Acidalia VII
By Amanda D.

Friday June 23 12:00 PDT KLTR news:

“Good morning San Francisco. Our top story at this hour is the stunning announcement by the United Nations (U N) calling for the complete quarantine of the United States. Meeting in an emergency session in Geneva the worlds nations unanimously agreed to the blockade of all US ports and offered Canada and Mexico troop support for their borders. This comes in the wake of the growing number of refugees heading to the northern and southern borders in an attempt to escape the dreaded virus.”

“A second proposal offering help to all American citizens living abroad was put forward. It too was passed unanimously. “Our member nations are offering to help provide for those Americans living in our countries. The basis of our decision to take this drastic action is to prevent the world wide spread of the disease. It is in no way an attempt to punish the American people.” U.N. Secretary General Mushin Mosbard was quoted as saying.”

“Press Secretary Kerry Enrich said in a press conference this morning that President Fuller was outraged at the action and any military vessel found with in US territorial waters would be dealt with harshly. “This obviously an attempt by the rest of the world to take over our rightful place as the one true super power. We will not stand for this action. It cannot be allowed! Stay tuned, as we will obviously update this story throughout the day as more information becomes available.”

“Nationally: Embattled physician Dr Jenifer Fisk, one of only a hand full of survivors of the fire bombing of Hasbro Children’s Hospital during the Providence riot, who in recent days has become an outspoken critic of the government’s handling of the Acidalia virus, testified before the congressional committee investigating the President’s handling of the outbreak today. ’When we first became aware that we had an Acidalia patient at our hospital, we were forced to go to the internet just to find out what was happening to our patient, and even how to test for the disease. The government’s decision to withhold information on the virus cost us valuable time. Because of this, many friends and coworkers are either dead or infected as a direct result of the Presidents stubborn refusal to see this issue for what it is. A national epidemic.’ ”

“After the Doctor’s testimony Committee Chairman and leading Presidential candidate Massachusetts Senator Edward George was quoted as saying “This administration’s handling of this problem has been atrocious. From the withholding of information to the heavy handed use of the military, the President has committed blunder after blunder. This committee’s charge is to find out why things have gone so wrong. I have made it my personal mission to make sure those responsible for this mess are punished accordingly.”

“In local news San Francisco police this morning have arrested Dr. Theodore Potter for harboring several unreported Acidalia victims. Acting on a tip provided by neighbors, local authorities raided the doctors Nob Hill residence early this morning and found him harboring eight Acidalia patients in his non-quarantine quality basement. The doctor is the first physician to be charged with harboring infectees under the new federal law prohibiting such actions.

Local authorities would like to remind everyone that it is now a felony to have knowledge of an unregistered Acidalia victim and not report her.”

As the news cast went to commercial, thrift store clerk Jimmy Sunka looked at the strange group of four women and one young girl in the back of the store. In the hour since their arrival, Jimmy had felt there was something odd about the way their behavior. He said nothing but watched them closely as they had wandered the store picking out clothes in all sizes and styles. Now after the last story on the news, he had inkling as to why they were there.

Standing no more than twenty feet from the check out area, pretending to be looking at some dresses, Nicole heard the entire news cast and caught Jimmy’s sudden change in posture as the final story aired. Picking one outfit that might fit her six foot frame; she walked over to the counter. Putting on her best smile she asked, “Do you have someplace I could try this on?”

Jimmy looked up at amazingly tall and beautiful red head. Returning her smile, he said, “The changing rooms are in the back, but before you go in there, I need to see an ID.”

“ID? For what?” Nicole asked.

Making it up as he went along, Jimmy casually replied “Store policy ma’am. We have a lot of stuff stolen, so the boss requires a picture ID before allowing any one into the changing area.”

Nodding her head in understanding Nicole said “Well, what do I do if I left my id in the car?”

Looking her directly in the eye Jimmy said “Then I guess you’ll need to go get it or take your business elsewhere.”

Catching the end of the exchange as she came down the isle, Ellie, along with the newest member of their little but growing group, Lisa walked up and put a hand on Nicole’s arm. “Problem?” she asked her friend.

“I don’t think this young man likes us being here.” Nicole replied looking sternly at Jimmy as she tried to control her temper.

“Is that so?” Ellie asked as she dropped a large pile of clothing next to the cash register. “In guess we should just pay for this stuff and leave then.” Pulling her wallet out of her purse she looked over at the clerk who had yet to move. “Are you going to ring that stuff up for me or do I have to do it myself?”

“Lady, if that’s what you really are, I suggest you and your friends get out of here before I call the cops and they take you to see how long you’ve been women.”

The adolescent, Carol, who until a couple weeks ago had been a thirty five year old man, looked nervously at the others. “Guy’s I think we should just leave.”

Vera Lynne, the final member of the shopping expedition, looked angrily at Jimmy and shouted “Just what is it that you’re trying to say? Isn’t our money green enough for you?”

Jimmy and Vera stared at each other for long moments. Nicole put a hand on Vera’s shoulder, breaking the stare down. “Come on, let’s just get out of here.” She said as Jimmy turned towards the phone.

Shrugging off Nicole’s hand, Vera growled, “Keep your fucken hands off of me you …”

“Vera!” Ellie said sternly. “Knock it off. Nicole is right; there is nothing to be gained by us staying here.”

Vera gave Ellie an astonished look and started for the door. The rest of the group followed as Jimmy shouted, “I called the cops. They should be here any minute. Now get the hell outta here you freaks!”

Once outside the five new women moved quickly into the crowd on the sidewalk, hoping to lose themselves in it. Nicole scowled in Vera’s direction as they went. Seeing the look, Lisa put a sympathetic hand on the tall sredhead’s arm and smiled. After walking a couple blocks they slowed their pace as two police cars raced by, heading in the direction they had come from.

Things had certainly changed in a hurry over the last two weeks for what Ellie was now calling The Sister’s of Acidalia, Nicole thought as they journeyed back to the van. Their group of two had grown to nearly fifty, with several more in the midst of their transformations. It seemed that every day they would find one or two more that needed their help and it was always given. Nicole found quite a bit of pride in helping others like herself and El.

Their mission had also changed slightly. At first Ellie had thought to help only those looking to be transformed, but four days after moving into the warehouse, they discovered Carol, who had stumbled, literally onto a chest full of money. Nicole’s family was quite well to do, but no one person controlled the fortune. The entire family was given a monthly allowance from a large trust set up by her maternal grandmother. Even after her father had disowned her, she still received her monthly portion.

What they found in the warehouse however was something different. The amount of cash was just shy of $800,000. Nicole’s father was a notorious spender, so there was no way he had saved the cash from his allowance. This left only one alternative; he must have been skimming the money from of the family’s business. Nicole had been tempted to make a call to the family lawyer and report her finding to him, but after a bit of thought realized that it could go to much better use, such as funding their mission. When they found Carol, and then a few days later, Vera, hiding out in their warehouse, they realized that helping those already transformed and hiding from the quarantines was just as important as helping those that wished to be infected.

