“Smallpox,” The president whispered.
“We thought we’d eradicated this horrible thing, but then, some of our enemies continued to make changes and add things to the virus, altering it into other deadly versions of the original. Most of the servicemen we lost during the Korean and Vietnam wars were due to these mutations. We recovered from that and kept the virus from spreading for the past twenty years. Then the Gulf War began, and we were back at the beginning, where we’d started in our own war against these infected things.”
“Our scientist and research teams have been working on vaccines and cures for such things as Ebola, but in reality, most of them have been working on this ‘unknown’ virus to make sure that there was a cure when we needed it.”
“We’ve been spending money on this, and the public has no idea it was a threat?” He got up and walked over to the cabinet, pulling out a decanter of whiskey. “It wasn’t mine, but my predecessor’s,” he explained to keep me from judging him.
“Understandable, sir.” I nodded, but continued with the story. “Since the Gulf War, there have been many who thought we shouldn’t continue to give the vaccine out to our soldiers, but we were able to convince the DOD that at least our Marines and special forces should have it, just in case. They are also exposed to more because of the countries they go into, and it would give us a backup force in a situation like this.”
“How many have been vaccinated?” He hadn’t poured a small amount into his glass, but had topped it off, filling it to the rim.
“About two-thirds of our troops are current. Though, over the past five years, they’ve quit vaccinating them against the zombie virus. We’ve already lost a fair number of those troops, but if we can get them the vaccinations that will keep them from turning, it will give us more manpower and less of our own to fight when they die.”
He took a large drink before asking, “What were you working on before those guys stole it? A protection protocol?”
“Yes. It’s basically nanobots that go in and turn off the zombie’s brain; the part that makes them reanimate and start to attack other people. If we can stop even a few of the bodies from turning into new weapons, then we stand a fighting chance to recover from this thing.”
“Hmm… I’m wondering if we can actually stop them and recover from this, though? Haven’t we already been overrun enough that our country won’t be able to recover from it?”
“We can come back from this, but it’s going to take some work, and we’re going to lose more Americans. We got ahold of a rumor a few weeks ago and started production of those vaccines. But, right now, trying to get them to the ones who are still alive is going to take some work and cooperation between all of our military forces.”
“It’s possible, though?” He tilted the glass back and drained the contents in one gulp.
“I believe so. It’s going to take a lot of work, but from the reports, we have large sections of the country that still have people alive. Granted, our cities, especially the larger ones, are being overrun much faster than the rural lands. If we torch the cities, then we’re taking the chance of killing civilians that are still alive.”
“How long are we looking at before we can start with the vaccinations and these nanobots?”
“Days. The facility in Utah has been working overtime, and we’re almost ready to start sending it out to our military units,” I hurried to assure him as he poured another glass of whiskey. “The nanobots could take up to two weeks, but with others getting vaccinated, we should start seeing a decline in those who get sick and change into a ZIT.”
“All right. I guess we can hold off on torching the cities until we give this a chance. It’s not like we can’t do that in the future. So, what is the next step that I need to take to get this started?” He sighed as if everything depended on his decision.
Which it did when you thought about it.
“Well, sir, I’ll inform the DOD and other branches that you’ve decided not to bomb U.S. cities. Then we’ll get started on transporting the vaccines and getting those who are alive up-to-date.”
“Is the military prepared for this kind of thing?”
“Sir, while it’s not something that’s talked about very often, even in training, recruits are given instructions for what to do if people start trying to bite them.”
He frowned. “How can you teach them if it’s all a secret?”
“Most people will believe what you tell them, and people with rabies will bite you when the disease gets to the end stages.”
“Rabies? People actually believe that?” He downed the entire glass again and started to reach for a third.
“Sir, we really need you to be at your best for this situation.”
“You’re right. It’s just a lot to take in, and it’s not like they really prepare you for this kind of thing.”
“No, sir. I’m going to let your agents back in. and remember that everything in relation to the history of the ZITs is classified. Only a few people know the entire story and we need to keep it that way. The current situation is allowed to be discussed, but not the fact that we have nanobots or what they may be capable of. Someone else wants that information and they may not have the best intentions of how to use them.”
He shook his head in weary acknowledgement.
“We’ll get things started. Hopefully, we’re not too late.” I opened the doors, allowing the agents access to the president.
This was the part of my job that I really hated, keeping this secret from the general public all these years. If they had taken my advice when I’d first taken over as the head of Operation Protection, then the country might have at least known what to do when something of this magnitude occurred.
Instead, we’d had panic, and our country had been woefully unprepared.
-----
I walked into my office and slammed the door in frustration. While I was pleased that the president was going to ask questions first and bomb later, it didn’t mean that it wasn’t going to be an uphill battle.
