I think all we wanted to do at that point was sit down, chill out. Rest. Recover. Sleep. But we did not have that luxury. Once again, we were forced into action. And once again we answered the call. Like robots, I thought. We each had our own basic programming. Stay alive. Don’t die.

Simple. Basic.

Tariq had switched the views of the surveillance cameras back out to the motion sensors. He was trying to pick up the nano-swarm again, when suddenly, one by one, the images began to cut out.

The monitor now showed four separate images of static.

“What happened?” Daniel asked.

“It’s the nano-swarm,” Kenji said.

“What’s it doing?”

“Blinding us,” Tariq answered, smiling. “Amazing, isn’t it?”

“How did it know?” Kenji asked.

Maria was staring at the monitor, confused. “Yeah, how?”

“Maybe the movement of the cameras?” I suggested. “Maybe the noise?”

“Noise? The cameras couldn’t be very loud.”

“The nano-swarms have excellent sensory capabilities,” Tariq answered.

“Do we have any other cameras available?” Kenji asked. “We need eyes on this thing.”

“There are no more cameras out there. But we have a surveillance drone available. A Raven.”

“Can we launch it from here?”

Tariq typed in a few more commands. “Yes. Launching.”

The monitor now showed a camera view of the military building. On the roof was a small launch pad, no bigger than a pizza box. What appeared to be a toy, a remote controlled plane, was sitting on top.

“That’s the drone?” I asked.

“Yes,” Tariq answered.

“But it’s so small.”

“That’s the point,” Daniel said. “It’s a short range surveillance drone.”

The launch pad swiveled and tilted into position, and the toy plane was launched into the air by a sling shot mechanism.

The small drone flew higher and higher. We could only just hear the whir and strain of its propeller. It climbed steadily, until we could no longer see it on the monitor, or hear it.

“Zoom in,” Daniel said to Tariq. “Find the swarm.”

I moved over to the blacked out windows and peeked through one of the small holes. It looked like someone had scratched the paint away with a knife or something. But I supposed they could’ve used their fingernails. Outside, I could see the horde of infected, pushing against the perimeter fence. Some of them had tried to climb over but had become tangled in the razor wire that ran along the top of the fence.

The sun was setting.

Maria stood next to me, looking to the outside world. “Wait,” she said. “I can see lights.”

“Lights?” I asked.

“Yeah, like headlights.”

“Where?”

“Over there. Two lights.”

Way out near the horizon, I could see two bright lights, zigzagging back and forth. She was right, they looked like headlights.

“It’s a car,” Maria said. “They’re headlights.”

We took another look at the computer monitor.

“Are they survivors?” I asked. “Soldiers?”

“They are not headlights,” Tariq said. “It is the nano-swarm. It is mimicking the headlights of a car.”

“It can do that?”

“Yes.”

“How? Why?”

“I am not sure how. But it would appear to be a camouflage technique. A hunting technique. Like I said, it is learning, evolving.”

“This is not good,” Jack said. “We need to take care of it. It’s hunting us. I do not want to be hunted. We need to do something.”

“Yes, I agree,” Tariq said. “We need to get the EMP field back online. Right now.”

“OK, but if we’re going outside we need to get to the armory,” Daniel said. “It’s too dangerous to go outside un-armed.”

“Yes,” Jack agreed. “Can we please get some guns? The bigger the better. Maybe even a rocket launcher or something.”

“What good would you be with a rocket launcher?” Maria asked. “You don’t know how to use one.”

“It would mainly be for security,” Jack replied. “You know, peace of mind.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Guys, come on. Focus.” Kenji said.

Daniel continued with a plan of action. “Once we’re armed, I think it would be best if Kenji provided cover fire from one of the gun towers. Jack, myself and Rebecca will turn on the EMP generators. Hopefully we’ll have enough time.”

“How long before it knows we’re here?” Maria asked Tariq.

“I am not sure. Although, it would appear that the nano-swarm has been here before. Based on its behavior.”

“So we should hurry,” she said.

“Yes.”

“All right,” Jack said. “Let’s go.”

Before anyone had made a move, we heard a loud crash that came from outside. This was followed by the howling and moaning noises of the infected.

“What’s going on out there?” I asked.

We moved over to the windows and peered out through the tiny peepholes in the paint.

“Oh no,” Kenji said. “The perimeter fences, both of them. They’re down.”

“So the infected are inside the compound?”

“Not entirely,” Tariq informed us. “These facilities were built off the ground. They have blast proof walls. As long as the doors are all locked and secured we should be fine.”

“Are they all locked?” I asked.

We looked over at the door way that led to the stair well. We held our breath, waiting for the sound of running footsteps.

Nothing.

Down below, the infected had crammed up against the reinforced, blast proof walls of the research facility.

Kenji immediately picked up Ben’s shotgun, wiping the blood off the handle, making sure it was loaded. “We’re definitely gonna need more guns.”

“Where’s the armory?” Daniel asked Tariq.