Both women had completed their transitions before being discovered by Ellie and Nicole. Vera claimed to have been a lawyer, which Nicole found to be completely believable. Her attitude, and the way she talked down to others, grated on Nicole.

When Vera had first fallen, she had gone to City Hospital for treatment. She had been one of the unlucky ones that had remained conscious the entire time she was transitioning. The virus hadn’t been as generous to her as it had been to some of the others. Instead of coming through it with improved looks and better health, she had actually become overweight and acne ridded. The physical changes had left her bitter and resentful of those who had been luckier than she was. As a result one of her favorite pastimes had become needling Nicole, and ingratiating herself to Ellie.

Carol had been in San Francisco on a business trip when she became infected. She hadn’t even known she was sick until she passed out in her hotel room one night. To her dismay she woke up three days later in the body of a young teenage girl.

The less than sympathetic hotel manager had thrown her out of the room once she was discovered. Having no money or idea about the city she wandered the streets for several days some how managing to steer clear of the addicts and chicken hawks. Eventually she found the warehouse park and scurried into one of the abandoned buildings. There she stayed, afraid to come out until Ellie and Nicole discovered her on the verge of starvation and took her under their wings.

The five new women were within sight of the street they had parked the van on when a police car rolled slowly by. The two officers inside stared intently at Nicole. Seeing the way they stared at the tall redhead, Lisa suggested “We better get out of here before they come back.”

“Good idea.” Ellie replied.

The five of them quicken the pace. As the rounded the last corner the blare of sirens sounded behind them. The entire group turned at once to look as a squad car skidded to a halt in front of them. Two officers hopped out of the car. A tall blond haired officer with a thick mustache called out, “Ladies, good afternoon. Could we see some identification please?”

“May I ask what the problem is officer?” Ellie asked politely.

“The four of you and especially your tall friend there, match the description, given to us by a store clerk of suspected Acidalia infectees. Since there is now a law requiring infected citizens to be in a quarantine center, we are obligated to respond to any reports of unregistered victims. Now if you would be so kind, your identification please?” The look of disgust on his face, directed at the small group of women, belied his pleasant tone.

Nicole looked over at Ellie and mouthed, “I’m sorry.”

Ellie smiled back at her long time friend. To the officers she said “I’m sorry officer, but we seem to have left our ID’s at home.”

“I see. Well in that case, you’re going to need to come with us.” He called over his partner, “Murphy, call for additional transport.” His partner nodded in acknowledgment as he turned back to the car.

“Where are you taking us?” Lisa asked nervously.

“We have a testing center set up a couple blocks from here. We’ll take you over and make sure you get priority treatment. No need for you ladies to wait in line all day. Once you’re in and if you test negative, you can be on your way with our most sincere apologies. If, as I suspect with be the case, you test positive … well then it’s a trip to Reynolds for all of you,” he said with an air of arrogance.

“Sarge, base said additional transport will be here in about ten minutes,” Murphy reported.

Vera moved close to Ellie. “Stay behind me. I’ll protect you,” she told the groups’ leader.

Nicole smiled as she watched the short fat girl, that Ellie towered over, even at her reduced height stand protectively in front of her old friend. Knowing Vera would do her best to protect El, Nicole turned her full attention to the officer in front of her. She stared at the blond haired police man, studying his movements and stance, trying to find an opening to get in and try to disarm him.

“Aww isn’t that cute, the little fat one’s going to protect …” the officer’s statement was suddenly cut short by the sound of an explosion that seemed to come from every direction. Only the bright light from the column that sprung up over the buildings behind and to his right, gave an indication where the sound had originated. “What the …” he began to cry but was once again cut off, this time by Nicole pouncing on him.

She drove her full weight and power onto him, slamming him to the pavement hard enough to knock the air out of him. The others followed her lead and moved in on the remaining officer. It appeared as though the suddenly distracted cops would be quickly overwhelmed by the small group of new women, , however the second one had his own ideas about how the situation would be resolved, and fired a shot.

Nicole looked in the direction of the sound just in time to catch Lisa’s fall to the ground. The Sisters newest member landed with a thud. Nicole stared for several seconds waiting for the blonde to move, but the newly transformed woman’s body simply twitched a few times.

“Shit!” Murphy yelled. “All of you kiss the fucken pavement. Now!” With his free hand, he keyed the two way radio on his shoulder. “This is unit 875 …” Nicole felt an uncontrollable rage building inside of her as she lunged at the cop with panther like speed and grace, interrupting his call for help as she slammed into him.

Unlike the first officer she had tackled, Nicole wasn’t looking to just disarm Murphy. Once they were both on the ground she ripped the gun from his hand, breaking two of his fingers in the process. The injured officer howled in pain. Nicole slugged him with everything she had right in the jaw, cracking it. Before she could raise her arm to attempt another punch, Vera and Ellie grabbed Nicole and attempted to put an end to her assault on the downed man.

“Nicole! Stop it! He’s had enough!” El screamed as she and Vera struggled to pull the enraged redhead off of the dazed officer.

“He killed Lisa!” Nicole screamed as she struggled to pull away for El and Vera.

“Lisa’s not dead!” Ellie yelled back as she lost then regained her grip on Nicole’s arm. “But she might be if we don’t get her out of here right now, and get her to Roberta!”

Nicole stopped struggling and looked up at Ellie confused. “Not …”

“Look!” Ellie demanded as she pointed toward where Lisa had fallen.

Nicole turned her head looked in the direction Ellie indicated. On the ground next to Lisa, Carol was cradling the injured woman’s head in one arm. With her free hand she tried to put pressure on Lisa’s wounded stomach. Seeing that, Nicole hopped off the beaten policeman and the three of them hurried over to Lisa. From behind, they she heard the Sergeant calling for back up.

“Can she be moved?” Vera asked as they arrived at Lisa’s side.

“How the hell do I know?” Carol shouted, obviously stressed. “I was a fucken salesman before this, not a doctor, for Christ’s sake.”

“It’s OK, Carol,” Ellie tried to calm the young looking girl down. “Even if it kills her, we need to bring her with us. We can’t allow her to be taken to quarantine.”

“What ever we do we better do it fast … he called for help,” Nicole thumbed in the blond cops’ direction.

Ellie kneeled down and moved Lisa’s hand from of her wound to inspect it. Even to her untrained eye, it looked bad. “Honey? Do you think you can get up if Nikki helps you?”

“I … I’ll try.” Lisa hissed. Nicole stepped over and the four of them all worked together to get the injured girl off the side walk. Moving slowly, it took almost a full minute and a lot of grunting and groaning on Lisa’s part, but eventually they got her to her feet.

That done, Nicole gently scooped Lisa up and whisked her into the waiting battered dark blue Chrysler minivan. With help from Carol, Nicole gently laid Lisa in the rear storage area and closed the cargo door. Running around to the side, door both hopped in and Ellie sped away.

