Colt looked to Jess. Honestly, he had no idea.
“AB Positive.” Jess said, then looked to Colt and shrugged. “He told me once, I don’t remember why.”
“Excellent,” the doctor said. “He’s a great recipient. He can receive any blood type. Grab whatever you can find. Go now! And go fast!”
Before Colt led the way out the door, he heard the doctor order the other two gentlemen in the room to grab something else—likely more equipment needed to keep Jake alive.
Not knowing what to expect, Colt crept slow, and hugged the wall. They were unarmed and tried not to make another sound, aside from their shuffling feet. Colt regretted yelling on their way in, but that was because he hadn’t thought about anything aside from the survival of his brother.
When they reached the end of the hall, they stopped. Colt peered through the small rectangular glass window that was directly in his line of sight.
Instantly, Colt ducked out of the way.
“What is it?” Jess whispered.
“Infected,” Colt said. Then held up a finger and mouthed. “A man.”
With no weapons, how could they defuse the situation? Colt had the courage to look again. The infected was near the back wall. His body was turned away from the doorway. If somehow Colt could sneak inside and find a weapon, he could disable the threat. Problem was this was now a moral dilemma. With the ability to bring back any infected, he was essentially going to kill another human being.
But Colt couldn’t linger on that predicament. He didn’t have time.
“Can you hold the door open, while I crawl underneath you?” Colt said.
Jess nodded her head yes.
Colt flashed her the okay sign. When she got into position, Colt thought, I hope this door doesn’t squeak.
She twisted the knob, and Colt snuck underneath her arm. The door blocked his viewpoint and made him anxious, but just when he stepped in, the infected still hadn’t moved.
Once on the tile of the break room floor, Colt saw the refrigerator in the corner—of course it was standing directly in front of the immobile infected. He calculated the path in his mind.
Colt moved into a squat and searched the cabinets around but saw nothing there. Not even a plastic set of silverware.
Damnit! His eye returned to the infected. It still hadn’t moved. Then Colt thought of something. What if when Jake took Amy down, the infected became . . . simple? Like what was controlling their minds before simply shut off.
There was only one way to find out. Colt did something he never would’ve dreamed of doing. He crawled toward the refrigerator. He was close now, only about five feet behind the infected man who stood, staring into open space.
While watching the infected man, Colt crawled closer to the refrigerator door. He waited, now, staring up at the infected who was rooted to the spot. Inch by inch, Colt crawled, then stretched for the handle. The door fell open and when it did, Colt lost his grip and the door slipped from his grasp and hit the wall.
Colt held his breath and squinted his eyes. When he reopened them, he glanced to the infected—still, it was motionless. He made his move. Dark red bags filled the interior of every shelf. On each was a letter, and a symbol, if called for.
Colt didn’t even look for a specific type, he didn’t have the time. He lifted the first package he found and spun around.
Just as he did, he jumped in fright. The infected had turned its body and faced Colt. The black soulless eyes stared directly through him, but the infected still hadn’t moved closer. He seemed stuck in place. The more Colt stared, he wondered what the alien was doing, why it hadn’t attacked him while he was scavenging inside the refrigerator. The only explanation was the alien trapped inside the vessel of a human, was unable to lift an arm to harm him.
Quietly, Colt stepped backwards. The alien’s eyes followed him, but only its eyes. When Colt reached the door, he grabbed for the handle while keeping his eyes on the infected, in case he was released from his stuck state.
“Did you get it?” Jess whispered, looking down at his hand.
Colt showed the bag to her. “Did you see the infected?” Colt asked.
“No. What happened? Did you kill it?” Jess whispered.
“No. I didn’t need too. He was just standing there. He didn’t move his body, only his eyes.”
“Creepy. Do you think it’s because Jake took out Amy?”
“I don’t know. Probably. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
They didn’t linger. Instead, they moved along the wall and back to Jake’s room. When they arrived, the doctor was setting up a host of wires and a readying Jake for a blood transfusion.
“Excellent. Thank you!” She grabbed the bag from Colt. Once everything was attached, she turned to Colt and Jess and said, “Normally, I’d tell you to leave, but since all hell has broken loose, please stay with him. Stay with me.” She grinned, then added, “With this transfusion, I’d say he’ll survive. He’s one tough SOB.”
Jess burst into happy tears, and Colt reached for her to bring her in close.
After wiping her tears away, Jess said, “You have no idea.” Everyone in the room shared a chuckle.
“He may not wake up for a few hours, so prepare yourselves for a wait. If you’ll excuse me, I need to check on a few other things,” the doctor said.
Before she left, Colt warned her. “Be careful out there. There’s still infected lurking about. Just saw one in the break room.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’ve got Smith and Wesson keeping me company.” She lifted her shirt to show off her weapon of choice.
Colt nodded. “Smart woman.”
She gave a wry smile, then disappeared.
Colt stared at his brother but knew he couldn’t wait any longer. There was more to do. Especially now that he’d seen the immobilized infected.
“I’ll be back. Please stay with him,” Colt told Jess.
“Where are you going?” she said.