“I am not sure,” he replied. “But it would have to be located on the military side.”

“We need to get over there.”

“How?” I asked. “And how do we get out to the EMP generators?”

“We should be able to use the footbridge that connects these two buildings to get to the military side,” Daniel answered. “As long as it’s not completely destroyed. As for the EMP generators, we’ll have to make a run for it.”

“But the infected are out there,” Maria said. “Hundreds of them. We can’t just go running around.”

“The SCG,” Jack said.

“What?”

“The Sydney Cricket Ground. The stadium. When we rescued you. We basically diverted the infected away from the point of entry.”

“So?”

“So we can divert the infected away from those EMP generators with a vehicle. One of the Humvees in the garage. Once we lead the infected away, we can run out there, turn each one on and destroy the nano-swarm before it gets too close.”

“Provided the Humvees actually work,” I pointed out. “And provided we can find keys for them.”

“If we can’t use the Humvees,” Kenji said, “We’ll have to clear out as many infected as possible before we set foot outside.”

“I think we should do that regardless,” Daniel suggested.

“Yes, I totally agree,” I added. “The less infected we have to outrun, the better. But um, how are we going to do that?”

“What about the security system?” Kenji asked. “Ben mentioned something about it earlier.”

“Yes,” Tariq said. “That is an excellent idea. There are four sentinels, situated at each gun tower. Very effective.”

“How many rounds for each gun?”

“At the Fortress each sentinel had ten thousand rounds. The ammunition is stored within the tower.”

“Yep, that’s a lot of bullets,” Jack said.

“Can you turn it on from here, Tariq?” Kenji asked.

He searched through the computer, typed a few commands. “It would appear not. It must be controlled from the military facility.”

“OK, we do that first,” Daniel said. “Maria, you’re staying here with Tariq.”

“No way. I’m coming with you guys. I want to help.”

“We’ve been over this. You’re too valuable. We can’t risk you.”

Tariq cocked his head to the side. “Risk her?”

“No,” Kenji said. “Maria is right. We need her for this one. We need all hands on deck.”

Daniel was about to protest, but just then I noticed a clock on the top right hand side of the computer monitor.

A clock that was counting down.

“Hey, what the hell is that?” I asked.

“What?”

I pointed at the screen. “Top right hand corner. Numbers. A clock.”

It continued counting down.

It read:

Twenty-three minutes and forty-five seconds.

Forty-four.

Forty-three.

“What the hell?” Jack said.

“It’s a timer,” Kenji pointed out.

“A timer for what?”

“I don’t know.”

Daniel moved in front of the screen and typed in a few commands.

“What do you think?” Kenji asked.

Daniel’s face turned pale. He shook his head and kept saying ‘no’, over and over. “It’s rigged to blow,” he said. “Self-destruct. A fail safe. In case there was a containment failure.”

We all crowded around the monitor and stared at the countdown in disbelief.

“So we can’t stay here?” Maria asked.

“We should be able to turn it off,” Daniel said. “There’s got to be a password, an override system. Something.”

Daniel punched in a few more commands but nothing happened. The only thing he could access was the security cameras.

“Let me try,” Tariq said.

He sat back in front of the computer. His fingers moved with expert dexterity and blinding quickness over the keyboard. But nothing happened.

“I’ll have to check the system over in the military compound,” Daniel said.

“What if we can’t turn it off?” I asked.

“If we can’t turn it off then we’ll have to get the hell out of here. Gather up as much food, water and ammo as we can carry and get as far away as possible. We don’t know what kind of explosives they’ve rigged.”

“Are you saying this thing could be nuclear?” I asked.

“It’s possible,” Kenji said. “Most likely thermobaric.”

“What’s that?”

Kenji shook his head. “Bad news.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Jack said. “If there’s a possibility that this thing is nuclear or thermo-whatever, let’s go. Right now. It’s not worth the risk.”

“You cannot leave,” Tariq said.

“Why not?”

“The nano-swarm. We need to take care of it.”

“He’s right,” I said as I remembered what Ben had said about it earlier. “We can’t leave. If it knows we’re here, it will hunt us down.”

Jack lowered his head in defeat.

“All right, let’s move like we got a purpose,” Daniel said as he synchronized his watch with the self-destruct clock. “We haul ass over to the military compound and turn on the security system. After the sentinels do their job, Kenji will move up to one of the gun towers to provide covering fire for us. Jack will use one of the Humvees to distract the remaining infected. Maria, Rebecca and myself will turn on the EMP generators. Any questions?”

“Does everyone have their walkie-talkies from earlier?” Kenji asked.

“Mine’s busted,” I said.

Maria shook her head. “I never got one.”

“Here, use these,” Tariq said as he gave Maria and myself a radio each. “I’ll monitor the nano-swarm from here.”

“Tariq, you’re our eyes,” Kenji said. “Let us know where the damn thing is at all times, all right?

“Yes.”

Daniel waved us forward, urging us out the door. “Let’s go. We don’t have long.”