Looking in her rearview mirror to make sure they weren’t followed, she let out a sigh of relief as they made their second corner without being pursued. “We’re going to have to ditch this thing, you know,” Vera said, climbing into the passengers’ seat.

“How’s Lisa doing?”

“As well as we could expect at this point. But we still need to ditch the van … like right now.”

“Vera we don’t have time …”

“El, that cop has our plate number. He’s probably already called it in … you’re driving like a bat out of hell, so it’s going to attract attention. We need to dump this thing fast!”

“Vera’s right, El. The time we waste finding new wheels will be nothing compared to the time it will take to get her medical help if the cops find us,” Carol chimed in.

“Fine!” Ellie said with a small air of impatiens as she cut across three lanes of traffic and into a supermarket parking lot. Slowing down to lot speed, Ellie began searching the aisles of cars for a suitable replacement.

“What about that one,” Vera suggested, pointing at an old red full size Bronco with the cap off on the back of it.

“Carol? What do you think?”

“If it’s a standard, it’s ours. Stop and let me out over there,” She told Ellie as she pointed towards the next row over from the Bronco. Ellie pulled over where instructed and the small brown haired girl hopped out of the van and scurried over to the parked Bronco. Running around to the back, Carol hiked herself up over the tail gate and climbed over the rear seats. Dropping into the drivers’ seat, she reached under the dashboard.

After just a couple minutes work the Bronco’s engine roared to life. Nicole jumped out of the van at the sound and quickly ran over to the waiting truck. Climbing behind the steering wheel, she looked over at Carol who simply smiled back at her, “10th Grade auto class … and mom said it would never get me anywhere.”

The two of them giggled as they pulled out of the parking spot and followed the van out of the lot. After a couple of blocks both vehicles pulled over into a small service alley way between to high rise buildings. Moving as quickly as Lisa’s injuries would allow, Nicole transferred her to the Bronco’s cargo area.

“Shit, the cops!” Vera cursed.

“Where?” Ellie asked.

“A patrol car just drove by. Come on, we need to get going before they come back!”

“El, pull the van so it blocks the entrance, and let’s get the hell out of here,” Nicole yelled.

Ellie hoped back into the van and did as Nicole instructed. As she jumped back out, Ellie grabbed the keys out of the ignition and threw them down the alley way. That accomplished, she ran to the Bronco just as a police car turned into the alley behind them. “Go!” she ordered.

Without hesitation, Nicole stomped on the gas pedal. The Bronco shot out of the alley blowing by another police car as it attempted to cut them off. The Sisters flew down the street and around the nearest corner before the startled police could pursue.

***********

10:15am EDT Oval office White House Washington D.C.:
Full meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Presidential military advisors:

President Fuller breezed into the meeting room looking determined and agitated. He gazed at his Cabinet members and the leaders of his military, and loosely signaled for them to take their seats. “Gentlemen, we have a problem unlike any this country has faced since the war of 1812,” he began. “As you well know, the U.N. has illegally decided to cut our great nation off from the rest of the rest of the world.

“This cannot be allowed to happen. I am personally committed to making sure this does not happen. I see two objectives at this time for our military, keeping our ports and borders open. What I want to know, gentlemen, is how we are going to achieve this!”

General Alexander sat silently mulling over Fuller’s question. How indeed would they be able to achieve his commander in chief’s goal? His army, and Marine Corp General Angelo Kings forces, were the backbone of the containment and peace keeping efforts across the country. As such each branch was severely overburdened on top of being the most vulnerable to becoming infected.

Conservative estimates said that as much as 22% of the domestic Army and 18% of Marines were now infected, putting even further strain on the two military branches. To be honest, to the Generals mind, what neither branch need now was a war. That, coupled with Alexander’s internal conviction that it was Fuller himself that had caused the situation to get to this point, was going to make this assignment especially difficult.

“We’ll start with the blockade problem.” Fuller announced. “Admiral, what has the Navy come up with in the way of options?”

“Sir,” Admiral Michael Toledo began “we believe our best option is to go on the offensive. We have a substantial portion of our Atlantic fleet docked already at our east coast bases. We can have three aircraft carrier battle groups with full submarine support, put out to sea from Fairfax, Newport and Kings Bay, within the next twelve hours, if you give us the go ahead.”

“What do we have coming our way at this point?” Fuller asked.

“As of 09:50 Atlantic satellite reconnaissance showed two carrier groups from the European Union, most likely including the French carrier, De Gaulle, heading east along with three Kuznetov class Russian carriers out of the port of Severomorsk. We assume all five groups have submarine support also.

“In the Pacific, we’re tracking Chinese, Australian, Japanese and more Russians inbound They’re further away, so it will take a bit longer for the western blockade get into position. My staff’s recommendation is to concentrate on the Atlantic first, since we have a larger pool of resources to work with at this time.”

“That would seem to make sense.” The President agreed. “What is your plan for dealing with the west coast?”

“For the Pacific we have come up with a two stage plan. First we mobilize as many ships at Pearl Harbor as we can, leaving just a small fleet to defend Hawaii. Then we recall our two carriers from the Persian Gulf area, the Nimitz and Ronald Reagan, along with all their supports ships and have them rendezvous with the Pacific Fleet. Once they link up, the combined force heads for the west coast blockade.

“Once they are within range. we will then send what we have from our pacific bases and try to pinch the blockade ships between the two fleets. The plan is to make then fight a two front battle and out last them. If all else fails we have authorized the loading of nuclear warheads for the Tomahawk missiles before the fleet sets sail.”

“Yes … let’s all pray it doesn’t come to that. The plan on the other hand, sounds like it has enough flexibility built into it to succeed. Frank?”

“Yes Mr. President, everyone is in agreement that this plan has the best chance for success.”

“OK, then let’s get everyone rolling on it.” Closing that subject, Fuller went on, “General Alexander?”

“Yes Sir!”

“I want to make sure the northern and southern borders remain open. It’s going to fall onto the Army and Marine corps to make sure they do.”

“Sir, frankly I don’t see how that is going to be possible. Our forces are stretched thin as is, between guarding the quarantines, helping the police keep order in the cities, and the rising amount of infected solders. We just don’t have the manpower to keep both borders fully open at this point. Hell, 20% of our manpower is now womanpower, Sir.

“What we recommend, is that we move in and take strategic locations along both borders, such as the St Lawrence Seaway, Victoria and Vancouver British Columbia, along with several other locations along the southern border. If we do this it will allow us unfettered access to the ocean along both borders and allow troop movement into either country.”

“What kind of manpower are we talking about, to pull something like this off?” Francis Blake, Secretary of Defense asked.

“We should have sufficient manpower available to meet these objectives as long as we choose our targets carefully and don’t get too greedy about the amount of border territory we control.”

“And for an expanded operation?” Fuller asked.

