by Chesla, Gary
“It’s where the President’s medical team has set up an isolation ward for people that they feel might be contagious,” Larsen replied.
“Contagious,” Johnson said. “Bennet wasn’t contagious. There wasn’t a thing wrong with Bennet the last time I saw him. He helped me get back into Cheyenne Mountain. You did say that you saw him?”
“Unfortunately, I did,” Larsen replied.
“Unfortunately?” Johnson asked. “Why? What was wrong with Bennet?”
“Remember you told me what people become after they get infected?” Larsen asked.
“Bennet?” Johnson exclaimed. “He’s dead?”
“After I left your room I went out to the desk and pretended I was looking for a friend of mine and asked if he could tell me what room my friend Bennet was in,” Larsen said. “he told me that Bennet was on the third floor but that I couldn’t visit him because no one was allowed up on the third floor.”
“But you went up anyhow, right?” Johnson asked.
“When no one was looking, I snuck up the stairway,” Larsen replied. “Bennet’s room was at the top of the stairs. I went into his room and the smell was awful. In fact, the entire third floor smelled like hell.”
“I know that smell,” Johnson said.
“Bennet’s bed was blocked off by a curtain,” Larsen continued. “I pulled the curtain back and looked in at Bennet.”
Larsen stopped, swallowed and composed himself.
“I don’t know what I was expecting to see,” he said quietly, “but what I saw scared the hell out of me. I looked down and swore I was looking at a body that had been exhumed five years after having been buried. His skin was almost black, his skin was dried out and stretched tightly over his bones. The outline of his teeth was showing through his cheeks. The smell of death hanging over the body, a body that was strapped down to the bed like Frankenstein in the movies.
If all of that wasn’t bad enough, he opened his eyes and looked at me.”
“Where they all clouded over like an old dog with a cataract?” Johnson asked.
“Yes,” Larsen replied. “It made chills run down my spine. Then he opened his mouth and the most eerie sound I ever heard came out.”
“Shit,” Johnson said. “I liked Bennet, I’m sorry to hear that he got infected. He seemed to know what he was talking about and what to do to keep from getting infected, but he did say it could happen to anyone at any time, but I didn’t think it would happen to him.”
Larsen paused then looked at Johnson, “But I don’t think that he just accidently became infected.”
“From what you described, of course he was infected,” Johnson said. “What you described was just like what I saw when we were down at the power plant and what happened to the Sergeant and the others in the helicopter on the way back.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Larsen replied.
“I don’t understand,” Johnson said.
Larsen picked up Johnson’s chart from where it was clipped to the bed.
“Look at your chart,” Larsen said. “A doctor or nurse comes in here every hour, gives you medication and records certain information about you on this chart. On this chart it shows that they are giving you what I assume is some sort of pain medication every hour. Your heart rate has been a constant 75 beats per minute and your body temperature has been a steady 98.6 every time they made an entry on your chart.”
“What does my chart have to do with anything?” Johnson asked.
Larsen reached in his pocket, pulled out a piece of paper and began to unfold it.
“I took Bennet’s chart when I left his room last night,” Larsen said. “I took it back to my barracks last night to look it over. I couldn’t believe what I saw. I had to show this to you.”
Larsen moved over and sat down on the bed next to Johnson.
“Look at this, when they took him to the third floor, his heart rate was 65, his blood pressure 110 over 60 and his body temperature was a normal 98.6,” Larsen said. “In other words, he was fine when they took him to the isolation ward. They recorded these same stats for two hours as you can see, and they didn’t change from one hour to the next during that time.
Then right here they gave Bennet a shot, I don’t understand what someone wrote here, it says something about a virus # 2279, but I can see they gave him a shot of something.
When they recorded the next entry, fifteen minutes later, his heart rate, and body temperature had doubled. Now look at all the rest of the entries, his heart rate was zero, his blood pressure was zero, his body temperature was 80, the next entry it was 70, the next entry here it is 55, and that is where it remained. In other words, after they gave him the shot, he became infected and turned into what I saw up in that room.
All his numbers would indicate that he was dead.”
“What are you saying?” Johnson asked.
“I’m saying they did this to Bennet,” Larsen said. “Bennet was as healthy as I am until they gave him that shot. I’m saying they did this to Bennet, he didn’t become infected on his own.
If he had just died on his own, why did they continue to keep recording all this information for a dead man? It wouldn’t make any sense unless they were expecting something to happen after he died.”
“Why would they do this?” Johnson asked.
“The President’s medical team is here to find a cure for this infection,” Larsen replied. “In order to find a cure, I believe they used Bennet as a guinea pig. They infected him on purpose to try and find an antidote against it.”
“But why would they do that?” Johnson asked. “All they would have to do is go down to Colorado Springs, there are thousands of the infected staggering around down there.”
“Look at the top of Bennet’s chart,” Larsen said. “It says control case number fifteen.”
“Control case?” Johnson asked.
