Dead in Love (Dead Series)

by Colby Van Wagoner

  George’s blood was thicker than usual and the general was not as experienced in recognizing the CU1 or OU2, but he knew what to look for after someone had been infected and the incubation period had passed. There was no overwhelming sign that this blood was infected. George was restless and sweating, what would happen to him and what would the general do if he found something?

  The general turned, walked back over to George and kneeled down in front of him. The uniform was spotless, medals and pins adorned the general’s uniform. With a deep and raspy voice, the general looked into George’s eyes, opening each eye, his hands covered with gloves, “You know what I have found with biological compounds, chemicals, bacteria and viruses? That you never know until it is too late. We need to make sure that you boys have not been infected but if you are, we deal with the situation in a safe manner. After that make sure that the “rat” or “rats” are confined, studied and used to eliminate any further threats. He’s clear get him out of here.”

  One of the other soldiers lifted George from the ground and led him out of the room. The general then checked Max’s blood and cleared the room. “Where is the girl?” The general radioed from his headset. “General, she is confined in surgery room one.” The general walked into the surgery room to find a young woman, secured to a gurney. He looked at the girl and then over at the doctor, “We’ll take her from here doctor. Load her into a Blackhawk and move out. Doctor, spread the word to your staff, watch for any further patients resembling signs like this and if you do have any other cases, call this number immediately!” He handed a card to the doctor and walked out behind the soldiers pushing the gurney.

  The group walked down the hallway of the hospital and out the exit. The doctor looked out the door, watching carefully as they loaded the gurney into a helicopter and securing it to the floor. The general walked over to the men and looked at Jeff, “Where were you camping?”

  “Up past the first hill, just below the south side of Deseret Peak. I stabbed a rat in the head with my knife. It was dead when we left it.” The general looked at all three men and pointed at each of them, “This is a military matter, I am truly sorry for your loss, but you have to understand the seriousness of the situation. If anything happens to any of you or you show signs of sickness, you call this number.” The general handed George the card and turned towards his helicopter.

  “Wait! What about my camping equipment?” Jeff yelled out, as the helicopter engines started up. The general turned and answered, “Stay away from that area, the equipment won’t be there if you go back.” The general stepped into his helicopter, strapped on his headset and buckles. The helicopters lifted off, one by one, blowing strong drafts at Jeff, George and Max. They rushed back towards the hospital and watched as the choppers rose into the air and headed back towards the West Mountains.

  The general’s helicopter trailed the others. He raised his headset microphone to his mouth, “Alright, listen up team. I want the girl taken back to the base and one team in Alpha Blackhawk one to follow, along with 2 Apaches for cover support. The remaining choppers follow me up the canyon to locate a campsite. We will contain the site and verify the incident took place there. Let’s get this taken care of. No mistakes. Understood?” The team sounded off and the choppers split from formation. The Blackhawk, transporting Melissa was in the lead, followed by another Blackhawk in the rear and two Apaches to the left and right.

  The general led the remaining choppers towards the Deseret Peak. Their searchlights lit up the mountain side, as they began their search for the campsite. As the general searched the mountain, the other choppers were returning to the Dugway facility. Inside the chopper, restraining Melissa, the soldiers watched the gurney closely and the terrain as the choppers flew close to 1,000 feet.

  One soldier, charged with covering the patient, was distracted by a noise under the gurney. One of the chains, securing the gurney had shaken loose from the vibrations caused by heavy turbulences. The soldier reached down to connect the chain back to the gurney. Melissa’s hand reached from under the blanket and grabbed the soldier’s shoulder. The soldier turned to see the hand was from underneath the blanket, covering the gurney.

  He jumped back and stood up inside the cargo hold, “Thompson, relax. Sit back down.” Another soldier ordered. Thompson knocked his head against the metal roof and fell to the floor. The Blackhawk turned to the right and Private Thompson slid to the door of the helicopter. He struggled to get a grip, but was unable to grab anything and fell from the helicopter. The soldiers rushed to the door and watched, as he fell to the ground below and into the darkness.

