“Will we be taking a plane?” she asked.
Armstead shook his head. “No. Unfortunately, there’s no way to do that. The planes we have here aren’t capable of making it that far, and we have no way of knowing where they can land in between to get more fuel.”
Logan frowned as he looked at the General. “So you’re going to have someone drive her all the way across the country?” After a second, he added, “Sir?”
The General nodded. “It’s our only choice.”
“But can’t you just take the blood samples you already have?” Logan asked, his eyes momentarily darting toward Reed’s.
“We can,” Reed began, walking over to where the group sat, “but what I took is starting to run out. I’ve run a LOT of tests. It’s all I’ve been doing.”
“So what, you’re just going to harvest her blood?” Logan fired back angrily.
“No,” Reed replied, shaking his head. “At least, not the way you’re suggesting. If I was going to try to take enough blood from her to do all the tests I might need to do back in Virginia, yes, it would be too much, but what I’d like to do is have her there, where we can take small amounts as needed while we try to synthesize a vaccine, This way her body will have time to regenerate blood cells in between draws.”
Logan shook his head. “It’s too dangerous.”
Armstead spoke up. “We’re sending some of our best with her for protection.” Turning slightly in his chair, he looked to where Daniel, Serafina, and Serrano sat. “In fact, I was going to ask if you would accompany her, Chief?”
Daniel leaned towards Serafina. “For a second I thought he was going to ask me to come along,” he said under his breath.
“Yeah, right,” she replied, shaking her head. Fixing her eyes on his, she made sure he was listening before she spoke. When she did, it was clear the subject was not open for discussion. “We’re done.”
“I know.” Daniel replied, nodding. Turning his head slightly, he added, “Getting old sucks,” under his breath.
“What’s that?”
“Nothing, dear.”
Next to him, Serrano grinned slightly without turning his head. Meeting the General’s gaze, he nodded. “Of course, General.”
Across the room, Sarah swallowed softly and looked away.
Raising his voice without turning his head, Armstead’s voice boomed as he spoke. “Marines, are you in?”
“Ooh rah, Sir!” Phillip and Aaron responded instantly.
Turning back to Isabella, the man’s voice softened once more. “So what do you say, Izzie?”
The girl’s eyes darted away momentarily. When she looked back at the man, she asked, “Can Logan come?”
END OF BOOK FOUR
Epilogue
General Armstead smiled as he looked at the young man. He felt a warmth inside as he thought about the commitment the youth was about to make. In the midst of everything that was happening, this young man was about to step up and answer the call of the nation, a nation that was crying out in a time of need, when the good men and women of the nation were fighting a war on two fronts: the infected, who understood only rage and the desire to kill indiscriminately, and the evil, who sought to take what they wanted for themselves, uncaring of who or what they hurt in doing so.
Which way the battle would go was hard to determine at this junction, but seeing the young man before him ready to fight for the future of the nation made the General feel...good.
‘So get this right,’ he told himself. It’d been a long time since he’d administered the oath, and the fact that this could be the very first enlistment in what could only be referred to as a new chapter in America’s history, he didn’t want to screw it up. “Are you ready, young man?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Alright. Raise your hand and repeat after me. ‘I, state your name,’”
“I, Paul Jenkins.”
“Do solemnly swear...”
When they’d finished, the big General reached out and shook the young man’s hand, smiling. “Thank you for enlisting in the Army, young man.”
Paul saluted. “Yes sir, thank you, sir.”
The General returned the salute. “Congrats,” he added, grinning.
“For what, sir?” Paul asked, confused.
“I just promoted you to Sergeant.”
Standing in ranks off to the side, Philip muttered, “What the-?”
Armstead looked over at where the others stood. “Relax, you two. I’m promoting you both as well. Of course, I’m not sure how long it will take for your pay to catch up...”
“Thank you, Sir,” Aaron replied before saluting.
Phillip copied his friend, thanking the general and saluting.
Daniel, Serafina, Ashley, and Brenna walked over to where Paul stood. Daniel shook the young man’s hand, then stepped aside as the women took turns hugging the newly promoted soldier.
“So this is it,” Daniel began, smiling.
“Yes, it is,” Paul replied, nodding. His face took on a serious look as he looked towards where Serrano and the two Marines stood. Taking a breath, he exhaled heavily. “I just hope I can live up to their expectations without any training.”
Daniel reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder. “Hey, look. No one has any misconceptions about your military training. You don’t have any. We -” he pointed to the five of them, “have just been trying to survive. We were able to do that, and you were a huge part of that. Listen to them. Take their advice. Follow their lead. You’ll do great.”
“Thank you,” the young man replied. He opened his mouth to speak, then turned away suddenly. After a few moments, he looked back at Daniel. His eyes were wet with moisture. “For everything,” he added, blinking repeatedly as he tried to hold back tears.
“Of course,” Daniel replied, nodding. “It was the right thing to do.” At a loss for words, he paused as he tried to figure out how to say what he felt in his heart.
