“It doesn’t matter. The genie is out of the bottle.”
“But if we can find out what was mixed with the Ebola, we may be able to stop it and save the rest of the population. Are you willing to kill almost the entire planet because someone said you might be dying?”
“Man. I don’t know. You think they lied to me just to get me to do this?”
“I don’t know but I damn sure would want to know if I had a fatal disease before I blew myself up.”
“You are just trying to save your own butt.”
“Damn right but there is more at risk than my life. Somehow I think the remaining people who are not infected are more important than just you and I. I sure don’t want to die down here but Daren, we are just two insignificant people. What you are doing would make you the most hated person the world has ever known. Worse than Hitler, Stalin and Edi Amin all put together.”
“I don’t know. Man, it all seemed so right. Now you’re saying they are using me.”
“I don’t know for sure but if I were you, I would damn sure find out before I became minced meat”
“Okay doc. Let’s look around as see what we find but I will do what I have to do,” he said, lowering the knife.
“Seems fair enough to me. Now let’s see what we can find.”
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
The two men began exploring. To their amazement the shaft widened out for several yards. Through the light mist they could see large barrels. They walked over to them and Mark stopped dead in his tracks.
“What?”
“Do you know what this is?”
Daren shrugged.
“Biochemical warfare agents. Look at the dates. 1965, 1967, 1972. These are agents that were developed during the cold war. My guess is that after the cold war ended and chemical warfare was no longer a top priority. They decided to bury them. They must have dug down five miles and built this storage place. Ebola, Flaviviridae, ricin, hemorrhagic mediastintis. This is like a terrorists drug store. No wonder we are having such a hard time figuring out what happened.”
“So now what do you do?” Daren asked.
“Let’s keep looking and see what all is down here. Buck, can you still hear me?”
“I can brother. All I can say is you are one cool customer.”
“Listen Buck, put Randal on the line. I’m going to give him the names of what is down here, the batch number and date. He needs to write it all down.”
“Hang on.”
A few seconds later Randal came on the line.
“I’m ready whenever you are.”
“Okay. Name first, batch number, date, in that order,” Mark told him.
“Go.”
Mark started reading of the names on the barrels. He was amazed at what he was finding. There was enough biological material down here to kill the world population a thousand times over. He also found why the Ebola had escaped. A large chunk of metal had evidently flown off the BARD when it slammed into the floor and sent it into the side of the barrel. Another piece had poked a hole in the one labeled Yersinia Pasties bacterium. That helped explain the Chimera virus. Others could have small pin hole leaks from all the shrapnel that was thrown off of the BARD.
“That’s the last one,” Mark told Randal.
“What about those,” Roundhouse said pointing to several storage crates stacked behind the barrels.
“Good question. I guess I should check them out too,” Mark said.
“Ya think?”
Mark unbuckled the strap holding the lid in place and lifted the top off.
“Oh my God,” he exclaimed pulling one of the vials out and reading the label.”
“What is it?”
“Antidotes. Vaccines. This one is for Brucellosis. This is for Anthrax. Unbelievable. Look at this,” Mark said excitedly, “This one is for Tularemia. I can’t believe they have developed these and kept them a secret. Some of these are dated in 1990s.”
“So?”
“President Nixon ended the US involvement in biological warfare agents in 1970. Someone started the program back up without telling anyone,” Mark told him.
“Can they do that?”
“I would say so. The proof is right here in this room. No wonder they wanted you to kill me and blow this place up. Even with Randal knowing, there would be no physical proof.”
“Okay. How about you guys getting out of there?” Buck said.
“That is up to Daren,” Mark told him
He turned and looked at him.
“So, what’s next? You kill me then blow yourself up? This wasn’t national security. This was a cover-up, nothing more. Are you going to be a part of that?”
“Why does everything have to be so hard? Isn’t anything ever easy,” Daren asked.
“Life is full of difficult decisions. That’s why they are called difficult. Look, this one isn’t all that tough. We go up or we die here. That’s really all there is to it.”
“Oh, well that makes it easier,” he said sarcastically.
“Daren, you have the knife and the bomb. I don’t have much choice but you do. Standing here isn’t going to make anything easier or make it go away. You have to make a decision. I’m going to go climb back up the BARD and get on the gondola with as many of these vials and I can. They can help eliminate some of the world’s deadliest diseases. You can stop me or you can help me. Whatever you decide it’s time to make that decision,” Mark said starting to stuff bottles in his leg pockets.
