Each soldier would spend one year in each Zone, working and learning different trades, so when it came time to return to the surface, each person would have more to offer.
Echo reached her building. Her room number is 24 Block C, up on the fifth floor.
Her legs ached with fatigue as she stumbled up the steps. There was no one around inside the block. It wasn’t a fraternity campus, there wasn’t people partying and causing a ruckus; it was run as a military installation, if people weren’t working this late, then they were sleeping.
Echo swiped her thumb on the keypad to open her door. With a click, she walked through.
She was so exhausted she wanted to ignore the shower and just sleep. However, one of her OCDs was she had to shower before she got into bed. It was a nightmare when she wasn’t able to, she would strip wash at a push.
She stood dazed in the shower leaning against the tiles, while trying to scrub her body with soap. Then, for the first time since she received the news, she started to cry – crying for the billions of people that wouldn’t survive the upcoming apocalypse that would infect every man, woman, and child on the planet.
8
Echo felt like the instant her head touched the pillow it was time to get up again.
She looked at the clock. 7:02 AM.
She lay on her back looking up at the white ceiling. Her body ached, and her feet were sore.
She could have done with a few days to get over the jet lag, but she knew that was just wishful thinking. It was go time. The world would soon start to crash down, once the seriousness of the outbreak started to sink in, and millions started to get infected. Things needed doing.
Slowly, she climbed from bed and took another shower, just to wake herself up.
She dressed in her army attire and wandered into the front room while tying her hair up in a ponytail.
To one side next to the TV was her large container. The lid was open. Even after living here for two years, she still hadn’t unpacked the thing.
Deep down, she had treated this place like any other assignment, and she believed that she would be moved on to somewhere else, somewhere she would be more useful.
She stared at the photo frames.
She wandered over to the container and lifted out a thick mahogany frame with a photo of her sat on her mothers lap in their old house in the prison far above. She ran a finger over the glass, running it through the dust. She then folded out the stand and placed it on the middle shelf.
It looked lonely perched all alone. She decided later she would sort it all out. She would pop over to supplies and grab some nails and a hammer to put all her photography up on the walls. They would be bitter sweet she knew, images of a past-life aboveground, and knowing the places in the photos would never be the same again, and all the people in them would be dead.
It was time to come to terms with the fact she would never leave this room, not for at least twenty years.
And when we do head back up to the surface after, what would it be like up there? Maybe it would be many more years after the twenty-year guideline. Who came up with twenty years anyway? I might be stuck down here for the rest of my natural life; she reasoned.
There are a few psychological studies available about the long-term effects of incarceration – which pretty much would be the case when no one would be able to leave the bunker – about how it affects the body and mind.
There is also the problem of no sunshine. Even though the triphospor lights gave out the same effects that would nourish the plants and provide vitamin D for the humans and animals, it was still artificial, and there were no real studies performed into the long-term effect of living with only these lights and no direct sunlight.
The lack of vitamin D would cause a whole range of chronic diseases, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, as well as infectious diseases like tuberculosis and the common cold, and inhibit calcium absorption. However, a proper diet can stave off the chain of events. Vitamin D is abundant in fatty fish, fortified milk, juice, cereal, and egg yolks. These would become a large part of their diet.
It’s too early to be so pessimistic. Besides, that’s Bull’s job, she reasoned.
She stood and stared at herself in the mirror for a moment. She looked exhausted, which she was – she was still on Mexican time.
In the corner of the mirror was a photo of her when she was five along with her mother. It was curling around the edges and was a little faded, and had a splattering of dried, old blood over it that was from when her mother killed herself. Echo touched the photo. It was a habit she did every time she left her apartment. It sounded morbid but keeping it felt right. It made her feel like her mother was close.
Echo gave a wane smile at the photo and left the apartment and headed for the Mess Hall.
It was time to catch up with the squad.
9
The Mess Hall was crowded. The large room was full of the sounds of cutlery on china, shuffling feet, and murmured conversations. It was also full of the rich aromas of coffee and fried food.
It was just before 8 AM when Echo joined the queue.
Situated in Zone 6 the Mess Hall was big enough to sit all two hundred and fifty who would eventually lived in the zone. However, most already ate and were already working. There was a splattering of people sat around the tables.
Echo spotted her squad.
As she made her way down the line, she looked down at the food. It was Friday so that meant fry-up day. She held out her tray as sizzling sausages, crispy bacon, hot tomatoes, baked beans, eggs – she went for the scrambled, and mushrooms were scooped onto her plate.
She would kill for a pulled pork tostadas in a smokey chipotle sauce right about now.
She grabbed a carton of orange juice.
When she reached the table, the squad was already halfway through their breakfast. All fourteen of them looked shattered.
A few stood as she wandered over to the metal table. She placed her tray between Coco and Trev. She wandered the group, giving out hugs.
