In 100 Days | Book 2

by Grenda, Brian

  “That’s unnecessary,” says Sheila.

  “Just doing our job ma’am,” replies the African American male security guard.

  “You aren’t touching my bra,” says Kristina.

  Kristina makes eye contact with Kyle and Kyle asks the African American male security guard, “What’s the problem?”

  “Just doing our job sir,” answers the African American male security guard.

  Kristina takes off her shirt and is standing there in her bra.

  “Happy now!” shouts Kristina.

  The security guards look at each other and the African American male security guard says, “Move along.”

  Kristina puts her shirt back on and grabs her red jacket from the Caucasian male security guard.

  Kyle and Kristina walk down the interior hallway and Sheila asks Kristina, “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, let’s just get away from them,” answers Kristina.

  Elias and Paxton enter a conference room and Sheila, Kyle, and Kristina walk into the conference room that Elias and Paxton are in.

  “Well, never a dull moment around here,” says Sheila as she sits down at the conference table next to Elias.

  Kyle looks around the conference room and he thinks about where he can place the chip.

  “We have to make this meeting kind of quick, I believe there is another meeting coming in here after us,” says Sheila.

  “Aren’t there other conference rooms on base?” asks Kyle.

  “Yeah, but not like this one. ACT can you stop recording, turn off all cameras, microphones, and everything except the lights and air conditioning,” says Sheila.

  “As you command,” replies a female automated voice that came from the phone and several cameras and speakers that are in the conference room.

  “ACT?” asks Kyle.

  “It stands for Automated AI Connected Technology, and it was developed by O2U,” answers Sheila.

  “Is ACT all over the base?” asks Kristina.

  “Yeah, unfortunately, or fortunately however you want to look at it,” answers Sheila.

  “How are you and the family holding up?” asks Elias to Kyle and Kristina.

  “Good, we are hanging in there,” answers Kyle.

  “How is the work in the lab going?” asks Sheila to Kyle and Kristina.

  “It’s boring intern work, but it’s good,” answers Kristina.

  “Well, I think your fellow agents from CBD have found something in their research and they could be wanting your help,” says Sheila.

  “What did they find?” asks Kyle.

  “I only got a piece of it, but they found out that there are genetic differences between people both living and dead,” answers Sheila.

  “Obviously though, living tissue is going to be different than dead tissue,” says Kristina.

  “Show them the video,” says Elias.

  “ACT, please turn on the projector,” says Sheila and the projector turns on and Sheila grabs a small drive from her bag.

  “ACT turn off tracking and tracing for all drives in this room,” says Sheila.

  “Security code please,” replies ACT.

  “Security code Elias the wolf,” says Sheila.

  Kyle looks at Elias and Elias says to Kyle, “I didn’t come up with that.”

  “Security code verified,” says ACT.

  Sheila inserts the drive into a USB port, dims the lights in the conference room, and makes ACT play several video files on the drive.

  “This is normal human blood, and you see it’s nothing abnormal. This is normal brain tissue, and everything looks normal,” says Sheila as she plays the video on the projector in the conference room.

  “We’ve seen the normal tissue samples in our lab work here,” says Kristina.

  “Well this is abnormal blood and brain tissue,” says Sheila as a different video file plays on the projector.

  Kristina sees that everyone is looking at the projector and that she may be able to place the chip somewhere.

  Kyle looks at the projector screen and he sees blood and brain tissue samples on the video, and they turn from normal healthy tissue into dark and almost dead tissue.

  “Okay, so the tissues are dead and necrotic,” says Kyle.

  “Just keep watching,” says Sheila.

  The black tissue turns dark red and the blood cells are moving, but something is different about them.

  “Are these samples from the dead?” asks Kristina.

  “The samples are from normal healthy adults that are still alive,” answers Sheila.

  “All three samples?” asks Kyle.

  “Yeah, three different people,” answers Sheila.

  “We’ve also seen people die and come back as zombies, and others die, and they stay dead,” says Elias.

  “So only some people come back as zombies when they die?” asks Kyle.

