by Cooper, DJ
Rich came walking up with Sarge and held his hand out to me to take it. I took it confused and stood. Sarge just smiled at me, I had no idea what these two were up to.
Walking to the center of the area, Sarge cleared his throat loudly, saying, “Can I have everyone’s attention please?”
People started to look our way when Sarge said, “We have an important task as our first order of business. We have a wedding to do!”
The murmuring grew in volume as everyone wondered who would be getting married. Sarge continued, “Rich and Rita would like you all to witness their vows and join them in this occasion.”
The camp cheered as Sarge began, “Since I’m the highest ranking officer, I will be performing this ceremony. We went through a seriously modified version of a ceremony as Sarge didn’t know the ceremony. To us it was all we needed, we promised our love for one another and the group cheered louder. Rich managed to find rings for us, and we were married under the canopy of the trees with people who genuinely wished us well. I could not have asked for a better wedding. After the ceremony we would be getting ready for the run to the camp so our reception would be postponed a while, but I didn’t care. I’d just married the man of my dreams.
I would not be permitted to go but did get them to agree to allow me to be one of the drivers. I would stay with the truck and watch the camp, alerting them to any unseen threats that might arise.
Vehicles were loaded, and those who would be entering the camp carried their NBC suits to be put on when we arrived. The tension in the air was nearly palatable, and the silence deafening. I rode next to Rich clinging to his arm as the convoy made its way past the high school and out of town on the other side. When we came to the medical offices much of it had burned and lay in a pile of rubble tendrils of grey smoke still rising from the ashes.
Rich said to the Sergeant, “Hey Sarge, did anyone on the mission yesterday do this?”
Shaking his head, he said, “Not to my knowledge.”
Rich replied, “Curious this happened right after the supply run.”
Sarge nodded in agreement but had a curious look; I couldn’t quite place. I was still not sure I trusted him, yet Rich did so I brushed it off.
There was a stand of woods up the hillside about three hundred yards from the fence line to the camp. It was still early morning, and a heavy fog lingered over the camp in the valley. Rich commented, “This is good, it will provide some cover.”
Keith said, “Look at the rear of the compound.” Pointing to the corner farthest from the gate, “There, did you see it?’
Rich strained to look, nodding no, he asked, “What? What did you see?”
“There!” Keith said, “Look, there is a small figure outside the fence, crouched at the corner. Watch the pile of shrubbery, it moves.”
Rich continued to stare at the corner, as did I. It happened, even I saw it. I looked at Rich, saying, “There is something in that shrub at the fence.“
Never taking his eye off the figure, he said, “I see it.”
Keith said, “What do you think it is?”
Rich replied, “I don’t know, but we need to check it out before trying to do this.”
Keith said, “I’ll go.”
Sarge got out of the truck and let him out, handing him his walkie he said, “Channel twenty-one…take no chances, but we need the element of surprise so be careful.”
Keith just smiled and said, “Just call me Ghost…I got this!”
We watched in nervous anticipation as he crept into the woods. One minute he was there and the next there was nothing. I wondered how someone could so completely disappear even being watched. A few moments went by and watching the shrub at the fence line, it wiggled at the corner of the fence but didn’t move. From seemingly nowhere and like lightening Keith appeared from a gully and snatched the figure into the gully, leaving the shrubbery intact where it sat.
The time passed so slowly waiting for the reemergence of them that none of us noticed he had brought the person back to the truck. It was an utter shock to all of us to find that it was a young girl. She was small in stature looking to be about eight years old. He brought her up to the truck laughingly saying, “This is the main front of the invasion force, looking to liberate the camp single-handedly.”
I rushed over to the small girl. She was dirty from head to toe with scratches on her face and mats in her long blonde hair. I asked her, “How old are you, honey?”
She stood taller and said, “I will be twelve soon.”
Rich knelt down and asked her, “What were you doing over there.”
She teared up a little but choked it back. Putting on a tough look and standing ready to fight, said, “I’m getting my brother out of there. They came and took him last week from our house.”
I asked her, “Where are your parents?”
She cried openly now, saying, “They made us hide inside the crawl space under the house. It had all kinds of spider webs and bugs. James, he’s my brother; he kept his hand over my mouth. These men came in and were shouting at them. They trashed the whole house and killed them both.”
