Brrrrrrr Brrrrrr
He tensed at the ringing, but remained still, staring out the window, doing his best to ignore the summons.
Brrrrrrr Brrrrrr Brrrrrrr Brrrrrr
Each ring went through him like fingernails down a chalk board.
Brrrrrrr Brrrrrr Brrrrrrr Brrrrrr Brrrrrrr Brrrrrr Brrrrrrr Brrrrrr
He scowled when the caller didn’t give up and finally stalked over to answer it.
The landline was directly wired to the labs in the basement. It was meant as a precaution, a connection to the basement labs if the wi-fi went down and cell phones couldn’t get a signal. The old-style phone had been getting far too much use over the past three days. So much use, he was tempted to rip the damn thing out of the wall.
He snatched the receiver up. “What?”
He didn’t bother masking his annoyance. This made what? The second time the woman had called today? “Look, I know your situation is...uncomfortable. I’m doing everything I can to rectify the situation.”
“You don’t understand—” Doctor Comfrey’s panicked voice bleated.
“No, apparently you’re the one who doesn’t understand,” Clark interrupted, his voice rising in frustration. “No matter how many times you call to complain, I can’t let you out. Not until the security panels start working again.”
Comfrey was the head of his biological specimen department, which included the bodies his cleaning crew had brought back from Karaveht. He’d rarely heard from the woman, until the computer system had failed and the failsafe had locked her, and her two assistants, inside the specimen lab.
“You have to break us out.” The woman all but screamed. “They’re waking up.”
Clark rocked back on his heels, what was she talking about now? “Who is waking up?”
Was she talking about her assistants? Those were the only people locked in the lab with her.
“Them!” she screeched. “The specimens!”
“Calm down. What are you talking about?” Clark shouted over her shrieking.
The woman was downright hysterical. He’d expected better of her. This panicked frenzy was not the way a professional reacted during an emergency.
A deep, gulping breath came over the line, followed by a strangled voice. “The specimens you recovered from Karaveht. They’ve reanimated.”
He must have misunderstood. “Repeat that, please.”
Her voice climbed again. “The specimens, the ones you removed from your test site, they’re climbing out of their mortuary drawers.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. That’s impossible.”
“Yes. It’s impossible.” Her voice suddenly chilled and slowed. Possibly she resented his implication that she was crazy. “Yet, it’s happening. We heard...sounds...from one of the drawers. We thought a rat or something had gotten inside, so we opened the drawer. The specimen inside sat up.”
“An unusual biological reaction to decomposition then.” Although, it had been weeks since the specimens died. Wouldn’t the decomposition effects be over by now? No...no...she must be misreading the situation. “Trust me. The dead do not rise.”
“Tell that to the first specimen, which is currently moving from drawer to drawer, letting the rest of them out.”
Chapter nineteen
Day 30
Shadow Mountain Base, Alaska
Two days after ditching Gracie and Muriel at the base clinic, O’Neill stood in front of the war room’s coffee station and refilled his Styrofoam cup. Things were about to move fast. He needed to carve out some time before things exploded and explain to Gracie why her self-defense lessons would have to wait.
His coffee cup full, he returned to the war table. Wolf and Aiden sat across from him, heads titled toward the overhead screens, where Capland had pinned their target’s dossier.
