by JT Sawyer
He thought of his sister Jody back in Virginia, wondering if she had gotten to his retreat in the country or if she was another victim of the virus, whose body was lining the blood-stained streets. And if she had lived, she was going to be in for a brutal start to winter without any power, as were other survivors in the northern regions. As if the contagion and creatures weren’t enough—now this. Once more, he felt nothing but rage towards Siegel.
McKenzie nodded towards the entrance and both men walked into the hallway with the admiral closing the door to the comms center. McKenzie swiveled his head around, scanning the hallway for other personnel, then moved closer to Reisner.
“Look, I’m not one to finger-point, but if the Chinese determined that this virus originated from us then your Agency just added a shit-ton of grief and chaos upon the world on top of the goddamned menace of creatures we’re facing.” McKenzie balled his fists. “And if this was a coordinated cyber-attack on our power grid then there may be more to come. Allowing the country’s power infrastructure to be compromised further would mean plunging the U.S. into a dark age it might not come back from, assuming we can even take back our shores from these creatures.”
Reisner mentally concurred while keeping his anger towards Siegel in check for sanctioning such a nightmarish bioweapon that had not only resulted in the catastrophic loss of life around the globe but had led to the seeming cyber-attack by the Chinese. He also knew that confronting this new threat head-on was higher priority than locating the Agency’s ghost ships.
Reisner let out a deep breath, realizing again that he was still in the crosshairs of the admiral for his association with the information he had shared about Siegel’s and Hayes’ nefarious undertakings. If it got out to the rest of the beleaguered crew that he and his team were connected to the government group that unleashed this virus and caused the death of their loved ones, then they would probably be set adrift on some island or be flung overboard one night. For now, his services were at the disposal of the admiral until he could further convince the man of his intentions.
“I agree on all counts, sir. If you can permit me to use your computer and access the Agency database then I may have a solution.”
McKenzie shot his chin up, giving a quizzical look. “How so?”
“The Agency employed a number of cyber-security experts and hackers. If I can track down one of those assets, he may be of great help in preventing the next attack. It’s too late to reverse the effects of the devastation on the eastern power grid but we may still have a chance at saving the rest of the country’s infrastructure.”
“The Agency database—wasn’t that at Langley, in the heart of this recent cyber-attack?”
“The mainframe was, but my boss, Jonas Runa, whom you spoke with previously, sent me an encrypted file for accessing our server in the cloud. It should contain the location of the asset I need.”
“I’m not risking sending a team into another hot zone to extract a guy who’s probably already lining the insides of one of those creatures out there.”
“There’s one man in particular, a former Agency cyber-security expert who lived off the grid in the sticks in northern California—he may have weathered out this virus. If I can get to him, he could be our best bet for circumventing any further attacks from whoever started this. If anyone could have weathered out the initial storm, it’s Andre Pacelle.”
***
An hour later, after using the computer in McKenzie’s private office, Reisner finished jotting down the information and coordinates for Pacelle. Pacelle had worked directly under Runa when Reisner signed on with the Agency and was responsible for handling intelligence gathering and threat assessments for missions in the pipeline. Later, he worked in the new cyber-crimes and defense division, turning his considerable hacking skills towards a world of new threats. Reisner clutched his fist tight as he looked over Pacelle’s photograph, his eyes wanting to sear through the monitor. He knew Andre was the man for tracing the power outage back to its source and preventing any further cyber-attacks. Reisner also knew his trigger finger would be twitching when he saw Andre in person, and it would take considerable control to not kill the man on sight. I sure as hell hope you survived this pandemic, you son of a bitch.
Chapter 5
Central Virginia Countryside
The blood-orange fingers of dawn were flitting across the horizon as Jonas Runa sat up in the living room recliner. He brushed away the down sleeping bag that was draped over his torso and then removed the AR rifle that had spent the night resting dormant against his lap. The air was brisk and he took note of his breath billowing out as he yawned.
Probably just below forty degrees last night. He glanced over at the vacant maw of the fireplace. A few more weeks and the pipes could freeze in this place without heat. He stood up and arched his back, then quietly sauntered across the beige carpet and stood by the edge of the single-paned window. He peered down the pea-gravel driveway towards the treeline of ash and maple trees, which still had a few auburn leaves flitting in the wind. Runa studied the ground for fresh tracks or any movement in the forest with a shrewd battlefield eye honed from years in covert operations.
For the past three days since he arrived, he had tried to use the quietude to calm his jittery nerves after his near-death exodus from Langley. It was only the sight of Will’s sister, Jody, and the other young members of her group that made him hold out hope that there were still survivors who had prevailed after the initial onslaught in the cities. That only Jody and three of her high school students had made it out of the nearest town was more than disheartening for Runa, and he knew the same tidal wave of savage monsters that had swept through the region around Langley and D.C. had also decimated the surrounding countryside. How can there be so few of us? He felt nauseated at times, trying to fathom the extent of the carnage around the world while realizing that mankind had been pummeled down from being the world’s greatest apex predator.
