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  “Well, to be honest, I haven’t figured it out yet. We’re going to document everything and take it back to a lab if they let us. So far, it seems that a dead man attacked your team.”

  Sergeant Atkins broke in, “Whoa sir. Are you talking like zombies and shit? I knew this place was rotten man. We gotta get the fuck outta here.”

  “Sergeant, there is no such thing as zombies.” The doctor looked over the top rim of his glasses through the plastic face shield of his chemical suit. “I said, it seems as if the dead are walking, based on the accelerated state of decay on this body, but the same thing could be said for someone with severe frostbite. That tissue is dead as well.”

  Sergeant Owens threw up his hands, “This ain’t no damned frostbite sir. Something happened here after the chemicals were released near the outside protective monitors and there was a coordinated attack on the inside, what if they did something else also? They planned their attack on at least those two levels, what if they did a third attack of some kind? Something we didn’t know about.”

  “That’s why we’re here Sergeant. I need to finish my field examination, why don’t you determine what happened to your boss.”

  In the background, Sergeant Atkins continued talking, “Man, I told you. This is some fucked up shit man. I didn’t join the Army to fight fucking zombies. What the fuck man. Can you…”

  “And please take the young sergeant with you too,” the scientist said.

  “Atkins, shut the heck up. Everyone else, form a perimeter far enough away that you’re not going to bother the doctor. Keep an eye on the doorways in case anyone else comes from inside. And everyone stay together, we’re not splitting up anymore.”

  The soldiers walked out of earshot, but not out of sight of the command post. “Man, we need like shotguns and baseball bats and shit. I read about the zombie apocalypse online Sergeant. These M4’s are just gonna punch holes in those things’ dead skin and they’re gonna keep coming. We gotta decapitate ‘em and stuff. Man we are so fucked.”

  “Sergeant Atkins! I suggest you regain your composure and remember that the men in your team look to you for leadership and maturity in situations like this. Think about what you just said for a minute. That body wasn’t decapitated and he’s dead as a doornail.” He was a deeply religious Catholic man and crossed himself for the second time in the past hour. Geez, I am too old for this stuff Owens’ thoughts carried on. “Whatever happened here, may have caused that or he may even have been one of the terrorists that were in here, we just don’t know. Keep together and stay alert.”

  ***

  Sergeant Jones and his MPs returned shortly after the teams established a security perimeter. He walked up to the Sergeant Owens and said, “We searched the entire courtyard and didn’t find him. We can head into the building and look if you want.”

  “Where the heck did he go? No, I don’t want anyone else in the building until I get some guidance from higher. Thanks for looking. Help my guys set up the perimeter around this building. Basic Training was probably the last time these guys did anything like that,” the sergeant gestured to the snack shop in the center of the courtyard, “Remember, we are weapons hot until we figure out what is going on. I need…” He stopped giving orders when he saw the colonel coming from the building. He was walking with his arm around someone who was having difficulty staying upright.

  Lieutenant Colonel Henson walked up to the controlled chaos of the command post, “Sergeant Owens, what the fuck is going on out here? What’s the doc doing?”

  “Sir, where have you been?”

  “I was inside the building sergeant. Who is that on the ground?” he said as he eased his companion into a chair.

  “Sir, one of our teams was attacked when they were in the basement by…”

  “Attacked by whom? Did you report it up yet?”

  “Yes sir, it’s been reported. The doctor is conducting an abbreviated field autopsy and we’re setting up a perimeter in case more of those things try to attack us.”

  “What are you talking about? I want to know why your men opened fire and who shot that man. We need to start gathering information for the investigation into the shooting of an American citizen. Oh, and take the shooter’s weapon, we need to get the MPs to arrest him. Sergeant…” he attempted to hail the MP, “Sergeant Owens, what is that MP’s name?”

  “Sir, you’ve been out of the loop for a little while, this wasn’t a normal man that our guys shot, there’s something about this guy, and others down there apparently, that the doctor is trying to determine. The men were attacked and they responded with appropriate force.”

