The Survivalist: Madness Rules Part 35

"At least take her," he said, putting his hand on Samantha's shoulder and pus.h.i.+ng her forward.

"No!" she cried.

"Take her," he repeated. "She's important."

"What does that mean?"

"No," she insisted, staring up at Tanner.

"She's President Gla.s.s's daughter." The words came out even before he fully weighed their significance.

"What did you just say?"

The cacophony of noises grew louder, individual voices coming into focus.

"This is Samantha Gla.s.s. As a representative of the US Government, you are obligated to save her."

Captain Hastings studied her.

"What's your name, girl?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she reached up and grabbed the sleeve of Tanner's s.h.i.+rt.

"Please," she said softly, "don't do this."

"Captain, we gotta go now! We've got sixty seconds until they're on us."

Hastings reached his hand out toward Samantha.

"Come on. Give me your hand."

"No," she said flatly.

Tanner turned to her. "Sam, you're dead if you stay here."

She swallowed hard but said nothing.

"I can't let that happen to you," he said. "I can't."

Tears welled in her eyes, and she seemed unable to speak.

"Go, Sam. Please."

"It's now or never," Hastings said, his hand still outstretched.

She started to take a small step forward and then stopped.

"No. I'm staying."

"Sam, if you don't go, you'll die."

"Then I'll die."

"I can't watch-"

"You always told me to fight. That's what you said. No matter what, we fight!" Her voice was breaking, and tears trickled down her cheeks. "Now you want me to give up." She shook her head and then leaned over and punched him in the arm. "I'm not going to do that."

The voices were growing steadily louder. The infected were coming, and by the sound of it, it was an army unlike any they had ever seen.

"Just come on, already," Hastings said, reaching for her.

Samantha stepped back and brought her rifle up between them.

"Don't," she warned.

Hastings hopped up onto the landing and came for her.

"You're my ticket out of this hole, and by G.o.d-"

Tanner stepped forward and hit him with a solid cross. Hastings stumbled sideways, but before he fell, Tanner s.n.a.t.c.hed the M4 from his hands and turned it toward Corporal Dix.

"Don't move!"

"What the h.e.l.l are you doing?" Dix said, climbing out of the cart.

Tanner turned to Samantha. "Grab my shotgun and get in."

She slung her rifle over her shoulder, grabbed his shotgun, and hopped down. As she slid into the pa.s.senger seat, the man lying across the back moaned.

Tanner hopped down behind her and stepped around to the driver's side. He was about to give Dix the choice of dumping the injured man and coming along, when the corporal lunged at him with a knife. He parried it away, caught the man's wrist, and twisted. Dix struggled to get free, but Tanner stretched his arm out and dropped a forearm onto his elbow. He screamed as the joint separated and his arm bent in the wrong direction. Tanner brought a knee up into the man's face, and he fell back onto the tracks unconscious.

Tanner tossed his pack next to the dying man, hopped into the cart, and pressed a large silver b.u.t.ton where a gas pedal would normally be. The vehicle took off with a jolt, and he had to jerk the wheel to keep from scrubbing against the tracks.

"What's going to happen to them?" Samantha asked, looking back over her shoulder.

"If they're lucky, nothing. The infected might run right past them."

"And if they're not?"

"They'll die."

She bit her lip, saying nothing. Events of the past few seconds couldn't be undone. Instead, she latched onto what really bothered her.

"You were going to give me up back there."

"Samantha, I was trying to save-"

"I know what you were trying to do. But you and I are a team. We protect each other."

"I know that."

"We agreed to stay together. No matter what-that's what you said."

He nodded, knowing that she was right.

"Don't you get it?" she said. "You're all I have."

Tanner felt his eyes fill with tears, and he turned his head away.

She leaned over and placed her hand on his arm.

"You're my family now. My mom and dad all rolled into one giant... criminal."

"Giant criminal?" he said, choking on the words.

"You know what I'm saying. And just like you want to keep me safe, I want to keep you safe, too."

"I know."

"From the very first day you pulled me off that burning building, I chose to stay with you. Remember that the next time you try to give me away."

He nodded.

After a moment, he said, "Do you remember asking why I didn't go see my ex-wife up in Salamanca?"

"Of course."

"I didn't go see her because I knew that she'd tell me I needed to let you go. She'd have given me a thousand reasons why you shouldn't be with me. And she'd have been right."

"No," said Samantha. "She'd have been wrong."

"Why?"

"Because she wouldn't understand our... connection."

"Our connection?"

"Our love. There, I said it. Happy?"

He glanced over at her and smiled.

She squeezed his arm. "I'm sorry about hitting you."

"It's all right. I deserved it."

"Yes, you did," she said, leaning back against the seat. "But I'm worried that your violent ways are rubbing off on me."

Men screamed from the tunnel behind them. Hastings and Dix, from the sound of it. Neither Tanner nor Samantha looked back. The cart was remarkably fast for an electric vehicle, and they quickly pulled away from the horrible sounds.

"Are we going back to the Oval Office?"

"No," he said. "We'd be trading one fight for another."

"Where then?"

"We'll find another way out. If Captain Hastings had an escape hatch, then we have one too."

It took them nearly twenty minutes and four stops to find a stairway that wasn't sealed. The plaque on the wall read "Naval Observatory." A narrow stairwell led up to a door, very similar to the one that had allowed them into the tunnel system from the DUCC. This door was propped open with a military backpack. A small embroidered patch with two stripes was sewn on the front pocket.

Tanner pulled the door open enough for them to pa.s.s and kicked the backpack out of the way. The door slowly closed behind them, driven by what remained of the residual air pressure in the pneumatic system. A set of stairs led up into the darkness.

With his shotgun in hand and Captain Hastings' M4 a.s.sault rifle slung across his back, Tanner led them up the stairs. At the top was a small landing and a heavy fibergla.s.s door. It was closed but had a conventional doork.n.o.b. He gave it a try and was surprised to find the door unlocked.

Tanner pushed it in a few inches and peeked around the door. A small hallway lay beyond. The beam from his headlamp was fading, and he could barely see the other end about twenty feet away. He looked over at Samantha and held his finger to his mouth, indicating they should be quiet as they moved ahead.

When they got to the other end of the hallway, they found only a flat panel of wood in place of where a door should be. It stretched from floor to ceiling and had only a small gap around the edges.

He gave the wall a push.

It didn't budge.

"Try sliding it," she whispered.

There wasn't anything to hold onto, so Tanner placed his hand flat against the wood and used friction to push sideways. The wall began to move with a slight squeaking sound.

"Good call," he said over his shoulder.

He continued pus.h.i.+ng until the gap grew wide enough for light to s.h.i.+ne in. Unsure of exactly what they might be walking into, he pressed his eye to the opening.

It was a small library.

He waited a moment to see whether anyone would come to investigate.

They didn't.

Tanner slid the wall far enough that he and Samantha could step into the room. Bookcases similar to the one he had just moved lined nearly every wall of the library. There were two exits, one that led to a sitting room and another to a reception area. Everything looked old but extremely well cared for.

Samantha walked slowly around the room, studying its layout. After a moment, her mouth turned up into a big smile.

"I know this place."

"You do? Where are we?"

"At the vice president's house."

"The vice president's house is at the Naval Observatory?"

She shrugged. "It must be. We came here a couple of times around the holidays. Come on, I'll show you around." Samantha turned and headed into the reception area.