by John Darling
“Every training class has a different officer give the official oath. I’m proud to announce and introduce Commander Keith Kreider, who will be doing it today. He’s a good friend of mine and someone who has seen a lot of combat. Attention on deck!”
A feeling of excitement came over me as soon as he said Uncle Keith’s name. I hadn’t seen him since he had snuck us up to the ice rink. Even though I was supposed to snap to attention to look straight ahead, I quickly looked down the hall to see Uncle Keith walk around the corner. He looked extremely serious and rather spiffy in his full dress uniform but I couldn’t help but smile. We quickly made eye contact and I returned my eyes forward as he addressed the class.
“Thank you for having me here today. This is a special moment and I’d like you all to raise your right hand and repeat after me. I, state your full name.”
I, along with the rest of my classmates, raised my hand and repeated my name out loud. It sounded like a jumbled mess of words and I could barely even hear myself say my own name.
“…do solemnly swear to protect and defend the people of the world from this deadly infection. I will take any means necessary to do so and will obey all laws and protocols set forth by S.T.O.R.M. As a Strike officer, I understand that I will be put in harm’s way and will accept every mission assigned to me without any hesitation or any mental reservation. I have an obligation to serve and will do so to the best of my ability. In order to shield the world from what we do, I will never breathe a word of the truth unless I have permission from my superiors. I am a Stormer now, and for the rest of my life. So help me God.”
Uncle Keith broke up the oath sentence by sentence so we could repeat it back to him. As soon as he ended the oath and we had repeated back “so help me God”, he congratulated us and the other OICs began clapping. Several of my classmates jumped in and the entire hall erupted into happiness for a few moments. Commander Knight spoke up and instructed us to quiet down.
“Thank you, Commander Kreider and congratulations to all of you for making it to this point. You’re all on the verge of doing a lot of good and that’s why we want to give you some inspiration. Keith, they’re all yours.”
Uncle Keith instructed the class to follow him down the hall to the elevator. As we made our way over there, Alexei’s stomach growled and he jokingly asked if we were going to stop for breakfast on the way to wherever we were going. A few other recruits laughed as we got into the elevator. Even Uncle Keith smiled and said that breakfast would come in a little while but this took precedence.
We all rode in the giant elevator up to Deck Six, which wasn’t a very long ride. We probably could have gotten up here faster if we had just taken the stairs. Like elementary kids on a school field trip following their teacher, we followed Uncle Keith down a hallway lined with doors every three feet. Each one was labeled with a year, the earliest I saw being 1923. Sierra asked Uncle Keith why each room had a year on it.
“Sorry guys. That’s above my pay grade,” he said.
We continued to walk down the long hallway until we came to a large door at the end. Uncle Keith opened it, revealing a large room in the process. It didn’t look like there was anything in it until Uncle Keith flipped a switch. Blue lights came on from several directions including a sign hanging from the ceiling that says “Those who have fallen”.
“Welcome to the S.T.O.R.M. hall of fame. This museum is dedicated to all of those who have worked for S.T.O.R.M. and died while in action. The floor is laid out in chronological order of when each person died. Over to your left is the earliest era of S.T.O.R.M. operatives. Let’s start there.”
I’m not sure how to accurately describe this room. Holograms of people were all over the place. All of them had died working for S.T.O.R.M.? It looked like there were hundreds of holograms from each different era of history. I stood frozen in the doorway for a second until Alexei dragged me back with the group. Uncle Keith briefly described some of the people and their major accomplishments as we passed them.
“Here we have Joseph Ferry. He is known for saving hundreds of people on the Titanic. Most people don’t know this, but that ship going down was not an accident. What he and several others did is nothing shy of a testament to this Organization. Moving forward we have one of my favorite memorials; the Sanders brothers. Daniel and Jack were twins that saved over two thousand Jews that were imprisoned in concentration camps during World War Two. What they did is still revered as one of the dangerous uncover missions that anyone has ever undertaken.”
Looking up at the holograms, the people seemed so lifelike, as if they could have blinked at any moment and started a conversation with me. Uncle Keith continued talking about World War Two, which made me wonder why we hadn’t been told about S.T.O.R.M.’s history. Except for that letter Alexei had found, I had no idea that the organization went back that far. By that logic, that means zombies had been around for almost a hundred years now.
We kept walking for a few minutes when I saw a person that I actually recognized.
“Anyone know who she is?”
One of the people in front of me shouted out “That kind of looks like Amelia Earhart”.
“You’re a hundred percent correct. That’s who it is. She worked for us for years delivering messages and scouting outbreaks from the air. Without all of the tremendous work she did, the world may not have become what it is today.”
Why had I not known that Amelia Earhart had done this? The group started moving again while Uncle Keith continued to talk. I zoned out for a few minutes as my eyes glazed over all of the people that we walked by. Comprehending everything being thrown at us was beginning to overwhelm me. However, I immediately snapped out of my daze when we reached the end of the line.
“This is our most recent addition to the Hall of Fame and my closest friend; Trent Flashman. Most of you have probably heard of him by now and you all know Trevor. Trent and I went through BUDS and BCS together before fighting side by side for nineteen years. He died a few months ago while undercover on a mission and it has hit everyone in S.T.O.R.M. hard, especially the combat division.”
