In 100 Days | Book 2

by Grenda, Brian

  As the lead soldier steps towards Kyle, Kyle’s reflex is to strike the soldier in the throat and grab the soldier’s pistol, but Kyle doesn’t act on his impulse to attack the soldier.

  “We will go with you willingly, but let me go get everyone,” says Kyle to the lead soldier.

  “You have four minutes,” replies the lead soldier to Kyle.

  Kyle walks up the stairs.

  The lead soldier closes the front door, and the two other soldiers check the first floor of the Sinclair home.

  “We’re in 1182. We have five left to load into the truck and then we’re coming to you at the testing site,” says the lead soldier into his earpiece.

  “Are we really going with them?” asks Kristina as Kyle walks into his bedroom with Kristina.

  “Why are you in our house?” shouts Stan to the two soldiers as he sits in the kitchen.

  “Shit go wake up Kaden and Ashlyn,” says Kyle to Kristina.

  Kyle walks down the stairs and he sees Stan arguing with the two soldiers in the kitchen.

  “You are coming with us for testing,” says one of the soldiers to Stan.

  “Testing for what?” asks Stan.

  “It doesn’t matter, it’s protocol now that everyone on base gets tested,” answers the soldier.

  Stan looks at Kyle and asks, “Can you believe this shit?”

  “Yeah, but we have to do it, I guess,” answers Kyle.

  “Three minutes,” says the lead soldier as he is standing near the Sinclair’s closed front door.

  “I’m going to check on Ashlyn,” says Stan and then Stan exits the kitchen and walks upstairs.

  Kyle walks towards the stairs and glances at the lead soldier.

  Kyle notices that the lead soldier and the other two soldiers are wearing different fatigues than the troops that Kyle has seen around base before.

  “What branch are you with?” asks Kyle to the lead soldier.

  “We are Army,” answers the lead soldier.

  “Does that matter?” asks one of the soldiers to Kyle that come over to the lead soldier.

  “No, just curious. Haven’t seen you guys before,” answers Kyle.

  “The first floor is clear, the other four must be upstairs,” says the other soldier to the lead soldier.

  “Everyone is upstairs now,” says Kyle.

  Kyle looks over the soldiers and wonders who they are with and why he hasn’t seen other soldiers like them before.

  “You have thirty seconds!” shouts the lead soldier.

  Kristina walks down the stairs with Kaden and Kristina hands Kyle his jacket.

  “Where are the other two?” asks the lead soldier.

  Stan and Ashlyn come walking down the stairs and then stand by Kristina and Kaden while Kyle stands in front of the lead soldier.

  “We are coming to the truck with five from 1182,” says the lead soldier into his earpiece.

  “Great, load them up and bring them into Building E,” says a person into the lead soldiers earpiece.

  “Where are we going?” asks Ashlyn to Stan with a scared tone.

  The three soldiers take everyone from the Sinclair home, and they put them into the back of a military transport truck.

  “You guys bringing us back here?” asks Kyle.

  “Yeah, we’ll chauffeur everyone around,” jokes one of the soldiers.

  Kyle looks into the back of the military transport truck and he sees several people sitting on bench seats on each side of the military truck.

  Kyle, Kristina, and Kaden sit together at the back of the military transport truck and Stan and Ashlyn sit across from them.

  The soldiers get into the military truck and the military truck drives away from the Sinclair’s home.

  “Where are they taking us?” asks Kaden as he sits between Kristina and Kyle.

  “For testing,” answers Kyle.

  “I heard they get samples of every fluid and substance in our bodies,” says a skinny Caucasian middle aged man that is sitting next to Kristina.

  “I’m sure they’ll just take blood, saliva, and urine,” replies Kristina.

  “I heard the testing can take an hour per person,” says the skinny Caucasian middle aged man that is sitting next to Kristina.

  “And just whom have you heard that from?” asks Kristina back to the skinny Caucasian middle aged man.

