Free Black Rose by Alex Lukeman Page B

aren't there?"
    "Then we get the hell out of Dodge and come up with a new plan," Nick said. "But I'll bet they are."
    "Let's get it done," Lamont said.
    They pulled on black balaclavas against the cold and to conceal their faces from any cameras.
    "Weapons free," Nick said.
    They moved out of the car, black ghosts against the white countryside. The road was deserted. Snow was starting to fall, thick, heavy flakes that stuck to their clothes. They ran in a low crouch to the wall bordering the grounds. Ronnie settled behind the wall, pointed his EMP device at the nearest camera and pulled the trigger. He did the same to the camera on the far corner. Then he aimed at the nearest light. It went dark, with a soft pop. He followed up with the second. It went dark.
    "Neat," Nick said. "Go."
    They scrambled over the wall and ran to the back of the windowless wing. The entry door was made of metal. It had no window. It was marked with a large triangle and the universal bio-hazard sign with its three sharp-pointed open circles.
    "Must be the right place," Lamont said.
    Ronnie knelt before the lock with his tools. In a moment it was open. They stepped inside and closed the door.
    "What is this place?" Selena said. "This doesn't look like a lab."
    They were in a large room lit by fluorescent lights set in a row along the middle of the ceiling. There was a closed door at the far end. A stack of six refrigerated lockers took up part of one wall. The lockers hummed. The room smelled of disinfectant and conditioned air. It was cold.
    Next to the lockers was a gleaming steel gurney wheels. A large, gray furnace with a steel door took up one corner. A chimney rose from the top and disappeared through the ceiling.
    "Why do they need a big furnace like that in here?" Ronnie said.
    "Explains the chimney outside," Nick said. "I don't know why."
    In the center of the room was a glass cubicle. Inside the cubicle was a stainless metal table bolted to the floor. There was a drain underneath it and a hose hanging on a pivoting rack above. A rolling tray with shiny steel implements was placed neatly by the table.
    "I think I know what this room is," Selena said. "It's a morgue. They must dispose of dead test animals in here. Do autopsies."
    Nick walked to the lockers and opened a door.
    "Shit," he said.
    Ronnie walked over next to him. "Not just animals," he said.
    Human feet lay behind the door. It was hard to tell if they belonged to a man or a woman. The feet were black and crusted, swollen and distorted. Several toes were missing.
    "Close the damn door," Nick said.
    "They're using humans as test subjects." Selena's face was white under the ski mask. "It explains the furnace. They must burn the bodies when they're done."
    "Are we exposed because we opened that locker?" Lamont asked.
    "I don't know," Nick said. "I don't think so. If the bodies were still contagious there'd be more safety protocols in place. It looks like they're only concerned when they open them up. In that cubicle." He pointed at the glass room.
    "Let's find those samples and get out of here," Ronnie said. "This place gives me the creeps."
    The door at the end of the room was unlocked. They stepped out of the morgue into a dimly lit hallway.
    "I don't see any cameras," Nick said.
    Ronnie took out a spray can from his bag and sent a long cloud of white dust into the hall. Halfway down the hall, a green line appeared at ankle height.
    "Laser trip wire," he said.
    Six doors lined this end of the hall, three on each side. A window was set in each door. They looked in the first room. It looked like a cubicle from an ICU in a modern hospital. The bed was surrounded by a clear plastic enclosure. The room was empty.
    "That looks like an isolation unit," Selena said.
    "These rooms must be where they keep their test subjects before they die," Nick said. His mouth was set in a tight line. They moved forward. Ronnie sprayed again and they stepped over the laser alarm.
    They came to a junction.