Lockdown Nation Read online

  With a squeal, her eyes rolled back into her skull and she stumbled backward where she piled on the ground.

  “She’s safe.” I looked up from my tablet when the other figure bolted towards Assunta. Prof. Ronin.

  Ronin sighed at me. “Maybe it was a bad idea to give you the Sequencer Gun.”

  ☣☣☣☣☣☣

  “So how did you end up on this island?” My voice echoed through the walls. We marched down the corridor of the abandoned asylum. The rest tagged along behind Ronin Yamashita and I. Our footsteps resonated through the hollow corridor. The walls were smeared with ancient filth and rank with excrement. You would get diseases by touching it.

  “Some in ANNUS have been infected but asymptomatic. After you left for Hershey, we called for an emergency meeting for the next course of action. I thought we’d stopped Hershey’s plan, but we were too late. She was a few steps ahead. The next thing we knew, we were abducted and woke up on this island.”

  “But why would they do that? And without infecting you at all?” remarked Axon.

  Ronin shrugged. “Whoever the mastermind is behind this all, I don’t know what’s their endgame is. But looking at their progress, it sounds grim.”

  “You and Dr. Assunta are the only survivors?” I asked.

  “Don’t know. We combed the entire facility and couldn’t find anyone else. We don’t know what happened to them,” said Assunta.

  “What about Hershey? Did you manage to get any information from her?” Ronin asked.

  “She’s dead.”

  Ronin pulled up short. It happened so abruptly the people behind us almost bumped into him. “What?”

  I sucked in a breath. “Jane Hershey is dead. We were in a car chase trying to stop her when another car T-boned into hers.”

  Ronin stared at me for a full minute, processing the news. His face took on an incredulous look. With a grunt, he punched the wall. “She didn’t deserve this. We could’ve saved her life.”

  A wave of guilt crept into my system. If I had only checked my tablet the moment I shot Hershey with the Sequencer Gun, I would’ve realized she caught the virus all the while.

  Ronin pursed his lips and shook his face at me. “Your grandfather wanted to program and control living organisms like the way he did with machines. He didn’t know what he was doing and that’s what happened when you tamper with things they shouldn’t.”

  With a gulp, I lowered my Genex. Perhaps, he directed it at me, hinting I shouldn’t mess with things I didn’t know.

  “There’s something you should know, Prof. Ronin.” Vaxine pulled out her phone to show Ronin a saved page of the news. Ronin’s face paled. He snatched the phone. “No…they can’t let the people loose in the height of the pandemic!”

  Mandy shrugged. “I don’t know. It looks like that’s what they’re doing right now.”

  My hairs stood on ends at the tension building in the air. Ronin passed his eyes at us in turn, brewing ideas of what to do next. “If Peyton has spared my life, I believe he would let the others live too.”

  “But why was he doing this?” asked Axon. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s great you’re alive, Prof. But things aren’t adding up here. What are they trying to achieve?”

  “Peyton has mentioned something about a control group. I have no idea what that means,” said Ronin.

  “Wait a minute!” I raised my hand. “Axon, you mentioned there were more rehab islands.”

  “Yeah.” Axon’s face lit up. He snapped his fingers and pointed at me. “You're saying the others could be in the other islands?”

  All heads turned to Ronin whose eyes glazed in a trance. “Great point, Roxy. We have to get back to ANNUS so I can assess the rehab island list if it’s still there.”

  “They can’t wipe everything out,” said Sam. “As long as the hard drive is there, I could retrieve it.”

  “Good.” With a nod, Ronin’s gaze bounced between us in turn. “For our safety, we have to split up. Assunta, Axon, Vaxine—Three of you will scour through the islands and salvage the survivors. Roxy, Mandy, Sam—we’ll go to ANNUS. If there are no questions, let’s get out of this wretched place now.”

  ☣☣☣☣☣☣

  “We’ve only lifted the restrictions for less than one day and folks are already out and about. It looks like the economy will rebound faster than our experts have predicted—” Professor Ronin Yamashita in the passenger seat turned off the radio, the shrill silence became even more deafening and distracting.

  The mental images of outbreaks in crowded malls flashed in my head, sending shivers through my skin. I sucked in a deep breath and fought to expunge the horrifying thoughts out of my mind. I needed to focus on the positives.

  Sam Maximoff’s car pulled up right in front of the Alpha Hall. Like history repeated itself, we hopped out and were greeted by the broken double glass door.

  The ruffling of hands groping for weapons followed by car doors slamming closed.

  Ronin nodded at us in assurance and led the way up the steps. The rest followed close behind. Sam took the rear, constantly spinning around to make sure we weren’t tailed.

  The familiar metallic pang in the stuffy air mixing with sweat churned my stomach. The lights flickered. My head whirled in violent chaos. Holding my breath, my eyes constantly darted in all directions.

  Ronin’s heels scuffed the ground when he pulled up in front of the door to his office. He glanced back at us once, then reached for the knob and pushed the door open.

