Free Mass Extinction Event: The Complete Fourth Series (Days 54 to 61) by Amy Cross Page B

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    “Boston is the best place for you to be,” he continues. “It's far, far safer than Mitchfield. In a few weeks' time, we're all going to ship out when our work is done, and then the place will just be left to fall down. If your friend Toad shows up while we're still here, we can take him with us, and eventually we should reach Boston. I can also make sure that a note is left for him, just in case... Stranger things have happened, right? Don't give up hope.”
    “Thanks,” I reply, “but there's already been one miracle. Asking for two seems greedy. Anyway, he won't come anywhere near this base, he's suspicious of any kind of military group. In fact, he's kind of a loner.”
    “We need to stick together,” Patterson replies. “Now more than ever. Loners are never going to cut it out there, if we ever -”
    Before he can finish, an alarm starts ringing in another part of the building.
    “What the hell are they doing now ?” Doctor Kennedy asks, dropping her equipment and hurrying to the door. “Goddamn idiots...”
    Taking the radio from his belt, Patterson hits a button on the side. “Patterson here. Are you -”
    “There's a problem,” a voice crackles.
    “Stay here,” Patterson tells me, as he and Kennedy head out into the corridor, pulling the door shut as they go. A moment later, just as I'm trying to work out what could possibly be causing them to worry so much, I hear a key being turned in the lock.
    “Hey!” I shout, clambering off the table and limping across the room, only to find that the door is locked. “You can't just leave me in here! What's happening?”
    I wait for a reply, but all I can hear is the sound of people running past while the alarm continues to sound in the distance. Whatever's happening out there, it sounds like some kind of emergency. Hearing someone outside, I stand back as I realize that there's a key in the lock again, and finally Patterson opens the door.
    “This way,” he says, clearly worried about something. “I need to get you to a different part of the building.”
    “What's happening?”
    “Nothing. Just move.”
    “Is it -”
    “Move!”
    Grabbing my arm, he starts pulling me out of the room, but in the process I bang my right foot against the door-frame and let out a cry of pain.
    “Are you okay?” he asks.
    “I'll be fine,” I reply, starting to limp alongside him, “but what's wrong? Where's my father?”
    “We're just experiencing a small problem in one of the medical bays,” Patterson explains, drawing his gun as we reach the next intersection. The lights flicker above us for a moment as we head along another corridor. “There's nothing to worry about.”
    “When people say there's nothing to worry about,” I reply, “it usually means -”
    Hearing a scream in the distance, I stop and look back. I swear, it's the same person I heard yesterday. Whoever she is, she's clearly in agony.
    “Elizabeth,” Patterson says firmly, still holding my arm, “we have to get moving!”
    “Who is she?” I ask.
    “That's not information that needs to be given out right now,” he continues, as raised voices are heard in the distance. “Elizabeth, please, I need you to cooperate a little here. Don't make me drag you!”
    “But if -”
    Before I can finish, Patterson grabs hold of me and scoops me up into his arms, before carrying me along the corridor. I want to tell him to put me down, but to be honest I'm in total shock that he'd do something like that; I feel like a badly behaved pet who has to be shifted out of the way.
    “Sorry,” he mutters, checking over his shoulder as if he's worried that we're being followed, “it's just quicker like this.”
    “Can you at least tell me what's happening?” I ask as we make our way around another corner. “Where's my father? Is he okay?”
    “He's fine,” Patterson says, “just -”
    Suddenly there's another scream from up ahead, just as a white-coated figure stumbles into view, clutching her