In Harm's Way (37 page)

***

Schriever AFB Parade Grounds

“Raven, sweetie... I have a real bad tummy ache. I’m going over there to find a bathroom,” Brook said, pointing to the Base Affairs building. And then holding her stomach she went on: “You run ahead and see if Carl needs anything.”

“OK Mom,” Raven said enthusiastically, fully grateful for the newfound responsibility and trust she had earned the last few days.

Brook made a mad dash for the toilet, wanting this to be just a bout of diarrhea. The pain felt entirely different--almost like
really
bad menstrual cramping. Then her sixth sense started to tingle and she began fearing the worst.

Outbreak - Day 9

Schriever Air force Base

Here I come to save the day.
The voices repeated the mantra over and over as he rushed back to the research tent where he had met the sweet Doctor Hanson and the big lug Archie Stockton.

By the time he reached the puffed out tent, the fire engine’s shrill sirens echoed among the prefab buildings. He stopped, thoroughly winded, and put his hands on his knees. He hadn’t run this much since he escaped Las Vegas ten days ago. And before that probably some training hoops he had had to jump through at his last job in the
old
world.
That one was fun
, he thought,
shooting people and getting paid for it. Those two Blackwater rogues had to go and ruin it for all of us
.

He entered the
breathing
building quietly, silenced pistol tucked away in his waistband. Once inside, ventilation fans drowned out the sounds of the emergency vehicles responding to the conflagration at the infirmary.

The Alpha writhed on the gurney in the ante room, hungrily eyeing the piece of meat that had just walked through the door.

“I’ll deal with you in a minute,” Pug promised the squirming zombie who hissed back as if it understood every word.

Doctor Fuentes stood in front of a bank of computers watching multiple readouts on three different monitors. On the table next to him a centrifuge whirred rhythmically, honey-colored vials diffusing the stark sterile light.

“
Ahem
,” Pug cleared his throat rather dramatically.

Fuentes slowly turned at the waist with a half-eaten Oreo cookie clenched between his teeth. “Cam I helf you,” came out along with a fine spray of chocolate crumbs.

Pug’s eyebrows jumped an inch. “Tell me about the cure...”

Outbreak – Day 9

Schriever Air force Base

Ari finessed the screaming Ghost Hawk fifty feet off of the deck pushing two hundred and fifty-five knots. It had only been six minutes since Desantos’ hasty exfil and now they were less than a minute out from Schriever. Ari radioed ahead that they had a WIA incoming, told them it was General Desantos and that they would be delivering him directly to the medical hangar where the quarantine area and research tent were housed.

Cade was staring, still transfixed on the ribbon of I-25 when the column of desert tan Bradleys and Hummers flashed by briefly under the port side.

“Ari... any idea what unit we just overflew?” Cade queried.

“19th Special Forces… man, have they been through the wringer... came through the Rockies from Utah earlier today.”

“Then those are Major Beeson’s boys down there... solid commander. He taught me how to shoot,” Cade replied.

Desantos opened his eyes and said, “I thought
I
taught you how to shoot, Wyatt.”

“Cowboy, you taught me everything I know... relax, we’re almost home,” Cade said as he tightened the belt around the infected arm. He noticed that not only was Desantos’ forearm cold from the tourniquet site on down to his fingertips, but the rest of his extremities were cooling as well.
Not good
, he thought to himself worriedly.

“I’m cold... and hot at the same time,” Desantos said making eye contact with Cade. “You
must
kill me before I turn.”

“Roger that, Cowboy, you have my word,” Cade said, feeling the emotions he had sequestered earlier punching holes in his resolve. “Don’t worry... I’m not going to let the man on the pale horse take you.”

Desantos closed his eyes and his head lolled back and forth as Ari reared the chopper’s nose up and side slipped her around the tall hangar, almost belly landing the bird before the wheels had fully extended.

***

50th Space Wing Command

Freda Nash had watched the entire Bin Laden raid unfold in real time, and even when the helo went down she wasn’t half as worried as she was now. At the time she had had no idea who was aboard the Stealth Hawk that day in May, but she knew that Desantos was in the Ghost Hawk right now, life hanging by a thread. The Keyhole Satellite tracking Jedi One-One steadily beamed the image to the flat panel in front of her.

Nash later learned that Mike Desantos was in fact onboard the Stealth Hawk along with SEAL Team Six when it went down and
had
survived the Bin Laden raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan. But she harbored a strong suspicion that her friend was not going to live to see another sunset.

Nash watched the ongoing mission on the second flat panel. The CH-47 pilot held the bird in a pinnacle hover above the overpass with the rear ramp yawning open, then the helo’s back wheels gently touching the guard rail. It was one of the most difficult maneuvers to perform in the big dual rotor helo and the pilot was making it look easy.

She couldn’t be sure but it appeared that the second nuclear device was wedged between the vehicles and the operators were trying to reach the hovering chopper on foot.

Z’s were crowding the men from both ends of the overpass. Flashes winked from the guns wielded by the brave men she was praying for.

“Springs, this is Gaines. The device is armed and we are on the move. How copy?”

“Nash here. Good copy... Good job and God’s speed boys.” 

On the other screen Jedi One-One was just crossing the west fence.

Worried, Nash broke protocol and tried to hail Ari. “Jedi One-One I need a sit rep. How is the General?”

She was greeted with silence.

***

Schriever Air Force Base Research Tent

“That’s your story and you’re sticking to it?” Pug asked, disbelief coating his words.

