Long Road to Survival: The Prepper Series (Book 2) by Bradford Lee & Weber William H

Author:Bradford, Lee & Weber, William H. [Bradford, Lee]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3
Published: 2015-10-24T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

That defiant look was still on Buck’s face when both men were marched into the director’s office. Dark and velvety, the room was spacious and filled with antiques. Van Buren was apparently something of a collector. On the wall were old paintings, many of them from the old masters. Paul wasn’t quite educated enough to know them by name, but several he’d seen gracing the pages of many a coffee-table book. In one corner stood the armor of a twelfth-century knight. Not the full plate stuff you saw in museums. This was a suit of chain mail. The frayed white robe draped over it was emblazoned with a faded red cross.

“Once belonged to Sir Achard of Montmerle,” Van Buren said from behind them. He was standing in the doorway, leaning casually against the frame. “He defended Jerusalem before it was taken back by Saladin in 1187. He’d sworn an oath to protect pilgrims traveling through the Holy Land from the west.”

He entered, followed closely by Ava Monroe. She was wearing a pair of horn-rimmed glasses and Buck’s face changed right away.

“Your girlfriend’s here,” Paul said.

“Shut yer mouth,” Buck snapped.

“I see the two of you have a difficult time getting along with others,” Van Buren told them as he circled around his desk. “We had a similar problem with another resident here…” He paused.

“Earl Mullins,” Ava offered, filling in the blank.

“Yes, Mullins. I provided him with options, but he chose to leave. Accused me of keeping them here against their will. But I assure you that isn’t true. The military personnel here at the compound hate to open those big doors unless they really need to, but I never want to be thought of as a warden.”

“You people are treating us regular folks like peasants,” Buck told him. “I think you forget who you’re really working for.”

Van Buren’s lips curled into a smug little grin and even Paul wanted to punch him. “Have we?”

Buck’s hands clenched into fists. “Treating us like second-class citizens, forcing us to work for food.”

“How’s that any different from your everyday life?” Van Buren asked. “I suspect it isn’t. Do you not need to work in order to live? Does your government not already treat you with derision?”

It was clear Buck wasn’t going to win this argument.

“We know about the labs in the basement, Franz,” Buck said, struggling against his handcuffs. “I think we’d all like to know what killer bugs you’re studying down there.”

Van Buren’s momentary surprise turned to wry laughter. “Believe me, we have nothing to hide. If you haven’t already figured it out, the Ark is a repository for all the world’s knowledge.” He scanned the room. “This facility was built in the wake of 9/11 after the powers that be worried a catastrophic event could threaten our entire way of life. You may have noticed convoys of vehicles on your way here. Many of them were packed with rare treasures. But of course, I’m not only talking about gold and silver. I’m speaking about irreplaceable works of art and literature.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.