Burning Mold

by Jefferson Nunn

  “Chad, I have some news--somewhat good but not as good as I would like it to be,” said Cheryl, who continued explaining the situation as Chad made sure that the barrels were as tightly tied to their base as possible, applying as much pressure to the belts and ensuring that the barrels would not drop out of the bus.

  “That’s good, but I think that we are going to need more than the CDC to get this problem solved, you know?” asked Chad. He was moving back to his seat and seeing with horror how they were crossing through the other side of the highway at a moderate speed and moving towards an exit ramp. “Aries, what the hell do you think you are doing? We are going to die!”

  “Relax, I know what I’m doing,” said Aries with a cool demeanor and pushed through for the exit while vehicles completely stopped so as to prevent them from crashing against the juggernaut, which was crossing at an impressive speed. “No one is going to push through against a bus, you know. That would be absolute madness!”

  “Madness is what you are doing!” said Chad back at him, yet in his absolute terror there was some respect for Aries at how much he was looking to risk himself to get this mission through. Not sure if this was more stupid than brave--though he still admired him.

  “Just calm down,” said Aries as he immediately turned the wheel while they were going up on the ramp. He was skillfully avoiding the vehicles and was opening up his way to get back onto the highway. “We are getting close to the airport, probably five minutes at this rate.”

  “Where did you learn to drive, you maniac?” asked Chad. Aries wanted to answer him, but at the same time he knew he should not talk about it or mention anything about it. One thing he had learned was how to be discreet about his past during boot camp. Everything he had seen so far in the military, he could live with and go around as a hero of some sort.

  But talk about his past in San Francisco was a completely different concept that people could not and would not understand. This would also put the lives of hundreds potentially at risk, including himself, and a very large bounty and target could be put over his head.

  He always wanted to talk about this to people because it felt as liberating as when he talked about what had transpired at boot camp. The only time he had done so, he was drunk up to his eyeballs and the person that he told it to was a stranger. The reaction was a mixture of feeling for him and disgust. Aries was confused at this but did not care as he could feel the weight being removed from his shoulders.

  Then there was the other part of the equation. Family was family and blood ran very thick in his. To put them at risk by revealing what he had done would be the least of their problems as they were far too guilty in other illegal activities for Aries to deal with. He could be the catalyst for their downfall but at a very large cost.

  In the end, this is why he joined the military. It was a way to escape his family and the life they had chosen, as well as looking for a path in his own life. His parents had completely disapproved of this but were somewhat sympathetic after what he had gone through, which Aries found very odd, but this meant that they still had a connection even if they disagreed.

  At the finish of it all, Aries always ended up making up some story about how he had learned a lot of the things that he had done. It was true, though, that he had been driving trucks and buses all over southern California, but the reason was something that he always kept quiet about.

  “I moved trucks and buses. I like buses better, though,” said Aries. Chad was incredibly surprised by this statement but continued to be terrified at the traffic going through.

  “Chad, I am still trying to get in contact with other people. I have high hopes that someone in the military will listen to me, but so far no luck,” said Cheryl. Chad thought about it and asked Aries.

  “Aries, do you know someone in the military that could intervene in this?” asked Chad.

  “I already told you--biowarfare is mobilizing to the airport, which was about ten minutes ago. That means we should be arriving at the airport almost at the same time,” answered Aries.

  “Great. Will that be enough, though?” asked Chad.

  “I would think so. They have an anti-terrorist unit attached to it for these specific cases,” answered Aries.

  “Who is that gentleman?” asked Cheryl.

  “Aries. It turns out that Jean contacted him and he was going down the same highway I was,” answered Chad. He was almost thrown out of his seat by the rapid turn the bus had taken once it was back on the highway. “Jesus!” he cursed.

  “We’ll be fine. Just make sure those barrels are still tied up,” said Aries while masterfully steering the wheel.

  “And now you are riding a bus down a highway at full speed?” asked Cheryl. Chad was intent on making sure the barrels were still properly tied up, but he could barely make it through the back without having to hold onto everything in sight. It was not that Aries did not know how to drive, but Chad’s legs were giving out and he felt as if he was about to pass out.

  “What are the odds?” asked Chad. “Can you bring in the cavalry in case we need someone else to fight him?”

  “I will keep trying. If there is already a military unit moving in, the other may be needed to join that fight. I will keep you updated once I get news back from them with hopefully better news than what we have now,” said Cheryl. She sighed but was sure that she still had enough fight in her to push through for this extra assistance that they were going to need.

  “Thank you. Talk to you later then,” said Chad. Once the call ended he made sure that the barrels were again tight enough that they would not move from their position. “Will this be enough?” he asked himself.

  For a moment Chad wondered if this was indeed what they would need to take on this fight. While it sounded slightly exaggerated that they would need an entire military unit, he also felt that something was very, very wrong.

  He still hoped that he was doing the right thing and had not jumped the gun too fast. The last thing he wanted to do was make a stupid decision and get himself shot or killed, or whatever could be worse than death, like being left in a coma for life.