  “My neighbors, they were tested two days ago,” answers the skinny Caucasian middle aged man.

  Kyle sees that Ashlyn is scared and Kyle tries to comfort Ashlyn, “We’ll be okay. I’m sure they’ll just take some samples, and it should be quick.”

  “She hates giving blood and needles though,” says Stan.

  “Me too, but the trick is not to look at the needles when they take your blood,” says Kyle to Ashlyn.

  “It will be okay,” says Kaden to Ashlyn.

  Ashlyn smiles at Kaden.

  Kyle notices that Ashlyn is smiling at Kaden and Kaden smiles back at Ashlyn.

  “What’s your name?” asks Kristina to the skinny Caucasian middle aged man that is sitting next to her.

  “Emerson, I’m Emerson,” he answers.

  “Nice to meet you, I’m Kristina,” replies Kristina.

  “Do you live here by yourself?” asks Kristina to Emerson.

  “I am now, my wife and daughter have been missing for four days now,” answers Emerson.

  “What happened to them?” asks Kristina.

  “They were taken by some people from here,” answers Emerson.

  An overweight Caucasian man that is sitting across from Emerson and Kristina has been watching and listening to the whole conversation between Emerson and Kristina.

  The large military transport truck stops, and four different soldiers open the back hatch to the military transport truck.

  “Everyone off, nice and slow!” shouts one of the soldiers to everyone that is in the military transport truck.

  Kyle, Stan, Ashlyn, and Kaden exit the military transport truck.

  Kristina is helped off the military transport truck by Kyle.

  Kaden and Ashlyn look at each other and Ashlyn grabs Kaden’s left hand.

  “Follow me!” shouts a soldier to everyone that got off the military transport truck.

  Kyle counts how many people got off the military transport truck and he estimates that twenty other people were on the truck with him and his group.

  The soldiers make the group that just got off the military transport truck walk in two separate lines next to each other down the wide sidewalk.

  Emerson is a couple people ahead of Kristina in the line next to Kristina and the man that was sitting across from Emerson and Kristina inside the military transport truck says to Kristina as he walks in the line next to her, “That guy is crazy.”

  Kyle, while walking behind Kristina, sees and hears the man in the line next to Kristina talk to her.

  Kristina looks at the man, while she keeps walking, and the man says, “He probably killed his wife and daughter.”

  “What makes you say that?” asks Kristina to the man as she continues walking with the others towards the back of Building E.

  “My family and I live across the street from him, and he’s always yelling and screaming in the house,” answers the man.

  “That doesn’t make him a killer though,” replies Kristina.

  “Yeah, but the two graves in the backyard might,” responds the man to Kristina.

  Kristina looks at the man with a shocked expression.

  “He lives in 991, go see for yourself,” says the man to Kristina.

  The two lines of people go into separate testing sections inside Building E.

  Kristina, Kyle, Kaden, Ashlyn, and Stan are all together in line with fifteen other people as they enter a large auditorium inside Building E. The people in line are all of different ages, sexes, and races.

  “Reminds me of the vaccine lines for the pandemic a couple years ago,” says Kristina to Kyle as Kristina and Kyle look
around the large open auditorium that is broken up into sections where different examinations, testing, and imaging is being performed on large groups of people.

  “Yeah, glad we didn’t get that vaccine though,” replies Kyle.

  Kristina is told by a female nurse to come with her into a medical tent.

  Kyle, Kaden, Ashlyn, and Stan watch as Kristina walks with the female nurse away from them. Kyle starts to worry as Kristina is taken away from him.

  “Do you think this will be quick?” asks Kaden to Kyle.

  “I’m not sure, but I’m coming in with you,” answers Kyle.

  Ashlyn looks at Stan and asks, “Are you coming in with me?”

  “Do you want me to?” asks Stan.

  “Yeah, you know I hate needles,” answers Ashlyn.

  Several minutes go by and a different female nurse comes over to Kaden and tells him to follow her.