“Well, Sir, the only thing we can do is start recalling troops from our foreign bases, but that will limit our ability to be a global presence. And with the blockade in place, I’m not sure we’d be allowed to bring them home. They won’t let us land our aircraft for any purpose. ”

“General King, do you concur with the Army’s assessment of the situation?” Blake asked.

“Yes Sir, I do.”

Fuller rubbed his tired eyes as he mulled over what felt like the best courses of action. Since the end of World War One, the United States had been the premier power on the planet. Having a military presence on every continent and being the leader in global politics had become as much a matter of national pride, as necessity, in his opinion. To pull back would be a blow to the national ego for sure, but the current threat to the nation itself was something that needed to be dealt with aggressively.

In the end, the threat to the continent won out, and Fuller told his military leaders, “Fine. Do whatever you feel is necessary. However, before we start pulling troops from our foreign bases, recall any assigned to N.A.T.O forces and U.N peacekeeping first. I’ll be damned if the U.N and Europe will use our own troops against us.”

“Yes sir, we can certainly have that taken care of immediately,” King said.

“Good. I want us to meet again tomorrow. I want to know exactly how many troops we will need to recall, and what our priority targets will be.” Fuller informed the two Generals.

Fuller took a seat, and Blake stood up. The tall, lanky, grey haired, goateed, Secretary of Defense looked at the assembled Joint Chiefs and wondered momentarily how they would respond to his next point of business. “Gentlemen.” he began “What we have next on the agenda will most likely not sit well with the members of your respective branches. Though it will mainly impact the Navy and the Air Force, the other two branches will be expected to do what can be done to follow this directive too.”

The assembled military leaders looked attentively at the secretary and waited for him to continue.

“From here on in, all essential personnel are to be confined to their bases, the gates will be closed, and no unauthorized personnel will be allowed on base for any reason. We feel this move will help reduce the risk of our solders, sailors and airmen becoming infected. Also, until further notice, all leaves are canceled and any reserves will be called to active duty. They too will need to be tested and allowed to enter only after testing negative for the bug. Any found to be infected, will be sent to quarantine immediately, along with any active personnel that test positive.”

Air Force General Lexington Cavalier did some quick calculations in his head. With the call up, the amount of people living full time on base would nearly triple. Even with setting up tent cities, there just wouldn’t be enough housing. A quick glance over at Admiral Toledo confirmed that the Navy Chief was coming to the same conclusion. “Sir,” he said addressing the President “at those personnel levels, most bases will be facing massive overpopulation problems. When you add the reservists, and bringing those that live off base on to the existing population of men and their families … well Sir, the number of people, versus the amount of available housing, just doesn’t match up.”

“General, we said essential personnel on base only. Meaning any civilians living on base will be moved to off-base facilities.” Blake informed him.

“You mean to put the men’s families out?” Cavalier asked incredulously.

“Not out on the streets, certainly, but yes, housed off base. You will all need to get hold of your base commanders and make them aware that some kind of temporary housing for nonmilitary personnel will need to be found.”

“Yes Sir.” the head of each branch replied. Though each remained skeptical, they had their orders, and all would have to make sure they were carried out, somehow. Alexander was especially concerned with the effect this order would have on his men’s morale.

“OK then, Gentlemen, you have your orders, so let’s get to it.” Fuller ended the meeting, before any objections could be brought up.

As the room cleared out, Blake called to Alexander, “General, a word with you in private, please.” Alexander stopped and waited for the Secretary to walk over to where he stood. “The President wanted to know the status of the packages we discussed.”

“The last report I saw indicated they had all been delivered as of last Tuesday.”

“Good. We may need them a lot sooner than we expected.”

“Sir, if I may be frank?” Alexander asked.

“Yes, of course, General, feel free to speak your mind.”

“Sir, are we sure this is the right thing to be doing? Once those packages are opened, there will be no turning back. The world will know who was responsible, which will certainly not help resolve our current situation.”

“I understand your concerns, General, and I’ll try to forget them before I meet with the President next time.” Blake said in an obvious threat. “However, you have been ordered to have them delivered and when the time comes, you will have them released. No questions, no complaints, just do your job! Any other concerns you would like to bring up?”

Alexander fumed internally but said nothing.

“Good. Now I believe you commander in chief gave you an assignment to carry out, I think you should get to it,” Blake said dismissively as he turned and walked away.

*******************

San Francisco 6:40pm PDT:

“Reports from this morning’s deadly explosion at the Bay Area Acidalia testing facility, confirm that the devices used, were the same as the type that have been found in the rubble of the Los Angeles testing facility last week. Police now believe they have a description of the terrorists involved, after two city officers were attacked this morning moments before the detonation.

“Local and federal law enforcement are looking for these two women in connection with the bombing and the attack.” On the screen, grainy pictures of both Ellie and Nicole appeared. Both obviously came from the cruiser’s dashboard mounted black and white video camera. “If you know the whereabouts of either of these suspects, San Francisco police have set up a special tip line for you to call. They would also like to say these women are considered extremely dangerous, as well as possibly contagious, and urge everyone to stay away and let those trained to deal with these types handle them.”

Gail walked into the stylishly decorated living room, just as the news went to commercial and looked out the window at the impressive view of San Francisco bay. Sitting in a overstuffed recliner to her left, was Philip Bastion, the owner of the large bay side house Gail and the remains of her group were now residing in. After lingering on the scenery for a moment, she turned to Philip as he said, “Impressive isn’t it?”

“Yes. I’d never get tired of looking at the bay from here.”

“One of the benefits of Grandpa’s fortune.” Philip said nonchalantly as if the old mans entire life had been lived just to set his grandson up financially. “Have you seen the news this evening?”

“No, but I assume our little fireworks display at the downtown testing center was the top story,” she replied to the portly young man.

Gail detested Philip and his arrogance, but at the moment, he was their refuge, so she bit her tongue and tried to play nice. She had never really understood Hillary’s attachment to Philip, and her insistence he be included in the groups over all plans. All she knew for sure was he was somehow related to her former leader, though when she had pressed for information as to how exactly, Hillary had always refused to elaborate.

“It sure was,.” he replied eagerly. “Goes to show what you can do with the right equipment and expertise. Your friend Max seems to have been better at taking bombs apart, than putting them together. It’s bad too, his incompetence cost us a lot of goo …”

Without warning Gail jumped on to the pudgy instigator, pinning him in position on the chair. Pulling out a large hunting knife, Gail pressed it to his crotch. “I don’t give a fuck what you were to Hil! You ever disrespect Max or any of the others that died in front of me again, and I’ll cut your fucken balls off! Understand me you little mother fucker?”

“Sh … sure thing babes. I … it was only a j … joke. N … no offence intended.” Philip squealed palefaced, beginning to sweat profusely.

“Ahem! Am I interrupting something?” a voice from behind Gail said.

Looking over her shoulder, she saw the tall broad shouldered form of former Army medic Randy Eaton standing in the doorway. “No, you’re not interrupting at all.” Putting the knife away as she climbed off, Gail told Philip “Just watch your fucken mouth, ya little shit. Make sure you don’t let it happen a second time, cause I promise you, there won’t be a third.”

