“We can rule this new world. We have good men here. Tough men. You and me will lead them, not some prick sitting in a bunker,” Colonel Jackson said, releasing Kinnick’s face. He straightened his ACUs out. “Now, let’s move forward. Corporal Hayes, bring Ash in,” Colonel Jackson said, giving Kinnick a wink. “She will help smooth over any doubts you might have,” he said.
A dirty blonde with thick make-up thrown on her face walked in.
“Ashley will take care of you, Colonel. She is willing, to say the least.”
Kinnick couldn’t stand the thought of this man wearing his uniform. “Have you no honor?” Kinnick started.
Ashley smiled at him.
“Do you think honor has a place left on any corner of this earth?” Colonel Jackson said contemptuously.
Kinnick fell silent. Maybe he is right.
“I want you to join my command. I will let you and Ashley get to know each other. I think she will help bring our two parties together,” Colonel Jackson said.
“Wait,” Kinnick asked. Colonel Jackson stopped as the sultry woman dropped on Kinnick’s lap. He felt her buttocks grind into his leg.
“I must talk to my men. Help them understand that this is the best option. Some of them may not see the necessity of this defection.”
“Of course. They can be disposed of quietly so as not to ruffle the others.”
Kinnick nodded. “You’re going to untie me?” Kinnick said.
Colonel Jackson opened the door. “Just because I want you to join doesn’t mean I trust you, Colonel,” he said. He stopped with the door halfway open. “Have fun,” he said and with a smile closed the door.
Kinnick was alone with her.
She stroked his cheek with smoke-stained fingers. “Finally, we are alone.” she cooed. “I thought you were handsome when I first saw you.”
Kinnick averted his eyes.
“What do you like?” she whispered. Her lips tickled his ear, and her breath massaged his neck. Kinnick turned his face away from her yellow, stained teeth. He didn’t want this. He hated this part of him. His wanton need. He could never resist it. Her hand followed the curve of his leg into his crouch. There was no escape.
When it was over, Colonel Jackson gave him twenty-four hours to recruit his men or they would be executed. This meant that Kinnick had twenty-four hours to escape or they would be killed. His men looked to him when he returned; he could only shake his head. Shame radiated around him like a visible body odor.
He had always been faithful to his country, but he was never faithful to his wife. He felt like it was a stain that others could see on him like a physical deformity. Women’s flesh made him uncontrollable. Even Ash’s. He had never broken down like that in the field. His infidelity had always come after his deployments, never during. Is it infidelity if I’m all but sure my wife is dead? There had to be a way out of this. He sat down in the storage room and contemplated his shame.
“We have twenty-four hours to join or die,” he mumbled to them. The men sat quiet, digesting his words in silence their eyes falling upon them. He leaned his back against the wall, rubbing his hands together over and over.
Later that night, Master Sergeant Hunter stood in front of him. Kinnick rose his eyes to meet his.
“Sir, I got somebody I think you should talk to.”
“Send them over,” he said indifferent.
A man of average height approached him. He had a hard look about him, and a beard to match. A long fresh scar ran along the top of his skull. He reminded Kinnick of a special operator, but different.
“Colonel Kinnick?” the man asked.
“Yes,” he said.
“Agent Mark Steele, Counterterrorism Division. May I?” he said, gesturing to the concrete wall.
“Sure.”
Kinnick racked his brain. Counterterrorism Division. He knew them as covert law enforcement agents. Most spoke highly of them. They also had a reputation of being highly adept gunslingers. Born to fight. Liked to party. Much like Master Sergeant Hunter and his crew, but a little more refined at hiding in plain sight. The man took a seat next to Kinnick.
“I was talking to Master Sergeant Hunter about my journey here. He told me it was you in the helos that were buzzing us in Pittsburgh. I would like to help your team however I can,” he said, running a hand gingerly along his scar. He pushed on its sides as if he were trying to speed up the healing process.
“Why are you here?” Kinnick asked.