  “I’m coming with him,” says Kyle to the female nurse.

  The female nurse looks at Kyle and replies, “We test each person individually.”

  “Well, he’s my son and he’s not being tested without me being in there with him,” says Kyle.

  The female nurse gives Kyle a look of frustration and sees that Kyle is going to be giving her a problem.

  “He’s your son?” asks the female nurse to Kyle.

  “Yeah,” answers Kyle.

  “You two follow me then,” says the female nurse.

  Kaden and Kyle go into a makeshift testing booth inside the large auditorium of Building E.

  The nurse that Kaden and Kyle followed asks them both a couple questions and she starts typing onto a tablet.

  “I’ll start with Kaden and then I’ll switch over to you. I need to make two separate files,” says the female nurse to Kyle.

  “What are you testing us for?” asks Kyle to the female nurse.

  The female nurse gives Kyle an annoyed look and Kyle notices the look and says with a loud tone, “We have a right to know what you are doing to us.”

  “Keep your voice down, it will be far worse for you if you cause trouble,” says the female nurse to Kyle.

  “I’m sorry, this is just a lot to take in today. These soldiers came to our house and made us come here,” says Kyle to the female nurse.

  The female nurse feels for Kyle and her annoyed look turns into an empathetic one.

  “They are looking for different antibodies in everyone’s blood. They are taking blood, saliva, and urine,” says the female nurse to Kyle.

  “What antibodies are they looking for?” asks Kyle to the female nurse.

  The female nurse types something on her tablet and answers Kyle, “I don’t know, but the word is that some people are infected with an unknown virus.”

  Someone walks by the booth that Kyle and Kaden are in and the female nurse stops talking.

  “I work in the labs in building F, are the blood samples being checked here on base?” asks Kyle.

  “I don’t know. I just draw the samples, put the samples in the machine, and then they take it from there… Unless the samples show us something right away,” answers the female nurse and then she puts a white wristband that has a barcode around Kaden’s right wrist.

  About thirty minutes go by and Kaden and Kyle are done with the female nurse and nothing is found initially in Kyle and Kaden’s blood.

  “Your samples are numbered 10129 and 10130 in the system. If you work in the lab, you might be able to see what they are testing for,” says the female nurse to Kyle.

  “Thank you for your help,” replies Kyle.

  “You didn’t hear any of this from me,” responds the female nurse to Kyle and then she scans Kaden and Kyle’s wristbands.

  A male medical professional comes over to Kyle and Kaden’s booth and says, “Come with me.”

  Kyle and Kaden exit their booth and Kyle asks the male medical professional, “What are we doing now?”

  The male medical professional takes Kyle and Kaden into a room and then closes the door behind him.

  “The next part of your testing is checking your urine, saliva, and body for any bites or scratches from the dead,” says the medical professional to Kyle and Kaden.

  “You serious about the visual inspection of our bodies?” asks Kyle.

  “Yeah, I can break it up while one is giving urine the other can be checked for bites and scratches,” answers the male medical professional.

  “Isn’t it a little late to be checking for bites and scratches?” asks Kyle to the male medical professional.

  “Look, I just do the testing. I don’t make the reasons why for the testing,” replies the male medical professional to Kyle.

  “Okay, I just thought it was interesting that we are finally being checked,” says Kyle.

  The male medical professional puts two specimen cups on a bedside table and Kaden looks at Kyle.

  “You go do the urine sample, and I’ll get checked first,” says Kyle to Kaden.

  Kaden looks at Kyle with a concerned look.

  “You had to do it for physicals before,” says Kyle to Kaden.

  “But where do I piss at? In here?” asks Kaden.

  The medical professional chuckles, opens the door, and answers, “No, we have a bathroom.”

  Kaden takes one of the specimen cups and the male medical professional goes with Kaden to the bathroom.

  Kyle sits in the room and wonders what all the testing is about, what the samples are showing, who ordered the testing, and who is examining the samples.

