In 100 Days | Book 2

by Grenda, Brian

  “Have a good day Sarah,” says Kyle to Sarah.

  “You as well Mr. Sinclair,” replies Sarah.

  Kyle and Kristina step towards the exit of the housing department room and the phone at the front desk where Sarah is standing rings.

  Sarah answers the phone and as Kyle exits the room, Kyle hears Sarah say into the phone, “Yes sir, they just left.”

  As Kyle and Kristina walk towards the elevator Kyle says, “That was weird.”

  Kristina hits the down button for the elevator and asks, “What was weird?”

  The elevator doors open, and Kyle answers Kristina as the elevator doors close, “That Sarah lady and everything that just happened.”

  “I just hope we get a house here. Maybe you should seduce Sarah,” replies Kristina with a joking tone.

  “What my baby wants, my baby gets,” jokes Kyle.

  The elevator doors open, and three armed male soldiers are waiting for Kyle and Kristina.

  “Are you Kyle and Kristina Sinclair?” asks one of the armed soldiers to Kyle and Kristina.

  “Yeah, is there a problem?” asks Kyle.

  “Come with us and there won’t be,” answers one of the soldiers.

  “Okay, we aren’t resisting,” responds Kyle.

  Kyle and Kristina walk with the three armed male soldiers and the lead soldier says into his radio, “We got them, and we are coming your way.”

  “Very good, thank you,” replies a female voice over the radio.

  “Where are you taking us?” asks Kristina to the three soldiers.

  The three soldiers don’t answer Kristina.

  Kristina stops walking and says, “I’m not going anywhere until you tell us where we are going.”

  The soldier that was behind Kristina nudges Kristina’s back and says, “Keep walking.”

  Kyle sees the soldier nudge Kristina and he shouts, “Don’t touch her!”

  The soldier that nudged Kristina looks at Kyle and says, “Keep walking.”

  “Or what?” asks Kyle.

  The lead soldier says into his radio, “They are resisting us.”

  “Put Kyle on the radio,” replies the female voice over the radio.

  The soldier hands Kyle his radio and Kyle looks at the soldier.

  “Kyle, this is Commander Pine, we need to talk with you and Kristina,” says a female voice over the radio.

  “For what exactly?” asks Kyle into the radio.

  “Let my men bring you and Kristina here, and you’ll find out,” answers Commander Pine over the radio.

  Kyle looks at Kristina for a decision.

  Kristina nods her head at Kyle and Kyle says into the radio, “We’re on our way.”

  “Good,” replies Commander Pine over the radio.

  Kyle hands the radio back to the lead soldier and Kyle and Kristina walk with the three male soldiers into a three story rectangular building.

  The three soldiers escort Kyle and Kristina into a conference room.

  Commander Pine, Sheila, Elias, Dr. Yen, and Paxton enter the conference room and Commander Pine tells the three soldiers to exit the conference room.

  Kyle looks at Commander Pine and he does not know what to say or do.

  “It’s good to see you again. Both of you,” says Commander Pine to Kyle and Kristina.

  Kyle looks at Paxton and then Sheila.

  “What do you want with us?” asks Kristina to Commander Pine.

  “We want you to help us with our research,” answers Commander Pine.

  “What’s your research?” asks Kyle.

  “Before we get into that, are you in or out?” asks Commander Pine.

  Kyle and Kristina look at Commander Pine and then they look at each other.

  “Before we give you an answer, we want something first,” answers Kristina to Commander Pine.

  “What do you want?” asks Commander Pine to Kristina.

  “Housing, we want out of the barracks,” answers Kristina.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” replies Commander Pine.

  “That’s the deal, no house, no help from us,” responds Kristina.

  “Anything else?” asks Commander Pine.

  “That will be a good start,” answers Kristina.

  “So are you in then?” asks Commander Pine.

  Kyle looks at Kristina and Kristina answers Commander Pine, “We are in.”

  CHAPTER 2

  DAY 33

  It’s 8:32 in the morning and Kristina’s smartphone rings.

  Kristina wakes up and answers her smartphone, “Hello?”

  “This is Sarah from the housing department and I just wanted to give you an update on your application for housing,” answers Sarah over the phone.