Luckily, Serafina saved him. “You’re part of the family, now,” she said. Shaking her head, she looked at him, a smile on her face. “You got off to a rough start, but in the end, we wouldn’t have made it without you.”
Paul nodded. “I know, I mean, about the start...I just...my mom…”
Serafina reached out and rubbed his arm. “Come back and visit us?”
“Definitely,” the young replied, nodding. “As soon as they tell me I can.”
The five of them stood there for a few moments, the family looking at Paul, dressed in his newly issued camouflage uniform, while he looked back at them sheepishly. Eventually he asked, “So what will you do? Head back to San Diego, or back to Big Bear?”
Daniel shook his head. “Neither anytime soon.” He looked at the women with him, then added, “Right now, we just need some ‘down time.’ We’ve been going non-stop since the outbreak began, and it would be good to just...enjoy some time in a place that’s safe.”
Serafina leaned in and smiled. “General Armstead is putting us in a giant house out on the coast, by Sutro Heights. One hundred and eighty degree views of the ocean…” she closed her eyes and took a breath. “It will be incredible.”
“Sounds amazing,” the young man replied.
“Jenkins!” A voice called out.
Paul’s eyes widened at the sound of his last name. “Yes, Sir?” he replied, looking towards the sound of the voice.
“Let’s roll,” Recently promoted Staff Sergeant Dennard said, shaking his head. “We need to form up for the ceremony. And stop calling me ‘Sir.’” Looking at Daniel, he grinned. “I’m not an officer. I work for a living.”
Daniel rolled his eyes as Paul turned back to them once more.
“Take care, okay?”
“We will, Paul. You do the same.”
The young man nodded, then turned away as his eyes started to tear up once more.
“And Paul?” Daniel added.
“Yes?” he replied, turning to look back at the family that had taken him i
n and give him everything he needed when he needed it most.
“Make us proud, son.”
The funeral for Lieutenant Knight, Sergeant McGhee, Technical Sergeant Andrews, and, though he wasn’t there, but included at Captain Reed’s insistence, Sergeant Jacobs, was, as all funerals are, a somber affair.
Riddled with an unreasonable amount of guilt, Reed struggled through the ceremony, looking off into the distance as he thought of the men who had died giving their lives for the mission. ‘Too many,’ he thought, blinking back tears. ‘Too many.’
Sergeant Nicholson looked on from his spot near the rear of the seated area that had been hastily established at the cemetery site. The plots chosen had been bought and paid for by people some time ago, but the general consensus was that they wouldn’t be able to make use of them after all. He and his squad had helped to set things up in advance of the ceremony, setting up chairs, the podium, and, to his surprise, multiple flowered wreaths, which had been eagerly created by two former florists who were more than willing to show off their skills once more for a good cause. Apparently, it gave them a sense of normalcy; that somehow, some way, things would eventually return to how they were before.
‘We’ll see,’ he said to himself.
When the ceremony finally concluded, he moved off to the side, where the rest of his squad waited. Once everyone was gone, it would be on them to clean things up. Some time after that, a Navy Seabee would use the small earth mover to put dirt over the coffins in their respective holes.
“Sergeant Nicholson,” a voice said next to him.
Startled at the sudden closeness of the voice, he quickly turned to face the source. It was the Navy SEAL they’d rescued.
“Yes, uh, Chief?” he asked, unsure of the rank structure used by the Navy.
“Yeah, that’s correct,” the man replied, nodding. “Listen, I never really got a chance to thank you for saving us,” he began.
“It’s no problem,” Nicholson responded, gesturing towards Zhang, Simmons, and Rodriguez. “We’re just glad we got there in time. It looked like a warzone inside the plane, and not just from the crash. Also from whatever fight had taken place between you all and the man you killed inside the plane.”
Serrano scoffed slightly, nodding. “Yeah, and the guy outside the plane.”
Nicholson cocked his head slightly. His nose scrunched up slightly in curiosity. “Um, what?”
Serrano’s eyes locked onto his. “The man outside the plane. He was on the ground near the big hole you all came in through.”
“Uh, I didn’t - ”
“I shot him three times. He had to be there.”
Nicholson glanced at the others, seeking confirmation. Their faces told him everything he needed to know. “Sorry, Chief. There wasn’t anyone outside the plane.”
The powerful engine of the Mustang growled as Sommer pushed his foot down on the accelerator even harder, seeking to put distance between himself and the Protective Zone.
His chest and ribs were still badly bruised where the bullets had struck him, but he was alive.
And angry.
‘You’re not the only one that has a bulletproof vest,’ he said to himself.
Thanks to his contacts inside the Protective Zone, he now knew that the military was unable to fly the girl back to the East Coast. She’d be taken there via some kind of caravan, probably no more than two vehicles.
He’d lie in wait, healing as he did.
And when the time came, he’d have his revenge.
Surviving Rage | Book 4 Page 39