Over ten years in the CIA had given me the skills and experience to work through this situation. When I met Trish, I had changed to become a father, husband, and data entry clerk. It had made me softer, but more determined to keep them alive. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do to keep my family safe, even if it meant stepping out of my comfort zone.
Assuming that leadership role wasn’t going to be easy, but someone had to do it. Actually, being a dad for over a decade had made me willing to give orders while expecting them to be followed immediately.
While I hadn’t meant to run my household as military base, things had crept in from my years of working on strict deadlines and following orders without discussion.
Trish had been the softening touch that we needed to keep from being a home without love.
“Ugh,” I groaned, sinking into my chair. I’d forgotten how much I hated the red tape that went with trying to get anything done.
A tentative knock sounded on the door seconds before Mike’s head appeared inside.
“Sir, how did it go?”
He came into the room when I motioned for him to enter.
“We’ve escaped destruction for the moment. He’s given us a short time to get things done, and we’re going to have to work really hard to do it all. Are you up for it?” I asked, giving him another chance to run away before I started overworking him.
“I’m all yours, sir. When I saw you approaching from the main house, I alerted all the heads to meet you in the conference room for a briefing.”
“Great, Mike. Thanks.” I gave him a tight smile. “We need to alert all the troops that are out there about the need to get vaccines administered ti anyone who’s still living. There are pockets of people out there trying to survive, and we need to make sure they stay that way.”
“Y–Yes, sir,” he stammered.
“It’s okay, Mike.” I ran a frustrated hand through my hair. “We’ve saved people from being bombed
, but now we have to work on saving the most people in the quickest way possible.”
“So we can wipe out the virus?”
I grimaced. “No. But we can keep more people from contracting it.”
“The world is doomed, then,” he groaned, sinking back down into a chair.
“Not really. When you look at the other viruses we’ve battled over the years, this one can be taken care of if everyone will get vaccinated. They did it in the fifties, and we’ve had only a few cases of it overseas where they used it as a weapon in warfare.” I scooped up a few maps that I’d been looking over before my meeting with the president.
It was time to come up with a strategy that would hopefully save all mankind.
Chapter 7
Martin
I knew that Cooper had made it to headquarters, but communications between the two areas was going to be difficult. It would help my plans to work out without the oversight from any of the Alphabet groups in Washington.
When the CIA had tapped me to join, I’d been excited. Then 9/11 happened, and I’d lost faith in trying to keep the American way of life from being destroyed. It was only a matter of time before the world disappeared before our eyes.
Zombies from a virus couldn’t be much worse than all the people walking around the world with their heads bent over their phones, tuning out their families and friends.
Master Chief, as he’d introduced himself to me one night at the local bar, had explained that there was a group of people who wanted to keep the country safe when the government failed to do its job.
“What makes you think I would be interested in doing something not quite legal?” I mused as I looked him up and down. He appeared to be in the military, from the cut of his hair and the way he held himself.
“Your name was given to me, and I thought I might be able to interest you in having a little extra cash while helping your fellow man.” His smile hinted at secrets he would die to protect.
“How can I be sure you aren’t going to turn me into my boss?” I didn’t tell him, I only answered to the board of the ZURT committee.
“For one thing, it wouldn’t behoove me to tell on myself, now would it?” He laughed at me before taking another drink of his whiskey. “Why don’t we sit over there in the corner where we can’t be overheard?”
In that moment, I could only see the dollar signs that were associated with his proposal.
Our company would make and distribute the vaccines, and we would be paid as we normally were, with the exception of a cash bonus that was put in a special drop spot just for me.
He’d offered to have it delivered to an offshore bank account, but that wouldn’t do me a lot of good if the zombie virus hit. How was I supposed to get my money then?
From all the normal accounts, production never changed for our employees, even though the government had put a stop to mandatory vaccinations.
Each week, special trucks arrived and were loaded up, heading for an unknown destination. It wasn’t my business to worry about it, and if anyone asked, I’d just say that I’d received orders to carry on the same as before the budget cuts. Whoever was bankrolling this project had quite a bit of money, because it took quite a lot to keep this size of production on track.
Although I had my suspicions, I never voiced them to Cooper or the others. It wasn’t a great idea to go against the general consensus when working with the CIA.
I’d completely forgotten about our arrangement from five years ago until the man called Master Chief had shown up on my doorstep almost two weeks before Martin had sent me the alerts.
That was when I’d found out where all of our extra supplies were going.
I’m not sure how this special group had managed it, but they’d gotten the hospitals and clinics to offer up a special vaccine to all newborns and children. They had labeled it as a booster shot for the ZIV, but when asked, a doctor would have had a hard time telling a parent exactly what it guarded against.