Gasping I said, “They killed them? Why?”
She said, “I don’t know, but they had them kneel down in the yard and told them to tell where the book was.”
Rich asked her, “What book?”
The little girl said, “I don’t know.” She continued, “My Mom screamed at the guy telling him they didn’t have it. They hit her really hard on the head with a bat and she fell over. Then they started yelling at my Dad. He was really mad and calling mom’s name, he said bad words to them and said he would kill them.”
Rich asked her if she knew who the men were and she said she didn’t. They were all in the neighborhood taking people from the houses, beating them, and taking all their food. She was sobbing, leaving clean streaks running down her dirty cheeks when she said, “They stabbed my dad with a big sword.”
Continuing to cry she said, “About a week ago some men came. They saw my brother outside and were calling out to him. He came in and locked the door, but before opening it again, He hid me under the house again. They dragged him away into a big truck and brought him here. I’ve been watching them and that corner over there never has anyone watching it. I have been working on cutting the fence for two days.”
I took some napkins from the glove box and poured some water on them, wiping her face, I said, “Not to worry little one, you and I have a big job to do, and these big men are gonna go find your brother, ok?”
She looked surprised and said, “We have a job? I want to go get my brother.”
Keith said, “You and Rita here have the important job of watching and being ready for us when we come. Don’t worry little one we will find James.”
A quick discussion and slight change in plans lead them to the back corner of the compound. We watched as they crept up to the fence and quickly cut through the links. I looked at the little girl and asked, “What is your name? I’m Rita.”
She said, “I’m Elaina.”
Smiling at her I said, “Well Elaina, they are already inside the fence, and hopefully things will go smooth, and you will see your brother again soon.”
The young girl gave me a funny look and said, “They’re all gonna die.”
I looked at her, shocked and said, “No they aren’t. You’ll see, it will be ok.”
She was not crying anymore; her look was actually frightening to me. I asked her, “What is wrong? Why are you acting like this?”
Looking right at me, she said, “You’re gonna die too!”
From behind her, she produced a large knife, and without even a blink she plunged it into my shoulder. The pain made everything go white for a moment. I reeled back from the attack, and she wound up again. I put my arm up to block her. With a slashing motion, she cut my forearm and sank the knife deep into my thigh. Screaming from the pain, emotions conflicted, I kicked this small child in the chest, trying to escape her vicious, unpro
voked attack. She turned and hopped from the truck, stumbling she dropped something. Trying to climb out after her, the blood pooled around the knife stuck in my leg. Turning back to the item, she saw me, turned, and ran into the woods. Disappearing as quickly as Keith had done.
I struggled to get out of the truck but managed to retrieve the item she’d dropped. It was all wrapped up in a piece of leather, tied with a section of wire. Looking about, I climbed back into the truck with it. Immediately, I locked the doors in case of her return. Gingerly opening the package, inside I found a ratty old doll that looked eerily like the little girl herself. A photo of her and who I assumed were her brother and parents. On the arm of the doll was small bracelet made with letter beads spelling out E-L-A-I-N-A. Sure this was important to her and hoped it might shed some light on things; I shoved it in the glove compartment. Confused and bleeding from both my arm and leg, I was beginning to feel ill. God, I wished Rich was here. I tied a piece of rope around my leg above the wound and applied some pressure to the arm, but I didn’t think I was going to be able to remain conscious, everything was beginning to spin. Picking up the walkie, I pressed the button three times. Rich’s voice came through the speaker. I felt calm at the sound of his voice and whispered into the walkie, “I need help.”
That was the last thing I remembered that day and for a few days after. It was not until the third day that I became fully aware of what had happened. I asked Rich about the camp. He said he would fill me in later in the day, but at the moment had to take care of something else. I begged him not to leave, but he said he had to go and sent for Lia to come and sit with me.
Lia came in looking concerned and asked how I felt. I said I was sore but otherwise felt ok. I asked if they found the little girl. She said, no, but that they were looking for something else today. The camp was checked, but there was no one alive except for the guards, but that they were sick too. I was surprised to hear that and wondered if there was something else going on with this. The camp was busy only days before, and then the medical buildings had been burned down. Something didn’t fit here. I said to Lia, “Something is very wrong with this situation, did they check everywhere in the camp?”
