Acidalia XXI

By Amanda D

Friday Sept. 25 10:14 am PDT

Harkin:

Ammonia. The stink filled his nose making him choke, cough and gag. He tried to move his head away from it and after a brief moment of respite it was back. His eyes felt gummed shut as he struggled to open them. The foul smell returned to enveloped him for a third time.

“Ok, ok. I’m awake. Stop it.” He complained as consciousness crept back into his mind. He squinted and blinked furiously as his eyes adjusted to the harsh light.

He was in some kind of office or cubicle; it was hard to tell. Around him were at least three men that he could see. There might be more behind him, but his head hurt too much to look. Regardless of the number he was in no condition to fight anyone at this point. His ached, well, like he’d been clubbed, which is what happened, so it made a certain amount of sense.

“W..where..” he swallowed. His throat felt like it was lined with sandpaper. “Been out of it for a good while.” He thought before asking, “Where am I?”

“You’re inside the warehouse you were so stealthily trying to spy on.” A familiar voice drawled. “My question to you Mr. Harkin is why were you following my man instead of just coming to the door and knocking?”

“You’re a bit harder to find these days Reverend. I wasn’t sure you were here.” He croaked truthfully.

“I see.” Manning replied. “And why, pray tell, are you looking for me?”

Harkin looked up at the tall greasy white-haired man and coughed harshly. “Can I get some water?”

Manning nodded at someone out of Harkins line of sight and a moment later a paper cup was shoved at him. Harkin drank it greedily. Thirst slacked he went on. “I think you know why I’d be looking for you. My employers are not very happy and want to have a word with you. They sent me to track you down.”

“They do?” Manning asked, shaking his head. “That’s funny Mr. Harkin because you’re friend, Paka, I believe it calls itself, tells a vastly different tale.”

“Fucking figures.” He thought to himself while trying to maintain a poker face to Manning. “She does huh? What did she have to say?” He asked.

“It told the truth, unlike you, Mr. Harkin. It said you came to kill my followers and me. That the people you answer too said it was time for me to be removed.”

Harkin sighed to himself. “God damn it! You should have known she wasn’t cut out for this work but no, you had to bring her in to prove, whatever. Good job my man, good job. And now it’s blown up in your face. Serves you right.” He chided himself. “Is that all she said?” he asked with resignation.

“No. It told us much more, but we’ll get to that in a bit.” Manning replied. “Right now, I want you to tell me the truth. Why are you here Mr. Harkin?”

“You crossed the line Reverend. Blowing up City Hall was a step to far for my employers. Every law enforcement agency in the country is looking for you. They are afraid that when you are eventually captured, you’ll spill the beans on the whole operation.” Harkin said. The cat was out of the bag now there was no use in lying to him.

“I see.” Manning said thoughtfully. He gently rubbed his chin with his thumb and index finger as he considered what Harkin told him. After several heart beats, he asked, “Do you believe I would betray you and your people so easily?”

Harkin shrugged, “It doesn’t really matter what I think Reverend.”

“It does to me. You are who I’ve dealt with all this time. I would like to hear your thoughts on whether I can be trusted.”

“I think you’re a tough old son of a bitch. I admire your commitment to your cause and don’t believe anything will shake you from it.” Harkin replied.

“You are correct Mr. Harkin. Nothing will shake me from fulfilling God’s mission. Your employer’s financing is part of the plan the Lord has laid before me. I would no sooner turn my back on them than I would the almighty himself.”

Harkin nodded. Even though they hadn’t tied him down he felt trapped in his chair. He looked up at Manning taking measure of his words. “Well then I guess all this was for nothing then.”

“If I were to set you free, would you be willing to pass on my reassurances to your people?”

“I would be definitely willing to do that.” Harkin told him. It wasn’t a lie; he would pass the message on. Whether it mattered to Carlyle and his cronies or not was a different story altogether. However, if it gave Harkin a chance at getting out of this with his head still attached to his shoulders then it was worth the gamble.

“I see.” Manning replied neutrally. “I’m not a stupid man Mr. Harkin. Please don’t make the mistake of thinking you can lie to my face, and I won’t see through it. The lord guides my hand.”

Harkin nodded. “I not lying to you Rev. I will tell my people what you said if you let me.”

Manning nodded. “Let me think on it for a bit. Meanwhile there is something I’d like to show you.” Manning nodded to the guards in the room, one placed his hand under Harkins arm, helping him to his feet. The NSA agent’s head swam, and his legs wobbled. Manning's men held him up by the arm until the world stopped spinning quite so fast.

“Must have a concussion.” Harkin thought. “Bad one too by the way my head feels.”

Once he was steadied, he was led out of the room and down a short hallway. There was an odd smell in the air. The scent was vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it. He shook his head trying to clear some of the cobwebs. That only served to make it feel like it was going to burst like an overfilled balloon. Again, a wave of dizziness washed over him, and his legs gave way for a second. His escort held him up until it passed.

“Better be careful there fella.” His guard told him. “You took quite a blow to the head. It’s going to be a while before things feel normal.”

Harkin nodded. “Ya Thanks. Seeing that myself.” He replied as he was brought though an open roll-up door into what looked like an old loading dock area. Beyond the elevated platform was a small driveway that led out to the larger lot surrounding the building presumably. To the left of that was a small grassy area with what looked like an old, rusted flagpole.

There was something blackened tied to the pole. His blurred vision wasn’t what it should be normally. He couldn’t quite make out what it was. He blinked several times, trying to get his eyes to focus. “What’s this?” he asked.

“Can’t you see it?” Manning asked casually.

“No. Not really. Eyes are kinda fuzzy.”

“Well then, take him closer so he can see.” Manning instructed his escort.

Harkin felt his arm being tugged and walked alongside the tall pale skinned man. After a few steps he could begin to make out what he was seeing. He swallowed hard and stopped dead in his tracks. “Paka?” he asked as the smell of burnt meat filed his nose.

“H..Harkin..” she whispered barely loud enough to be heard.

He blinked again hoping that he was hallucinating. Harkin pulled his arm free and turned back to where Manning stood. “What the fuck did you do to her?” he demanded.

“The devil has unleashed some mighty demons indeed.” Manning replied. “You friend told me it was infected. As such I sought to cleanse the demon’s soul though fire. Imagine my surprise when no matter how long we burned the witch, it remained alive.” The Reverend pointed at the charred new woman. “We burned it for three hours to get her into the state you see now.”

Harkin swallowed hard. “Three hours?” he repeated in horror. The pain Paka had been put through must have been unimaginable. He turned back to look at her, then back at Manning. “What are you going to do with her now?”

“The Lords fire has finally weakened her. I had no idea there were so-called “enhanced” sinners until today. This changes everything. You must tell your employers I will never be broken by the authorities. However, I need more funding from them. Heavier arms if my soldiers are to fight so mighty an enemy. I thanked God earlier for sending you to us to show me what we were now up against.” The Reverend told him. “You are free to go and deliver my message Mr. Harkin as soon as we are finished with it,”

“Finished?” What more could you do to her?”

“The demon may be immune to fire, but it has weakened her significantly enough for us to complete the Lord’s punishment. We were waiting for her to cool off enough to be handled and it seems it finally has.” Manning turned his head and nodded at the group of men behind him.

The trio walked over to where Paka slumped against the pole. It was obvious the only thing holding the poor new woman up was the handcuffs they’d used to attach her to it. One of Manning's followers touched her wrist with his hand as he went about unlocking the metal cuff. Paka let out a scream that would haunt Harkin for the rest of his life.

After a few moments’ work, they had her freed. Her legs were so burnt he could see charred bone poking through the blackened meat of her thigh. The men pulled her up by the arms and dragged her a across the grassy area and around a corner out of sight.

“Come on.” His escort told him once again, pulling him by the arm.

Harkin allowed himself to be led. His mind was swimming. He’d seen a lot of horrific things in his life. Some of those things he’d perpetrated himself, but nothing came close to what he was witnessing at this moment.

As they came around the corner, he could see a long box laying on the ground. Beyond it there was a large pile of dirt. His eyes grew wide as he realized what they were planning. Harkin shouted, “NO!”

Harkin struggled to pull himself free from the grip of Manning’s man. Two more came from behind and helped their comrade hold him. They forced him onto his knees as the others dropped Paka’s burnt body into the box. Harkin thought he heard a muted cry as she landed unceremoniously inside.

Manning stood off to the side. His hands were crossed in front of him. In the left was a well-worn dog-eared copy of the bible. As his men placed a lid on top of the box and started to nail it shut the Reverend began to speak. “Thank you, Lord for showing us the true face of Your enemies.” He began. “As you will us to do, we now condemn Satan’s demon to the earth where it shall remain until the devil comes to reclaim it.”

“No! You can’t bury her! For Christs sakes she’s still alive! She’s not some kind of a demon she’s a human being!” Harkin shouted again. He struggled with all he had trying to pull free of the men holding him but to no avail. They gripped him tight, forcing him to watch, much to Harkin’s horror, as the box was lowered into the hole.

A few seconds later the sound of a backhoe’s engine reached his ears. Harkin’s eyes grew even wider as the machine pulled forward and pushed a tremendous amount of dirt back into the hole with its front blade. The unseen operator backed up and came in for a second pass and just like that most of the dirt pile was gone. Tears filled his eyes as the machine continued to fill the hole in the earth back in.

Manning stepped over to him and placed a hand on his jaw lifting his eyes to they met. “You are free to go Mr. Harkin. When you return next time do not come under the cover of stealth or a similar fate will await you.” He warned.

“Fuck you Manning!” Harkin spat.

Manning shot Harkin a disgusted look. “Remember well my warning.” Then to his men he said, “Take him back to his car.”

Manning turned and walked back up the stairs to the loading dock and disappeared inside the building once again.

****************
Once back in his SUV Harkin sat staring out the windshield at nothing in particular while his emotions flip-flopped back and forth between grief and rage. He wasn’t sure he ever liked Paka, but she certainly didn’t deserve what Manning had done to her. As tears dripped from his eyes, he punched the padded middle console repeatedly. As he did, he tried to think of what to do next.

Protocol said to called Carlyle and report in then wait for him to decide how he wanted it to be handled. He knew that was the right thing to do but that’s not how he wanted to handle it. For the first time in his career as a fixer a target had made it personal. He wanted to see Manning die for what he did to Paka. Harkin wanted to be there when the Reverend met his end. Honestly, he wanted the one that pulled the trigger and put the son of a bitch out of his misery, after a few hours of making him understand the definition of pain anyhow.

He picked up his phone and stared blankly at it as he rolled his options over in his mind. Making a decision he dialed. After two rings it was answered.

“Russov.” The voice on the other end answered.

“It’s Harkin. You need to assemble your team; I’ll be there in an hour. I have mission for the four of you.”

Russov pulled the phone from her ear and looked at it for a moment. “A mission? I don’t recall you being part of the chain of command Mr. Harkin.” She replied with an edge of annoyance.

“Go damn it Russov! I know where Manning is, and I need reinforcements! Stop giving me a hard time and gear up!” he demanded.

“You know how this works Harkin. I need orders from someone with more authority than the errand boy to leave our post. Call your people and have them send orders the correct way and we are all yours. Until then don’t call me!” she replied hanging up before he could reply.

Harkin sat in the front seat staring at the phone again. “Wtf!” he grumbled. Shaking his head he dialed again. It rang several times before it was finally picked up.

“Harkin?”

“Yes Mr. Carlyle. I found Manning.”

“Excellent news. Great job Harkin!” the VP exclaimed.

“Not as good a news as you might think. Yesterday I was reconning his hideout and his people got the drop on me and my partner. I was out cold overnight, while he killed my team member. This morning after showing me the body he had me set free. I need some reinforcements to take him before he can run off. I called Russov but she gave me shit about needing orders to come help. I need you to get those orders out to her toot sweet and we can put an end to this guy today.” Harking spoke with urgency.

“First off, I don’t take orders from you Harkin. Secondly why do I need to have Russov’s team to help? Don’t you have your own people for this kind of situation? “Carlyle asked sounding extremely annoyed.

