The car ride was taking a while but Maddox was bored out of his mind and decided to nap while in the car since he was pretty sure that these guys he was with would not be coming into the back of the van anytime soon.
So a cycle of napping and then waking up at random intervals ensued for a few hours and while awake Maddox would check google maps to see where he was so he could have an idea of where he was potentially going. He was heading inland towards Utah from the looks of it as they seemed to be on the I-15 heading North East.
Napping throughout the car ride become a thing that he did for quite a while until he checks the location of the van on google maps and finds that they are no longer on the I-15 but are on an unpaved road called Lund Hwy heading North West a bit which is about thirty miles away from the I-15 which ran through a place called Cedar City which they probably went through to get where they were currently. There was not anything out there though which made Maddox a bit apprehensive since they were going someplace that no one would be and that would make things more difficult for Maddox unfortunately.
These guys in the van had been quiet for the entire car ride and most of them had either slept or just gone on their phones to look at social media.
Now seeing that they were probably close to their destination made Maddox wake up and stretch a little as he waited for them to get where ever it was that they were going.
It had become early in the evening as it looked like the sun was going to set in a few more hours as a set of railroad tracks appeared off about half a mile away. There were only five houses around this small area that Maddox could see with one closer to the van and off to the right of the road with simple fencing around it. The rest were closer to the railroad tracks and went down the road to the left at a T intersection. Driving by the houses the van drives past the other houses as it takes the left road at the T intersection driving less than half a mile and taking a right to go over the railroad tracks.
Soon they were driving on a road called Blue Mountain Rd that lead into the mountains and where Maddox presumed to be their destination.
Another half-hour of driving down the dirt road lead them to drive behind the mountains where no one could see them as they were enclosed in from all sides to keep them hidden away from prying eyes.
Ahead along the road Maddox could see that there was chain-linked fencing with barbed wire placed along the top and ahead of them was a gate a sort of checkpoint as there was a small station outside the fence. The van pulls up and the driver rolls down his window while handing over an ID card to the guard who was stationed inside.
A few moments pass and the van is let in through the gate and they drive on for a while before stopping in the middle of the road where there is just a concrete pole jutting up in the middle of the road for no apparent reason. Confused at what he is seeing Maddox only waits before all of a sudden the group begins to rumble unnaturally.
Living in California it would not be uncommon to experience an earthquake or two in your lifetime and Maddox has felt a few before and could tell that this was not an earthquake as the rumbling steadily progresses before a loud hiss erupts from around the van.
After the noise, the van begins to descend into the earth and it is revealed that the destination was underground. The van is only brought down about fifty feet below the earth's surface before the van drives forward into an underground tunnel for about fifteen minutes before entering a vast room.
It looked to be some sort of loading bay area as there were other vans with the same logos on them with the vans parked facing towards the tunnel that they had just driven in from. There looked to be about ten of such vans parked within this area. There were a set of large swinging doors on a slightly elevated concrete platform that was behind the line of parked vans which allowed easier access to the van's rear doors and the recovered bodies of the transformed coalition members.
Making a U-turn in the area they were in the driver maneuvers the van to reverse into an open spot right in the spot closest to the two doors before parking and getting out of the van. The guy in the passenger seat follows suit but the other two only unbuckle their seat belts before standing up and moving to the back.
Maddox has to dodge out of the way so that neither of the guys bumps into him as he was back there and has to kind of squirm his way underneath the first guy who was moving to the rear door handles.
Opening up the back of the van the other two guys who got out first are moving to the two doors and procced on through while the other guys who were in the back just leave the van and wait for them.
Maddox left the back of the van as quietly as possible and also decides to wait for the driver and passenger seat guy to show up since seeing this was a bit interesting to Maddox and the more he knew the better.
Looking around this place was pretty big as he counted out twelve other vans parked along with this platform and it was surprisingly well lit from a multitude of ceiling lights attached to the ceiling. The whole place was made of metal though which seemed like a smart idea but also looked costly to make due to the materials needed to fund the construction must have been astronomical for anyone, but the government. Other than that there was nothing else that Maddox could see in the massive room so he moved his attention back to the door.