“Let what happen?” Randy asked.

“Nothing you need to concern yourself with.” Gail said sternly. “Just a little disagreement between me and Phil, but we got it all straightened out now, don’t we fat boy?

“Yeah … yeah, sure, all set.” Philip responded are he clutched his balls checking to be sure they were unharmed.

“So, Doctor, what can I do for you?”

“I just came from seeing Yvonne and the Summers sisters and I have to say I’m quite concerned. All three are suddenly very sick. fever, throwing up, coughing, lethargy … I think they may be infected.”

“Th … the bug? Oh shit! We need to get them out of here before we all get infected.” Philip screeched. “Wait, what do you mean they’re infected? I thought you told me that Sandra was clean.”

“Up until today she seemed to be fine. No physical changes, no coughing, no fever … nothing to indicate she had been exposed at all. Then this morning she suddenly has the high fever, with all the associated symptoms of early infection again. I just … I don’t know what to make of it. This whole virus makes no sense. Everything it does should be impossible … it’s like something out of bad science fiction novel.”

“I … I’ll tell you what we need to do. I’ll tell you right now! We need to get them the fuck out of my fucken house that’s what we need to do.”

“Philip, relax! If they were going to infect you, you’d’ve transformed and be looking for lingerie already.” Gail sounded irritated. “Besides, if it was Acidalia, I would be sick too. I’ve been with them since we left Santa Cruz, and I’m doing just fine.”

“Don’t sling that bullshit this way, sister. It’s my fucken house and I want them out ... right fucken now, God damn it!”

Gail glared at Philip. Drawing in a deep breath, and letting it out as a long frustrated sigh, she asked him plainly “Have you been reading about how the missing persons list has grown since the outbreak began? I heard a cop saying the other day that so many people have disappeared in the last few months that they don’t even really bother to investigate anymore. So if you were to suddenly go missing, I seriously doubt anyone would even notice.”

Philip’s double chin giggled like a bowl full of jelly as he swallowed hard at the not so thinly veiled threat.

“Gail!” Randy admonished. “Stop! No matter how much of a pain in the ass Philip is, he has a legitimate point. We need to figure out what to do about them before the rest of us become infected, if we haven’t already.”

“What do you propose we do? We can’t take them anywhere to be tested, and I’m not putting them out on the street.”

“We should at very least isolate them from the rest of us until we know for sure. What about relocating them to the apartment over the garage?”

“No one has been up there for at least the last two years since Grandpa passed. It’s probably a mess and half,” Philip reported.

Turning and smacking him in the back of the head with her open palm, Gail retorted, “Well then I guess you have something to keep you busy this evening then.”

“M … me? Why do I … ?”

“Cause I told you too!” Gail yelled. “Now get your fat ass up there and make sure it’s clean enough for them to stay there.”

Philip looked at her dejectedly and began to trudge out of the room mumbling “It’s my friggen house, why do I have to do all the shit work?”

Gail glared at him as he left but chose not to comment on his remark.

“You should be nicer to him, you know.” Randy told her.

“Why’s that?”

“First off, because he took you and your friends in without question or hesitation. I know he’s smug and a bit irritating at times … but he’s right about your friends. If they stay, they’re going to wind up infecting all of us, if they haven’t already.”

Once again Gail found herself glaring at one of her newfound so-called allies. “You know, that’s real easy for you to say, but they’re all that’s left of our group. I can’t just put them out … I can’t.”

“I understand your feelings. I really do, but I have to present what I know to the others. It wouldn’t be right to keep this a secret, and they will decide whether your friends stay or not.”

“I don’t think that’s going to be such a good idea. Telling them will cause more problems then it will solve.”

“I can’t keep them in the dark. They have the right to know they’re in danger of being infected.”

“And Yvonne and the others have the right to not be put out until we know for sure!”

“Are you willing to take that gamble with all our lives? Cause I’ll tell you lady, I am not! I’m telling them, because it’s the right thing to do. Count yourself lucky if I don’t tell them how you wanted to keep them in the dark, and have you put out with the other three.”

“Randy …”

“Save it, Gail!” The doctor turned and headed out of the room.

Gail stood there fuming for several minutes as she considered her options. As her anger began to abate, she realized there was only one real option. She had been with Alexis, Yvonne, and Sandra far longer than she had known her new allies, and in a way, they were her last real connection to Hil and Max.

Her decision made, Gail hurried down to the basement dormitory area, finding her compatriots off to one corner. As she walked over, she noticed how flush the three of them were.

“Gail.” Yvonne called out. “We need to get out of here if you can handle traveling.”

“Why? What’s happened?” Sandra asked.

“The doc’s gonna tell the rest he thinks you got the bug. When he’s done they’re most likely going to throw us out. So gather your stuff, and let’s save them the trouble.”

“Where will we go?” Yvonne inquired as she got unsteadily to her feet and began to gather her things.

“I don’t know but we can’t stay here.”

***********

Saturday June 24 Francisco warehouse district
8:20am:

Dr Roberta Goings, formally Robert Goings, looked in on the only patient in her makeshift medical center. It had been thrown together just a few days ago off to one side of the massive warehouse the Sisters now called home. Never in her life had she imagined that she would be living in a place such as this, or getting so much satisfaction from helping others, but then again, she’d never thought she would need to know about bra sizes, or refer to herself in the femme, either.

Up until May 26, she had been a contented he, working as a doctor at City Hospital. Back then, Acidalia had been around for barely a month, and no one was really sure how long it took to infect anyone. There just hadn’t been enough data at that point to make any kind of accurate predictions on anything. Like so many of the first doctors to encounter the virus, she had also become one of its first victims.

The tremendous number of infected doctors was one of the most closely guarded secrets of the outbreak. The government wanted people to believe that when you went to an Acidalia center to be tested, you were being treated by highly skilled physicians that had been wrestling with the virus from the beginning. However, the dark truth was, that most of the doctors that knew anything about the disease, had received their knowledge from first hand experience with the transformation process. As a result, most doctors were either forced to work at the hospital where they had been infected, or had been sent to quarantine to help with the care of those incarcerated there.

She had been on of the lucky ones that had been allowed to stay at City and help with the treatment of victims there. Like the rest of those infected, she had been unable to leave the quarantine floors. However the relative freedom of movement on those floors had been better than rotting in a cell at Dillon or Reynolds.

Truth be told, she would still be there treating patients if Director Batson hadn’t disappeared several weeks previously. After he was gone, the quality of care, and the treatment of those ill with the bug had become slipshod. It was almost as if the new hospital administration had given up on the idea of trying to help the infected. Finally, several days after Batson’s disappearance she got word that the military was coming in and going to be clearing out all the plague victims. Every last one was going to be shipped to the newest quarantine near Sacramento, including any infected doctors.

