Final Code

The General’s eyes flicked toward the garage entrance as a violent crash echoed from the lower levels. His hand shook. The barrel of his gun wavered, moving an inch away from my forehead.

I didn't wait for him to look back. I reached into my jacket pocket, my fingers wrapping around the glass vial of concentrated surgical antiseptic I had salvaged from the clinic. With one swift motion, I snapped my wrist forward, hurling the vial directly at his face.

The glass shattered against his cheekbone. The harsh, stinging alcohol flooded his eyes.

"Damn it!" the General shrieked, dropping his arm to claw at his face.

Garrison moved like a predator. He closed the distance between them in a single stride, his boot slamming into the General’s wrist. The pistol clattered across the concrete floor, spinning into the darkness beneath a transport truck.

Garrison grabbed his father by the front of his uniform, throwing him hard against the side of the armored vehicle.

"It's over, Father," Garrison growled, his forearm pinned against the old man's throat.

General Vance choked, his eyes bloodshot and streaming with tears from the chemical wash.

"You... you traitress! Garrison, she is a criminal! She assaulted a commanding officer!"

"There are no officers left," Garrison said, his voice entirely devoid of mercy.

He reached down, unbuckling the leather holster from the General’s belt and tossing it aside.

"The chain of command died when you left those men to choke on the red fog."

I scrambled into the passenger seat of the vehicle, slamming the door shut. Through the glass, I watched Garrison open the driver’s side door. He didn't look back at his father. He slid behind the wheel, punched the ignition sequence, and the massive diesel engine roared to life.

"Garrison!" the General screamed, banging his fists against the reinforced window. "You can't leave me here! I am your father!"

Garrison engaged the transmission, his gaze fixed straight ahead on the steel garage doors.

"My father died six months ago when he bartered my life away for a political alliance. Step back from the vehicle."

"I will code-lock the surface exit!" the old man threatened, his voice rising to a frantic screech as the vehicle began to roll forward. "You won't even clear the perimeter!"

"The perimeter codes were updated an hour ago," Garrison said, speaking into the dashboard intercom so his father could hear him outside. "By me. Enjoy the fog, General."

He slammed his foot onto the accelerator. The armored utility vehicle lunged forward, its massive tires squealing against the concrete.

Behind us, the garage doors leading to the lower tunnels burst open. A wave of red smoke poured into the cavernous room, carrying with it a dozen twisted silhouettes. They didn't look human anymore. They moved with terrifying speed, their limbs jerking as they caught the scent of the living.

Through the rearview mirror, I saw the General turn around. His face went entirely pale. He began to run toward the transport trucks, but his boots slipped on the spilled antiseptic fluid.

He fell hard, his hands reaching out into the empty air just as the first creature threw itself onto his back.

His scream was cut off instantly as the red smoke swallowed the entire bay.

"Don't look," Garrison said, his large hand reaching across the center console to grab my wrist. His grip was firm, a solid anchor in the middle of the horror. "Look at the gate, Valerie."

"The automated locks are engaging," I said, my voice trembling as I pointed through the windshield. The massive external steel barrier was sliding downward, threatening to seal us inside the mountain sector permanently. "Garrison, we aren't going to clear it!"

"Hold on," he ordered, his fingers tightening on my wrist before he returned both hands to the wheel.

He didn't hit the brakes. He shifted into a lower gear, maximizing the vehicle's torque, and drove straight toward the descending wall.

The front bumper of the armored transport slammed into the bottom edge of the steel gate just as it reached three feet from the ground.

The impact tore through the chassis, a massive screech of tearing metal echoing through the cabin. The vehicle shuddered violently, the rear tires lifting off the ground for a fraction of a second before gravity slammed us back down.

The steel gate buckled outward, snapping the hydraulic chains with a sound like a cracking whip.

We burst through the barrier, launching out into the dark, stormy night.

The world outside was unrecognizable. The crimson fog hung over the entire valley, illuminated only by the occasional flash of lightning from the bruised clouds above. The city in the distance was dark, its power grid entirely dead, looking like a graveyard of concrete towers.

"The air filters are holding," I said, checking the dashboard indicators. The digital gauges showed green for the interior cabin environment. "The seals didn't crack during the impact."

"Good," Garrison said, his eyes scanning the narrow mountain road ahead.