“Her and her team are the closest. Having the added power of enhanced soldiers will go a long way to the success of this mission. Manning is well fortified with at least thirty of his followers in there.”

“I see.” Carlyle rolled his eyes. “I have you for these situations Harkin. I have you so I don’t need to get personally involved. You understand
how these things work do you not?”

“Yes Mr. Carlyle. I just…”

“Good glad that we understand each other.” Davis said cutting him off. “Because of the urgency of the situation, I will see what I can do and get back to you.”

“Get back?” Harkin repeated incredulously. “Sir, Manning needs to be taken out. This is our opportunity to do that. I just need you…”

“Harkin!” Davis interrupted irritably. “As I just explained, I’m not here at your beck and call, you’re at mine. Now if I can get you the help you’ve requested I will, but I can’t make it happen this minute! So, sit on him and wait like the good little lap dog you are, and I will get back to you when I have an answer!”

For the second time in as many phone calls, Carlyle hung up on him before he could protest. Harkin threw the phone on to the dashboard and shook his head in disbelief causing a wave of nausea to overwhelm him. He leaned his head on the steering wheel trying not to throw up. Tears of frustration rolled down his cheeks. He wanted Manning to pay for what he’d done to Paka but, it seemed he was going to have to be patient.

Fuck!” he yelled angrily and pounded the top of the steering wheel with his fist.

Frustrated, he sat back into the seat and rubbed his aching head. The concussion made it hard to think but he needed to figure out what to do.

Every avenue he came up with so far led to delays. Delays Paka’s couldn’t afford if she was going to make it out of this alive.

He stared at the phone sitting askew on the large dashboard. He sighed and picked it back up. There was one last person he could try.
**************
11:35 am PDT The Sisters compound:

Ellie was in her office talking to Thomas when her cell rang. Recognizing the number she excused herself and answered. “Mr. Harkin? What a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you?”

“Ellie? Thank god. Look I don’t have time to go into details, but I’ve located Reverend Manning's hidey-hole. There’s to many of them in there for me to deal with on my own. Is there any assistance you can send me?”

“Manning?” she asked more to herself than to him. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Thomas perk up at the name.

“Yes.” He replied.

“I’m not sure what we can do to help you Mr. Harkin. My people aren’t really equipped to take out terrorists. We don’t even have guns or bullet proof vests or any of that.”

Thomas stood up and stepped towards the desk and opened her mouth to speak. Ellie held her finger up shushing the dark-haired new woman. She knew Thomas was hot to find Manning and take him out but what was she going to do against his army of armed followers? No, this wasn’t a situation she was comfortable even asking her people to get involved with.

“Your people include a squad of enhanced soldiers Ellie. They are more than capable of dealing with Manning's people.” He explained patiently.

“So, you want me to tell Russov to go help you?” she asked to make sure she understood what he was asking. “I’m not sure she’d even listen to me if I tried.”

“You don’t need to order her to do anything. All you need to do is tell her your coming here to help me and she will have to tag along.” He replied impatiently.

“I see.” She wasn’t sure how to proceed from here. She wasn’t sure it was appropriate to trick the military squad like he was asking. “Give me a few minutes and I will call you back.”

“Call me back? I need your help right fucking now!” he screamed into the phone. “They killed Paka for fucks sake, and I need to get him before he gets away!”

“Paka? Who killed her?” Thomas’ eyes grew wide as Ellie asked her question.

“Paka’s dead?” Thomas asked alarmed. Ellie’s yes shifted up and she nodded.
“What the fuck?”

“Shh.” Ellie told her. “I’m finding out.” Then into the phone she said., “Sorry Mr. Harkin, go on.”

“Paka has been working with me since she left you. We went looking for Manning and his people and got caught. Stupid, I know but, I guess while I was out of it, she told the Reverend that she was a virus victim. Manning had her burned but she didn’t die so he kept her there for three hours until she stopped healing or at least slowed down enough, I don’t really know. Regardless of the how’s she was to weak to resist and he had her buried while she was still alive. If you can get here quickly, we might be able to save her! I need to save her.” His voice turned to a pleading tone as he spoke the last line.

“Where are you?” she asked. Her attitude suddenly changed.

“I’ll drop you a GPS pin. Please come as soon as you can.”

“Let me gather my people and we will be on our way soon.” She told him getting out of her chair

“Thank you, Ellie. I’ll be here waiting for you.” He hung up. A small smile creased his lips. “Now you’re going to get it you son of a bitch.” He said to himself.

*****************
“Is she really dead?” Thomas asked urgently as soon as Ellie hung up the phone.

Elie swallowed hard before answering. “According to Mr. Harkin they were captured by Reverend Manning’s people. Paka was working with him apparently. Manning found out she was a new woman and tried to burn her to death which didn’t work out completely, but he managed to weaken her enough that they were able to bury her alive.” She explained. “We need to get our asses to Oakland right now.”

“Oh my God!” Thomas exclaimed.

“Ya. Come on I need to get Russov and her people. I’m sure Nicole and Wendy will want to come along too.” She said rushing out of the room.

******************
11:49am PDT

The Lab:

“No! Absolutely not!” Russov told her resolutely.

“Sargent Russov. We don’t have time for debate. We need to get over there right now. With Paka’s healing abilities there’s a chance she might still be alive!” Ellie explained impatiently.

“I understand you want to try and save your friend, but my job is to keep you safe and going to that maniac’s secret hide out is not in keeping with that assignment. So, no, we are not going, and neither are you. End of story!”

Off to the side, despite the seriousness of the situation, Mia Blue was leaning up against a countertop off to the side with a bemused expression on her face. How many times had she been in the same position Sgt. Russov found herself in now? She had no idea. However, she knew there was no way Russov was going to come out on top of this argument. In a way she felt bad for the Sargent.

“End of story?” Elie repeated. “End of story, ok. Your right Sargent, it is the end of the story because I’m going with or without you! Between Wendy, Nicole and Thomas over there, I will have all the protection I need. You can stay here and guard this facility while the rest of us are gone then.”

“No Ms. Wolf…”

Ellie stuck her hand up stopping Russov midsentence. “Goodbye Sargent. I will check in with you when I get back.” Turning to Mia she asked, “Have you seen Robi? We may need her services.”

“Ellie please…” Russov started.

“No Sargent. You’ve made your position perfectly clear.” Elie replied angrily. The small new woman turned to leave. Russov reached out and grabbed her by the arm.

“Hey now!” Thomas said stepping up into Russov’s face. “You better remove that hand before you lose it.”

“Stay out of this Logan, it doesn’t concern you.” Russov told her.

“Paka is a close friend of mine, her fate, which you helping to seal by delaying us, is of great concern to me. Now stop being an asshole and come help us or get the fuck out of the way, now!”

Russov stood nose to nose with Thomas as they stared into each other’s eyes, taking measure of each woman’s resolve. For the briefest of moments, it appeared as if they would come to blows when Russov suddenly said, “Fine. Give me five minutes to get the team together and we’ll be off.” She turned and looked at Ellie. “When we get there, no arguing, understand me? If we do this, as the most experienced person in this kind of matter, I’m in charge. Agreed?”

Elie and Thomas nodded in unison. “Get your people together, we will meet you outside shortly then.” Wolf told her.

Russov spun around to leave. As she walked Mia came up beside her. “Don’t worry about it Sargent.”

“Worry about what?” Russov asked. It was obvious that she was still angry.

“About losing an argument to Ellie. I’ve lost more than I could count.” Mia told her with a small laugh. “Matter of fact I don’t know anyone that ever has, maybe Nicole.”

“She’s like beating your head against a stone wall.” Russov admitted.

Mia nodded in commiseration.

“You’ve been with them a long time?” the Sargent asked.

“Come on Sargent I know the military better than that. You probably have as complete a dossier on each of us that exists.”

“I do doctor. My question to you was how do you put up with it all? You’re a born female; you have nothing to fear from the government as far as quarantine goes and yet you choose to stay. Why?”

“I stay because of Sam and Sara. And because of loyalty to the rest of them. I helped betray them to the military and still Ellie let me, and Sam stay with them. I guess I feel like I owe her for that. Plus, I feel this is the best place to work on finding a solution to the virus.”
Russov nodded. They had arrived at the stairway that led to the sleeping quarters. “This is where I get off” The military woman told her.

“Good luck.” Mia said as she continued down the hallway to the main room in search of Robi.

“Yeah. I think we’re going to need it.”

“I think so too.”

***********************
Fifteen minutes later they were all assembled outside near a plain white van. The four members of the military attachment, Thomas, Ellie, Nicole, Wendy, Robi and Linda all waited for their turn to climb in. Becket spotted Linda and flashed her a quick smile, the pregnant woman waved back. Seeing the exchange Russov said “Oh no. No pregnant women.”

“Paka is a friend of mine. I’m going.” The curly blonde haired new woman told her.

“No, you’re not. It’s bad enough that I need to keep an eye on a bunch of civilians but I’m not going to be responsible for someone in your condition.”

“Fine. I’ll be responsible for myself then. Problem solved.” Linda replied angrily as she went to climb into the back of the van. Russov put her arm across the entrance. Linda shot her a stony stare, “You’re going to lose that if you don’t move it.” She threatened.

“Where do you think we are going?” Russov asked seriously. “This isn’t a fucking high school field trip. There’s a very good chance some or all of us won’t be coming back when this is over. I know she was your friend, I understand but you have a child to think of first. Please, I’ll beg if I must, just go back inside. I give you my word if Paka can be saved, we will save her.”

Linda looked over at Thomas and Ellie. The pair of new women nodded in agreement with the Sargent.

“Fine. Another thing that cunt the cow has taken from me.” To Thomas she said, “Bring her back to us.”

“Like Russov said, if she can be saved, we will save her. I promise.”

“I guess that the best I can ask for.” Linda replied glumly.

*****************
An hour later they arrived at the entrance to the industrial park in Oakland. As the turned in Ellie called him to find out where they were meeting. Harkin gave her the building address where he was parked.

“Three blocks down go left and then right at the end of that street and he’s in the first lot on the left. Dark Blue Chevy Tahoe.” She instructed Russov. After a few twists and turns, they arrived a few minutes later.

As they climbed out of the van Harkin hoped out of his truck to meet them. To Russov he said, “I see your orders came through finally.”

“No. Not exactly, but how we arrived isn’t important now. What’s the situation?”

Harkin explained everything that happened since he and Paka arrived in the park the day before. “There’s no cover to reconnoiter?”

“Not that I saw. They caught us toot sweet so they must have lookouts posted somewhere but I didn’t see any of their positions.” Harkin replied. He pulled out his phone and showed her a google street view of the building.

“Not exactly ideal conditions.” Russov said thoughtfully. She was trying to think of what the best way would be to assault the Reverends position. He may be a nut case, but it was obvious he had a bit of a gift for strategy. The building he chose, according to Harkin, had clear lines of sight in every direction making a stealthy approach all but impossible.

“This is stupid. The longer we stand here talking the less chance there is that Paka is still alive. We need to go save her right now!” Thomas interjected impatiently.

“We can’t just rush in there halfcocked Thomas.” Russov explained.

“Fuck you Russov.” Logan yelled. “I survived Reynolds, I’ll survive this! You guys chit chat I’m going to go save her!” She began to stalk off in the direction of the reverend’s hideout.

Harkin ears perked up at the mention of Reynolds but said nothing. Carlyle will be very interested to hear there were escapees from the destroyed quarantine.

“Thomas, wait.” Nicole hollered.

“No, I’m done waiting!”

“God damn it. Wait for me I’m coming with you, asshole.” Nicole yelled back as she caught up to her.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake. Becket get them back here.” Russov ordered.

Katie started off after the pair of enhanced new woman. She caught up to the pair before they got out of the lot. “Sargent says you need to come back with us.” She told the pair.

“You going to make us”? Thomas challenged looking down at her much shorter compatriot. Logan’s fists were clenched, and she was breathing heavily. It was easy to see the darkhaired beauty was spoiling for a fight.

“Only if you make me.” Becket, to her credit, replied calmly.

