Infected Zone (Book 1): Survivors of New York

by Kempf, Shaun

  Opening statements were made by both sides. Sergeant Anderson was a good enough presenter. His voice was strong and, at times, conveyed conviction. Still, Ben wasn’t sure just how strong the Sergeant’s opening was. He mentioned their track record since joining the army as one of the many search and rescue teams and pointed out the fact that Ben had been the only leader the group had known prior to Captain Perret joining them for this mission. Ben wasn’t so sure the pity card was the right play, but he didn’t have any say in the matter.

  The prosecutor held back no punches, “We will prove that the three accused; Lieutenant Hassinger, Sergeant Eastman, and Private Wilkson, knowingly and actively turned their own weapons to their commanding officer, Captain Perret. Then, once he was unarmed, they unjustly imprisoned him under the false pretenses that they knew what was best for the group and the civilians they had encountered. They promised to get everyone out, alive, without having immediate backup. Their whole plan was based on the off chance that their radio man would be able to jerry rig a radio together to call for help. What is worse, in their rescue attempt, they lost the lives of fourteen individuals. Fourteen. Fourteen lives that didn’t have to be lost. If they had obeyed orders, they could have found their way to safety and sent the necessary armed forces into the city to retrieve these civilians. Instead, they risked their lives and paid a high price for lost civilian life. We cannot, and should not look at their actions as courageous or heroic. Instead, they should be given the maximum sentence for allowing fourteen lives to be lost just because they thought they were in the right.”

  Then Captain Perret was called to the stand. His story, although Ben would’ve argued that they were slightly exaggerated, were mostly true. It was the Sergeant’s cross-examination that left Ben dumbfounded. In their meetings prior to the trial, Sergeant Anderson had listed a number of, what they had all agreed would be, hard hitting questions. Questions that would put the Captain’s state of mind during the events under the city that would hopeful put doubt in the Captain’s decision-making process at the time. Those questions were never asked. They weren’t even hinted at.

  Instead, the Sergeant asked clarifying questions as if he was trying to catch the Captain in a lie about the events of that day. He appeared to be trying to get the Captain to mess up his facts, of which he was mostly telling the truth about to begin with. All it really did, as far as Ben could tell, was to solidify the Captain’s story and make the whole situation look much worse than it had previously.

  The trio and Sergeant Anderson had also talked about bringing up the fact that it was Ben who had returned and released the Captain, handing him back his weapon, to make their escape. As Sergeant Anderson had put it, it would show their humanity. That they hadn’t acted against the Captain personally, as they could just as well left him behind to die in that cell, but had only acted as they had because they felt the situation required it.

  Captain Perret’s release from his confinement was glossed over by both sides. The Prosecutors never brought it up or asked how he had gotten out and Sergeant Anderson asked only one question of the Captain’s release and that was if he felt he was still in danger of the team attacking him now that he was out of the cell.

  The day ended after Captain Perret came down from the stand. The Trio got up to return to their cell. Colonel Tonn gave an encouraging nod, but they could see the pain in his face. It probably showed on all of their faces. They were slightly confused, but mostly steamed. Michael and Ben spent half the night complaining and going over the trial as it currently stood.

  “There is at least one positive in all this mess,” Michael said from his bunk in the darkness.

  “What positive can you possibly find?” Ben responded.

  “If things keep up as they have been we won’t have to pay our lawyer fees? The Prosecution will do it for us.”

  Ben started to laugh. It had been a long time since he’d laughed and was thankful that he had a friend like Michael to remind him about laughing. Even though the laughter was long lived, it had been a welcomed reprieve from the trouble they were dealing with. Ben almost wished he was still stuck down in the sewers below the city. At least down there, he would know how things stood.

  The next morning, although it started off with Ben sharing Michael quip from the night before, didn’t go much better than the previous day. Actually, Ben felt it went worse. Michael was called to the stand first. The prosecution lawyer drilled him hard, even questioning his loyalties to the United States since Michael considered himself part of the Dakota tribe. It was as if the prosecution could find fault in every answer that Michael gave and exhaustion quickly appeared on Michael’s face.

  Sergeant Anderson’s cross-examination was lacking in every aspect. Not only did his questions lack depth and numbers, but they also did little to refute the accusations made by the prosecution. Michael got down off the stand just ten minutes after the Sergeant started his questions.

  “It would be great if you actually started creating some arguments in our favor at some point during the trial,” Ben stated in a whisper between his teeth as the Sergeant took his seat.

  “I’m doing the best that I can with what I have to work with,” The Sergeant said back flatly not looking at Ben.

  “You could have fooled me. What happened to all those things that we talked about?”

  The Sergeant looked at Ben, sizing him up. “You know, it’s about time that you realize that you aren’t going to be acquitted of these charges. You, of all people, should know that with what’s going on out there,” Sergeant Anderson flip his hand out as if to indicate where the Infected Zone might be, “that now is not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves. Yet, you decided to go up against your very own commanding officer. How stupid. I’m just here to see if I can’t reduce the damage that you caused.”

  Ben stood and addressed the judge, “Your Honor, I’d like to dismiss Sergeant Anderson of his duties as our lawyer.”