  The soldiers relayed the accident through their radio and the pilots turned their helicopters to where Private Thompson had fallen. They descended and as the Blackhawk transporting Melissa was 500 feet from the ground, she broke from the gurney and attacked the closest soldier. The shifting weight caused the helicopter to turn, causing one of the soldiers to fall into the cockpit area. The soldier pushed the pilot into the controls causing the helicopter to nose dive, “Hey what the hell are you doing?” The pilot called out.

  The soldier being attacked was on the floor of the helicopter and Melissa rose up from his neck with blood all over her face. The remaining three soldiers lit their flashlights, shining them directly on Melissa’s face. Her eyes were glazed over and bloodshot red. She snarled and rushed at the two soldiers. One of the soldiers opened fire, “No! Hold your fire.” The shots ruptured through the wall dividing the cockpit and the cargo hold, hitting the control panel. Sparks flew from the gauges and plumes of smoke broke out. “Hang on, brace yourself”, the pilot called out. Melissa continued attacking the other two soldiers, knocking a soldier to the ground and chewing on the neck of the other, ripping the tendons from the bone and rupturing the veins. Blood sprayed from the artery and all over Melissa’s face.

  After tearing apart the last soldier, she rose from the ground and turned, facing the pilot. The pilot turned and saw that Melissa was coming towards him, “No, Alpha team come in. Is there anyone there? May day, may day.” The two Apaches climbed to the side of the Blackhawk and directed their lights in the cockpit. The pilot was trying to signal the other pilots to look in the cargo area.

  One of the lights shined into the cargo hold just as Melissa dove into the cockpit, attacking the pilot. Screams came from the pilot’s radio and the helicopter nosedived into the ground below. Seconds later the helicopter hit the desert surface and exploded into flames. The remaining Blackhawk and Apaches landed near the crash site.

  “General do you copy? This is Alpha Team Two. General Raymond, come back.” The general spoke into his headset microphone, “General Raymond here.”

  “General, we lost Alpha One. The patient reanimated and attacked Alpha Team One. There was a crash.”

  The general sighed and returned with orders, “Notify Dugway and get a crash team out there immediately. After I take care of the campsite, I will rendezvous to your location. Give me the coordinates.” The pilot relayed the crash location and the general continued searching the mountainside.

  After twenty minutes, the general called out over his radio, “There’s the campsite right over there. Alright Team, let’s wrap this up quickly.” The helicopters swarmed into the ravine, shining their searchlights all around the area. The trees blew from side to side and they quickly landed, the soldiers exited the helicopters and began searching the area. Their guns were drawn as they made a perimeter of the area, surrounding the campsite.

  The general stepped from his helicopter and watched closely, surveying the tents and the surroundings. He pulled out his flashlight and shined it towards one of the tents that was ravished and bloody. He walked up to the flap and pulled it back, revealing a bloody scene. He slowly shone the flashlight on the ground revealing coagulated puddles and a rat, pinned to the ground with a knife through its head.

  Reaching into his bag, the flashlight revealed two glass slides and a swab, which the general used to obtain a
blood sample of the rat. He swabbed the blood from the rat and swiped it across the glass slides, pressing them together and placing them in a sealed plastic bag. The general ordered, “Listen up team, I want this area incinerated and no traces left. Let’s get going.” The team rushed back to the Blackhawk helicopters, pulling flame thrower equipment from inside.

  They lit up the tips of the flame throwers and walked towards the tents. Thirty feet from the tents, the soldiers ignited the tents into flames. The remaining tents were also ignited and the surrounding area was quickly up in flames. The team returned to the helicopters and lifted off. “Alright, now Apache team light it up!” The Apaches turned, swung wide and into position.

  After the other helicopters were clear, the general gave the order, “Clear to fire.” The Apaches launched missiles into the ravine, lighting up the sky with explosions. The general watched, as plumes of smoke and flashing trails of fires shot from the ground. The flames were blue and white hot and shot up into the night sky.