  “Did we get it?” asks Kristina into her smartphone.

  “Yes ma’am. We were able to give you a house on base,” answers Sarah over the phone.

  KNOCK! KNOCK!

  Someone knocks on the Sinclair’s closed door.

  Kyle gets up from his bed and answers the door.

  A man hands Kyle a thin white envelope and then the man walks away.

  Kyle watches the man walk away from him down the interior hallway and then Kyle closes the door.

  Kristina says bye to Sarah into her smartphone and she looks at Kyle.

  Kyle opens the thin white envelope and there is a letter inside. Kyle reads the letter, and it says, “Dear Sinclair’s, we are pleased to be able to provide you with on base housing at Fort Derrick. Please see the housing department for any questions or concerns you may have. Enjoy your new house, 1182, at Fort Derrick. Sincerely the housing department.”

  “We got the house,” says Kyle as he holds up the pair of house keys on the red keychain that was also inside the thin white envelope.

  “Awesome, let’s pack up and get over to the house,” says Kristina.

  Kyle, Kristina, and Kaden get all their stuff together, load it into their electric SUV and drive over to the large housing neighborhood that is towards the back of Fort Derrick.

  Kyle, while Kristina is driving the SUV, sees that there is a large brick border wall around the neighborhood, and there are tons of homes in the neighborhood.

  Kristina approaches house 1182, and it’s a white large two story home with a garage, and the homes surrounding the Sinclair’s, seem to all be the same exact model.

  “Home sweet home,” says Kristina as she parks their SUV in the driveway of house 1182.

  Kyle looks around before he exits their SUV, and he gets a weird feeling as he looks at the house next to theirs.

  Kristina and Kaden exit from their SUV, Kristina unlocks and opens the front door to their house, and Kaden and Kristina enter the house.

  Kyle exits their SUV, and he looks around at the quiet neighborhood. No one is outside, but he sees cars parked in some of the nearby driveways.

  Kyle enters the house, and he sees that it’s fully furnished with nice modern furniture and appliances.

  “Isn’t this place great babe?” asks Kristina, with a huge smile on her face, as she sees Kyle enter the kitchen.

  Kaden shouts, as he runs down the stairs, “It’s got four bedrooms and three bathrooms.

  Kyle looks around the house, and he thinks it’s nice and clean, and it looks to be new construction.

  “Are we going to have Ashlyn and Stan live here with us?” asks Kaden to Kristina.

  “We’ll have to talk with them, but possibly,” answers Kristina.

  “Start bringing in the stuff from the car,” says Kristina to Kaden and Kaden runs out of the house and starts unloading their SUV.

  “This place is pretty great huh?” asks Kristina to Kyle as she walks over to him.

  “Yeah,” answers Kyle with a concerned tone.

  “I know it’s not as nice as our house in Jersey or Colorado, but it should work out nice for us,” says Kristina and then Kristina walks outside to help Kaden bring in their belongings from their SUV.

  Kyle walks out onto the
ir covered back patio concrete and he sees that all the backyards are open, very small, and there are no fences separating the properties.

  As Kyle stands in his backyard, he notices that it’s very quiet and he feels like he’s being watched, but he doesn’t see anyone.

  Kristina opens the back sliding glass patio door and says to Kyle, “Sheila just called, and we are wanted in the lab.”

  “Okay, Sweets,” replies Kyle and then Kyle goes inside the house with Kristina.

  “I was thinking, it’s kind of odd that your phone works now,” says Kyle as he gets into his SUV with Kristina and Kaden.

  “I’m just glad to have cell service,” replies Kristina.

  “Why can’t I stay in the house?” asks Kaden to Kyle and Kristina as Kyle drives back towards the barracks.

  “We want you to stay with Ashlyn and Stan for now,” answers Kyle as he parks his SUV in a parking space near the entrance to the barracks.

  “Are we going to tell them about the house?” asks Kaden as he sits in the backseat of the SUV.

  Kyle looks at Kristina and Kyle asks Kristina, “What do you think? Are we telling them about the house?”

  “I think so, I’d want to know about the house if I were them,” answers Kristina.

  “But are we going to have them stay with us?”

  asks Kyle.

