by Revenge
“And you’re refusing to look at all the options,” Theresa snapped.
“What?! I’m not refusing to look at anything, Theresa! What you’re suggesting makes no sense.”
“Then what’s your theory?” Theresa said, cutting the man off. He simply shook his head, barely able to control his rage.
“I don’t know!” Luke shouted. “But this isn’t it. It can’t be!”
“Who were the Congressmen in the failed safety zones?” Hayden stood looking at the map, barely listening to the argument that raged around him. He rubbed his chin and appeared to have heard none of the heated exchange. Hayden looked up from the map and stared at Alex as if nothing else were going on in the room. “No, seriously. Who was where?”
“What does it matter?” Luke snipped. “They’re all dead.”
“Exactly. And if there is a conspiracy… Listen, I’m just curious who was where.” Hayden looked from Luke to Theresa to Alex. Alex just shrugged his shoulders.
“Okay. I’ll humor you.” Alex dug through the papers until he found the one he was looking for. He handed the paper to Liam and uncapped the Sharpie.
Liam read each name on the list, giving Alex enough time to locate their position on the map and notate it. After every name had been recorded, everyone studied the map in detail. “Great,” Luke snarked, “and just what did we learn from that?”
Everyone remained silent for a time, still focusing on the map before them. “I’m not sure I see much of anything there,” Alex commented. Still everyone remained silent, lost in thought. Just as Luke seemed ready to lose his temper, Hayden spoke up.
“Does anyone remember back to the last election?” he asked, looking up from the map. “Anyone remember all the controversies that went down? Weren’t some of these dead Congressmen involved?” Everyone leaned closer to look over the names written there.
“I remember some of it,” Dr. Cahn offered. “Some pretty low points in this country’s history, even considering it was politics. But were all of the dead Congressmen involved?”
“Senator Hutchinson,” Donovan offered. “He lead the rally call against the current administration, didn’t he?”
“Former administration,” Alex corrected. “There is no government left to speak of.”
Donovan rolled his eyes. “Okay, fine. Former government. Wasn’t Hutchinson very outspoken about the quote-unquote, evil practices of the Dalmer Administration? I seem to remember President Dalmer getting pretty pissed over some of the things that were being said about him.”
“I remember that too,” Cahn said, now looking at the map with more interest. “And here,” he pointed to a spot on the map. “Representative Page…he stood with Hutchinson on the House side, organizing those in the House of Representatives against the administration. Is there a connection?”
Another moment of silence engulfed them as each considered their own thoughts. The silence was broken by a curse from Alex. “Crap. Take a look at this,” he said, handing the paper he had been reviewing to Dr. Cahn. The man examined the paper for a moment before giving Alex a quizzical look.
“The President?” Cahn asked quietly. Alex nodded his head and leaned forward to X-out a spot on the map.
“Apparently the President’s compound was one of those that was lost in the outbreak. The President is dead.” The revelation of that news was a weight that pressed down on the room. The leader of the free world, the President, had been killed in the initial outbreak of the zombie war.
“There goes your theory,” Luke said, breaking the silence. Glaring eyes turned on the man. “What? You were all leading up to the conclusion that the President had conspired to release the virus. I don’t think that is viable now, since he’s dead.”
“No one said that President Dalmer did anything, Luke,” Dr. Cahn countered. “We are just looking at all the angles.”
“So it wasn’t Dalmer. Who did release the virus?” Eyes now shifted to a very belligerent looking Theresa Hill. She stood next to the desk, arms once more crossed defiantly.” Who else, that is still alive, would benefit from killing over half the population of the United States?”
“Seriously Theresa?! You still want us to believe that someone planned this…” Theresa cut Luke off, mid sentence.
“Yes. We haven’t finished going through everything yet. There is still a connection that we haven’t made. We just need…”
“Shut up! Jesus Christ, woman! You just won’t leave things well enough alone! No one planned this! No one is to blame! No one is guilty! The world has gone to shit and you just have to blame someone for it, don’t you?!”
