in the red bag hoping to find something else to eat. He’d finished the last snack bar and water just after sunrise.

  At first, he thought the dog must have lived around here. Every time they topped another hill, he just knew the shaggy mutt was going to start barking and racing for a house that he could just barely make out. It hadn’t happened, not yet. They topped one hill, and then another seemed to rise up to take its place. The dog did run far ahead occasionally but always came back to wait on him.

  The boy knew it was getting late again. He didn’t want to sleep under a tree like he had the night before and the night before that. Ants had gotten down in his clothes and kept biting him, but he’d been too afraid to move. He did not like the woods at night. He wanted to be home; he wanted to be safe.

  “I’m not going to cry. Dad said only babies cry, and I’m no baby.” He stomped his feet hard to drive away the stinging in his watery eyes as he ran to catch up with the dog.

  Two hours later, Lux’s feet were dragging with each step. He’d tripped over a root and busted his lip. He tasted blood and could feel how much bigger the bottom lip was on one side. His stomach was growling so loudly he’d tried to eat some dark purple berries growing on a low plant, but the dog got between him and the bush. They looked good, but he knew things like that could be bad. Still, if he saw another one, he was going to try them. He needed something.

  As they descended yet another hill, he began to slide; this one was much steeper than the rest. It was also getting so dark he couldn’t see what was in front of him. “Hey, boy. Where are you?” He was nearly on all fours as he made his way down. He heard the dog but could no longer tell in what direction he was. Then the sounds of the dog faded, then were gone. It was only him and the woods and the strange night sounds that always scared him so much.

  “Hey, boy!” Lux called out, much softer this time. He wanted the dog to hear, but not the other bad stuff that was probably out there. He was so thirsty, so hungry, and so scared. Giving up trying to walk or even crawl down the steep slope, he sat on his butt and slid. Mom would be mad about his pants, but it wasn’t his fault.

  After several minutes, the trees thinned, and he saw the familiar gulley that almost all the hills seemed to end in. He stood back up and caught a smell of something on the breeze. It smelled like food; his stomach growled again. It smelled good… really good, but he didn’t know what it might be; mostly what they ate at home were the precooked meals or deliveries his mom ran through the food-prep machine on the counter. Whatever this was, he was smelling… he wanted it. He moved in the direction, his scuffed shoes sinking deeply into the sandy soil.

  The house sat in a clearing; it wasn’t alone. A dozen more that looked just like it lined the street, but the smell came from one with light flickering in the window. Outside, his new friend, the dog, sat wagging his big tail as a girl tossed him a ball. Lux wanted to cry, but his tiny body no longer had any water to spare for tears.

  Strangers could be dangerous. His mom and dad both told him that—a lot. Marcie had warned him as well, but this place felt normal. He tried to call out and waved an arm weakly. The boy was so tired. He stumbled and fell as the forest floor turned suddenly into a thick green lawn. The dog barked again. He tried to rise, but the lush ground felt so good he just stayed there. Smelling the grass, the fragrant food, and hearing people again. His eyes closed as sleep took him.

  CHAPTER

  FORTY

  KOVACH

  I topped the last hill before the Iron River facility. As the sprawling complex came into view, Carol and Damiana gave an involuntary gasp.

  “They’re ruins,” they both said.

  I slowed to get a better view. The place looked even worse, much worse, in fact, than when I’d left earlier in the day. As the truck slowed to a stop, the reason became obvious. Thick greenish-violet vines, some as thick as my waist, covered the blast side of every building.

  “Those weren’t here earlier.” I stepped out and pulled the rifle to scope the grounds. Green and lavender tendrils ran out from almost every inch of the thick vines. They seemed to writhe aimlessly until they touched the wall or a window, then they began burrowing into the cladding material. In places already breached, windows began falling out and large chunks of plasticrete fell away like paper.

  A sudden noise pulled my attention to the left, where a low-rise building began to shake. The edges were covered in the ropy vines. Suddenly, it disappeared from sight with a tremendous crash. A cloud of dust and debris was all that remained. As the dust cleared, I saw even the rubble was disappearing under a thick mat of vines.

  “The um…’flora’ seems to be attacking your facility.”

  “No shit,” Damiana said, gathering her go-pack, exiting the truck, and moving down a hill toward the ruins with a determined stride.

  This woman wanted something here badly, nearly as much as I did. I quickly deployed the solar blanket and followed close behind, Sumo and Carol both somewhat reluctantly trailing after us.