“Ok stop both of you, right now.” Nicole told them both. “Fighting each other isn’t going to solve anything. For fucks sake we’re on the same team here.” T

She stood between then and swiveled her head to look at them both. She could see the pair accepted her admonishment with no further comment. “We good now?”

Each new woman nodded.

“Good. The way I see it, the three of us and Wendy are the most powerful ones here. We’re going to need to be in the same page if we’re going to keep the others safe, so no more arguing.” She turned to Thomas and poked her in the chest. “And you. No flying off halfcocked and getting yourself killed.”

Looking admonished, Logan nodded at her lover.

“Good.” Nicole said angrily.” Now let’s go back and get the others. We need a united front here. This isn’t fucking around. These people are armed and dangerous!”

The trio walked back across the lot to where the rest were gathered just in time to hear Russov asking Harkin “How attached are you to your truck?”

“I can live without it. What do you have in mind?”

Before Russov could speak Robi asked. “Why don’t we just call the cops and let them deal with this shit?”

“We don’t have time for the police.” Ellie replied. “Paka would be dead before they arrived.”

“Ellie, I hate to be Debbie downer here but even with her healing abilities she’s been buried underground for at least an hour and a half with no air. The chance of her being alive still are miniscule.” The doctor replied.

“Enough. Everyone, listen up.” Russov told them. “Ashford and Charles take up position at the two front corners of the lot. You two are going to be our diversion. Becket you and I are going to be in Harkins truck. Nicole, you, Thomas and Wendy will be our second wave. Do any of you know how to handle a gun?”

Wendy raised her hand while Thomas said. “I do.”

“Good, grab one each out of the van with all the ammo you can reasonably carry.” The Sargent told them. “Harkin you are going to take care of Ellie and Robi.” Harkin started to protest but Russov held up a hand stopping him. “You know where they buried Paka. It’s going to be up to you three to try and rescue her. The rest of us will keep Manning and his men occupied best we can and converge on your position quickly as possible. Remember everyone, this is life or death. We are outnumbered but none of those men can do what we can. We hit em hard and fast and cover each other’s backs and hopefully we all get to be home for dinner tonight. Any questions?”

There were none.

“Ok Charles and Ashford get your asses moving. When you see us coming be right behind us.”

The pair saluted and headed off at a trot. Russov turned to Becket and asked, “Ready?”

“Let’s do it.”

The pair climbed into the SUV. Once settled Russov handed a small object to Katie. “We’re going to be moving fast. When I say the word, abandon ship. Once you’re up off the ground it the button on top and let’s see how many of the fuckers we can take out at once.”

Becket nodded and strapped herself in.

*******************
Three minutes later Kara Charles and Joan Ashford found themselves at opposite corners on the street side of the front lot. Before they’d even settled into their positions the dark blue SUV came barreling around the corner behind them. The engine roared as it flew down the street, nearly coming up onto two wheels as it angled into the parking lot. The pair ducked their heads awaiting the impact which came seconds later.
Russov gunned the engine and pushed the gas pedal to the floor as they blasted across the black top. Machine gun fire started pinging of the trucks body and she silently thanked god for the governments standard issue armor plating on all the vehicles it owned.

Undeterred she pushed the engine harder. As the speedometer approached 70mph she shouted, “Abandon ship!”

The pair pushed the side doors open and leapt out of the truck just before it slammed into the glass foyer of the warehouse with a thunderous crash. Becket landed hard, feeling several ribs break on impact. Russov hit just as hard, her leg turning awkwardly and snapping mid-thigh.

Despite the awkward landings the pair pressed the attack. Becket rolled up to her knees and pushed the button on the detonator. A heartbeat later the SUV exploded, taking the entire front of the building out with it. The machine gun fire stopped as debris rained down all around them.

Katie felt a pair of hands gripping her under her arm pits and pulling her away from the cranage. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Chares dragging Russov out of the way too.

From behind the soldiers came Thomas, Nicole and Wendy charging across the lot. The trio moved faster than anyone would think possible. They made it halfway across the lot before the gunfire started back up. Thomas and Wendy stopped and began to return fire as Nicole, carrying a bullet proof Lexan shield, barreled on towards the wide hole blown in the building’s exterior.

Once inside she dove onto the first white shirted man she came too. Once on the ground she smashed him mercilessly with the shield. Despite the smoke the redhead could see her targets just fine. All her senses felt alive. She had not felt like this since she and Wendy had attacked the police in Wyoming. The sensory input was nearly overwhelming as she smashed and tore at everyone in her path.

From outside Thomas could feel Nicole’s unconscious joy radiating off her and smiled. She steadily advanced on the same hole her lover had gone through moments before. Becket was there too, looking none the worse for wear from her broken ribs. The two of them along with Wendy marched relentlessly forward, firing at anything wearing white as they went.

The van driven by Harkin sped into the lot and screeched to a halt next to Charles and Russov. The private got on one knee next to the van and returned fire on their opponent’s positions while Ellie, Harkin and Robi clambered out of the van. Harkin took up position next to the new woman and began firing at the building. Ellie kept her eyes peeled as Robi knelt next to Russov assessing her injuries.

“Yep, that legs fucked. Any chance you heal like Paka?” Robi asked as she probed the break.

“I wish.” Russov replied with her teeth gritted from the pain.

“Kind of what I thought.” Robi said with a grin. “El help me get her onto the van.”

The pair of new women pulled and tugged the Sargent to her feet, helping support her as they loaded her onto the van and got her settled onto the floor.

Ellie screamed “We’re good” to Harkin and Charles. Kara gave her the thumbs up and advanced towards the building while Harkin turned and jumped back into the van.

“We need to go around back.” He yelled over the din as the van took off. “That’s where they buried her. Hopefully the backhoe is still there.”

Ellie whispered a silent prayer as Robi tended to Russov’s leg.

“Gotta admit, doc, I’m impressed with how calm you were under fire back there.” Russov told Robi.

“Yeah, I’ve been through a lot worse.” Robi replied. “No hold still. This going to hurt like being stung by a ten-pound bee.” The doctor placed a hand on either side of the break and snapped the two pieces of bone back into place. Russov howled in pain.

“Sorry about that.” Robi told her guiltily.

“Ya. Fuck!” she replied throu8gh gritted teeth. “No worries doc. Like you said, I’ve been through worse.”

**********************
Inside the five of the new women formed a skirmish line slowly advancing as the men in white shirts fell. Nicole, being unarmed, stayed behind Thomas and Wendy called out shooters positions as she saw them. The Reverend’s men seemed to be panic firing or perhaps simply trying to delay the Sisters advance. There was no way to be sure but none of the Sisters were hit by the lead flying all around them.

“This doesn’t feel right.” The red head told Thomas as the group pulled up behind a group of piled wooden boxes. Wendy and Ashford were on one knee picking off the reverend’s men above them on the cat walks while the others took a moment to reload.

“Yeah, it’s too easy.” Thomas agreed while Becket, Ashford, Charles and Wendy nodded their heads.

“What do you think? “Thomas asked the private next to her.

Charles looked up, assessing the situation. “I’d say keep advancing til we get to the far wall. See that door over there to the left side? With the solid catwalk floor above it, it will give us relief from their fire. That’s the rally point.”

“But was it?” she asked herself. It seemed like the right move, however at the same time her gut was telling her it wasn’t. Charles stopped and took a deep breath. “Everyone, wait.” She shouted.

The Squad leader raised up and to get a better look at the situation they were in. Her mind analyzing their positions versus that of their enemies. Her greatest virus born gift, the ability to see things strategically, was fully alive in the moment. Every sound, every tiny bit of movement, her mind analyzing every bit of it. Suddenly it was perfectly clear. “It’s a trap.” She thought.

“Becket, we need a grenade. Throw it at those boxes over there!” she ordered pointing to a large stack of wooden boxes to the left of the door on the wall.

Katie grabbed a grenade and tossed it in the direction indicated. Everyone ducked for cover as it exploded, sending wooden shrapnel in every direction. Behind where the boxes were at least a dozen bodies scattered about.

“Ambush!” Ashford hollered over the din. “Get them!”

Kara Charles lobbed another grenade into the opposite corner. As she did the fire from above intensified. No longer were the Reverends men firing to herd the along into ambush. Now they were out for blood. As result their aim improved dramatically causing the Sisters to duck for whatever cover they could find.

“We’re going to get pinned down.” Thomas shouted to no one in particular as bits of wood flew all around them. Their little bit of cover was being steadily chipped away by bullets.

“We’re fucked if we don’t go exactly where they want us to go.” Charles replied from behind where Thomas and Nicole were hunkered down. “If we can get you two cover fire, how many of these assholes can you take out?

Thomas looked up and around. “Could do more if Becket was with us.”

Kara nodded and signaled over to where Becket was returning fire. Katie scooted over to their position. “Time to go to work.” The squad leader told her. Becket nodded. “The rest of us will lay down covering fire while the three of you even up the odds some. Got it?” All three nodded.

“Good. Wait for my signal and good luck.”

Nicole turned and kissed Thomas. “Stay safe beautiful and come back to me when this is over.”

“Now!” Charles screamed as the rest of the group began to concentrate fire on the men stationed on the catwalk above.

Without another word between them the three sprang into action. It was a sight too see as they attacked the hapless men on the floor. With cover from above now limited as them men up there fought for their own lives; they were easy picking for the three enhanced new women. Bodies flew in every direction as Nicole, Thomas and Katie cut loose on their opponents.

Off to the right, behind some crates lurked one of the white shirted men. Wendy caught a glimpse of him from drawing a bead where she was. At the same time, she could tell Becket had no idea he was there. With no way to shout a warning, the hulk of a new woman turned her rifle in
his direction, pulled the trigger and shook her head as it dry fired.

There was no time to search for a reload. The tall light skinned man with a crew cut drew a bead on the private. Wendy spun the M16 around in her hands and raised it like a club and ran at him. With no voice to issue a war cry, Wendy sprang at the hidden man, her gun raised high ready to swing at his head. Much to her dismay her intended target spotted her midflight. He quicky turned her way and opened fire.

There was no cover, no way to change direction, nothing to use as a shield as bullet after bullet found its way home. Three feet from her intended landing spot Wendy’s body fell with a loud thud and stayed there.

“NO!!!” Nicole shouted as she watched Wendy fall. The tall red head raised her gun and began shooting holes in the boxes the blocked her view of Wendy's killer. She screamed “You mother fucker!!”

Thomas looked over and saw Nicole shooting in the wrong direction. She rose up and saw Wendy’s body lying on the floor. Without any hesitation she opened fire on the boxes.

Behind the flimsy wooden cover, the killer ducked and tried to return fire. Bullets flew all around him as the boxes began to disintegrate under the heavy fire. Fear there was no other choice he dove out from behind them. In a rather graceful move, he rolled up onto a kneeling shooters stance. However, before he could bring his rifle around to shoot, he was riddled with bullets. His body danced a jig as he was hit with more bullets then could be counted before finally falling over.

With him dead Nicole started to rush over to Wendy’s body. Thomas grabbed her arm and held her in place. Nicole turned to her lover, trying to pull herself free.

“No! You can’t help her!!” Ashford yelled from the side of them. “Keep after them. We’ll see to her as soon as we not dodging bullets!”

Nicole, tears dripping out of her eyes nodded. She dropped her gun and leapt into action. She didn’t want to shoot them she wanted to tear them apart with her bare hands for what they’d done. With reckless abandon she attacked the men surrounding them, breaking bones and bodies without a care. So terrible was her onslaught that many of the reverend’s men seemed to lose hope and began to look for ways to escape.

The distraction Nicole was providing left an opening for the others. Thomas watched her in amazement, her ability to sense other enhanced linking her in a way to Nicole, making her blood lust rise. Before long, it became too much to resist, and she joined in with carnage her lover was creating.

Becket who was even more sensitive that Thomas fed off the energy of the two of them. It was too much to hold out against. Consumed by the rage emanating from the pair she willingly gave up her rifle for hand-to-hand combat. The three enhanced women ferociously attacked those protecting the warehouse backed up by Ashford and Charles.