Theresa came flying across the desk at Luke, grabbing at the man’s clothes and swinging wildly at him. Everyone jumped back in surprise before collecting themselves and reaching in to separate the two.
“Knock it off!” Alex yelled, struggling with Liam to keep a hold of the fighting woman. “Knock it off!” Theresa relaxed some, stopping her struggle with the two men who were holding her back. Tears streamed down her face.
“I think we’ve done enough for tonight,” Dr. Cahn said quietly. “I suggest we all get some sleep. We are heading out to a new site tomorrow. Alpha team, correct?” Alex nodded, not taking his eyes off Theresa in case she chose to resume her fight.
“The doc’s right. We leave tomorrow at noon, Beta team is heading out at 9 AM. Everyone needs to get some rest and check their gear. It’ll be a long couple of days to a week before we are back, so that will give everyone some time to collect their thoughts and calm themselves down before we discuss this again. Okay?” Heads around the tent nodded in agreement and everyone slowly started to make their way out. “The same goes for you,” Alex said to Theresa. Her eyes never left the back of Luke as he left the tent.
“Fine,” she growled, and pushed her way past the two men. Both Liam and Alex watched her exit before looking back to one another.
“Keep an eye on her, Liam. I don’t really trust her tonight.”
“I had the same thought,” Liam agreed. “I’ll talk with Donovan and we’ll get things arranged to keep an eye on her.” Liam shook his head and smiled. “Damn, that was exciting. You think that someone really did all this on purpose, Alex?”
Alex shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. “Not sure. But there are some big coincidences that I don’t think can be easily written off. We definitely need to keep an eye on all this.” Alex clapped his friend on the shoulder. “Try and get some sleep tonight, and let me know if I can help with the watch.”
“Will do,” Liam said and hurried out to find Donovan.
–—
Alex stood in the middle of the staging area listening to the thump thump of rotor blades and watching the helicopters circle in for a landing. The remainder of Alex’s Stryker team finished collecting their supplies and checking equipment. Having finished his own preparations at four in the morning, Alex now relished in these few minutes he had to himself.
The quiet thoughts were broken by someone calling him by name. At least by his false name. It wasn’t until they had been screaming lieutenant for a time that he shook himself out of his fog and turned to acknowledge the soldier calling him.
“The commander would like a word with you.” Alex nodded his understanding.
“I’ll be right there.” Alex took another moment longer before leaving the staging area to see the commander. The first of the transport choppers were just touching down.
A flurry of activity greeted Alex as he made his way through camp. The arrival of the choppers meant the Alpha teams would head out soon, and everyone raced to finish the last of their preparations.
Finding the commander’s tent, Alex waited outside while one of the guards went inside to announce his arrival. A moment later the guard had returned and held the tent flap open for Alex to enter. Alex gave a quick salute as he passed through.
“Commander…” Alex began, but was immediately cut off before he could finish.
“I don’t l
ike this,” Commander Travis said sternly, cutting Alex off. He stood behind his desk holding out an opened manilla envelope. Alex fought to keep his face from turning white when he noticed that it was the same manilla envelopes that his informant had been using to send information. He composed himself as best he could before speaking.
“I’m sorry, sir. What are you talking about?”
The commander slapped the papers down on his desk. “You damn well know what I mean, lieutenant. You have been receiving an awful lot of these envelopes, and apparently this one contains sensitive information. So I have to ask, just what other information have you been getting in those envelopes?”
“I’m not sure I see the problem, Commander. Those have come straight from central command, through the proper channels.” Alex struggled to keep his voice level against the rising panic he felt. The commander slammed his hands on the desk and pushed himself up. He stared menacingly at Alex.
“Don’t you dare be insolent with me, lieutenant. These papers,” and he stabbed his finger at the stack lying haphazardly in front of him, “is sensitive information, meant only for privileged eyes. What makes you so privileged?”
