Acidalia XXII

By Amanda D.

Monday October 5th 8:30am EDT:

Greyson labs:

Lt Colonel Raymond Zoe sat in the receptionist’s office and waited patiently. He was an unassuming middle-aged man, more medical researcher than military officer. He graduated first in his class at Yale Medical before being recruited by the military to work for USAMRID. After barely surviving his time in basic training he moved onto officer training school, which suited him far better. Upon graduation he was assigned to FT. Derrick in Maryland as a researcher and had hardly left the lab since.

He'd enjoyed his time doing research, getting to work with all the latest equipment, never having to haggle over budgets, and feeling like the work he did meant something to the outside world made the time in hell that was basic training almost feel worth it. Though he understood all his research was for military application first, it still felt like he was doing what was best for the world at large.

He's worked his way up the ranks slowly, never really caring about career advancement. He only did the work required achieve higher station when ordered to do so. Even with that reluctance he eventually made it to the rank of LT. Colonel. They’d mostly left him alone after achieving the rank and let him lead his team of researchers in peace.

He thought the work they were doing at FT Derrick was going to encompass his entire career until two days ago. He was caught completely off guard when he received orders that came directly from the Secretary of Defense’ office reassigning him California. Someone in charge had decided he was the perfect candidate to be lead military officer and head the Acidalia Research station here at Greyson labs.

Now he waited patiently for the current head of the project, Dr. Jackson Ryan, to come out of what was soon to be his former office. He looked up and smiled at the secretary for what felt like the fiftieth time as his fingers along the edge the plastic brim of his hat. All she’d been able to do is give him a commiserating smile back as she buzzed Ryan’s intercom again.

Finally, after what felt like hours Ryan poked his head out. “Sorry to keep you waiting Colonel…”

“Zoe. Raymond Zoe. Lt Colonel specifically.” The tall, boney dusky skinned officer replied in a voice that seemed far too deep for his thin chest to offer.

“Ahh, yes.” Ryan said in reply. “Tell me Colonel, to what do we owe the pleasure?”

“I think it would be best if we discussed my reasons for being here in your office rather than out here where everyone can hear.” Zoe told him.

“Yes, yes, of course.” Ryan replied with a false smile. “Please excuse my manors, it’s been a very busy twenty-four hours around here.” He looked at his secretary. “Josie, can you bring in a fresh pot of coffee please?” He looked back at Zoe. “Unless you prefer something else?”

“No coffee is just fine, thank you. And thank you Josie.” He added with a smile as he was ushered into Ryan’s office.

Once inside Ryan offered him a seat in front of his wide dark mahogany wood desk. The Doctor walked behind the desk and settled into the plush leather chair he’d ordered for himself after taking over as director of the facility. Zoe sat in the slightly uncomfortable chair he was offered, crossing his long boney legs. His hat rested across his lap on top of the manila folder containing the transfer of command orders. He scrutinized the man he’d be replacing as he politely waited for Ryan to begin.

After several moments of silence Ryan finally asked. “What can I do for you Colonel? Is this another inspection from Washington?”

“No Doctor, I’m not here for an inspection, though I will be conducting one at some point, I’m sure.” He replied as he placed the folder on the beautifully ornate desk.

“What’s this?” Ryan asked, reaching across to pick it up.

“Those are orders from the Secretary of the Army placing me in charge of this facility.” He replied simply. Zoe had always found it easiest to be blunt. He wasn’t a man that was comfortable in dealing with others and getting through conversations as quickly as possible was always his goal.

“In charge of the military personnel?” Ryan asked not understanding. He began to page through the folder.

“No, not just the military component of the operation, the civilian one too.” He responded succinctly.

“I don’t understand. The president put me in charge just a week and a half ago.” Ryan replied as panic began to rise in his chest. The last thing he heeded was some outsider combing through his research.

“Yes, but he also told you it would be a temporary arrangement, until a new military commander was found.” The Lt. Colonel replied calmly. “I’m that new commander. I’m sure you will find m qualifications as a researcher more than acceptable. I’m quite excited about working with you and the rest of the researchers here in finding a cure. Once I’ve had time to catch up on what you’ve been doing obviously.”

Ryan looked blankly at the man seated across from him. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. They were replacing him, less than two weeks after being appointed. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to respond to that. Rage and embarrassment raged in his heart alongside the icy fingers of fear that ran down his spine.

He wondered what would happen to him if the colonel didn’t approve of the methods he’d instituted? What if he wanted Harold and the other one freed? Ryan couldn’t have that. The doctor was convinced the immune males offered the best chance of finding a cure to the virus.

After enduring a few moments of silence, the Colonel prodded Ryan. “Doctor?”

Snapping back from his thoughts Ryan replied “Sorry Colonel. This is just something of a surprise.”

“I imagine it is. I was only informed a couple days ago myself that I was going to be reporting here today.” The LT. Colonel replied before continuing. “As surprising as it is for the both of us, I have been ordered to take command here. I will need your help getting acclimated to the facility and its staff.”

“Yes. Yes of course. I..it will be my pleasure.” Ryan stuttered as he poured on the false sincerity. He was lost for words as his mind reeled from the news.

“Why don’t you get someone to show me around the facility while you clean your belongings out.” Zoe suggested. “I was thinking you can move back down to your old office in the lab so your close to the action as it were.”

“Move?” Ryan asked in confusion. The reality of the situation was settling in more with each word the colonel spoke.

“Yes, Dr. Ryan. As head of the facility, I will be taking over Colonel Jordon’s former office.”

“Yes, yes.” Ryan stumbled. “I’m sorry. Of course, I’ll have my assistant Sheila give you a personal tour while I move to the lab office.”

“Excellent.” Zoe replied standing up and offering a hand. “I look forward to working with you, doctor. Research has always been my passion. I can’t wait to get into the lab alongside you and the staff here. I’ve heard great things.”

“I look forward to it too Colonel.’ Ryan replied with a false smile. “Give me just a minute to get her on the line and have her meet you up here.”

“Excellent. I’ll wait outside so I’m not in your way.” He replied as he turned to leave.

Soon as Col. Zoe was out of the room Ryan grabbed the phone. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” he kept repeating to himself as he waited for it to be answered. Finally, he heard her say hello.

“Sheila?” He questioned then continued before she could answer. “We have a serious problem! The Army has sent a new colonel to replace me as head of the facility! I need you to come up here and give him a tour, but you need to keep him out of the isolation lab.”

“Wait, they sent someone to replace you? I thought the president personally appointed you to run the place.” She asked slightly confused.

“He did but apparently the Secretary of the Army has other ideas.”

“Can’t you just call the president and ask him to fix it?”

“I..I don’t know.” He replied considering the idea for the first time. God how he loved the way she saw through the heart of any problem. Maybe he could ask Fuller to override the Army secretary. He marveled at the simplicity of it while chastising himself for having never even considered the idea.

It was obvious the whole situation had thrown him so far off his game that he couldn’t think straight. “I will make the call but, in the meantime, I need to come to my office and give Col. Zoe a tour of the facility.”

“Ok. I’ll be there in five minutes.” She told him. “Take a few deep breaths while I’m on the way up.”

Ryan smiled. “I will. Once he’s off with you, I’ll call Fuller.” He bit his bottom lip as he looked at the red phone on his desk. He’d only used it once, when the president rang him, to tell him he was taking over Jordon’s roll.

If Fuller overruled the Army that would save a lot of problems. However, if he didn’t then he needed to make sure all the research around the immune men they’d found was safely hidden from potentially disapproving eyes. He turned on the monitor on his desk and opened the files containing the research they had done so far.

Within a few days of implementing the new testing procedures as second immune male discovered. Uncovering him had given them someone to compare results from Harold to and the research had been moving steadily forward for the first time since the outbreak started.

Several similarities in their physiology had been discovered, such as how unusually large their white blood cells were in comparison to samples taken from non-immune men. While no one was certain whether that was as result of exposure to the virus or the reason behind their immunity it was still an exciting lead. More time and more immune men would be needed to find the answer. All he needed was the autonomy to continue his experiments. A new overseer from the military might hinder that. Ryan was determined to not allow anything to get in the way of him finding a cure, his very reputation depended on it.

Jackson sat back down behind his desk, taking long slow deep breaths as he tried to stave off the building wave of panic. The slow breaths gradually began to settle his body and with it his mind. After a few minutes of the self-induced therapy, he looked back at his computer screen.

As he looked, he drummed his fingers on the desk rhythmically. Suddenly an idea struck him.

He grabbed the mouse and backed out of the file he’d been staring at and went back to the main directory. He remembered seeing Sam Greyson’s personal server listed there on several occasions but had never any time to investigate it. Now he clicked on and saw it wasn’t password protected. Anyone interested in what information it held was free to look at.