  “Hard to say a definite yes, but it looks that way,” answers Elias.

  Sheila removes her drive from the USB port and has ACT turn off the projector and brighten the lights in the conference room.

  “So, we aren’t all infected?” asks Kristina.

  “No way to tell just yet, but I want you two working with more than just blood samples now. We need hard evidence to show if everyone is infected, or if only some are infected. We need clear cut evidence and proof in samples,” answers Sheila.

  “But does it really matter? People are turning into zombies either way. What difference does it make if only certain people do and others don’t?” asks Kyle.

  “We have our reasons, and we want to know everything that we can about everything that is going on in the world,” answers Sheila.

  “What does Commander Pine say?” asks Kyle.

  “She gives us the political answers, but nothing of substance,” answers Sheila.

  “But what do you want from us? You have more clearance than us,” says Kristina.

  “That’s part of the problem. Our clearance gets us into certain places, but Commander Pine’s people steer clear of us and they keep working in the lab that only they can get into,” replies Sheila.

  “Who does Commander Pine work for? Who is her superior?” asks Kyle.

  “We aren’t sure with 100 percent certainty, but the name Lieutenant General Swartz has come up recently and I think he’s the person Commander Pine is reporting to now,” answers Elias.

  “Paxton overheard some soldiers saying that a group plans on coming here in a couple days, and I think Lieutenant General Swartz could be with those people,” says Sheila.

  Kyle and Kristina look at Paxton and Paxton says, “There has been a lot of chatter about more groups going out and troops all over the country fighting the dead and trying to help survivors.”

  “Any specifics on locations where troops are at?” asks Kyle.

  “Nothing concrete, but I know the dead are taking over a lot of the country now and it hasn’t been contained to the Northeast anymore,” answers Paxton.

  “I have a couple questions about Fort Derrick,” says Kyle.

  Elias, Paxton, and Sheila look at Kyle and Kyle asks, “Who runs this place?”

  “I’m not really sure who is in charge now as some leaders have come and gone since we’ve been here,” answers Sheila.

  “How much food, water, and supplies are on base? Do we have enough for everyone here to live for years?” asks Kyle.

  “We aren’t sure, but they locked everything down on base besides the cafeteria and the Px if you have a military ID and credit on your ID,” says Sheila.

  “What if I wanted to get some stuff from the Px though? I don’t have a military ID,” says Kristina.

  “We’ll see what we can do about that. How are you doing with food and supplies in your house?” asks Elias.

  “We are starting to run low, and we can’t buy anything on base, so I guess we’ll have to makes some trips outside of base,” answers Kyle.

  “What house are you in?” asks Elias to Kyle.

&
nbsp; “1182,” answers Kyle.

  Elias writes Kyle’s house number down on a piece of paper and Elias asks, “How many people are living in your house?”

  Kristina starts to count how many people are in their house and she answers, “Kyle, me, Kaden, and four others.”

  Elias writes down something next to Kyle’s house number on his piece of paper.

  “So just to summarize everything, we need you both to keep working in the lab and keep doing good work. We are trying to get you two higher lab clearance, but we have to pull the right strings around here,” says Sheila.

  “I’ll see if our fellow agents from CBD can get us into their lab and we can see what they are working on,” says Kristina.

  “That would be helpful,” replies Sheila.

  ACT says, “Your time is almost up in this room. You have five minutes before your appointment time is over.”

  “Thank you ACT, we will be leaving shortly,” replies Sheila.

  “Would you like a reminder when you have one minute left?” asks ACT.

  “That would be fine,” replies Sheila to ACT.

  “That’s kind of creepy,” says Kyle.

  “ACT, power off for the last few minutes please,” says Sheila.

  “Security code for me to power off,” replies ACT.

  Sheila says, “Elias the big bad wolf.”

  “Code accepted. Powering off now,” replies ACT.

  Sheila sees the red light on the main ACT control box that is over the conference room door turn off and Sheila says to Kyle and Kristina, “Be careful what you say and do on base. ACT is everywhere and they monitor everything.”

