I gave him a minute then spoke for the first time. “How many people did you hurt when they said the same thing? Did you enjoy the torture and pain that you brought to people? Did you enjoy ruining their lives and the lives of the people who loved them?” I spoke softly, not raising my voice, or showing any emotion.
“I only did my job” he sniveled.
I reached out again and slapped his face harder this time. “I thought you said I did not have to hurt you to get answers.”
He started breathing harder and his eyes started darting around the room. I again gave him nothing. I nodded and this time, Brian broke another two fingers on the man’s hand. The Librarian again screamed out in pain and then settled into sobbing. I watched him as he went through his lies and options. I sighed and looked at Brian. “Break his wrist, he won’t need that hand for anything important.”
The Librarian’s eyes went wide. “No, please don’t. Yes, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the pain that I inflicted on people. They never left me, in the same condition as when they were delivered. I would wring all the information they had, and then I would hurt them more. I reveled in their screams and begging.” Spittle flew from his mouth as he spoke, the craziness emanated from his eyes. Then just like that he became quiet and dropped his head to the table. He sobbed quietly, tears wetting the table, and his shoulders hitched.
“How long have you been working with the Initiative?” I had taken my notebook out, and with a pencil in hand, I waited.
Brian let go of the man’s hand and stepped back giving the Librarian some room to breathe and feel less threatened.
He raised his head and wiped at his eyes and nose with his undamaged right hand. “I have been employed by H&M pharmaceuticals and Mr. Hedley for the last ten years. I only learned about the Initiative four years ago.” I didn’t have to ask any more questions as the Librarian was broken, and he continued with his story. “I learned my skills with the CIA when I was recruited out of Med school in 1988. They offered to pay off my student loans, and a ridiculous salary, that would not be matched by any hospital. I came to the attention of Mr. Hedley through a connection of his that worked for the CIA. I was promised anything I wanted, so they gave me a new identity. At first, I worked on getting information out of employees from competing companies. But later, I was tasked with helping the Initiative, by interrogating journalists and members who they believed worked for various Government agencies.”
He started crying again, tears fell like rain and landed on the table, forming little puddles of sadness. I wasn’t sure if it was sadness for what was about to happen to him, or sadness for what he had done. “Just one more question.” He raised his head and waited. “How many?”
He looked confused, as if not sure what I was really asking. Then it dawned on him that I was asking how many people had he tortured. “I have interrogated two hundred and twelve people. Twelve left me unharmed, fifty-three were left permanently damaged, one hundred and forty-six died, and one, you, got away.” He hung his head in shame.
I sat quietly after jotting down my notes, considering my next words and actions. “What is your real name?”
“No one has called me by that name in a long time. My name is Jon Tanner.” He whispered the name out.
“Jon, there is a gentleman coming to interview you. You will answer all of his questions truthfully. He does not know that I have been here, ahead of him. You will not use that as leverage against me, or him, or the big man behind you will come back. And he will not be so kind again.” I nodded at Brian and he retrieved his shirt and dressed.
He wheeled my chair to the door and we were stopped by Jon’s words. “I am sorry for what I did to you.”
“I’m not. You freed me from more than you will ever know. I hope that when you sleep, you see all those you hurt, and they will haunt you for everything you’ve done.” We left the room and the door locked behind us.
Master Sergeant met us at the main gate and turned us around. “We need to go out the back door. Reynolds just arrived to interview the prisoner.”
He opened a back door and we went down the loading dock ramp. “Master Sergeant, when the next prisoner arrives, let us know. We would like to meet with him also.” Brian called back to him. The Master Sergeant nodded affirmative and closed the door.
We made it back to the office by late afternoon and found the team still hard at work. Lunch had been demolished by them, wrappers and containers littered our small meeting table. I heard Brian’s stomach rumble and knew how he felt. Julie looked up from the files she had been reading and smiled at us. She leaned down under her desk and retrieved a box. She made a space at the table and placed it on top. Brian forgot about me as he started pulling items out of it. Julie patted his shoulder and said something in his ear.
