“What do you mean, can’t be released?” Dale exclaimed. “You are all now property of the United States Army, I am truly sorry.” The soldier turned and walked from the detainment room closing the door behind him. The lights of the hangar slowly dimmed, as the soldiers, doctors and scientists left the room. Moments later, the lights of the detainment cells turned off, leaving the hunters in their cells, in the dark. They each sat on their bunks and one by one, fell to the floor and became motionless. The Army and the scientists had plans for these hunters in the CU1 program.
Chapter Fifteen
The boardroom, inside the Dugway Proving Ground was empty. There were fresh containers of water coffee and glasses spread across the tables. In the front of the room, there was a large, extended podium, stretching from wall to wall. The clock on the wall read 8:25 AM, as military officials began filing in, through the boardroom doors.
General Conrad Raymond was the first of the base commanders to enter the room. He was followed by Doctor Omar Weiss and a few other scientists on his team. Major Hunter and Sergeant Powers were the last to enter. They were dressed in full uniform and nervously walked to a table, directly in front of the main podium, where the directors and officers were sitting.
It was a formal investigation as to the recent CU1 and OU2 outbreak and quarantine of the small town of Tooele. After everyone had taken their seats and organized their computers and various files, a man walked through a smaller door towards the right of the main podium. He was dressed in a black suit and wearing dark sunglasses.
As he took his seat, to the right of the main podium, General Raymond stood up and began addressing the officers, “As you all know, I am General Conrad Raymond, officer in charge of operations here at this facility. This is a formal investigation regarding the project I am spearheading, along with Dr. Weiss. Without going into too many details, we have an unknown breach and violation of protocol.”
The members of the board, involved in the investigation began looking back and forth at each other and then at General Raymond, Major Hunter and Sergeant Powers. The general then began pulling reports from his files and placing them, on the table, in front of him. He began speaking very distinctly, “These, gentlemen, are various reports regarding the first breach of a chemically designed compound called OU2. These are the preliminary findings Dr. Weiss and his team have documented regarding the first compound.”
“The first compound?” One of the other officers replied, “There is more than one compound of this virus?” Dr. Weiss stood up and intervened, “There were two compounds, designed for the purpose of creating a stronger soldier and incapacitate our enemies. As far as we know, the virus works two ways. First, the OU2 compound has shown to slow down an enemy, removing the majority of their motor skills, therefore, making them easier targets for our soldiers.”
The general then passed around another report, “This report narrows down the first breech of the OU2 virus. It was September, 9, Friday night and many of the employees and the soldiers had left for the evening. A scientist named Oswald Kerr was working a 14 hour shift in the Bio-safety Level 3 zone. The automated room he was working in sounded an alarm, indicating his shift was being forced to end.”
“Working overtime is strictly regulated and any person working longer than 14 hours is forced to end their shift. In 10 minutes, the main power was shut off and only the auxiliary power remained, powering the essential equipment used to contain the different compounds in the safety zone. Oswald began quickly finishing up his research by placing some of the vials and syringes into their receptacles.”
“Oswald finished containing and decontaminating the beakers and vials, placing them in the storage compartments. He was overworked, tired and moving at a slower pace, attempting to focus on his work and pay attention to detail. The last detail in his cleanup was placing the lab rat back in a secured cage. He reached over and upon picking up the cage, failed to see that the latch may have not been securely in place. He returned the container into another piece of equipment and turned to leave the room. The specimen, inside the container, must have freed the latch, opening the door to the container.”
“The rat must have made its way across the laboratory and to the exit of the decontamination chamber. Oswald says he checked the lab one last time and punched in the exit code, leaving the Bio-safety Level 3 zone. The door opened and he stepped inside, unknowingly, along with the infected lab rat.”
“His work was testing the OU2 compound on several various rat species, before being given the go ahead to move to larger primates. The rat must have walked into the decontamination room, after Oswald. The decontamination steam sprayed from the valves and suddenly, the power shut off. A warning announcement was made that the power was being cut off.”
“The main power had been cut off and the auxiliary lighting kicked on. The lights were not very bright and the systems bio-warning detection warning was cut off as well, allowing for the rat to slip out, undetected. Oswald opened the remaining door of the decontamination room and exited, the rat probably following behind him, just at his feet.” With the lab specimen free, it must have made its way across the locker room and through an open door, into the hallway of the main facility. Oswald removed his “bio-suit” and made his way through the locker room, to the hallway and towards the MP’s post. This is when the lab rat, infected with the OU2 compound, must have made its way out of the facility and into the mountain range, where it attacked a woman camper.”
Another officer, stood. He was an older veteran of the facility, kept on as an advisor to the general. “I’m sure you all know me, the old geezer kept around to bitch and complain about the state of things, after the fact, but the fact is this is nothing new.
