Murmuring began in the conference room as the men began to realize the scope of the situation. One of them stood up.
“Now wait a minute, I was under the impression that a foreign government had launched an attack against our citizens. You're telling me we’re responsible for the deaths of American lives?”
“Please let me finish, I’ll be able to answer most of your questions if you just let me finish.”
The man sat down shaking his head.
“You weren't lied to...look, let me explain the method used, that's what I know. George, can explain why it was used when I’m done.”
The men quieted down and focused their attention on Dr. Wells.
“Okay, the agent we created, ochlos3, is a highly resistant, smart virus, it works on several different levels. Virus 1 works by entering the body and latching on to the amygdala, limbic system and adrenal glands. It sends the subject into a rage by overwhelming the amygdala and boosting testosterone and adrenaline. Virus 2 attacks the nociceptors and prevents the subject from feeling any visceral or somatic pain. Virus 3 attacks the frontal lobe of the brain, depriving them of choice and reason. These three viruses are combined with a synthetic chemical that keeps it alive during dispersal, and allows it to remain airborne for a longer period. When this agent is dispersed into a largely populated area, the affected subjects begins to violently kill anyone who isn't infected and quickly take over the area. With a large enough population of infected, an invading army would run into overwhelming resistance. The subjects would be fearless, virtually invincible, and freakishly strong. The entity deploying this method could essentially recruit the citizen population in a wartime scenario, without training or resistance.”
The conference room was quiet, was this a coup, or were there circumstances involved that they weren't informed of? One of the men stood up with an angered look, he focused right on George.
“Why...sir, with all due respect, why?”
George flipped on the lights, took a small sip of his coffee and smiled.
“Because they were already gonna die Jerry.”
Jerry’s eyes widened. George continued.
“We have satellite imagery of an entire Chinese fleet right off the coast of the beautiful state of Washington, and they're preparing an all-out invasion. As most of you know, the majority of our forces are tied up in several conflicts around the globe, we have in the neighborhood of six hundred and fifty thousand troops deployed. Our leaders took for granted our strategic location in the world and assumed we would never be invaded, that we couldn't be invaded. They were wrong.”
He began a slow walk around the conference table, not making eye contact with anyone in the room.
“Ladies and gentlemen, do you realize Ft. Lewis doesn't even have the troop strength right now to defend itself from an attack. The little resources we have right now are going toward securing the bases and nuclear sites, vital infrastructure. Seattle has already been written off as collateral damage, we’re trying to save the rest of the state...the rest of the country. You need to ask yourselves if you’re capable of defending this country by any means necessary, or if you're a bleeding heart that just wants everyone to sing kumbaya and talk it out. This isn't a game, this is America's last stand. Ladies and gentlemen, the world is nothing more than a big blue under-ventilated and overflowing porta potty, we’re just trying take care of business and get out before the smell gets us. Meeting adjourned, let's get back to work.”
He turned to Dr. Wells, “May I have a moment?”
The rest of the members left the room and George took a seat, he was concerned, for the first time since the attack started.
“I got a call from Michael, he tells me he’s come across a civilian who was infected but still lucid.”
“That's impossible, the test we ran-”
“The test you ran weren't on human beings.”
“Right but, we had no reason to believe there would be any anomalies. Is the civilian still alive?”
“Yes.”
“Can you get him here? If you can I can determine what went wrong, maybe our asset was mistaken.”
“He said he watched him take out B.R. with ease, bare hands. Just as fast, just as strong.”
Dr. Wells’ eyes brightened with excitement, she stood up, walked to the door, then turned back.
“I need him here, the agent worked.”
“I know it worked, have you seen downtown Seattle?”
“No, I mean the agent worked like we originally intended it to. We’ve just created a super soldier, he just doesn't know it. We need him here.”
I’ll have Michael get on it.”
Family
The drive south to Federal Way was agonizingly slow, traffic backups were on every freeway and arterial road headed away from the metropolitan areas. It was bad enough that people didn't fully understand what they were running from, but there was no clear direction on where they should go. Most people seemed to be making their way to highway 18 to take them east, many were headed south toward the Army base.
“We’re close, turn right at this intersection, we can take the side streets.” said Jamal.
“These people have no idea what's going on in Seattle right now, what are they running from?” Heather said.
“I think people are smart enough to know that an invasion means bombs and artillery, the further away, the better.” Regina answered.
The ride was mostly quiet, Sheila and Richard sat next to each other holding hands and gazing into each other's eyes as if they were back in time at the beginning of their relationship. Regina sat with Charles, they looked out the window together, but without speaking to one another. Jacob and Heather sat up front, other than Jacob alerting Heather to the hazards on the road, they remained silent.
They arrived at Jamal's home just in time to see his mother outside the front door on her way back into the house. Heather hadn’t even brought the van to a complete stop before Jamal launched himself out the back door. He ran across the green and yellow lawn, up to the brick one story house.