Within moments those who hadn’t fled were soundly defeated. Broken bodies lay all around the group, a few hung over the railings around the upper catwalk. The place was deadly quiet, only the sound was that of the new woman panting as they caught their breath. Off to the side one of the men moaned. Charles quickly turned in the direction and put him out of his misery.

Nicole surveyed the carnage she’d help create. There were no words to describe the emotions that ran through her. She was sickened and exhilarated at the same time. She’d never felt anything like that before. It scared her to think of how good it felt ripping and tearing and breaking them men’s bodies. Trying not to throw up, she turned back to where Wendy’s body lay in a heap on the floor. From the way the hulking body lay, she knew in her mind there was no way the silent new woman was still alive.

Ashford pushed her way past the tall red head as she pulled a trauma pack out of one of the many pouches on her belt. She dropped to her knees and checked for a pulse. She ripped the new woman’s top open and placed an ear on her chest, but no heartbeat could be heard.

Nicole hovered above them waiting anxiously. Ashford looked up at her and simply shook her head no.

Nicole howled in grief as Thomas came to her side and gathered her lover into her arms. She held her tight as grief overwhelmed Nicole.
A tap on the back of her shoulder made the grieving new woman look up.

“I’m sorry for your friend but we’re not finished here.” Ashford told the pair. “We don’t know what’s behind that door and there’s still your other friend to rescue.” Thomas nodded at the soldier.

“Are you going to be ok?” she asked Nicole. Unable to speak she nodded. Thomas put a finger under her chin lifting her face and kissed her lips. “Good! Let’s finish this!”

***************************
Outside:

The van sped along the side of the building, taking fire from the right side. Robi was forced to kneel as she worked on immobilizing Russov’s busted leg. The Sargent managed to swallow down the pain with gritted teeth but the rivers of swear combined with how pale her face was gave lie to the idea that she wasn’t in agony.

Coming to the end of the building Harkin turned to the right so hard that it felt like the van came up onto two wheels. Those in the back were tossed about. Russov’s resolve was lost s she slammed into the driver’s side wall of the cargo area. The Sargent howled in pain as her injured bumped against the cage that separated the driver’s area from the back.

A few seconds later it came to a screeching halt next to the grassy spot where Paka had been entombed. Bullets pinged off the vans skin as the able-bodied trio disembarked.

“Shit!” Harkin swore after a particularly close ricochet. Ellie and Robi pressed up against the flimsy metal band door of the van as bullets flew around them. Smoke from the fire was all around limiting both sides’ line of sight. Each side shot blindly at each other as the front of the building burned.

From inside the van Russov yelled “We have grenades!! Use them! Before the kill us all.” She lifted a belt loaded with the explosives.
Robi grabbed it out of her hand and moved to the back of the van where Harkin was ducking. “How your pitching arm?” he asked with an odd grin.

“Not quite what it as last year.” She admitted.

“Want me to throw them?”

She shook her head and pulled the pin out of the first one. Harkin pointed to a small white pained metal pillar with large spots of rust all covering it on the front corner of the loading dock. “Throw it at that. If we hit it right might bring the whole canopy down on them!”

Robi nodded and took aim. The smoke obscuring the target for one moment then clearing the next. Regardless of how well it could be seen, the loading dock was a long way off. A year ago, Robert could have hit it with room to spare, but he was gone, and she was all they had. With a small wind up she stepped to the side and tossed it as hard as she could. At the same time a bullet found it way home into her thigh.

The doctor let out a shriek as she toppled. Harkin reached for her, grabbing her by one arm, the NSA agent dragged her back to shelter behind the driver’s side quarter panel just as the grenade exploded. Her throw was slightly short of the mark but close enough that the decaying concrete blow gave way and took out the column. The metal roof sagged as the rest of the rusted metal supports bent and squealed in protest.

Harkin grabbed a second grenade and lobbed it. Manning’s men scattered as the explosion brought the rest of the roof down on their heads.
The dust it threw up into the air only added to the noxious smoke from the fire. All four of them were left choking and gagging. If any of the Reverend’s followers had happened upon them in that moment, they’d have been easy pickings.

The silence following the collapse was so sudden Ellie wondered if she’d gone deaf. Before the first explosion she’d dove on top of Russov to protect her from the blast. Now she lifted herself and looked down at the injured Sargent. “Everyone ok?” she coughed.

Russov, also choking on the dust, gave her a shaky thumbs up.

From outside she heard Harkin yell. “Goings has been hit!! Bring the med kit!!”

Ellie grabbed up the kit off the floor and ran around the side to find Robi laying on the ground. There was a fairly impressive pool of blood surrounding her lower half. Ellie held the kit up and asked the doctor “What do you need me to do?”

“In the kit are some gauze pads. Need to put pressure on the wound. There isn’t enough blood, so I don’t think they got the artery.”

“Not enough blood?” Elie questioned looking queasily at the puddle.

“Trust me.” Robi reassured her.

“Always.” Ellie replied. She ripped open the hole the bullet let in Robi’s pants and pressed the gauze pads to the doctor’s leg.

“Ow! Fuck!” Robi yelled. Ellie stated to pull away. “No, no. Put them back. That’s how we know it’s the right spot.”

“Oh. Ok.” Ellie pressed as hard as she could. Robi turned six shades of white from the pain.

“There should be some rolls in the pack. Wrap them around my leg as tight as you can.” Robi instructed.

Harkin took a cautious look around the corner of the van. No shots rang out. “Looks like you got them doc. Nice job.”

“Th…thanks.” Robi replied with a grimace. “How’s Russov making out?”

“I’m good.” The Sargent hollered.

“Good. El I have this. Go with Mr. Harkin. We still need to find Paka.”

“A..are you sure?”

“Yes go!” Robi ordered.

Ellie and Harken stood up just as a door off to the side of the ruined loading dock burst open. Nicole, Thomas, Becket, Ashford and Charles poured out thorough the opening.

“Nicole!!” Ellie screamed. The tall red head tuned in the direction of her friend’s voice. She and the others were a mess. Clothes torn; blood spattered all over their skin, faces black from the smoke but all very much alive. Ellie breathed a sigh of relief before realizing one of their number was missing. “Where’s Wendy?” she asked as other others came to their side.

“She…she didn’t make it El.” Nicole said somberly. “She got shot trying take out one of them that got the drop on Becket.”

“Oh no…” the short curly blond haired new woman cried. She grabbed Nicole and hugged her tightly.

“Ladies', not to be an asshole but Paka’s time is short, we need to get her dug up. Can we save the mourning for after?” Harkin asked, coming off far harsher than he ‘d intended.

“Where is she buried?” Becket asked.

“Where the patch of dirt is over there in the grass.” Harkin replied pointing to the spot.

Katie walked over and knelt in the dirt placing both palms on the recently dug up soil. “Thomas come over here with me.” She said. Thomas came over next to her. The two of them knelt in the dirt. “I need you to reach out with me. See if you sense a presence here.”

“Reach out?” Thomas asked not understanding.

Becket took one of Thomas’ hands in here and they pair knelt down. “I can’t explain it, just when you feel it do as I do.” She explained.

The pair got on their knees and places both palms on top of the dirt. As Katie concentrated Thomas could feel her power. After a few seconds she understood and concentrated too. The pair stayed there stock still reaching out with their ability to sense the enhanced. After a minute Becket shook her head. “Paka’s gone.” She told them.

“How do you know?” Ellie asked in an agitated voice.

“I can sense people like Thomas and Nicole do but I can sense them from a lot further away. It’s how I got in trouble with the suicide that night.” She looked at Ashford and Charles who nodded in agreement. “I’m sorry to say but I don’t sense anything from your friend.”

“Nooo!” Robi screamed. “She has to be ok! There’s no way she survived Reynolds only to die like this.”

Thomas remained on her knees with silent ears leaking down her cheeks, her hands gripped handfuls of dirt compulsively. Nicole came over and put an arm around her lover. Robi sat back up against the van crying.

“Two of our number gone just like that.” Ellie said more to herself than anyone else. She couldn’t remember feeling this much pain since the raid on the warehouse. She was overwhelmed with a sense of loss. The Sisters leader said a quiet prayer for the souls of Paka and Wendy.
In the distance the sounds of sirens grew louder. “Looks like we’re going to have company.” Kara told the group.

“I’ll handle them.” Harkin said.

“Great.” Ellie replied. She looked up and asked, “Nicole is the Reverends body inside there for them to find?”

Nicole looked blankly at Ellie. “No. I thought you had him in the van or something.”

“Are you fuckin kidding me?” Russov said from inside the van. “We went through all this shit and he’s not even here?”

Harkin stood there mouth agape. “I never saw him leave. I swear I was watching the place the whole time. There’s no way he could have gotten by me.” He finally said.

“Looks like he did.” Russov replied sourly.

Ellie got up and walked over to Harkin. “You mean you got two of our people killed for nothing?” She screamed at him.

“I..I..” he stuttered but it was cut off by a harsh slap to his right cheek.

“You son of a bitch!” Ellie growled as she began to pound him in the chest with closed fists.

Harkin stood there accepting the beating until Nicole came over and pulled her friend away.

“Get the fuck off me Nicole!” Ellie hollered.

“Calm down El. It’s not his fault. The mother fucker is a slippery son of a bitch.” She admonished. “He probably ran away as soon as his men took Harkin back to his truck, the fucking coward he is.”

Just then Harkin’s phone rang. Without looking he flipped it open and answered.

“Mr. Harkin.” The voice of Reverend Manning said. “It saddens me to see that you can’t be trusted after all. Mark my words, the lord will see you punished for your lack of faith. Until next time, sir.” With that, Manning hung up.

Harkin closed the phone and looked around them at the surrounding buildings. Every window reflected the fire and smoke. Manning could have been in any of them, and they’d never know it.

“Who was that?” Charles asked.

“Seems we had an audience this whole time.” Harkin replied, still searching the windows with his eyes.

“Manning?” Russov asked from inside the van.

“The one and only.” Harkin said with a sigh. “I’m going to find you, you son of a bitch. When I do our going to pay, dearly.” He thought as he began to walk around the front of the building to deal with the authorities.

***************
Saturday Sept 26th 945am EDT

Fuller:

They all stood as the rifle team began its salute to the late Col Charles Jordon. President Robert Fuller, surrounded by his security detail, looked up at the cloudless blue southern California sky. It was a warm day for late September, far too nice for a funeral, but here they were, burring a good man.

It was such a wasteful way for the Colonel to go. Drowning after a car accident while strapped to a bench in the back of a van. Certainly not the death a military man of his distinction deserved.

And whose fault was it that he was in the van? No one other than his. He’d ordered Jordon produced and he died during transport. Another well intended plan blown up right in his face. “Way to go there Bobby boy.” He admonished himself.

They’d all held out hope that he somehow escaped the van for two days until his remains were discovered half a mile downriver from where the van had gone into the water. Somehow the rod holding him to the bench had broken. They’d all seen it when the van was pulled from the water. It had given them brief hope, but it turned out his body had gotten caught up in the current.

The cuffs that connected him to the van were still intact, one on his left wrist and the other looped but empty, crushing any hope that he’d died with some kind of dignity after escaping.

The graveside detail stopped firing, drawing his attention back to the matters at hand. The soldiers took the flag that draped Jordon’s coffin and began to fold it. A trumpet began to play taps as they lowered his remains into their final resting place. Fuller looked over at the Colonel’s widow, Abby, watching the tears stream down her cheeks. The President was overcome with grief himself at that moment.

As the soldiers finished folding the flag Fuller stepped forward and put his arms out to take possession of it. The soldier handed it to him then saluted the commander in chief. Fuller shook his head at the idea of the title as he saluted back. He’d never served a day in the military and now he was supposed to be in command of people that had dedicated their lives to defending the country. Truly a joke of cosmic proportions if there ever was one.

Robert took the flag and stepped over to where Abby Jordon stood surrounded by their children and family members. She was a strikingly beautiful woman in her late fifties with short curly brown hair and deep blue eyes that were moistly hidden by the black veil she wore today.

The president, who at six foot five towered over the widow, bent to hand her the flag. At the same time he told her in a low voice. “I’m so very sorry for your loss Abby. He was a good man.”

