Red Dot Protocol: Survival of the Logistics Officer

Chapter 9: Lockdown Singapore

The tunnel smelled of stagnant water and old secrets. Wei Xian shoved the grate aside, pulling himself into the humid night air of a back alley in Bukit Timah. Gabriel followed, his breathing heavy and ragged, clutching his shoulder.

"You good, Gabe?" Wei Xian whispered, pulling his tactical light into a low-power mode.

"Just a scratch, man. Stop fussing," Gabriel grunted, his face pale under the streetlamps.

"A scratch doesn't make you sweat like you've been running a marathon in a sauna. That bite looks deeper than you're letting on."

"I said I'm fine. Focus on the exit, Tan. The military patrols are already sweeping the main roads."

"You heard that transmission, right? 'No survivors.' They aren't looking for patients, they’re looking for targets," Wei Xian said, checking his HUD. "We have twenty minutes before they seal the Bukit Timah expressway. If we don't hit the bunker by then, we're stuck in the open."

They stepped out of the alley into a neighborhood HDB block. The silence was wrong. It wasn't the peaceful quiet of 3 a.m.; it was the terrified, held-breath silence of a hunting ground.

"Look, the lift lobby," Gabriel pointed. A group of people were barricading the door with vending machines and heavy wooden benches.

"Don't get involved," Wei Xian warned. "We don't have the time or the ammo."

Suddenly, an elderly woman in a floral blouse charged out from behind a pillar, swinging a prickly, oversized durian like a morning star. She screamed at a twitching, pale figure crawling toward them from the shadows.

"You want to eat my grandson? Eat this, you damn ghost!" She slammed the durian into the creature’s face. The spikes shredded the creature’s cheek, sending it recoiling into the darkness.

"Is she... is she winning?" Gabriel stared, bewildered.

Wei Xian grabbed his arm, pulling him toward the back service stairs. "She’s got the right idea, but we don't. Move!"

"Wait, we can't just leave them!" Gabriel barked, his military training warring with his exhaustion.

"We leave them, or we all die. Which one is it, Major? You want to be a hero for five minutes or an anchor for the cure?"

Gabriel stumbled, clutching his shoulder. "Fine. But if I turn, don't waste the bullets on me. Save them for the ones who actually have a choice."

"You’re not turning, Gabe. Don't say that crap," Wei Xian hissed.

They reached the perimeter fence of the reserve. A blockade of olive-drab trucks barred the path. A Lieutenant stood in the center, barking orders into a radio.

"That's Major Lim," Gabriel muttered, sinking behind a dumpster. "He’s a shark. He’s been gunning for my position for three years. If he sees me, he won't ask questions. He’ll execute the order."

"He doesn't have to see us," Wei Xian said, pulling out a burner phone. "I’ve got a favor to call in. The Geylang syndicate has been waiting for an excuse to kick the hornet’s nest."

"You’re going to start a riot? Here?"

"I’m going to start a fire three miles down the road. It’ll draw the patrol units away from the gate."

Wei Xian typed a rapid command. Seconds later, the city’s skyline flickered as a massive substation in the distance erupted in a geyser of blue and orange electricity. The explosion shook the ground.

"What did you do?" Gabriel gasped.

"The grid is already unstable. A little surge here, a short-circuit there... the whole sector is going dark," Wei Xian said, watching the gate.

Sure enough, the soldiers at the checkpoint turned, their rifles swinging toward the horizon. "Report!" Lim yelled into his radio, sprinting toward his command vehicle. "All units, investigate the source!"

"Go. Now!" Wei Xian shoved Gabriel.

They scrambled through the gap in the wire fence, their hearts hammering against their ribs. They hit the forest floor, scrambling over roots and mud until they reached the hidden pipe.

Wei Xian shoved the door open and they tumbled into the cold, concrete belly of the bunker. The heavy steel door groaned, then slammed shut, sealing the world away.

"We’re in," Ah Beng gasped, collapsing against a stack of crates. "We actually made it."

Sarah Low rushed forward, her eyes scanning their blood-streaked clothes. "You’re both hurt. Let me see the wounds."

"I'm fine," Gabriel said, leaning against the wall, though his legs were trembling.

Sarah grabbed his arm, her expression hardening as she saw the dark, inflamed bite on his shoulder. She didn't say a word. She just pulled a thermal scanner from her bag and pressed it against his neck.

Her face went white. She looked at Wei Xian, then at the man slumped against the wall.

"Wei Xian," Sarah whispered, her voice barely audible. "He’s running a fever of 104 degrees."

Wei Xian stepped forward, his hand drifting toward his sidearm. "Gabe? You hear me? Tell me you're not burning up."

Gabriel lifted his head. His eyes weren't clear. The edges of his pupils were blurring, bleeding into the white, the same sickly, bruised purple they had seen in the sky.

"I... I feel cold," Gabriel rasped, a jagged, inhuman laugh escaping his lips. "Is this what the upgrade feels like, Tan?"

Wei Xian felt the floor drop out from under him. The bunker was supposed to be their sanctuary. It was supposed to be the end of the mission.

"Sarah," Wei Xian warned, his voice low, "get away from him."

"It's too late," Gabriel whispered, his voice shifting into a dissonant, layered hum that vibrated the very air of the bunker. "You should have shot me when you had the chance."