“If I encrypt this server, I can move all the immunity research in there for now. If the Colonel’s people stumble onto it, I can always claim ignorance of its existence. As extra insurance I’ll remove it from the main directory.” He thought. “That way no one will be able to find it without an intentional deep dive into the mainframe directories.”

************************
Outside Ryan’s soon to be former office, Sheila arrived. She looked over at her boss’s secretary and said. “Hi Josie.” The slim blonde woman smiled back at her but said nothing. Sheila shook her head. How she missed Gloria, Jordon’s secretary, who was much older but exceedingly competent and friendly. This bubble head Ryan had replaced her with, did nothing but annoy the entire staff.

Turning to the other person in the room she smiled as she stuck out her hand. “You must be the VIP I’m here to give the grand tour too."

“That would be me.” He said returning the smile. “LT. Colonel Raymond Zoe. Pleased to meet you.”

“I’m Dr. Shelia Cochrane. I work alongside Dr. Ryan as his main research assistant. Pleasure to meet you too Colonel.” She said putting on her best smile.

“Yes, I’m familiar with you and your work here doctor.” He said retuning her smile.

“Been reading up on us, have you?” she asked as they headed out into the hallway and towards the elevators.

“Since I got my orders to report here on Friday, I’ve been going over the personnel reports from Colonel Jordon.” He explained.
She nodded.

“I Wouldn’t be a very effective administrator if I wasn’t on top of who did what in the facility.” Zoe added

She nodded again. “You have us all at a disadvantage then.”

“I won’t hold that advantage over you for long I hope.” he replied, then noticed her flinching. He chuckled. “Not in that way doctor. You have very little to worry about from me, I’m gay.”

She felt an enormous wave of relief wash over her. It was hard enough dealing with Jack’s demands. The last thing she needed was another man demanding her services. To him she said, “Well your secret is safe with me.”

“It’s not really much of a secret but I don’t exactly advertise either. If you get my meaning.”

“I totally understand.” She replied honestly.

“Besides from the reports I’ve read it seems you already have a close relationship with Dr. Ryan. I assume it’s consensual. He’s not pressured you in any way, has he?”

Sheila felt her face turn six shades of red. “Jordon knew?” she questioned to herself. “That sneaky fuck.” Then to the Colonel she replied “Yes. One hundred percent consensual.”

“Good. Can’t an unpleasant environment here. Our work is far too important. Drama would only serve to slow it down.” He said. Then changed the subject. “How is the research going? Anything showing potential?”

“We’ve stumbled upon a couple that show a little potential the last week or so, but we’ve seen so many avenues that looked like they might lead us in the right direction turn out to be dead ends that we try not to get our hopes too high.” She explained, trying to remain as vague as possible.

“I understand.” He replied. “What about the work you’ve been doing on the immune men you have in the isolation lab? Have they yielded anything promising?”

If her reflexes had been a microsecond slower, her jaw would have physically made contact with the floor. She stopped and looked at him nonplused. “You know about them?”

“My dear, do you honestly think there is anything that goes on at this facility that the government isn’t aware of?” His phone buzzed in his hand. Zoe looked at it distractedly while he waited for her to answer.

“Umm. I guess not anymore.” She said with a laugh.

He smiled back. “It seems Dr. Ryan is trying to remove all the files from the data base about Harold Rogers and..”

“Eugene Freeley.” She filled in.

“Yes, that’s the other name.” he agreed.

“Naughty, naughty, doctor.” He said more to himself than to her. She watched as he hit a couple keys on his phone then closed it.
He continued as if nothing had happened. “It was ingenious to start looking at it from the perspective of those already immune rather than from the virus’ genetic makeup. We have seventeen other facilities that have gotten nowhere trying to rewrite the virus’ DNA.”

“We were working from that same angle when quite by accident we discovered Harold’s immunity.” She told him. Now that the cat was out of the bag might as let it all the way out.

“Yes, he accidently stuck himself with a needle containing live virus if I remember Jordon’s report correctly.”
“That’s exactly how it happened.”

He nodded. “I would really love to see the two of them, but I fear I need to get back to the office and tell Dr, Ryan the jig is up before he commits treason. I’m going to need full access to the files he seems so intent on trying to hide.”

She put her hand on his forearm. “Please don’t be too hard on Jack. He’s been under tremendous pressure since Jordon fired Dr. Blue. He’ afraid you wouldn’t approve of the methods he’s instituted.”

“That is understandable, but once we got a handle on why he ordered the changes to the Acidalia test, we started combing through the results. It was one of our people that discovered Mr. Feeley and sent his results your way.” He explained. “We are in a time of extraordinary crisis and ethics need to be set aside right now. The fate of our race may depend on it.”

“Jack will be so relieved to hear that. We’ve had several researchers complain about our methods.”

Zoe nodded. “Once I’m settled in, I will have to make it clear that its business as usual. The only thing that matters is finding a way to stop the spread. Now if you’ll excuse me.” He said with a smile as he turned ant strode back up the hall to the director’s office.

Zoe checked on his phone again as he walked back up the hallway. Upon his arrival back at the director’s office, he found Dr. Ryan in handcuffs surround by two security people. They were each holding him around his upper arm.

The Colonel nodded at them. “I think you can let the doctor go.” He instructed them in a casual voice. “He’s not going to cause any more trouble; are you doctor Ryan?”

Ryan nodded. It was clear on his face he was far more scared than angry.

“See? I told you.” Zoe said with an easy smile. “We’re all on the same side here.”

The guards uncuffed the doctor and then with a quick salute left the two men alone in the director’s office. Zoe kept a watchful eye on Dr. Ryan as absently rubbed his wrist where the handcuffs had been.

The Colonel sauntered around the desk and took a seat in Ryan’s chair. “Please sit doctor.” He said gesturing to one of the chairs on the other side of the desk. “Let’s see what you’ve been up to while I was gone.” The new director leaned in and read the computer screen in from of him.

Ryan sat quietly as he seethed with embarrassment. He didn’t appreciate being treated in this manner. The soldiers had barged in unannounced and roughed him up as they dragged him away from the desk. Then to add to the indignity the two of them had pinned him to the floor while cuffing him.

Now as he sat and watched Zoe browse through file after file his anger quickly turned to fear. He didn’t relish the idea of spending the rest of his life in prison and the things detailed in those files would undoubtedly land him there if Zoe was the wrong kind of person.

“Very interesting.” Zoe finally said as he looked up at the doctor. “I look forward to reading these files in greater detail later.” He sat quietly for a minute with his hands folded staring at Jackson. “I know you were trying to hide this research from me. Care to tell me why?”

Ryan sighed. There was really no use in lying at this point so instead he said, “Some of those results were taken in a less than ethical ways. I was afraid you wouldn’t approve but the research is vital to us finding a way to stop the virus. I’m sure of it.”

Zoe nodded. “I see. So, you, what? Though you could hide it from me and conduct human experimentation in a way that I’d remain unaware of? Tell me doctor, do I look stupid to you?”

Ryan shook his head no.

“Good because there is nothing that has gone on here, we are not aware of.” He told him. “I’m not here to get in the way of your research doctor. Quite the contrary. I’m here to help you get results. I’m here to help you get whatever you need to put this bug behind us. However, I can’t do my job if you lie to me about yours. Do we understand each other?”

Ryan nodded. “Yes Colonel, I think we do.”

“Good, so no more trying to hide things. We are in this together. The Secretary of Defense told me that the President has assured him that the truth about the methods we will be using to arrive at a cure, vaccine, whatever we end up with, will ever come out about this place, as long as we produce results.”

“And if we never find a cure or vaccine?”

Zoe smiled. “Let’s not think negatively doctor. However, I will say the president is not a man of unlimited patients. It would behoove you, all of us actually, to get answers sooner rather than later.”

Ryan nodded, understanding that no results meant no immunity from prosecution. “Well, if that’s the score I guess I should get down to my lab and get back to work.”

“Yes, that would be best for everyone, I think. I will be up here for most of the next couple days getting my ducks in a row. After that however I look forward to joining you in the lab as much as my time allows.” Zoe said dismissing him.

Ryan got up and walked towards the door. As he put his hand on the knob, he heard Zoe say, “And doctor, do a good job.” Ryan swallowed
hard understanding the threat and walked out.

**********************
The Isolation lab:

Ryan walked in still rubbing his wrist from the hand cuffs. Sheila was seated at the console working the robot arms inside the lab. On a gurney inside the contained environment, lay Eugene Freely while a pair of large pincers were extracting tissue samples. At first Ryan thought the tall lanky man with bushy brown hair was sedated but, then a howl of pain that could be heard through the thick glass rang out.

“Shit, shit, shit! God damn it!” Sheila muttered. She got up and stepped over to her left and banged on a console.

“What’s wrong? Ryan asked as he place a hand on her shoulder.