  After the explosions settled, the helicopters circled the area, “Alright team, let’s head to the crash site. The choppers left the area and headed to the area where the Blackhawk helicopter, carrying Melissa, had crashed. They saw smoke rising into the sky and search and rescue helicopters shining lights around the scene. Water was spraying from the helicopters and ground teams were walking around the crash site. The general came over the radios, “Let’s get this cleaned up and back to base. We’ve had a long night gentlemen and I don’t need anything else to go wrong.”

  The general’s helicopter and the remaining team helicopters landed and began helping with the cleanup efforts. After surveying the crash, the general issued some final orders, walked back to his helicopter and lifted off. He circled once around the crash, shook his head and returned to the base to write up his report. He would need to conduct interviews with the other pilots, who had witnessed the crash and include all radar and radio contact of the crashed Blackhawk. He would need to conduct these operations with the strictest confidentiality and tighter reins on the facility if he were to prevent another incident from occurring. An investigation of the science team would also be conducted, to determine how a test specimen escaped the facility.

  Chapter Six

  Since 1985, the Tooele Arts Festival is an annual 3-day event and draws visitors from around the country who are looking for one-of-a-kind artwork, including paintings, jewelry, ceramics, photographs, sculptures and live musical entertainment. Children’s playground equipment and entertainments are also provided. There was no admission fee for this festival, which is held at a city-owned park west of the city center.

  For the first several years of its existence, the festival was held near the end of May, but it seemed to coincide with late-spring cold spells, which were disastrous since all the Festival's activities are held out of doors. Due to this unpredictability, sponsors finally decided to move it into late July, although this decision puts it in direct competition with the much larger Utah Arts Festival, held in Salt Lake City, on the same dates.

  Laylianna pulled up in front of my house. I watched as she climbed from her car, closed the door and rushed to the front door of my house. There was not much traffic on my street, so when I heard a vehicle, I would usually look out to see if I should expect company. There was a knock at the door and I walked over and opened it to find Laylianna wearing a light, spring dress and sunglasses.

  She took off her sunglasses, “Are you ready for the arts festival?” With no warning of her arrival, I was standing in the doorway, wearing dirty jeans and a shirt. Not to mention, I had been working outside for the better part of the afternoon, smelling of sweat and covered with a light layer of dirt and dust.

  She moved forward and hugged me, “I have thought about you Baxter, more than you know. Now that my uncle has moved back, I made the decision to leave Brad and move out. I’m living in my own apartment now!” She was enthusiastic and bursting with energy. It was inspiring, “Let me take a quick shower and change.”

  “Sure” Laylianna walked into the front room and looked around, “Where are Sammy and Sally?” She didn’t even allow me to answer, walked into the kitchen and opened the back sliding glass door. The dogs came charging through the door, smelling the new visitor and from the look of things, they didn’t forget her. “I cannot believe it has been a year. They are so big now.”

  “Well they eat more than ever and I am giving them plenty of exercise. They follow me around the fields and run through the tree line, near the hills. I am going to jump in the shower.”

  “Make it quick Baxter, it is late and I want to have some time to catch up. Plus, there are some things I want to get at the festival.” I walked into the bathroom and grabbed a towel, threw open the shower curtain and turned on the water. My shower made a strange, high pitched squealing noise and after a few minutes the hot water kicked in.

  I took a quick rinse, dried off and moved to the mirror. There was a layer of water covering the glass, I wiped it quickly with the towel and brushed my teeth. I rushed to the bedroom and threw on my nicer jeans and button up shirt. The butterflies were now growing inside my stomach upon realizing that Laylianna was now in the kitchen and finally free of her ex. It was a good feeling.

  I walked into the front room to find Laylianna, Sammy and Sally all piled on the couch. “Are you ready to go?” The dogs jumped from the couch and scattered into the kitchen and into the backyard. They somehow always knew when I was leaving or going outside. They were my friends, roommates and companions. Laylianna rose from the couch and reached into her purse, “I’ll drive, if that’s alright with you?”