“I have to go talk to the president. Then I’ll be back with my boys. I know they’ll want to see their uncle alive and well.”
“Be careful, Colt.”
When he grabbed the handle, he looked back and said, “Always am.”
21
Standing inside the elevator, Colt stared at the columns of numbers. He pushed U4, hoping the president would still be waiting there. It was where he’d told Element Zero to meet him and the only intelligence he had to go off of.
When the elevator stopped and dinged, Colt was shocked when he was met by two armed guards. They threw him back against the interior wall, and his heartrate climbed as he looked down the barrels of two sub-machine guns.
“Whoa, easy, fellas.” Colt held up his hands. “I’m unarmed.”
“State your business,” a man in army dress said.
“My name is Colt Maddox.”
“I don’t give a damn what your name is. Why are you on this level?”
Before Colt spoke again, he saw another appear from behind the pair. He couldn’t tell from far away, but he thought the man looked familiar.
“Maddox, that you?” Colonel Jenkins said.
“Colonel Jenkins?” Colt wasn’t sure, but he nodded in the distance.
“Stand down, men.” Colonel Jenkins continued toward the elevator.
The men did, allowing Colt to exit. He jogged down the hall to meet Colonel Jenkins. They shook hands, Colonel Jenkins said, “Long time no see.”
“Not that long.” Colt winked.
“True, but for some reason Colorado seems like a lifetime away.”
“Tell me about it,” Colt said.
“By your sudden appearance, I assume things up top went according to plan?”
“Plan?” Colt didn’t understand.
“I assume you were able to take out Element Zero?”
“Oh, yeah, that. Me. No. My brother, and a host of others, yes. But it came at a price. I don’t know the casualty count, but it’s damn near every s
oldier I saw up there.”
“Where’s your brother now?” Colonel Jenkins said.
“The infirmary.”
“Is that why you’re here? You looking for a doc?”
“No. I think we’ve found a good one. But I’m sure she could use some help, if you’re able to spare one.”
“I’m sure the president would be willing to do that.”
“Speaking of the president, I need to tell him something. Can you get word to him?”
“I can do better than that.” Colonel Jenkins rolled his head and suggested Colt follow him.
They didn’t walk far. Colonel Jenkins stopped in front of a door that was guarded by another two men. He nodded to them, and they stepped aside. There was a keypad that hung on the wall. Colonel Jenkins leaned forward and typed in a passcode. The door clicked open, and he walked inside.
The room was bright—brighter even than a stark white hospital room. In the back sat a man. He was surrounded by at least a dozen men and women. All high-ranking officials no doubt. Someone else was by his side too. Someone Colt didn’t think would be there: Franks.
The president saw them enter and spoke right away. “Colonel Jenkins, I see you brought a guest,” he said, taking his eyes away from the men and women by his side.
“That’s right, sir, this is Colt Maddox,” Colonel Jenkins said.
The president interrupted him. “Ah, Colt Maddox. We’ve just been talking about you and your family.” The president gestured toward Franks.
You’ve been talking about me? Colt wondered.
“Your reputation proceeds you, Mr. Maddox,” the president said.
“Thank you, Mr. President.”
“Please.” He held up his hand. “Call me John. Mr. Franks here has been filling me in on the situation up top. We’ve got Element Zero heavily sedated now.”
Sedated? She’s not dead?
“Sedated?”
“That’s right. It seems your brother was able to pierce her with a dart. Carfentanil?” He looked to his advisors for clarification. They nodded. “She’s been taken to a secure location. Our hope is she will be back to her normal self again once she wakes up. And after we track down the rest of the infected people and turn them back, then this nightmare can finally come to an end.”
The news of Amy confounded Colt. And with so much to take in, his thoughts shifted to Jake. “My brother?”
“He’s one tough SOB,” the president interjected.
“Yes, sir, well, he . . . he’s in the infirmary right now.”
“Is that a fact?” The president seemed concerned. “I’ll send my best doctors up to him.” He nodded to one of his advisors, who leaped from his/her chair and moved out of the room. “Will he be okay?”
“That’s tough to say. He’s lost a lot of blood. The doctor thinks he’ll recover fully, but honestly I don’t know, sir.”
“I see. Well, I assure you our doctors, all of them for that matter, are first rate.”
“I have no doubt, sir.”
There was a brief pause, then the president read deeper into the situation. “So, why is it, you’ve come? Just to tell me about your brother?”
“No, sir. I’ve actually come to tell you that the infected, they’re . . . well, at least the one I saw, was immobile.”
“Immobile?” the president said.
“Yes, sir.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean they’re stagnant. Unable to move. Frozen in their own bodies. Like the host is trying to move the body, but it’s trapped somehow. I don’t know if it’s because of Element Zero, but they seem to be locked in place.”
“And you’ve seen this on multiple accounts?”
“No, sir, just one. But I wanted to come and tell you right away, sir. There may be others like this. It may be a good time to strike. To try and turn them all back human.”
“Is this something we can do, Colonel?” the president looked to Colonel Jenkins.
“I could assemble a team, yes sir.”
“Good! Get it done. Get word to everyone else inside. Let them know to proceed with caution, but also, strike while the iron’s hot, you read me?”