The driver and passenger seat guy return once again and they are each pushing a small overbed table with wheels and a plastic box on each of them (Hospital tables that have wheels on them). The two by the van go back inside and begin to unlock and open up the drawers before grabbing similar plastic bags from before and bringing out a hand full to the boxes and placing them down. The process happened a few more times with each time loading up the boxes with more and more plastic bags making Maddox feel slightly happy and disturbed at the same time.
If there were this many people turned into these things then he might be able to snag a few without anyone noticing their disappearance.
Still, though it was a bit concerning to see this many people turn into these things since there seemed to be more than fifty of these bags in just one of the boxes.
Eventually, everything is taken out of the van and all four of them leave through the double doors with Maddox trailing behind them since he was unsure where the security cameras in this place were since there was no way that someplace like this did not have a security camera system in place. Staying cautious would help him in this place especially since he could do very little right now with his miasma. Sure he could try to make himself look like one of the guys in front of him but then what? Just wander around the facility aimlessly until he finds what he is looking for or is caught? No thanks.
Following these four from behind while invisible was the best bet he had right now.
Maddox follows them into a corridor of sorts which only has light fixtures in the ceiling and nothing else along the hallway with nothing else for a few feet until at the end there is a door that requires a pin on a keypad on the wall next to it and fingerprint scan to enter whatever lay beyond the door.
The group reached the door and each of the members takes off their gloves and separately enter a pin and place their right hand on the scanner.
"Identities confirmed, welcome back retrieval team Alpha-0935"
A robotic confirmation rings out through the room from some sort of hidden speaker system in the hallway.
The door then opens up and the group steps inside with Maddox following close behind them as the door closes with it being revealed that they had just stepped into an elevator with only one other floor to choose from. So with that button pushed the group descends deeper into the earth with Maddox feeling more and more uneasy about what he was getting himself into.
In a separate room in this underground facility, an old man was sitting behind a large wooden desk in a sparsely decorated room and reading some reports from the Coalition member's recent raids of casualty reports. If Maddox were to see the man he would recognize him as the same man who had been working with that infected from Jack's memories.
The old man's thoughts are interrupted by a call coming in through the phone on his desk. Picking up the phone he brings it up to the ear.
"Yes this is Manager Samael here," He lets out
"Sir we are reporting the return of retrieval team Al-" The person on the end of the phone begins speaking
"Why do I need to know about one of our retrieval teams returning?" Samael cuts off the person on the other end of the phone
"W-well sir they brought back a guest..."
"Oh really now?" Samael says as he leans back in his chair and thinks for a moment
"Sir what do you want us to do?" The other person questions
"Find out their intentions and if possible make sure that they buy some of our 'product' if they seem to be easily persuaded," Samael says while hanging up the phone without even hearing confirmation from the person on the other end that they heard him
"Alexa pull up security cameras with retrieval team Alpha-0935," Samael says as he pulls open a drawer from his desk and takes out a fresh cigar
"Pulling up footage now" Alexa confirms
A hundred-inch TV retracts down from the ceiling above in the center of the room and turns itself on to pull up a live video feed of the elevator shaft that the retrieval team Maddox was with was going down in but Maddox was not seen.
"Motion sensor view," Samael says as he cuts the cigar before lighting it and taking a puff of it
The view of the TV changes and the view changes from a regular camera view to a sort of 3D representation of the elevator that was coming down. It had really good quality though as most of the underlying details of everyone in the elevator were there but most importantly there was a fifth person who was standing in the back corner of the elevator not moving, but there.
Samael chuckles to himself before standing up and leaving his office while the TV and light in the room turn off and the TV retracts back into the ceiling.
'Ding'
The retrieval team and Maddox had reached the floor and soon the doors roll open.
To the sight of four armed guards and a man standing in the middle of them with a white lab coat on.
Everyone in the elevator including the four men a part of the retrieval team shows confusion and slight panic which makes Maddox panic even more since this did not seem to be some regular thing that happened here.
"Hello there our hidden guest, can you please step out of the elevator so that we can escort you to our waiting room," The man in the lab coat says confusing the retrieval team but making Maddox panic
Still unsure of what to do and the man in the lab coat seeing no reaction from the group in the elevator speaks again.
"Please don't worry these men are only here for my protection and we only wish to conduct business with you," The lab coat man says as he looks directly at Maddox
'Well fuck'