Read Online 6th Horseman, Extremist Edge Series: Part 1 by Anderson Atlas - Free Book Online

an
extra piece had been added. I pulled out my pistol and aimed at the
Plexiglas. Then I thought, the glass is probably bullet proof, and
they might be able to tell it was my gun. So I found a metal bar in
the supply closet and started chipping at the lock. It finally
broke open. I ripped the small door off and removed the four corner
clips on the inside of the enclosure. The entire side of the
Plexiglas cover came off. I tried to roll the thing, but it was too
heavy. I retrieved a dolly from the closet next door, tipped the
rocket on its end, and walked it onto the dolly. This was too easy.
Zilla must have cleared the way for me. From that point it was even
easier. I simply rolled the thing to the roof.
    There was a note stuck to the roof access
door.
    ‘You have exactly fifteen minutes to complete
this project before being arrested. If you beat the clock you will
be able to get away.’
    My heart jumped and my pulse thickened. Bitch
told me there would be no cops. I rolled the rocket to the middle
of the roof, took it off the dolly, and kicked the dolly away.
There was a red button at the bottom of the cylinder. I pushed it.
Three legs folded out of the base. A remote was clipped to a leg. I
looked up and noticed a police helicopter approaching. So some
rules are being broken, huh? I looked at my watch. Fifteen minutes?
Well, now I’ve got only eight minutes left.
    I scanned a set of illustrated instructions
on the remote then stepped way back. I pushed the buttons in the
order listed. The rocket stabilized by automatically adjusting its
legs. I stepped back toward the wall. Sirens wailed in the
distance. Lots of sirens! Something was going down, something big.
Five minutes. I brushed my hair from my face. I took a deep breath.
The last instruction was to enter a code. The note I’d burned had
given me the code. Shit. I pictured the note in my head. I tried
two words then I looked at my watch. One minute left. Then it
clicked. ‘Silence’. I typed it in and without a second thought
pushed the button. Smoke poured from the rocket’s engine, then
fire. It lifted off as smooth as unsheathing a sword.
     

     
    I blocked out the sun with one hand and
watched the rocket rise. It climbed and climbed. Then, to my
surprise, the bottom of the rocket dropped off and a second stage
motor ignited. It disappeared into the sky and was gone. No
explosion and no sound. Well, those fools said it was for
surveillance.
    I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t hear
sirens anymore. So I ran to the base of the rocket, picked it up,
threw it over the edge of the building, and ran. There was a red
box hanging from the doorknob of the roof door. ‘Urgent’ was
printed on it. Inside the box was a red syringe and a note.
    ‘ Use or die. The New World thanks you.
Your service was indispensable. ~Zilla.’
    I was about to throw it over the edge of the
roof, but I didn’t. I had a weird feeling. So I stuck myself with
that needle, somehow knowing that I didn’t have a choice. I flung
the roof door open and ran down the steps. The stairwell was dark
now. The lights weren’t working. There was no way we were out of
power, unless the entire city had blacked out.
    When I got to the street I froze. The cars
weren’t working. No traffic lights either. People were standing
around yelling at each other. Their cell phones didn’t seem to be
working either.
    A loud engine whined to my left. I turned
just in time to jump out of the way of an old Chevy truck. That truck was working. It was all over the sidewalk,
running people out of its way. The old truck disappeared around the
corner. I ran the opposite direction. It was time to go home and
wait this craziness out.
    That was three days ago. Since then everyone
had died. Some croaked in the streets or in their cars, some in
their homes, and some at work. Most of them died trying to get out
of the city. The looks on their faces were placid and still, like
mannequins of wax or plastic. It was traumatic