“Yes, Mr. President.”
The president nodded, then Colonel Jenkins, led Colt out of the conference room, and back into the hallway.
Once outside the conference room, Colonel Jenkins told Colt, “We got it from here. You and your brother did amazingly. I know for a fact we, no I, wouldn’t be here without you. We’re indebted to you. You and your brother.”
Colt grinned and was about to speak but held his tongue.
“How are your sons?”
“That’s what I was gonna say next, I need to get back to them. Double check and make sure they’re alright.”
“Go then, we got this.”
“You’re sure?” Colt said.
Colonel Jenkins scrunched his brow and said, “Oh, yeah, no worries. Consider the infected taken care of. If all are immobile, I can’t imagine it will take very long for us to turn them all back human. You did a hell of job, Colt. And here, take this. I’ll call you on it when we’ve cleared the building.”
Colt accepted the radio. “Thank you, Colonel.”
“You’re welcome.” Colonel Jenkins led Colt back toward the elevator. Once they got back to the doors, Colonel Jenkins grabbed Colt on the shoulder and said, “Give those boys my regards.”
“Will do, Colonel,” Colt said and stepped inside the elevator. But before the doors closed, Colt stared at him and asked, “Will I ever see you again?”
“I imagine our paths will cross once more.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, who else is going to fly you back to Colorado Springs to see you inject your wife with the tranquilizer and watch her return to human form? Are you kidding me? I wouldn’t miss that for the world.”
Behind the closing doors, Colt couldn’t do anything but smile at that prospect—at the idea of seeing Anna’s eyes opening again.
And this time he wouldn’t see black, but sea green.
22
“Hey, Lucky, it’s me.” Colt tapped lightly on the door.
The door opened immediately, like his boys were sitting behind it, waiting for their father to return.
Dylan lurched for his father and pulled him into a hug tighter than he ever had before. Colt didn’t know why Dylan held so tight, maybe it was because he knew this nightmare was coming to an end. Maybe because all the emotions that he had pent up over the previous few days were rushing to the surface.
Wesley was there too and grabbed for him as well. Through the tough grip he had on his sons, Colt watched the woman and young boy sitting on a mattress on the floor. When they stood, a smile grew on her face, then she stumbled into laughter, and happy tears followed. Her hand went to her mouth, trying to catch the laughter at first, but she let it pour out.
“Where’s Uncle Jake?” Wesley looked up from his father’s arms.
Colt refocused and bent down to Wesley’s level to look him in the eye. “He’s hurt.”
“What do you mean hurt?” Dylan said.
“An alien got to him, but don’t worry, he’ll pull through. You know him, he’s tough as nails.”
“Can we go and see him?” Wesley said.
“Yes. He might not be awake for a little while, so there’s no need to rush, but grab your belongings and we’ll wait for Colonel Jenkins to give us the all clear on this radio. When he tells us they’ve captured the remaining infected inside, we’ll be good to go.”
Colt walked over to Brittney. She was still laughing in between her tears of joy. She needed to be comforted, so Colt wrapped her into a hug. “It’s okay.” He empathized with her, with all the emotions that rushed to the surface. “Everything is going to be okay, I promise.”
A soft tap on the door turned Colt around. His eye shot toward it and he scrunched his brow. He hadn’t invited anyone there. Who could it be?
“Colt, it’s me, Fran
ks.”
Franks? Honestly, with everything that had happened, Colt had forgotten about him. He probably wouldn’t have given him a second thought if he hadn’t seen him with the president.
“Franks? Are you alright?”
“Yeah, yeah, good. Can I come in?”
“Sure.” Colt let him inside.
Once in, Franks looked to all who occupied the room and nodded. “Guys.”
“Thank you for getting down to the president. Speaking of, how did you get the guards to let you into the level. How did you tell them about Element Zero?”
“Honestly, I just thought about what you said in the elevator. I took it upon myself to step up. And to act out. I wanted to play the hero.”
Colt knew that wasn’t written in his DNA. “No way.”
He watched, Franks’ head fall. “No, that’s not true. Honestly, some men came up to the level we were on. I wasn’t near them at all, but for some reason, when they asked if anyone knew what happened, I raised my hand. That’s how I got in the room with the president. I told him everything. Everything about you and your brother. You are the true heroes.”
Colt felt bad for him. He took his hand and placed it on his shoulder and said, “Thank you, Franks.”
“Is it true what you said, about the infected? Are they all just standing still? Not able to move or attack?” Franks said.
“I don’t know about all, but at least the one I saw.”
“What’s he talking about, Dad?” Dylan interjected. “Are they dying off?”
“That’s hard to say, bud. Nobody knows anything right now. Only that the infected are . . . struggling to move.”
“But they’re not moving at all?” Dylan said.
“No, that’s why Colonel Jenkins has a team. They’re picking them off one by one. Like I said, he’ll call when we’ve got the all clear.”
It didn’t take long for Colonel Jenkins to follow through on his promise. Within an hour, the radio Colt held barked to life. “Maddox, you copy? Over.”
Uncivil War (Book 6): Awakening Page 10