“Yeah, they wanted to control the experiment from the point of infection until the end,” Larsen replied. “And Bennet wasn’t the first one, he was the fifteenth, there were fourteen others before Bennet.”
“This isn’t right,” Johnson growled.
“You’re damn right it’s not right,” Larsen replied. “But I want to know who is responsible for this and who all is in on this. Remember we talked about how we felt we weren’t being told what was going on. Was this the reason, because someone knew they were going to use us as guinea pigs? Or was it just normal chain of command stuff? I don’t know.”
“I know what we said, but something like this?” Johnson asked. “This is crazier than anything I could imagine. I can’t believe our own people would do something like this to us. This is criminal and inhumane. And to what end, if I understood Bennet right, we are basically all that is left. We need each other to survive.”
“Apparently someone has a different concept of the meaning of survive,” Larsen replied. “Or maybe someone is only interested in their own survival and the hell with the rest of us.”
“This is insane Larsen,” Johnson finally said. “I agree that something strange has been going on, but this?
Maybe we are just reading this all wrong. Maybe there was a good reason to keep some of the things going on outside from us, but I can’t think of one damn good reason for them to do something like this. It doesn’t make sense. There has to be a million different ways they could study the infection and try to find an antidote against the virus without doing something like this.
Could Bennet just have become infected from being outside with the others that were infected in the helicopter on the way back?”
“Maybe, but look at the chart,” Larsen replied. “He seemed perfectly healthy until they gave him that shot.”
“Bennet said that people just change, maybe that was what happened here,” Johnson said. “He had been infected and then all of a sudden he changed. The timing of the shot could have been just a coincidence. Maybe they were just trying to help him. Bennet said he saw some guys change in a few minu
tes after being infected, others took almost a day.”
“It’s possible,” Larsen said, “but if you ask me, it was too much of a coincidence. When you take into account all the other questionable things that’s been happening, in my mind that adds up to something is wrong.”
“OK, let’s say you’re right and that there is something really wrong in the works here at Cheyenne Mountain, how do we find out what’s going on for sure?” Johnson asked.
“I think we need to be careful,” Larsen said. “If we ruffle the wrong feathers, we could end up being control subject number sixteen.”
“It doesn’t say anything like that on my chart does it?” Johnson asked seriously.
“No, nothing like that,” Larsen replied. “I’m just going to sniff around a little today and see if I see anything that might give us a clue where to look next.”
“What can I do?” Johnson asked. “You want me to sneak around the hospital and talk to people?”
“You just stay in this room and don’t talk to anyone,” Larsen replied. “Stay out of trouble. I’ll come back at the end of visiting hours and let you know if I found out anything. When you get out of here tomorrow, we can work together, but until then, just stay here and out of trouble.”
“I’ll try,” Johnson replied.
“And don’t talk to the nurse,” Larsen added. “You have a habit of being a little too chatty at times.”
“I have to talk to the nurse,” Johnson replied. “If I don’t say anything, they might think I’m sick and make me stay in here for a few more days.”
“Just tell her how great you’re feeling then,” Larsen grinned. “I have to go, see you tonight.”
Larsen left the room and checked his watch as he headed to the control room.
He was on duty in five minutes.
Just like the last week, he expected it would be slow down at the control room.
That would be fine with Larsen because he knew he was going to have a hard time concentrating on anything other than what he had seen on the third floor in Bennet’s room.
Chapter 10
August 11th, Granite Mountain
Tony met Abbey and Fran outside in the tunnel and the three of them walked into the mess hall together.
Mike, Linda and Jamie were already seated, so they walked over to join them as they did almost every day.
Jamie was concentrating on the large piece of lasagna on the plate in front of her.
They could tell she had been at it for some time as she had almost as much lasagna smeared on her face as remained on her plate.
“I think someone likes lasagna as much as she likes spaghetti,” Tony grinned.
“Believe it or not,” Linda smiled, “she makes a bigger mess eating spaghetti.”
“Skettie is more fun to eat because you can go,” Jamie pushed her lips together and make a loud sucking sound. “I tried it with lasagna, but it doesn’t work.”
Fran giggled, “Snoop eats spaghetti like that too. He gets spaghetti sauce in his nose, then he has to sneeze.”
“Don’t give her any ideas,” Linda said.
“George doesn’t like skettie,” Jamie said.
“Maybe if we get Reynolds to put bugs in George’s spaghetti he would like it better,” Mike said.
“George doesn’t eat bugs anymore, Daddy,” Jamie said. “Don’t be silly.”
“I heard you had a big day today,” Abbey said to Tony, trying to change the subject away from bugs and spaghetti.
“I don’t know if I would say we had a big day, but we did manage to bring back enough fuel from the airport for the trip to Cheyenne Mountain,” Tony replied.
“So the trip to Cheyenne Mountain is going to happen soon?” Linda asked.
“Tomorrow,” Tony replied. “After dinner today, we are going to outfit the turboprop for the trip.”
“How long will the trip take?” Mike asked.
“It should take about an hour and a half,” Tony answered.