Sheila with her back turned to him, looked downward so he couldn’t see her face reflected in the glass and rolled her eyes. In the last weeks, she’d gone from being completely infatuated with Ryan and his incredible mind to wondering how deep the obvious psychological issue with the man went. His complete lack of compassion for their two test subjects were the clearest sign that both of his oars were not always in the water.

“The sedation IV, is not flowing right.” She said pointing at the read out on the screen she’d just punched.

“So?” Ryan asked. “It’s not like we have to worry about him reporting us to anyone.” The doctor laughed then continued. “I just spoke to the Colonel. He says it’s business as usual moving forward.”

“Yes, he told me the same before her went to stop you from screwing up the works.” She looked at him and poked his chest. “Really, Jack, what were you thinking? Trying to hide what’s been going on here from the military.” She shook her head. “You nearly got arrested for treason.

The Colonel was pissed when he got the notification on his phone of what you were doing.”

“I don’t know what else to say other than I was afraid he was going to put the kibosh on the whole immunity project. How was I to know he’d be on board with something so morally questionable?” Ryan replied defending himself best he could.

“Jack, since the outbreak what has the government done to make you think they are interested in anything other than results?” She asked, shaking her head. “I mean Jordon was as decent a guy as you find in the military and he all but ordered you to go down this path before he croaked. Your willingness to do whatever’s necessary to get us through this is the reason he dumped Dr. Blue over you in the first place.”

“True enough. I guess I just assumed it was all his idea and we were the only ones going down this road.” Ryan said with a shrug. “So, what are you up to?”

“I was trying to collect some tissue samples from our friend Eugene in there, but the sedation keeps wearing off.” She said with a sigh. For a place where you could get anything you asked for, they had a serious issue with getting the most basic of medical supplies. If you wanted a gene splicer you were good. Need a band aid? Good luck to you.
“
So?” Ryan asked.

“So, I don’t want to torture the poor guy. That’s a laser in there cutting little pieces of tissue off him. It’s got to feel like he’s being skinned alive.” She explained.

Ryan nodded. “They are lab mice Sheila. You can’t think of them as anything else because we may wind up killing one or more of them in the process of finding a cure. Humanizing them will limit our ability to do what’s necessary when the time comes.”

She just looked at him, nonplused. “Fine!” she said stepping away from the control panel. “You do it then.” She picked up her lab coat off the back of the chair she’d been sitting on and turned to leave.

Ryan grabbed her arm. “Sheila, you don’t understand, if we don’t get results it’s going to be bad for all of us. Colonel Zoe all but spelled it out to me. We must succeed, if we don’t get results, we won’t receive any protection from prosecution when all this is over. Do you understand me?”

“He said that?”
“Not in as many words but yes that was his meaning.”

“Jesus” she said with her mouth going dry. She had been eager to be involved when Ryan presented the idea to her originally but, once she saw the human cost the enthusiasm died out quickly. Now she was mostly repulsed by the things they were doing. She wondered daily now, if they were willing to go to such lengths, was humanity honestly worth saving. Now the threat of being prosecuted for the short cuts they were being forced to take left her scared her shitless.

“So, it’s find a cure or….” She left them other option hanging. She was too afraid of it to say the words.

“Pretty much.” He said with a sigh.

She shook her head in disbelief. How did she ever let herself get into this position?
All she’d ever wanted was to do meaningful research that helped humanity and now. She swallowed hard fighting back the panic raising inside her and said, “We’d better get to work then.”

**********************
October 5th 4pm PDT Santa Rosa California:

Manning:

Reverend Morris Manning stood in the dank, moldy basement smelling room trying not to wrinkle his nose in disgust. He’d never been one for dirt of filth. He never believed he was phobic about it but, dirty environments repulsed him. The building they waited in was the very definition of dirty. The plaster was falling off the walls, in some places you could actually see little spots of sunshine from the street outside. The floorboards were rotted too; his foot had nearly gone though in one spot.

“This is what you get for being forced into dealing with these ungodly types.” He thought quietly to himself.

To his left there was a table where three of his men sat negotiating with two men of middle eastern decent. They were here to purchase more powerful firearms to add to their arsenal of small arms and rifles. Manning was convinced they needed large, high caliber weapons if they were going to go to war with these so called “enhanced” servants of the devil.

The encounter with the one called Paka has shaken him. He hadn’t truly understood what the lord has set him up against until he met her. Her ability to heal was nothing short of miraculous, if she had been on the Lord’s side he would have named it such. However, she was surly not one of God’s chosen, which left him more worried than he’d ever been in his life. If all the servants of Satan were equally powerful as she, they were in for a mighty struggle in the days ahead indeed.

The timing of the discovery couldn’t have been worse. The people that had been previously funding his endeavors had decided he was too great of a risk to continue being associated with. The fools had the temerity to believe that if the authorities had managed to catch him, that he’d have turned on them to save his own skin.

So, they’d gathered what funds they could before the tap ran dry. His people came up with somewhere in the neighborhood of two hundred thousand dollars before the accounts were all shut down. After that, Manning sent some of them with contacts for these kinds of endeavors send out feelers to known arms dealers which led them to where they sat today.

His men had been arguing over the price for several minutes. The Reverend was quickly losing his patience with the entire thing. Finally, he said “Gentlemen. All this haggling and arguing is pointless.” He looked at his men and nodded. “We are trying to arm God’s army. We need the weapons you have to do that. If you would be so kind as to just tell us how much it is going to cost, we can conclude our business and all be on our way.?”

There was a short very fat blading man with dark tan skin and tattoo’s covering both of his forearms that were sticking out of the rolled-up sleeves, sitting in the far corner. He snorted as the Reverend mentioned god. When Manning finished, he hopped up off his chair with a laugh “God eh? Which god?”

“The one and only true God.” Manning replied seriously.

“My God is Allah” The fat man told Manning in a strong New York city accent. “I don’t recall hearing he has called for any jihad’s this week.”

Manning nodded and put a hand on the man’s shoulder. “God is God my friend. He has called upon us to rid this world of the acidalia sinners. I’m not here to argue about faith my brother, we simply wish to purchase weapons.”

“You want to kill virus victims?” another added in a voice full of hostility from the table.

Manning looked at the massively muscled man that had spoken. “I am only here to do to do God’s will. He has demanded their punishment and appointed us as his instruments.”

The massive figure stood up and walked over to where the Reverend stood. As tall as Manning was this man stood a good head taller, forcing the Reverend to look up to meet his hard eyes as he spoke.

“My brother fell victim to the virus last month after going on a mission to feed the hungry in the city. Are you trying to tell me he was infected because he somehow offended your god?” He asked with a laugh.

“God judges us all my friend.” Manning replied evenly.

The hulk looked over at the fat man and said, “You know what Nik, I don’t think we want to sell anything to these people.”

“I agree. Your business is not ours.” Nik said angrily as he stepped over and opened the door. “I think it’s time you and your people left.”
Manning sighed. This was not getting him anywhere. He looked over at his men still seated at the table. All told Nik had approximately ten of his men around the room all holding automatic weapons in an alert but relaxed state. It was obvious they believed their presence and weaponry was intimidating enough that no one would be foolish enough to start trouble.

“Fair enough.” Manning replied agreeably.

The three of his followers seated at the table stood and followed the Reverend towards the door. At the last second, the stocky red head at the end of the line bull rushed Nik, pushing him through the open door. At the same time the third in line tossed a grenade back though the entrance and slammed the door shut. The Reverends men dove for cover, dragging Nik to the ground with them. Four seconds later the door blew off its hinges as the grenade went off.

Looking over his shoulder on of the red head said, “I guess that’s the end of that.”

“Yes. It would seem so Steven.” Manning replied as he clamored to his feet. Looking at his left another of his men was sitting on top of Nik with his gun stuffed in the arms dealer’s face. Manning noticed a dark stain over the man’s crotch and nodded in disgust at Nik’s cowardice.

“Gregory, I believe you can get off Mr. Nik. I don’t think he’s going to misbehave. Will you sir?”
Nik, still laying on his back, flicked his eyes over where Manning stood with his arms crossed then back to the gun in his face and shook his head no.

“Good boy.” Gregory said as he held the gun on the prone man.

“Now, we tried to negotiate with you in good faith. We have no interest in theological differences; all we wanted was a smooth transaction. You however, decided to be unprofessional and let personal feelings guide your actions and now here we are.” The Reverend pontificated. He tapped a finger on his chin as he thought over what his next move should be. They still needed weapons. All this would be for nothing if they didn’t come back with what they set out to acquire.

Coming to a decision he said, “You are going to take us to wherever you have the arms stored. If you choose not to cooperate with us Gregory will shoot you. Do you understand?” Nik nodded slowly. “Good. There will be no foul play on your part, no ambushes waiting. If anyone dies today you will certainly first among them.”

The fat man nodded again. Manning’s men then dragged him back to his feet.

