Carlie’s eyes widened and her jaw muscles
tightened. She took a deep breath and pulled her head back from the file. “These
medals are associated with the Order of Mitrinov, named after the decorated
Russian Field Marshal Sergei Mitrinov.” She glanced down at the images again.
“What’s the connection with the virus
and the freighter, if any?”
“I’d say it’s related—these medals were
only issued to a few hundred men during the Cold War who worked under Mitrinov…”
She paused, looking gravely at the general while slowly handing the photos back
to him. “Sergei Mitrinov…he was the commanding officer who began the Soviet
bioweapons program in the 60s.”
Carlie folded her arms and stood with a
frostbitten look on her face while gazing at the wall map of the United States
until her eyes slowly settled on New Orleans.
Chapter 5
Jared finished loading up his tray with
rehydrated mashed potatoes and something that resembled beef stew and looked
around the massive dining hall. Seeing two familiar faces, he strode over to
the table where Amy and Nadine were sitting.
He sat down across from Amy and rolled
up the sleeves on his blue shirt. “So you come here often?” he said with a
grin.
“So this is the guy you were talking
about,” said Nadine.
“Yep, this is Prince Charming.
Thankfully you didn’t get a chance to chat with him on the helo on the ride
here. He’s probably already sized you up to see if you fit into his template of
worth.”
“Now, now, I wouldn’t worry about that,”
said Jared, glancing over at Nadine and admiring her blonde pigtails. “But
that’s enough about me, now let me tell you what I think about myself.”
“Like I told you, he seems like a nice
guy until he opens his yapper,” said Amy, who was quickly downing her meal.
“Slow down there, girl. You’re eatin’
like you’re going to the electric chair.”
Amy started to let out a laugh but
restrained herself and took a swig of water from her glass instead.
“So what’s the scoop—have any of you
heard about what’s going on around here?” said Jared. “It seems like they’re
mobilizing for an assault with all the weapons and ammo I’ve seen being
shuttled around in crates.”
“All I know is they said there are
going to be jobs assigned according to your specialty. Everyone who stays here
is going to work. That means I’ll probably be doing something with horses or
livestock as I grew up on a ranch,” said Nadine.
“You can’t get a straight answer from
anyone around here unless you’re a member of the military. I’m in the dark,”
said Amy.
Jared was scanning the hundred or so people
who were sitting in the dining hall. It was an odd mish-mash of civilians,
military personnel, and ranchers. He floated his gaze over to a young brunette
woman in fatigues sitting a few tables over to his right. “Be right back,” he
said, leaving his tray and walking over to the other table.
He hunched over, leaning his forearms on
the table in front of her, smiling and chatting. After a few minutes, Jared
returned. “See, it only took the right person asking the right questions. You
know there was this one time in Atlanta where I…”
Amy abruptly cut him off. “Can you skip
the usual part of your story with the back-slapping and just tell us what you
found out?”
“Well, those ladies said that the general
is mobilizing small units to head to the outlying cities around here to gather
food, supplies, and to search for other people.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” said Nadine.
“I know they’ve probably got a lot of stuff in this facility but helping others
to get out of the cities has to happen before those creatures devour whoever is
left.”
“Yeah, well, you can count me out of any
more games of zombie tag. These digs here are looking pretty good to me right
now,” Jared said.
“And how will you contribute to your new
community?” said Amy with her eyebrows raised. “They’re not gonna let us stay
here consuming resources if we can’t help out in some way.”
“Whoa—take it easy there, Chairman Mao.
I’ll help out when I’m asked. I already paid my dues dodging those
flesh-munchers back in Tucson.”
“You ever heard the joke about the guy
who was so lazy that he married a pregnant woman?” said Amy.
He lowered his fork and looked up at
her. “When properly motivated I have the energy of ten tigers, my good lady. I
didn’t get this far in life from being a slacker.”
Jared got up and grabbed his tray. “Now,
if you’ll both forgive my sudden departure, I’ve got some socializing to do,”
he said, moving over to the table with the young ladies he had spoken with
earlier and resuming his conversation.
Chapter 6
Carlie was standing in a small room
beside the dining hall, poring over the documents and maps that General Adams
had provided her with while Shane scanned through files on a nearby laptop.
“How you holding up over there?” Carlie
said.
Shane arched his shoulders back and
turned towards her. “You mean in my data sifting or in how my future retirement
plans have gotten jumbled lately?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Ahh…I’ll be fine but it’s Matias that
I’m worried about. He hasn’t said much since we left Arizona but I know his
mind is far away, wondering what happened to his wife and two kids.”