  I already pointed my Zappers in the direction of the room, ready to face any Infected that might jump at us. The sight of the room turned out to be more disheartening. Multiscreen monitors cobwebbed and snowed. The other furniture remained untouched. As if someone had particularly wanted to destroy what’s in the computer.

  Sam removed his tablet and the cables from his backpack and went for the computer. “I’ll try to salvage as much as I can.”

  We followed him in, and Mandy shut the door behind us. I pulled out my phone for the flashlight and held it up against the computer. Sam connected his tablet to the computer. Some tapping on the tablet later, a string of numbers crawled.

  Sam’s face lit up with a beam. “I managed to restore 98% of the files from the computer.”

  “That should suffice.” Ronin nodded.

  Sam smiled at me.

  “Thanks, Sam. We wouldn’t have come so far without you,” I muttered.

  “We wouldn’t have come this far without either of us.” The tablet beeped. Sam unplugged and passed it to Ronin. “It should’ve most of your files in it.”

  Ronin’s eyes trained on the tablet, nodding. “Yes, that’s excellent, Sam. I’m sending the files to Axon.” He tapped on the tablet and pointed it at a bare wall where a hologram conjured. We stood around the hologram of Axon, Vaxine, and Assunta. “I’ve sent you the list and coordinates of the rehab islands. I need you to report to me every half hour to make sure you’re still alive.”

  “Will do, Prof. Ronin,” said Assunta.

  Ronin’s eyes stilled on them, contemplating the right decision. He sucked in a breath. “Come back alive. In reason we trust.”

  “In reason we trust, Prof. Ronin.” The hologram disappeared and everybody turned to Ronin.

  “If we’re done here, we’d better get outta here ASAP.” Mandy wrapped her arms around herself.

  “There’s a place I’d like to go.” Ronin looked at me. “Vector Research Base.” The name rang a bell in my head.

  “Why?”

  “Research on Cranax took place there. Your grandfather used to work there himself,” said Ronin. “We might be able to scrape some idea of what happened behind the scenes.” George and Edmund got their Cranax virus from here.

  The experiments Botty told me about whirled in my head. Did Quillon and Hershey conduct the Cranax experiment on the twins who ended up killing each other there? The tiny hairs on my nape bristled at the tho
ught.

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea? It’s one of the few BSL-4 labs in Asia Nova. We don’t know if there are any Infected there.” Mandy eyed warily between Sam and I.

  “There’s nothing much we can do now. We’re racing against time to stop Cranax. If there’s a chance, we’re taking it,” said Ronin.

  6

  AXON

  “I still cannot accept Hershey’s gone.” Assunta stood at the edge of Wifey, hugging and consoling herself of all that happened within the past 24 hours.

  Axon and Vaxine traded glances. The engine tenderly whirred, the wind ruffled their clothes. Vaxine checked the GPS on her tablet while Axon focused on maneuvering the speedboat.

  “It must be hard for you two to lose your dear mentor at such an infantile stage of your scientific career,” added Assunta.

  Axon and Vaxine exchanged looks again, then he sighed. “There’s nothing we can do about it now, Dr. Assunta. We’ll have to move on and focus on the state of the nation now.”

  Assunta nodded. “Look, I know it might be too early for me to drop this but if you’re looking for a fresh life in the lab, there are vacancies in mine.”

  Sucking in a breath, Axon feigned a laugh.

  Vaxine raised her fist to indicate stop, stopping him abruptly. “We’re here.” The three hovered over the wheel and squinted at the lone island ahead. Much of muchness to the island where they’d found Ronin and Assunta, this one looked uninhabited.

  “Alright, we’re going in.” Axon killed the engine of the speedboat and let it drift to the beach. They hopped off and headed towards the shadow of the building cloaked by the lush forest.

  “Feels like déjà vu,” remarked Axon. His eyes fell on flitting shadows and he pulled up immediately. They dropped behind the bush when they heard muffled voices.

  The three reached for their Zappers in a reflex and looked at each other, making sure they were on the same page. Axon peeked out of the cover. A pair of rifle-wielding ATP agents in full armor were marching up and down the entrance of the building. From where they were, the old brick building resembled the one on the other island.

  “It looks like this island is more happening,” muttered Axon.

  “What are they doing here?” Vaxine squinted around, checking the coast and looking for another way in.

  A click snapped them into attention. Holding his breath, Axon turned around and met with the Zapper pointed in his direction. The two silhouettes loomed over them with their shadow and when their faces came to the light, Axon learned they were the ATP agents.

  “Well, well, what do we have here?” said the ATP through his mask.

  The three raised their hands in sync.

  “We should be asking you.” Vaxine looked calm and unperturbed as usual.

  Assunta’s face contorted with a pure look of horror. Her eyes pinched shut. Her lips were trembling like the rest of her.

  Clenched fists, Axon trained his eyes on the two intruders, waiting for the best time to strike.