She looked up and met his eyes for the first time. He could see the fire in them, the anger simmering behind the grief. “Sorry for my loss?” She questioned. “Sorry for my loss? You’re the fucking reason he’s dead you son of a bitch! You’re the reason he was going to Washington! Where was he for the last week of his life when we couldn’t contact him? Why was he strapped to the back of a prisoner transport van Robert? What the fuck did you do to my husband??” She screamed in his face furiously.

Fuller recoiled from her words. The truth of them left him unable to do more than accept her abuse. He simply stood in his spot with the flag extended towards her, uncertain what to do next when she slapped him hard across the face.

The unexpected blow stung him. Fuller stumbled back a step, accidentally dropping the folded flag on the ground. Without thinking he bent to pick it up but, suddenly he found himself surrounded by secret service agents. They pulled him back from the grieving family as agents encircled the widow and began to cuff her wrists.

“Stop!” He yelled. “What the hell is wrong with you? Leave her alone!”

“She attacked you sir. Protocol….” One of the agents stammered suddenly unsure.

“Protocol? She just lost her fucking husband you idiot! Get away from her! Let her go!” The president demanded.
All around him cameras flashed, and microphones pushed closer as the assembled press covering the funeral rushed in to get better access to the action.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Fuller thought to himself. “What a fucking disaster.” He looked at the reporters with distain. “Damn vultures.”

To the head of his detail he said, “Joseph, let’s get out of here before we do even more damage.” The tall bald black man nodded and pushed his way through the throng of mourners and reporters. The rest o the secret service agent quickly cleared a path for the president.

When they arrived by his limo Fuller took a last look back at grave site and shook his head in disgust at the mess he’d caused. “Good job Bob. Way to look presidential.” He chastised himself as he slipped into the back seat. He leaned his head onto his hands as the car sped off.

***************
San Francisco 12pm PDT

KLTR 12 o-clock news:

“Good afternoon, San Francisco, I’m Don Ritchie and this is KLTR news the noon addition.” The short brown skinned anchorman with two days’ worth of stubble announced. “Today’s top story is the growing war in Europe. Following Russia’s invasion of Poland and Belarus several days ago, the continent has continued to fall deeper and deeper into conflict.”

“Today after meeting in Brussels, NATO allies’ have formally condemned Russia’s actions and announced strategic support for the embattled countries. In the hours after the announcement, French and British bombers were seen in the sky’s over Russian positions in both countries. Poland as you may know is a standing member of NATO and all members are obligated to respond to the attack on the country.”

“Newly installed interim Polish President Robert Dobachowski was quoted as saying this afternoon “While we are severely disappointed in the slow reaction from our NATO allies, we are also gladded by their pledge of support. With the help of our allies, we will push the Russian arm back behind its own borders and all of Poland will be free again!”

“A spokesperson for the president of the Russian federation condemned then actions of NATO. In speech televised just one hour ago the Commander of the Russian army told the collected Federal Assembly that the response from NATO will not deter the military from completing the task of returning the country to its Cold War borders. “The president has put forth a bold mission and we will not stop until it has been completed regardless of what the rest of Europe thinks!”

“When reached for comment the Fuller administration repeated is contention that this problem is Europe’s. He was quoted as saying “The United states will not become embroiled in any disputes between our so-called allies. They abandoned us in our time of greatest need. Now they must deal with the repercussions of that decision.”

“Stay tuned for updates as this dangerous situation continues to escalate.”

“In a related story the ongoing blockade or American ports seems to be ending as governments all over Europe have begun recalling their Naval support vessels in anticipation of all-out war on the continent. With those ship leaving our waters experts say those that remain will not been enough to continue to effectively close down the United States ports on the eastern seaboard any longer. One administration official said it was as if higher power was looking out for the wellbeing of the America people by creating a situation which set us free to begin to bring resources such as food and fuel, we’ve needed for some time.”

The anchor man took a moment then went on. “If indeed the blockade is starting to fall apart is God giving to the United States, then out next story is surly one of that same God taking away from the administration.”

Earlier this morning in Arlington Virginia, where the nation watched a fallen hero in the person of Colonel Charles Jordon was laid to rest. The Colonel was one of several people killed in the massive pile up on RT 66 just outside the capital earlier this week.”

“Jordon, a research scientist and career military officer was head of the army’s USAMRID division in northern California. As such he oversaw the government’s response and research into the Acidalia virus. He and his team have worked tirelessly for months searching for an antidote of some kind to the virus.”

“As commander of the west coast response team, the Colonel was in Washington at the time of the accident testifying before the house subcommittee on the federal quarantine program about the Reynolds Quarantine fire a source told KLTR news.”

“As the funeral service was winding down President Fuller himself presented the flag from the Colonels coffin to his widow and children. In a wild scene after a brief exchange of words between the two, Mrs. Jordon slapped the commander in chief across the face in full view of everyone in attendance. The widow then went on to berate the commander in chief for several seconds before secret service agents separated the two and ushered the President away.”

“Later this morning when asked for comment on what precisely happened a White House spokesperson said that the President had no comment on the situation other than to convey his condolences to the grieving family.”

“The widow Jordon on the other hand had far more to say. When asked she told reporters, “My husband died chained to a wooden bench in the back of government owned prison van. He was being delivered to the White House, despite what they may tell you, as a common criminal. It is 100% President Fuller’s fault my husband Charles is now dead.” She went on to call for a full investigation into where her husband was in the week between the end if the hearings and the accident in Washington.”

“Democratic Presidential candidate Senator Edwards, released a statement after the incident calling on Congress to create a committee to investigate Mrs. Jordon’s accusations.”

“In other news a large fire at an Oakland business park is being blamed for the deaths of nearly thirty men and women. According to authorities a large group of homeless people had taken up residence in the abandoned structure. The Fire Marshals office believes one of the residents may have accidently punctured an old, undrained kerosene storage container which in turn ignited when vapors came into contact with a gas lantern causing a massive explosion that could be heard from miles away.”

*******************
White House 4pm EDT:

Carlyle:

Davis Carlyle strode down the White House hallway on his way to the cabinet meeting room. The newly confirmed VP hummed a happy tune as he went. Davis just could not stop smiling. The replay of Jordon’s widow slapping Fuller was on every news channel in an endless loop. In his opinion things at the funeral couldn’t have worked out any better if he’d planned it. With the public now vocally turning against him at every turn, the humiliation of his boss was nearly complete. Only a few small steps were left until he relieved the president of his duties and took his place in the Oval Office.

“Davis my boy, sometimes fate is just on your side.” He said to himself as he replayed in his mind what the media was now calling the “slap heard round the world” reply yet again. Yep, things were certainly working out.

He waved his ID badge at the Secret Service agents guarding the meeting room door. The one closest to it opened it and ushered him in. Inside, the room was nearly full, with every military advisor the president had on staff, along with Defense Secretary Blake and the Joint Chiefs.

“Nice of you to make it Mr. Carlyle.” Fuller said to him sarcastically.

Davis looked at the upturned faces from every corner of the room. For a moment he burned with anger and embarrassment at the jibe. He replied in the most even tone he could muster, “Sorry if I’m late Mr. President. I was only just informed of this meeting a few minutes ago.”

Fuller ignored the apology. Instead, he turned to Blake and asked, “Where are we on the blockade withdrawal?”

“Our reconnaissance fly overs show a complete withdrawal of French and English war ships from our waters off the eastern seaboard. Additionally, Italy, Spain and Portugal are in the process of recalling their naval vessels. According to intelligence reports they are expected to redeployed by weeks end to the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.”

“That seems to be good news.” Fuller told him. “What does that leave off the east coast?”

“Canada and Finland have yet to recall any of their ships. Additionally, the Argentine navy is still patrolling the entry waters of the Gulf of Mexico. We don’t foresee those vessels being recalled at any point in the near future.” Blake added.

Fuller nodded. “Will they cause us any significant issues if we attempt access to those waters?”

“Under normal circumstances, Mr. President, no. However, with our military resources as limited as they are now, further evaluation is needed before we can answer with any certainty.” The Naval secretary answered.

“I trust those evaluations are underway as we speak.” Fuller told him.

“Yes, sir, they are.”

“Good.” Fuller turned back to Blake. “How are things looking in the Pacific?”
“Off the west coast most Chinese vessels have similarly withdrawn. We shave identified only three destroyers left on patrol in the waters between the ports of Los Angeles and San Diego.” Blake reported.

“Do we know where the ship’s that are leaving are headed?” Fuller asked the room.

Director of the CIA Timothy Franklin stood up. “Our assets in the French military say the Charles De Gaulle and its support vessels are being reassigned to the Baltic sea. The English navy is steaming its way to the channel. It appears our former allies are worried about Russian nuclear subs in their waters.”

“Probably a well-founded fear.” Fuller added.

“Yes. It’s a very real threat to them.” The Secretary of the Navy Woods. “As far as the Chinese go, we’re not sure what their final deployment will be. It seems likely they are returning home as a show of force in case Russia gets any funny idea’s about attacking China.”

Fuller nodded. “So where does this leave us? Are our ports about to be open again? How soon can we start getting tankers in from Alaska to the refineries in the gulf? I don’t need to tell any of you how dire the fuel situation throughout the country is these days.”

“I believe we should be able to within a week, sir.” Admiral Woods replied. “Russia’s navy has pulled out of the bearing straight. We need to send mine sweepers through to make sure they didn’t leave us any presents. After that, properly escorted, we should be able to get takers through. We don’t believe that either the Japanese or the Australians would be in a hurry to start shooting at our ships without the support China and Russa were giving them.”

“What about the three destroyer China left behind?” Joanne Constantine asked. “Don’t those pose a significant threat to our tankers even if they have escorts?”

“I believe our ships can handle them if it comes to it.” Admiral Woods said.

“You believe? But you don’t know for sure.” Constantine replied. “Mr. President I’m sorry I think we need a far more solid plan than wishing and hoping we can take on another nation’s naval vessels. It seems fool hardy for us to blunder through blindly hoping they don’t really want to shoot at ours. What would it look like to the public if the six o-clock news had video of burning oil tankers off the pacific coast? No offence sir, but I believe this administration has suffered enough humiliation to last thirty terms. It’s too close the election for another cluster fuck like that to happen.” Then she added to herself, “Unless of course you don’t actually want to be re-elected.”

As much as he hated the bluntness of the Secretary of States assessment, Fuller had to admit she had a point. The absolute last thing anyone in the administration needed at this point was another blunder, real or perceived.

“So, what do you propose?” He asked her.

“Mr. President, if I may?” Carlyle spoke up. “Despite her excellent diplomatic record, sir, I hardly think the Secretary of State is in the best position to be giving miliary advise.”

“And who would you listen to instead of her Mr. Vice President” Fuller asked. “Since you apparently fancy yourself and expert on who should be giving advice on what subjects.”

Carlyle winced from the rebuke. He understood he was over playing his had but he needed things to continue to blow up in Fullers face and he couldn’t let him listen to the advice of someone who was actually on his side. “We have a room full of military advisers here sir. They are who I’d be listening to, if it were up to me.”

“Like we listened to you up in Ottawa I suppose Davis?” Constantine spat back. “When the President listened to your advice there, we nearly turned one of our greatest military leaders over to them. Mr. President…”

“Ok, that’s enough!” Fuller demanded. “This isn’t a finger pointing session. I think it’s safe to say we’ve all made some poor decisions of late that we regret.” He looked at each face around the table. “Now Joanne has a point. We can’t chance escorting tankers full of oil along the pacific coast until we know we can either bypass the Chinese or we know their threat had been removed from the equation.”

He paused thinking for a moment. Then went on “So, here’s what we are going to do, Admiral, I want a military solution if the Chinese destroyers engage what can we do to get our tankers safely by without starting world war three. Joanne, I want you to get a hold of the Chinese government. Find out what they want and what we can negotiate. With most or Europe withdrawing perhaps the Chinese could be willing to back off and let is do our thing in our own waters.”

“And the entrance to the gulf, Mr. President?”

“We need to communicate with Argentina.” He looked at Constantine. “Joanna, let them know our intention to bring oil tankers into the gulf. See if we can negotiate a peaceful way to accomplish that.”