That night, as the shifts were changing, she stole the ID of an uninfected nurse that bore a vague resemblance to Roberta. With a little bit of finesse and a lot of luck she had managed to use it to escape. That had led to a night spent wandering the streets of Santa Cruz and a chance encounter with Ellie Wolf and Nicole Taylor the next morning.

Though scared to death of being outted and caught by the authorities, she had found herself almost compelled to tell Ellie who she was and what she had been through. Ellie had immediately offered Roberta sanctuary with the Sisters as their resident doctor. Roberta had accepted instantly, without really even knowing what it was she was getting herself involved in. For some strange reason, she had been thus far unable to put her finger on exactly, Roberta felt strangely comfortable with these two women.

Since her arrival at the warehouse, her duties had consisted mainly of giving physicals and monitoring the condition of those going through the transformation. Not the most challenging of work, but at least it was rewarding. Lisa’s getting shot, and the subsequent removal of the bullet had, however, taxed her limited surgical skills to their limits. Yet, much to her amazement the girl had somehow survived and was now sitting up on her cot, thumbing though a magazine.

“How are we feeling today?” the leggy blonde new woman asked.

“I’m feeling pretty good … considering.”

“You certainly look a lot better. Have to admit I was really concerned as to whether you were going to make it or not when they brought you in yesterday.”

Smiling, Lisa replied, “Well you certainly weren’t the only one who was concerned.”

“Yes … well let me get a look at your incision. Lift you top please.” With cheeks beginning to redden, Lisa did as instructed. Roberta noticed her flush and smiled. “No need to be embarrassed, Hon. We both have all the same parts now.”

“I … I know … it’s just getting used to having the parts, that gives me a bit of trouble.”

“I know what you mean. Sometimes I see my reflection and it takes me a second to realize that it’s really me looking back.”

“You like it though, don’t you?”

“Like what?”

“What’s happened to you and the rest of us?”

Roberta thought for a moment before she answered. “I do. I never really had any kind of inclination towards cross dressing, or anything along those lines before all this happened. And I was horrified after I woke up and found myself looking like this. But now, especially since I arrived here and have had a chance to just be a woman, I have to admit I am very comfortable looking like this. I can wait for the day someone invents a vaccine for this, so I can really find out what it’s like to live to make full use of this body.”

“Have you tried it?”

“Tried it?”

“You know tried IT” Lisa said gesturing towards her crotch.

“Oh! Tried IT … umm well…” Roberta stammered “I’ve experimented with the new plumbing yeah … but I haven’t been with anyone else yet. Ha … have you?”

“Yes.” Lisa said glowing red herself.

“Really? Not with a guy …”

“No … I wouldn’t infect some like that purposely. But the day after I arrived here, with Marcie …”

?” Vera’s raspy sounded voice called out from behind Roberta, “Doctor, how’s our patient doing this morning

“F … fiiiinnnne, Vera. Much better that I had expected, actually.” Roberta stammered, her face a crimson mask of embarrassment at almost being caught discussing sex.

“What’s going on here? What have you two been talking about?” Vera asked eyeing them both suspiciously.

“No … nothing! Just checking on her condition.” Roberta said suddenly shifting gears into professional mode. “Her wound seems to be healing quite nicely for a bullet hole only a day old. We still need to watch for infection, but if she continues to improve at this pace, I don’t see why she won’t make a full recovery.”

“Good … Yes, very good indeed. I’ll make sure to tell El when I see her shortly. She’ll be so happy to hear the good news.”

“She was here about an hour ago looking in on me.” Lisa informed Vera. “She stopped by with Nicole, and they both hung out with me for a bit.”

“Oh,” Vera’s obvious distaste was audible. Her ever-growing resentment of Nicole’s relationship with Ellie was becoming a well know fact amongst the relatively small, but continually growing group. “Well, I guess I should be going then … I have so much to do. Big meeting to attend. Bye, Lisa. Doctor, if there is any change in her condition, please let me know right away.”

“Yes … of course,” Roberta tried to hold back a smirk.

“Very well then.” Vera waddled off. As she turned the corner and headed towards the far end of the warehouse where Ellie had set up an office area of sorts, she heard suppressed tittering coming from behind her. Her cheeks burned red as she put her head down and stormed away. ‘Well that was certainly impressive! Those two thought you were a complete joke.’ Vera thought bitterly. “This is all Nicole’s fault. If she wasn’t here, I’d be the one El turned to.’

“Oh, Vera, there you are!” Carol called.

“Hmm? Oh yes child?”

Carol grimaced at the word. She hated being referred to by her physical age. “Nicole asked me to come find you.”

Rolling her eyes, Vera asked impatiently “What does she want?”

“She asked me to have you help me on an errand.”

“Errand? What kind of errand? I have a meeting with Ellie …” Vera hollered, turning back and again heading towards Ellie’s room.

As she approached the small curtained enclosure, Vera heard the sound of arguing coming from inside. Stopping far enough away not to be seen by those inside, but close enough to hear what was being said, Vera listened.

“El, I know you’re upset about what happened with Lisa, Christ we all …”

“Nicole!”

Nicole stood there, looking at her friend, waiting to continue. As the seconds ticked by, it slowly dawned on her what the problem was. She had cursed, using the lord’s name and that was a strict no no around Ellie these days. Guiltily she said “Sorry El. I forget myself sometimes.”

“Vera what are you doing?” Carol asked as she finally caught up with the short fat woman.

“SHHHHH, child. I’m trying to here what they’re saying.”

“I am not a god damned child! I’m thirty fricken five years old! Stop …”

“SHHHHHH!!!” Vera repeated putting her pudgy hand over Carol’s mouth.

Inside the enclosure Ellie smiled “It’s OK, Sweetie. We all slip sometimes. But getting back to our discussion, I think we need to much more proactive to keep things like what happened with Lisa from happening again.”

“I agree with you completely, El.” Vera announced as she tromped into the room. “I think we need to go to whatever lengths are necessary to make sure no one ever tries to hurt one of us again.”

Nicole rolled her eyes at both the intrusion, and Vera’s opinion. “What would you have us do then? Bomb clinics and kill doctors like those terrorists they talk about on the news?”

“No, certainly not,” Ellie stated.

“Then what? I thought our purpose was to help those like you and me EL, not to go around causing trouble.”

“I’m not talking about causing trouble. I’m talking about becoming a known presence in the community.”

“That sounds like a great idea to me,” Vera said ingratiatingly.”

“Well, I think it’s a terrible idea,” Carol put in. “The last thing we need to do is draw attention to ourselves.”

“Carol’s right, El,” Nicole cut in. “If everyone knew about us, it would make our mission even harder. If we continue to work behind the scenes, we can accomplish so much more.”

“Who are the two of you to question what El feels is the right thing to do? She’s our leader. God appointed her for this mission, not either of you.”

“Vera, there’s no need to take that kind of attitude. I value input from everyone here. No ones opinion is unimportant,” Ellie chastised. “Clearly however, this is an issue that deserves more consideration and discussion at another time.”