I started to tear up a little and tried to fight the emotion as best as I could as most of my classmates stared at me. It had been a while since I had really thought about my dad and now I was standing in front of a giant holographic image of him. God, I miss him more than anything in the world.
“I could talk for months about Trent, but he is probably best known for what he did on September 11th, 2001. I’m sure you all remember that horrible day. It would have been much worse if it wasn’t for Trent…”
Chapter Twenty-Three: The War At Home
September 11th, 2001, 5:15 a.m;
“BE-BEEP! BE-BEEP! BE-BE—”
The alarm clock made it through two rounds of beeping before I silenced it. Why I even had an alarm clock was still a mystery to me. Every morning I woke at five o’clock on the dot. Most of the time I just stared at the ceiling for fifteen minutes or so wondering how I could go on living like this. The same few thoughts always rattled around my mind. How could I continue to lie to the two people I love most in the world? Sometimes my guilt consumed me and on my worst days, I couldn’t even bear to look at Charlotte. I purposely turned away from her in bed so if she woke up even for a second, she wouldn’t see my pain.
She always looked so peaceful when she slept. Glancing at her just reminded me of how much of a failure I was. I had begged my superiors to let me at least tell the one person in the world I love more than anything the truth about my career. After asking for a third time, I had stopped. I had to accept the oath that every Stormer took, and faithfully live by it. No one can know what we really do; not even our loved ones. It was the only way to ensure that the secrets remained buried. However, as the years go on, the lies I have to tell had become more complicated and harder to keep track of.
Remembering the difference between what I had told Charlotte and what actually happens is a terrible war fought within my own
memories. Every time I looked at her gorgeous face, the feelings of hatred for myself only multiplied. We’d told each other everything about ourselves since high school, and having to hide such a big part of my life was the most challenging part of the job. I had promised myself that one day I would tell her. My mouth was the only place I wanted the truth to come from. I wanted her to understand how sorry I am for going all of these years without being a hundred percent truthful to her since the moment we had said “I do.”
Charlotte rolled over and smiled at me as the alarm clock ceased making noise. She was the most beautiful thing in my life and I loved seeing her smile. My heart skipped beats when I saw her, just like it had when we were in high school. She leaned over and we kissed. As our lips released, I looked right into her majestic turquoise eyes and said the only three words that would never cease to hold truth; “I love you”.
Even though I was on leave and could do whatever I wanted, I kept my schedule regimented as if I was on duty. Today started out like my typical day at home and continued like clockwork: five mile run, drive Trevor to school, breakfast with Charlotte, two hours at the gym, lunch with Keith, check the server logs, review current mission itineraries, pick up Trevor from school, take him to hockey practice and then back home for dinner. Though it may not have seemed much like a vacation to some, to me it’s paradise. The excitement of being home with my family was the only thing that made this job bearable. Sliding on my sneakers, I started to stretch and then headed out the door for my morning run.
Running was liberating for me. I always did the same route every day in our tiny neighborhood. It was only a few streets wide but it allowed my mind to travel anywhere it wanted to go. I thought about my previous deployments. I thought about how much of an impact each action I took has had not only on the people involved, but on the world. What always scares me is thinking about the potential disasters if I hadn’t executed those actions.
Each tour only caused mountains of stress to build up, which I could never seem to erode away until I was home. Running around in my tiny, safe neighborhood allowed me to melt that stress away. My job wasn’t easy and I was not proud in any way of the horrible things that I’d done. Part of me was permanently afraid of what I would have to do in the future. I wanted more than anything to figure out to how to change things. The problem is that I couldn’t. I couldn’t find an alternative to mercilessly killing people. We had always been told that we were doing the world a service, but it never felt that way. My mind got trapped in these trains of demoralizing thoughts and just like that, the five miles had come to an end. Our little white house was dead ahead of me. I ran up the steps of our porch just as my watch beeped on the hour and flashed; “0600”.
As I caught my breath and walked through the front door, I could hear subtle movements from inside the house. Trevor was ten years old and probably the happiest kid you’d ever meet. But he was only this happy when I was home. I couldn’t believe how much he looked up to me. Charlotte had often told me of how I was his hero, even though I had no right to be. If he only had known the things I had done, I doubted that he would even speak to me. Having the duty of being his dad was a privilege, but that was all I wanted to be. Retirement is my number one fantasy, although I had the feeling it’s going to remain just that for some time. Until then, I have to fight as hard as I can so one day I get handed that magic green out processing envelope. I just hope that day will come sooner than later.
I quickly got cleaned up, grabbed some coffee, and hopped in the car. Trevor came running out of the door that led to the garage. The door to my truck slammed and Trevor looked up at me with his beaming smile. His backpack flew across the backseat and his seatbelt clicked.
“Dad! We’re going to be late! Let’s go!”
Twenty minutes later we arrived at his school and he rushed out of the car before the vehicle even came to a full stop. I cherished every second of watching him grow up. I was so proud of him. Just seeing how happy he is made my life so much better. Other parents in the drop off line started honking their car horns at me as I got lost in another array of deep thoughts. I pulled the car over into a parking space and started thinking about all of the good experiences I’ve had as a parent so far. Suddenly, my daydream was sharply interrupted by the automated voice coming through the communications hub built into the console of my truck.
