Genesis by Keith R. A. DeCandido Read Free Book Online Page A

fiscal year loomed.
    But which two days a week one got off varied, thus allowing there to be work going on within the Hive seven days a week. At present, Lisa’s schedule called for her to work Saturdays through Wednesdays, with Thursday and Friday constituting her weekend. On some of those weekends, she had to work, of course, but for some, she was permitted to go topside and actually see the sun. This was one of those weekends, and she was grateful to Alice for giving her a reason to get out into the world for a little bit.
    Especially after seeing that—that creature.
    She’d thought of little else since seeing it, and was no closer to figuring out what it was, nor what it had to do with a T-virus or an anti-virus. Linking the image to that of “fatalities” was less of a stretch, though—she couldn’t imagine that thing leaving anything in its wake but fatalities.
    The question foremost in her mind was: what was it?Genetically engineered monster? Mutated animal? Mutated human? Alien borrowed from Roswell? What?
    She shoved those thoughts—and thoughts of Fadwa, which never stayed shoved for long—to the back of her mind as she disembarked from the train that ferried her from the Hive to the mansion. The train was a one-car affair, mostly one big cargo space that could ferry equipment in bulk as well as up to a hundred people—if they crammed rush-hour close to each other—back and forth from the mansion to the Hive. The train didn’t come equipped with seats, but given the short duration of the trip, that wasn’t much of a hardship.
    Alice was waiting, a smile on her face. She wore an elegant light-brown, ankle-length leather coat with a high collar made of some kind of fleece. Late fall in Raccoon City meant temperatures in the forties. Lisa herself was wearing her battered old winter coat over a turtleneck sweater. She had gotten it at a street fair for only twenty bucks the weekend after she left Nick. With her salary she could have easily afforded a coat as nice as Alice’s, if not more so. But the coat gave her comfort in more ways than just the physical.
    â€œReady for the meal of a lifetime?” Alice asked as Lisa stepped off the train along with a few other employees looking forward to a day breathing air that hadn’t gone through the Hive’s filtration system.
    â€œIn this town?” Lisa couldn’t help but laugh. “The only thing that qualifies as the meal of a lifetime around here is the last meal they give to people on death row.”
    Alice smiled. “That’s what you think.” Then she ledLisa through the lavishly appointed halls of the mansion to the front door.
    Not for the first time, Lisa marveled at the beauty of the place, particularly after being stuck in the sterile confines of the Hive for so long. Umbrella didn’t encourage personalization of the workplace, nor did Lisa’s own tiny working environment provide much opportunity for it in any event. As for her apartment, she worked enough overtime that she spent most of her time in it either decompressing from work, worrying over what she was truly doing there, or sleeping.
    The latter, the last few days, had not been much fun. Nightmares full of images of that creature mixed in with Fadwa crying . . .
    Waiting for them at the front door was a Lincoln Town Car owned by the car service Umbrella used. The driver, an old man with pronounced jowls and bright blue eyes, held the door open for them both.
    Once the driver got into his own seat, he asked, “Where to, ladies?”
    â€œChe Buono.”
    The old man grinned.
    Lisa frowned. “I’ve never heard of that place.”
    â€œGood. If too many people hear about it, it might become famous, and then we’d never get a seat at lunch hour.”
    As expected, the drive to Raccoon from the remote mansion took an hour, even though the distance as the crow flew was the same as that of