“This is all of the antiserum we could produce. This isn’t Pfizer Laboratories,” Fuentes said scathingly, sweeping his arms at the vinyl-walled tent.

“Good,” Pug said as he swept the centrifuge still bristling with golden vials onto the rubberized floor. The machine bounced, shattering the test tubes into thousands of pieces and splashing the antiserum across the floor. Pug raised the silenced pistol and took a step closer to the wiry Doctor. “Any last words?”

Fuentes stood up straight and said, “If you destroy all that we have worked so hard to achieve... then I hope there is a special place in hell for you.”

The flat-faced killer smirked as he shot Doctor Fuentes once through his open mouth and again in his right eye.
Eleven, twelve, I am going to hell
.

While Pug searched for something flammable to “
cleanse”
the area, he heard a distant helicopter and also sensed the tent vibrating around him. He found several bottles of isopropyl alcohol and began emptying the contents on the computers and medical equipment arranged around the inside of the tent. The immobilized zombie received a few extra splashes of the fast-drying liquid. Pug hurriedly lit another book of matches and tossed them onto the creature’s chest, then stood transfixed as an ethereal blue flame danced around the monster and then raced down onto the floor following the trail of accelerant around the tent. Pug heard rapid footsteps approaching from the quarantine end of the hangar. He only had seconds to escape but he wanted to see the zombie burn.
Go. Go. Go!
the voices implored. He heeded their advice and trotted back to his civilian sleeping quarters. Along the way, mingled with the sounds of sirens and people running to and fro, he heard a female’s voice say “
twelve minutes
” over the base wide PA system.

Outbreak - Day 9

Schriever Air Force Base

Colorado Springs, Colorado

With Desantos’ limp body draped over his shoulders in a fireman’s carry, Cade trudged along the walk heading for the research tent. Out of necessity and fearing for his friend’s life, Cade finally began seeing the glass as half full.
The antiserum had better work
, he said to himself,
or Fuentes is going to have some explaining to do.

Cade rounded the corner, accidently dragging his friend’s head through the waist high shrubs lining the walk. Desantos reacted by letting out a guttural moan.

“
Stop right where you are!
” a voice barked, echoing off of the towering hangar walls.

Cade stopped walking and looked up, trying to determine who was shouting at him.

Three men dressed in white cleanroom suits fully blocked the walkway with their guns drawn.

Cade swayed back and forth under Desantos’ weight and said, “Put the guns down, I have an injured man here.” Just then, he noticed that the doorway in the far distance behind the men was belching flames and smoke.

The men approached cautiously, eyes scanning ahead, with their guns held at the ready. Upon noticing the Captain’s bars on Cade’s ACUs and that he easily outranked all three of them, the clean suit trio stood down and pointed their weapons towards the ground.

“Captain, have you seen
anyone
running this way?” the nearest man called out.

“No, but you might want to follow these,” Cade replied, gesturing to the wet boot prints leading off in the direction he had just come from. “Can one of you run ahead and alert Doctor Fuentes that General Desantos has been infected and needs the antiserum?”

“I’m sorry sir... but we’re pretty certain the doctor is dead... the whole tent is involved and it is burning
hot
. The person responsible is still on the loose.”

“How about the infirmary, is...” Cade searched his memory for the woman’s name and it finally came to him. “Is Doctor Hanson around? I am
losing
this man,” Cade sighed as he gently lowered Desantos’ body to the cement walk.

“The infirmary went up in flames first, Sir. We can’t find Doctor Hanson either. There is a good chance the same person started both fires.”

Cade instantly lost his legs and crumbled to the ground when the soldier mentioned infirmary and fire in the same breath. He feared for his family’s safety: Brook and the baby, Raven, Carl--they might have all been in there.

“
Whoever started those fires just signed my friend’s death warrant and I want him to be held accountable!
”  Cade bellowed at the soldiers, frothy spittle flying from his mouth. “
Go and find the motherfucker... and take him alive. That is a direct order!
” 

“
Yes, Sir!
” the men shouted in unison, before they tore off following the trail of sticky antiserum.

Outbreak - Day 9

Schriever Air Force Base - 50th Space Wing

The Global Hawk continued to orbit ten miles from the stretch of I-25 soon to be reduced to one immense smoking crater, and hopefully with it a few hundred thousand living dead. If the two five-kiloton bombs did what they were designed to, Schriever wouldn’t have to be abandoned.

Major Freda Nash watched the scrolling red digital clock counting down the final few minutes. She had just witnessed the Chinook carrying the remainder of the Delta team along with her longtime colleague Agent Tice cross over the outer edge of the blast danger zone. The helicopter was flying low level at maximum speed and only minutes from touching down. Both of the fires on the base were almost under control but the full extent of the loss of life wouldn’t be known until the ashes were sifted through. Most troubling was the fact that she hadn’t yet received an update on the General’s condition.

***

Cade knelt on the ground and removed Mike’s tactical helmet, then he wrapped his arms around his friend’s muscular upper body and heaved him into a sitting position.

Desantos coughed violently, showering Cade’s chest with saliva. Beads of sweat cascaded from his face and Cade noticed that his body had changed temperature
yet again. Minutes ago he had felt cool to the touch--now he was super hot--almost too hot to touch. Cade sighed, accepting the fact that his friend and mentor was going through the final stages prior to reanimation.

With his right hand cupping the back of Desantos’ head, Cade drew his face near enough to whisper in the dying man’s ear. “Remember our pact?”
No response
. “You took care of Brook... now I will do the same for Annie and the kids... to the best of my ability.”

An unintelligible groan escaped Desantos’ lips.