“And if they aren’t willing to let us through?” Davis asked.

“That’s why the Admiral is going to get us a military option Mr. Carlyle.’ Fuller replied curtly. “Admiral, I want options by the day after tomorrow.”

“Yes sir.” The admiral replied.

“Excellent.” He said looking at Carlyle. “Now the far bigger issue, Europe. What have we done with that so far?”

Joanne Constantine stood up and walked to the end of the table where a video screen sat against the far wall. As it came to life she said, “So far, we have received official requests for aid from English PM. Muldoon, French President Moyer as well as Turkish President Yunker. Interim President Dobachowski of Poland has been especially demanding, since it’s his country that’s under assault it’s understandable. All have requested or demanded we respect our NATO commitments and stand against the aggression the Russian Federation has been displaying.”

Fuller nodded. “I assume you’ve informed them of our position?”

“Yes sir, the state department has informed all NATO allies that due to our internal issues we will not be involving ourselves in European matters at this time.”

Carlyle laughed. “Nice way of saying go shit in hat.”

“Yes.” Fuller replied curtly. “General Cook, what’s the military landscape look like over there at the moment?”
The Army Chief of staff stood and pointed a laser pointer at the screen as the picture switched to a satellite overview of eastern Europe.

“According to our satellite pictures and intel we’ve gleaned from the ground, Russia so far has not moved beyond the Belarusian and Polish borders. Based on their troop movements and actions it seems like they are content for the moment to cement their claims to both countries.”

Airforce General Cavalier joined the Chief of staff and added “We presently have four AWACS planes doing revolving fly overs of the continent. We’ve detected several Russian Bomber sorties over flying Germany and France but so far, no aggressive actions have been taken. In both cases the countries in question responded by launching fighters and escorting the bombers out of their air space. The Russians left willingly enough but they are obviously testing the waters. Seeing what NATO is willing to let them get away with.”

The President nodded. “Joanne, have you conveyed our position on the situation to the Kremlin?”

“Yes Mr. President.” She replied. “I spoke the Russian president myself earlier today and let him know that any aggression towards the United States will be met with equal aggression but if they keep things in the European theater, we will continue to deal with our internal issues exclusively.”

“And his response?”

“He said there are no plans to act aggressively towards the United Stated. He claimed his only intention is restore Russia to its cold war boarders. As long as we leave European matters to Europe, we have nothing to fear from their military.”

Fuller nodded. “Good to know.” Cook he said, “Now the million-dollar question is General, do we believe them?”

“For the moment sir, yes.” Cook replied. “All intelligence reports indicate that they have far too much on their plate to open another front on this side of the Atlantic. However, I and the other joint chief have informed Secretary Blake of our desire to make ourselves as ready as we can with what we have left with our military for an attack. It is our belief that the Russians will only stay content with Europe until they’ve achieved their goals. After that we and China are the most likely next targets.”

Fuller sighed. “Yes, I suppose you’re right, unfortunately. They are bound to see our unwillingness to fight as a weakness they can exploit somewhere down the road. Make the plans. Get us as ready to defend ourselves as we can be. Mr. Carlyle, I want you to coordinate with Secretary Blake on it.”

“Yes, Mr. President.” Davis replied, eyeing Blake.

“Very good. We’ll meet back here tomorrow. I need those reports on my desk in forty-eight hours.” He said standing up. “Joanne if any of your conversations need my voice personally to get the wheels turning more smoothly let me know.”

“Yes Mr. President.”

With that Fuller exited the room. The Joint Chiefs gathered together with Secretary Blake to discuss when they would be meeting for a strategy session. Carlyle knew he was expected to join in, but he saw Joanne leaving the room alone. He was still hot under the collar at her for challenging him. It was time to let her know that was not going to be acceptable moving forward.

“Excuse me for a moment gentlemen, washroom calls.” He told them as he followed her out.

Once in the hallway, Davis saw Constantine walking down the west hallway that lead to the Secretary of States office. Walking as quickly as decorum would allow, he caught up to her just as she turned the next corner. Not wanting to draw unwanted attention to his presence Davis rejected the idea of calling out her name. Instead, he reached out and grabbed her upper arm.

“Hey!” She exclaimed. Much to his relief no one popped their head out a doorway to see what the commotion was about. “What’s the big idea?” She asked angrily as she tried to pull away from his grip.

Ignoring her protest, he tightened his hold on her and pulled Joanne through an open doorway into an unoccupied office. Slamming the door closed behind them, Davis pushed her roughly against the wall.

“You really need to be careful Joanne.” He threatened menacingly as he let her arm go.

“Careful of what?” She countered as she rubbed her arm where he’d grabbed her.

“Careful of what advise you give to Fuller.” He replied with a sneer. “Going against the grain of the rest of us might not work out well for you.”

She looked at him in confusion. She couldn’t believe his gall, but at the same time she wasn’t entirely sure he was being serious. The disadvantage of being a woman in a position of power amongst a bunch of men meant she had to put up with a certain amount of “ribbing” from them that could occasionally cross the line. They expected her to know the difference no matter how convincingly they came off. Davis as if sensing her confusion stepped up and went nose to nose with her.

“Things are not the same here as they were before. You better start towing the line along with the rest of us or you might find yourself lacking allies. That is a very lonely place to be in Washington.” He slammed his hand hard against the wall right next to her head causing her to flinch. She silently cursed herself for it.

“Do we understand each other?” He asked. She nodded in seeming meekness. Davis smiled. “Good girl. Nice to have you back on the team.” He condescendingly patted her on the top of the head and stepped back.

Constantine, red faced with anger and embarrassment, straightened herself out. “Davis?” she said to him calmly.

“Yes?”

“Don’t ever put your fucking hands on me again!” she told him as she pulled him in by his shoulders and kneed him square in the crotch as hard as she could. Then stood there and smiled with great satisfaction as he grabbed his injured testicles.

“I don’t know who you think you are or what the fuck your up to, but you better watch your step. You’re not the only one that knows how things work around here! Threaten me again and you’ll find out what a nasty enemy I can be!” She told him as she grabbed her briefcase from the floor. As he rolled around on the floor in pain she kicked him one more time, the walked calmly out the door.

*****************
Wednesday Sept 30 10:35pm PDT

The Sisters compound:

The pall cast over the group at the deaths of Wendy and Paka was like a physical weight on their collective shoulders. There wasn’t a single member that wasn’t effected. Sadness was the prevailing emotion in the compound.
Ellie, Robi, Thomas and Linda, being the closest to the deceased, were the most deeply affected. There were times Nicole worried about her compatriot’s sanity as she watched helplessly as the two people, who she was closest to in the world each went through bouts of deep depression.

Despite their lethargy she pushed them to help with the work of finishing the facility. Finally, a week and a half after the incident at the Reverends warehouse hideout, the facility as ready. There was no grand opening celebration, no fanfare, just a slow but steady filling of beds as virus victim after victim were brought in one or two at a time. It wasn’t just those needing a safe place to stay while the virus changed their bodies that were given refuge. It was also offered to those already, through the worst of it, in need of a safe place to shelter until they were ready to live their new lives.

Robi, Sam and Mia found themselves constantly moving from patient to patient. There was no time for rest, barely any for life’s little necessities such as the bathroom, food and sleep.

Three days after it opened, Ellie came into their makeshift hospital for the first time. She was amazed at how much cleaner it was than their old warehouse, despite being almost half full of patients. There was no smell of sickness in the air due to the huge ventilation system installed on the ceilings. Several volunteers came through regularly and cleaned up messes. It was almost like a fully functioning hospital had been transplanted into their facility.

This morning was Mia’s turn to be on duty. She was off to Ellie right in the corner huddled down with a couple of volunteers, or perhaps drafted was the better word, nurses. Even from a distance, it was obvious Dr. Blue was exhausted. Ellie shook her head in commiseration, no one was sleeping well these days.

As the people she was talking to stepped away, the Sisters leader walked over to where the doctor stood. “Hello Mia.” She said announcing her presence.

Dr. Blue looked up from the chart she’d been studying. “Ahh just the person I was looking for.” She replied. She rubbed her right eye with the heel of her hand then brushed her hair back from her face.

“What can I do for you Dr. Blue?” Ellie asked not really wanting to hear the answer. It was obvious from her tone that Mia has a burr up her butt.

“You need to stop bringing more people in.” Mia said flatly.

“Dr. Blue, we’ve only just opened and now you want to us to stop helping people?”

“No, I don’t want to stop helping people” She replied in obvious irritation, “but frankly Robi, Sam and I are completely overwhelmed despite the facility being only half full. The three of us are working ten-hour shifts just to try and give each other a little bit of time to sleep. Until we get a larger medical staff there’s just no way we can help anyone else. We can barely help the ones that are here already.”

Ellie nodded. “I understand it’s been hard…”

“Hard?’ She replied in exasperation. “Ellie, we’re running ourselves ragged and it’s only been a few days! What’s it going to be like in a month if we don’t turn the flow off temporarily?”

“Neither Robi nor Sam have said anything to me about the work conditions being too much to handle. I spoke to Robi this morning after we had the memorial for Wendy and Paka and she told me things were manageable.” Ellie replied.

“Manageable for now, yes, barely. If we fill this place with only three us to tend to the sick it will completely unmanageable. That’s what I’m trying to tell you! Robi won’t say anything to you out of some weird sense of obligation to you.” Mia retorted. “The quality of care we can give with only three of us is marginal at best right now. Jesus how hard is this to understand?”

“I see.” Ellie said with a frown. Mia’s words cut her deeply. She wasn’t sure what bothered her more, having to argue with Dr. Blue yet again or the fact that the other doctors wouldn’t be honest with her about the working conditions. “I will let everyone know we will need to be more conscious of the numbers we’re bringing in until we can find more medical staff.”

“Conscious of the numbers? Ellie we can’t bring anyone else in period!” Mia said forcefully. She felt as though she was beating her head against a stone wall with Ellie, yet again and her frustration was showing despite her best efforts to hide it. She silently chastised herself for it.

“Dr. Blue, I will do everything I can to work with you but if there is someone in dire need of our services we cannot, we will not simply pass them by!” Ellie replied sternly. “Do you understand?”

Mia instantly knew she’d pushed too far and cringed. She nodded. “Just please only the most dire of cases.”

“I will emphasize that point.” Ellie agreed.

“Thank you.” Mia relied sheepishly. Once again, she’d run up against the stone wall that was Ellie Wolf. It was becoming a habit. She sighed to herself.

“Now that we have that settled, I’m here what can I do to help out?” Ellie asked.

Mia looked around at the plethora of patients for a moment then pointed to the opposite corner from where they stood. “There are a couple patients over there that have messed themselves and we’ve not been able to get to yet. They could use to be cleaned up.

Ellie looked where she was pointing then asked, “Where are the cleaning supplies?”

“In the supply closet, left side, third shelf down, towards the back.”

“I’m on it.” Ellie replied. “And Dr. Blue, this is our mission, if you three need more help from the rest of us all you need do is ask.” She added as she walked off.

************************
San Francisco 4:47pm PDT

Nicole and Thomas:

The pair walked down the sidewalk holding hands and chatting as they went. It was a gorgeous afternoon in San Francisco, and they were doing their best to enjoy a few free hours together. Things had been so bleak and depressing at the compound since the passing of Wendy and Paka. Thomas had taken Paka’s death especially hard. It was if she blamed herself personally for the former Reynolds inmate’s demise. No matter what Nicole did, she couldn’t get her to throw off her funk. Finally out of desperation she dragged her lover out to be amongst the living.
Despite the people inhabiting the city by the bay being well known for their diversity and open-mindedness, the pair of six-foot-tall beauties walking together drew far more stares than either was comfortable with. That added to the diminished number of people brave enough to venture out onto the streets these days, the pair couldn’t have stood out more if they’d dressed as circus performers. Every few minutes Nicole would catch someone ogling them. “Never had this problem when I was Roger.’ She thought with a giggle.

“Are you hungry?” Thomas asked.

