Chapter 16

The screams of Claremont could be heard from where Logan and the others parked their car. They were more harrowing than the cries of a Tassie Devil. He couldn’t imagine the horrors occurring in the town. All he could do was observe the ominous orange glow that flickered in the night sky. The large concrete walls stood before them, sealing them off from the rest of the world.

“How are we going to get in?” Rebecca asked.

“I have an idea, but I’ll need you all to hop out first.”

“With that reckless driving, it would be my pleasure,” Madam Esmeralda added, hopping out of the car. Rebecca and Grace quickly followed. Logan passed the shotgun out the Ute’s window to Madam Esmeralda.

“Now what?” Rebecca asked, holding onto Grace tightly.

Logan responded by hammering his foot down like a hoon. The car sped off towards the large iron door. He could hear the screams behind him, but he pushed them aside to focus. He needed to jump at exactly the right moment.

Logan waited, then bailed at the last second. The car slammed into the iron door. Twisted metal and flames engulfed the car and the former doorway, which was now just smouldering wreckage.

“Are you crazy?” Rebecca asked, running up to him.

“I am if it is for my daughter,” Logan replied, brushing himself off and retaking the shotgun from Madam Esmeralda.

They stumbled their way over the wreckage inside. Red strobes flashed as alarms blared, alerting any agents still around that the wall had been breached. They needed to get a move on if they wanted to escape.

Logan took several steps as the PA system crackled on.

“Mr Russell, I am surprised to see you here,” Agent Johnson’s voice called over it.

“Ah, Agent Johnson, I always thought you had a good face for radio.”

Rebecca elbowed Logan.

“We don’t have time to be picking fights with him,” she scolded him.

Logan knew she was right.

“And you always had a bit of a sharp tongue, Mr Russell. Though I must admit, I didn’t expect you’d try to escape. You were clever. The fort is emptied of personnel besides me.”

“Well, ain’t that convenient?”

“Unfortunately for you, you can’t escape while the security system is activated.”

“I don’t suppose you could deactivate it for us?” Logan replied. Rebecca was giving him a look as if to say, stop wasting time.

“Mr Russell, what would be the fun in that?” Agent Johnson replied before breaking out in a laugh over the speaker. “Oh, I do apologise. I never took myself off speaker.”

Bullshit, Logan thought to himself. Before opting for a more measured response. “You’re full of more shit than the public outhouse.”

Rebecca shot Logan a look that silenced him from any further outbursts.

“You always had a way with words, Mr Russell.”

Knowing they were on a time crunch and that Rebecca would likely bring Madam Esmeralda into the conversation if he continued his bickering, Logan opted to remain silent. They ran down the corridor looking for the security room or some other exit.

Nothing.

It was as if they were running in circles.

Suddenly, a set of footsteps echoed down the endless hallway. The flickering lights died one by one. Until a man stepped into a single white light, standing unnaturally still. A lone figure.

Agent Johnson.

“Well, look at the cozy little group you have here,” he mused.

“Have you come to have a picnic with us?” Logan replied.

“Mr Russell, you and your group have gotten much closer to the exit than I ever anticipated. I cannot let you or anyone in your group escape,” he responded, not playing along with Logan’s jokes.

“So, if you are here, then who is protecting the security system?”

“Mr Russell, what do you take us for? The security room obviously has a secure door of its own.” He held up a small brass key.

“Yet you were stupid enough to come out here rather than holing yourself up in the room,” Logan taunted.

Agent Johnson smiled. “I thought it would be more fun to hunt you myself.”

“Take Grace and go,” Logan instructed Rebecca and Madam Esmeralda.

“What about you?” Rebecca asked, unable to mask her concern.

“I’ll join you once I stop Agent Johnson and deactivate the security systems.”

They glanced at each other before nodding. Rebecca scooped up Grace and ran towards the exit.

“Mr Russell, I must say I cannot fathom why you continuously refuse to comply.” Agent Johnson shook his head as he took a step forward.

“Maybe because you plan to eradicate the entire town tonight,” Logan snapped back.

Instantly, Agent Johnson’s demeanour changed. The faux smile and emotionless expression shifted to anger. “So the alarm last night wasn’t a false one. I should have ordered your elimination then.”

“Well, it looks like you screwed up, mate.”

“Mr Russell, I encourage you to surrender. There is no escape.”

“Mate, you literally said there was an exit, so I call bullshit on that.”

Agent Johnson looked exasperated. Perhaps Logan finally broke the man.

“What I meant was that there is no chance you will be able to escape alive, so you should surrender peacefully.”

“Why would we surrender? You’ll kill us anyway.”

Agent Johnson smiled. “That thing is not human.”

“Don’t you ever insult my daughter again,” Logan snapped, raising the shotgun.

“That is not an insult but a fact. She’s a product of an unknown extraterrestrial phenomenon. She is not human.”

“She is human; the only monster around here is you.”

“Mr Russell, if you are convinced that she is human, you should all turn yourselves in and die as humans.”

“You know, Agent Johnson, I’ve hated you since the moment I met you,” Logan responded, resting his finger on the trigger of his gun.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I wonder what will happen if we manage to escape from you.”

“As impossible as that would be, in such an event I’d hope to be executed on the spot,” he responded nonchalantly.

“Don’t you care about your life?”

“It is my job. If they deem my life forfeit, then I will be executed. Simple as that.”

Agent Johnson raised his own gun.

“I suppose this is the end,” Logan sighed.

“Indeed it is, Mr Russell.”

୨⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯❤︎⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯୧

End of Chapter 16