“I agree. We should let it lie for now, take our time and not make any kind of rash decision,” Nicole stated. “By the way, Carol, I thought you were going to take care of that errand for me.”

“I was, but Vera threw a fit over being asked, and I look way to young to drive now. The cops would pull me over in a second if they saw me.”

Nicole shook her head in disgust. “Fine I’ll take you. Grab your stuff and let’s get going.” She grumbled while glaring at Vera as they headed for the door.

After Nicole was out of earshot Vera turned to Ellie, “I don’t care what she says, I think you’re right. We need to let the world know we are here and that our kind now has protection.”

“Perhaps.”

*********************

Sunday June 25 10:15am PDT Grayson labs
Colonel Jordon’s office research progress update meeting:

Mia Blue and Dr. Ryan sat in their chairs across from Colonel Jordon, waiting for the military’s top man to finish his phone conversation. These meeting were beginning to wear on both of the senior researchers, but with the official count of infectees expected to reach the 25,000 mark on tomorrow’s report, Jordon wasn’t about to discontinue them anytime soon. So they waited discontentedly for him to finish.

Patience was a rare find now-a-days. The entire facility seemed to be at its wits end. Every scientist on the team, civilian or military, had been working nonstop since their arrival with little to show for their efforts. The constant failure to do more than create a test to find who had the disease, a test which itself was somewhat less than a complete success, was dragging morale down at an alarming rate. Having Colonel Jordon constantly demanding updates on their progress didn’t help much either.

Finally, Jordon hung up the phone and look wearily at the two doctors. After rubbing his eyes for a moment, he said “I’m sorry about the delay, but so people you just can’t hang up on. So what today’s report?”

“Doctor Ryan’s group has finished its preliminary research on Acidalia type F and has a report for you on the results,” Dr. Blue told Jordon.

“Good news?” Jordon asked hopefully.

Ryan frowned as he thought ‘If only.’ Clearing his throat, he said “While our research hasn’t led us to any kind of imminent cure, it did give us some insight into the inner workings of the virus. We started off by using two separate groups of female rats and two groups of males.

“First we infected one group of the females with type F. After studying them for several days, we found that only a very small portion of the group endured any kind of physical transformation. Out of 123 rats infected, only seven showed any sign of physical change. Only two of those seven showed the gross hermaphroditic traits that the first human victim displayed.

“We then introduced three male rats into the cage. We tested each every half an hour and found that two showed signs of infection after only one hour of exposure. The third took an additional hour before testing positive. This is a 40% decrease in the usual exposure to infection time ratio and frankly it scares the hell out of me.

“The next stage of the test was to take a group of previously transformed rats and inject them with the Type F virus in the hope that it would cause a reversion to male in at least some of them. Unfortunately it didn’t have any effect that we could measure. It appears that once a rat is infected and transforms, it develops immunity to being changed again. Since our research has shown in the past that the disease has much the same effect on rats as it does humans, we are going to have to assume these result would be the similar on one of us.” Ryan reported.

“A 40% increase in the rate of infection?” Jordon repeated to no one in particular. “Perfect … just what we needed.” The room sat silent as each member contemplated the implications of Dr. Ryan’s findings.

“Doctor Ryan, do you know for certain that this treatment would be ineffective on humans?”

“Well … no … but it is my professional opinion that it would have little effect. The rats’ physical reaction to the virus is almost exactly the same as the reaction human’s experience.”

“Almost, but not exactly … correct?”

“Yes, but you’re splitting hairs …”

“So what you’re telling me, is that you don’t know for a fact what it would really do to an infected human.”

“No … but the only way to be certain would be to test it on someone that’s infected, and we can’t just start shooting it into people to see what happens.”

“Why not?”

“To start with, it would be unethical!” Mia told him sternly.

“Dr. Blue, the time for ethics is passed. This virus is on the verge of decimating our population. If it continues to spread at its current pace, our entire species could be at risk! If testing directly on infected humans is the way we need to go, then I say do it. We have no time left for experimenting on animals and hypothesizing on what it would do to humans,” Jordon argued.

“Colonel, I understand what you’re saying, but we can’t just start using these poor people to try new cures on. We just can’t! It would go against ever rule of conduct, every human right … if we were to do that to these poor people that have done nothing wrong, except have the bad luck of catching a virus …”

“Doctor Blue … Mia, we need to beat this thing … and we need to do it now, before it’s too late.”

“But would we be worth saving, if we do? Somehow, I don’t think so.” Mia stared Jordon in the eye. “I’m sorry Colonel, I can’t be party to that … and none of my people will be either,” she told him, then turned toward the doors and exited the office.

As the door closed behind her, Colonel Jordon turned to Ryan. “Is that your final say on the matter too, Doctor?”

Now it was Ryan’s turn to stare the colonel in the eye. Seeing the resolve in Jordon’s eye, just as Mia must have, Ryan said “As much as I wish it were otherwise, I believe you’re right, Colonel. We need to be absolutely positive … and there is really only one way to doe that … We need to test our theories on humans.”

“Well then, Doctor, I guess I should congratulate you on your promotion to the head of civilian research.”

*************
Reynolds Quarantine 2:20pm PDT:

Brady hated the viral suit he was forced to wear during his personal times testing Thomas Logan, but becoming infected wasn’t an option, so he put up with it. He especially hated the way it restricted his mobility. He had yet to land that one truly satisfying blow and it disturbed him greatly.

Brady found himself eagerly looking forward to today’s session. He was in a particularly foul mood, and had decided to test Logan’s healing powers to their limits as he worked out his frustrations. How he hated her, this pathetic new woman that refused to take a female name.

Just before leaving his office to pay his daily visit, he had received a call for Warden Sanchez over at San Quinton. The Warden was calling to inform Brady that Acidalia was now running rampant throughout the prison. There were now sixty confirmed cases, and testing on the rest of the prison population had begun. The governor of California had declared the facility quarantined, and had called in the National Guard to guard the prison.

He finished zipping himself into the neon green colored bubble suit and attached the air hose. Waiting impatiently as the air filled the suit, he checked the entire surface for leaks. Finding none, he signaled the guard outside to cycle the air lock.

Stepping inside the sealed testing room, he nodded at Dr. Stanley as he passed by her, heading for the second air lock at the back of the room. “Major!” her nasal sounding voice called to him over the suit’s intercom.

“Yes, Doctor?” he turned back to see what the head of medical services wanted. He watched bemused at the rotund woman’s struggle to move inside her suit.

“Major, after you’re finished in there, I was wondering if you would have some time to go over our latest testing results. They are very encouraging,” Paula told him with an air almost of glee.

“I’m not sure how much time I’ll have today, Doctor. Perhaps tomorrow morning in my office would be better,” he replied, trying to sound pleasant.

“I really wanted to go over them today but I suppose tomorrow will be just as good. Say 9am?”

“Why don’t we make it 9:30?”

