Free Breaking Danger by Lisa Marie Rice Page A

let’s hope there’s still something there for us to rebuild.”
    â€œWell,” Mac said briskly, “we’re working really hard on that. Jon”—he switched his gaze to the man standing beside her—“we’re monitoring all radio bands. The civilian Internet is down. Ours is still working of course but that doesn’t help people outside our network. But we’re finding pockets of uninfected almost hourly and some of them have radios. Lucius has been advising them on how to make their homes as secure as possible. We’ve got a map of everyone and we’re scheduling pickups. The more people arriving here, the more people can go out in secure vehicles to rescue them.”
    â€œYou have enough food for everyone?”
    â€œYeah. And Snyder and his men are going to go back down to their gated community and make it impregnable, so that can be a staging area for the refugees. They have stocks.” Mac’s eyes went back to hers. “So, Dr. Daniels—”
    â€œSophie, please,” she murmured.
    He dipped his head. “So, Sophie. You bring us that case so we can start manufacturing the vaccine and we’ll start a mass-immunization campaign. Let’s see if we can save the world.”
    Save the world. Sounded good. “Yes, sir.”
    â€œWe have projections that the swarm should hit your area around fifteen hundred hours tomorrow. There are still lots of infected in your area and we think they will join the swarm. Once it’s past, you should have a clean shot at getting to the helo. Everything will be waiting for you when you arrive.”
    â€œBoss—is the infection spreading to other states?” Jon asked.
    All of a sudden, Sophie realized that she had no idea whatsoever what was happening outside California.
    â€œUnclear. Marines are stationed all along the border. Our drones show us they’re stringing barbed wire along the border too. They’re going to contain the disease at the cost of writing California off.”
    â€œWhat’s the rest of the country saying about that?”
    Mac gave a huge sigh. “Not much. There’s been a massive news blackout. No reporters are allowed near the borders, and the governors of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona have instituted a curfew. Also, residents within a fifty-mile radius of the border are being evacuated.”
    â€œWhat about boats? California’s coastline is 840 miles long,” Sophie asked.
    â€œFrom what we can see, there are Coast Guard cutters from one to three miles out along the coast. All boats are being turned back.”
    Anger flashed in her. “If people are operating boats they are not infected!” Sophie said angrily. “They are turning back people fleeing from a massive pandemic! That’s cruel.”
    â€œYes, ma’am,” Mac and Nick said at the same time.
    â€œWe’re being abandoned to our own devices.” The truth sank into Sophie. Her entire country was deserting her.
    Elle huffed out a breath. “Well, it looks like we’re not going to have any help. We’re on our own here. We’re going to keep locating uninfected and bringing them up to Haven, just as quickly as we can. And you, Jon, you’re going to bring us what we need to make a vaccine.”
    Elle’s eyes brimmed as she looked at Jon. She reached out a hand and Sophie ached to take it though they were separated by hundreds of miles. “And Sophie. We need her. She’s a brilliant virologist.” Two silver tears tracked down her pale face. “And my best friend. Bring Sophie back to me, Jon.”
    Jon’s hand cupped Sophie’s shoulder. He was holding her so tightly it almost—but not quite—hurt. “Count on it, Elle. We’ll make it, I promise.”
    That was crazy. It was going to be almost impossible to make their way out of the city. Sophie doubted whether they could make it across the street. Jon