Seizure Page 17

  "Pluto. So he's got an anti-viral program?"

  Herring shrugged again. "Maybe, but I don't see why he would. We never planned to release one. We were gonna let the eggheads and virus-hunters of the world try to figure out a solution on their own."

  "You're sick," Kent said. "You're willing to let millions die for--"

  The bell on the front door of the shop jingled as someone walked in.

  Herring's eyes widened and the skin under his arms swayed like Jell-O as he waved. "Hey, hey, help! These guys are trying to kill me! Call the cops."

  The newcomer wore a Golden Gym T-shirt and shorts stopping short of enormous thighs. Muscular arms rippled as they moved to close the front door. Strong hands engaged the lock over the doorknob with a dull click.

  As the newcomer turned around, her blonde hair fell away to reveal a grinning face.

  Herring stopped waving. His breath halted in a choke as he forced out, "Sonya. It's...what're you...oh, man, am I glad to see you."

  The woman took a step further into the store. "Hey, Herring."

  She grinned at Kent and Janet. "Hello, Mister Reynolds. And his lovely companion, Miss Bourne. Evening, young missie. You got some kinda death wish, hanging out with this guy?"

  Janet looked up at Kent, who backed away from the strong woman. He reached out and took her arm, pulling him back with him.

  Sonya clasped her hands and looked at them with exaggerated emotion. "Aw, you guys are so cute together. Too bad I can't let you go after what you've seen. Or are about to see. I guess it's a three-for-one sale today."

  She began to walk towards the counter. Her sneakers squeaked on the floor.

  Herring grinned as he pointed at Kent with a stubby finger. "That's the guy who's been snooping around. He knows all about the CLF and Cerberus. Too much. Get him."

  Sonya stopped at the counter and carefully placed her gloved hands on the glass. "First things first."

  Sonya grabbed Herring's long brown hair. She hauled it down, ramming Herring's face into the glass counter. The glass turned into a spiderweb of cracks with a loud snap. A red stain formed on the fragmented glass. Sonya locked eyes with Kent as she released Herring. Herring slid to the floor, landing with a heavy thud.

  Sonya locked her fingers together and cracked her knuckles. "Feels good to work with your hands, you know?"

  She pointed at Kent as a broad grin stretched across her face. "Your turn."

  Kent's first thought was to get Janet out of harm's way. He gave her a shove to push her out of Sonya's path, while backing away in the opposite direction, but he stumbled over a crate of boxes on the floor. As he toppled over, Sonya took broad steps towards him and grabbed his shirt, leaving him hanging in mid-air. She held him tightly with one hand while drawing her other hand back in a fist.

  "Let him go, you big ape!" Janet leaped out from behind a rack of packages onto Sonya's back. She wrapped her arms around Sonya's neck and hung on.

  Sonya began to swing herself around, trying to get her off. She let go of Kent's shirt to reach behind her back. Sonya's hand closed around Janet's throat, cutting off her cries with a strangled choke.

  Sonya quickly leaned forward, flipping Janet over her head. Janet struck a wall of shelves. The shelves collapsed under her, sending boxes tumbling over onto her in an avalanche. She lay beneath the pile, groaning and coughing for breath.

  Kent wanted to run to Janet's side, but heard groaning wood behind him. He looked back to see Sonya shove over the aisle nearest to her. It toppled over onto the one next to it with a thud, which fell into the next one, sending the shelves over like dominoes. By the time Kent realized they closed in on him, he didn't have time to run out of their path. The shelf behind him knocked him to the ground, and slammed down on top of him.

  The pain felt like a brick wall dropped onto his back and legs. The shelves bit deeply into his spine, and crushed his ankles as game boxes rained down on him. With his ribs constricted, he couldn't breathe. He couldn't move.

  Kent managed to turn his head enough to see the sneakers of the strong woman walking towards him.

  As she walked into view, Sonya ripped a poster for a new war game called Fog of War off the wall. "You know, Reynolds, you've caused me a lot of trouble."