“Long story short, Colonel. I was escorting hostages onboard an aircraft from Africa when the infection broke out amongst the passengers. When we landed at McCone, the virus had already struck the District. Our primary protectee was a CDC doctor. Anyway, when we landed, we handed him off and they left us to die on the runway. A group of us made it to Mount Eden. Then we came west, unfortunately running into Colonel Jackson near Pittsburgh,” Steele said.
Kinnick held his hand up. “Where in Africa were you coming from?” he asked.
“Kinshasa.” The man continued to run his had along the scar.
Kinshasa. I sent him there.
“A protection detail for Dr. Jackowski?” Kinnick said.
“Yeah, as a matter of fact it was. After Mount Eden was overrun we took the doctor with us. He should have been here along with a member of my CT team and my girlfriend,” Steele said.
“Are you kidding me? Where did they go? Agent Steele, this is of utter importance.”
Steele stopped rubbing his scar. “How do you know the doctor?” he asked.
“I am Under Secretary Kinnick from the Department of State. I planned your mission. My team is looking for Dr. Jackowski. We must find him.”
Steele’s mouth twisted. “I don’t know where he went. When I got here, the guards beat us and threw us down here. I knew Colonel Jackson wouldn’t keep his word.” Fire flared in Steele’s eyes. “And you sent us into a death trap with no warning. No intelligence. Nothing. Half of my team died in flight,” Steele said, voice rising.
Sergeant Lewis loomed near Steele. The bigger man waiting to suppress the seated agent. Kinnick motioned him off.
“Agent Steele, I am sorry for your loss. I truly am. I had no idea of the magnitude of these events. I would not have asked so much of so few, but I need your help again. The fate of our country hangs in the balance,” Kinnick said. It seemed to calm Steele a fraction.
“Those soldiers that captured you are no longer American soldiers. These men here are but a small remnant of what is left of the U.S. military. We need your help.”
Steele looked cross, as if Kinnick had cut him off on the highway. “All those bridges in Pittsburgh, that was something I did for the U.S. military. We weren’t supposed to make it. They tossed us in here like criminals. Now, you have the audacity to ask me to help you again?” Steele said.
Kinnick gave a sad laugh. “I wouldn’t ask you for more if I didn’t think it was the only way. I too have sacrificed. Lost my family, half my men, my colleagues, all but a glimmer of hope. I’m mostly running on fumes. Coming down to the end, but the Pentagon still stands. There’s still some hope. Do you know where that doctor is? Or where he’s headed? I have to know because with or without you we need to find him. Not just our nation, but humanity is at stake,” Kinnick said. He added, “I’m sure the President will be grateful.”
“Don’t insult me,” Steele spat. “I don’t help for accolades or medals. I did my job because I wanted what’s best for my loved ones and the United States. If they survived out there, I know where they are going. ’Cause it’s up here.” Steele pointed up to his head. “But you have to take me with you.”
Kinnick smiled for the first time in a while. He liked this man. “Sergeant Lewis has a solution to that problem,” he said.
Sergeant Lewis looked up from what he was doing with a barbarous grin. “It’s going to take me a few, but I’ll get it,” the sergeant said, his fingers molding putty together.
Agent Steele stuck out his hand and
Kinnick squeezed it. Trust. Or was it understanding?
“Let’s get to Michigan.”
STEELE
Youngstown Airfield, Youngstown, OH
A single lightbulb dribbled insufficient light on the incarcerated men. It made Steele feel like he was in a Russian gulag. Perhaps we would be better off if we were imprisoned in a far-off snowdrift-covered place with no infected.
He sat with his back to the wall. The cool concrete chilled him. The other men sat in shadows. He wondered if they still clung to any kind of hope. He still did. Kinnick had given him that flimsy thread that he clung to as if it would blow away. Hope that he might see her again.
The Pentagon still stood. Gwen would be safe as long as she was with Mauser. As safe as anyone could be. He wished they would have waited, but they must have had their reasons.
Steele rested his head back on the wall and watched in amazement as Lewis’s meaty fingers intricately worked the explosives. Somehow Kinnick’s soldiers had snuck in a series of military supplies. Steele didn’t want to know how. They were quickly assembling what looked like improvised explosives to blow open the doors.