Alex shrugged, hoping it would make the commander mad. “Not sure. Just got some weird message about looking over old data for any inconsistencies or patterns. Haven’t found anything yet.” Alex got the reaction he was looking for. Commander Travis was furious, and Alex hoped it was enough to distract the commander from making any connections.
“Do you expect me to believe that?” Commander Travis said, barely controlling his anger. Alex shrugged again.
“It really doesn’t matter one way or the other to me. I’m just following orders. Same as you.” Alex had hit the button he was looking for, and the commander exploded.
“How dare you, you insolent little peon!” he shouted, pounding his fist on his desk. “You are nothing more than a worthless grunt. Someone to be used and tossed aside. Following orders? That’s a cop out! You’re up to something you shouldn’t be. I can feel it.” Commander Travis stopped his rant too late, suddenly realizing that he had lost his control. Alex stood still and silent and waited for the commander to speak.
“Here,” Commander Travis said skidding the papers across the desk. Alex reached out and caught them just as they slid off the edge. “You and your men on the Alpha teams for this outing?” he asked trying in vain to compose himself. Alex nodded as he rearranged the papers into an orderly pile. A wicked sneer crept across the commander’s face. “Then maybe this is the last time I will see you.” He let the words hang in the air, now trying to make Alex uncomfortable.
“Maybe,” Alex responded and snapped a quick salute. “Permission to be dismissed, sir?”
“I’ll find out what you’re up to, lieutenant. And when I do, you’ll wish the deaders got you.” Alex finished his salute and without another word, turned and walked out of the tent.
–—
Alex forced himself to remain calm until he had put considerable distance between himself and Commander Travis’ tent. Turning a corner so as not to be in direct line of sight, Alex paused to take some deep breaths and slow his racing heart. “Holy shit,” he muttered under his breath.
“What’s wrong?” The question startled Alex and set his heart racing again.
“Jesus Christ!” Alex shouted, clutching at this chest to hold in his pounding heart. Liam stood there, arms raised in defense.
“Sorry, man. Didn’t mean to startle you. What’s with all the drama?”
Alex held a hand out to his friend, begging a moment to collect himself. With a great sigh he straightened himself and began explaining what had just happened. “We’re screwed, Liam. Commander Travis is on to us.” Alex showed him the open envelope.
“Is that more stuff from the informant?”
“Yes. And Travis opened it.” The color drained from Liam’s face.
“What…what did he say?”
Alex shook his head and began skimming through the documents. “He knows we’re up to something, he just doesn’t know what. But he’ll find out, Liam. We need a brilliant idea if we are going to get out of this one.” Liam shook his head and scratched at the stubble on his chin; his brow furrowed in deep thought.
“We’re not screwed, Alex. We’re fucked.”
Alex snorted. “Words of a poet, my friend.”
Liam clapped Alex on the shoulder and pushed him in the direction of the staging area. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and be eaten by a deader,” he said. Alex didn’t laugh. As the two men made their way back to the waiting helicopters, Alex relayed the events that took place just moments ago in Commander Travis’ tent.
“Do you think he knows? Knows who we really are?” Liam asked after hearing Alex’s account. Alex shook his head while leafing through the papers in his hands.
“No. I just think he’s suspicious of something, but I don’t think he know what those suspicions are. But I do think that our time here is quickly coming to an end. If the commander starts snooping around…” Alex paused a moment to let the idea sink in. “I don’t think that our cover stories are as concrete as we would want them to be.” Alex stopped walking and looked at his friend. “Liam, we need to start thinking about an exit strategy.”
Someone calling their name drew the two men’s attention away from their conversation. Donovan rushed towards them. “Choppers are loaded, gear is secured. We’re ready to head out.”
Alex nodded. “Hopefully we’ll have some time to talk about all this in the next couple of days. Let’s get out of here.” The three men turned and hurried towards the waiting helicopters. Their rotor blades spun slowly in anticipation of transporting the Alpha teams to their new location. Alex stopped short to verify his equipment list and loadout with the quarter master while the rest of his Stryker team boarded the chopper.