  “Aries, how much more do we have left?” asked Chad while moving to the front of the bus. Aries was looking at his phone and could see all kinds of signs that were telling him that either the GPS was not working correctly and to recalibrate, or that he was on the wrong side of the road. From this, he could still get an approximate distance and from the looks of it two more minutes were good enough to get them there. He could also see the airport from a distance and what looked like a war zone was going on below.

  “Not much, but get ready. Something is going on at the airport,” said Aries. For a moment he was surprised to see people running around on the highway. He avoided them but when a large amount of them started going around the bus, he slightly feared that whatever was happening in the airport was also happening here. “What the hell is wrong with these people?”

  “I don’t know and I don’t think it’s any good. What people would be chasing a bus in the middle of a highway?” asked Chad. One of them had managed to get to the door and what impressed Chad was that the person was running at almost thirty-five miles an hour, which was the current speed of the bus. “Aries, you need to go faster.”

  “I can’t with all the people going around--” said Aries before being interrupted by others coming next to the door and trying to get inside. The first reaction from Chad was to move back as far as he could, while Aries tried to move away from them with little success. Vehicles and people did not mix, but the highway was the worst scenario for this.

  “Are they zombies? What the hell is this?” asked Chad. One of the people managed to get through the door and into the floor of the bus. He looked as if he had some sort of black mold growing from his head and some uncovered parts of his body. “Holy!”

  Without thinking about it twice, Chad had a rapid reaction. He had taken the handgun from Aries and fired a single shot at the person, who dropped bac
k to the ground. When that same person began to move back up, there was a sudden urge for him to fill the thing with bullets until the person died.

  “Kick it!” said Aries as he tried to get the mold-covered thing off the bus by making a sharp turn. This had little effect on their current situation and the maneuvering had forced Chad into the seat next to him and the gun fell out of his hand. “Chad, kick the damn thing!”

  Once he could recover back into his feet, a sudden surge of adrenaline made him go through with this action and a kick managed to get the mold-covered thing out of the bus and rolling onto the highway. This sudden victory was overshadowed by an incoming airplane flying too low for their liking.

  Chapter 26

  A Colonel in a Strange Land

  Colonel Baker had been put onto high alert after the report of a potential terrorist threat developing at the Dallas International Airport. His sources had informed him that while no official reports had been raised, the local police department was already involved in this matter, as well as Homeland Security, but their response time in comparison would be considerably slower, since they were still mobilizing enough people to get there in time.

  Their closest asset at this point was the unit under the command of Colonel Baker, the 72nd Brigade Combat Team.

  At first, the debriefing he had received was very vague. There had been an incident at the Dallas International Airport and a quick response team was required for this. When Colonel Baker questioned what exactly was required of him, there was no additional insight into it.

  A few minutes later there was a confirmation of a terrorist taking over the airport. When he questioned again about the name of the group involved, he was informed that there was only one man involved in the entire incident and that he was in full control of the situation.

  While questioning the validity of this, there were incoming reports from other sources about attacks coming from the airport. People had gone berserk and were attacking vehicles and anyone stupid enough to approach them. Some were carrying simple tools as weapons, while others were firing with their handguns. Nothing so far indicated that there was high power involved.

  He suspected that there might not be a need for one if there had been a neurotoxic agent or another agent that was being used to manipulate people. Furthermore, he could not assume that only one person was involved in this incident. Seeing the sheer size of the airport, a group must be working on this objective and they had chosen a prime target for an attack.

  But they did make one mistake, though. They were not counting on dealing with him and his entire team.

  The Texas Army National Guard had been preparing new biowarfare teams to deal with new and ever-growing terrorist threats. After the Vienna incident, where a deadlier version of the Sarin gas was released, there was an immediate urgency in the formation of such a team that could do a quick response inside the state. Texas was not going to be held hostage the way Austria had been.

  “Colonel Baker,” said a voice on the other side of the speaker. Colonel Baker recognized it as Senator Mynard, “We have additional information from the CDC about this incident, as well as the local dependencies which are already in location.”

  “What does the CDC have to do with this?” asked Colonel Baker. He was already moving en route to the location to oversee the entire operation. Their delivery would be made through CMV-22B Osprey helicopters that had taken off just a few minutes ago. In front of them a set of F-35 Lightning II jets were already on their way to confirm the entire situation.

  “Director Howard here can confirm more on this matter,” said Senator Mynard, then gave a serious round of coughs that would disgust even inanimate objects. “God knows that I have little belief in this, but he can debrief you.”

  “During the day we had one of our field agents working to identify a potential threat to the city of Dallas and the vicinity. After identifying some potential sources, our agent pointed out that there was a person involved who resisted further inquiry when we were performing our investigation,” said Howard. He too was already on his way but had been intercepted by one of his benefactors and moved to VIP. In other words, he was being transported through a private plane over to Dallas. “Afterwards, with no more information for the moment, our agent took to return to the CDC for further analysis on what our quick response team in the Dallas area found. There our agent found out that this same person had taken over the airport.”

