Infected Series (Book 1): Mission: New York (18 page)

Chapter Thirty Six

Reaching for his earpiece; he finally radioed the Submarine. Advising them that there was a terrorist in the water and he was trying to swim toward the shore; and the radio crackled in his ear, signalling the submarine was finally going to surface. He pointed out to where the submarine should be, and they silently watched as the huge fin of the conning tower of the massive submarine broke through the surface of the water; just one hundred meters off their port side. They watched in utter shock as the fin rose, up and up; towering over the now very small looking swimmer that had realised that there would be no escape for him from this invading beast. Water sluiced off the back of the submarine as it breached; water cascading down the sides and falling back into the water. The dark wet gleaming surface revealed a United States Navy flag painted on the side of the massive fin. The terrorist stopped swimming; in utter amazement he had seen this behemoth rise up and tower over him. Watching the deck of the now breached submarine; the group was fascinated to see the efficient navy crew climb out of a hatch on the back deck. It opened up and disgorged navy personnel out into the fresh air; each of them holding an assault rifle, all aimed at the terrorist. Slowly he swam over to the side of the submarine and climbed the rope ladder up the side of the wet, glistening hull. He was quickly grabbed by the crew and held steadfastly in their arms. One of the sailors then reached behind his back and brought out a pair of plastic cuffs; which they used to secure his hands behind his back. The group watched this all unfold in a matter of minutes; amazed at the efficiency of the crew of the submarine.

Jones walked over to the side of the boat, reached up to his ear then spoke softly into it, “Sub team; report please, any difficulties you anticipate?” he said, “We watched the whole time and your team handled it with the usual expertise and efficiency. A job well done.”

“Thank you sir; we are honoured to have served with you. Your team you have now is good and with professional training they could be superb.” The radio operator said in Jones’ ear. “We have the terrorist in custody and he will give us information we can use to close this case.”

Simon came over to Jones; who held up one finger, signifying he needed a minute. Simon waited patiently until Jones looked at him and smiled.

“I am still amazed that you and Dawson kept this so well hidden from us; you both did an excellent job,” Said Simon, in an awed voice. “Something tells me that this could possibly be the start of something new for you two. It could be something you two are really good at.”

He reached out his hand for Jones’ and he shook it heartily as their hands clasped. Jones smiled at Simon and spoke to him then, “Simon, I wasn’t you to be a part of my team. I am thinking your quick thinking and initiative could be very useful. I know you are not military trained, but you have a lot of potential.” Jones said in a soothing voice. “I think we need to discuss this over a decent bottle of single malt. Besides I have to welcome you to the family officially, I can see you and Judith are going to be very happy together. She will make you a very happy man.”

They stood like that as they watched the submarine sailed on the surface parallel to them, and watched as the sun began to dip below the horizon. The clouds started to streak with pinks and purples; creating a stunning vista that signalled the end of an amazing adventure for the crew.

Epilogue

Jones surveyed the Submarine as it slowly cruised along; the lights were on and it lit up the night ahead of it. They had also sent over a pilot for the boat that could keep station with the submarine as it cruised along toward the Island that was to become their temporary home. He watched as the crew on the submarine stood guard; they were relaxed but watchful. They all carried automatic weapons as they stood watch.

The captain of the submarine had finally come over on an inflatable. He had needed to speak to Jones first; then he would join the crew on the boat for a light meal. His chef on-board the submarine had also come across with some provisions; which he was going to use to create the meal for the boat and the group that now inhabited it. The captain and Jones had gone down below decks to discuss the events that had occurred; and it was also a debriefing session. Finally, they finished up; and came back on deck to an amazing array of dishes the chef had prepared. The chef motioned for everyone to grab some food and the group had quickly gotten a plateful of food; they had quickly formed into small groups that sat together wherever they could. Animated discussion was heard from all of the little groups as they hungrily wolfed down the delicious smelling food that had been so deftly prepared. Jones and the captain were the last to grab some food, and they finally reached the chef. Together they stood talking a moment more, and then Jones looked about him and smiled. Their group had come through this little disaster safely, and he could now breathe a sigh of relief. Looking around he spotted Dawson and headed over to sit next to his wife; who had joined Simon, Judith, George and Ella. They all greeted him warmly and Dawson placed a hand lovingly on her husband’s knee. She felt nothing but pride for their little band of intrepid adventurers. They had shown how through ingenuity, inventiveness and common sense; they had managed to survive something that could have potentially caused major chaos throughout the world. Nobody would have been spared if the infection had gotten out of control beyond New York. Jones smiled at the group, and then wanted to propose a toast. He did not have anything that he could use, so he put his plate down, and held up his hand; asking them to wait a minute. He went back downstairs; went to the little cabin that he had been using as his own, and hauled out the bottle of Single malt he had found stashed there by the previous owner. He climbed back upstairs toward the group, spread out as they were he climbed back onto the deck, saluted them all and started pouring small measures of the single malt into plastic tumblers he had also found. Everyone was delighted to have a drink in their hands at last; then Jones raised his glass and toasted to everybody that come through the ordeal. He went over to join his wife, sat down and poured them all another measure of whisky. They all smiled in appreciation of the McClellan 12 year old whisky; then toasted again. Jones wanted to propose a toast to Judith and Simon, which he did, and wished them a long, happy life together. They sat next to each other and grinned like teenagers in love. Their hands were firmly grasped together, and Jones could see they were already a firm item. He nodded towards Simon, and raised his glass. Simon nodded back; raised his glass then bent over to kiss Judith full on the lips. She just laughed when he finally ended the kiss and looked at her Uncle with a stern expression. The group burst out laughing and clapped each other’s backs.