As Alex made his way to the transport, his gaze fell on the airman standing in the doorway of the helicopter. Their eyes met briefly, and in that time Alex saw confusion and something close to fear. The airman broke eye contact and Alex saw him turn white as a sheet. Alex wrote the encounter off as coincidence, as the nervous jitters of a young recruit probably heading out for the first time. Alex climbed into the helicopter as the blades spun up.
–—
Alex sat on the hard floor of the helicopter, his back pressed up against the bulkhead behind him. He tried to continue scanning the documents, but the buffeting winds inside the transport was too much, and he carefully folded the papers and tucked them away inside his vest. Leaning his head back, Alex sneaked a look at the airman who had been dogging him with his eyes earlier. The airman continued stealing quick glances in his direction, turning his eyes away when he caught Alex looking at him.
“It’s going to be a long flight, airman,” Alex called over the noise of the rotor blades outside. “You mind explaining why I have the sneaking suspicion you are watching me?” The airman just stared at Alex without answering. “Well?” Still nothing. “Have it your way, airman. But stop giving me the evil eye. It’s a long way to Wellington, and I don’t want to feel creeped out the entire way.”
The airman froze for a moment and seemed to regain a little color in his face. “We’re not going to Wellington, lieutenant.”
Alex lifted his head. “So just where are we going, airman?”
“Terrell, TX, Lieutenant Kemp.”
Alex’s head snapped around to look at Liam, trying to confirm if he had just heard their destination correctly. He leaned closer and asked, “Isn’t that near New Hope?” Liam nodded his head slightly, never taking his eyes off the airman at the door. He nudged his head in the airman’s direction for Alex to look. Alex did, and the smile spreading across the airman’s face made Alex’s blood run cold.
“What’s so funny?” Alex asked the airman. Anger was creeping into his voice and Liam put a hand on his arm to reign him back in. The airman simply shook his head.
“Nothing, Lieutenant Kemp.” This time Alex
caught the name he used. His name, and Alex’s eyes went wide.
“What did you say?” Alex said, barely controlling the anger and fear rising in him. “What did you call me?”
“Nothing, Lieutenant. Just letting you know the change in orders. We are going to Terrell, TX. Not Wellington.” The smile never left the airman’s face as he leaned back against the chopper door. Alex turned again to Liam.
“Did I just hear that right? Did he just call me Kemp?” Liam’s eyes never left the airman, even as he leaned forward to answer.
“I heard it too,” Liam said in Alex’s ear. “I think we just got popped.” Again, Liam nodded his head in the direction of the airman. Alex turned to see the airman watching the two men, speaking into his headset with one hand covering his mouth.
“We’re screwed,” Alex said, turning back. Liam shook his head.
“Nope. We’re fucked.”
–—
Alex watched as the helicopter sped away from Terrrell Memorial Stadium and their new home for the next few days. Liam walked up behind Alex and waited until the helicopter faded out of site.
“We’re not going to see them again, are we?” Liam asked.
“I doubt it, Liam. We just got found out, I think. I don’t know how, but…” he looked at Liam and shook his head. “I have a really bad feeling about all of this.”
Liam slapped Alex’s shoulder. “Can’t worry about that now. We aren’t in the greatest of positions here. There’s a lot of work to do if we even want to think about getting out of here alive.”
“Agreed,” Alex said.
Both men set to work blocking entrances to the field and bleachers while others of the Stryker team worked to clear any possible infestations in the immediate area. The field house at the top of the stadium was in surprisingly good condition, offering the team good shelter and an elevated platform from which to survey the surrounding area. A second team of shooters was placed across the field to increase the field of fire and surveillance area.
“Area secured,” Donovan announced as he and his team returned. “Everything looks good. Not many deaders around and most of those were in terrible shape. We were able to take them out without a sound.”