Sick

21

The one thing Ash was very good at was going all in when he decided on a course of action. The only goal he had in his life now was getting his children back. Rachel, Matt, and the others described a plan that, even a few hours earlier, he would have found crazy. But not only was his face plastered all over television, it was now being openly speculated that he was responsible for the virus outbreak, exactly as Rachel had predicted.

Give it another day and he would be branded a terrorist, something they were all convinced would occur. And when it did, not only would he be in danger of being arrested if anyone recognized him, there was a good chance some “concerned citizen” would try to kill him.

If he was going to save his kids, the Ash he saw every morning in the mirror had to go.

“Watch your step,” Matt said as he opened a door that led down into the basement of the Lodge — the name that apparently everyone called the ranch’s main building.

Matt went down first, with Ash following and Billy bringing up the rear. When they reached the bottom, Ash saw that the space was mainly being used for storage.

Matt headed straight to the south wall, stopping in front of a clear spot between two shelving units. For several seconds, he didn’t move. Ash looked over at Billy, his eyebrow raised in question, but Billy was looking at the wall, too.

A sudden thunk caused Ash to look back around. Nothing had changed as far as he could see. Then Matt reached out and pushed on the wall. A door-shaped panel of stone moved inward, and a light in the space beyond came on.

Matt started to go through the opening, but Ash hesitated. “You’re not going to lock me in down there, are you?” He’d had his fill of confinement.

Matt paused. “Absolutely not. Besides this, there are two other ways out — one that exits in the dormitory where your room is, and another in the ruins of an old barn in the trees. We’ll show you both, and I promise no doors will be locked behind you.”

The two men watched Ash until he nodded and said, “Okay.”

Stepping through the door, Ash found himself in a five-foot-by-five-foot room. As soon as Billy closed the secret panel, Matt put his hand on the wall. A small square section surrounding his palm lit up for several seconds. As soon as it went dark, the wall to their right slid open, revealing a set of stairs.

These were at least double the length of the ones that led down from the first floor into the regular basement. When the trio reached the bottom, Matt palmed the wall again, and a door popped open.

The only thing about this new level that said basement to Ash was the lack of windows. Otherwise, he thought it was very much like a high-tech military facility. There was a long central corridor running down the middle, with rooms and other hallways leading off to the sides.

“How big is this place?” he asked.

“The footprint’s about twice as large as the Lodge,” Matt explained as they walked down the corridor. “We can comfortably house fifty people down here for several months, if necessary. There are actually two more levels below this, but both are smaller and used only for storage.” He pointed to the left, down an intersecting hallway. “There’s a firing range down there, and our armory. That room…” He pointed at a door just head. “That’s the IT room, where all our servers and other computer equipment live.” He nodded at another hallway. “We have a small cafeteria down there, and several dorm rooms just on the other side of it.”

“I thought bomb shelters went out with the fifties.”

Matt glanced at him. “There are a lot more things to be scared of than just bombs.”

“Like what?”

“Like viruses that get out of control,” Billy said.

“Or, more importantly, the people behind them,” Matt added. “Here we are.”

He opened a set of double doors, then ushered Ash in. Billy’s examination room upstairs was nothing compared to the full-on operating room they’d just entered.

Billy pushed past both of them, heading straight for a sink against the wall. “There’s a shower and some gowns back there,” he said to Ash, pointing at a door in the far corner. “When you’re done, come back here and I’ll throw a couple ideas at you.”

Ten minutes later, they were all standing in front of a computer screen on a counter not far from the surgery table.

“If we had time, I’d do a lot more, but for now we need to achieve the biggest change we can with the minimum amount of downtime for you. Now, this is what I was—”

“I don’t care what you do,” Ash said.

“Don’t you want to have some say?”

“I just want my kids back.”

No one said anything for a moment.

Matt gave Ash’s shoulder a pat. “I’ll choose for him.”

Billy looked at Ash, silently asking if that was okay, but Ash said nothing.

The ranch’s doctor shrugged. “All right, then. Let’s mark you up.”

Rachel was sitting next to Ash’s bed when he woke, a book in her lap. “How are you feeling?” she asked.

His whole head throbbed. “I’m fine. What time is it?”

“Nine.”

“Evening, or…or morning.”

“Evening. You haven’t been out that long.”

It had been two p.m. when the surgery began, so he’d been unconscious for seven hours. He tried to touch his face, but it seemed to be covered in bandages.

“You’re a mess right now,” she said. “But in a couple of months it’ll all look normal to you.”

He tried to push himself up, but couldn’t. “I can’t…wait a couple of…months.”

“Of course not. We talked about that, remember?”

Did we? Maybe.

“Two days only, and we’ll use that time to get you as prepared as possible.”

Two days also seemed like too long. But what choice did he have? Without the new face, there was no chance he would ever even get close to his kids.

“Do you want to go back to sleep? Or get started?”

“Get started,” he said, his voice still weak.

“Excellent.” She picked up a folder that was on the stand by his bed. “Who are you?”

He squinted at her. “What?”

“You can’t be Captain Daniel Ash anymore, so who are you?”

Now he understood what she meant. A false name. “I don’t care. Anything. John Smith.”

“I think we can do better than that. Besides, you’re not just choosing for yourself, you’re choosing for your kids, too.”

He started to shake his head, but it only made it pound harder. He gave it a few seconds, then said, “Once people know what happened…we can go…back. Be ourselves again.”

She gave him a sad, knowing smile. “I tell you what. Why don’t we just pretend it’s important for right now? Better safe than sorry, right?”

“Sure. Whatever,” he replied, thinking he’d just choose the first name that came to mind. “How about—”

She touched his hand, stopping him. “I have some choices for you.” She opened the folder. “Tell me which one of these grabs you. Tyler Wright, Harold Boyce, Adam Cooper, William Keys, or Samuel Hunter. Anything stand out?”

He honestly didn’t care at all. “The third one,” he said.

“Adam Cooper?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

He was silent for a moment. “Because I like the number three.”

She raised an eyebrow, then laughed softly to herself. “You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

She shrugged, rifled through the papers in the folder, and pulled one out. “All right, Mr. Cooper. Let’s see exactly who you are.”