“I’m surprised you have all your fingers,” Steele said to Sergeant Lewis.
The broad-backed soldier grunted. “It’s about patience and attention to detail,” he said, smoothing dough with his fingers. “And a little luck.” He stuck his tongue out as he worked. “How’d you get that scar on your head?” Lewis asked without looking up from his bomb-making.
“I took a sniper round in West Virginia. I said just a little off the top, but he didn’t listen,” Steele said.
Lewis laughed a bit. “Well, we’re glad to have you with us. One of my buddies became a CT agent after he left the military.”
“We get a lot of ex-military. The culture is comparable, a bit more discrete,” Steele said.
“Maybe when this is all over, I’ll think about joining up with you guys,” Sergeant Lewis said.
“I’ll put in a good word for you,” Steele said. He doubted that he would ever work as an agent again. The odds of that were slim.
“There,” Lewis said. He set down his last molded explosive device. “Now, all we have to do is wait.”
“When do we strike?”
“Hunter said we will wait until dawn. Hopefully those sand-bagging guards will be passed out.”
“You didn’t by any chance sneak in any guns?”
“No, but we’ll get ’em.”
“Beggars have to be resourceful,” Steele said. He noticed Ahmed across from them, chin held to his chest. He wrung his hands out in front of his body.
“You’ll have to forgive me, Sergeant Lewis.” Steele crossed the square basement room and sat down next to Ahmed.
“Stick by me when this thing kicks off. It’s going to get confusing real quick,” he said.
Ahmed looked up, dark circles of worry rounding his eyes.
“What chance do I have in a fight against trained soldiers?”
Steele put a comforting hand on his knee. “I’m not a soldier either, but you don’t need to be a soldier to take it to the bad guys. You’ve stood up to a pack of over a hundred infected with only a baseball bat and now you’re worried about some soldiers with guns?”
Ahmed cracked out a smile. “That was different. I did that to save Gwen.”
It was Steele’s turn to smile. “I know you did, and I never got the opportunity to say thanks. She means the world to me.” Steele offered his palm to Ahmed, which he accepted. “And I never had the opportunity to apologize for kicking your ass back at the house,” Steele finished.
Ahmed chuckled. “I’m pretty sure you got lucky on that one, but no hard feelings. If it means anything, the attack in Fairfax was an accident. Everything happened too fast.”
Steele shook his head. “I thought you were trying to kill me. Now, I’m pretty sure you’ve been keeping me alive. Let’s try and get some rest. We got a few hours and then we are breaking out of here.”
Steele leaned his head back on the wall and closed his eyes.
Five minutes passed before the door opened and a soldier strode in. The lighting wasn’t sufficient, and he thought it may be Sergeant Yates. The captured men stood up.
“What’s going on?” Steele whispered to Ahmed.
“I dunno.”
The man continued to the center of the room, confident and unmolested.
“Is there a Mark Steele here?” he said, gazing at faces. They had met before. Steele wondered if the man would remember. Steele exchanged a look with Ahmed before standing up to get a vantage point on the captor who called his name.
“Counterterrorism Agent Mark Steele?” the man said again. Steele put his hands on shoulders, parting the group as he walked through the crowd. He felt like a dead man walking to the gallows. Reaching the edge of the inner circle, he stopped. Faces lambasted him from every side. His accuser turned his reddish coppery beard to face Steele.
Mauser’s face quivered a bit as if he wanted to smile, but couldn’t make himself.
“Mauser,” he said. Mauser is still here. That means Gwen must be as well. I can’t leave. He wanted to hug his old friend. Rescue came early.
“Agent Steele?” Mauser said, mouth remaining flat.
“Yes.”
“Come with me.” The two men walked from the room followed by two soldiers with M16A4 assault rifles. Give me the signal, old buddy, and we will take these two out. Boots clicked along the hallway floor and a soldier opened a door to a side room. A lone chair sat in the center.