They all had the same look she knew was mirrored on her face – sadness. The world as they all knew it had ended. It was now simply a matter of waiting while they worked their fingers to the bones trying to get all the supplies they needed before the order to seal The Ark was issued.
“Did you enjoy your holiday while it lasted?” Spice asked as he forked a slice of sausage into his mouth.
“It was great.” She took a gulp of juice. “Sorry it took five days to switch my phone on.”
“Don’t worry about it,” The Captain said. “If it was me, I wouldn’t have turned mine back on until I was on the flight home after my two weeks leave.”
A few nodded their agreement.
“How did you like Mexico City?” Franco asked while chewing with his mouth open.
“It is an amazing city; I would–” she was about to say I would recommend it, when she realised what she was about to say would be impossible.
“Shit!” she muttered.
“Don’t beat yourself up, it’s something we’re all going to have to get used to, referring to things in the former context,” the Captain said while sipping his strong coffee.
“Mind you,” the Captain said to change the subject, “the High-All-Mighty himself approached me while we were unloading a cargo hold full of finalists on the second day. He actually walked out into the rain to confront me.”
Echo knew he was referring to her father. He rubbed everyone up the wrong way, boss or not.
“He ripped the Captain a new one, shouting at him, asking why he didn’t know where you were staying in Mexico City, so he could contact you, to warn you, and get you back home,” Bull said with a smirk.
“He was none to pleased when I pointed out that he was shouting at me, about not knowing your location, when I’m just your captain, whereas he’s your father, and he didn’t know.”
“Yeah, you should have seen his face; I thought he was going to blow a gasket,” Fr
anco announced.
“Did he,” Echo asked with a smile on her face. She would’ve liked to have seen that confrontation.
“Na, he stormed off to shout at Baker, poor guy.”
A few laughed.
There was too much tension, as expected.
“So what’re the orders,” Echo asked to change the subject.
“At present we are ferrying the Adam and Eve finalists from their designated meeting points to the holding facility in the prison above, where they are going to be checked over and quarantined to make sure they are safe.”
“I hear it’s up to nine countries so far,” Jimmy stated.
No one replied to his rhetorical statement.
There was a massive screen at either end of the Mess Hall that was always on. At present, it was set to the BBC News, while the news networks were still broadcasting. The sound was turned down, but it was obviously talking about the outbreak that was spreading faster than they could report it.
“Let’s roll people; we have three pickups today. Cardiff, Newport, and Dover,” the Captain said as he went to stand.
10
Monday 24th December 2012
The Day the Virus Reached England
Day 9
The last few days were a blur to Echo. Her squad was working early mornings through to late into the night. Pickup after pickup. Sometimes there would be three or four families at one location, other times they would fill the chopper.
The Merlin transport helicopter only needed four crew members. Two had to be Franco, who was the pilot, and Poe, who was the copilot.
Poe’s real name is Edgar Klein, a quiet twenty-three-year-old who hardly spoke, and seldom moved unless he had to. He seemed like he was always poised to say something.
The other two places were rotated between the rest of the fifteen-member squad unit. Those not on the helicopter were sorting out those who had just been dropped off, or delivering supplies down into the bunker.
They were long hard days. Everything had an air of emergency about it. Each day could be the last before The Ark was ordered closed.
The day before the British Government announced that the rioting in the cities was so bad that they ordered a countrywide curfew. No one was allowed to leave their homes until Thursday the 27th from between 10 AM and 8 PM. Anyone found wandering the streets would be arrested.
The problem was; they simply didn’t have the manpower to implement it. It’s at times like these when the government realises that the population outnumbered the military by a thousand to one.
The fact that the number of countries that had confirmed cases was now up to twenty-six, didn’t help. The citizens wanted answers not restricted news coverage and blatant lies.
Echo was relieved that she wasn’t still in Mexico. The country was now inundated with the infected, and was asking for international aid.
News channels were being regulated, and only repeats were being aired; American news channels were showing whole hospitals, and even football and baseball stadiums full to the brim with the comatosed infected; they passed on from the rapid eye blinking, to a catatonic state.
America was also screaming for international aid. However, every country was in the same boat. If they were still uninfected, then they were trying to stay that way. Boarders were closed. Aid was denied.
Then at the morning debriefing, where the Captain announced who was doing what, the bombshell was dropped; the virus had reached the shores of England.
It was announced over the loudspeaker system throughout the whole underground bunker.
As the news was first issued, a deadly silence spread throughout The Ark. It was the first time in two years, being out in the common areas of the base, that Echo could hear the air system blowing in the background, without the ever-present murmuring of conversation or noise of activity. It was eerie.
The first case was confirmed in London. Then soon after in Manchester. Before long, cases were popping up all over the country.