  “Sergeant Owens, need I remind you that I am your commanding officer and I said we will conduct an investigation into this murder?”

  “Actually colonel,” Doctor Collins stood up from the body and wiped his gloves on the pants of his suit, “I am now in charge of the situation. You can contact General Reeves and he’ll tell you that my agency has been given control of this site and all personnel exposed to those infected with this disease.”

  “Who the fuck do you think you are, doctor?”

  “Sir, I’m the Army’s chief scientist for biological infections, and now, I’m in charge of this site. As such, I have a couple questions for you. First, why did you enter the building?”

  “I don’t have to answer to you, captain. These are my men and this is my site.”

  “Sir, this will go a lot easier if you just contact your commanding officer then.”

  The colonel started to say something, but instead turned to Specialist Givens and snatched the hand mike from him and turned off the speakers attached to the radio. The small crowd around him could hear him talking lowly, but not what he was saying. When he turned around, the answer was written on his face. “I went into the building to use the latrine, I had to shit and didn’t want to crap out here in the courtyard.”

  “Thank you sir. Who is this you have with you?”

  The injured man, who up until this point had been lying back tiredly in the chair, leaned forward, “Name’s Lieutenant Colonel Bryce Colton. I work in the Air Force Personnel Directorate here at the Pentagon.”

  Doctor Collins gestured for his men with the camera and notebook, “Alright sir. As you’ve recently heard, I’m in charge of this investigation,” he stuck out a gloved hand, “Jeremy Collins. You are the first survivor we’ve found. Please tell me everything you can remember about the attack and what’s happened over the past two days.”

  “Two days?” Bryce shook his head, “No way, I passed out only a few hours ago.”

  “I can assure you sir, that it has been two days since the attack. The details are sketchy about the events in the auditorium; do you have any knowledge of that?”

  “Hell yeah, I was there, killed one of those bastards in a knife fight too. Um, guess I should start at the beginning. I was down at the retirement ceremony for the Chief of Naval Operations and things had just kicked off. Right as his aide-de-camp started his introduction speech all hell broke loose. First there was an announcement that a chemical attack had taken place and everyone needed to put on their masks. So everyone started to stampede out the door because they didn’t bring their mask. Then the guys who had been setting up the cakes and doughnuts started attacking people with knives. I don’t know how many people ended up getting killed or injured before the police came in and shot them. Oh, and they were speaking Arabic or some Middle East dialect, I’ve been there a few times, so I recognized the sound of it.

  “Then, I talked to a detective for a couple hours and went back to my cubicle. I called my daughter, oh my God, my daughter, she’s probably worried sick about me. Can we get a message out to her?”

  “Yes sir, after you complete the details of what happened, you can give her phone number to the radioman there and he’ll get your message out to our command post outside for them to call her and let them know you survived the attack. As it is though, we don’t have any other way to do it since
we don’t have any cell phones in our suits and the power is out inside. Please, continue.”

  “Anyways, I called my daughter, she told me about the murder of the president and all those other people. I hadn’t heard anything at that point and it was already several hours after it happened. I tried to assure her that everyone here in the building was alright, but I guess since you guys are here, I suppose that isn’t the case, is it?”

  “No sir. We don’t know what happened yet, but I’m trying to figure it out. I’ve only just begun examinations, but nothing immediately jumps out to me as an obvious cause for death. Like I said, you’re the only survivor that we’ve found.”

  “Yeah, what does that mean?”

  “We saw hundreds of people piled up at the exit, they must have died trying to escape the locked doors. Other than the gentleman here on the ground, we haven’t seen hardly any other bodies. The soldiers describe the men that attacked them in the basement as wild, incoherent and not really resembling human beings anymore. I can only assume that they worked here at the Pentagon and were normal individuals up until a few days ago. I’ve got some theories, but I need to test the tissue samples in a lab before I present them to anyone. Anyways, you called your daughter, and?”

