Children of the Cull by Cavan Scott

Author:Cavan Scott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction
Publisher: Rebellion Publishing Ltd

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CURE

MOORE GROWLED AT Lam as he stalked into the Ops rooms. “What are you doing here?”

I raised a hand. “He was trying to access the computers. The system’s in lockdown.”

“It’s what?”

“We’re shut out,” Lam told him. “None of the passwords work.”

“What about the cameras?” the chief said, barging the technician out of the way to get to the security controls.

“They’re on a different system. Everything else seems up and running.”

“But for how long?” Moore asked, pulling Lam’s chair towards him and sitting down. He jabbed at the CCTV control console, cycling through the feeds, the grainy images switching from one camera to another on the screens.

“What are you doing?”

Moore peered up at the central screen. “I’ve established patrols around the perimeter.”

“Patrols? Chief, I said two guards, max—everyone else is supposed to be confined to quarters.” Couldn’t anyone follow a simple order today?

The chief glared at me. “And you’d rather we were left unprotected?”

How many times would I have this argument today? “Until we find out—”

“The medical staff are contained, as are technical support”—the security chief scowled at Lam—“at least, most of them are. I’ve only got a few men out, a handful; the ones I can trust.”

“Can we trust anyone?” Olive asked by the door. I raised a single finger to silence her. Not a fight worth having.

“So, what are we looking at?” I asked.

Moore manipulated a joystick, the image on the screen zooming in to focus on a section of fencing illuminated by floodlight.

“The east perimeter. Team Three called it in.”

“Called in what exactly?”

“Movement, beyond the fences. In the bushes.”

The picture continued to zoom in. There was nothing there, save for blurry, pixelated images of overgrown shrubs.

“Isn’t that where we were attacked this morning?” Lam asked.

Moore nodded, sitting back in the seat. “Yes. I wouldn’t have expected them to come back for more, not so soon.”

“Could it have been an animal?” I asked. “A dog, or something?”

“My men know the difference between a dog and a human being.”

Still the screen showed nothing.

“Well, if there was anyone there, they’ve gone now,” Olive added unhelpfully.

Moore snatched the walkie-talkie from his belt and opened a channel. “Control to Team Three. Come in.”

“Team Three responding, chief.”

“I’m in Ops. There’s nothing on the camera.” He flicked along a line of buttons, scrolling through corresponding feeds. “On any of them.”

On screen, we saw three guards cautiously approaching the wire mesh, torches mounted on their rifles. Circles of lights swept across the no-man’s land between the two fences.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I asked.

“They know what they’re doing,” Moore insisted, before bringing the walkie-talkie back to his mouth again. “Well?”

“There’s nothing, sir,” came the distorted reply, the lead guard raising his own handset on screen. “It might have been kids, mucking about?”

“Remind me of the last time we saw kids?” Moore’s eyes flicked up to the top row of screen. “Outside the perimeter, I mean.”

“There was definitely something there, chief, but it’s gone now.”

The three men stood their ground, swinging their gun-lights along the perimeter.

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