  The male medical professional comes back in and scans Kyle’s white wristband barcode.

  Kyle starts to take off his shirt and the male medical professional says, “You don’t need to do that. We have a scanner in the room that can check your skin through your clothes along with your temperature and vitals.”

  “Okay what do I do?” asks Kyle.

  “Stand on the x, with your arms at your sides, and don’t move,” answers the male medical professional.

  Kyle stands up and he stands on the black x that is in the center of the room and the male medical professional says, “ACT, scan the subject please.”

  “As you wish. With the programmed settings?” asks ACT to the male medical professional.

  “Yes,” answers the male medical professional with a frustrated tone.

  “Scanning in three, two, one,” says ACT and then a blue light comes over Kyle’s head and scans Kyle’s whole body from head to toe.

  “Scan complete,” says ACT.

  “Thank you,” replies the male medical professional with a sarcastic tone.

  Kaden comes back into the room with his urine sample.

  “Okay, you are up dad,” says the male medical professional to Kyle.

  Kaden looks at Kyle and Kyle notices that Kaden looks worried.

  “It will be fine, you keep your clothes on and they scan your body,” says Kyle to Kaden.

  “Okay, whatever they need,” replies Kaden with a calm tone.

  Kyle enters the bathroom and Kyle pees in the specimen cup.

  Kyle puts the cap back onto the specimen cup and wonders why they need urine and what it will show.

  10130 is on the side of the specimen cup and Kyle wonders if his sample is numbered 10130 because he is the 10,130th sample and that is how they are numbered.

  Kyle goes back into the room and gives his specimen cup to the male medical professional.

  “You guys are all done with me, and I think that’s all we need from you,” says the male medical professional.

  “That’s it, are you sure?” asks Kyle.

  The male medical professional looks at his tablet and he reads the files for Kyle and Kaden and answers Kyle, “Yeah, that’s all we need from you two.”

  “Where is my wife? Is she done with testing?” asks Kyle to the male medical professional.

  The male medical professional looks at Kyle and answers, “I can’t give you specifics about her testing, but I can see if she is done with g
iving samples.”

  “What about Ashlyn and Stan?” asks Kaden.

  “We have two other people with us. Can you see if they are done as well?” asks Kyle.

  The male medical professional looks on his tablet, opens a couple files, and answers Kyle, “Your wife is done, and she should be outside.”

  “How do we get outside?” asks Kyle.

  “I’ll take you out there in a second,” answers the male medical professional and then he sees something on his tablet that he finds interesting.

  Kyle notices the look on the male medical professional’s face as he is reading something on his tablet.

  “What are you reading?” asks Kyle to the male medical professional.

  The male medical professional tries to hide the fact that he is extremely interested in something he saw on his tablet and answers Kyle, “The other two that are with you are still testing.”

  “When will they be done?” asks Kaden to the male medical professional.

  “I’m not sure, but they are being tested for a couple other things right now,” answers the male medical professional and then the male medical professional escorts Kyle and Kaden out of Building E and Kaden sees Kristina sitting on a bench.

  Kyle sees Kaden and Kristina embracing, but he is more interested in what the male medical professional saw on his tablet when he was seeing if Stan and Ashlyn were done testing.

  “Are the other two people that are with us, Stan and Ashlyn, in trouble?” asks Kyle to the male medical professional as they stand near the side exit to Building E.

  The male medical professional goes to walk away from Kyle, but Kyle grabs the male medical professional’s right arm.

  “Please, they are our friends and I need to know if they are in danger,” says Kyle to the male medical professional.

  “I could hit a button and you would be surrounded in a second,” says the male medical professional with a scared tone.

  Kyle releases the male medical professional’s right arm.

  “I’m sorry, but they are important to me,” says Kyle to the male medical professional.

  The male medical professional feels that Kyle does not mean any harm and that he is only looking for answers.

  “I can’t tell you specifics, but the girl was flagged for something and she’s having more tests done,” says the male medical professional to Kyle.