“Lead on sir. If you play us straight you may yet live to see sunrise tomorrow.” Manning told him as Steven gave him a push.

*************************
An hour later they arrived at an old industrial warehouse not far from the city pier. The building reminded Manning of where he’d been held up until Harkin’s betrayal. The building exterior was in similarly dilapidated condition but if you looked closely, you could see where improvements had been made. There were modern security cameras at each corner and above the entrance ways, the rear door had an electronic keypad rather than a bolt lock with a key.

“This is the place?” Manning asked.

Nik nodded.

“Well, then my friend let’s see what lies within.”

Steven gave Nik a hard shove towards the door. “Open it up asshole!” he demanded. Nik brought up the digital keypad and began to move his finger over it. “Wait a second. You better not be keying in a distress code. That wouldn’t end well for you.”

“No, no of course not.” Nik said in a voice edged with fear. He swallowed hard and began the sequence again. Behind him Steven noted the pattern was different this time but said nothing. A moment later the door unlocked with a loud click.

“After you.” Manning said stepping aside to let Nik though the door first. The fat man glowered at him then pushed the door open and stepped inside. When not shots rang out the Reverend directed his men to follow while he brought up the rear.

As he entered the lights were just coming up. The interior was filled with large wooden boxes with strange writing on the sides that Manning assumed was some kind of Arabic. The fat arms dealer led the quartet through a maze of the boxes to a stairway at the left-hand corner. Behind the metal steps was a door that was nearly hidden in the gloom.

“That’s it.” Nik told his captors.

“Well, what are you waiting for fat man. Open it up, let’s see what’s inside.” Steven told him.

Doing as he was told; Nik typed a code into the now standard keypad and the door popped open. He stepped in and flicked the light switch. The lights flickered for a moment and then the room was filled with florescent light.

Once inside it was obvious that everything they could possibly need was in there. The wall to the right of the door was lined with shelves full of high powered M16 and AK47 assault rifles. The back of the room was littered with large boxes filled with all sorts of toys from antipersonnel mines to grenades. There was another pair of containers full of small arms still in the shipping packaging. The left side of the room had a row of mortar launchers alongside several RPG (rocket powered grenade) containers. It was truly a Disney land of warfare.

“You do not disappoint Mr. Nik.” Manning told him, as his eyes continued to wander around the room. “This is a quite impressive collection. It will suit our needs perfectly.”

“I will sell you whatever you need. Just tell me what you want and go.” Nik told him nervously. He wanted these people out of his life as quickly as possible. He wouldn’t even worry about taking revenge for the humiliation. He would just pay of the families of the men that died and count it as lesson learned.

“Sell?” The Reverend asked in a surprised voice. “I guess I wasn’t clear enough earlier. You had your chance to make a profit on this deal, but you turned that opportunity down. We will be taking whatever we wish as well as our money back with us.”

The fat man opened his mouth to protest but Steven stuck his gun in it and pulled the trigger cutting it off permanently.

“I guess that’s that.” Gregory said as they watched the body hit the floor.

“Yes.” Manning agreed. He sighed and looked around again. This was going to take more than just the four of them. “Get a hold of the rest and get them over here with trucks. We have a lot to load up and we need to hurry. We can’t afford the police or any of Mr. Nik’s compatriots coming by and getting in our way.”

**********************
Three hours later:

The warehouse turned out to be an even bigger treasure trove than the Reverend had originally thought. Of the three large box trucks his men brought, two were already filled to the bursting point and the third was filling up quickly.

Manning idly wondered how so many illegal arms could be in one place and it went unnoticed by the authorities. Payoffs were the answer of course. “Business must have been very good indeed if a bunch of Muslims could stay off the local radar.” He thought quietly.

From behind a voice called to him. Manning turned to see Gregory waving him over to see something. Curious, he walked over and found several of his followers standing around an old wooden door that had been forced open.

“We hit the jackpot Reverend.” Gregory told him.

“What did you find?”

“Come see for yourself.” Gregory led him into the dimly lit room.
Manning had to duck under the single low wattage bulb that dangled over the middle of the room. As his eyes adjusted to the gloom, Gregory stood next to him point at something under a tarp on the far side of the room.

“What did you find?” Manning asked his man.

“At first we weren’t sure what they were.” He explained. “Allen has a friend that a munitions expert. He sent him a few photos of what’s in there.”

Manning nodded. “And what is it we’ve acquired?”

Gregory stepped over to the closest box. Manning came with him and noticed it looked like an arm footlocker upon closer inspection. Gregory opened the lid, and he could see a bunch of unlit bulbs and switches.

“It’s what the army would refer to as a low yield nuclear weapon.” His man told him proudly.

“Nuclear?” Manning asked, taking a step back.

“It’s perfectly safe Reverend. Allen’s friend guessed that based on the size it was about a quarter of a megaton. In layman’s terms it would be call it an EMP devise. If set off at altitude, like the top of a skyscraper it would take out every electronic devise in a five-mile radius. Even a ground level detonation brick everything within two miles.”

“Interesting. What about radiation?”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to be standing next to it when it went off, the blast radius would be about two city blocks square. That’s what these remotes are for.” He showed Manning what looked like an industrial stapler. “They can be set off at a distance of up to twenty miles using one of them.”

Manning took the detonator in hand and examined it more closely.

“There are four of them all together.” Gregory told hm pointing at the tarp. “Three more under there just like this one.”

“Well then, let’s make sure we get these loaded up as soon as possible.” Manning told him as he considered what to do with this bounty the
lord had provided. He said a silent pray of thanks as he watched his men carry the first one off.

*******************
Tuesday October 6th 12:30pm:

The Sisters compound:

“Are you sure you should be doing this?” Kara Charles asked.

“Yes. I’m quite sure I should be doing this.” Sam replied. “Sara and I have been cooped up here for two weeks. We need to get outside these walls for a little while is all.”

“I understand you have cabin fever doctor, but Sargent Russov wouldn’t approve.”

“I don’t really give a shit what Russov approves of or doesn’t Corporal. I’m taking my daughter to the park for some fresh air and that’s the end of it. You can either send someone with us or not. It really doesn’t matter to me one way or the other.” Sam replied.

While the doctor understood Charles was just doing her job, but she was really starting to get annoyed with it all. Everywhere she went there was a member of the military squad with her. All the protocol and constant fussing was making her feel trapped and she was tired of it. Today she was taking back control of her life, even if just for a couple hours, and doing something fun with her daughter, whether it met with Russov’s approved or not.

“Doctor, regs say you can’t go anywhere without at least two escorts. Russov is down and Ashford and I have to go with Elli this afternoon.…”

“Kara, does it look like I give a shit about your protocols?”

“No, but I can’t just let you go unescorted. It will be my ass if anything happens to you.” Charles told her trying to take command of the situation.

“Your ass huh? Ok I hereby absolve you of any responsibility for anything that might happen to me or Sara this afternoon. Happy now?” Sam replied as she put baby Sara in her stroller. The little one giggled with delight as her mother made a funny face at her. “I have my cellphone in the diaper bag. If anything happens, I will call you immediately, scouts honor.” Sam told her as she stood up.
She grabbed the handle and began to turn when Charles reached out and grabbed her by the upper arm. “Hey there. Hands off!” Sam growled.

“Doctor…”

“What’s going on in here?” Linda asked walking in on the unfolding scene. She didn’t know what was going on but the soldier with her hand on Sam and it was obvious the doctor didn’t want it there. “You better let her go.” She warned.

“Oh Linda.” Sam said with some surprise. “It’s fine hun. We were just going out for a walk to that little park down the road. The Corporal said there wasn’t available security and, well here we are.”

Linda watched Charles’ hand as it drop away from the doctor’s arm. “If you need an escort, I can go with you. Me and Jr. here” she said patting her tummy, “could use a little exercise too.”

Sam looked at Kara. “Is that acceptable to you?”

Charles sighed in defeat. “Fine but take Becket with you too. And right to the park and back. If you get yourself killed don’t come crying to me.” The three laughed at the joke.

“Pinky swear.” Sam replied with a smile. Then to Linda she said, “We can go whenever you’re ready.”

“Ok, give me five to find Katie and we’ll meet you out front?”

Sam smiled at the familiar way Linda referred to the private. Rumors had been circulating about the two of them since they were spotted dancing together at the wedding. “Perfect. See you in five minutes then.”

“Doctor, make sure you wait for inside the building.” Charles ordered.

“Yes Corporal, we will not go outside without her I promise.” Sam replied as she sketched a sarcastic salute.

Charles rolled her eyes. “Get out of here before I change my mind.” She smiled and said sternly.

“We’re already gone.” Sam told her as she walked away. “Come on, kiddo, we’re off to the park.”

********************
Fifteen minutes later Sam was waiting in the building lobby when Linda and Katie finally arrived. Sam could help but notice how beautiful Becket was dressed in a casual yellow dress and sneakers. The way Linda kept glancing at her as the approached made severed to only further cement the idea that there might be something between them.