Carlie stopped reading the papers and
looked up at the ceiling momentarily. “Yeah, it seems like we all lost a part
of ourselves back there, didn’t we.” She glanced over at Shane, noticing his
tan neck and rugged hands. “At least the three of us still have each other.”
She admired Shane for his unflinching loyalty and strict adherence to his
personal code and wondered how compatible they would be, despite her physical
attraction to him. She worried that their alpha-dog natures would cause too
much friction in a long-term relationship.
“I never had much of a family growing up
until I joined the SEALs,” said Shane. “When I had to leave because of my shoulder
injury, I didn’t think I’d ever know that kind of camaraderie again. Matias and
the rest of my guys were like gaining another group of brothers.” He looked at
Carlie briefly and then back at his laptop. “And, of course, there was this
kick-ass lady warrior I met…” Shane paused, rolling his eyes and smiling. “But
she was kind of aloof, not to mention that she worked for a somewhat elitist
agency and thought she was soooo superior to us.”
“Our agency was just different than
yours, and by different, I mean better,” she said, holding back a slight smile.
Shane laughed and shook his head then
returned to the laptop, where a new image had pulled up, causing him to slap his
hand on the desk. “Found it. Carlie, come take a look at this,” said Shane, who
was studying Jared’s police record.
“With the scattered satellite feed and
internet coverage, I could only pick up a little on him but thought you might
want to see who we’ve been sharing our space with.”
“This is what you’re doing with your
time? I told you we only have until sunrise to prep for this mission.”
“Alright, but aren’t you a little
curious?”
Carlie tried to return to reading
through the manila folder but would digest two sentences and then impulsively
shoot a glance at the laptop.
After three interrupted paragraphs, she put
the folder down and scanned the lengthy rap sheet, stopping momentarily at bold
headings that repeated themselves multiple times—Breaking & Entering, Grand
Theft Auto, and more.
“Looks like he went into juvey at age
eleven and was in and out of foster homes until he was eighteen. This was all I
could pull up other than a three-year prison stint in Florida a few years back.
What he did between graduating high school, if he graduated, and when he got
busted recently, doesn’t exist,” said Shane, tapping his fingers on the table.
“He was a ghost during that time though there is mention here that he may have
been connected with the team responsible for the federal armored car heists a
few years back. Wonder why he reared his head in Tucson?”
“Well, he did save your hide back there
on the highway near Tucson,” said Carlie.
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” said Shane,
rubbing the back of his neck and grimacing. “That’s something that no amount of
liquor is ever going to help me forget.”
“And here’s the best part—you’re gonna
love this—we need him for this next adventure.”
“How’s that? He’s not former military.”
“I’ve been going through all of the
available personnel records on General Adams’ computer, looking for people at
this base who are from New Orleans. Jared is it—he’s our best bet for getting
through that city without incident.”
“Carlie, you just looked at the same rap
sheet I did. This guy’s a ‘bitch’—a habitual criminal.”
“If this were two days ago, I’d agree
but with the world the way it is now, where is he going to run to? Given the
line of work he’s been in, he probably operates well under pressure and can
keep his cool when things get dicey. He seems like he’s got a softer side that
can be appealed to,” she said with a slight smile. “Besides, I’ll present him with
the illusion of choice so he feels he has a say in the matter.”
Chapter 7
“So let me get this straight. You want
me to play tour guide through the French Quarter to some rusty frigate with a
bunch of rotting feds where the virus started? So, you can, what—get some
closure on how the world went down the toilet and sleep better at night?” said
Jared, who was standing across from Shane, Matias, and Amy, who were sitting on
folding chairs after listening to Carlie explain their mission.
“Look, the handful of scientists here
and around the country are a long way from decoding this disease and figuring
out a cure,” said Carlie. “There are some items on that ship that could help us
track down where this thing may have originated. Once we understand that, we
may be able to find out what we’re dealing with and provide intel on how to
combat it. It’s either come with us or stay here on a short leash with the MPs
doing sanitation duty in the emergency room.”
Jared sat in silence against a desk,
rubbing the whiskers on his chin. His eyes darted around the room like a rodent
caught in a leghold trap. “Listen, sister, I’ll go but I ain’t in this for your
little science quest. If I guide you through the city to the pier, I expect to
be compensated.”
“Compensated—this guy’s incredible,”
said Shane. “What, do you want a bag of gold Rolexes to hawk after hours so you
can keep yourself in hair gel and smokes?”
“What I want is between Carlie and
myself or it’s no deal—and sweetie,” he said with a half-smile, “it ain’t
anything that’s going to cause the Sheriff here to get an ulcer over. I am a
southern gent after all,” he said with a chuckle, looking at Shane.