“It shouldn’t take too long to prepare for a short trip like that,” Mike said.
Normally it wouldn’t,” Tony replied. “But since we don’t know what to expect when we get there, we need to plan for a lot of different scenarios.”
“Like what?” Linda asked. “I thought we were just going over to talk with the president?”
“Smitty hasn’t had any luck contacting anyone at Cheyenne Mountain,” Tony replied, “and Chervy and Fran have been watching the place for two days now and haven’t seen any signs of activity, when we go over, we don’t know what we are going to find. So we have to be prepared for anything. It’s possible that the facility has been over taken by some rogue elements that would not be happy to see us show up.”
“I never thought of that,” Linda smiled. “I guess if you lock up a group of Democrats and a group of Republicans in a confined area, all hell could break out. They were never able to agree on anything in Washington, locked up in a cave is an invitation for a real free for all.”
“Now that’s something I didn’t think about,” Tony laughed.
“Then you didn’t watch the presidential debates last year,” Linda grinned. “If they would have been allowed to carry guns during the first debate, there would not have been a second or third debate.”
“Doc also asked me to help prepare the men for another kind of problem,” Abbey added. “He asked me to put together a medical pack that would have enough supplies to last the men six months or more. Why would the men need something like that?”
“Well, he is also having Reynolds prepare a case with enough food to last the men for six months too,” Tony replied. “You see we have a unique situation. None of us know how to repair the turboprop if it develops a problem. If the we get to Cheyenne Mountain and the plane breaks down, the men won’t be able to return. The supplies will give them a chance to survive.”
“Can’t you go get them with the helicopter?” Fran asked.
“The helicopter only has a range of one hundred-fifty miles one way,” Tony replied. “It’s possible we could try to find a way to rescue them, but it’s also possible that the men sent to Cheyenne Mountain will have to find a way to survive where they are on their own.”
“That would be terrible,” Linda said. “Why are we taking a chance like that when we have everything we need right here?”
“Just like we all talked about back in Johnstown,” Tony replied. “If there is something more out there somewhere, we might want to be part of it. We are all looking for more than what we have. It is great here, and we would all be happy with what we have if this is all there is. But as humans, it’s part of our nature to always strive for more, to find a way to make life better.”
“I guess you’re right,” Linda said.
“Are you going to Cheyenne Mountain?” Abbey asked Tony nervously.
“No,” Tony replied. “The Captain is only sending four men until we know what we’re dealing with. Pete is going because he is the only one that can fly the plane. Mason, John and Ed are the other three going. That group was the Captain’s away team back east, since they are used to working together on missions like this, he is sending them together for this mission.”
“I hope everything goes well,” Linda said.
“We all do,” Tony replied. “That’s why we are trying to outfit them to handle any possibility. It’s a gamble, but it’s the kind of thing you learn to live with in the military.”
“I would have never made it in the military,” Linda said.
Mike laughed, “You would have been court martialed and kicked out your first week for talking back to your superior officer.”
“Define what would make someone my superior officer,” Linda smiled.
“You would have liked the food,” Tony laughed. “You could have eaten all the cherrypie MREs that you wanted.”
“I forgot about those,” Linda grinned and looked at Mike, “I might have lasted more than a week.”
“I don’t think s
o,” Mike grinned.
Pete, Rogers, Mason and Davis, carrying trays of lasagna, walked over to where Tony and the others were sitting.
“Mind if we join you?” Pete asked.
“Not at all,” Tony replied. “Pull up a seat.”
The men put down their trays, pulled out the chairs and sat down.
“Ready for your trip tomorrow?” Linda asked Pete.
“Piece of cake,” Pete replied. “An hour flight is nothing. In Afghanistan I had to make a six-hour run one day in an A-10 Warthog with people shooting at me the entire time. An hour with no one shooting at me will be a joy ride.”
“At least I hope there won’t be anyone shooting at us tomorrow,” Mason smiled.
“I was reading an old magazine that I found in the library bay,” Tony said. “I found something that you might be interested in, Mason.”
“Was the magazine Playboy?” Mason laughed.
“No, it was an old Sports Illustrated,” Tony laughed.
“I don’t care much for sports,” Mason replied. “All those overpaid punks playing kid’s games and then mouthing off about how they are all mistreated and underpaid, they piss me off.”
“No, it was an advertisement I saw that I thought you would be interested in,” Tony replied. “Did you know that Coors Brewing Company’s largest brewery in Colorado is in Colorado Springs?”
“Where is Colorado Springs?” Mason asked.
“About fifteen miles from where you are going tomorrow,” Tony replied. “I thought if all goes well tomorrow and you have the time, you guys might want to make a side trip.”
“No shit,” Mason smiled. “I’ll have to take my favorite beer stein with me.”
“Do you still have that damn thing?” Tony asked.
“I carry it in my duffel bag at all times,” Mason smiled. “I keep it wrapped in my under wear so it doesn’t get broken. I’ve had that thing for fifteen years now. It has come in handy on a number of occasions.”