  Colonel Baker understood that many pieces here were missing but would rather not question. He was more intrigued to know about this person.

  “What can you tell me about the person that is running this show?” asked Colonel Baker. Howard sighed as he looked for further information. “Do you have it?” the Colonel asked.

  “I do,” said Cheryl, intervening for Howard. He was somewhat surprised by her appearance in the conversation, but for once he felt that he might well be saved from the entire thing. “His name is Steve Worth. He owns several properties inside the Dallas area. He’s a bit of a scumbag, if you ask me.”

  “Do we know if this person would openly have ties to any known terrorist groups? Does he have ties, friends, family, anything that we have gathered on him so far?” asked Colonel Baker. Another voice jumped into the conversation.

  “None. We do not have any indicators that this man has any known ties, be it public, discrete or secret. This person does not have any direct relationship with any terrorist cell, but we are not discarding him from being a domestic terrorist with a different agenda. We have yet to hear from him,” said the voice. Colonel Baker recognized him as someone from Homeland Security, but again could not tie a name to the person. He was Reliable and that’s what counted to him.

  “Clear on that. We continue to move to the Dallas International Airport, then. From there we will assess the situation. Our scout team will let us know what the situation is and if we can identify any weapons of mass destruction that have been tied to this terrorist,” said Colonel Baker as he leaned back in his seat.

  “This man carries a mold that has immense properties for destruction. Of course, he does have something with him,” said Cheryl. Colonel Baker became intrigued by this notion.

  “Ma’am, excuse my ignorance here, but wouldn’t mold be the least of our worries?” asked Colonel Baker.

  “It would be if it had not been somehow manipulated for exponential growth. Under the right conditions we saw it grow today to levels that no other cell or malicious agent should have. Mold does not grow in minutes or seconds, to make more sense of what I’m trying to say,” said Cheryl. Colonel Baker continued to be intrigued by this notion but knew little more than what had been explained at this point and could not assume mold was the only way they would be attacking. Besides mold would die with sunlight, if memory served him well, so they could be on the safe side.

  "The problem with that statement is, how does one get rid of it?" asked Colonel Baker.

  "One clear way to get rid of mold is through dioxide chlorine. It is feasible to create bombs that could be dropped on location to clear out the mold and whatever else it may have produced," said Cheryl. That last statement became intriguing to everyone in the call, but Colonel Baker was the one who pushed for more information.

  "Explain to me, what else could this 'mold' produce, or am I missing something in your statement?" asked Colonel Baker.

  "No, Colonel, you are thinking the same thing that everyone is thinking right now, but they are afraid to admit it," said Cheryl, who continued. "From the information the CDC has gathered so far, this mold is not only capable of fast growth, but this particular kind seems to have some type of communication method that allows it to interact with the rest of the mold, regardless of distance."

  "Like a hive mind, you mean," said the Colonel. Cheryl agreed on this statement but went on to explain some additional complications that had to be considered.

  "While this is a somewhat correct statement, there are additional considerations to take. We
are still not sure if this mold can only communicate with itself or if there is a central host that has control over it, i.e., our friend Steve Worth," said Cheryl. For a moment the silence that happened was more revealing than what Cheryl had said, but there was little belief in some initial assumptions. Yet the evidence was coming in hard and without question would mean that some terrorist was under the control of an agent that could be manipulated at will.

  The first of its kind which would ignite a new era of warfare. Colonel Baker knew that this was not what he wanted to hear and not what he expected to see in the upcoming years.

  "This is a load of horseshit, a bunch of fiction," said Senator Mynard. He pushed on. "You mean to tell me that we have moved people around because someone, your field agent Director Howard, says so. Do you have evidence?"

  "Several investigations are being undertaken but we have yet to reach anything conclusive," said Howard. Cheryl wanted to kill the man for not having the willpower to come forward and push back for Jean. "I think it is better to wait."

  "See, this is what I am talking about--wasting good taxpayer money on a wild goose chase that makes no sense," said Senator Mynard. Colonel Baker had the suspicion that he was onto something and that he did not want anyone to intervene in what was about to happen. "Colonel, get your troops back to base."

  "Understood, sir," said Colonel Baker. As he was issuing the order to pull back he received word from the scouting party that was already at the airport.

  "This is High Noon, sir. We are monitoring a civilian craft that is flying too low next to the airport and which is not responding to any communication," said the head of the scouting party, Captain Hayball. "Please stand by."

  "Negative. We have been ordered to pull back," said Colonel Baker but received no confirmation. "I repeat, we are pulling back from the operation."

  "Jesus Christ, sir. We have an emergency. The aircraft has crashed onto the airport. I repeat, the civilian aircraft has crashed on the side of the airport, destroying a portion of the building," replied Captain Hayball. Colonel Baker immediately got back to the call and demanded an explanation.