  “Hey, um,” I said, catching up to Damiana. “I probably should have mentioned a few things. We might be in danger other than from that.” I pointed ahead at a vine the size of a tall pine tree bent down to the roof of a collapsed parking structure. Through my helmet speakers, I could already hear the strained protest of rending metals as the plant forced itself deeper inside the structure packed with flattened cars.

  “Like what?” she asked without slowing.

  “Animal, fauna, megafauna, maybe more than one.”

  She stopped to face me. “Describe it.”

  I described the one on the ceiling, admitting that it could have been a mirage, then the shredded bodies of the scientists.

  “You spent the night here?” She waved a hand around like I must have been insane.

  “Look, you and I both know if I don’t find replacement meds, I’m dead either way.”

  She started walking again, even faster this time. “Let’s hurry the fuck up, then.”

  Naturally, building J-7 was on the opposite side of the Iron River complex. The upside was that was the farthest away from the worst of the detonation—and the encroaching vines. The damage was everywhere but slightly less as we wove our way through the warren of tumbled down walls. I saw Sumo dart to the side several times as ropy vines snaked out of piles of rocks toward him. After I jumped back moments later, I realized we were both more frightened than the woman. Something else occurred to me, and I decided to voice it.

  “The bodies are gone.”

  “Huh?” both women asked.

  “When we were here earlier, bodies littered the sidewalks and buildings.” I could still see blood and gore but hadn’t spotted a single corpse yet. That could mean predation…that something was feeding.

  Those would have been these women’s co-workers, neighbors, friends. Yet neither seemed overly concerned. I muted my external speakers. “Ada, any assessment on what is going on? Why all the changes since this morning?”

  “Working on it, Joseph. This is a case where I have too much information instead of too little. Unfortunately, none of it is adding up sufficiently. My working hypothesis is whatever they were working on here was adversely affected by gamma radiation from the Sapphire bombs, or maybe the blast wave just freed the creatures and plant life, and the blast sped up their evolutionary clock. Genetic progression is taking place in minutes here rather than generations. This place will be a wasteland within a few days. I suggest you get what you need and get out.”

  Damiana had gotten us to the row of multistory buildings she’d indicated as where the pharmacy lab was. She had darted in and out of several of the smaller structures, clearly looking for something. As I moved to finally step inside the building marked J-7, I offered a small sigh of relief. The destructive sounds of the vines were more muted here. Still, I knew better than to let my guard down. Too many missions ended badly when you were getting close to your mission objective.

  I swept my pulse rifle back to cover Sumo and Carol. The dog was staying close to Carol, clearly protective of her. I heard something grinding and leaped to the side, away from the building, and that was when the earth opened beneath both. Carol and Sumo disappeared from sight in an instant.

  CHAPTER

  FORTY-ONE

  BANSHEE

  “Stay down, Bayou.”

  The injured lieutenant was struggling to rise.

  “Get the fuck off me, Priest,” she yelled. Her teeth were clenched in pain. “Sitrep?”

  “NaFu,” Jenkins yelled over the comms.

  Normal. All Fucked Up. She shook her head. “I have incoming hostiles on my HUD. What is it?”

  “Unknown, LT, but there’s a lot of it… whatever ‘it’ is,” Bishop said, leaning in close to check her vitals readout. She struggled to take in a deep enough breath of air.

  “Was Kovach able to find us a ride?”

  “No word yet, Boss, but comms has been mostly out. I think the entire world done forgot about us.”

  “The world has its own problems to deal with. I think we must handle this one alone, Priest.”

  “Hard copy on that, Bayou.”

  “Priest, I need you to authorize a stim boost,” she said, the pain of the last two days etched across her face. Her suit was still reading medically compromised. It wouldn’t allow her to self-administer without another soldier’s ok.

  He looked at her questioningly.

  “You’re going to need my rifle in this fight. Give me the override.”

  Bishop swiped his tac-sleeve over hers, okaying the potent drug cocktail. “You’ll pay for this later, you know.”

  Bayou nodded. “If I have a later.” The drugs hit her system like a jolt of electricity. “Now what have you morons gotten yourselves into?”

  Updated and alert, the pain still gnawing away in the background like a team of hungry rodents feasting on her ribcage, Lieutenant Debra Riggs scanned the video once more. “Shit, shit, shit, shit and shit,” she muttered. “Deep, smelly, fever-baked shit.”