“And if there is that’s not your business Samantha.” She thought quietly. Then to the pair she said jokingly. “Nice of you to join us.”

“I couldn’t find Becket.” Linda told her.

“I was in the shower.” Becket explained sheepishly.

“And she wanted to come in fatigues. So, I made her change.” Linda said with some satisfaction.

Sam nodded. “That dress looks far better on you than your uniform anyhow Private.”

“Thank you doctor. Had to find a purse to hold my gun in. No room for a holster in this outfit.” She laughed.

“But you look cute as button Katie.” Linda chimed in. Katie smiled brightly at the compliment, then mentally chastised herself for looking like such a dork.

“By the way Katie, you should probably call me Sam while we’re out, not doctor.”

“Yes of course doctor. My mistake.”

Sam rolled her eyes and Katie laughed.

“Times a wasting. Shall we get going before Russov happens by and puts the kibosh on the whole thing?” Linda asked.

“We shall.” Sam replied.

Becket scooted her way between them and held the door, and they were off.
“
Oh, look at you so polite.” Linda said mockingly.

“The army and my mother trained me right ma’am.” Becket replied sticking her tongue out.

“MMM. Cute tongue.”

“Ok you two. You can flirt while we walk.” Sam told them both with a laugh. Linda and Becket both turned red as beats.

“Where is this park? Linda asked. “I hate to admit it but I haven’t really done much exploring outside the facility.”

“Once we get to the end of the drive, it’s about a half mile to the south.” Becket informed her.

“Nice little stroll then.” Linda said. “Hear that jr.? No kicking mommy’s bladder for a little while ok?”
The trio continued to chat as they walked. Sam asked Becket how she’d managed to come to be with the army. Katie relayed the story of being captured and shanghaied. Sam was appalled by the story.

“You mean they forced you to enlist?” Sam asked with a touch of horror in her voice.

“I’m not sure I ever actually enlisted doc.” Becket said with a laugh carful to leave out most of the worst aspects of life at Ft. Rawlings as ordered by Sargent Russov. “It just kind of became an, is what it is kind of situation. None of us could leave so we all eventually fell in line because being in the brig sucks.”

Linda and Sam both laughed. “Ya I bet you know that well from firsthand experience.” Linda teased.

“I plead the fifth.” Katie relied with a giggle.

The three of them were so involved in chatting they paid no attention to the dark colored Nissan Pathfinder parked on the side of the road as they passed by.

Inside the car the bored passenger looked lazily up as they three women passed by. Her eyes grow wide with surprise as she started poking the driver who was dozing behind the wheel. The pair had been sitting there for nearly twelve hours, and their shift was just about over. For the first time since Flint had agreed to sending teams to keep an eye on the facility had the endless hours of waiting born fruit.

“Holy fuck Ben! That’s her!” Kayla Stanton shouted as she shook her companion awake. Kayla as a short very thin woman, with shoulder length stingy blonde hair. She has big expressive blue eyes that at times looked too big for her face. She’d been with the resistance for just a few weeks since her twin brother was taken to quarantine by the government.

“Wha? Her who?” Ben Houser asked groggily. Kyla was prone to becoming overly excited and it grated harshly on his nerves.

Ben was middle aged, with a paunchy belly and a neatly trimmed salt n pepper beard. His mop of hair was thinning badly in the back which made him wear a beat up Huston Astro’s on a daily basis.

“Her! Dr. Greyson! Right there!” she said excitedly pointing out the windshield.

Ben blinked several times, trying to focus his eyes on where she was pointing. All he could see was the backs of three woman was they walked away from their position. “Which one?”

“The one in the middle. Pushing the baby carriage. That’s her. Doctor Greyson!” Kayla replied bouncing on her seat with excitement.

Ben looked over at her and shook his head. “Alright calm down.” He told her starting the truck up.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m going to drive by them and make sure it’s really her.”

“But I already know it’s her! I saw her!” Kayla exclaimed.

“I get that, but we need to be sure before we make a move. Plus, I want to see who she’s with. If it’s that super woman Nicole we were told about, we’re going to need more than just the two of us to take her.”

“None of them have red hair.”

“Never heard of hair dye?” he asked sarcastically as the Pathfinder began to move.

“Har, Har. Very funny.” Kayla replied with great annoyance. She hated it when Ben talked down to her. She was far from stupid and resented being treated like she was. However, he had far more experience in the domestic terrorist life, and she needed to defer to him, but she didn’t like his condescending attitude one bit.

Within a few seconds they caught up to the slow walking trio. Ben looked over at them casually as they drove by. He saw just enough of her profile to confirm it was Greyson pushing the stroller. Without stopping they drove on and pulled over far enough up on the next block to avoid looking suspicious.

Keeping an eye on the women in the rearview mirror he told Kayla, “Call Flint. Let him know that the target’s in play. See what he wants us to
do.”

******************
San Bernardino:

Mike Flint sat on the couch only half paying attention to the program on the television. While it was mildly entertaining his mind was elsewhere. The fight with Yvonne several days ago still very much bothered him. The pair had barely spoken about anything other than the days schedule since. He knew that eventually they had to sit down and talk it out but honestly, his feelings were hurt, and he just couldn’t bring himself to yet.

So, he sat, and he brooded and tried to convince himself that nothing else mattered beyond the mission.
The ringing of his cell phone on the couch next to him interrupted his thoughts. He looked at the screen and saw Kayla’s name on it. “Never rains but it pours.” He thought gloomily. “She better not be calling to ask when the next shift was going to arrive, again. Might just have to string her up by her toes if she is.”

“Yes Kayla” he said as he answered smiling at the end of his last thought.

“Flint! We found her!” she said excitedly without preamble.

“Found who?” Flint asked with mild annoyance. Kayla was a pretty good fighter for a newbie but given to hyperbole.

“Sam Greyson! Who else would I be calling about?” she asked slightly insulted.

“Greyson? You two spotted her outside of their facility? Where?” He asked his interest suddenly piqued.

“She’s walking up the street right behind us with two other women. She’s pushing a baby carriage. Must be taking that kid she takes care of to the park or something.” Kayla guessed.

Flint sat dumbfounded for a moment. He’d been sending pairs of his people to watch the entrance to the compound as a way to satisfy Carol and Yonne. He never imagined they’d actually catch Greyson outside the facility. “What’s her security situation look like? The big redhead Carol warned us about isn’t with her, is she?”

“Stevens? No. It doesn’t look like she has any obvious security at all. We’ve been watching and no one has been lurking behind them or anything. She’s walking with a blonde girl that looks like she pregnant and another with long brown hair that I don’t recognize. This might be our chance to grab her. They don’t look like they are expecting trouble. None of them look like they are armed.”

“You’re sure the enhanced woman isn’t with them?” He asked verifying.

“No. None of these girls are even close to six feet tall.”

“Good. Good. Ok, here’s what we’re going to do. You two keep an eye on Greyson, don’t let her out of your sight. Yvonne and Brian are on their way to relieve you. I’ll call her and let them know Greyson may be in play and have them meet up with you. If the situation is right maybe the four of you can take her quietly.”

“Ok!” Kayla replied excitedly. “We’ll keep her in our sights.”

“Kayla, just watch her, don’t do anything else until Yvonne arrives. Understand me?”

“Yes, sir mister boss man sir. I will do my best to not fuck it up.” She replied, rolling her eyes. “Fricken men.”
Kayla had been waiting/hoping this day would come for months. It would be a dream come true if they managed to capture Greyson. In her mind she was the person most responsible for her twin brother Frank being taken from her. All she needed now was to be patient and wait for back up.

Looking over at her companion she told him, “Flint wants us to keep an eye on her until Yvonne and Brian arrive. He’s going to call and let them know what’s up”

Ben nodded as the trio of new women passed by them for a second time. Luck was on their side as it appeared none of them noticed them sitting in the same truck they’d passed down the block. He watched as they turned into the park entrance halfway up the next block.

“Ok, let’s go.” Bn told her reaching for the door handle.

“Go?” she asked. “Go where?”

Ben let out an annoyed sigh. “Go into the park. Flints said to keep an eye on them remember?”

“He did. He also said don’t fuck it up.”

“I’m not planning to.” Ben replied impatiently.

“Ok then good but your plan is, what? For the two of us to casually stroll into the park hand and hand and sit on the bench across from them or something?”

“Ya.” He replied. “I figured we could pretend to be a couple out for a walk in the park together. Something like that anyhow. Why what’s wrong?”
She cocked an eye at him. Ben was easily ten to fifteen years her senior. Worse, he looked every minute of it. “Sweetie, I don’t want to crush your ego or anything, but no woman is going to buy that we’re a couple.”

“Why not?” he asked indignantly.