Runa glanced back at the meager surroundings, noticing the fine dust that had accumulated on the fireplace mantle and corner table. Indirectly, he knew he was the cause of the dilapidated condition of Will Reisner’s house—too many assignments abroad and little down time for his top agent had led Will to live the life of a nomad without any meaningful roots.
Runa heard the flapping of visquene and saw the milky-white curtain of plastic that separated the living room from the back bedroom, moving aside as Jody Reisner stepped out. Behind her were three other people, asleep on their makeshift beds on the floor. While there was plenty of firewood stacked around the side of the house, he didn’t want to risk the telltale presence of woodsmoke emanating from the chimney so they had sealed off the unused portions of the house to conserve heat.
He rested his AR against the sink cabinet then moved over to the gas stove. Dragging a strike-anywhere match across his pants leg, he touched the flame to the burner then turned up the gas and placed a coffeepot of cold water on the stove. Whatever electrical disturbance had damaged the transformers around the farmhouse a few days earlier had rendered the fridge, microwave, lighting, and other appliances useless. Will had stowed MREs, water jugs, ammo, and firearms in his basement vault, which wasn’t hardwired to the main utilities and was unaffected by the grid going down. Regrettably, it looked like he had only squirreled away enough food for two people to last a month. Runa knew they would either have to risk venturing out to hunt for deer or find a better location. Shit, I haven’t gone hunting since I was fifteen—at least not for four-legged animals.
Jody sat down, giving Runa a feigned smile. After her coffee was poured, she tapped her index finger on the side of her coffee cup, biting her lip while giving intermittent glances up at Runa. “I know we’ve been over this already, but…it’s just…I’m still having a hard time believing that my brother is the man you say he is—someone who worked for the CIA, of all places.”
“His arsenal downstairs in the vault didn’t convince you?” Runa wiped away hi
s smirk and rested his elbows on the table, cradling his hot mug. “Look, I can only imagine how hard this is for you—he’s someone you’ve known your entire life and trusted. Believe me, that’s one of the hardest parts of our job. We get an assignment, zip around the world to,” he mulled over his choice of words, “to handle a crisis, and then a week or a month later, we’re sitting on the back porch with our friends having a barbecue—the whole time putting on a good front about the lies we’ve fed the very people we’re trying to protect.” He put his mug down and leaned back, taking a deep breath. “Hell, there’s a reason most of us are on our second or third marriages.”
Jody gave him a sheepish look, clearing her throat. “Did my brother kill people for a living?”
Runa let out a faint chuckle. “That’s only the way we’re portrayed in the movies—it’s not like that. High-value target reduction is just one part…” He paused, realizing he wasn’t sitting before a Senate subcommittee, trying to smooth over a bunch of finger-pointing politicians. Runa could see the pained expression in Jody’s eyes. He rubbed his hand along the side of his bestubbled cheek. “Agents like Will perform any number of jobs when they’re abroad, but it’s not like a 007 flick. You know, I’ve seen a lot of things in my life before this virus that I wish I had never witnessed, and I’ve watched a lot of my colleagues get consumed by this line of work. But, it wasn’t until I met Will and worked with him that I realized what it means to be someone who doesn’t sacrifice their humanity for the job.”
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
Runa put his hands on his hips. “I can assure you, Jody, that the work your brother has done during his career is filled with regret—regret for the lives taken and for the lives he couldn’t save.” Runa leaned against the silent refrigerator, which looked like it was holding him up as his eyes grew dim.
“Your brother is a warrior and I know he’ll do everything in his power to get back to you—so you can save the rest of your questions for that day.” He looked out the back window at the sun, which was cresting the top of the trees. “For now, we have work to do.”
She ran her fingers through her sandy blonde hair. “You still think we should head further south, towards where you said that hidden bunker in Franklin is supposed to be.”
“I do. That is the most secure location in this region now, assuming the virus didn’t get a foothold inside. Will has enough gas in his old Bronco to get us most of the way. Thankfully, or luckily, that’s a 1971 rig, so it wasn’t affected by whatever this power surge did to all the electronics.”
He reached for a battery-operated radio sitting on the counter. It had been amongst the supplies in the vault. He turned it on and fidgeted with the dial on the side, hoping to pick up another shortwave transmission. The radio didn’t allow him to broadcast but he had heard a few groups of survivors communicating via Ham radio during the past few nights. From what he gathered, there was a small band of civilians hiding out near Sedley, which was only nine miles northwest of the government bunker outside of Franklin. If the bunker wasn’t operational then they would try to make it to that group and maybe to the coast, where they could acquire a sailboat and make their way to Fort MacDill in Florida. Runa’s last contact with that joint special-operations base indicated that they were in good shape and were now the regional command center for the southeastern U.S.
Jody sat up in her chair. “What about that cluster of ships we heard about in the Atlantic? It sounded like there were twenty or more vessels. Wouldn’t that be safer than staying on land?”
“Yes, but only after we’ve checked out the bunker. Besides, the coast is a hundred miles further to the east. That’ll be Plan B if Franklin doesn’t pan out.”
Runa looked back towards the rear bedroom as he heard some of the others stirring. “Your students that you arrived here with—Mark, Jason, and Megan—they seem pretty hardy. They must’ve been to have made it out of the city alive.” He glanced at Jody. “What else can you tell me about them?”