Jones sipped his drink; then ate slowly as their group talked amongst themselves. They were all relishing the cool night air, the stars were shining down on them from above and they saw quite a few shooting stars. Finally people eventually drifted off to bed, and Jones and Dawson sat alone on the deck.

“Mrs Jones; I think you have some work to do, I believe you may have a wedding to prepare for.” He said contentedly, “There are two people that are very much in love, and they are going to need help with getting their wedding organised.”

“Me? What about you, you old scoundrel; After all she is your Niece and we will need to get things sorted out. You still have a lot of explaining to do to those two poor souls. I think they have forgiven us for our little deception. Indeed we have to hope that they have.” Dawson stated accusingly, “After all it was your idea that I follow Judith; keep an eye on her and make sure she was safe,” she paused, “Simon was just what she needed. He was in the right place at the right time of the morning. That Judith was just in the right place when we were attacked was quite a coincidence.”

“Agreed, but the thing is that he proved himself very capable and reliable young man. I was pretty impressed when I first met him on-board the boat. He came across as someone that could very easily become a very powerful person if he had the right backers. I wonder if he has ever thought of running for Office.” Jones quipped softly; looking at Dawson.

“Are you implying what I think you are implying Major General? Am I to believe that you are very nearly trying to propose Simon run for President?” She looked intently at her husband with a tone of incredulity in her voice. “How much influence do you actually have? Are you that well connected that your proposals could very well bear serious consideration by the higher ups? Well I never.” she shook her head as she smiled up at her husband, who looked down at her and smiled. Then he placed his arm around her shoulders and hugged her tighter into him. Finally he bent and kissed her head, holding her tight and keeping her warm and safe.

Epilogue

Now that it was fully dark, the movement from the abandoned house that faced west was full of shadow. The night was cool and not chilly at all, however the one being that was not affected by the temperature; was just stirring. Its body had been badly damaged by the infection; and he had needed to allow himself time to heal. Leaving the city had been arduous; and he had been nearly killed quite a few times. However, the fact that he had managed to leave the city before the main horde had been created, had worked in his favour. The authorities had been concentrating on the horde; allowing the one lone drunken looking man to escape. If they had bothered to stop him and check; they would have seen that he was one of the infected. He had safely traversed the exit to the countryside; and had managed to secure a place where it could rest up. This infected was not fully infected, but did still have some cognitive function. That cognitive function had allowed it to escape the city; allowed it to create a safe distance from the bombs and destruction that had killed the other infected. It had not needed to feed yet; it had forced its infected body to shut down for a time, to allow itself to heal slightly. This infected was strange in that it had the ability to heal. It did not want to be discovered easily; so it had to make itself look and behave like a normal human being. It would have to lie low for a while, and then it could attempt to assimilate itself into society. There would be a time when the infected one would go back to the city; then it would feed again. Thinking of the city brought back memories of people that were practically invisible to society; tramps and vagrants. It could disguise itself as one of those; then it could become virtually invisible. That would allow it to then slowly feed; and begin the infection again. This time it would have to be more selective; not just biting anybody, it would need to be careful. It would have to choose those that had superior intellect; allowing their higher brain functions to remain and they would be able to join his army. The dry raspy laugh that echoed through the house was not evil; but the hint of malice was there. He knew that rest was needed, but now he needed to feed. He had to try and find some food for sustenance. There was nothing really out here, but he had spied a few mobile homes a bit further down the road. Going back inside; he grabbed the half empty bottle he had spied earlier; and slowly bent over to pick it up. Looking at the bottle he could see it was an amber liquid, but could not identify exactly what it was. Slowly he started towards the mobile homes. His tottering steps did indeed make him look like a drunken man in need of another drink. Weaving and wobbling; this way it took him almost an hour to make his slow, meandering way down towards his next meal.