  “Is ACT AI, or monitored by people?” asks Kyle.

  “We aren’t sure, but I think both,” answers Sheila.

  “Is ACT in our homes?” asks Kyle.

  “Yeah, it’s everywhere,” answers Sheila.

  “We could get into a lot of trouble telling you this, so please be careful and we never had this conversation about ACT,” says Sheila.

  “Why not turn ACT off for our whole meeting?” asks Kyle to Sheila.

  “ACT can only be turned off for a couple minutes, and it turns back on for security purposes,” answers Sheila.

  Kristina thinks about what to do with the chip that Kyle gave her, and she isn’t sure that she’ll be able to safely place the chip in the room when ACT turns back on.

  “It feels like this is a trust building meeting, and I have an action of trust to show you all,” says Kristina.

  Kyle looks at Kristina and wonders what Kristina is doing.

  “Can we trust you?” asks Kristina to Elias, Sheila, and Paxton.

  “Yes,” answers Sheila.

  “I believe trust is earned and I want to trust everything you told us today,” replies Kristina.

  “You have one minute remaining in the conference room,” says ACT.

  “Wait,” says Sheila to Kristina as Sheila sees the red light of ACT still on.

  The red light of ACT turns off and Sheila says, “Okay go, but make it quick.”

  Kristina reaches into her bra, pulls out the black chip, and says, “This is a listening device that we want to plant, and I want your help with planting it.”

  Kyle looks at Kristina and wonders what Sheila, Elias, and Paxton are thinking.

  Sheila looks around the room and says, “Put it under the phone.”

  Sheila flips over the video phone that is in the center of the conference room table, and Paxton asks, “Can the device be put inside the phone and still work?”

  “I don’t know, but we can try,” answers Kristina.

  Paxton pops open the bottom of the video phone covering and Sheila says, “Hurry, ACT is coming back online any second.”

  Kristina sticks the chip inside the conference room video phone and Paxton attaches the bottom covering back onto the video phone.

  ACT turns back online and says, “Your time in this room is up. Please exit the room now.”

  “We are leaving right now ACT,” replies Sheila.

  Sheila, Paxton, Elias, Kyle, and Kristina gather their belongings. Paxton adjusts the conference room video phone, and they all exit the conference room.

  “Let’s leave separately, but we’ll be in touch,” says Sheila to Kyle and Kristina.

  “Thank you,” replies Kyle with a quiet tone.

  Paxton, Sheila, and Elias walk away from Kyle and Kristina.

  Kristina says, “That was a….”

  Kyle interrupts Kristina, “Careful Sweets.”

  “Sorry,” replies Kristina.

  Kyle looks up at the interior hallway ceiling and he sees multiple cameras and microphones in the interior hallway ceiling.

  CHAPTER 5

  DAY 45

  DING DONG!

  The doorbell of the Sinclair house rings, and Kaden answers the front door.

  Kaden opens the front door, and he sees Paxton holding a large brown box and Paxton is wearing military fatigues, a military hat, and a brown face covering that is covering his nose, mouth, and the bottom half of his face.

  “Here is another box for you guys,” says Paxton to Kaden.

  Kaden places the box down just inside the Sinclair’s home and Kaden asks, “What’s up with the face covering?”

  In a quiet tone Paxton answers, “Trying to keep a low profile. This is the last box E and S can give you guys. Tell your mom and dad to come by my house later.”

  “Thank you, I will tell them,” replies Kaden and then Paxton walks away from the Sinclair’s house.

  “Who was at the door?” asks Kristina as she walks over to Kaden.

  Kaden pushes the box into the house and Kaden closes the front door.

  “Pax… I mean P delivered this box and he said to tell you for you and dad to come by his house later today,” answers Kaden.

  Kristina opens the box, and she sees a plethora of food, water, and supplies.

  “Let’s unload this box and put it with the other stuff we got,” says Kristina.

  Kaden picks up the large brown box and brings it into the kitchen.