She came over and sat on my lap, turned her head to me and batted her blue eyes. “Hey soldier, come here often?”
Even though it hurt, I wrapped my arms around her and laid a kiss dripping with love and heated with passion on her luscious red lips. She kissed me back with just as much passion and then pulled away biting my bottom lip. “Sorry, we aren’t supposed to show so much affection at the office, military decorum and all.”
She pulled out of my arms and gained her feet while smoothing out her uniform. She parked my chair at the table in front of a clean space that Brian had made for us. A turkey club on wheat with a side salad waited for my attention. I started devouring it not even knowing I was hungry till the smell of the food had woken up my appetite. Julie placed an old battered mug in front of me, filled with orange juice. Then a stack of files appeared, which I promptly ignored as I finished my lunch. Brian demolished three turkey clubs like mine and a bowl of chili. It was amazing how much fuel was needed to power his massive body. He caught me watching and threw a wink at me.
I downed my orange juice and picked up the stack of files, placing them on my lap. I opened the first and read through its contents. I had now gotten to a point where I could tell who in the team had written which files or parts of. I finished the last file and glanced at the big clock on the wall behind our work stations. It read seven thirty. Wow, this day was flying by. Julie came over and handed me a fresh cup of coffee and some more files. I placed them on my lap and she took control of the chair. Brian and the team followed as we made our way to the booked conference room. Kuppers and Vic were standing out front leaning against the wall.
“You gentlemen do know the meeting starts at eight? Right?” I said with a smile.
“Of course we do, though we need to talk to you and Brian privately before the meeting.” Kuppers said using his ‘I am trying to be nice and not shout at you right now’ voice.
I handed the files and coffee off to Julie. “Do you mind setting up the materials and data?”
“Of course not Major.” She leaned down and whispered in my ear. “Is this about why you and Brian were gone earlier?”
“Probably.” I said aloud.
She flashed a smile and disappeared into the room with the rest of the team. Kuppers walked over to a door opened it, and looked inside. “I need this room for a bit. Go get coffee or something.” When no one moved, he yelled, “Get out!” Three men and two woman came out quickly and stuttered their apologies, and marched down the hallway.
Kuppers pointed at the room and snapped. Brian pushed me in and moved to the far end of the room. Kuppers and Vic came in and shut the door behind them. I painfully crossed my legs and waited for the ass kicking to begin.
“You two want to explain to me why a sasquatch and a man in a wheel-chair were reportedly interrogating a suspect without permission or orders?” Kuppers asked.
“Does it matter?” I asked.
Wrong words. Kuppers went into mini meltdown and almost threw the nearest chair at me. Vic stepped up and placed a hand on Kuppers chest. “Ok calm down.” He turned to me. “Just tell us why you thought it was important to do what you did?”
I pulled up my shirt and ripped
the bandages off showing my bruises and scar tissue. “I don’t think I need to explain myself at all. Let me ask a question now. Did the Librarian answer all your questions?”
Vic looked away from my chest and studied something on the floor. “Yes, he did happily.”
“Great, so what the fuck is the problem?”
“The problem, is that you did not follow protocol. You never asked for permission.” Kuppers answered back. He had finally calmed down while looking at my wounds.
“Kuppers, I don’t know your protocols. Also I know that if I would’ve asked for your permission you would’ve said no. I did what was best. If you don’t agree with my methods, take my rank away kick me out of your little army, and send me and mine away from your base. But I will not stop fighting Ridder and the Initiative. And oh, by the way, I have data in that other room you may be interested in. Seems that a huge fucking horde is making its way here like a bullet fired from a gun.”
Brian stood behind me, arms crossed, enjoying the show between Vic, Kuppers, and myself. I looked at him and pointed toward the door. He grabbed the handles and pushed me out of the room leaving a stunned Vic and Kuppers behind us. I was beyond pissed, at this silliness of them expecting me to say ‘mother may I” before I did something.