  “That’s just it. There is no and. After I got off the phone with her I got up for something and I passed out. The next thing I know, it was an hour or so ago. I woke up and went out into the hallway. Everything was dark and deserted out there too so I went down the stairs to the first floor. That’s where I ran into the colonel.”

  The doctor turned to Lieutenant Colonel Henson and looked him up and down, “Sir, did you see anyone else inside?” He shook his head a little too rapidly for the scientist. “Are you sure? Why were you limping when you brought Colonel Colton outside? What happened to your chemical protective suit? There’s a hole ripped in it at your calf level.”

  “What the fuck? I may have to acquiesce to the fact that you’re in charge here at the sight, but I will not be berated by some suit.”

  The doctor turned to Sergeant Jones, “Sergeant, please take the colonel into custody.” He waited for the man to be handcuffed and a few moments for the cursing to stop. “Now, sir, what happened to your leg? It’s imperative that we learn the truth in this situation.”

  “Fuck you. I’ll have you fired you little pipsqueak.”

  “Alright, the hard way then. Sir, I have been assigned to command this situation, I am giving you a direct order to answer me concerning why exactly you went inside a contaminated building without telling your men where you were going and why are you limping, favoring the same leg that has a tear in your protective suit?” He waited for an answer, but none came. “Fine. Don’t answer me, but I’ll have a look at that leg.”

  He bent to examine the officer’s leg and got kicked in the facemask. He fell to the ground and the MP pulled the restrained colonel back away from him. Collins staggered to his feet, “I guess this is going to be the really hard way, sir. Sergeant Jones,” he gestured to the MP, “please incapacitate the colonel for his medical examination.”

  “Are you sure sir? I mean, he’s a lieutenant colonel.”

  “It’s perfectly alright sergeant. He is interfering with an investigation and will need to be examined. I take full responsibility for your actions.”

  The sergeant walked over and butt-stroked the handcuffed officer with his M4 to the back of the head. He slumped into a heap on the concrete. “I’ve wanted to do that from the moment we got this assignment and I met that guy sir.”

  Collins reached down and pulled apart the ripped fabric of the colonel’s suit. Sergeant Owens leaned in, blocking the light from the floodlight. The doctor looked over at him. “Oh, sorry,” he said as he crouched down to get out of the light.

  “As I suspected,” the doctor ripped open the trouser leg so everyone could see. “Make sure you get a close-up shot of that,” he said to his cameraman. There was a clear set of human teeth marks that broke the skin on the front of his lower leg and a small chunk of flesh the size of a quarter was missing. “It would appear he was bit and jerked his leg away, tearing the tissue away here,” he pointed to the bloody gash. “Check his side arm. See if he fired any rounds. Depending on how far into the building he was it’s possible we didn’t even hear it.”

  Sergeant Owens pulled the 9mm pistol from its holster. He dropped the magazine into his palm and pulled the slide to the rear. A round ejected from the chamber. Next he worked the bullets from the magazine, it was a difficult task to accomplish with his protective gloves on, but he was finally able to get the motion down. “Yes sir, there are only twelve rounds left out of the fifteen-round magazine, so he fired three rounds. I was stationed here on 9/11. My section of the building didn’t even know that a plane had crashed into it until people started getting phone calls from their families asking if they were alright, so its easy for me to see why we didn’t hear the firearm discharge, especially since we have our protective masks on.”

  “Specialist, hand me the radio.” He waited until Billy Givens gave him the hand mike, “Put it on channel 63560.” He waited while the radio operator tuned to the given frequency then said, “Hammer, this is Anvil, over.”

  “This is Hammer, go ahead.”

  “We’ve had two attacks by unknown assailants. It appears they are former building workers that have been exposed to an agent that has drastically altered their physical and mental states. I’ve been able to conduct a thorough field investigation on one subject and have determined the flesh and organs of this assailant are, in effect, dead. The internal organs are shriveled and in some cases, burst. Skin and subcutaneous fat is consistent with a deceased patient of one, possibly two weeks. The problem is, this guy was walking around and was a member of a group with the same type of symptoms that attacked one of the chemical agent monitoring teams. Bottom line sir, I don’t know what we’re facing, but I recommend that we lock down the building and set up a perimeter, over.”