  The armed ATP reached for his earpiece when Vaxine kicked him in the knee, keeling him over. His Zapper slipped out of his grip and clattered on the ground. The next second, she sprang to her feet and kicked him in the chest.

  “Blot my gel! That’s what I was gonna do!” cried Axon, jumping to his feet. He swung his fist across the second ATP’s face when he charged his Zapper at Vaxine.

  The ATP staggered back before launching himself at Axon, groping for his Zapper. The inertia knocked his Zapper off. The men fell into a tug of war. They grabbed each other on the arms, not backing down.

  Assunta shrieked. She threw her arms over her head and curled into a ball.

  Axon grabbed his opponent on the face, desperately trying to rip his face protection off. “Son of a—” The ATP agent slammed his fist against Axon’s face. Stars burst in his eyes. Dull pain exploded in his cheek.

  Axon saw double. Assunta’s warped voice calling his name echoed in his ears as he collapsed on the ground. Vaxine threw her hands up at the two ATP agents holding her up with Zappers. The edges of his vision blackened.

  Axon fought with his remaining strength to call out to Vaxine. Instead, he was knocked out cold.

  ☣☣☣☣☣☣

  “Hey, Axon? Wake up!” A soft warped voice rang in Axon’s ears. Axon jolted up with panic. His eyes flew open and were met with Assunta’s hopeful smile. He blinked quickly to let his eyes adjust to the brightness.

  Dr. Assunta barely made the most fashionable scientist in the Community, but she turned into the complete opposite of her usual self. She looked wretched, dirt and wrinkles streaked her face. Her hair was stuck of place and draped on the underside of her neck.

  “Dr. Assunta…what happened?” muttered Axon, realizing his lips split with dryness. He gulped and licked his lips, tasting blood. He touched his face and jerked back when the dull ache spread on his cheek.

  “They got us.”

  Axon turned around at Vaxine, peeking out through the window grills on the door. Once he composed himself, the realization sank in him. They were in a cell. The walls covered with filth and overgrowth reeked with the sharp odor of urine.

  “Blot my gel!” Axon tried to pull himself up when the shackles around his wrists clanked in protest. He glanced at the women with the same shiny accessories around their wrists and groped for his weapons. They were all gone. “What the ever-loving Father of Science?”

  “There’s no way outta here.” Vaxine’s voice reverberated through the same room that stretched three-story high.

  Axon tilted his head up. The source of light that gave the room a faint dim had come from the window near the ceiling. He had no idea how long he’d been out for but from the light, he could tell the night was nigh.

  “I can’t believe this is how Asia Nova has come to end. Who knew the most intelligent species on earth would fall defeat to some minute lifeform? That doesn’t even have a brain?” Assunta let out a self-pitying laugh and fell back against the filthy wall behind her. You’d thought being a microbiologist she would be more germophobic. She seemed to have lost the last sliver of hope or care.

  “They’re not Infected.” The two turned to Vaxine.

  “What?” Axon asked.

  “The ATP agents aren’t Infected. They don’t behave like one.”

  “So did Hershey.”

  Vaxine rolled her eyes and peeled herself from the door. “The statistical results are showing the Community members tend to gain the asymptomatic strain of the Cranax virus for some reason. I’m not saying it’s 100% true in all cases but I believe the ATP agents will somehow show their symptoms if they’re affected now.”

  “That’s a fair point.” Axon shrugged. “But does it even matter now? We’re screwed anyway.”

  “Look, the Infected can’t be bargained. Humans can. If there’s an ounce of human left in them, we stand a chance to get outta here.” She looked out of the window again where her gaze burned into the distance. Vaxine’s thinking face.

  “Okay, then let’s do it!” Assunta sprang to her feet and made for the door. Axon and Vaxine traded a dubious glance and followed her with their eyes. “I’ve negotiated with the most difficult and money-pinching grant sponsors before. Let me do the talking.”

  “Wait—” Vaxine tried to hold Assunta back but she reacted faster. Assunta slammed her fist on the metal door that clanked loudly and echoed in the dark hallway behind it. Vaxine grabbed hold of her arm. “Wait, Dr. Assunta. We don’t have a plan yet!”

  The advancing footsteps cut them off. Axon jumped to his feet and joined the two. “What do we do now?”

  Vaxine parted her lips when Assunta raised her hand, cutting her off. “Let me take care of this.” Vaxine retreated to the back.

  The shadow fell over the window. The pair of ATP appeared on the other side of the door. Assunta cleared her throat. “Now listen up here, boys. President Peyton caught the virus. He isn’t himsel
f anymore. That’s why he’s giving these ludicrous orders. If you guys have half a brain and a sprinkle of common sense, you’d better let us outta here.”

  The ATP agents traded looks and without saying a word, spun on their heels.

  “Wait!” Assunta cried out, banging the metallic door. “Are you gonna walk away like this? You gonna let us die?”

  The ATP didn’t stop. “The Infected are getting more sophisticated with their manipulation techniques nowadays.”