In March 1968, 6,249 sheep died in Skull Valley, an area nearly 30 miles from Dugway's testing sites. When examined, the sheep were found to have been poisoned by an organophosphate chemical.”
“The sickening of the sheep, known as the “Dugway sheep incident”, coincided with several open-air tests of the nerve agent VX. Local attention focused on the base, which we initially denied that VX had caused the deaths, instead blaming the local use of organophosphate pesticides on crops, but I don’t think this current situation can be approached this way.”
“Necropsies conducted on the dead sheep later, definitively, identified the presence of VX. We never admitted liability, but did pay the ranchers for their losses. For the official record, the claim was for 4,372 “disabled” sheep, of which about 2,150 were either killed outright by the VX exposure or were so critically injured that they needed to be euthanized on-site by veterinarians.”
“Another 1,877 sheep were “temporarily” injured or showed no signs of injury, but were not marketable due to their potential exposure. All of the exposed sheep, which survived the initial exposure, were eventually euthanized by the ranchers, since even the potential for exposure had rendered the sheep permanently unsuitable for either meat or wool.”
“The incident, coinciding with the birth of the environmental movement and anti-Vietnam War protests, created an uproar in Utah and the international community. The incident also starkly underscored the inherent unpredictability of air-dispersal of chemical warfare agents, as well as the extreme lethality of next-generation persistent nerve agents at even extremely low concentrations.”
The base’s PR director stood and presented a news release to the group, “I believe you all know, I will disagree with taking a straight on approach regarding any news release. This is the disinformation, I feel, we should release. It reads as follows: There are multiple myths and numerous misconceptions about the history and the actual facts of Voodoo. If we spread the word, this is nothing more than a traveling cult of voodoo practitioners; it may buy us enough time to initiate an action plan, continue with martial law and the quarantine on the town.”
“Hopefully, we can contain the outbreak, collect the infected and eliminate the compounds potentially spreading to other towns.” The
facility’s PR director was sitting near his team. The remaining team members began spreading paperwork across the desk and the room of officers began studying the release. In the end, it was agreed that the release should go out. Spreading disinformation was a way to buy time and confuse the population, if only for a short period of time. Damage control could be done after containment.
The general stood before the panel, adjusting his uniform, “Zombies are very popular in horror and fantasy entertainment. They are typically depicted as mindless, shambling, decaying corpses with a hunger for human flesh, usually created or re-animated through scientific means, which is what we have done. Fictional zombies have a long history in Western culture, dating back to the 1600s, with many evolutions of the concept from literature to films and beyond.”
“Zombies have appeared in countless films and media, so no-one is going to believe that what is happening in Tooele is anything other than a virus. In containing this virus and sealing off the town, the public is going to be scared and fear is our greatest ally in covering up the real reason the town is under quarantine.”
“So what do we know and what can be assumed about what we can expect? We know Zombies never sleep and they are incapable of fatigue. They are impervious to pain and require no air to breathe. As the undead, they have an insatiable desire to consume life. They are immune to drugs, poisons, gases, extremes of temperature and pressure, high voltage electricity, suffocation and drowning.”
“Zombies can suffer great damage to their bodies, including dismemberment without being adversely affected. Dismembering the legs will render the zombie immobile, but the creature will still continue to subsist. Likewise, decapitation will incapacitate the body, but the head will still “live.”
“Zombies don't possess any superhuman strength, nor do they have night vision, characteristics usually common to undead monsters. They can come in disguise and brutally tear people to pieces, with extra-ordinary strength, especially in larger groups, which it seems is what they prefer. Zombies can quickly spread their undead scourge through contamination.”
After presenting this another director stood, “Now, as far as the OU2 and CU1 compound being detected in the town, we have an idea from a corporal about how the breach occurred. Major Hunter and Sergeant Powers, care to help us avoid a long inquiry and come clean? Remember the oaths you took on as you accepted your positions.
Major Hunter looked at Sergeant Powers with a disgusted look on his face, sighed and stood from his chair, “Sirs, I am responsible for the breech of the CU1 compound. We came upon a group of campers, near the disposal factory, on the east side of the Lake Mountains.”
“The body, we were charged with disposing of, was never taken care of. Instead, it escaped from the medical vehicle and proceeded into the Nutty Putty Cave system, located south of the cave. We entered the cave, but were unable to locate and destroy the specimen. We split into two teams in the cave system. Upon finishing the investigation and returning to the entrance I found two corporals, along with Corporal Michaels and two other privates intoxicated at the entrance.”
“Since this was my mission and the specimen had escaped, I made the foolish decision to accept a type of bribe and not report the intoxicated team members, in exchange for them keeping their silence regarding the escaped specimen. I apologize and accept full responsibility in the matter. I also accept any punishments or reprimands that come from your final decision on this matter.”
