Chapter 12 - The Summit Gate
The Blackwood Ridge transmission facility loomed out of the mist like a monolithic cage of steel and concrete. A towering lattice radio mast pierced the night sky, its warning beacon blinking a dull, rhythmic red that pulsed in exact synchronization with the low hum vibrating through the ground.
Surrounding the facility was a ten-foot chain-link fence topped with barbed wire, but the main security gate stood wide open, its electronic lock panel sparking and fizzing with small arcs of blue electricity.
"They didn't even bother locking up," Thomas observed, shining his flashlight toward the open gate. "They expected everyone in town to walk right in on their own."
"Or they didn't care about intruders because the broadcast was already doing its job," Sarah countered, stepping cautiously through the gateway into the concrete courtyard surrounding the main control building.
The air here was thick with the hum—so loud now that it felt like standing next to a jet engine idling on the tarmac. Every square inch of the concrete walls was covered in a dense, pulsing network of silvery filaments, spreading outward from the base of the massive radio tower like an organic fungus feeding on electrical current.
They reached the heavy steel reinforced door of the control room. It was unlocked, the heavy manual latch pushed halfway open, inviting them inside.
Sarah raised her hunting knife, gesturing for Thomas to stay behind her as she pushed the door open with the toe of her boot.
The interior of the control room was bathed in the red glow of emergency backup lighting and the blinking amber indicators of the master console. Standing in front of the massive control board was a figure clad in a heavy winter coat, its back turned toward them.
It was Director Vance, the head of the facility, who had been missing since the first day of the storm.
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As they stepped inside, Director Vance didn't turn around. Instead, his voice—amplified by the facility's public address system—echoed from the ceiling speakers throughout the entire compound.
"Welcome, Sarah. Welcome, Thomas," Director Vance said, his voice smooth, calm, and entirely devoid of human warmth. "You walked all the way up the mountain just to turn off the music. But music cannot be destroyed. It can only be amplified."
