CHAPTER 30: THE DOOR IN THE MOUNTAIN
Nathan led them through the forest.
The helicopters circled overhead but did not fire.
Eleanor wanted Ava alive.
That was the only reason they had not all been killed.
They reached a concrete wall hidden behind vines.
There was no handle.
No visible entrance.
Only two small handprints carved into the stone.
Nathan placed his right hand over one.
Ava looked at Ethan.
“Do I have to?”
Ethan wanted to say no.
He wanted to carry her away from the mountain, the Vales, Northstar, and every secret that had stolen their family’s peace.
But hundreds of survivors were about to be exposed.
Claire knelt beside their daughter.
“We will stay with you.”
Ava placed her hand on the second print.
The mountain trembled.
A narrow line of white light appeared between the children.
The concrete wall split open.
Cold air moved from the darkness beyond it.
Facility Twelve stretched deep into the mountain.
Glass corridors crossed enormous underground rooms.
Dozens of empty medical beds stood beneath white lights.
A digital clock above the entrance showed twenty seconds before midnight.
Samuel stumbled toward the central control panel.
“I can stop the release.”
Dane’s voice came through the speakers.
“You cannot stop what has already begun.”
Bianca looked up.
“Marcus, where are you?”
“Closer than you think.”
The doors sealed behind them.
Evelyn studied the computer.
“The database is not being sent outside.”
Ward looked at her.
“What?”
“It is being copied somewhere inside the facility.”
The countdown reached ten seconds.
Ethan opened the black suitcase.
One medical file remained sealed.
Across the front was written:
PROJECT NORTHSTAR — GENERATION THREE.
He opened it.
A list of scheduled births appeared.
The newest date was only six months away.
“There are more children,” Ethan whispered.
“Not yet,” Evelyn said. “But there will be.”
The clock reached zero.
Nothing happened.
Then the lights inside Facility Twelve changed from white to red.
A deep mechanical sound moved beneath the floor.
Hundreds of glass chambers rose from below.
They were not empty.
Children slept inside them.
Ava stepped closer to one chamber.
A little girl opened her eyes.
She looked exactly like Ava.
Then another child opened his eyes.
And another.
Claire covered her mouth.
“What did they do?”
Eleanor appeared on the upper platform.
Marcus Dane stood beside her.
Conrad raised his weapon.
Eleanor smiled.
“You thought Northstar was about survival.”
She pressed her hand against the railing.
“It was always about replacement.”
Samuel stared at the sleeping children.
“No…”
Eleanor pointed toward Ava and Nathan.
“Those two were only prototypes.”
A door opened behind Ethan.
Someone placed a gun against the back of his head.
A familiar woman whispered into his ear.
“Do not turn around.”
Ethan recognized the voice.
It belonged to the person he had trusted more than anyone in his entire life.
His mother, Margaret Mercer.
May you like
Then she whispered one final sentence.
“Ethan, Samuel is not the man who rescued you from the fire.”
