In 100 Days | Book 2

by Grenda, Brian

  Kyle thinks about Kaden’s question and at first he thinks it is a bad idea and that he doesn’t want to risk it. Kyle arrives at the parking lot of the building where their office is located and Kyle, Kristina, and Kaden see several groups of soldiers and several different kinds of military robots walking and rolling near the groups of soldiers.

  “When did these robots get here?” asks Kristina as she sees two robots that are standing among a group of soldiers and two smaller robots that are rolling along the sidewalk.

  Kaden sees the two robots that are standing among the group of soldiers and he notices the silver and black paint on the robot soldiers and what looks like a screen and several cameras on the face of the robotic soldiers.

  “Let’s get to the office,” says Kyle.

  Kristina, Kaden, and Kyle exit Kyle’s SUV and they walk down the sidewalk.

  A soldier stops Kyle and asks to see all of their orange badges.

  Kyle, Kristina, and Kaden show the soldier their orange badges and the soldier allows them to keep walking towards the entrance of the building where their office is located.

  Kaden sees a soldier touch the screen on the robotic soldier’s face and the soldier taps the touch screen and the robotic soldier powers on.

  “Wow, that’s pretty cool,” says Kaden.

  The soldier that just powered the robotic soldier on looks at Kaden and smiles.

  The robotic soldier scans everything around him and he looks at Kyle, Kaden, and Kristina.

  Kyle looks at the robotic soldier and he is worried what the robotic soldier will do. “Come on Kaden,” says Kyle.

  Kaden runs over to Kyle and Kristina and Kaden says, “Those soldiers are pretty awesome.”

  “Hopefully they worked out the kinks in their software,” says Kyle.

  Kaden, Kyle, and Kristina get in the elevator and Kaden asks, “What do you mean?”

  “Those robotic soldiers aren’t anything new. We saw the second generation models of them, and they had a problem with their software and AI,” answers Kristina.

  The elevator doors open, and Kaden says, “I hope so, robotic soldiers could be a gamechanger.”

  Kaden, Kyle, and Kristina enter their office and they see a folded note on their desk.

  Kyle grabs the note and reads, “K & K, I hope you are doing well. Please call me when you get a chance. I have some news that I want to share with you.”

  “What does it say? Who’s it from?” asks Kristina to Kyle.

  Kyle answers, “It’s from Dr. Smith. She gave us her number and she wants to talk with us.”

  “See aren’t you glad we came here today,” replies Kristina.

  Kaden sits at the desk and punches in the code into the number pad of the drawer that his laptop and tablet are in.

  Kyle adds Dr. Smith’s number into his smartwatch, and he calls her.

  There is no answer from Dr. Smith and Kyle leaves her a short message and he tells her to call her back.

  “Now what do we do?” asks Kristina.

  Kaden powers on his tablet and laptop as he sits at the office desk.

  “We wait,” answers Kyle.

  Kristina puts Dr. Smith’s number in her smartwatch and Kyle looks at Kaden who is doing something on his laptop.

  “Did you read that article I gave you?” asks Kaden to Kyle.

  Kyle answers, “Yeah, I’m about halfway through it. I’m on Day 59.”

  “What do you think of it?” asks Kaden as he types something on his laptop.

  “No, the question is, what do you think about it?” answers Kyle.

  “What are we talking about?” asks Kristina.

  “A research article that discusses the doomsday situation of a zombie apocalypse and what would happen over the first 100 days,” answers Kyle.

  “Sounds like a great read,” jokes Kristina.

  “Well, I think it’s interesting and worth a read for the current state of the world,” says Kaden.

  “Do you think the world will really be in such disarray on the 100th day?” asks Kyle.

  “I thought you only read half of the article?” asks Kaden.

  “I did, but I’m sure the planet, in the article, will have a small number of survivors, limited food, energy, drinkable water, and resources to stay alive,” answers Kyle.

  “Should we be worried?” asks Kaden.

  Kyle looks at Kristina for the answer to Kaden’s question and Kristina answers, “Worrying about things is wasted mental energy. Worrying about things makes people go crazy and become dangerous.”

  “You two aren’t worried about things? You aren’t worried about Ashlyn and Stan?” asks Kaden as he looks at Kyle and Kristina.