“Fine, 9:30 tomorrow, in your office.”

“Yes. Is Logan already inside?”

“She’s has been in there for almost an hour now. Amazing specimen that one is,” Dr. Stanly added admiringly.

“Good. Well then I guess she shouldn’t be kept waiting any longer.” he turned and continued towards the rear airlock.

Entering the so called testing facility, Brady observed his favorite subject lying prone on the stainless steel embalmers table in the center of the room. The room was a disaster, with trash strewn all over, and a lot of broken glass on the floor. The two female guards assigned to watch over Logan were busily cleaning the mess.

“What happened in here?” he asked the one closest to where he stood.

“She had a bit of a temper tantrum when we brought her in, Sir, but we managed to subdue and restrain her on the table.”

“Tantrum? Looks like she tore the place apart.”

“Yes Sir, she was quite a handful, but we managed to get her subdued.”

“Good job. When was her last injection?” he asked. The day after the death of the fat girl, Thomas had attacked one of the male guards. The attack was so sudden and vicious, the surprised solder had been lucky to escape with his life. Since that day, she’d been kept in a semi-sedated state during testing.

Maintaining the delicate balance between keeping her docile, but aware, was the real trick. Confounding matters was Logan’s incredible metabolism. Her body processed the drugs at a much higher rate of speed that a normal person, so constant monitoring was required.

The guard looked at her companion and then her watch. “It would have been about 45 minutes ago, Sir.”

“Very good.” Brady replied as he did a quick mental calculation on when Logan needed her next round. “The two of you can wait outside for now. You can finish cleaning up when I’m done in here.”

“Yes Sir.” they replied in unison and headed for the airlock.

Brady followed the guards only as far as the medical cabinet on the right hand wall, three feet to the left of where Logan lay. Reaching inside, he withdrew a small vile of clear liquid. Taking a needle and inserting it through the top of the container, he filled 10mg. Moving over to the side of embalming table; Brady placed the syringe on a small stainless steel tray.

He barely had time to acknowledge the presence of a second filled syringe on the table before Thomas was upon him. Cutting loose with everything she had, Thomas smashed her fist into the clear plastic face plate of Brady’s suit, sending the major sprawling. The hard plastic cracked and splintered from the force and Brady’s skull rang from the impact with the floor. Laying in a crumpled heap his eyes got as big as saucers as he felt small shards of the faceplate landing on the exposed skin of his face.

His fear was quickly replaced by a wave of pure agony as Logan drove every last ounce of her 125lbs into his crotch, via her knee. Brady felt as if he would explode as the pain shot through him. His military training begged for him to move, but all he could do was clutch at his injured testicles and groan.

Sensing her prey’s distress, Logan sprang onto him and hit the face plate a second and third time. The plate fell in, cutting Brady’s face as her fist broke his nose with the fourth. Thomas smiled with small satisfaction as blood exploded out Brady’s nostrils. Gagging and choking, the fearsome beauty’s tormenter curled into a tighter ball in a feeble attempt to protect himself from her fury.

The two guards burst into the room, responding to the sounds of the clash. Taking quick assessment of the situation, both rushed over and threw themselves upon Logan, attempting to knock her off their commanding officer. Thomas was rocked, but somehow managed to retain her hold on Brady. Grabbing a shard of glass off the floor, Logan jammed it into Brady’s shoulder. The major screeched in pain as his subordinates pulled at Thomas’ hair in their continued to attempt to dislodge her.

Deciding her tormentor wasn’t going anywhere, Logan sprung at the two guards. The solders gaped in surprised as she pounced on the closet one, sending her flailing to the ground. With incredible speed and unbelievable agility, Thomas spun off the floor and grasped the second guard around the neck. With a quick and brutal twist of her body, the uncomprehending soldier’s neck snapped like a dry twig.

Allowing the body to fall aside, Thomas, glanced down at the floor. Satisfied at the way Brady’s body convulsed as he threw up on the concrete floor, the new woman turned and stalked after her original target, as the determined solder staggered towards the room’s panic button opposite the entrance hatch. Thomas picked up a small free standing stainless steel tray table and hurled it at the guard just as the button was erreach. The table caught the long curly brown haired solder squarely in the middle of the back, just as she was lunging for the button, causing her to fall short of the target.

Moving gracefully Thomas, hurried over to the fallen woman’s side, grabbing the table turned projectile along the way. As soon the prone woman was within reach, the tray crashed down into the back over skull, bouncing her face off the floor. Again and again, Logan brought the tray table down onto the back of the soldier’s head until her guard moved no more.

Thomas stared down at her latest victim’s lifeless body until she caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she spotted Brady attempting to drag his seriously injured body towards the airlock. Still clutching the twisted and dented table in her left hand, the enhanced new woman circled behind the major.

Once again wielding it as a club, Thomas bashed the facility commander in the middle of the back. Brady let out a garbled cry as what little air he had in him was driven out from the impact. Thomas threw her weapon aside and kicked Brady’s balls into his ear canals a second time, assuring retrieval surgery would be in his future.

As Brady curled himself back into a ball, Thomas dropped down onto him, pinning him in place. She reached over and picked up another shard of glass from the floor. Gripping the glass tightly in her left hand, she lifted it high, and sliced her right fore arm deeply.

Blood welled up in the open wound and began to run onto the floor. Thomas watched it for a moment, then picked Brady’s head up by the hair. Turning it slightly, so that his mouth faced upwards, Logan dripped blood into it. She held her arm over him, letting the blood pour into his mouth until his gag reflex forced him to swallow it.

That objective accomplished, Thomas got off of him. She grabbed a towel out of one of the high cabinets and used it to wrap her arm. After it was secured, she casually walked over to the airlock and pushed the panic button, setting off every alarm on the floor.

With a huge satisfied smile plastered to her face, Thomas walked back over to the table and sat cross legged on it, waiting for the security force to arrive.

***********
The White House press room 8:16pm EDT:
President Fuller addresses the nation

“My fellow Americans as you well know, in recent days the United Nation has been attempting to usurp this country’s political and economic position by imposing a blockade of our waters and attempting to close our borders. I am coming to you tonight to reassure you that your government has been hard at work planning the defense of our great nation. We will not allow this international conspiracy to come to fruition, and have taken steps to ensure it never does.

“With that said, I am officially putting the rest of the world on notice. We will not allow this blockade to take place. We will use any means at our disposal to make sure we emerge victorious in our effort to repel any vessel attempting to interfere with our shipping lanes.

“Please, for the sake of your solders, sailors and airmen, as well as ours, think about what you are about start. America and her people have no desire to fight a war at this time, but we will do whatever we need to in order to ensure our national sovereignty.

“As leader of the most advanced military on this planet, I beg of you, for your country’s sake as well as for my own, heed my warning. Do not continue along this road. It will not end well for any of us.

“Thank you, and goodnight.

Confirmed cases: 28,579

Actual cases: 41,683

End Part VII

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