“They’re just teenagers—sixteen or seventeen years old.” Her facial muscles tightened. “Their parents and families—all gone. All their friends at school—my students…everyone is gone now.” Jody let her head hang lower as her eyes darted around the cracked tiles of the floor. “I remember standing in my classroom last week at this time, teaching a section on World War II—the Normandy invasion, of all things.” She let out a deep sigh, her lower lip trembling. “Then we all heard this horrific scream in the hallway—a young woman shrieking in agony, and then what sounded like wild dogs attacking her.” Jody gulped and sat back. “Seconds later, there were more screams and the sound of others running followed by the same frenzy of snarling and biting. I ran and locked the door, then told my students to move to the windows.” She looked up at Runa with teary eyes and quivering cheeks. “That’s when we saw the courtyard outside fill with those things—they were everywhere, racing in and attacking people who were fleeing in every direction. I saw Tony Barnes, our principal, get dragged down by four creatures who tore through his face and neck like—” Jody held her head in her hands and wept. She shook her head as she tried to calm her breathing. “So many people died—so many students that I had watched grow up and taught over the years. Their bodies spread out over the hallway as we made our escape. An hour earlier they had been laughing and hanging out by their lockers before school started.”
Runa moved closer and put his hand on her shoulder. He had witnessed his own share of horrors on the battlefield and remembered the first time he had seen a dead body lying in a rubble-strewn village during a mission in Algeria. It seemed almost surreal, but his surroundings reminded him that he was in a rebel-controlled region far from home, and his training beforehand had mentally prepared him to enter a warzone. Even then, he had nightmares from seeing the glazed eyes looking up at him and the bloated, bullet-riddled corpse. He couldn’t imagine what a civilian like Jody and her students were coping with, or the PTSD that would grip them for the rest of their days.
“That you made it out alive and got these other students here is a testament to your courage, Jody.”
“When I got Will’s text about coming here, it seemed like the most sensible thing to do since our town had been overrun, and I figured he would be arriving here at some point.” She sniffled and dragged her coat sleeve across her moist cheeks, looking up at Runa as she searched his eyes. “Are we alive? I’m not sure some mornings when I wake up.”
“You’re numb right now—we all are. It’s the mind’s way of protecting itself after what just happened.” He let out a deep breath and moved back towards the counter. “But it will slowly get better—just in spurts, when you have a chance to take a breather and when the hair on the back of your neck isn’t standing up.”
“So, you really think we have a chance of getting through this?”
He pulled his shoulders back and gave her a firm nod. “Hell, yeah.” Runa pointed at the school logo on her jacket. “And with some Spartans here, we’re going to put up a helluva fight.” Runa had to keep up an appearance of confidence if Jody and the others were going to muster up more of their reserves for the dark days ahead.
Jody bit her lower lip, brushing her hand along the white outline of the logo on her right sleeve. She looked towards the back bedroom, where she heard some of the others rustling. Jody slid her chair closer to Runa and kept her voice low as she spoke. “As I mentioned before, they’re just teens—juniors or seniors. I don’t really know Mark that well. He was always in the counseling office. From what I recall, he had been in and out of juvey centers before coming to our school. He killed a few of those creatures with a baseball bat when they got inside the school. That’s when myself and a few other teachers ran into him in the gym just before we made it out.” She paused, pulling a crumpled Kleenex from her pocket and wiping her nose. “Jason is the most athletic. He was on the wrestling team and is tough, but he’s just a kid—they all are. Most of them just started dr
iving this past summer and, before this week, were preparing to go to homecoming.” She leaned over to see if anyone was coming then continued. “Megan saw the worst of it—she was home sick that day. She had her whole family slaughtered in front of her as a bunch of those things tore through her apartment complex. She barely made it out, jumping from the second story of her building. That’s when we came across her on the road on our way out of town.”
From the brief breakdown of the students and what he had observed in them since his arrival, Runa had been gathering mental notes on each individual’s potential strengths and weaknesses. This was going to be his ad-hoc team for who knows how long and he needed background histories so he would know how to employ them. He thought back to the strike team of professional operatives he had met with at Langley last week at this time. Those men were being sent downrange to Yemen, and he wondered if any of them had survived the pandemic. Now, here he was trying to sort through a bunch of teenagers and one school teacher to determine their tactical roles for what lay ahead. It reminded him of countless times abroad when he had recruited rebel militia to take up the CIA’s cause. Only those young men had already been child soldiers with a decade or more of combat under their belts. How the hell did it ever come to this?
Runa raised his hand for Jody to be quiet, his head tilting towards the front windows. He grabbed his AR and slunk along the wall until he stood beside a cabinet near the front door. He slowly moved his head towards the corner, peering through the thin white curtains. Dozens of crows were swarming in circles above the driveway near the terminus with the main road. He saw a woman in her thirties running on the road, her flannel shirt soaked with blood. Her gait was wobbly, her body swaying awkwardly with each burst of forward movement. With each turn of her head to the rear, Runa saw blood streaming down her neck. He swept his gaze out to the trees in either direction, but only saw the crows continuing to circle.