She considered trying to explain it to him in a way that wouldn’t piss him off even more but couldn’t come up with anything that would lessen the blow. Instead, she shrugged and told him, “You wouldn’t understand, but trust me.” She reached for the door handle. “You wait here, I’ll go take a peek at what they are up to and call you on the cell.”

He looked straight ahead trying to control his annoyance. “Fine do what you want.”

As Kayla started to climb out of the truck, he grabbed her by the arm. She looked back to see him pointing his gun at her. His face was a mask of hurt and anger. “If you fuck this up, I’ll shoot you myself you stuck up cunt.”

His face fell as Kayla fearlessly yanked her arm free of his grasp. “Fuck you, Ben! Grow the fuck up!” she told him then slammed the truck door shut. “Asshole!” she muttered as she walked down the sidewalk.

A minute later she turned into the park entrance. The sun was bright, and the air was unusually warm for early October, and the park was filled with young children and toddlers running around. All around the play area were parents and caretakers, watching the young ones play. Off to her left across from the playground the benches were filed with women watching strollers along with several grandmother types talking amongst themselves.

Kayla looked at each bench surreptitiously as she strolled slowly down the central grey colored brick pathway. The size of the crowd impressed her. It was unusual these days to see so many people gathered in one place. It struck her about halfway down the path, that there were no men to be seen anywhere in the crowd. Not a single father or grandfather to be found among the on lookers, even the kids playing were all girls.

“Guess the boys are too precious to risk these days. Good job Greyson you cunt.” She thought angrily.

The longer she walked the more panic started bubbling up in her chest. She was getting steadily closer to the closed end of the grey brick pathway, and she still hadn’t put eyes on her quarry.

“Where the hell did they go?” She wondered. She turned her head and looked back at the entrance to make sure they hadn’t, somehow sneaked past her while she was looking the other way or something, but they weren’t there either. Finally, after several desperate seconds, she spotted the three women with the carriage sitting on a bench in the cul-de-sac at the pathways end far from the rest of the people visiting the park today.

“At least they are staying far enough away to avoid infecting anyone else.” She thought.

The location they’d picked wasn’t ideal, however, for any kind of stealthy observation. No matter what she did they were going to notice her.

Deciding if you’re going to be noticed you might as well really be noticed, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Ben’s number a she took a seat across the cul-de-sac from the new women.

When he answered she said loudly “Oh my god! Sharron! You’re not going to believe what just happened to me!!” Kayla giggled at the end for emphasis.

On the other end Ben simply said “Kayla?”

“Yes, it’s Kayla you goof!” she replied loudly. Across from her she saw all three new women glance over at her then return to whatever conversation they were having. She grinned to herself, the plan was working, for the moment anyhow.

“So, ya lemme tell ya babe. I ran into Sammy and his friends last night at that bash in the city and OH MY GOD he looked so cute! Girl, I tell ya I’d spread em for that guy any day of the week and twice on Sunday!”

Three new women, who couldn’t help but hear Kayla’s end of the conversation had no choice but to laugh. Kayla, hearing it, pulled the phone away from her ear and gave them an exaggerated wink then returned to the phone.

Sam laughed. “Real hell cat that one.” She said to Katie and Linda.

“Ya I bet she’s a hell of a lot of fun at a party.” Linda replied with a smile.

Becket, who until that point at largely ignored the girl’s presence went silent as she focused her incredibly keen hearing, trying to make out what was being said on the other end of the line.

Ben, for his part, was being no help to Kayla. He kept asking “What the fuck is wrong with you? What the hell are you talking about? Can you see them?”

Becket caught the last line and perked up. She cautiously looked around at the rest of the park’s patrons trying to eye whoever it was the 20 something blonde-haired girl was talking to. There were several other visitors on the phone but none with a voice as deep as whoever blondie was talking to. She strained to hear each conversation in the place, but it quickly became just a jumble of noise.

Giving up she returned her attention to the girl across from them who was still gabbing with her so-called friend. Becket put a hand on Linda’s thigh, quietly catching her attention and subtly shook her head no as she looked across at the occupied bench.

Linda gently nudged Sam while she looked over towards and nodded at the younger girl. She turned back to Katie and quietly asked “What’s up?”

Sam, catching Linda’s hint, kept smiling and laughing like nothing had changed while she listened.

“Somethings not right.” Becket told them both. “That’s not a girl blondie over here is speaking to, it’s a guy. I haven’t spotted him, but he must
be back by the playground or on the street somewhere.”

“You think they’re here watching us?” Linda asked suddenly feeling anxious.

“I don’t know but it seems awful suspicious.” She told them.

“How would anyone even know we were here?” Sam asked. “It’s not like we alerted the media or anything.”

“I don’t know. Maybe they’ve been following us or maybe they were surveilling the facility. There was that Pathfinder we walked past.” Becket replied. “Now that I think of it we walked past two of them, or maybe it was the same one twice. Fuck! I should have been paying more attention.”

“Well fudge.” Linda replied. “What do you want to do?”

“Nothing right now. Let’s just keep an eye on things. If shit starts to go down the two of you stay behind me, understand?” She reached into her purse and fished out her ankle monitor and handed it to Sam. “Put that someplace it won’t get found without a search, just in case we get separated.”

Sam took the object and slipped it into her hoodie’s pocket. “So much for the quiet afternoon in the park.” She thought. “Should have listened to

Charles when she told me it was too risky. Now the other two are in danger too. Not to mention Sara. Good fucking job Sam! If we get out of this next time you listen to the security people.”

*******************
Yvonne:

Sitting quietly Yvonne prayed for her life in the passenger’s seat while Brian Couture slalomed through the light highway traffic. She detested driving with him, in her opinion he was far too reckless behind the wheel. From experience she knew bitching at him as he zig zagged thorough traffic was useless because it only seemed to make his driving worse. She silently cursed Flint for assigning her to go with him and casually wondered if it was his way of getting a bit of revenge on her for not speaking to him since the big fight.

She sighed to herself wondering what would come of the two of them. She’d fallen in love with Mike, of that she was sure, but he wanted to escape this life and go away and live a normal life with her and the two girls.

Deep inside her heart of hearts, she wanted that too, but the ghost of every loss she’d suffered cried out against it. Living a normal live sounded wonderful but not until they’d all paid for her family. Thomas, the girls, her mother and father, all of them had been taken away by the virus and anyone involved with it needed to die for that. Those were the ghosts, that refused to let her stop.

As she considered how to end the dispute wither man, the phone in her purse began to ring. Grumbling, she tried to dig it out while Brian did yet another sudden lane shift, bouncing her off the door in the process.

“Brian! What the fuck?” she yelled.

“Sorry, just trying to get us there before Kayla starts bitching again.”

“Yeah, well she’s going to bitch a lot more if you get us killed before we arrive!” Yvonne told him as she freed the cell phone from her bag finally.

She looked down and saw it was Flint calling. “Wonderful. Just what I need.” She thought as she answered it. “Yes Michael?”

“Yvonne. We have a situation.” He told her.

Her attitude changed immediately. “What’s going on?”

“We might have a chance at Greyson. Kayla and Ben spotted her walking with two others.” He told her hurriedly.

“They let Greyson go outside?” she asked stunned.

“Yup, that what it seems like. Kayla has her under observation at that little park on Willard Blvd.” he told her. “I’ve got Jenna and Bill watching the condo. They are going to meet you and Ben outside the park.”

“We have permission to take her out?” she asked hopefully.

“You need to assess the situation and see what’s feasible.” He said ignoring the permission question. “She doesn’t appear have either of the enhanced ones with her so this might be the opportunity we’ve been waiting for.”

Yvonne could hardly believe what she was hearing. Like Flint, she thought watching the residence and the big warehouse they were using was an exercise in futility. It was more to make it feel like they were doing something than anything that would bring any real results.

“Ok. We should be getting off the highway in about five minutes.” She replied.

“Good.” He said. The line went quiet for a moment. She waited patiently for him to speak.

“Look. I know things are fucked up between us but, be careful, ok? I…I love you.” He told her. He feared what her reply would be so he hung up quickly before she could.

She smiled at the phone. Perhaps there was a chance for them after all. To Brian she said. “Never in my life did I think I would say this to you but speed up we need to get there now!”

He looked over at her confused. “Seriously? You want me to go faster? Why? What’s going on?”

“We have a possible shot at getting that son of a bitch Greyson.”

“No fuckin way!” he exclaimed as he pushed the gas pedal harder.

“We’re meeting the others in front of that little park on Willard, just up from the warehouse building they’ve been using.”

“Willard? Oh, shit that’s the next exit!” he hollered as he darted into the right lane.

Yvonne grabbed the dashboard with both hands. “You better still be there you little bitch!” she thought as she hung on for dear life.

***************
The Park:

“I don’t like this at all Private. There are too many people here that might get hurt if there’s trouble. We should go.” Sam said nervously.