We entered the room and Julie saw the look on my face. She gave me a concerned look and mouthed, “Are you ok?” I gave her a tired smile, as Brian parked me at the table.
“Alright people, are we ready to put on a dog and pony show for the Colonel?”
Just then, the door opened and a red-faced Kuppers entered with a contemplative Vic behind him. Four other men came in behind them and took their seats. I pointed to Amanda and she took her position up front and started her briefing.
I watched Kuppers as he worked his way through the prepared data and photos. Vic kept making notes on his pad and stealing looks at me. The other four gentlemen looked horrified at what they were hearing. Amanda finished her part and Gunny Mauseth took over. I had put him in charge of finding out what resources the base had left, and how he would defend it.
He took the front of the table and handed out some fresh printouts. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are in for a giant world of hurt. Our resources at this base are terrible when it comes to rifleman, personal weapons, and ammo. We do have plenty of air support in the fighter planes, but they are really useless when it comes to fighting the dead. We can’t lay enough bombs down to stop them. I do suggest that we send as many of the support groups out of here right away and then decide if this base is worth fighting for. The only thing going for us here is that we are in the middle of nowhere.” He waited for questions but Kuppers and his team seemed stunned. The Gunny sat and gave me a nod.
I nodded back and waited for the inevitable questions or orders from Kuppers. He stood after a couple of minutes. “We need time to plan. First, Vic, call the General and brief him on what is going on. Lieutenant Oord, figure out air transport and figure out the non-essentials and get them out of here. Sit with Colonel Phillips and figure out where to send them to. Major Deepak work with the Gunny there on our resources and see if we can get them out of here also, I don’t want to leave any bombs, missiles, food, or ammo here. Also, figure out where we can send them. Someone get Paco in here. Amanda you can work with him on the aircraft status and whatever other resources he can think of.” He looked straight into my eyes and sighed. “Major Welko, you and I will work on if this base is worth protecting.” He looked around the table and when no one got moving, he slapped his hand down on it hard. “Now people! We don’t have much time to fuck around. Tomorrow morning, oh five hundred meeting right here, so you better have your shit together.”
The room emptied quickly, leaving Julie, Brian, Kuppers, and myself alone in the room. We all kind of stared at each other for a while. “Julie babe, can you and Brian give me and Kuppers some time to chat alone?” She bent over and kissed me quickly then took Brian’s hand and led him from the room. They ran into the cafeteria’s rep, pushing a cart of food in our direction. I heard Brian directing him to a new place to drop his goodies at, then the door closed, leaving one pissed off Kuppers and I, alone.
“Are you going to stare daggers at me forever?” I asked.
Kuppers rubbed his hands over his face and cracked his neck and knuckles. “You have no idea what it takes to run this base and its operations. I need people to follow military decorum and respect the chain of command. Or this entire place will fall into chaos.”
“I understand that, Kuppers, and I respect you for doing all that you do. I also appreciate what you have to do to make that work. But I never asked to be a part of the military. I would be happy acting as rebels and hitting Ridder where it hurts, instead of running full military missions and stuff. I doubt we even have a real mission statement.”
“Do you know why I left the military?” Kuppers came over and sat in the chair next to me. I shook my head no. “I kept getting busted for not following the rules and never using the chain of command. Yet here I am, yelling at you for doing what I used to do.”
“Kuppers, let’s figure some things out about the base and then, let’s figure out how we can hurt the Initiative. I want to finish this war quickly, so we can start rebuilding. I don’t want to lose so much, that Ridder gains a big toe hold and we have to dig them out. Let’s strike while the iron is hot.”