  “Any indication that this can spread, over.”

  “Unknown at this time, but whatever hit this place has an extremely high kill rate and those that it doesn’t kill turn into some type of crazed half-dead thing. I’ve got video of the autopsy that I can send to you via the satellite uplink, over.”

  “Alright, I’ll give an update to Eagle. As for now, consider the outside perimeter closed. Consolidate your men at your location and send your video journal to the command center via the uplink, over.”

  “Roger. Also, two members of the team have had close-contact injuries from the diseased and we’ve found a survivor with apparently no symptoms, over.”

  “Alright. Isolate those three and you are authorized to conduct testing on the survivor. Where have you set up your position, over.”

  “In the center courtyard, over.”

  “Alright Anvil, expect a helo delivery of supplies and a special ops team for security against any possible threat. As you probably know, you’re staying put inside until we get this solved and ensure that it doesn’t spread.”

  “Roger,” he sighed. “We’re circling the wagons where we are. We’re going to clear the center court food shack as our new base of operations. Also, recommend power remains off until we can ensure all doors are barricaded against the threat, over.”

  “Acknowledged. We’ll get those supplies to you. Stay safe, you’re on your own until the Delta team gets there. Hammer out.”

  Collins turned to the noncommissioned officers of the hazardous materials response unit and the military police, “Alright, you heard my boss. Sergeant Jones, I need you to get into that snack shack and clear it so we can have a semi-secure base of operations. Sergeant Owens, have your men keep an eye on the building in case more of those guys choose to attack. Oh, and we need to segregate the colonel and that young private that got bitten. If they begin to develop symptoms from being injured, we need to have them in a controlled environment.”

  SIX

  19 April,
0356 hrs local

  Comanche County Emergency Medical Center

  Lawton, Oklahoma

  What the hell happened? Where am I? God, my face hurts. Why am I so sore and stiff? Wait, why can’t I move my arm? It all came crashing back to Grayson in an instant. They’d beaten him outside the diner, then he was picked up in an ambulance and brought here to the hospital. He vaguely remembered being told the extent of his injuries, but he couldn’t remember what he’d been told.

  He lifted his head up and felt the bandage on his face bunch up. His right arm was in a cast. With his left hand he gently probed his sides and felt some type of bandages there as well. Grayson wove his hand through the IV lines and fumbled with the nurse call button on the bed rail. He finally hit it and laid his head back down.

  A few moments later a chubby Native American nurse walked in. “What is it now, Mr. Donnelly?”

  “Hi ma’am. What hospital am I at?”

  “You’re in the only one around here so don’t be difficult like you’ve been the past two days.”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Has anyone called my fiancé in D.C.?”

  “No sir, you’ve been raving like a crazy person every time you woke up and we’ve had you sedated for a little while. Do you feel like cooperating now?”

  “I…I guess. I didn’t know I’d been awake, how long have I been here?”

  “About three days now. Sometimes head injuries make people act different than they normally would. We searched all the databases before the networks went out, but since you weren’t married, we didn’t get a return on a next of kin for you. So, no, we haven’t contacted your fiancé sir.”

  “Can I have the phone so I can call her please?”

  “I’m sorry, but the phones have been down ever since the attack on the base.”

  “Huh?” Grayson asked, not quite understanding, and tried to sit up. “Why are the phones down in Oklahoma when the attack was in D.C.?”

  “Oh, well,” she glanced conspiratorially over her shoulder at the closed door. “There was an attack on the base here. You know, Fort Sill? And the news says at bases all over the country. Seems the local militia boys and all these other groups have been coordinating and planning this for a long time. There’s still some fighting that can be heard every once in a while and the guys we get coming into the ER say that it was an inside job, that the militia took over all them tanks and started shootin’ at everything.”