  The judge, a man probably in his fifties with gray speckles of hair along the sides of his head and numerous bars across his chest examined Ben carefully. He put the paper that was in his hand down and leaned forward.

  “Lieutenant, I’m not sure of where you think you are or what you think you have the right to do, but I will not tolerate another outburst from you during these proceedings. You will sit down and be quiet until asked to speak. Do I make myself clear?”

  “No, you do not,” Ben answered sternly. “I believe in fair and just representation, of which, I don’t believe that Sergeant Anderson can provide at this time.”

  “You’ll sit down this instant, Lieutenant,” the judge said raising his voice to be heard over Ben.

  “If you can’t find a replacement for me,” Ben continued, even as the judge spoke, not raising his voice, “then I’d like to represent myself or even my whole team.”

  “You will do no such thing. Sit down now or be held in contempt,” the judge pointed his finger at Ben.

  Ben and the judge stared at each other for long moments. Ben refused to sit down. The judge was the first to move by lowering his hand.

  “Officer, please take Lieutenant Hassinger back to his cell. He can return when it’s time to testify.”

  One of the MP’s that had been escorting the group from their cells to the courtroom and back approached Ben. Ben stepped out from behind the desk and let the MP escort him out of the courtroom, but he never took his eyes off of the judge.

  Back in his cell, he realized the grave that he had dug for himself. He had stood up to and disobeyed another officer in the Army right in front of the jury. He had just made the Prosecution’s job that much easier, but had he been given the chance he would have done it all over again.

  Justice was working against him today. Granted, Sergeant Anderson was right in the fact that he was indeed guilty of mutiny, but their story was being warped and not truthfully told. He didn’t mind being punished, but he wanted it to be fair and truly justice. What was happen
ing in the courtroom was neither.

  Ben never got called back to the courtroom. Later that afternoon Michael was brought back. He waited until the MP had left the area before he began to speak.

  “I’d like to say I’m disappointed in the way that you behaved today, but I’d be lying. I want you to know I was about to stand to join you when Annie held me back. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to join you too, but she realized that at least we needed to be there to see how thing whole thing played out. It’s not good Ben.”

  Ben harrumphed, “Like it was going to be?”

  “Fair enough,” Michael said, then sighed heavily as he ran his hand through his hair. “After you left, the Prosecution made mention of calling you to the stand, but said to the jury that it probably wasn’t necessary anymore. Everyone got a great laugh out of that one.”

  “I’m sure they did,” Ben responded sitting down heavily.

  “They didn’t quite though. They questioned Annie, just as hard as they did me. The Sergeant hardly asked any questions of Annie. Then the prosecution rested its case and the Sergeant said he didn’t have anyone to call to the stand. The closing arguments are tomorrow, the judge will deliberate and then we get sentenced.”

  “That quick, huh?” Ben said more as a fact than a question.

  “That quick and that damning,” Michael said.

  “I’m sorry,” Ben said looking at the floor.

  “Not your fault,” Michael sat next to Ben. “I have a feeling the end result would have been the same whether or not you would have tried to stand your ground.”

  “If I hadn’t acted against the Captain, none of this would be happening.”

  “Don’t play that game. You know as well as I do that we couldn’t have left those people down there. It’s not who we are, it’s not what we do. If it was, you would have left me in that car to die,” Michael put his hand on Ben’s shoulder. “Thank you for rescuing all of us.”

  Ben could only nod. He appreciated his friend’s words. They did provide some well-needed comfort, but this was the lowest that Ben had felt in a long time. Probably since the outbreak. Michael was right that he should feel good about getting all of those people out of New York, but the cost was heavy. Not only in life, but now the lack of a life. They would be sentenced to life in prison, Ben was pretty sure of that. They would never again save those in need. Giving them a second chance and hope that they might actually survive the Infection. That night Ben didn’t sleep at all.

  The next morning they were handcuffed as usual and as usual, Annie joined them just prior to them all being escorted outside and over to the courthouse. However, once outside they were meet with multiple reports, even the MPs were caught off guard. They were unprepared to escort the trio to the courthouse and fend off the handful of reports.

  “Lieutenant Hassinger, Lieutenant!” shouted one reporter, “Did you really survive New York City?”

  “We’re told there were other civilian survivors, can you tell us how many?” Asked another reporter.

  “What was it like in the City? How did you survive?” A third reporter asked in rapid succession.

  Ben wasn’t exactly sure what to do for a moment, then realized the opportunity that this presented. He began talking as fast as he could. As soon as he opened his mouth the MP’s started to try to hurry them towards the Courthouse doors. Still, Ben was able to highlight their mission. He focused on their encounter with the underground city of survivors and their living conditions.

  He made no mention of the incident with the Captain and gave very few details of the events at the crash site.

  “Is it true that you’re on trial for mutiny?” asked one of the reporters.

  “I can’t say much about that,” Ben answered trying to be diplomatic. “I just did what I needed to do to ensure as many of us survived as possible.” It was the last words that he got to speak before being pulled into the courthouse.