He scratched at his chin, then pulled a file out of his case and threw it in front of me. “I guess I can’t bust your balls for doing what I am accused of doing. That file is all the info we have on this Joseph P. Hedley guy. You are going to handle the interview, wring him out and do what you need to do. I agree with the fact that we need to empty this base, it is not worth one life. We just need a place to send everyone. I also agree we should start hitting Ridder, but that will need to be planned out.”
I looked into my notebook and flipped to the last page, pulled out my pencil and jotted down some thoughts that had popped into my head. Kuppers had seen me do this before, and opened the door and yelled for a couple of enlisted men. Once they came around the corner, he started barking orders and yelling for things. I pushed back in my chair and opened the file Kuppers had given me on Mr. Hedley. I read through it and made more notes in my notebook from the data within. I finished the file, threw it on the table, and looked around the room. I was all alone and wondered again, how long I had zoned out. A note was taped to the door. I pushed back my chair and wheeled myself over to it, ripped it off the wall and read through it. Kuppers had left me a note saying he had a guard standing outside the door to take me back to my office or home. He also stated that I had been given full access and reign of the base, plus any access to files or information.
I folded the note and tucked it away in my blouse pocket. I unlatched the door and pulled it back. The guard outside looked in and saw me struggling with the door and waved me back. I struggled with the chair to move it back, out of the way of the door. The guard pushed the door open and came in. “What can I do for you, sir?”
“First my name is Dan, second, I am not big on ranks and stuff. What is your name?”
“I think I am going to like you, Dan. My name is Lewis.”
“Great, Lewis I need to pop by my office, then I will figure out our next move.” I threw him double thumbs up.
He returned it and laughed, grabbed the chair and we shot through the hallways. We arrived at the office and I found Amanda and the Gunny working on their terminals. “Hey, guys. Any idea where Julie and Brian are?”
Gunny turned and pointed down the hallway. “Last I saw of them; they were headed back to their quarters.”
“Thanks Gunny. I want you two to catch some shut eye as soon as you can. Sleepy analysts make mistakes, and then we will be behind, trying to identify them.”
“Yes, sir. We just finished updating the latest reports now. We will go catch a couple of hours and see you back here.”
I twirled my finger in the air and Lewis turned us ar
ound and headed to the front door. We found a Humvee out front with a driver standing nearby smoking a cigarette. When he saw me he put it out quickly and snapped to attention. “Sir, do you need a ride?”
“Airman, he wouldn’t be sitting here if he didn’t. Open the door for the Major. He is in a hurry.” Lewis ordered.
The Airman ran over and opened the door, still standing at attention and now holding a salute. Lewis pushed me over closer to the door and helped me stand. I saluted the airman back, and then climbed into the back seat. Lewis folded my chair up and placed in the rear. It was a quick ride back to the house. We pulled into the driveway and the driver left the engine running as he stepped out and pulled my chair from the back. Lewis got out, came around to my side and opened the door for me, offering me his arm. I gripped on tight and swung my legs outside, and using his strength, helped pull myself to my feet. I took two steps and sat down on my chair. The door to the house opened and Brian stepped out, wearing a pair of combat pants and nothing else. I was always blown away at how big the man was.
Lewis and the airman both took two steps back and stood there staring at Brian. “Hey, Boss.” He stopped and stared at the two guys behind me. “Thanks for bringing the Major home. We will need a ride back to the base at oh five hundred sharp. I expect you two to set that up, Dismissed.”
“Yes sir, we will make sure to have someone here at oh five hundred.” Lewis barked out. They climbed back in and drove away.
“You enjoy scaring the lower ranks, don’t you?” I mused.
“Not just the lower ranks. Pretty much anyone smaller than me are on my list. Even you, Boss.” He laughed, while pushing me inside.
Julie met me at our bedroom door dressed in sweats and a really big t-shirt that fell to her knees, that read Marines in big bold black letters. “Looks like one of Brian’s shirts, fits you like a dress. Like a little girl wearing her daddy’s clothes.”
Zombie Theorem (Book 3): The End Game Page 7