“I am actually.” Nicole replied with a small grin. The love making they’d done earlier in a room Thomas paid for in one of the cities swankiest hotels, as always, left her starving. She’d never known a lover like Thomas. Of course, in her life before Acidalia she’d never known any lovers at all so perhaps the comparison wasn’t all that valid. Regardless the dark-haired new woman satisfied her in ways she’d never known she could be.

Thomas smiled back and gave her hand a knowing squeeze. “This place looks like it might be good.” She said about the restaurant they stood in front of. It was a small brick-faced place with a bright yellow sign announcing it to be Sunny’s Seafood restaurant and bar.

Nicole stepped a little bit closer to the window to examine the menu pasted there. “Mmm, fried clams sound delightful.” She said with her mouth already starting to water over the thought of them. She looked at Thomas. “You paying?”

“Me? I paid for the hotel.” Thomas said with a smile.

“Well lover, you are the one with money. Ellie hasn’t given me my allowance yet.” The red head replied sticking her tongue out at the end.

Thomas quickly leaned in and gave the tip a soft bite. “Oh, kinky bish.” Nicole said with a cheeky grin.

“You don’t know the half of it.” The tall dusky-skinned beauty replied.

“Think I have a pretty good idea.” Nicole replied with a wink.

Thomas winked back. “So, are we going to go inside or…?”

“I’m following you gorgeous.” Nicole replied.

“Then in we go.” Thomas replied, opening the door and stepping back.

“Why thank you ma’am.” Nicole said with a smile as she sauntered through the door.

Once inside the smell of kitchen was enough to make both their mouths water. “I hope it tastes as good as it smells.” Thomas told her.

There was a sign at the entrance to the dining room asking to please wait to be seated. The pair of new women stood obediently and waited for one of the staff to notice them. The restaurant’s bar was in the room to their right. Considering how few people ventured out these days it was fairly full. Several of the men inside cast appreciative glances there way. The pair just shook their heads and ignored them.

After another minute a young blonde man in a waiter’s uniform appeared before them. “Can I help you?” he asked.

“Table for two please.” Thomas asked pleasantly.

He looked at them confused for a moment and hesitantly asked, “You want to eat here?”

Nicole looked stunned for a moment then replied sarcastically, “That is what people do at restaurants yes?”

Another older dark-hair man brandishing a name tag that said manger on the top of it stepped over and asked, “Is there a problem here?”

“Not that I know of.’ Thomas replied. “We were just waiting to be seated. This young man seemed a bit confused by our request for a table.”

“Ahh, I see.” The manger replied. “I have this, George. I’m afraid we are full at the moment.”

Nicole and Thomas both looked over the small half wall that separated the waiting area from the dining room. There were nearly a dozen empty tables that the could see from their vantage point. “Doesn’t look like you are to me.” Thomas said, trying to keep it pleasant.

“Based on our staffing we are at capacity.” The manger replied.

Both women nodded. The excuse seemed flimsy at best, but these days was best to give the benefit of the doubt.

“We can wait in the bar until a table becomes available.” Nicole informed him. “Is there a call list or whatever?”

An even more perturbed looks settled on the mangers face. He let out a long sigh then told them “Ladies, if that’s what you really are, we will not be seating you nor will we allow you into our bar room. Please leave.”

“Excuse me?” Nicole said angrily. “Who do you think you…”

“Come on Nicole.” Thomas said putting and hand on her arm. “It’s obvious they don’t want our business. Let’s just go somewhere else.”

Nicole looked at her lover then back at the balding man behind the little desk, quickly reading his name off the tag. “Why can’t we eat here? Is our money not green enough for you, Richard? Or should I call you Dick?”

Ignoring the insult he replied, “I believe you know perfectly well why we won’t serve someone like you.” He paused a moment then added “madam.”

“Why you little shit…” Nicole growled.

“Causing a scene isn’t going to change things. Again, please leave or I will call the police.” Richard said to them with his arms crossed. “I’m sure that won’t go well for the pair of you at all. I hear those quarantines are not very nice.”

Nicole stared a hole through him. “Boy, did your mother ever name you right.” She told him as Thomas gently ushered her towards the door.

Once outside Nicole pulled away from Thomas, opened the door back up and shouted “Asshole!” then slammed it shut, rattling the window so hard for a second Thomas thought it was going to break. The redhead stood there huffing with anger.

“Feel better now?”

“Ya, kind of.” Nicole replied. “What at dick head.”

“Epic dick head.” Thomas agreed.
Nicole sighed. “So now what?”

“Now we go find someplace else to eat.” Thomas told her with a shrug. “Unless you’re not hungry anymore.”

“No, I am just…grrr! People like that just piss me off.”

“I get you but arguing with him wasn’t going to get us anywhere but arrested.” Thomas told her.
Nicole nodded. “Why are you always the cool headed one?”

“Cause I’m not a redhead.” Thomas replied with a snicker.

“Ha Ha. Very funny. Keep that up and you’ll be sleeping on the couch tonight.”

Thomas rolled her eyes and smiled. She took Nicole's hand, and the pair turned back the way they’d come looking for another place to eat. After traveling two blocks they heard the sound of several sirens coming up from behind them. The pair looked back to see three police cars a block away and headed in their direction.

“You don’t think…” Nicole started to ask but one of the cars came screeching to a halt on the street in front of them.

“Well fuck.” Thomas said to no one in particular. She had no desire to fight the cops, but the new woman knew she was never going to allow anyone to put her back into quarantine again.

“What do you want to babe? Fight or run?” Thomas heard Nicole asking.

“Let me try to handle this.” The darkhaired beauty replied
Nicole nodded. “Be my guest.”

“Ok you two let’s see some identification.” A man’s voice ordered. The short portly grey-haired cop climbed out of his car with his hand on the butt of his gun.

“Is there a problem officer?” Thomas asked innocently.

“I said show me your Id.” He repeated sternly.

“Why do you want to see our id’s? What have we done?” Thomas asked again.

“Ok get against the car. You’re both under arrest.” He told them drawing his gun. The other officers from the other two cars stood tensely next to their vehicles intently watching as the scene played itself out.

Neither new woman moved. “For the third time officer, what have we done? The law says I don’t have to provide you with identification unless you tell me I’m being detained which you have yet to do.” Thomas told him.

Before the grey-haired cop could speak, another uniformed officer stepped in. “Actually, since the passage of the Acidalia act last month, if the police believe someone might be infected, we are no longer required to charge you with anything before asking for identification.” The 30ish-looking brown-haired cop told the pair.

Nicole looked over at him. “And you are?”

“Sargent Milloy, SFPD, ma’am.” He looked over at the other officer, “I have this Richardson.” The older cop nodded and stepped back before he continued. “May I please have your names?”

“I’m Nicole and this is Tommi.” Nicole told him.

She could see Thomas was eyeing her off to the side. Her actions were making the dark-haired beauty obviously nervous. She reached over and gave her lovers hand a reassuring squeeze.

“A pleasure to meet you both.” He said with a smile that looked false as a three-dollar bill to Nicole. “We have a small situation here ladies. We received a call from the manager of Sunny’s Seafood down the street. He claims the two women matching your descriptions were in the place causing trouble for the staff and other patrons.”

“Well, that’s bull shit.” Thomas spat. “All we did was walk in and asked to be seated. It was the manager, Richard, his name tag said, that harassed and refused to serve us.”

“We did argue a bit.” Nicole admitted. “But we didn’t threaten anyone. Christ we weren’t even loud. And we left on our own.”

“According to him and his staff the two of you were yelling and threatened him if he didn’t seat you at a table.” Milloy told them.

“Sounds like a case of he said, she said to me.” Thomas replied. “Tell me officer, how do we solve this little dilemma?”

“I tell you what we’re going to do,” Milloy began. “I’m going to ask the two of you politely to come along with us. There is an Acidalia testing center two blocks over. We can get you rushed to the head of the line and if you come back negative all will be forgotten. If as we suspect you come back positive for the virus, the law says you go to quarantine. Nice and simple, no?”

“Sounds like a violation of our civil rights to me.” Nicole told him.

“Again, that pesky Acidalia act. It gives us carte blanch to detain and test anyone suspected of being infected.” He told them with a shrug. It was fairly obvious he was enjoying tormenting the two of them. “Now the two of you can come along peacefully and not make a scene or we can do it the hard way, and every will get to see their faces on the 6oclock news tonight. What’s your pleasure?”

“It will take a lot more of you to force us into that car than you think.” Thomas told him glowering.

“Hang on Tommi.” Nicol said. “Officer Milloy, before this gets out of hand, may I please make a phone call? I think it will help settle this issue without anyone getting their hands dirty.”

Milloy looked at his fellow cops and beyond the sizable crowd that had gathered. The last thing he needed was for a million copies of cell phone video to appear on the net of six cops beating up two women. Also, with so many people around them there was no way he could say for sure none of them would get hurt. “Ok, I’ll play the game. Make your call.” He told Nicole.

The tall red head gave hm a wan smile. “Ok my phone is in my purse; I’m going to take it out slowly. Let’s no one get trigger happy, ok?”

“No one will shoot you, I promise.” Milloy replied.

“Good.” Nicole opened her bag and pulled the phone out along with a piece of paper with the number Ellie had given them all. She dialed and waited for the other end to be answered.

“Harkin.” The stern sounding voice answered.

“Mr. Harkin, this is Nicole Stevens. I’m a friend of Ellie Wolf.”

“I know you are Nicole.” He replied. “What can I do for you?” He rolled his eyes at the phone.

“I have a few of San Francisco's finest here looking to arrest me and Tommi. Was kind of hoping you could have a word with them for us and save everyone a lot of hassle.”

“What the fuck is it with you people and the police. Can’t you ever keep your heads down?” He said irritably.

“It’s not like we were looking for trouble. All we did was try to have some lunch and the restaurant manager called the cops on us.” She replied defensively.

“Fine.” He sighed. “Put whoever’s in charge on the phone.”

“That would be Sargent Malloy. On sec.” she told Harkin. To Milloy she said, “he’d like to speak to you.” As she offered him the phone.
He took it and said, “This is Sargent Malloy.”

“Sargent, a pleasure to speak to you. My name is Kevin Harkin. I’m with the NSA. My id number is 8674309. That way you can verify me identity.”

Milloy eyed the two new women suspiciously. This was the last thing he expected to hear on the other end of the phone. Nicole smiled sheepishly and shrugged.

“Just a moment.” He said into the phone. Then to his fellow officers “Keep an eye on the while I check something out.”
He stepped over to the nearest cruiser and logged into the on-board laptop computer. Moments later he had Harkins picture up on the screen with all his bonafede's displayed. Into the phone he said, “Well the name and badge number are real at least. What can I do for you Mr. Harkin?”

“Nicole and Tommi are associates of mine.” He told him. “I’d consider it personal favor if you allowed them to go about their business.”

“You would, would you?” Milloy replied dubiously.

“Yes, sir I sure would.” Harkin replied, sounding cheery all the while rolling his eyes. God how he hated cops.

“Well Mr. Harkin, your friends apparently threated the manager of a nearby restaurant, and they appear to me to be infected with the bug. Add to that I don’t know you from a whole in the wall, I’m not really inclined to just let them go about their business, as you say.” Milloy told him.

“Officer Milloy, let’s be reasonable here.” Harkin told him. “Let’s say they did harass the manger as they claim, did they do harm to him of any damage to the restaurant?”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

“Ok so at most you can charge them with harassment, which is at worst a class three misdemeanor. Do you really want to go through all the paperwork for what’s going to amount to a fine from the court and community service?”

“Maybe I do. Maybe I enjoy paperwork. How would you know? Besides this is more about them possibly being infected than any assault charge. I don’t know about you, but I think keeping the virus contained is fairly important. With the fate of the species being on the line and all.”

“Ya I’ sure you love doing all that stuff and pigs are going to start growing wins soon too.” Harkin replied sarcastically then went on before Milloy could reply. “Look, I’ll tell you straight up they are infected. They are working under cover for the NSA. I’m their liaison on this particular assignment and I really need them to be free to finish it.”

“And what assignment is that?” Milloy asked. He wasn’t sure he was buying what the voice on the other end of the phone was selling and needed more information before he decided.