  “He said that this is the last box E and S could give us,” says Kaden as Kristina grabs a box of cereal and a can of coffee out of the box Paxton just gave them.

  “This along with the other boxes they gave us should get us through for a while,” says Kristina.

  “Are we ever going to be able to leave this base?” asks Kaden.

  “I’m not sure K, but right now things are looking up for us,” answers Kristina.

  “Maybe for you and dad, but Ashlyn and I are bored to death here,” responds Kaden.

  Ashlyn walks into the kitchen and she sees the box sitting on the kitchen counter.

  “Are you bored around here Ash?” asks Kristina.

  Ashlyn looks at Kaden and answers Kristina, “Not really, I try to stay busy. I’ve been working out more and I found some pretty good books to read.”

  “See K, Ash is finding stuff to keep her busy,” says Kristina as she grabs the last product out of the large brown box.

  Ashlyn looks at Kaden and smiles.

  “Mom, you know how many days it’s been since the world fell apart?” asks Kaden.

  “Here we go,” jokes Ashlyn.

  Kristina closes the pantry and doesn’t answer Kaden.

  “Forty five, today by my count is the forty fifth day since the zombies started roaming the streets and taking over,” says Kaden.

  “What’s your point K?” asks Kristina.

  “My point is that the world is changing, and I don’t think it’s going to ever go back to what it was,” answers Kaden.

  “Well, a lot of people here including me, and your dad are working on ending the zombies and helping to bring back the way things were,” says Kristina.

  “But how can we survive when we are outnumbered by the dead two million to one?” asks Kaden.

  “The best way is to stay away from them and stay behind the walls like we have here,” answers Kri
stina.

  Ashlyn says, “It’s very safe here and the walls go all around the base.”

  Kristina comes over to Kaden and whisperers in his ear, “Remember what we said about the cameras in here, keep it positive and that you are happy to be here.”

  Kaden is about to reply to Kristina and Kristina interrupts in a quiet tone to Kaden, “It’s a matter of life or death, if they hear you bad mouthing this place then they could kick us out.”

  Kristina makes eye contact with Kaden and Kaden says to Kristina, “Yes ma’am.”

  “I thought you, Ashlyn, and Stan were going to an MMA class today?” asks Kristina.

  “We are, it’s at 2:30,” answers Kaden.

  “I wonder if any other people are age will be there?” asks Kaden.

  “Hopefully, it would be good for you to hang out with a couple kids your age,” says Kristina.

  Kyle walks into the kitchen and says to Kristina, “Come up to Kiran’s room with me.”

  “Is everything okay?” asks Kristina.

  Kyle looks up at the ACT camera in the kitchen and answers Kristina, “Yeah everything’s fine, I just need your help with something.”

  Kyle and Kristina walk up the stairs and go into Kiran and Evelyn’s bedroom.

  Kiran is wearing headphones as he sits at a chair at his makeshift electronics table.

  “But what about?” asks Kristina as she looks at the ACT camera in the corner of the bedroom.

  Kyle interrupts Kristina, “He’s listening to music and we moved things around for a better fit in the room.”

  Kristina realizes that Kyle and Kiran moved things around the room so that Kiran’s table is only minimally seen on the camera in the bedroom and Kiran wears headphones when he’s listening to people talk over the radios and on the chip that Kristina placed in the conference room video phone.

  Kiran takes off his headphones and hands Kyle a legal pad.

  Kyle reads the legal pad, and it reads, “Commander Pine has her own personal hard drive on the ACT server. It’s called Drive Z, and she’s been recording her meetings, lab work, conference calls, and basically everything she does in the conference room.”

  “Good stuff,” says Kyle to Kiran.

  “Let’s go for a ride,” says Kiran to Kyle and Kristina.

  Kyle, Kiran, and Kristina exit Kiran’s room, walk down the stairs, exit their house, and enter Kyle’s SUV that is parked in the street in front of their house. Kyle sits in the driver seat, Kiran sits in the passenger seat, and Kristina sits in the backseat.