  She began to roll the poster into a tube as she looked down at him. "I've been running all over the countryside following you, tracking you, reporting back to my boss. And I'm sick of it."

  Sonya produced a lighter from her pocket. She lit it with a snap of her finger, and touched the flame to the edge of the rolled-up poster. The fire swelled until the poster caught.

  Sonya studied the burning torch in her hand with an affectionate smile. "I can't wait to get back to L.A. Leave this whole mess behind."

  Sonya touched the torch to a shelf of magazines, which began to burn. The fire spread from one magazine to another until the whole rack spat flames and acrid smoke. Sonya tossed her torch into a box of magazines, which erupted into a bonfire.

  Sonya gave Kent an exaggerated bow. "So long, Reynolds. Been nice stalkin' ya."

  She walked past Kent to the rear entrance only a few feet away that felt as unreachable as a thousand miles. She moved out of sight until her sneakers were all he could see as she opened the door. It closed behind her, and he heard the pop of a lock.

  The box of magazines had already begun to collapse into ash, which ignited the carpet. Flames spread quickly from one aisle of packaged software to another while more fire crawled up the walls of the store.

  Kent gasped for air to fill his crushed lungs, but they filled with smoke instead. The more he tried to breathe, the worse it became.

  * * *

  Janet's neck ached so bad she could tell it would bruise in a few hours, but she forced the pain from her mind. That big ape of a woman was trying to kill Kent.

  Janet pulled herself to her feet, boxes of the latest Grand Theft Auto slid off her body onto the floor. She swayed, but managed to remain standing.

  She couldn't see Sonya, but could tell the psycho had been busy. The racks of boxes had become curtains of flame. The walls and ceiling faded to shades of brown and gray as they caught fire. Smoke writhed on the ceiling in a thick cloud growing larger and larger. Red-hot ash swirled in the air like snow, burning her face and arms wherever they touched, but through them she could see Kent. He lay pinned beneath a bookcase, gasping for air.

  "Kent!" Janet yelled.

  She began to run towards him, but the carpet in front of her burst into flames. As she tried to see around it, she became aware of a groaning in the ceiling above her. Janet looked up to see the roof sagging down towards her. The supports were failing. It looked like the whole building would come down any second. She had to reach Kent before it did.

  She headed towards Kent, but the ceiling chose that moment to collapse, pouring down like a flood of wood and concrete in her path. Clouds of dust added to the smoke into an impenetrable fog that made her break into a coughing fit. She managed to cover her face with her shirt and tried to see. Through the haze, she could make out a wooden support from the ceiling lying across her path to Kent.

  She couldn't tell if it was an isolated area or if the entire roof had collapsed. If it was the latter, Kent had been crushed to death. If it was the former, the beam could be moved aside in time to save him before the building collapsed any further. Either way, she had to get help.

  Janet ran for the front door, vaulting over a crate of boxes for Odyssey games. She shoved it open and breathed in a gust of fresh air, chasing away the smoke.

  A crowd had formed in front of the building, gasping at the fire and smoke gushing from the windows. Janet could hear sirens raging in the night, growing louder as fire engines approached the strip mall.

  "Hurry!" Janet screamed. "My friend is in there! He's gonna die!"

  * * *

  Kent couldn't move. He could feel the display case pressing into his back, growing heavier with each passing moment, making it harder and har
der to breathe. The clouds of smoke grew thicker, inching down towards him, and he choked on the stench of burning wood, paper, cardboard, and plastic. Burning ash swirling in the air clung to the sweat on his face, stinging it like angry bees.

  Through it all, he kept his eyes locked on the emergency exit right before him. It seemed only a few feet away, just close enough to make his escape, but he couldn't reach it. The display case pinned his legs to the floor.

  Kent twisted his arms back to grasp hold of the display case on his legs. The wood felt hot enough to burn his fingers, but he kept going, trying to push it off. The shelving groaned a little amidst the roar of the fire, but Kent still wasn't free. He pushed until he felt his ears pop, but finally let go and collapsed, trying to regain his strength.

