Arcadium (26 page)

Kean moves
closer and I see what he’s about to do. Each glass box has a code
pad on its top edge so that it’s just hidden from view if you were
on the ground. He taps out the code and to my surprise the door
actually slides open, moving so quietly that the scientists don’t
even notice.

But they will
soon. The skinny scientist raises the loaded injection gun and they
begin to move. By some miracle they’re all looking at one of the
burley one’s clipboards and haven’t spotted Kean yet.

Everything is
happening so quickly. I can’t see it ending well. Trouble could
probably take on one scientist but then what?

There’s no more
time to think. The trio reach the box and Trouble explodes out,
spear tackling the two big guys at once. They sprawl backwards
across the floor in shock but recover quickly. The first man to his
feet kicks Trouble in the stomach and Kean launches from his perch
on the glass box, landing on the guy’s back, flattening him with
his momentum. Chaos erupts as legs and arms fly everywhere; muted
thumps of landed blows and strangled cries of effort fill the
air.

The female
scientist stands hovering over the fight, holding the injection gun
out like it has bullets and suddenly I realise her intention. She’s
going to infect whoever she can to try and stun them.

Oh, crap.

Kean is no
match for his scientist and he’s pinned pretty quickly. I glance at
Liss.

“Stay here,” I
say, and drop through the grate hole.

The woman seems
to move in slow motion as she lowers the gun to Kean’s leg. I take
two running steps and fling myself off the top of the boxes, aiming
straight for her.

She gasps and
looks over at the last moment, just before I crash into her side.
We slam into the floor and oh my God, blunt pain races the length
of me like the infection spreading through my blood. When all the
tumbling stops I realise she’s almost got the gun against my
shoulder and I reel back, landing on Kean and the big
scientist.

For a second I
think she might have already injected me but I can see the
cartridge and it’s still full of the glowing green liquid.

In the
scramble, I manage to kick the big guy pinning Kean down. I get him
right in the face and blood sprays from his nose. I slide to my
feet and suddenly it’s a three on three fight. Kean and Trouble
have the two big guys and I have the small lady with the deadliest
weapon of all. All Henry can do is sit helpless in the corner of
the box.

And then the
weirdest thing happens.

The lights go
out and we’re all swamped in pure darkness.

Chapter
23

I swing my arms
out but there’s nothing: I can’t see my hands or my nose or lights
in any other lab. Suddenly some dim backup globes come on and a
light in the very centre of the ceiling flashes to life, sending
bolts of blue light out over us.

This can’t be
happening. This can’t be the distraction Jacob promised. I stare at
the blue flashing light for a moment. All of a sudden we have a
time limit, as if there wasn’t enough pressure.

What did Jacob
say? I wrack my brain. How long do we have until annihilation?

The woman
scientist comes flying at me and knocks me back. She lands on top
of me, gritting her teeth and pushing the gun down toward me. I
grapple with her and suddenly we’re locked in a power struggle.

She pushes the
injection gun toward me and I push back. It hovers between us, the
needle aimed at my chest.

She’s
concentrating so hard that she doesn’t see my next move coming.
Instead of trying to get away I move closer and slam my forehead
against hers. I’m sure there’s a technique to head-butting; Jacob
made it look so easy in the camera room but I feel like I’m seeing
stars. The woman must feel the same because for a few seconds she
loosens her grip and I manage to pry the gun from her fingers. The
minute I have it she leaps up and takes off, running for a desk. I
can see what she’s doing, heading for high ground.

The woman jumps
up onto the desk and clambers onto the glass boxes. The infected
beneath her go crazy, leaping and climbing one another trying to
reach the ceiling. She crawls along, heading straight for Liss.

In a second I’m
up on the desk and then up on the glass boxes too. I chase her down
with the fury of a mother bear protecting her cub.

When I’m close
enough I grab at her ankle and yank her back. She hits the glass
with a thud and kicks out at me. The gun goes flying straight up
and lands with a smack against the glass. For a second we pause,
staring at the gun as it sits between us. And then we move.