Harkin continued to embellish. “You have to promise it goes no further. It will be my ass if my superiors find out I shared classified info with you.”

“You have my word.”

“Have you ever heard of the terrorist organization the Sisters of Acidalia?”

The name perked up Milloy’s interest. “Yeah, we had a few alerts about them. They were the ones handing all those pamphlets out a few months ago and supposedly attacking testing centers. We were told the army shut them down a while back.”

“According to our intelligence they began to reform a few weeks ago. Nicole and Tommi were scheduled for quarantine but agreed to work for us and try to infiltrate the group before they can cause more chaos. You see, the Sisters only trust people like them that have been infected.” Harkin paused a moment then went on.

“So, the agency needs your cooperation, officer Milloy. If they were to be arrested and then set free after the word would get out and questions would be asked and our whole investigation could get exposed. So again, as a favor to me can you please let them go.” Harkin grinned to himself. As made-up stories go that one was an all-timer.

Milloy looked at the pair of new women, then asked the pair, “Who do you work for?”

Thomas, with her incredibly sensitive hearing overheard the entire conversation quickly answered with “We’re working with the NSA trying to bring down a suspected terrorist organization.”

Nicole did her best not to smile at Thomas’ timely intervention. If not for the cops being there, she’d have kissed her.

Milloy nodded.

“Our stories match huh? What a bummer for you.” Thomas said to him. “Can we be on our way now officer?”

“Smart ass bitch.” He thought to himself. Milloy looked at the phone then back at the pair of new women and sighed to himself. “Fine, go. But don’t let me catch you two causing troubles around here again cause next time, NSA or not, it’s off to quarantine for you two ad they can figure out how to spring you from there.”

“But we did even cause any…” Nicole started to protest before Thomas could cover her lover’s mouth. It was time to move along and not antagonize him many further.

“Yes, thank you officer. We’ll be on our way now. Have a great day.” Thomas said instead as she took back the phone and dragged the fired up red head way by the arm.

Once they were half the block away Nicole pulled her arm free of Thomas’ grip. “What the fuck was that all about? Don’t ever cover my mouth like that again. I’m not a child!” she said angrily.

Thomas gaped at her and shook her head. “No, you just act like one sometimes. For Christs sakes babe, what was I supposed to do?” She said with exasperation. “Harkin convinced them to let us go and you were about to start arguing with them again. Jesus Nicole, I know they were being assholes but sometimes you just have to let it go and take what’s been given. You know what I mean?”

Nicole stood there angrily. She was pissed at the tone Thomas used with her, but she had to admit her lover was right in this case, as much as that sucked to admit. The one lesson her mother had taught her over and over again when she was growing u was that when you’re wrong you admitted it no matter how much it wounded your pride. “Fine.” She said. “I’m an asshole, sometimes.”

Thomas laughed, “Naw, not you.” She teased.

Nicole stuck her tongue out. She looked at her phone in Thomas’ hand. “Hey, is Harkin still on the line?”

“Oh fuck” Thomas laughed. Then into the phone she questioned, “Mr. Harkin?”

“Yes, I am still here.” Harkin replied with tremendous annoyance in his voice.

“Sorry about that.” She said quickly. “Thank you for your help. We’re all set and good to go now.”

“Ya you’re welcome. Just let’s not make a habit out of this.”

“We shall do our best.” Thomas promised.

“See you do.” Harking said then hung up.

“He seems annoyed.” Nicole said.

“Think so?” Thomas asked sarcastically.

Again, Nicole stuck her tongue out. This time Thomas stepped up and licked the tip of it.

“Oi, such a tease.” Nicole said with a grin.
Thomas smiled. “Still hungry?”

“Yes, I am, but I’m thinking room service might be our best route.”

“Mhm, yep I think your right. Plus, we can, umm, entertain ourselves while we wait for it to be delivered.” She replied with an evil grin.

“I do love the way you think babe.”

****************
Saturday October 3rd 3pm PDT

Sisters compound:

The early afternoon sun was shining brightly in the cloudless early October sky. The air smelled fresh from the morning showers that threatened to curtail today’s activities but had ceased ninety minutes before. Ellie felt that it was as if God had given today his blessing and cleared the way for the festivities.

A small walkway had been put down at the last minute to keep the bottom of her dress and her shoes dry. It was a long piece of wine-colored carpet, not exactly red but close enough in her mind. It was a remnant from the building’s foyer that someone found stashed away somewhere. It made her smile to think of all the effort her friends were putting into making today special.

Robi stood at the far end of the improvised isle looking at the makeshift altar that the girls in the military attachment had put together yesterday. A bright smile was plastered to her face as butterflies of nervousness futtered in her belly. This was the moment that she’d fantasized about while incarcerated at Reynolds. In many ways it was her love for Warren and the hope of seeing him again was the only thing that got her through her worst days there.

On either side of the isle stood the various members of the Sisters, her friends and comrades since this crazy turn her life had taken since being infected. All of them were her family and she loved them for it. They’d taken her and Warren in without a second thought and never asked a thing in return. It was a kind of generosity she’d never experienced in her earlier life.

Mixed among them were some of the newest members, new women she’d helped treat. The majority were still recovering from the trauma of their transition. Most were virtual strangers but, Robi hoped, they’d not remain so for long.

As deep as the love she felt for the rest of the Sisters it was eclipsed by her devotion to the man standing at the at the foot of the altar, Warren Quinlan. There were simply no words that adequately expressed the depth of her love for him. Some may say that since he was the only man she’d ever been with she might be lacking in options to compare him to, but they’d never seen into his soul the way she had.
Next to her and a small step ahead stood Thomas, her maid of honor. She looked beautiful in her bright purple dress against her dusky skin.

Thomas’ lover Nicole stood at the altar dressed in a smart looking suit as Warren’s best woman. At the back of the small stage stood Ellie. She was smiling nearly as brightly as Robi.

Robi thought back to how the group’s leader had been speechless when the couple had asked her to officiate today’s ceremony. It wasn’t something that happened very often and she’d joked about having to mark the date on her calendar.

Off to the right side of the altar was the only other survivor of Reynolds, Linda. The pregnant new woman sat on a wooden stool playing the wedding march on her flute. It was a lovely sound that served to complete the scene on their idyllic day.

Standing behind the altar Ellie nodded. In response, Robi started her way up the short procession way followed by Thomas. Her dress was simple, as wedding dresses went, with no train for Thomas to help with, but the new woman did her best to imitate it anyhow, much to everyone’s delight. The trip was maybe fifteen steps, that simultaneously felt like one thousand miles and mere inches.

Holding Thomas’ hand for balance, Robi stepped up onto the raised stage and faced her intended. She’d never met anyone like Warren in either part of her life. Of course, months ago, before the virus, the idea of being with a man would never have entered her mind. Not that she, as Robert, was a homophobe, it just wasn’t her thing. However, in the time they’d been together, Warren had shown her what real love was. Now loving him felt like the most natural thing in the world.

Once the wedding party was situated, Ellie cleared her throat and began. “My friends, on this momentous day I’d like to welcome you all on behalf of Warren and Robi. Please be seated.”

A moment of rustling and muttering followed as everyone made themselves comfortable.

“I’ve never done anything like this before so please excuse any mistakes I might make.” Ellie said with a smile.

Nicole, from her position next to Warren, gave her friend a thumbs up. “You have this El. No worries.” She whispered a bit to loud. All the gathered friends laughed.

“Shh Nicole. This is serious.” Ellie chastised with a smile.

“Oh? It is? My bad. Carry on.” She replied, looking anything but sorry.

Ellie rolled her eyes. “Today God has blessed us by bringing these two people, Warren and Robi together to exchange vows and publicly express their love and commit their lives to each other. We have been granted the privilege of bearing witness to this union.” Ellie paused and looked at the pair of them. “I have known Robi and Warren since they both came to be with us several months ago. I have had the privilege of watching their love for each other grow into the beautiful flower of hope it has become. Their love has endured through thick and thin. Even through weeks of separation it remained steadfast.”

After another brief pause, she turned to Robi. “Roberta, do you take Warren to be your husband? To stand beside him always during life’s tribulations an and glories? For as long as you both live?”

Robi smiled radiantly. Looking at Warren she replied. “I do.”

“Please place your ring on his finger and repeat after me. With this ring I thee wed.”

Robi took Warrens hand in hers and told him with grave seriousness. “Warren, with this ring I thee wed.” As she went to slide it on his finger the ring twisted and nearly fell. Warren quickly plucked it out of the air before it hit the ground and with a smile handed it back to her.

“Thank babe. Saved the day again.” Robi said with a laugh as she placed the ring on his finger successfully this time. The assembled Sisters applauded. Robi turned to the small crowd and stuck her tongue out.

Ellie then turned to Warren. “Do you Warren tale Robi as your wife? To remain steadfast and care for her in good time and bad, for as long as you shall live?”

Warren looked across at Robi. It was hard to believe this moment had arrived finally. With a small tear of joy in his eye he replied, “I do.”
“Then repeat after me. With this ring I thee wed.” Warren repeated as instructed. Ellie then instructed, “Place your ring on her finger.”
Warren was far more successful and got it on the first try. A small cheer rose from the assemblage of witnesses. Warren raised his clasped hands over his head in a quick victory celebration, much to everyone’s amusement. Robi smacked his arm playfully.

Ellie, with a large smile on her face continued. “Anyone here that objects to this union please speak now, so we can kick your butt. If not now, then remain forever silent.” She paused for a moment, no one spoke up. “Then by the power vested in me by the two of you I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride, Warren.”

The small crowd of onlookers cheered as the newlyweds kissed for the first time as husband and wife. The couple then turned and faced their friends with arms raised and took a bow like concert performers at the end of a show. Those lining the walkway laughed and cheered as the couple walked arm and arm down the short isle. Behind them came Nicole and Thomas. At the last instant the two enhanced women scooped the happy couple up in their arms and carried them like grooms across the threshold of the end of the carpet.

“Thomas! Put me down!” Robi protested laughing as she kicked her feet helplessly.

Warren, for his part said, “Just don’t drop me, Nicole. The rental place will charge me extra if I get grass stains on the suit.” Nicole giggled and feigned dropping him then stuck out her tongue.

With everyone’s attention on the happy couple Becket sauntered over to where Linda was standing next to the makeshift altar. “You play very well.” She said pointing at the flute cradled in Linda’s arms.

“Thanks. My mother made me start taking lessons when I got into 6th grade.”
“She made you?” Katie asked.

“Ya. She literally had to force me.” She said with a laugh. “I was a boy. I didn’t want to play flute. I wanted to play something cool like guitar or the drums.”

Katie nodded. “Then why the flute?”

“My family going back to my maternal grandmother were very musical. She was an incredible musician, could play just about anything you put in front of her, but the flute was nan nan’s instrument of choice. The old gal just loved it. She was so good that she was invited to play for the New York philharmonic as young woman before she married granddad. She even managed to stick with it for a couple years after too but then stopped to raise a family. Once they were old enough, she had my mother, and both of my aunts, learn to play. After they all grew up the passed it on to their kids. So, when my mom’s turn came up, with no sisters to take it up, I got drafted.” She said with a laugh. “It suits me much better these days than before.”

“Well, you’re really good at it.” Katie repeated, feeling a bit stupid and tongue tied.

“Looks like everyone is headed inside.” Linda said changing the subject. She smiled inside at how awkward Becket seemed to get around her. It was cute to see that side of her. Most time she was busy trying her hardest to pretend to be a soldier.

“Ya we should probably follow.” Becket told her.

“Mmhmm. Probably best if we do.” Linda said in agreement. “First though…” she pulled Katie in and kissed her deeply. The stunned look on Becket’s face nearly caused her to burst out laughing but she managed to keep a lid on it. No worse way to spoil a first kiss then cackling like a hen after.

Becket opened her mouth to speak but Linda said “No. Don’t spoil it. Just save a dance for me when the time comes.”

Becket smiled. “Would be my pleasure.”

Linda smiled back, then took Katies hand and led her inside.
*********
Confirmed cases 125,678,435
Actual cases 178,290,873
End part XIX

Thank you as always for taking then time to read my little tale. I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a comment.