  “Sure that’s fine with me.” We left the house and jumped into her car. She put the keys in the ignition and started the car. The radio came on and was playing an upbeat song. “Who is this playing?” I could sense everything around me, the sound of the radio, the feel of the rough upholstery, the way Laylianna looked in the sun and the smell of her perfume.

  “This is Feist and the song is called Feel It All. I like this band, a friend of mine told me about them.” The song was alive with energy and it contributed to the butterflies growing in my stomach. “We should talk about music. What kinds of music do you like Baxter?”

  “I like most classic rock bands like, The Eagles, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Jimmy Hendrix and Pink Floyd. You know all the greats.” I figured that she would relate to some of the legends.

  “I like listening to classic rock, but I also enjoy the new stuff coming out.”

  “What are some of the new tunes you like?” I asked.

  “Lady Gaga, Rhianna, Beyonce, but I also like some of the unknown, past performers like, Natalie Merchant, Tori Amos and Mazzy Star.” She turned at a stop sign and headed towards Main Street. The sun was low in the sky and reflecting through the clouds, reflecting a colorful sunset. Towards the center of town, there was more traffic than usual, due to the festival.

  We found a place to park and walked towards the park. As we got closer and closer to the park, we could smell the scents of different foods cooking and music playing. People were carrying lawn chairs and coolers. Kids were running near their parents, excited to get to the park and climb on the playground equipment, “Stay nearby kids and don’t run” One of the parents called out to their children.

  Laylianna reached over and took my hand, looking up at me and smiling. Her eyes fixed on me and her teeth as white as the clouds. I was surprised at the whole occasion; after all, I was content with my daily routine. This was definitely not part of my regular routine. Laylianna was, again, proving that something unexpected could throw it all off, but I didn’t mind, I didn’t mind at all. It was unusual to not know what to expect from someone and not know what the future would bring. The hard part has been to just let go and allow this feeling to take over me. Something I was not used to.

  We walked for the better part of the day, through the various vendor stands, looking at different products. Laylianna was pic
king through necklaces and jewelry. I, on the other hand, was looking at the food stands. After perusing the vendor stands, we sat down at the park tables and arranged the necklaces and jewelry in a bag.

  Now it’s time for dinner, I was starving and looking forward to some, delicious, home style cooking. The festival was always known for a wide variety of foods, but tacos and burritos were on the menu tonight. We found a stand that was preparing fresh tacos and burritos, quickly ordering a few plates of different foods.

  We took a bench further from the band that was playing and began to discuss other things, “Do you like movies?” I asked.

  “Who doesn’t?” She replied.

  “What are your favorites?” I replied enthusiastically.

  “While most people don’t agree on the greatest films I like, The Shawshank Redemption, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, Toy Story, The Lion King, Schindler's List, A Christmas Story, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Notebook.”

  “The Notebook,” I interrupted, “The greatest chick flick of all time!” Laylianna reached over and patted me on the shoulder.

  “Oh, quit it Baxter. Tell me the movies you like.”

  “Die Hard, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Terminator, Alien, Star Wars, The Godfather, the Batman and X-men movies, Goodfellas, The Shining, Psycho, Jaws, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Silence of the Lambs, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner and so many more horror and suspense thrillers.”

  “I have a hard time watching horror and suspense movies. I have nightmares and terror flashes. Sometimes, I wake up thinking I am being attacked.”

  “Well, you will have to get used to it if you are going to hang with me young lady!” She smiled at me and continued eating her dinner. After the night ended, we walked back to the car and watched as people filed down Main Street. It was a quiet night and many of the children were showing signs of being worn down from the busy evening. Some of the parents were carrying both child and lawn chairs in hand. Laylianna looked over at me and smiled, “Thank you Baxter, I haven’t had this much fun in a very long time.” She leaned over and unexpectedly kissed me. I reached up and put my hand under her chin and returned the kiss. She pulled back, started the car and pulled into the street. After the stop light turned green, she pushed down on the gas pedal and sped off down Main Street.