The Zone: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller (Infection Chronicles Book 1) (22 page)

Steele’s eyes narrowed as he heard the rumble of HK engines. But this rumble wasn’t coming from the CAV on the ground. This was in the air. The distant sound grew louder. Too loud for just one CAV.

Steele’s eyes gazed up to the petulant sky, scanning around. A half-dozen CAV’s emerged through the grey clouds. They were flying in an attack formation. This wasn’t a friendly rescue mission.

FOUR CAVS LANDED. The ramps were already open by the time they hit the ground. A dozen soldiers piled out of each vehicle. The other two CAVs circled above, providing close air support.

Within seconds, the troops flanked the house and surrounded Kilgore's CAV. 

“Drop your weapons,” a soldier yelled.

Steele set his weapon down. The CAV’s engines powered down. Kilgore and the refugees weren’t going anywhere.

Standing orders from Z-SOC were to kill anything on the ground. But the fact that Steele wasn’t dead yet meant they wanted to talk. They could have demolished the house from the sky. Taken out Kilgore's CAV with a rocket. Knowing Briggs, he certainly wouldn’t want to explain why he had to destroy one of his own CAVs.

Colonel Briggs descended the ramp of his CAV. He was chewing on a fat cigar. The cherry burned bright in the dim light.

“Steele,” Briggs yelled in a gravelly voice. “You’re making me look bad.”

“That’s not hard to do, sir.” Steele said.

Briggs didn’t appreciate the sarcasm. “Careful, Steele. You’re lucky I haven’t killed you already. I know exactly what you’re doing here. Where’s Ferris?”

“Dead.”

“My heart breaks. Tell him hello for me when you see him.” 

“You don’t want to kill me, Colonel.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Briggs said, seething.

“I got a house full of refugees in there. And 20 aboard this CAV. That’s a PR nightmare for you.”

“Nothing a few well-placed bullets couldn’t fix. Nobody cares about you and your refugees. As far as anyone’s concerned, you’re all just a bunch of infected.”

“Well, they might care about the virus going airborne.”

“Excuse me?”

“You know, airborne. Breathe in, breathe out. Infected…” Steele took a deep breath and exhaled for effect.

The colonel’s eyes widened. “What kind of nonsense are you babbling about?”

“You know that this was a man-made virus?”

Briggs’s eyes blazed into him.

“I’ve got the designer inside. You want to talk to him? There’s a news crew inside right now. They should be finished their interview. It’s probably already been broadcast live by now.”

The colonel’s face tightened. He glanced up to the house. Cassy and her cameraman were standing in the doorway, filming.

“That camera’s got a live uplink,” Steele said. “Still want to shoot me and everybody in the house?”

The colonel gritted his teeth.

“That will look real good on your resume.”

“What do you want, Steele?”

“I think this is a perfect opportunity for you to turn this into a humanitarian mission. It’s really an impressive sight. All of these soldiers here to rescue these poor helpless refugees.” Steele grinned. “Hearts and minds, Colonel. Hearts and minds. Or, should I say,
Brigadier General
?”

The colonel pondered this for a moment. He certainly wasn’t thrilled with the situation. But it seemed Steele had him backed into a corner. And he might just be able to spin this into a PR win, and a promotion.

The two CAVs in the air circled the LZ, gunning down lurkers that strolled too close. The clack of gunfire and the ripple of the HK engines filled the sky as Briggs stood deep in thought.

“Sergeant Barnes,” Briggs growled. “Evacuate the refugees.”

“Yes, sir,” Barnes replied. He led a team of men to escort the refugees from the house to a CAV. 

Briggs ordered everyone off Kilgore's CAV. Before allowing anyone to board any of the CAVs, soldiers performed retinal scans to detect traces of infection. One by one, people were cleared and searched. Every bar of titrillium Steele had given the refugees to carry was found and confiscated. As well as the bars Steele had given Kilgore.

Steele grimaced at the sight.

“I see you found what Ferris was looking for,” Briggs said, gloating. “That’s government property now.” He had a devious glint in his eye.

Steele could see that Briggs planned to keep some for himself. Steele clenched his jaw. “Clearly there should be some type of reward for the brave men and women who risked their lives to recover that money?” Steele whispered.

“The reward is that those brave soldiers are still breathing. They’re lucky they won’t spend the rest of their lives in lockup.”

Briggs was going to be rich
and
get promoted. The rest of the titrillium would probably line the pockets of Briggs’s superiors. Everyone up the food chain would dip their hand in it.

Steele’s eyes flicked to Parker and Delroy—their faces were tormented, just like Steele’s. 

Cassy filmed the refugees loading onto the CAVs. Steele waved her over. Soon the camera was rolling on Steele and Briggs.

Steele put his hand on the colonel’s shoulder like they were good buddies and beamed a smile as wide as Texas. “As part of  the humanitarian relief effort here today, Colonel Briggs has guaranteed that every last ounce of the 24 bars of titrillium recovered on this mission will be donated to the
Disaster Relief Fund
. The money will help resettle these refugees and fund research into finding a cure for this devastating virus.”

Briggs’s eyes went wide and the cigar almost dropped from his mouth. Steele shook his hand, triumphantly.

Parker and Delroy smiled.

“There you have it,” Cassy said, stepping in front of the camera. “A major 180 of the Army’s official policy toward the refugees.”

 Briggs gritted a smile, but his eyes were throwing daggers at Steele. 

The troops continued to scan and load the refugees onto the CAVs. Once everyone was cleared, the ramps closed, and the CAVs lifted off. The flight back to base would take fifteen minutes.

Steele dug into his pack and pulled out Mr. Carlisle. He handed the stuffed tiger to Chloe. Her eyes lit up. She took the doll and hugged it.

Cassy took a seat next to Steele. “I talked to Gabriel. He said he made up the airborne thing. Thought it might keep him alive if Raddick thought he was valuable.”

“I know,” Steele grinned. “It sure got Briggs’s attention, though.”

“You risked a lot trying to help these people,” Cassy said. Her voice was warm, and her eyes sparkled. “You
 
know, you might have been able to get out of here with some of that titrillium, had you left these people behind.”

“Our mission priorities changed,” Steele said, trying to play it off.

“I guess there’s a heart under that tin shell after all.” Cassy smiled.

 Steele grinned. “Careful. You might ruin my reputation.”

“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me. But it’s going to cost you.”

“You realize I’m a man who just lost a fortune?”

“It’s just dinner. I’ll buy.” Her big blue eyes glimmered.

“Well, in that case, how can I refuse?”

Cassy smiled. She stood up and walked back over to the cameraman. Steele watched her go. She had a nice walk.

The cameraman pulled his rig on his shoulder and Cassy went back to work, interviewing refugees.

“I think she might be good for you, Steele,” Parker said.

Steele lifted an eyebrow at her.

“Just saying.”

Chloe unzipped the back of Mr. Carlisle and was digging around in the stuffing. “It’s okay, Major.” She pulled out a handful of rare gemstones.

Steele’s eyes flared at the sparkling gems. “Where did you get those?”

“Mr. Ferris. He said they were worth more than all of his titrillium.” Chloe gave Steele a sassy look. “You didn’t think I was that attached to a stuffed animal, did you? I’m way too old for that.”

Steele smiled.

THE END
 

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please consider rating and reviewing on Amazon—a simple “Loved it,” or, “Hated it,” would be appreciated.

—Tripp

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