The major sat back down in his chair and looked forward at the officers, waiting for their decision. They were whispering and discussing, at length, what they should do about the major and the sergeant. It was a failed assignment and some breeches of protocol, but the major concern was the Major’s inability to handle his command and control the corporal’s behavior.
The officers finished their conversations and the general stood, “Major Hunter and Sergeant Powers” The two stood and the general continued, “You have both been given command of a serious operation. Your duties were to carry out this operation and enforce the standards of your positions and your team members’ standards as well.”
The general paused and then continued speaking, “Since you were separated inside the cave and had given Corporal Michaels a direct order, which he failed to follow, you are both dismissed without discipline. We will follow up with Corporal Michaels and his team about the drinking in the cave, while on duty. You are both dismissed.” The two walked from the inquiry and the remaining officers continued to plan for a specific plan of action.
One of the officers overseeing the emergency management plan, in case of a breach, presented his plan to the panel, “We must implement an emergency management plan and deal with the strategic organizational management process, used to protect critical assets of the town from this hazardous risk and ensure the continuance of the town, within its planned lifetime.”
“This disaster is distinguished from other everyday emergencies by four factors: Organizations have been forced into more and different kinds of interactions than normal. Organizations have lost some of their normal autonomy. Performance standards have changed and more coordinated public sector/private sector relationships are required.”
Shuffling nervously through various papers and files, he began to pass around paperwork to the group and continued, “Most or all of the community built structures have been heavily impacted by the infected. Local officials are unable to undertake their usual work roles to secure the town. Most, if not all, of the everyday community functions have been sharply and simultaneously interrupted and help from nearby communities cannot be provided, due to the risk of being infected by the CU1 and OU2 compounds.”
“Assets will be categorized as either living things, non-living things, cultural or economic. The hazard is categorized by their cause, either natural or human-made. The entire strategic management process will be divided, into four fields, to aid in identification of the processes.”
“The four fields deal with risk reduction, preparing resources to respond to the hazard, responding to the actual damage caused by the infection and limiting the further spread of the infection throughout the town and spreading to other populations. There will be no emergency evacuation, the quarantine will remain in effect and we may implement mass decontamination, returning as close as possible the state of the town, before the incident.”
“The field occurs in both the public and private sector, sharing the same processes, but with different focuses. Emergency Management is a strategic process and not a tactical process, thus it usually resides at the executive level in an organization. This will be overseen and conducted not by the general, but by the project director, John Sumpter, who will remain in charge and whose name will not be disclosed to the public, under any circumstances.”
The director, who was sitting and listening to the far right of the main podium, tipped his head to the members and officers of the panel. The general shifted in his chair, knowing that the director was taking over of his operation. The man discussing the emergency management plan continued, “It normally has no direct power, but serves as an advisory or coordinating function, ensuring that all parts of an organization are focused on the common goal.”
“Effective Emergency Management relies on a thorough integration of emergency plans, at all levels of the organization and an understanding that the lowest levels of the organization are responsible for managing the emergency and getting additional resources and assistance from the upper levels. Director Sumpter will be sure that all levels of the support teams have what they need.”
The director stood and walked to the front of the members of the panel, “Gentlemen, preparedness is how we change behavior, limiting the impact of disaster events on people and a continuous cycle of planning, managing, organizing, training, equipping, exercising, creating, monitoring, evaluating and improving activities. This ensures effective coordination and the enhancement of capabilities of concerned organizations to prevent, protect against
, respond to, recover from, create resources and mitigate the effects of natural disasters and other man-made disasters such as the breech of the compounds into the public sector.”
“The facility’s operations have suffered, due to the breakdown in leadership and lack of focus and attention to detail and control of command.” The general stood up and was about to speak when the director held up his hand, indicating to General Raymond not to interrupt him.
The general sat down and the director continued, “In the preparedness phase, emergency managers will develop plans of action carefully, to manage and counter their risks and take action to build the necessary capabilities needed to implement such plans. Another aspect of our preparedness will be casualty prediction and we will study how many deaths or injuries we can expect from this event. This gives us an idea of what resources we will need to be in place, in order to respond to this event. The response phase included the mobilization of the necessary emergency services and first responders in the disaster area. This was the first wave of core emergency services, such as firefighters, police and ambulance crews.”
“When conducted as a military operation, we use the term Disaster Relief Operation. We have a well developed emergency plan, as part of the preparedness phase, enabling efficient coordination of quarantine and containment. Where required, search and rescue efforts commenced at an early stage. Depending on the injuries sustained by the victims, outside temperatures and victim access to air and water, the vast majority of those affected by a disaster will die and be infected by the compound within 72 hours after impact.”
Dead in Love Page 16