Lost Gates by James Axler

failed, then,” Mildred commented as they began to move toward the next level.
    “Could be why the air is stale,” Doc mused. “Perhaps it is as well we do not have that long to tarry.”
    Almost certain now that the redoubt was empty, they moved at a greater speed. There were three levels tothis redoubt. A small dorm and washroom on the next level up revealed that only four people could be stationed here, and from the lack of anything personal it was almost certain that it had been empty when the nukes fell. On the same level were the medical facilities and the armory. Where the dorm had been open, the doors to these rooms remained stubbornly locked, even after entering the codes scratched on the lock keypads.
    “Dammit, why aren’t they responding?” Mildred asked, frustrated.
    “It could be that the light is not the only circuit to fail with age,” Doc mused. “It could be that a fail-safe has been triggered.”
    “Just our luck,” Mildred said, punching the keypad to vent her anger.
    “Let us try the next level to see what we can find,” Doc said hurriedly, consulting his wrist chron. “There is not much time.”
    Still taking precautions, even though now sure that they were alone, they moved to the top level. They found the purpose of the redoubt. It housed large fuel reservoirs within a bay area designed for military wags—instruction plates and haz chem warnings on the walls confirmed this—and a small control room in which the cameras on the interior and exterior were monitored. They could see this through a bay window of reinforced Plexiglas, tinted against the lighting that should have suffused the bay—except that now the bay was a dull red, and the interior of the sec room, much like the mat-trans control room, was still lit by a fully working circuit. Within the room lay the panels thatcontrolled the entire redoubt. To gain access to these would have unlocked the armory and med room. Mildred had no doubt about that. She knew that to fire on it would be futile. The glass was bulletproof, without doubt. And there was nothing in the refueling bay to use against it. From the pristine look of the tanks, she doubted that the fully equipped redoubt had even seen use before the nukecaust. Certainly, the floor was unmarked by any vehicles that may have used it at some point in the past.
    “Dammit,” she yelled, hammering the butt of the ZKR against the Plexiglas window. “So close…”
    “But forever out of our reach,” Doc counseled, “and particularly during the time we have left.” He indicated his wrist chron. The thirty minutes grace they had was fast slipping away.
    Mildred grimaced. “You’re right. We’d better be getting back.”
    They moved toward the back of the refueling bay and the exit to the lower levels. Suddenly she stopped.
    “What is it?” Doc asked.
    She looked puzzled. “Can you hear that?” she asked. And then, when he failed to answer, but merely appeared quizzical, “That buzzing. It’s like insects.” She set her head to one side, banging her ear with the heel of her hand. “Like they’re inside, but…”
    She looked up, the words falling silent on her lips. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. A mosquito swirled in the air, almost dancing, then buzzed around her head, so close that she could feel the air disturbance. As she watched, it flew toward the exit, turned once more and was joined by another. A slow trickleof them emerged from the red darkness, growing to a stream that began to swell in volume, both physically and aurally.
    “Doc, where the hell did they come from?” she whispered.
    But Doc only looked bemused.
    The swarm was large and menacing now, moving with a perfect symmetry that allowed them to circle in flight with a race that was awesome to watch. Or at least, it would have been if not for the fact that their perfect circle was designed purely to bring their flight in line with an attack on Mildred.
    She made to turn and run, figuring