“Incoming transmission from Captain Kenneweg. Initiating emergency autopilot and blackout procedures”.
The truck’s windshield and windows went completely dark while the autopilot took over driving. I felt the car move and then a picture of Captain Kenneweg’s face appeared in front of me.
“Trent, we have a serious problem. I know you’re on leave, but this event takes the highest precedence. Three minutes ago, a civilian airliner struck the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York. I just got off the phone with the FAA and they are still not sure what is going on but they believe that the plane was hijacked. There are reports of several other hijacked planes and we are unsure where they are headed. We have no information on who the hijackers are, and no one has taken responsibility for the attack yet. Before High Command makes a huge decision, I needed to contact you for a possible mission.”
“OK, sir, what do you need from me? Have there been any signs of an outbreak?”
“Commander, I don’t have much time. This mission is not about the hijacked planes. You are one of our few assets on the East Coast right now and I need you to put a team together within the next hour. The Infection Angels are busy with another assignment and that’s why I need you to head to New York. This mission is priority number one and must remain confidential as usual. I’ll contact you shortly with more details.”
“Transmission terminated.”
I froze up for a second as I tried to process everything he had just thrown at me. I quickly searched the radio channels for information regarding what was going on in New York. A frantic reporter confirmed that a second airliner had just crashed into the South Tower. This was real. I prayed that it didn’t have anything to do with an outbreak. If an infection got out in New York City, even we would be hard-pressed to contain it. And, keeping it hidden from the public eye would be impossible.
My heart pumped faster as the reporter continued to speak on the radio. There is no doubt in my mind as to who I need to call first in a time like this. I directed my voice right toward the console.
“Open secure line with Lieutenant Johnson.”
“One moment, please… OK, line secure”.
“Trent, is everything OK?”
“Sophia, we have a problem.”
“Yeah, I just saw the news about the towers. It’s not an outbreak, is it?”
“I have no idea. I just got called in by Kenneweg. I need you to get your stuff together and head to New York as soon as you can. You’re closer than me. I don’t know what our mission is yet but I have no doubt that I’ll need you. Let me know when you’re in route. Flashman out.”
As soon as the truck pulled into my driveway, I sprinted as fast as I could across our front lawn and up the steps of Keith’s house.
“Keith! Open up!”
Unlike the early riser that I was, Keith always seemed to sleep in as long as he can. He was usually up late with whatever girl he had taken home from the bar. After a minute of banging and yelling, he finally came to the door.
“Trent? What’s going on?”
“Gear up, we’re leaving in ten for New York. No time to explain.”
I ran back into my own house and found Charlotte crying in front of the living room TV. She looked over at me as footage played of people jumping from the burning buildings.
“Honey, I need my trunks. I have to go.”
Without a second of hesitation, she rushed to the bedroom. I always had gear packed in case of an emergency. I also had a small weapons locker in the garage. Even though I hoped that we weren’t going to need them, I loaded every gun I owned into the bed of the truck.
A few minutes later, Keith came stumbling over with all of his gear. Charlotte came down with my two trunks and I threw them in with all of the other gear. Just as I was about to hop back into the driver’s seat, Charlotte grabbed my shirt. Her eyes are slightly red from her tears.
“Look at me. You stay safe, OK? Save as many as you can and then come home. Promise me you’ll come back?”
Charlotte was an amazing wife. She never asked where I was going, she just assumed it was always dangerous. Her support was endless, and all she asked for is that I returned to her. It was her only request and I always made sure that I fulfilled it. I couldn’t bear the thought of widowing her. What I was doing was already selfish enough. The last thing I wanted to do was not be there for her and Trevor. I looked right into her eyes and promised, like always, that I would return. After one more kiss that just never seemed to last long enough, Keith and I took off for New York.
“So what’s going on? Why did they call us in?”
“I’m not sure. Kenneweg called a little while ago. He told us to head to New York and that he would call back with more details. I already called Sophia.”
“OK. We should also call Harry in case we need an extraction plan. I think he just got back to Philly two days ago.”
Before I could agree with Keith, another call from Captain Kenneweg came in.
“Trent, status update”.
“Sir, Lieutenant Kreider and I are en route from Boston. Lieutenant Johnson has also been informed and she should be on her way as well.”
“Okay, very well. I have some intel for you. Your target is in Manhattan; Seven World Trade Center, codename The Nucleus. This building is a top secret infection research center. Three hundred and fifty nine of the smartest doctors and scientists that we have recruited and trained work out of this facility. High Command is worried that due to the hijacked planes hitting the Twin Towers, there is a very high risk of someone finding out what we’ve been doing in that building. A demolition order has already been authorized, however, I have persuaded them to hold off on the explosion for the time being. The building is currently in lock-down and has been since the first plane hit the North Tower. We anonymously informed New York City authorities that the building was evacuated, but this is hardly the case. You are hereby authorized to use whatever means necessary to safely evacuate our people currently trapped inside the building.