“Momma”
She turned around and both hands seemed to involuntarily raise to her mouth. It took several seconds for the reality of Jamal's presence to settle upon her before her eyes began to water and she opened her arms toward him. Jamal ran up the step to the door and hugged his mother so tightly that she let out grunt, but did not protest.
“Oh my lord, I’m so happy you alright, I was worried sick, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus” said Shanice.
“I’m glad you're okay too momma, I’m glad things aren't as bad here as they were in Seattle.” Jamal said.
“I wouldn't say all that now. Come on inside. Who you got with you out there?”
“Those are some friends I met on the way, without them I wouldn’t have made it momma.”
“Well bring’em in the house, I'll see if I can make’em something to eat. Ain't no electricity so it's a little chilly.”
Shanice went on talking as she made her way to the kitchen, oblivious the fact that Jamal had ran back out to the van.
“Hey, y’all come inside, my mom is gon’ make y’all something to eat.”
“Sounds great to me.” Regina said.
They all got out of the van and made their way into the house. Jamal introduced them all once they were all in the dining room.
“Uh uh, nope, put them guns up somewhere, I don't want them in my house. Boy you bet not have a gun on you too” Shanice demanded.
“momma, we had to-”
“I don't wanna hear that, you know I don't like guns.”
“Okay momma okay, I'll find somewhere to put’em.”
Jamal motioned for the group to move into the living room, they all herded themselves there and waited for instructions from the teenager.
“Okay look, my momma does not like guns, they give her anxiety or something.”
“No kidding” Sheila said.
“I know we can't leave’em outside s
o I’ma put them in the coat closet, don't tell her though, just tell her they're in the van.”
The group nodded and relinquished their weapons to Jamal.
Shanice made sandwiches for everyone with bologna and cheese from the refrigerator that was headed to spoilage, not wanting it to go waste, she made generous portions for the group. They ate while Jamal explained what was happening in downtown Seattle, Shanice cringed at what her son told her. She couldn't understand why the government hadn't stepped in and took back control of the city.
“What was it like here momma?”
“Well we saw it on the news for a little bit, then they just cut it off. I knew you were on your way up there, so I tried calling your cellphone, but I couldn't get through. I went across the street to the neighbor’s house and asked them to try, but their phones weren't working either. I got my purse and car keys and decided I was going to go pick you up, I made it two blocks before the car died on me. It’s still sittin’ up the street. I went to the bus stop afterwards but they didn't stop, they just drove right past the stop. . . I came on home after that. It didn't make no sense to me, everything just shut down so fast, but nothing was happening down here.”
“Was there any looting?” Heather asked.
“Not the first day, but people started losing their damn minds the next morning. I watched four houses on this street get broken into, they burned one of them down too.”
“Nobody messed with you momma?”
“Naw they ain't come in here, I still got my baseball bat sitting over there in the corner.”
“Well I’m glad you didn't get hurt Mrs. Johnson.” said Regina.
“Thank you, y'all staying here for the night, right? It's dangerous out there in the dark.”
The group looked around at each other before Regina spoke up.
“Yes Mrs. Johnson, we would appreciate it.”
Xavier and Lisa made it to the barricades where he split from the group earlier in the day, they abandoned the car and proceeded on foot. It was dark and quiet in the urban streets, they kept a steady pace but treaded softly. They examined several vehicles but found none with keys, without a car it would take hours to get down south.
“Maybe if we get far enough south we’ll run into people again and we can hitch a ride.” Lisa said with optimism.
“I hope so, I’m not too thrilled about being exposed in the dark streets like this. If we run into any more savages, we’ll have to fight them and we’re really low on ammo.”
“But it's okay because you have superhuman strength now and you’ll find a way, like you always do.” she said patting him on the shoulder.
“I don't feel the way I did earlier, I think it wore off.”
“Well then God will get us through this, like he has for the last two days” she said with a calm but increased frustration.
Xavier looked at Lisa and realized she was fighting with herself to stay positive and he wasn't helping. She buried her worry for her son to stay focused on surviving, a feat very few could accomplish, but everyone has a breaking point.
“Look Lisa, we’re going to get to Charles, I promise you, I will get you to him. You've been incredibly strong up to this point, I know you can take it.”
“I don't need a pep talk, it's my son. They're going to have to kill me to keep me from him. . .I just really hope they don't.”
She began to cry, Xavier decided not to attempt comforting her, but instead he focused on a plan to get them to the Army base.
The sound of a trash bin falling over broke the silence in the residential street. Instinctively they both crouched low and took cover behind a parked car.
“What was it?” Lisa whispered.
“Whatever it was, it was big enough to knock over a trash can. Stay low.”
They moved slowly on the opposite side of the street the noise came from, making sure to stay hidden behind the parked vehicles.
They proceeded about half a block before noticing a small group of savages near a yellow house. Directly across the street was a blue house with several dead bodies in front of the garage, the garage door was mangled and looked as though someone had driven through it. Xavier decided it was best not to chance running past them, he beckoned to Lisa as he made his way between two houses toward their backyards.