  Kyle thinks about Kaden’s questions and wonders about how to answer them as he asks himself, “Should I tell Kaden that I’m worried about them and then he might be worried about them too, or tell him some inspirational and motivational answer.”

  Before Kyle can answer Kaden, Kristina answers Kaden, “I’m worried about seeing them again as they went so far away, but I think they will be okay, and we will see them again.”

  “How can you be so sure?” asks Kaden to Kristina.

  “I can’t be sure, but I have faith that it will work out for them and us,” answers Kristina.

  Kyle’s smartwatch rings and he gets a call from Dr. Smith. Kyle answers the call and Dr. Smith says over the smartwatch, “I’m glad you got my note. Are you able to meet today?”

  “Yeah, what time and where?” asks Kyle into his smartwatch.

  “I’m just finishing up something in the lab and then I can meet you in about an hour,” answers Dr. Smith over the smartwatch.

  “Where?” asks Kyle into his smartwatch.

  “My house is the most secure location,” answers Dr. Smith over the smartwatch.

  “Okay, we will see you in an hour,” replies Kyle into his smartwatch.

  Kyle ends his call with Dr. Smith and Kristina asks, “I wonder what news she has for us?”

  “We’ll find out in an hour,” answers Kyle.

  “What are you going to do while we are gone?” asks Kristina to Kaden.

  Kaden, while looking at his laptop, answers, “I’m going to try to see what I can find out about those robot soldiers.”

  “You aren’t going down there,” says Kyle.

  “No, I’m going to check online for any information about them and what they are capable of,” replies Kaden.

  “Just be careful online and the server,” responds Kyle to Kaden.

  “I will, I’ll stay on the secure server,” says Kaden.

  About forty minutes go by and Kyle says, “Let’s get going. The anticipation of meeting Dr. Smith is getting to me.”

  “Make sure you stay here and don’t let anyone in this office. Your dad and I and Dr. Smith are the only ones with the code to get in here,” says Kristina to Kaden.

  “I will mom, I know the drill,” replies Kaden.

  Kyle and Kristina say goodbye to Kaden, and they exit the office.

  As soon as Kyle and Kristina exit the office, Kaden opens a tab on his laptop, and he clicks on a folder of the secure drive that Commander Pine had access to. Kaden sees something on the secure server that interests him, and Kaden says to himself, “Now let’s see what’s really going on around here.”

  Kyle and Kristina exit the building and they notice that the troops, robotic soldiers, and everyone that they saw on the way into the building is now gone and it’s very quiet.

  “I wonder where all those troops were going today?” asks Kristina as she walks with Kyle down the sidewalk and towards Kyle’s SUV.

  “I’m sure it was something off base and something to do with bringing more test subjects back here,” answers Kyle as he opens his SUV driver side door.

  Kyle exits the parking lot and Kristina asks, “Can I ask you something about Evelyn and Kiran?”

  Kyle drives down the street and answers, “Yeah.”

  “It’s kind of a sen
sitive subject though,” replies Kristina.

  “Just ask,” responds Kyle.

  Kristina feels the awkwardness in Kyle’s SUV now and she thinks to herself that she shouldn’t have even brought up the topic of Kiran and Evelyn.

  Kyle also feels the tension in his SUV, and he says, “Please just ask your question. It’s awkward in here now.”

  Kristina doesn’t want to ask her question anymore, but how can she not ask it now.

  “What is it Sweets?” asks Kyle as he makes a right hand turn.

  Kristina asks, “I was just wondering if you knew for a fact that Evelyn was killed.”

  “No, I don’t know for a fact about Evelyn. The only fact that I do know about is that my brother died and was killed by the people here,” replies Kyle.

  “I’m sorry I brought it up,” says Kristina.

  “Well, you did and now we need to talk about it,” replies Kyle.

  Kristina feels bad about bringing up the question about Evelyn and she sits silently in Kyle’s SUV as Kyle approaches Dr. Smith’s house.

  Kyle parks his SUV in the street in front of Dr. Smith’s house and he notices that the driveway is empty.

  “Why did you bring that up?” asks Kyle as he looks down the street through his front windshield.

  “I’m sorry,” answers Kristina.

  “Don’t be sorry. Why did you bring up that question about Evelyn, now?” asks Kyle.