“Yeah, I agree.” Katie told her. She looked at Linda. “You ready to go?”

“Yes.” She answered.

“Ok.”

The three of them stood up and gathered their belongings. As they turned to leave the three of them smiled and waved to the loud girl across the way who was still talking on her phone. Kayla waived back and said into the phone “Shit they’re leaving.”

“It’s ok.” Ben reassured her. “Yvonne and Brian are here already, and Jenna and Bill are just pulling in behind us. They won’t get far.”

“Ok. Going to give then a few steps head start, and I’ll follow them out.” Kayla replied.

As the trio of new women made their way towards the park’s entrance Linda looked casually over her shoulder at the bench Kayla has been sitting on. “She’s gone.” The pregnant new woman told the others.

“Must be behind us in the crowd.” Katie answered as she unzipped the top of her bag and gripped the 9mm pistil in there.

“We really need to get out of here.” Sam urged. “I’m sorry I put you two into this position, it was irresponsible of me. I should have just stayed at the compound.”

“Too late for recriminations now sweetie. “Linda told her. “Don’t worry though. We have you.” She glanced over at Becket and smiled.

“Damn straight we do.” Katie added. “Nothing’s going to happen to you or to Sara. No worries doc, ok?” She was slipping into military mode now. Assessing the situation with detachment as she tried to calculate the odds of them actually getting home in one piece. “I wish I had Charles gift for strategy.” She thought quietly.

Becket looked up at the park entrance and saw three men and two women loitering just outside it. “Shit. Ya we got trouble. Sam, call the compound. See if anyone can come and get us some back up.

Sam stopped walking and bent over into the stroller. As she pretended to mass with the blankets she dialed the number. On the third ring it was answered.

“Hello.”

“Nicole? It’s Sam. We have a problem.”

“What’s wrong?” the red head asked.

“We’re not sure but it looks like we’ve got trouble. Becket, Linda and I are at the little park up the street with the baby and there’s someone following behind us and there at 5 people waiting at the entrance.”

“Shit. Ok. Let me grab Tommi and meet you there soon as we can.” Nicole told her dropping the phone back on hook. “Fuck fuck fuck!” she muttered then yelled, “Thomas!!”

A moment later her lover appeared in the doorway. “Yes, my love? No need to yell, I was just outside here.”

“Sam’s got troubles up the street at the park. Someone’s following her Linda and Becket.” She told her. “We need to meet them.”

“Shit. Ok. Let’s go.” Thomas said grabbing her hand and pulling her out the door.

**********
The Park:

Becket and Linda stood still watching their potential adversaries as Sam leaned into the carriage and called for help. There was nothing else they could do but wait to see what went down and when. They were effectively trapped until help arrived.

“Shit. Looks like they’re running out of patients.” Linda said noticing the group at the gate moving into the park.

“Shit is right. There are too many kids in here for a fire fight.” Becket told them. “Come on.” She urged.

They made their way slowly up the path until they came up on the group from the entrance. Becket stepped up to the one closest to her. “I don’t know what you want but let’s not get into it here. Too many little kids around.”

Ben looked around. He lifted his jacket just enough to expose the butt of a 9mm tucked into his belt for Katie to see. “Ya. Ok.” He agreed. “But no funny stuff. We all walk out together.” He said it loud enough for the rest of the group to hear. Heads nodded in agreement all around them.

“No worries.” Becket replied. She wasn’t thrilled with the odds. Six to three didn’t seem bad on the surface, especially considered what she and Linda could do, but she had Sam and the baby to worry about. Plus, Linda was pregnant, Katie couldn’t really let her fight. From their adversaries’ posture she could tell they were all armed too.

“Hope whoever Sam got ahold of moves fast.” She thought.

The group of now nine made their way to the park entrance at a relatively casual pace. The Sisters didn’t want to alarm any of the other park visitors. Ben’s group didn’t want to attract any more attention than absolutely necessary.

Yvonne stayed close to Sam, poking the doctor’s ribs with the muzzle of her gun. She could barely contain her excitement. Much to her regret, she hadn’t been the one that pulled the trigger all those months ago when Hillary’s group captured Sam’s partner, Dr. Laura Wayne, on her way to quarantine. With all of them dead now, she was going to be damned if anyone else got to do the deed on Greyson. In the carriage was Greyson’s baby apparently. Yvonne wondered if maybe she should kill the child first in front of the doctor so she could share in the pain of losing someone she loved for a long moment before following the infant into the abyss herself. This was finally going to be the ultimate revenge for her family. Maybe after this was done, she could leave with Mike and the girls. Perhaps finally this would be enough for her to walk away.

The group rounded the corner out of the park and onto the sidewalk, Brian, who’d taken the lead position, motioned towards the trio of parked vehicles. “Over there, by the cars. All of you line up against them.” He ordered.

Becket, who was next to him, nodded. She was almost as amped up as Yvonne, waiting for the right moment to strike. She knew help was coming and all she needed to do was stall until it arrived. Katie just hoped she could. There was no way she could let harm come to her charges.

The three of the stood side by side. Katie was stationed in the middle with Linda on her right and Sam with the baby carriage on the left. She felt the weight of the gun in her purse but there was no way to access it at the moment. Whatever she was going to was going to have to be hand to hand. She watched quietly as she was taught, assessing each of the six.

“Doctor Sam Greyson” Brian began. His mouth was dry as a desert, making his voice crack slightly as he spoke. The gun is his hand felt so good it was nearly orgasmic. There was nothing he wanted more then to use it on Sam. “I’ve waited an awful long time to meet you. We all have.” He waved his hand around at each of his teammates. “Each of us have lost someone thanks to you and your bug. Now it’s time for justice.” He leaned in to grab Sam by the upper arm.

Becket swatted his hand hard enough to break two of his fingers. She moved over in front of Sam as she pushed the man away with enough force to send him sprawling. “I don’t know what you think is going to happen here, but I can assure you it’s not.” She warned the rest of the group as she pulled the gun out of her purse. “I don’t want to hurt any of you but if you force me to it will go very badly for all of you.”

She had a hand behind her touching Sam’s side holding her behind her. As she surveyed the rest of them, she felt the doctor’s body jerk suddenly to the side. Glancing over she saw one of women had pulled the carriage out of Sam’s grip. “Shit!” she thought as Sam screamed in protest. Becket knew the jig was up and lowered her weapon.

“Sara! Give me back my baby!” Dr Greyson demanded. Sam stepped towards but was met with the muzzle of a gun in her face. She stutter stepped a moment before stopping completely.

“Get out of the way or the kid gets it.” Yvonne said with steel in her voice. She redirected her gun and pointed at the infant in the carriage. Her heart soared as has saw the distress on Greyson’s face. It was all she could do to not pull the trigger.

“F..fine. I’ll go with you. Just leave Sara alone.” Sam pleaded. She put her hands up behind her head in a gesture of surrender. Tears of relief streaked down her face as Yvonne stepped away from the carriage.

“Sam you can’t.” Linda said.

“I…I have to! I can’t let them kill Sara!” Sam replied angrily. “Too many have been hurt because of me. I can’t let her be another victim!”

Becket looked around trying to decide what the best course of action was when the dark skinned one that had the gun on the carriage agreed.

“Get her in the car!” she told the others.

From off to the left they heard voices shouting. Becket looked and saw Nicole and Thomas running full speed down the sidewalk and quietly thanked god for their arrival.

“Shit!” Kayla yelled. “That’s the red headed super woman they told us about! We gotta get out of here!!”

Yvonne grabbed Sam by the arm and pushed her into the back of the Pathfinder. She turned to look at the newcomers who were coming fast.

For a moment she marveled at the pair as they sped towards her at speed that defied logic. Everything Carol had told her about Nicole seemed to be true. She was truly a sight to behold.

“Fuck, Ben we need to get the fuck out of here!!” she yelled as she pulled her gaze away and refocused on the mission at hand. It was time to go; the odds had defiantly shift out of their favor. The small brown-haired one was enhanced somehow based on the condition Brian’s hand.
The new arrivals skidded to a halt as the came up to the back of the third car. Putting her and on the trunk, Nicole warned “Get away from Dr. Greyson right now!” She squeezed her and crumpled part of the back quarter panel for emphasis.

Yvonne looked back at the red head from the passenger’s door of the SUV. “Stay back Stevenson! I’ll fucking shoot her right now!”

Thomas stopped dead in her tracks and stared at the woman. Her mouth popped open with shock she realized that she recognized her. It had been months, and her hairstyle was different but there was no doubt who it was. Their eyes met and Thomas said almost too quietly to be heard, “Yvonne?”

Yvonne looked back at the tall brown haired new woman in confusion. How could this stranger know her name? She looked hard at the stranger and suddenly something in the eyes hit her.