I scramble
toward it, launching myself forward, just as she does. We collide,
each collecting an uncertain grip on the gun. The silver metal gets
lost in the chaos of fingers and hands. Suddenly my hand slides
into the grip and I yank the trigger back awkwardly with my free
ring finger.

The woman
tenses as the injection spikes her palm and delivers the infection
straight into her bloodstream. She pulls her hand back, cradling it
and horror washes over her features.

She’s right
near the edge, frozen with shock, and I see my opportunity. She’s
still too close to Liss so I barrel toward her and push her off the
side. She doesn’t put up much of a fight, just falls like a ripe
fruit and lands splat on her back. I drop the gun and look over to
the boys. The situation has changed dramatically.

Trouble and
Kean are both pinned down by the scientists and the woman is
getting to her feet now. But what can I do? I can’t take on the
two… three attackers by myself, but I need to get them off Kean and
Trouble. Kean’s face it going bright red as the big scientist
tightens his grip around his neck. A thump comes from below and I
look down at the infected man clawing up at me.

There’s only
one thing to do.

A crash sounds
from the other side of the lab and I can see the woman has
collapsed onto a bench of glass beakers.

I punch in the
code with my thumb before I have a chance to change my mind, and
the door hisses open. The two infected men race out into the open
space of the lab.

“Heads up
guys!” I call. “Infected people on the loose!”

The infected
men lurch toward Kean and Trouble.

It’s weird. I
haven’t seen clean and tidy infected people before, fresh ones with
no damage and no blood.

The scientists
glance at one another and leap up, rushing across the room to the
corner of the lab. Kean and Trouble watch motionless from the
floor.

The infected
men track the two scientist’s movement and chase them around the
bench. Trouble pulls Kean to his feet and goes back for Henry.

Kean is
stunned, just holding his throat, blinking.

“Kean,” I call.
He looks up slowly and coughs.

Trouble comes
running around with Henry on his back and I wave them over to the
desk.

Horrible sounds
come from the corner, screaming and snarling. The scientists and
infected men must be down behind the bench, locked in the fight for
their lives, because I can’t see them anymore.

Kean comes up
first and Trouble leans against the glass so we can drag Henry up
with us.

“What’s with
the lights?” Kean says, rubbing his neck and looking around. “Our
big distraction? Not bad.”

“No, it is
bad.” I pause, not wanting to scare Liss or Henry but looking at
their faces I can see they’re already frightened to the max. “Jacob
told me when I first met him, flashing blue lights means thirty
minutes, flashing red lights means ten minutes.”

“Till what?”
Henry says.

Kean looks back
at him. “Till boom time.”

“Jacob started
the self defence mechanism,” I say. “I don’t know how long
ago.”

“Let’s move
fast then.”

Liss is
hovering in the air-conditioning duct. “Go Liss, back the way we
came.” I slide in after her and Trouble goes next. Kean helps Henry
through and I hear them yelling instructions. “Hold his feet,
Henry, he’ll drag you along.”

We scuttle
along on hands and knees, not worrying about how much sound we
make. The grates flash blue as we pass, and it’s taking a much
longer time with Henry. I look back and Trouble is far behind, face
pulled taut with a grimace, arms pumping. I want to help him but
there’s nothing I can do.

I count the
grates as we move. At lab four the lights change from blue to red.
Liss stops, frozen with terror. “Florence?”

“Keep going!” I
scream, pushing her on.

We have ten
minutes. Just ten minutes to get out of the air-conditioning duct,
through the glass door, up onto the roof and down the escape
ladder. And on top of that I have no idea how big of a blast it’s
going to be or how far away we need to get to be safe. Why on earth
did I give Jacob the code? If I hadn’t we’d be casually walking
out. But then again we may never have had a chance to get to
Trouble and Henry at all.

We reach the
grate to lab one. “I’ll go first,” I say and Liss moves to the
other side. I stick my head out first to make sure the way is clear
and then drop down onto the desk. “Liss, come on!”

She drops her
legs down first and wiggles out. I grab her waist and pull her
towards me. “Guys?” I call. “How far?”

I’m guessing
we’ve been in there at least three minutes since the lights went
red. I can hear them banging around but no one answers.

