Nicholas Smith - Extinction Horizon

Her synthesized virus would only target the cells that were expressed in the proteins they had identified in the infected. Anyone exposed to the weapon that wasn’t infected with the Hemorrhage virus would remain healthy.

Kate sucked in a breath of cold, filtered oxygen and looked toward Ellis. He stood in his space suit a few feet away, hovering over a dozen samples of infected cell cultures.

“You ready?” Ellis asked.

“When you are,” Kate replied.

“Let’s see if it works.”

Holding her breath, Kate used a transfer pipette to insert the synthesized virus she’d designed into the cultures. After allowing the virus to incubate for several minutes with the cells, she performed the fixation procedure to prevent the sample from deteriorating and to stabilize it for microscopic analysis under the intense beams of an electron microscope.

Each minute spent waiting for the samples to become fully fixed was agonizing. With her heart racing, she took one of the trays and inserted it under the microscope and joined Ellis at the main computer terminal.

Blinking rapidly, she studied the spaghetti string images of the virus on her screen. The small glycoprotein spikes that surrounded the virus strands were now attaching to the endothelial cells!

“I’ll be damned,” Ellis said.

Kate looked beyond the computer monitor, staring intensely at the robotic arm inside the center room. It was waiting for her command.

All she had to do was type in a series of codes and the bot would go to work, creating the synthesized virus and preparing it for use on the boy that Beckham and his men had brought back from Niantic. If she authorized this, they could potentially have a working weapon by morning. Of course there would be more tests, but the building blocks would be in place.

Kate’s fingers hovered over the keyboard as she reflected on the ramifications of her next move. This was humanity’s final and most desperate attempt to prevent extinction.

As her mind drifted, her heart rate increased. She could feel the pulse in her head, the sound echoing inside her helmet.

She thought suddenly of Javier, and the monster he had become. He was out there somewhere, hunting with the rest of the infected. She couldn’t bear to think of her brother like that.

A beat passed and she saw Michael gripping his shredded arm in the Blackhawk. She could see those final moments clearly now—she could see the fear radiating from his eyes as he took Beckham’s pistol and jumped out of the Blackhawk. His last act reflected how he’d lived his life.

Courageously.

Drawing on his strength, Kate blinked and took in a long breath. Holding it in her lungs, she punched in a series of commands that authorized the robot to finish what she had started. The automated process would take hours, maybe longer, but in the morning they would know whether her weapon would work.

A blank cursor blinked on her screen. The computer was prompting her to name the weapon. Without hesitation she typed in a single word.

VariantX9H9.

The loud knocking startled Kate awake.

Cracking an eye, she looked at her wristwatch.

Shit!

She’d fallen asleep inside the office at the lab facility. Rubbing her eyes, she sprang out of the leather chair and rushed over to the door.

Ellis and Cindy waited in the hallway. Even though she was groggy she could see they both wore excited looks.

“What’s going on?” Kate asked. “Did you find something?”

Ellis handed Kate a coffee. “You’re going to need this.”

“Why?” Kate replied.

“Jensen’s technicians are preparing one of the infected for testing. Let’s go,” Ellis said.

Kate paused. She hadn’t authorized that, but she should have known they wouldn’t wait for her.

“Okay, show me,” Kate said. She took the lead and hurried down the hallway.

Ellis rushed after her, speaking as he walked. “Think this is going to work?”

“I hope so,” Kate replied. She paused in the middle of the corridor, suddenly remembering her request. “Did you test VariantX9H9 on a healthy batch of Rhesus monkeys?”

Ellis nodded enthusiastically. “Yup. No side effects. Since the VX-99 radically changes the proteins expressed on the cell surface, the synthesized virus only affects the endothelial cells of animals or people who are infected with the Hemorrhage virus.”

Kate breathed a sigh of relief and continued on.

The isolation chamber looked more heavily guarded than usual. Even from a distance Kate could see several soldiers pacing outside the white domed building. Some of them stopped to salute Jensen and Smith as they guided Kate and her team across the concrete walkway.

Kate shielded her eyes against the blinding morning sunlight and scanned the base. “Can one of your men radio Master Sergeant Beckham and his team? I’d like him to be present for the tests.”

Jensen looked confused, studying her for a moment. He turned to Smith.

“Major, can you see to Doctor Lovato’s request?”

Kate wasn’t sure exactly why she wanted Beckham with her when the tests were conducted, but part of her felt safer with him by her side. And if anyone deserved to see the results of her efforts, it was the man who had risked his life to make the test possible.

Inside, Jensen led them past several isolation rooms. Kate remembered them from before, but this time they weren’t dark. This time bright LEDs illuminated the white padded rooms.

Halting, Kate moved up to one of the thick oval windows.

“I wouldn’t get too close,” Smith said.

A humanoid face suddenly smashed into the glass. Kate grabbed her chest and gasped, stumbling backward.

“Told you,” Smith said with a nervous chuckle.

Kate sucked in several large gasps in an attempt to catch her breath. Slowly, she regained her composure. With clenched teeth she turned back to the window.

The infected boy flicked the glass with a swollen tongue. Vertical, yellow pupils contracted, back and forth as the creature tried to focus.

“I told you not to get too close,” Smith said.

Kate shot the officer an angry glare and then cautiously walked up to the next steel door.

The victim, a man in his mid-thirties or forties, blinked rapidly as she approached. A beard of crusty blood surrounded his sucker lips. Fresh blood oozed from his eyes and nose. He snarled, revealing a mouthful of sharp yellow teeth.

In one swift motion he lurched forward, clamping down on the glass and then pulling away. He roared with anger, pounding the pane with hands distorted into claws.

Kate stepped back and scanned the hallway. Dozens of doors lined the corridor, all brightly lit.

“How many are there?” Kate choked.

Jensen put his hand on his hips. “Colonel Gibson requested as many as we could capture. Beckham’s wasn’t the only team that went out. We currently have a total of twenty infected on the island, but don’t worry, these rooms were designed to hold—”

A terrifying scream cut him off.

Inside the cell, the man was spearing his head into the glass. The noise echoed down the hall, prompting more of the prisoners to pound on their doors.

Kate cupped her ears.

“You sure it’s safe?” Ellis asked.

Jensen frowned and said, “Yeah.” He suddenly looked unsure.

By the time they reached the end of the corridor, the entire hallway was alive with the croaking and shrieks. Like the infected rhesus monkeys, the human creatures had broken into a mad frenzy.

“Why aren’t these people restrained?” Ellis asked.

“We’ve had problems keeping them restrained,” Smith replied. “They can easily slip and twist out of straitjackets.” He stopped outside the door to the main isolation room and waved his keycard over the security panel. It chirped and the doors slid open.