“You may sit.” Mauser gestured to the wooden chair.
“Should we tie his wrists?” asked a private.
“You may.” The soldiers went about zip-tying his hands together, and when they were done they stood at attention as if Mauser was some sort of infantry commander.
“You may leave. I will take it from here, Private,” Mauser said. The door latched closed and locked them inside. Mauser turned to face Steele.
“Jesus, man. Please don’t tell me you joined the Army at age forty.”
Mauser smiled, if only briefly, and a sad look washed over his face. His shoulders sagged. “Not exactly, Sergeant Yates gave me a squad to run. They’ve been hit up for knowledgeable veterans.”
“Alright, man. Get me out of these damn zip-ties. Where’s Gwen?” Steele said, wriggling his shoulders.
“Steele, I need to talk to you about something.” He paused. “And it isn’t nice.”
Steele looked over his shoulder at his hands. “Alright, but get me out of these ties.”
“Not until after we have discussed it.”
Steele’s heart started its long drop into his stomach. He looked at Mauser. The man’s face showed a level of visible stress.
“Discuss what?” Steele said, fear taking hold of his insides and squeezing his guts like a vice.
“It’s about Gwen.”
The words made his guts feel like the infected were ripping them free of his body.
Steele’s face scrunched in anger. “No. Don’t even start to say that.” Please let it not be true. Mauser was quiet. “No, Ben. Don’t.” Steele’s head wavered side to side.
“She’s alive.”
Steele was confused. He had expected the worst. Adrenaline dumped inside his stomach. The drop floated up like a wind-blown balloon. “I don’t understand. Was she hurt?”
Mauser grimaced. “No. Nothing to write home about, but something happened and it caused a problem here.” Mauser paced a bit, anxiety taking hold of him. “She’s gone, man. She disappeared with Kevin and Joseph.”
“And you waited for me. Thanks, bud. Now can you untie me?”
A pained expression took over Mauser’s face. “They killed people. They killed soldiers.”
“I don’t understand. Why would they do that? They wouldn’t just kill people. I mean, hell, we could hardly get Joseph to remove himself from the mobile lounge, let alone put a bullet in somebody.”
Mauser’s eyes were hard. “They did. The airfield has security cameras. We caught it all on tape.”
Steele sat in disbelief, shaking his head. They must have had reason. And who the hell is ‘we’?
Mauser stopped pacing and crouched down, grabbing Steele’s knee. “Gwen murdered a soldier. She shot him in the neck. They want her and the others back for a trial.”
Steele’s mouth dropped open a bit. “You’re kidding me, right? Like some sort of criminal? Where were you?”
Mauser looked down. “We had a disagreement. It was a suicide mission. I told them. They knew it was safer here, but they insisted.”
Blood pumped into Steele’s face. “You promised me you would look after her. You promised me nothing would happen to her, and now you tell me she left and you didn’t help her. Are you insane?”
“Are you all insane?” Mauser stood abruptly. “You were out there. It’s a freakin’ war zone. This was our best shot. Link up with the military. Strength in numbers. Fight our way west, together. It’s the only real option. Everything else leads to certain death.”
“You promised me.” Betrayal sank all the way to Steele’s bones.
Spit flew from Mauser’s mouth. “Promised you what? That I would die for your girlfriend’s stupid beliefs? Or that I would blindly follow her to death for some irrelevant cause?”
“Your job was to keep her safe for me.”
“Fuck your job, Steele. I am not your errand boy. She pointed a gun at me.”
Steele gulped. How could this have happened? She loves Mauser like a brother. I don’t understand.
“Fine. Get me out of these things so I can follow her.”
Mauser shook his head. “That’s where we have an issue. The men are looking to hang someone for murder, and they want to hang you.”
Does this betrayal ever end? “I didn’t do anything. Neither did Ahmed. Fuck, we completed Colonel Jackson’s mission for him.”
“They want to hang Ahmed too. He may be collateral damage in this whole thing. We will have to give them someone.”
The End Time Saga Box Set [Books 1-3] Page 70