  Shadows danced over the walls of the store, cast by the various flames in a war of light. Kent could see the fire swelling, growing closer to the rear entrance. Close enough to engulf it.

  As he lay coughing, he saw an ember flicker down to land on the carpet beside Kent's shoulder. The ember turned into a tiny flame that grew quickly.

  Kent felt more than tired. He felt groggy from the oxygen in the room being burned off. He felt dizzy, fighting the urge to close his eyes and sleep before the end. But he had to keep going. He had to free himself from this prison before it trapped him forever.

  Kent planted both hands firmly on the carpet, ignoring the fire burning dangerously close. He pushed hard, lifting his torso, using his own body as a lever to raise the shelving on his back.

  He could hear the wood groaning and popping in response. His arms trembled from the strain, but he kept going. Kent squeezed his eyes shut, drawing any energy left in his body. He shifted one hand forward, and the other to drag himself forward slightly. The shelving grated his back, but he could move. He had freed himself by an inch.

  He gasped in pain as the growing fire licked at his ribs, scorching his shirt.

  Kent shifted his hands forward again, then again, inch by inch, drawing more and more of himself out from under his prison. He heard a loud crack, and the shelving broke in half. It allowed Kent to drag himself forward to freedom.

  He had no time to savor the release. More wooden beams from the ceiling fell to the ground with a rumble like thunder. The dust pouring out choked the already stifling air. Soon, the entire ceiling would collapse, crushing everything under it, including him. He had to get out.

  Kent tried to run to the rear exit, but had to limp from the ache in his back and legs. He reached out to grab the doorknob, but jerked back. It felt searing hot. He grit his teeth and forced himself to grab the metal, ignore the burning of his palm when he touched it, and turned it quickly.

  It stopped.

  Kent remembered Sonya locking the door behind her.

  The roof groaned as more pieces of the ceiling came loose, raining down, glowing red with their inner heat. The thumps of the falling rain, joined the crackling laughter of the flames.

  Kent had to get out. He threw his shoulder into the door. The hinges snapped, but held. Kent tried again. The door crackled. He stepped back, one foot dipping into a pool of flames. He ignored the pain. He launched himself at the door.

  Kent hit the door as hard as he could.

  It burst open in a shower of glowing ashes that flowed out into the alley on the other side. The door banged down onto the cold concrete of the alley floor. Kent landed on top of the fallen door, which shuddered in response. Kent scrambled to his feet as he heard the boom of the ceiling coming down. GameShop spat a tongue of flame out of the doorway at Kent, as if trying to lick him back into its throat. Kent backed away from it, and ran down the alley into an empty parking lot. He could hear sirens in front of the building, but knew Sonya would be waiting for him there.

  Kent ran away from the shop into the dark, humid night.

  * * *

  Janet stood in the crowd, watching the firefighters spew jets of water at the burning building. The sign above the door had already turned black and shriveled, nothing more than a cinder. The interior had become a flickering mass of dark soot, lit by the occasional tongue of flame.

  The crowds gasped as one voice as the ceiling caved in with a loud boom. It sent clouds of glittering ash into the night sky, a shower of newborn stars rising to the heavens. To them, it was entertainment. To Janet, it was a nightmare.

  She made her way through the crowd to one of the firemen who stood alongside the fire truck, turning some sort of valve.

  "Hey," Janet said. "My friend was in there. Has anybody gone in to save him?"

  The fireman's face was darkened with streaks of ash as he stared at her. "Uh, yeah, lady, we found somebody. I'm afraid he's dead."

  Janet froze, then tried to swallow. She managed to force out one word. "No."

  The fireman turned away from the valve to reach out to her. "I'm very sorry. Look, if you were in there, we'll need a statement about what happened. You should talk to--"

  But Janet already stumbled away from the building, crossing the parking lot. She was barely aware of the cars that honked and screeched to a halt as she crossed their path without warning. Her mind was locked on the image of her only friend, gone forever.