Daren stood looking at him, trying to make up his mind. He had been specially chosen for this mission and he had gladly accepted it. Why wasn’t he just doing it? Finally he came over to Mark and started filling his pockets as well.
Mark didn’t say anything but just nodded. When they had as much as they could load in their pockets they headed to the BARD and started the arduous climb back up to the gondola. It was considerably harder going up than coming down. It took them almost an hour before they were back on top of the BARD.
Mark climbed in the gondola and started hooking his hoses back up. Daren leaned in and helped him.
“Okay, hop in and I’ll get you set,” Mark said.
Daren was busy taken the vials out of his pocket and laying them in the seat.
“What are you doing?” Mark asked.
“I have a rip in my suit. I knew it when it happened. It caught on a piece of sharp metal when we were going down. I’m as good as dead anyway. I’m going to seal this place up after you get back up top.”
“Daren no. We have all kinds of vaccines in these bottles. Look, let’s go back and look at every bottle. One could very well be for Ebola,” Mark argued.
“Nope. This is what I want. This place needs to be destroyed.”
“We can still do that. Once we get up on top we can send the gondola back down with the bomb or just toss it down.”
Daren slammed the door shut on the car.
“Buck, you can pull him up now.”
“Jones, Daren or whatever you are called. Get in the damn thing and we’ll blow the place to hell,” Buck said over the headset.
“Sorry. Just take him up. I have to do this my way.”
“Don’t be stupid. There is no reason for you to die like this,” Mark pleaded.
“Buck, take him up or I will detonate it while he is still here,” Daren said.
The gondola jerked and then started up. Mark looked down until he saw Daren starting to climb back down the BARD. He had taken his helmet off. He rode in silence as the car sped up the shaft. He wasn’t sure but it seemed to be going up faster than they had come down.
Light started to creep in and he could just see the sides of the wall. Mark knew he was getting close. Just a few minutes later the gondola slowed and then stopped. He looked over and saw Buck and Randal. The car moved across the holding bar and was maneuvered down onto a cradle.
“Welcome home,” Buck said opening the door.
Mark nodded and unbuckled his safety harness. Buck
helped him remove his hoses and he stepped out into the false light in the tunnel.
“I can’t believe the vaccines you found down there. Why would they keep it a secret? It makes no sense.”
“Yes it does. I had time to ponder that on the way up. They would be able to vaccinate the military personnel to keep them safe if chemical warfare was ever used or we used it on another country. At some point they continued to work on the weapons and created the vaccines to go with them,” Mark told them.
A loud roar filled the space, a thick cloud of smoke came shooting out of the side wall along with intense heat. The three men were knocked to the ground by the shock wave. Dust and debris rained down on them.
“I guess he did it,” Buck said, getting to his hands and knees.
“It would seem so,” Mark replied.
CHAPTER FIFTY
CTV NEWS — CTV News has learned that a vaccine has been developed by the CDC in conjunction with the Dangerous Virus Containment Team that will help stop the spread of the Chimera virus. Batches are currently in production and the usual FDA trials are being suspended by a directive of President Toll. It will be several weeks before the vaccine will be available in sufficient quantities to disperse across the nation.
Director Mark Riser of the CDC and Doctor Randal Peel of the Dangerous Virus Containment Team told CTV News that the vaccine is being produced as quickly as possible. It is being produced in five different facilities, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
The formula has been shared with every nation in hopes of stopping the spread. Currently forty-one countries have reported cases of the Chimera virus resulting in two hundred and ninety-three million dead. Another two hundred and sixty-one million are believed to be infected worldwide.
President Toll expressed her relief that the vaccine had been discovered and praised the tireless efforts of both the CDC and the DVCT to stop the spread before any more people of the world die.
* * *
President Toll was drinking hot tea and talking to Mark and Randal about the events of the last few days.
“You are saying that this storage facility was being stocked as recently as 2005, is that correct?”
“The last date we saw was 09-04-2005. I don’t think there is room for much doubt Madam President,” Mark said.
“And now the facility is destroyed and there is no longer any physical proof?”
“Madam President, not only did I see them with my own eyes but I read off the type of agent, date of production and the batch number. Someplace there is an identical inventory sheet with that same information on it.”
“Were there any markings to indicate where they came from?”
“I’m sorry, I’m not following you.”
“Did it say CIA or Army or anything like that?”
“No ma’am. Nothing like that.
“No laboratory mentioned?”
“None.”
“I see. That certainly makes it difficult to pin down,” she said.
“Someone knows.”