  Kaden looks at Kristina for the answer.

  “The house is plenty big for them to stay with us,” answers Kristina.

  Kaden smiles and the Sinclair’s exit from their SUV.

  KNOCK! KNOCK!

  Kyle knocks on Stan and Ashlyn’s door.

  Stan answers the door and greets the Sinclair’s.

  “Morning, how we doing?” asks Stan.

  “Good, can Kaden hang out with you guys? We have to work in the lab today,” answers Kyle.

  “Sure, Ashlyn and I were going to check out more of the base today,” replies Stan.

  “Thank you Stan,” replies Kristina.

  “Guess they are putting you to work here. Seems pretty fast,” says Stan.

  “Yeah, we’ll hopefully be able to get some answers,” replies Kyle.

  “Thanks again Stan, I’m not sure what time we’ll be done, but we’ll come back here when we are finished,” says Kristina.

  “What if we meet you back home?” asks Kaden.

  Stan gives Kyle and Kristina a confused look and asks, “You mean your room here?”

  “No, we have a house,” answers Kaden.

  “Nice, man I guess we didn’t get the memo about the Sinclair’s,” jokes Stan.

  Kristina looks at Kyle and asks, “That could work right? We’ll meet them back home?”

  “Yeah, just gotta give them a key,” answers Kyle.

  “I already have one,” responds Kaden and he shows Kyle the key to the house.

  “How did you get that?” asks Kyle to Kaden.

  “There were two on the keychain. You have one and I have one,” answers Kaden.

  “Alright then, I guess it’s settled,” says Kristina.

  “We’ll meet you back home after we’re done in the lab,” says Kyle.

  “See ya later,” says Kaden and then Kaden walks into Stan and Ashlyn’s room and sits in the chair at Ashlyn’s desk as Ashlyn sits on her bed looking at her smartphone.

  “Kaden should remember which house is ours,” says Kyle to Stan.

  “I’m sure we’ll figure it out,” replies Stan.

  “Thanks again Stan, we’ll see you later,” responds Kristina.

  Stan says goodbye to Kyle and Kristina, and he closes the door to his room.

  Kyle and Kristina walk down the interior hallway and exit the barracks.

  “Do you know how to get to the lab?” asks Kyle to Kristina.

  “Yeah, I think so. Sheila told me building F,” answers Kristina.

  After about several minutes of walking, Kristina and Kyle find building F.

  Kristina sees two soldiers exit building F and she recognizes one of the soldiers.

  Kyle notices that Kristina tries to hide her face as the soldiers pass by and Kyle asks Kristina, “What’s wrong?”

  Kristina looks around and she sees that the soldiers are gone and answers Kyle, “One of those soldiers was at CBD and I think it was the guy that gave you the finger.”

  Kyle looks around, but he does not see the soldiers.

  “I was wondering if you were going to find us today,” says Sheila as she stands on the steps that lead into building F.

  “Sorry we’re late. We had to make sure our son was okay,” replies Kristina to Sheila.

  Sheila walks down the steps and over to Kyle and Kristina. Sheila looks at Kyle and Kristina and says in a quiet tone, “I’m sorry for all the craziness that happened at your old job. We should have taken you with us, but my father was called away in the middle of the night.”

  “What can you tell us about this base? Who runs this place?” asks Kyle to Sheila.

  Sheila looks around and quietly answers Kyle, “Not here, there are eyes and ears all over this base.”

  “Okay, let’s get to work,” says Sheila in a regular tone and Sheila takes Kyle and Kristina into building F.

  Sheila walks down a long interior hallway with Kyle and Kristina, and they see two scientists in white lab coats go into a room.

  Sheila says, “We have to get you keycards that will give you access to every room in this building.”

  “What’s in this building?” asks Kyle.

  “Labs, conference rooms, and more. Don’t worry, I’ll give you the tour,” answers Sheila as she opens a large silver door that has a long metal handle on it.

  Sheila walks Kyle and Kristina over to a woman that is sitting at a desk and the woman gets Kyle and Kristina setup to have full access in building F.

  Sheila notices that Kyle has an orange badge around his neck, but Kristina doesn’t have one and Sheila says to Kristina, “I’ll have to get you an orange badge.”