“Guys! Seven
minutes! Hurry!” My voice is frantic. Out in the halls I can see
scientists running past, and I’ll bet no one is going to care about
our presence now.

One fleeing
scientist has actually thought of everyone else: the door to the
corridor is chocked open with a box, thank god. That’ll save us a
few seconds time.

Liss is jumping
up and down with fists balled at her sides, but she doesn’t make a
sound.

Finally Trouble
comes out of the duct and almost falls straight off the desk. I
grab him at the last second and pull him back just as Henry comes
through headfirst. Trouble turns so Henry can grab onto his neck
and I hold Trouble steady as Henry’s legs drop out. Kean drops
straight to the ground with an almighty thud.

“Five minutes!”
I cry, leading the way out. I don’t actually know how long we’ve
got left, it could be less, could be more. But they took my watch
when we arrived so I’m trying to keep a tally in my head.

We sprint down
the corridor and swing left. Up ahead a scientist has just gone
through the glass door and it seals shut behind him. My legs are
burning, my lungs are burning but I figure it’s nothing compared to
the feeling of being exploded.

We reach the
door and I punch in the code. Red lights flash above us. I push the
door but nothing happens. I punch in the code again but there’s no
beep. I try it again. Nothing. The door won’t open.

Trouble, Henry
and Kean catch up.

“The code won’t
work,” I say, pulling Kean over. I punch it in again as if to prove
it. He rattles the door but it won’t budge.

In my head all
I can think is
four minutes, four minutes
. It’s not enough;
we’re not going to make it. I can’t believe this. Every door I’ve
ever gone through has been the same code, why not this one?

Liss is
slamming her palms against the glass, screaming. I try the code
again, thinking of every time I’ve used it before. Going into the
surveillance room, going into the basement room, going into the
science labs.

Something
clicks in my mind. Every time I’ve used it I’ve been going in,
never coming out. “There’s another code for going out a door. This
code only works going in!” How could I be so stupid! “I don’t know
it. I don’t know it.”

I’m helpless.
Trapped. Stuck. And the clock is still ticking down. Three
minutes.

Kean grabs my
shoulders. “Guess something then!”

I just start
punching in anything, random numbers. Liss is still trying to push
the door open. Kean is watching me and using his finger to punch
codes in the air. Around us the red lights keep flashing like
they’re spilling blood across the walls.

“Try it
backwards,” he says.

“What?”

“It’s a circle,
punch it in reverse. Maybe that’s the key.”

I start the
code: four-eight-six-two-four-eight. I feel like vomiting and
collapsing and exploding all at once.

Suddenly the
door bursts open and Liss falls flat on her face. Kean scoops her
up and props her back on her feet as we run.

We’re through
now, but the hallways are full of people just like us, confused and
running. I sprint through, pushing the crowd out of the way.
“Follow me!” I scream, hoping that some of them will get the idea
and tag along. I look back to make sure everyone’s following. Kean
is holding Liss’ hand, and behind them Henry hangs from Trouble’s
back.

Man, Trouble
must be tired.

I sprint past
the surveillance room thinking
two minutes, two minutes
. I
just hope my count is accurate. I slide to a stop in front of the
stairwell door and punch in the code. Someone slams me into the
door as they run in the opposite direction, toward the danger, and
I just want to scream at them. But this isn’t about everyone else.
I wish I could save them, I really do. But I can only help Liss and
Kean, Henry and Trouble, and anyone else smart enough to follow us
out.

I push through
the door and launch myself up the steps three at a time. I punch in
the code before anyone gets there and hold the door open.

Cool night air
blows in; outside it’s pitch dark. And then I remember the torch. I
pull it from my waistband and switch it on.

Once my four
are through, I let go of the door and hope the other people
following will keep it open. I search the ledge for the ladder and
climb straight over. “Follow me, Liss,” I say, and jam the torch
into my teeth. The metal clangs as we begin our frenzied descent.
The torchlight bounces around and I can see Kean and Trouble
climbing down too. I reach the last rung and stop because I know
it’s still a decent drop to the concrete, maybe two metres, but I
forget no one else knows that. They keep coming, forcing me
down.