Shane narrowed his eyes, pulling Carlie
aside. “You’re sure there’s no other way we can avoid having to bring Chicken Gumbo
with us?”
“Not if we want to get in and out
quickly,” she said, whispering to him and then walking back around Jared. “One
thing’s for sure, we gotta get you trained up a little bit with basic firearms
usage and tactics before we depart.”
“I can handle a piece just fine.”
“Did you already forget the two-gun
fiasco at the bridge near Tucson—because I sure didn’t. You’re a walking poster
for friendly fire.”
“You mean the Wild West shooting I did to
save your boyfriend’s life,” he said. “You know, Shane still hasn’t given me a bro-hug.”
“That’s enough—are you in or out because
all I’ve heard so far is a lot of chest thumping,” said Carlie.
“Sure, count me in. With you, me, the
Sheriff here, and Matias, it looks like the Fantastic Four will save the
world.”
“Actually there will be five of us and
another team when we insert.” Carlie looked over at Amy. “If you’re up for it,
we can sure use your help. Your paramedic skills will be a tremendous asset and
you’re one tough lady under pressure.”
“I was hoping you’d ask, Carlie. You got
it.”
“I want you and Jared to meet at the gun
range in thirty minutes so we can get started.”
“She’s coming too?” said Jared. “I
can’t be responsible for her any longer.”
Amy sent him a disgusted look. “Carlie,
can I borrow your pistol now because I don’t think he’s gonna stop talking.”
Chapter 8
Shane and Matias took their two new
students down to the indoor shooting range and did a crash course on basic
pistol and rifle use along with a few team tactics. Given Shane only had three
hours, it was little more than rudimentary skills so a beginner could perform
safe weapons handling and, most importantly, not risk killing the teammate in
front of them during a full-on crisis. The whole training event consisted of
Shane constantly correcting Jared while trying to keep from slapping the man.
When they had finished Matias went over field-stripping and weapons maintenance
around a folding table.
“After today, whenever you have down
time, I want you both to practice 100 dry-fire drills, focusing on smoothly
removing your pistol from the holster and lining up your sights. Then do 100
magazine change-outs. Dry fire is the key to reinforcing muscle memory and
practicing your basic skills no matter how advanced you become. The saying that
you will rise to the occasion
under pressure is bullshit but you will
settle to the level of your training so train as you are going to fight,” Shane
said, walking around behind both Amy and Jared. “Just remember that these
creatures are like two-legged tigers that won’t stop coming so don’t hesitate
to split their fucking heads open. Show them no mercy for they will show you
none. Hopefully it won’t come to that—you’re going to be with us in an advisory
role and not running and gunning unless things heat up,” said Shane.
“Ooh, ‘advisor’…I kinda like the ring of
that,” said Jared while lifting his eyes from the table and glancing over at
Amy, who continued to disassemble her pistol.
“Surely you must have done some advising
at that minimum security prison you shacked up in for three years,” said Matias,
sending a knowing glance at Shane and then back to Jared.
Jared stopped cleaning his pistol and raised
one eyebrow while looking up. He clenched his jaw momentarily and then let out
a sigh. “The only advising I did was for your dad in the cell next to mine.”
The former smirk on Matias’ face melted
into a grimace and he moved forward only to have Shane intervene.
“Kill the jokes,” said Shane. “If you’re
going to be on this team, Jared, you’ll show respect to everyone around you
because one day they could be yanking you out of a shit-storm.” Shane walked
beside Jared and leaned in close to his face. “You may be used to being a
lone-wolf but the needs of this team and the mission come before your personal
desires—capisce?”
“Gotcha,” Jared said while folding his
arms in front of his chest. “If your groupbuilding sermon is over, I’m gonna go
grab my things and then meet Carlie and the others in the hangar.”
Shane gave him a stern nod, permitting
him to leave. Jared glanced around at Amy and Matias and strode past them both
towards the exit.
“I don’t think he gives a shit about anything
in his life,” said Shane.
“Somewhere deep down he cares,” said Amy.
“I think he just buries that side of himself in his rebelliousness, besides,”
Amy paused to look at Matias, “you’re the one who brought up his past.”
“Now, Amy, don’t be fooled by this guy’s
southern charm. He’s a con-man.”
“You guys have been in law enforcement
too long and see only the bad side of people. I’ve encountered Jared’s type
before and they’re usually all bark and no bite,” Amy said while grabbing her
pack and walking away.
“What is it about that guy a woman could
possibly find appealing?” said Matias.
“You find out, you let me know,” said
Shane, stroking his beard.