  Kristina looks at Kyle and Kristina answers, “I just keep wondering if she’s with the other z subjects in the warehouse now.”

  Kyle thinks about Kiran and Evelyn, Kiran dying in the hospital bed, and what may be happening to Evelyn right now.

  A car pulls into Dr. Smith’s driveway and Kyle and Kristina see Dr. Smith exit her car. Kyle says to Kristina, “Dr. Smith is probably the best person to ask about Evelyn.”

  Dr. Smith, from her front porch step, says to Kyle and Kristina, “I’ll meet you two inside.”

  Kristina nods her head and mouths the word okay to Dr. Smith and Dr. Smith goes inside her house.

  Kyle lets out an exhale and Kristina can sense that Kyle is mad about her bringing up the subject of Evelyn and Kiran.

  “I’m sorry I brought it up, I didn’t mean to make it awkward with us,” says Kristina to Kyle.

  Kyle gathers his thoughts and replies to Kristina, “I’m sure you didn’t, and I’m sure I’m still being sensitive about the whole subject, but let’s get our answers in here first with Dr. Smith and then go from there.” Kyle finishes his statement to Kristina, and then he exits from his SUV.

  Kristina exits from Kyle’s SUV as well and she watches Kyle walk into Dr. Smith’s house.

  Kristina feels awkward about this meeting and she wishes she never brought up the topic of Evelyn on the way over to the house.

  Dr. Smith exits from a bedroom and she meets Kyle in the living room. Kyle notices that Dr. Smith changed out of her work attire and lab coat and she put on some workout attire of black leggings and a short sleeved pink workout shirt.

  “Sorry about the attire, but I want to go for a run after our meeting,” says Dr. Smith to Kyle.

  Kristina walks into the living room and she notices that Dr. Smith is wearing the running attire and her clothes are form fitting and showing off her lean muscular body.

  “So what did you find out?” asks Kyle to Dr. Smith.

  Dr. Smith answers, “I was in touch with Marissa and she was in Chicago.”

  Kristina looks at a picture that is on a table in the living room and the picture is of Dr. Smith and Commander Pine. Kristina notices that they are wearing hiking gear and they are standing side by side with one of their arms around the waist of the other.

  “Where was this picture taken?” asks Kristina to Dr. Smith.

  Dr. Smith looks at Kristina, sees the picture that Kristina is asking about, and Dr. Smith answers, “That was taken in Colorado on one of our hiking trips.”

  Kristina finds Dr. Smith’s response interesting and also the position of Dr. Smith and Commander Pine’s arms around each other and their postures in the picture.

  “How long have you known Commander Pine?” asks Kristina as she looks at Dr. Smith.

  “A long time, we met at basic,” answers Dr. Smith.

  Kyle gets annoyed by Kristina’s questions to Dr. Smith and Kyle asks Dr. Smith, “What other news do you have for us?”

  “Do you guys want to sit down?” asks Dr. Smith to Kyle and Kristina as Kyle and Kristina stand in the living room and Dr. Smith enters her kitchen.

  “Do you want anything to drink?” asks Dr. Smith to Kyle and Kristina from her kitchen.

  Kyle and Kristina both decline a drink from Dr. Smith and Dr. Smith starts to feel like something is off with the meeting.

  “Is everything okay?” asks Dr. Smith to Kyle and Kristina as she enters the living room, and she sees Kyle and Kristina standing in the living room.

  “Yeah, we just would like to know what information you have for us,” answers Kyle.

  Dr. Smith doesn’t like the feeling in the room, and she is starting to think that the meeting with Kristina and Kyle was a bad idea.

  Dr. Smith looks at Kristina and Kyle and she asks, “What happened? Something seems off with you two.”

  Kyle is about to answer Dr. Smith and Kristina answers, “We had an argument on the way over here about Kiran and Evelyn. Can you give us any information about them?”

  “What do you want to know?” asks Dr. Smith.

  “Is Evelyn a z subject now?” asks Kyle to Dr. Smith.

  Dr. Smith hesitates to answer Kyle and Kyle takes her hesitation as a sign that Evelyn is a z subject.

  Kristina and Kyle look at Dr. Smith and Dr. Smith feels the pressure to answer.