“Sit tight just a minute,” she said and picked up the phone. She spoke softly and after she hung up a broad shouldered Army General with short gray hair came into the room. He was dressed in his full military dress uniform with all of his ribbons. It was quite impressive.
“General Ashford reporting Madam President.”
“General, relax. Have a seat.”
“Thank you ma’am,” he said, sitting in one of the side chairs.
She introduced Randal and Mark to the general before coming to the point of the meeting.
“General, I have learned some disturbing news and would like for you to address it.”
“I’ll do what I can,” the General replied, forcing an insincere smile.
“It seems that we have gone ahead with our biochemical warfare even those we signed off on with the Biological Toxin Weapons Convention in 1972. That treaty came about as a directive from President Nixon. It seems we are not living up to that treaty. What can you tell me about all of that?”
“Well Madam President we should probably discuss this in private.”
“I think it would be better to do it right now. Mark Riser from the CDC actually saw the agents and wrote down the dates and batch numbers. Some as recent as 2005. How can that be General?”
“I don’t mean to be impertinent but does Mr. Riser have any proof of such a thing?”
“Actually General, it’s Doctor Riser and maybe you can tell me about this,” Mark said passing him a bottle of vaccine, “It is a vaccine for Anthrax. The batch matches the number on the weapons grade anthrax I found.”
The General was rolling it in his hands like it was hot. He was stalling to come up with an answer.
“I’m sorry doctor but I know nothing about this. Perhaps a private company or some secret government agency could answer that question better.”
“General Ashford, I don’t want to get into a knock down drag out here and now. I have just one question for you and I want the truth. Are there anymore facilities in the United States like the one that caused all these deaths?”
The General pulled at his tie slightly before answering, “Madam President, to the best of my knowledge, there are no biochemical facilities located in the US.”
“Alright General. You are dismissed,” she said.
The General looked like he was ready to say something else but instead, stood and departed.
“He is lying,” Randal said after the door had closed.
“Probably,” the President acknowledged.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
By the time the vaccine was ready and injections finally distributed, the United States had sixty-nine million three hundred thousand deaths.
The worldwide epidemic had claimed the lives of four-hundred million six-hundred thousand lives. There were probably others that were misdiagnosed or simply not counted in some third and fourth world nations. The exact count will never be known.
Governor McClain was accused of murder and illegal detention by many of the survivors but was pardoned of any wrongdoing due to extenuating circumstances. General Ashford clandestinely met with the head of the CIA special warfare division and made plans to ensure that the two other facilities were never discovered.
President Toll suspected that more storage facilities existed but the economic recovery was now the focus of her attention. She served out her term but was not re-elected to office.
- THE END -
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marshall W. Huffman did not begin writing until after he retired from teaching. He decided to start with a trilogy based on a cataclysmic event. Marshall’s first trilogy is THE EVENT and consists of THE END, THE BEGINNING, and THE REVELATION. With THE EVENTS success he decided to write a second trilogy that is a frightening look at the events that could lead to THE SECOND CIVIL WAR. It is made up of: Book I — A NATION DIVIDED; BOOK II — A NATION AT WAR; BOOK III — A NATION HEALING.
He has also published a series of books entitled: the ANGIE BARTONI CASE FILES with a central cast of characters. In addition, he has two another series entitled: THE NORRIS FILES with its own set of central characters and THE LOGAN FILES. He enjoys writing mysteries, techno-thrillers, and Sci-Fi. His other Sci-Fi books THE BRINK — DEEP FLIGHT and CLOSE PROXIMITY are intense techno-thrillers with Sci-Fi intertwined. He finished BLACKSTAR and it just went on sale. His latest addition CHIMERA is a look at what could well happen if we don’t stop twisting science in perverted way.
Marshall was born in Bainbridge, Georgia and grew up in Indiana. After spending eight years in the Navy, he attended Ball State University, earning a B.S. degree in Business.
During and after college, he was involved in the restaurant business and spent the next twenty-five years in all types of venues, eventually owing his own fine dining restaurant. After years of long hours, he decided on a career change. He attended Eastern Illinois University earning a MBA. Because of his business background, Eastern Illin
ois University asked him to teach in the hospitality management program. He was recruited from Eastern to Parkland College and soon took over as the Program Director for the Hospitality Program. During his tenure there, he became a chef and had a television show called Cooking around the World with Chef Marshall and taught a series of Gourmet cooking classes for Continuing Education as well.
Professor Huffman retired from teaching along with his wife, Dr. Susan Huffman, to the Tampa Bay Florida area.
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