Page 231 of Dark Angel
“This is bad, isn’t it?” she murmured.
“It sure as hell is,” her dad said from the back seat. “If we can’t get the power back on, we’ll be in endless darkness.No electricity. Food will spoil. No way to pump gas. Stores will shutter. Pandemonium will break out. People will become barbarians fighting to survive.”
“Dad, isn’t that a little extreme?” Halston asked.
“No, Halston, it’s not,” her dad replied. “It’s Armageddon.”
GABRIEL
Gabriel wanted to laugh.Her dad might be a brilliant physicist and a well-respected expert in power grids, but Armageddon? That was taking it too far, but he was not doing battle with Dustin Devereux. If he and Halston did marry, he wanted a great relationship with his in-laws. Though the first to admit he loved being the Agitator, he also knew when to hold his tongue.
And now is one of those times.
The two vans continued on Route 7 toward Hotel Dillinger in DC, the SUV driven by Teddy veered toward the crematorium in Springfield.
Minutes later, he and Greystone pulled up to the giant hangar of the Black Site in Great Falls. The surgeon, Joyce Ferguson, and her nurse, Baker Deen, were waiting nearby in their cars. The large door rose, they drove inside and parked.
As the giant hangar door closed down, Gabriel said, “Let’s hold back until Bulgrov has been taken inside.”
They watched as Greystone, Caroline, and Slash—along with the doctor and nurse—assisted Bulgrov into the building.
After Gabriel collected the Devereux’s suitcases, Halston clasped her parents’ hands. Moving as a pod, they made their way to the sliding glass door. There, Gabriel called Greystone.
“I’ll be right there,” Greystone said.
A minute later, Greystone appeared on the other side of the glass door. He punched a code on his phone, the door slid open.
“This is very secure,” Halston’s mom murmured to her.
They entered the low-lit hallway.
“Glad to see you have a generator,” Halston’s dad said.
Gabriel and Greystone helped Duston and Sonya Devereux into the secure building. Once inside, Gabriel rolled the suitcases toward the residential wing, and into a waiting suite.
“Do you need to shower or change clothes?” Gabriel asked.
“Thank you, Gabriel,” Sonya Devereux replied. “That’s thoughtful.”
“I want to get started right away,” Dustin Devereux replied.
“Let’s get you set up in the conference room,” Gabriel said before leading them back to the office wing of the Black Site.
Caroline hurried over. “Bulgrov is being prepped for surgery.” She smiled kindly at the Devereuxes. “You must be starving. I’m making breakfast for everyone.”
“I can help,” Sonya Devereux said, “unless you need me, Dustin.”
“I’ll stay with Dad,” Halston replied.
Sonya left with Caroline.
Gabriel got Halston and her dad situated in the executive conference room. As he finished setting Dustin up on the private server, his phone rang with a call from Kathrine Austin.
He answered in the quiet hallway. “Hey, Kathrine, what’s the word?”
“The power outages are all over the country,” she said. “Teams are frantically trying to get their systems back on. It’s in over sixty cities, and my number might be low. Where are you?”
“Black Site. We’ve got someone here who’s a power grid expert. Dustin Devereux.”