“We’re going to need you to start producing more. When the government asks you to do the same thing, just start producing double. We have to continue what we’re doing and hope that with they’re cooperation, it will be enough.” The Master Chief gave me a tight smile. “It’s about to get bad, so I’d make sure to have everything you need shipped in the next few days so you’re not out of things when it all hits the fan.”
I lowered my head into my hands. If only I’d listened to him back then. Somehow, I’d thought that he was being paranoid, but then Coop had called, and I knew I’d waited too long.
A knock on the door brought me out of my self-imposed pity party.
“Someone named Cooper and the secretary of defense are on the radio requesting to speak with you.”
This was the end. They were going to tell me they knew, and I was screwed. I could see the court martial in my future, but if I didn’t speak with them, I couldn’t at least defend my actions.
“Yes, this is Martin. How are you and the secretary doing, Cooper?”
“As well as can be expected. We need to find out if your trucks have been able to start making the extra deliveries, or do we need to have them choppered out to the army bases?”
“Um, I can’t say for sure if they’re arriving, but we’re still shipping them out. There’s not much communication available right now.” Maybe they didn’t know about my arrangement after all.
“I’m not sure how to find out about them, but I’m expecting the drivers back with empty trucks in the next day or so.”
“Cross country travel has been halted. We’ve set up road blocks and are having the militia from each put up a perimeter. I can’t imagine how, but there are actually some states that are reporting no infections.” Cooper’s weariness held a hint of hope. “We’re coordinating a sweep for each area, hoping to clear out those that are infected, and then restore a sense of order.”
The Secretary broke in. “In the meantime, we’re going to have you start sending out supplies to those on the West Coast. We don’t want to get things fixed over here only to have it start out there.”
“Of course not, ma’am. Just let me know where I’m supposed to ship it and I’ll get right on it.”
“Martin, I’m sending word to one of my friends out that way, and he’ll make contact in the next day or so. We’re working on things here, and hope to keep the lights on for a while longer.”
“We’re ready for whatever comes at us next.”
“Very good. Laters.” Cooper signed off.
“Laters,” I muttered. That man had always thought he was better than me, and deep down, I understood why. He’d acted like he owned the place, and I couldn’t handle the guilt in knowing that I was keeping things that might help save people from his arrogance.
“Too late now,” I grumbled as I went to make the rounds of the plant. Since we were producing double our normal production, it was always a good idea to check and see that everything was running smoothly.
------
Chapter 8
Cooper
“Do you think he suspected anything?” Secretary Stream questioned.
“No. He has no idea that I was the one behind the offer. It was the only way to keep him from doing the same thing with an enemy country. At least we ensured that parts of the U.S. will remain safe.” I felt satisfied with what we’d managed to accomplish.
“How did you manage to keep this going for the past five years without the budget committee catching wind of it?”
“Can’t tell all of my secrets now, can I?” I laughed. “ZURT has control of more than one area of the defense budget, and I just moved a few things around to make the funds available. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to keep the whole world from dying in the course of just a few hours. I’ve seen what these things can do. You’ll get a chance to see for yourself tomorrow when we start making our way to the front lines where troops are fighting to keep from being overrun.”
“Not something I’d have chosen.” Sh
e frowned at me. “When the president commands you, you do what you’re told.”
“I think we’ll find things aren’t as bad as I’d originally thought. Hopefully, they have made great strides over the past few days.” I paused at the corridor that would take me to my room. “I’ll see you first thing in the morning. Make sure you wear something you can get dirty in.”
“Yes, sir.” She gave me a wave and continued on to her own quarters.
It had been a long few days, and I wasn’t sure that I was ready to venture out into the world being run by armed men. What I wanted most of all was to be back with my wife and kids, and forget that all of this ever existed.
------
The day dawned bright, and the chopper was loaded with extra ammo in case we needed it.
Secretary Stream had taken my advice and was wearing a borrowed uniform.
“This isn’t how things are normally done,” she commented loudly to be heard above the sound of the chopper’s blades.
“Agreed. And I’ll make sure to have congress add a few things about how the end of the world should work.” I gave her a wink, and thankfully, she laughed along with me.
“Who would’ve thought that I would be headed to the worst of the infected territory only a few days ago?”
“Right? This wasn’t something I had imagined, even in my worst nightmares.” I glanced at the Marines they’d moved aboard to cover our landing and exits.
“Here we go.” Our pilot, Robbins, was one who had served during many combat missions, and he would see us through whatever we were about to discover.
“The president should have come himself if he’s so in need of a report from the front lines. It’s not like I’m a technical expert, but if we both die, then he won’t have anyone to advise him on procedure,” she pointed out practically.
“I know.” I shared her concerns, but now that we were in the air, there wasn’t time to try to come up with another solution.
Against Zombies Series | Book 6 | Governments Against Zombies Page 6