Sunrise: Wrath & Righteousness: Episode Ten Read Free Page B

them hidden inside various administration buildings scattered around the surface complex. There were also two deep tunnels that ran for many miles to the presidential compound at Camp David.
    The main access door into Raven Rock was hidden by the trees and protected by more guards, cement barriers, and bunkers than the gold at Fort Knox. Large enough to drive a truck through, the main access was not far from the main road. Its huge metal doors braced on massive hydraulic pistons had not been opened since the senior surviving leaders of the government had fled to Raven Rock after the EMP attack.
    In addition to the main entrance, there were other access doors, and the underground complex was not completely sealed. Some of the other entrances were used for supplies and service; some of them, like the one she waited near now, were secret entrances used exclusively for the exchange of personnel.
    She stood in line with forty or fifty other people. None of them were friendly and no one spoke to her. All shared the same concerns: their families left above ground, how they were going to find food and shelter, their government, the future, the whole mess of a thing. Looking at them, Sara could see the same cold desperation in all their eyes. Almost all were in military uniform, but there were a few civilians in casual attire and business suits. All of them wore coded, picture identification passes on colored lanyards around their necks: blue, red, yellow, green—the color of the lanyards obviously meant something, but what it was, Sara didn’t know. She glanced down nervously at her own identification. She had rehearsed her name, story and her reason for entering Raven Rock so many times she could have explained it in her sleep, but still she was nervous, her hands shaking, her mouth so dry she could hardly talk. If anyone stopped or questioned her she would probably just throw up on their shoes. She swallowed, trying to keep the bile down, but her stomach kept on fluttering like the wingtips of a bird.
    Turning, she looked back up the sloping tunnel. She had already passed through two security access points, the first on the military bus that drove them through the main gate into the surface compound, and the second at the door of the nondescript warehouse building that housed the entry tunnel into Raven Rock. The final, and most secure of the three security checkpoints, was still ahead.
    She checked her watch for the umpteenth time, then glanced down the line of waiting people. The line began to move and her heart lurched into her throat.
    One by one they stepped up to the final checkpoint. Three armed and very unfriendly military police checked their identifications, asked a few questions, and scanned their pupils with a portable iris scanner, passing the red beam in front of their eyes. The computer checked the electronic scans of their irises for a positive identification, then compared the scans against the database of personnel approved for entry into the compound.
    This was the most critical of the checkpoints. This was where it could all break down. This was where they would know if Brucius Marino’s people were any good. Had they been able to plant Sara into the access system? They had assured her that they had, but the truth was, they didn’t know. No one could know until she got there. She thought of James Davies, her mind racing with worry. Surely that had not gone according to their plan. Would she be another failure?
    They were about to find out.
    Moving forward, she wiped her sweating palms and took a calming breath. No big deal, no big deal , she gently reassured herself.
    She was next. She waited like the others behind a red line on the floor, an obedient member of the flock, then stepped forward when the first guard ordered her to advance.
    He lifted her identification card hanging from the red lanyard around her neck. “Sara Brighton,” he called to the second guard behind him while scanning the coded