  Inside of the courtroom was full of buzz. There were more reporters inside. The judge was having a heated discussion with both lawyers. Again, Colonel Toon was at his seat behind the defenses desk. Ben noticed that he had a slight grin on his face. He kept his eye on the Colonel as the MPs removed their handcuffs.

  “What’s going on Colonel?” Ben asked once the MPs walked away.

  “Apparently, word got out that there had been survivors in, or rather under New York,” He responded.

  “Wait. Are you telling me that no one knew?” asked Michael picking up and what the Colonel was saying.

  “For whatever reason, that fact had been kept away from the public. Your whole mission had been. This is big news.”

  “No kidding,” said Annie.

  “What does this mean for us?” asked Ben

  “Guess we’ll see,” Colonel Tonn lifted his chin towards the bench. Ben looked over and saw the lawyers returning to their respective benches. Both men had sour looks on their faces.

  Sergeant Anderson didn’t even look at the trio as he took his place at the desk. Ben didn’t bother asking him what was going on. He knew he wouldn’t get a straight answer and besides, the judge was going to have to respond. He had no other choice.

  The court proceedings began and each lawyer made their closing statements. Neither speech was passionate, but the prosecution still hit hard with the facts of the case as they had been presented. It took a lot of willpower on Ben’s part not to stand up and start shouting again, but he knew that if he did he would ruin whatever chance the now had.

  The jury was dismissed to deliberate. Ben, Annie, and Michael were all allowed to stay in the courtroom and wait. They didn’t have to wait long, after only thirty minutes the jury came back with a verdict.

  “Has the jury found a verdict?” ask the judge.

  “We have your honor,” said a juror. “We find the defendants guilty of mutiny.”

  Ben didn’t drop his head, even though his stomach fell. He wasn’t entirely surprised with the verdict. If he had been on that jury, he too would have voted guilty. There was no other choice. Still, he had decided that he was going to stand by his decision, no matter what the consequences.

  “Benjamin Hassinger, Michael Eastman and Melissa Wilkson you have been found guilty of mutiny against your commanding officer,” the Judge paused every briefly and Ben though he heard him sigh. “Although you could be sentenced to life in prison for your crimes and believe that is the punishment you should get, in light of the results of your actions and the rescue of nearly two hundred civilian survivors from New York you will be dishonorably discharged and escorted from the base. Further, you will not be allowed to re-enlist at any time in the future. That will be all.”

  The judge got up and left the stand. The prosecution quickly gathered their things and left, avoiding answering any questions. Sergeant Anderson left more slowly just to try to save face as their attorney, but even he tried to avoid answering too many questions.

  The trio was allowed a few minutes to answer questions from the reporters that were in the room before being escorted out and back to the jail so their release could be processed. It had not been exactly the end result that Ben had expected, but he’d take it. He decided it was time that they moved on anyway. The army was starting to cramp their style.

  TWENTY FOUR

  The trio had been taken back to their cells as they waited to be released. Civilian clothes were brought in for them to select to wear. Ben found a pair of jeans that fit well enough, though he figured he’d have to scrounge up a belt eventually. He also grabbed a blank light blue t-shirt and then tied a hooded sweatshirt around his waist. It wasn’t cold out, but it was always great to have layers when one didn’t know where you’d end up after the sun went down. He finished his outfit by putting his cap on his head.

  The MPs who were watching them had collected their fatigues as they took them off. One of them had put Ben’s hat on the pile with their fatigues, which Ben quickly snatched back. “This is mine,” he had said. Luckily for the M
P, he didn’t argue or try to take it back. Ben would have beaten him and been made to stay in the cell.

  Michael had trouble find pants that would fit and ended up settling for what appeared to be carpenter tan pants. They were a little too small and he had to leave the button undone to get them to fit, but had decided that they weren’t going to be eating as well anymore and the weight would come off soon enough. He grabbed a dark shirt with a Captain America shield on the front of it. He did like the superhero, but felt it was a nice jab at the lawyer who questioned his patriotism. Finally, he too grabbed a sweatshirt that had the faded Atlanta Falcons logo across the chest.

  The men were then escorted outside, the reports having been long removed, and there they were united with Melissa. She had on a pair of jeans that looked like they fit perfectly, a button down red shirt and carried a fashionable faux leather jacket.

  “They didn’t have any dresses?” asked Michael with a grin on his face.

  “What is with you guys always asking if I’m going to wear a dress?”

  “Because we’ve never seen you in one,” Ben replied. “I bet you’d clean up good.”

  “You two should know by now that isn’t happening,” Melissa said adjusting her ponytail. “Maybe if the infection is ever wiped out, I’ll wear one to celebrate.”

  There was a lone MP with them this time who lead them to a Jeep waiting nearby. The trio climbed in with Ben sitting in the front passenger seat. As they drove off toward the front gate, Ben watched the buildings go by and was certain that he had seen Captain Perret in one of the windows watching them go. A deep scowl on the young man’s face. Ben could only smile as the sunshine of the day hit his face and the wind created by the speed of the jeep made his hair dance.

  They had reached the front gate and were all climbing out of the jeep when Ben heard a familiar female voice calling to them. He turned to look and saw Mayor Brooks jogging towards them.

  “Come to see us off, Mayor?” asked Ben.