“Thomas?” she asked disbelievingly. “My God! Thomas!!” she screamed in a shocked voice.

From inside the Pathfinder, she heard “Yvonne! We gotta go!!” Ben was yelling at her.

She took a shaky step towards the woman that used to be her husband, still stunned and disbelieving.
“How?” she asked no in in particular.

In the distance she could hear sirens heading in their direction. She halted with her hand on the back of the SUV. Ben was inside screaming her name. She hesitated, torn in two directions at the same time. Ben hollered at her once again. She looked at the back of Sam’s head in the back seat and decided.

She turned back to Thomas and said “I have to finish this. I..I’ll find you after.” She turned and jumped back into the truck.

“YVONNE!!” Thomas yelled as the SUV sped off. She fell to her knees.

“Thomas?” Nicole asked. “Who?”

“That was my wife.”

“Holy shit! She’s alive?”

“Ya. And she wants to kill Sam!” Thomas said with growing alarm. “Come on we need to follow them!”

“It’s ok they can’t get away. I gave Sam my ankle monitor. She has it in her hoodie pocket.” Becket told them as Linda rocked the stroller trying to calm the wailing baby. “Russov will be able to track them wherever they go.”

“We still need to get back and get the van.” Nicole told them.

“You three go. I’ll take care of Sara.” Linda told them. She looked at Becket and gave her hand a quick squeeze. “Be careful.”

“I’ll do my best.” Katie leaned in and kissed the blonde new woman’s cheek. Nicole and Thomas raised their eyebrows but said nothing. Linda flashed them a quick smile.

“Ok. Back to the compound, double time!” Becket ordered and the three of them started running back to the compound.

***********************
Ben was driving like a mad man, swerving between cars and blowing red lights.

“Jesus Christ, Ben! Don’t kill us!” Yvonne complained from the back seat. “No one is chasing us.”

“Maybe not yet but you bet your ass they will be soon. We need to get back to San Bernardino and get off the road!”

“There’s no way Stevenson can catch up with us on foot.” Yvonne noted.

“I wouldn’t underestimate Becket if I were you.” Greyson told her.

“Shut the fuck up!” Yvonne ordered.

“Why? Are you going to kill me more if I don’t?” Sam asked sarcastically. She was more scared than she’d ever been before. She kept her hand in her pocket squeezing on the ankle bracelet. Despite her fear she was determined not to just sit meekly and wait to be executed.

Yvonne glared at her but said nothing. She didn’t have the focus to deal with Greyson or anyone for that matter. Thomas was alive and apparently with the Sisters. She could hardly believe it even though she was sure that woman was her husband. A tear rolled down her cheek as she remembered their last day at the park together with the girls before he got sick. Before her whole world changed.

She’d left him though, “How could you do that?” To complete the mission no less. It made no sense to her now that she took a minute and thought about it. Why was she here and not with the man she loved? Had her need for vengeance infected her so deeply that she couldn’t let it go long enough to find out how he was alive? And if Thomas was alive did, she really need to kill Sam Greyson now? Was it still as justified as it felt just a couple hours ago? She’d dedicated her life to making those involved with the virus’ release pay because of what had happened to him but now, he was ok. He wasn’t dead or being tortured at some government quarantine. He was free and apparently associated with the sisters now. She wondered if revenge was even called for anymore or was the point moot now?

“How did things get so fucked up in just a few seconds time?” she wondered.

She let out a sigh and looked over at Greyson as she sat looking out the driver’s side window. “Finish the mission then find your husband. You owe it to Carol, if no one else, to see this through.” She thought, feeling her resolve start to come back. Maybe her need for vengeance wasn’t what it was when she woke up this morning but there were others Greyson owed.

*******************
The Compound:

“You what?” Russov yelled in Beckets face as she leaned on her crutches.

“I let her go. She insisted. They threatened the baby, and I had no play.” Becket explained for the third time. “There were six of them, all armed.”

“You know what our mission here is do you not? You know my standing orders that neither of the VIP’s are allowed to go anywhere without two armed escorts!” Russov said as she angrily poked Becket in the chest.

From behind Becket Thomas pipped up. “Sargent, I hate to interrupt but regardless of whatever rules Private Becket has broken, Finding Sam is the priority right now. We need you to track the ankle bracelet. I’m sure the Private will gladly submit to whatever ass chewing she is due after the doctor is back home safe and sound.”

“Yes, Logan I know!” Russov said irritably. “But if Private Becket hadn’t had her head up her ass this situation would never have come up!”

“Maybe but that’s hardly the most important thing right now!” Thomas said getting up in her face.

“Whoa baby.” Nicole said, pulling Thomas back by the arm. “Threats and fighting among ourselves isn’t going to get Sam home any faster.”

“I know.” Thomas admitted. “Just.. seeing Yvonne like that has me all fucked up.”

“Yvonne?” Russov asked.

“Don’t worry about it.” Nicole replied dismissively. “Are you going to help us or what?”

Russov showed her the tablet she had in hand. “I just need to log in.” Russov waited patiently for the devise to accept her credentials. Once it was finally upset you brought up the tracking application. “Looks like they are on highway five headed south. They are moving like a bat out of hell too.”

“We should get moving then. Can you keep tracking them and we’ll stay in contact by cell?” Thomas asked Russov anxiously. Then to Nicole she said, “Let’s get going.”

“No. I’m coming with you.” Russov told them.

“You have a broken leg.” Thomas pointed out.

“Very good Logan, nice to see your eyes are in good working order.” Russov taunted. “Be that as it may, I can still provide logistical support. Plus, we have no idea what we’re getting ourselves into. We are going to need a plan once we arrive. I’m the most experienced with military tactics.” Russov explained.

“Fine.” Nicole said’ before Thomas could argue. “Let’s get moving.”

To Becket Russov said, “Get down the armory, grab rifles and body armor for everyone, a case of ammunition clips, flash bangs and grenades.”

“Yes Ma’am!” Becket saluted and then rushed off.

“Ok, let’s get you loaded up in the van.” Thomas told Russov.

“I need just another minute to grab a couple things, then I’ll meet you out back.” Russov told her.

“Fine! Be quick. If Becket gets there before you, we won’t wait.” The tall dark-haired woman replied.

“Yes, yes. Fine. I’ll be right along.” Russov said dismissively.

Thomas glowered at her. She wanted to hit someone and Russov was making herself an easy target. She clenched her fists then unclenched them. Russov stood there with a challenging look on her face. Thomas took a step forward; Nicole grabbed her arm.

“I told you already we don’t have time for this shit babe. Now knock it off or I’ll leave you behind too!” she told her impatiently. “Let’s go!”
Thomas glowered at Russov then said, “Fine lets go.” Then turned and followed Nicole out of the room.

A moment later after everyone was gone the Sargent picked up her phone and dialed.

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

“You dumb fuck!” Russov hollered into the pone without a preamble. “What the fuck is with you letting one of your teams grab Greyson?”

“Grab Greyson?” Harkin replied in a confused voice. “What the fuck are you talking about? Who grabbed Greyson?”

“Damned if I know! A well-organized group grabbed her today outside the park up the road, so I figured it had to be one of yours. They are the five headed south, and I only know that cause Becket was smart enough to drop the Doctor her ankle monitor! God damn it Harkin you know she wasn’t to be touched!” Russov said angrily.

“Oh Jesus! What the fuck?” Harkin said exasperated. “You said they were on highway five headed south in the direction of San Bernadino by chance?”

“Yep.”

“Must be Flints people. Dumb fucks! I told them to leave it alone.” He explained.

“Well guess what?”

“Ya ya, I get it. Fuck. I’ll make a call.” Harkin told her.

“Too late for that. Logan’s wife was part of the crew. They saw each other. Nothing’s going to stop Thomas from going after her.”
“Well, fuck. What a cluster fuck this is turning out t be.” He groused. “Ok. I’ll save you some time and text you the address where they’ll be going and I’ll meet you there.”

“Don’t get in the way of this.” She warned. “The Sisters are on a rampage. Your people will be lucky if any of them survive.”

He sighed. “They deserve whatever they have coming to them far as I’m concerned. Lucky for me Ellie’s people think I’m on their side.”

“For now, anyhow.”

“Ya, I guess once we round them up and ship the load of them off to FT. Rawlings their feelings might change. Til then though, I’m in their good graces.” He said confidently. “In the meantime, though you get another look at how the work as an assault team again, so not a total loss.”

“That’s why I’m going with them.”

“Understood. I’ll text you the address soon and I’ll see you at the house in an hour or so.” He told her.

“And Harkin,” Russov added. “She better be alive when we get there or it’s going to be you explaining why it’s all fucked up to Carlyle!”

*****************
Confirmed cases: 127,652,289
Actual cases: 180,367,843
End part XXII

Thank you for taking the time to read my lil TG dystopia. Please leave a comment. Hugs Amanda