  “Yes, I’m sorry, but yes, she’s still in the system as a test subject,” answers Dr. Smith.

  “What is happening to her?” asks Kristina to Dr. Smith.

  “I’m not sure what stage she is in, but she’s still being kept alive for research,” answers Dr. Smith.

  “Well, you got your answer,” says Kyle to Kristina.

  Kristina glares at Kyle.

  “What’s actually being tested here? Are we looking for a cure or what?” asks Kyle to Dr. Smith.

  “That’s actually above me. All I know is that we are now having human subjects along with zombie subjects and they are looking at why some people reanimate, and others don’t,” answers Dr. Smith.

  “What have you found so far?” asks Kyle to Dr. Smith.

  “It hasn’t been completely explained, but there are a couple theories going around right now,” answers Dr. Smith.

  Kyle and Kristina see that Dr. Smith is getting upset and they both feel bad for upsetting Dr. Smith.

  “Doc, I’m sorry to make you upset… It’s also weird calling you Dr. Smith all the time. What’s your name?” says Kyle to Dr. Smith.

  Dr. Smith smiles and answers, “Angela. I’m Dr. Angela Smith.”

  “That’s a nice name Angela,” replies Kyle to Dr. Smith.

  Kristina sees Dr. Smith smile at Kyle and that makes Kristina jealous.

  “Are you and Commander Pine lovers?” asks Kristina to Dr. Smith.

  Dr. Smith and Kyle look at Kristina and Kyle can’t believe that Kristina just asked Dr. Smith that question.

  “What Marissa and I is none of your business,” answers Dr. Smith.

  “Sorry, you are right,” replies Kristina.

  Kyle tries to get the conversation back on track to something meaningful and Kyle asks Dr. Smith, “Do you have anything else to tell us?”

  “Actually I do, it’s that you need to be ready to leave this place at a moment’s notice,” answers Dr. Smith.

  Kyle and Kristina look at Dr. Smith for further explanation and Dr. Smith says, “There is word that we may be able to move into the O2U campus in Edgewater, Maryland.”

  “Where is that?” asks Kristina to Dr. Smith.

  “It’s about twenty five miles
from here on the river and it sounds great, they have everything you would ever need to survive,” answers Dr. Smith.

  “O2U? The online mega store company?” asks Kyle.

  “Yeah, I’ve heard some of their mega campuses have started to be turned into settlement communities,” answers Dr. Smith.

  “Who told you this?” asks Kyle to Dr. Smith.

  “A couple of the scientists here. I think the higher ups on base are trying to start a partnership with the people running O2U,” answers Dr. Smith.

  “Could we be some of those people to be taken there?” asks Kristina to Dr. Smith.

  “I’ll ask around and see what their plan is, but maintain the low profile and I’ll see what I can do about getting you two and your son out of here,” answers Dr. Smith.

  “Will you get in trouble?” asks Kyle to Dr. Smith.

  “All I’m going to do is ask around right now, but it’s the least I can do for what happened to your brother and sister-in-law,” answers Dr. Smith.

  CHAPTER 15

  DAY 61

  “It’s been two days, and we haven’t heard anything from doc. I don’t like the no communication from her,” says Kristina to Kyle as they sit at their back patio table.

  “Me either, but we have to keep a low profile and wait to see what she finds out,” replies Kyle.

  “Do you think it’s even a good idea to leave this place?” asks Kristina to Kyle.

  Kyle thinks about the safety and security of being at Fort Derrick, but also what happened to Kiran, Evelyn, Ashlyn, and Stan.

  “I mean what if it’s worse than here, what if it’s not safe and what if the people are weird at O2U?” asks Kristina with some panic in her voice.

  “Let’s calm down, we can’t worry about that just yet. Remember what you told Kaden about worrying?” answers Kyle.

  “Yeah, I told him that to help him stay calm, but you know how anxious and worried I can get,” answers Kristina.

  Kaden hears Kyle and Kristina talking outside and he decides to go into their garage and plug his laptop into the USB port of the ACT breaker.

  Kaden puts his laptop on some sturdy boxes that he stacked up next to the ACT breaker that is on the side wall of the garage. After making sure his laptop is securely on the boxes, Kaden plugs one end of his USB cord into his laptop and then he inserts the other end of his USB cord into the USB port on the ACT breaker.