  She climbed into the driver's seat of their sedan, then waited, confused and alone. She didn't know what she was waiting for. She felt numb and empty. She'd had such hopes for things with Kent. Things she hadn't admitted to him or even to herself. Now there didn't seem to be anything left. For a moment, Janet thought of Kent's son, Troy. She didn't know what to say to him when she saw him again. If she saw him.

  The corner of her eye caught sight of something lying in the passenger seat. When she looked, Janet saw it was the printout of the Cerberus code in the passenger seat. She picked it up, letting her eyes roam over the arcane words listed in rows. This was the source of all their troubles. With Kent gone, Janet saw no reason not to go to the police with it. Surely they wouldn't think she would lie to save the reputation of a dead friend.

  Janet's eyes locked on a section of the program. It was one she had seen before, but never really thought about. Something clicked in her mind, connecting with something Herring had said, and she suddenly realized that everything he had told them was either wrong or a lie. She gained a shocking insight into the true nature of the Cerberus virus, one that chilled her to the bone. She had to tell the police. Fast.

  Janet threw the Cerberus code aside. Her stomach tightened in knots as she dug the key out of her pocket. Her hand trembled against the ignition lock as she struggled to fit the key into it.

  Then she felt the entire car bounce and rock. Before she could realize what it was, a hand clamped over her mouth. Another arm slid around her neck, tightening until Janet could hardly breathe. She tried to pull the arm off, but it was like an iron bar.

  "Nighty-night," a voice whispered in her ear.

  Janet choked for air, but none came. Her eyes sparkled with dots, swelling until they clouded over her vision, leaving nothing but darkness.

  * * *

  A few blocks away, a large black van parked in front of a 7-Eleven. Sonya sat behind the wheel in the breeze of her air-conditioning, watching a column of smoke rising against the backdrop of South Mountain. Her cell phone felt cool against her ear. She was glad to be out of the heat.

  "It's done," Sonya said. "Target neutralized."

  "You're sure?" Weaver asked.

  "I'm sure. I dumped a bookcase on him, and set the building on fire. The roof caved in right after I left. No mistake. He's history."

  "And Herring?"

  Sonya didn't hold back the smile that crept across her face. "I knocked him out and left him in the store, too. Same deal."

  For a moment, Sonya almost detected a rare trace of amusement in Weaver's voice as he said, "Excellent. Then all the loose ends are tied."

  Sonya glanced out of the window at clouds forming along the edge of the mountains. "Not quite. There was another one in the store with him. The babe in New
York. She saw me do it."

  "Did she make it out of the store?"

  Sonya leaned over to peer into the shadows of the back of her van. She could just make out an unconscious body crumpled on the floor, wrapped in a blanket. "Yeah, but I tagged her on her way out. I've got her in the van right now. Wanted to wait for your go-ahead to take her out."

  A moment of silence passed before Weaver said, "No. Bring her back with you."

  Sonya listened to the crackle on the line for a moment before asking, "To L.A.?"

  "Yes. I think she might be more use to me alive than dead."

  Sonya bit back the question that was pushing its way onto the tip of her tongue. The question of why Sonya shouldn't just kill this woman now. But she must never ask questions, that was part of the deal. She only forced herself to say, "Yes, sir."

  "There'll be another jet waiting for you at La Guardia in fifteen minutes." There was a click as Weaver hung up.

  Sonya folded up the cellular, then grinned at Janet's body lying on the floor of her van. "Strap yourself in, girlie. We're goin' home."

  Sonya backed the van out of the parking lot, then drove off onto the main road. On the drive to the airport, she whistled the song "I Love L.A." over and over under her breath. The waiting was finally over. She was going home.

  18.

  IT WAS almost ten o'clock when Neil Taylor was awakened from a deep sleep by the ringing doorbell. His wife pushed listlessly against his shoulder.

  "Answer the door, honey," she murmured.

  Taylor would have protested, but they had already had that conversation too many times. He rolled out of bed with only a mumble under his breath cursing whoever was at his door this late at night. He had only just returned from his late shift at Desert Samaritan Hospital a few hours ago, and was catching up on a massive sleep debt.