  The woman at the desk hands Kyle and Kristina each a thick gray plastic keycard that is attached to a lanyard and has a clip that can be elongated and then retracted by the cord on the clip.

  “Man, I’m collecting badges and keycards,” jokes Kyle.

  Kyle and Kristina each thank the woman who gave them the keycards and then Kyle and Kristina exit the room with Sheila. Sheila, Kyle, and Kristina approach a large lab that has large glass panels, and several people are seen working in the lab through the large glass panels.

  A person who is inside the lab, who is dressed in an all-white hazmat suit with protective head and face coverings, waves to Sheila. Sheila waves back to the person as she recognizes the person as her and Kyle’s coworker and friend from the Center for Biodefense (CBD) in Northern New Jersey.

  “Will we be in that lab?” asks Kristina as she walks down the interior hallway with Kyle and Sheila.

  “Possibly, but for now you and Kyle will be in another lab,” answers Sheila.

  Commander Pine and Dr. Yen are waiting for Sheila, Kyle, and Kristina outside of a closed door.

  “Thank you Sheila, we’ll take it from here,” says Commander Pine as Sheila, Kyle, and Kristina are about ten feet away from Commander Pine and Dr. Yen.

  Sheila stops walking and whispers to Kyle as Kyle and Kristina stop walking, “Be careful in there, we’ll talk later.”

  “Take good care of these two,” shouts Sheila to Commander Pine.

  Sheila says goodbye to Kyle and Kristina and then she walks away from them back down the interior hallway she just came down with Kyle and Kristina.

  “This way, we are going in here next,” says Commander Pine to Kyle and Kristina.

  Kristina starts walking towards Commander Pine and Dr. Yen and Kyle follows Kristina.

  “This place is huge,” says Kristina to Commander Pine and Dr. Yen.

  “Did Sheila get you all setup?” asks Commander Pine.

  “Yeah,” answers Kyle and Kyle shows Commander Pine his keycard
.

  “Good,” replies Commander Pine and Commander Pine opens the door that she is standing next to.

  Kyle, Kristina, Commander Pine, and Dr. Yen enter a room that is connected to a small lab.

  Kyle looks around and asks, “Where are our hazmat suits?”

  “You won’t need them in here,” answers Dr. Yen.

  “Why not?” asks Kristina.

  “You won’t be dealing with anything hazardous or dangerous in here,” answers Dr. Yen.

  “What will we be dealing with then?” asks Kyle.

  Commander Pine gets a call on her smartphone and she looks down at her smartphone screen.

  Kyle, who is standing next to Commander Pine, sees the contact name of LGS on Commander Pine’s smartphone screen above the number that is calling her.

  “I’m sorry I need to take this,” says Commander Pine and then she exits from the room that Kyle, Kristina, and Dr. Yen are in.

  “You’ll have face shields, gloves, lab coats, scrubs, and other personal protective equipment in this lab,” says Dr. Yen.

  “What about the other lab? What are they working on?” asks Kristina to Dr. Yen.

  “Something else, each lab here on base is working on something different,” answers Dr. Yen.

  “Let’s get you changed, and we can start working on some of the new samples,” says Dr. Yen to Kyle and Kristina and Dr. Yen goes into the changing room.

  “How many labs do you have here?” asks Kyle to Dr. Yen as he walks into the lab with scrubs, a white lab coat, gloves, and a face shield on.

  “We have three labs on base,” answers Dr. Yen.

  Kyle and Kristina look around the small lab and they see two long tables that have black countertops, two sinks, two microscopes, tons of beakers, test tubes, a large refrigerator, a large freezer, a centrifuge, and really everything you need to have a in a lab.

  “Now, we had to bring our lab assistants, techs, and scientists into our other lab recently so it will just be you two in here for now,” says Dr. Yen to Kyle and Kristina.

  “What about the other lab?” asks Kristina to Dr. Yen.

  Dr. Yen looks at Kristina, but he doesn’t answer.

  “The one that we passed when we met you,” says Kristina to Dr. Yen.

  “You don’t need to go in there,” answers Dr. Yen.

  “But our coworkers are in there,” says Kristina to Dr. Yen.