Within eight hours, all flights were canceled, all boats docked and all borders sealed – too little too late in Echo’s opinion. Only the military were allowed to roam the streets and take to the air.
The latest news she had heard was large passenger liner companies and cargo container companies were offering refuge. Package deals were available. Individually, or for the whole family, living in luxury out to sea miles away from possible infection. Of course, only if you had the extortionate amount of money they were asking. Some people obviously did.
The navy was supposedly meant to stop all inbound and outbound ships, but there were simply too many leaving docks. Besides, they reasoned, what could be the harm in letting them leave? Emphasis was moved to only stopping vessels from returning.
There were reports of the navy opening fire on pleasure boats trying to enter British waters.
There was one video uploaded to YouTube, when the Internet providers were working, and before the government started regulating online information, that showed a fifty-foot fishing vessel heading across from France into British waters. The vessel was given ample warning via loudspeaker, but it kept on churning forward, heedless. The grainy video showed the deck chockfull of people in a state of panic. It even looked like there was a naked person attacking others. People were diving over the sides into the ocean. The navy opened fire. The boat vanished behind a cloud of smoke and flames. People that survived were left to tread water for as long as they could manage. No one was picked from the choppy waves. They were left to the elements.
As the squad sat for a precious spare few minutes while they gulped down their breakfast, at just after 6 AM, the Captain announced the day’s activities.
“Today we are heading to Wales to pickup four families from Cardiff, then straight to Swansea to pick up six more, and then back over the border to Hereford. Some will be street landings.”
Echo looked round the table. People were hardly touching their food, only Bull seemed to still have an appetite as he wolfed down his scrambled eggs, with hash browns and toast. He even reached across and nicked an untouched fried egg off Jimmy’s plate.
The news that the virus had reached England was a blow to everyone’s moral. It meant that the time to seal The Ark was fast approaching. The order could come at any hour.
It also didn’t help that it was Christmas Eve; no one felt like celebrating.
There is one lonely, scruffy looking Christmas tree in the corner of the Mess Hall. It looked liked a determined individual had gone out onto the Moors with an axe and hacked down the first fern they found – because they were going to have a tree, regardless of what was happening to the world. It looked like it had fought back, half its needles were missing. It was a pitiful sight.
The Captain’s voice pulled Echo’s attention back to the moment at hand.
“The two helping on the flight today will be Echo and Tom.” The Captain’s voice was strained and tired. He rubbed a hand over his face. He hadn’t shaved today.
Echo looked across towards Tom, whose real name is Todd Hanks. He was an average kind of guy, the only thing that stood out about him were his ridiculously large sideburns that looked like they were a joke of some kind. Army personnel weren’t allowed to grow a beard, but he managed to get away with the long sideburns because technically they were part of his haircut, not chin hair. They joked that he should have joined the navy, because they are permitted to grow beards.
“Everyone else will be helping to bring down supplies,” the Captain stated.
Over the last few days, lorry and helicopter loads had been arriving every hour. The pretence was done away with; no one cared any more if the Ark was found. They needed to fill the stores as quickly as possible. Besides, everyone was too preoccupied to care about what was happening at a prison in the middle of nowhere. Even the people from Princetown, where it was situated, didn’t even care.
“Well? Anytime you all feel up to it then,” the Captain joked when no one bothered to mov
e.
They all quietly wondered off to carry out their orders.
11
It was 7 AM by the time the helicopter took off.
Echo was strapped to her seat with webbing harnesses, as Tom fussed around with his own.
She wedged her SA80 rifle next to her.
All weapons for units leaving the base were held up in the main hub building inside the armory. Each member of the squad collected their weapon as they left the compound. When they returned they would clean their weapon, if required, before returning it.
“So why the netting harness, have you ever wondered? Why not a seatbelt like inside a car?” Tom questioned over the hum of the rotor blades and the powerful engine.
“What?” Echo shouted back.
“Nothing.”
They sat in silence for half an hour as the helicopter sliced through the grey sky.
Echo looked out the small window. It looked like the heavy clouds were sponging up the sunlight, making it dull and depressing. It started to rain. The sound of the rain hitting the hull almost drowned out the sound from the engine it was so loud.
Echo reached behind for a pair of headphones. She pulled them on. She heard the tail end of Franco talking, making a record of the flight for the Black Box recorder.
“...to Cardiff Airport. Latitude fifty-one degrees by twenty-eight north. Longitude three degrees to eleven west. At present, we are just passing over Oakford. Latitude fifty degrees by fifty-eight north. Longitude three degrees by thirty-three west. Heavy rain, with winds twenty-six mph at three hundred degrees west northwesterly. Temperature thirty-nine Fahrenheit. The time is now 7:12 AM. Estimated time of arrival, thirty-nine minutes.”
The Sixth Extinction & The First Three Weeks & The Squads First Three Weeks Omnibus [Books 1-10] Page 50