He stopped and slowly climb over a chain linked fence to access the alley behind the houses, he helped Lisa over the fence while mostly keeping his attention down the dark and narrow pathway. They moved slowly and quietly, keeping their ears perked for the movements of the savages who ransacked the houses beside them as they passed. They were just short of clearing the alley before their presence was given away by the familiar noise of man's best friend.
A dog in the backyard of one of the houses rushed the tall wooden fence and barked excitedly. The sound of a door opening caught Xavier's attention, he hesitated to run. “Rufus! No!” someone whispered loudly. A window shattered, followed by screams from within the house. Xavier began to move toward the fence to climb over, but Lisa grabbed his arm.
“Xavier it's too late for them.” she said.
Xavier hesitated once more, then they both ran out of the alley and down another street away from the screams.
They made it a few blocks away before they slowed down to a walk, the area seemed quiet and deserted. Lisa looked at Xavier, the weight of the world was visibly on his shoulders.
“What the hell were they doing letting the dog outside?” Lisa said.
“They probably didn't know the savages were near, they probably hadn't even left the house since the attack. They let the dog out assuming no one would be in the dark alleyway behind them. . .but we were there.”
“This isn't your fault Xavier; every death isn't your fault.”
Xavier didn't respond, Lisa's palliative attempt failed.
“So, what's the deal with you and Regina?” she said with a grin in an attempt to change the subject
“What do you mean?”
“I see the way you two look at each other when no one's trying to kill us.”
She managed to pull a smirk from Xavier, she decided to rein in on her achievement.
“When we were stuck in that elevator a few days ago, there was this spark between you two. Maybe if we make it through all this, you don't have to be such a loner.”
“Who says I’m a loner?”
“You do?”
“I never said that.”
“You don't have to, you just scream loner.”
“That's bullshit.” Xavier scoffed.
“You haven't spoken one word about anybody else in your family: no wife, no kids, no girlfriend, no best friend, and not even your parents.”
“My parents are gone, been gone for a long time now.”
“Why no girlfriend? You're good looking, strong, smart... should be someone ringing your phone every night.”
“I just never really had time for a relationship, I work a lot-”
“So, you are just full of excuses huh Xavier?” I would never have guessed.”
Xavier dropped his shoulders and took a deep breath before going into the story of his time in service.
Xavier was part of a large signal battalion that was deployed to Iraq at the height of the war. Xavier and the team he was with were stationed at a small forward operating base just outside of Tal Afar. Periodically, a convoy was put together and sent back to the main larger base about 30 minutes away for supplies and to give some of the soldiers some downtime. It was Xavier’s turn to head back to the main base where he would have a chance to eat some real food and take a real shower, it was much needed considering the sweltering heat of the desert. Xavier got in the back seat behind the driver of the armored HMMWV, the drive wasn't that long, and the area was typically well patrolled, so Xavier let his guard down and settled in for the ride.
About half way through the trip, a plume of smoke and dust rose from the front of the convoy followed closely by the shockwave of the explosion.
The convoy ground to a halt, the infantry soldiers of the unit his team were attached to, got out and took up defensive positions while the wounded were tended to. Before the soldiers could gather their barring, another explosion destroyed the trailing HMMWV. Small arms fire could be heard in the distance just before the sound of bullets whizzing by and impacting the trucks.
Xavier wasn’t trained for this type of encounter, he wasn't given any directives. As the infantry soldiers returned fire, several of them were shot and went down, not wanting to be useless and overcome with fear, Xavier dismounted the HMMWV and ran for the fallen soldiers. He didn't fire his weapon, he just did his best to move the wounded to safety.
The attack came from both sides of the convoy, before all the wounded could be loaded into the remaining HMMWV’s, another soldier was hit. There was no cover, no concealment, their only option was to leave the area quickly. Xavier moved several wounded into the vehicles, the last man he moved was lifeless. Xavier lifted him into a fireman's carry and set him in the passenger seat, he hesitated when he noticed the soldier’s eyes were still open, he was gone.
As Xavier shut the door and turned around, he was frightened by the sight of an insurgent running toward the convoy while shooting his rifle. He was running toward one of the soldiers whose back was turned as he was shouting to the others. Xavier knew he needed to warn the soldier, but he couldn't, he could only watch as the insurgent shot the soldier in the back.
The other soldiers quickly dispatched the man after he shot and killed their comrade, Xavier finally managed to move his body again and turned around just in time to see several attack helicopters bombard the enemy positions. The convoy got moving again to base in a hurry.
With all that was going on during the ambush, no one had taken notice to Xavier's inaction, he waited to be judged and attacked by the others, but it never happened. Xavier remained quiet and kept it to himself, harboring the guilt. The rest of his deployment was spent quietly getting by until the unit finally returned home.
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