She said, “They went to check something out that had to do with the camp, and that is why Rich wanted me to sit with you.”
I sat up and said, “He what?”
She put her hand on my arm and said, “Its ok, I don’t think it is dangerous, Joshua and Doc went too. He is not going alone; there is a whole group.”
I sat back realizing there was nothing I could do anyway. My leg was throbbing by this time and my arm in a sling. I thought to myself, “Some lookout you turned out to be,
nearly killed by a little girl.” Suddenly it hit me, what happened to the psychotic little girl? I asked Lia, “Did they find Elaina?”
She looked at me confused and asked, “Who?”
I said, “Elaina, the little girl that did this to me?”
She shook her head and said, “No. You already asked me that.”
I said I was feeling confused and apologized.
Rich and the others returned after a few hours, and he checked on me. I said I was fine and wanted to go sit out at the campfire with the others to hear what had happened.
He effortlessly lifted me from the cot and carried me out to a chair next to the fire. Here I was all battered again, and everyone wanted to wait for me and hear the story of my near demise.
I was in no mood for another bout of this and simply said I wanted to listen, and that I didn’t feel up to it. Keith came over and asked how I was feeling saying, “Not a bad job you did with that tourniquet on your leg.”
I smiled a bit, saying, “Thanks.”
Rich returned with something hot to sip and some breakfast, what the liquid might be was anyone’s guess, but I was grateful for it. Coffee would have been a nice pick me up, but I had little hope of that since we ran out of it a while back. Thinking about our totes I remembered there was coffee in them. Thinking to myself, “I’ll have Rich dig some out for the morning.” What struck me as funny was the little things I started to miss. Like coffee or even the dull noise of a television while doing some mindless task. The thought of clean clothes daily and hot showers had long since passed into yesterday. Now being grateful for food and hopes of a cup of coffee were normal and the attacks had only been a few months ago. Still dwelling about our situation and the world around us, it was a stark reminder of what was on the horizon. I was ready to get on with the trip and see Matty.
Sitting around the fire, I looked around at those here with us and could see all manner of people; young and old, men and women, wives, mothers, fathers, children. There were military men and women along with office workers and even a school bus driver. I thought how funny it was that people who may never have even spoken in the time before would now be working together. It was sad the reason that it took for all of us to see one another, but even this I was grateful for. New friends and a renewed sense of life. Before I was simply going through my days fighting with Matty’s father with orange hair and the worst wardrobe. How I could not see the meaningless existence then escaped me. Here I sat, not only fitting into this circle of men and women but someone they felt had value. I nearly laughed when I thought of mean old Mr. Hasskell in my building who was so worried about scratches to his BMW that he never bothered to even try to get extra food or anything for himself or his family. I’d not really thought about them and now briefly wondered what happened to them.
Keith stood in the middle of the circle and said, “What do we say we get this party started?”
Sarge came up beside him, put his hand on his shoulder and said, "I’ll start with the sit rep on the camp.”
Keith bowed as if to yield the floor and came over and plopped in the chair next to Rich. A young boy about twelve came over to him and leaned over him from behind draping his arms over his shoulders. I figured it must be his son, but was shocked. He did not seem to be the fatherly type, but as I watched them, I could see they had a strong bond. The way Keith reached up and tousled the boy’s hair had a playful and loving manner.
Sarge began the update on the camp. “We returned to the camp today to see if there was any intel we could gather from what was left and ascertain what happened there.”
Doc asked, “Is there a threat?”
Sarge replied, “Not at this time that we can see. We did find a number of camp staff alive but dying. One man, we found in the command tent. He was sitting at a desk, he was sick, but it didn’t look like Ebola.”
A number of gasps could be heard. Rich stood and said, “Not to worry, all those who entered the camp had no physical contact with anyone dead or alive while inside and wore the NBC suits.”
Sarge nodded to Rich and continued, “The man told us about what went on at the camp. He begged for us to offer forgiveness. In a nutshell, this camp was maintained to eliminate masses of people. Portrayed as a refugee camp, many people entered freely seeking aid. The man told us how people were brought in infected with the Ebola virus. Others would then be infected either by being forced to work with those who were known to be infected with Ebola or injected directly.”
A man I didn’t know stood and asked,” Geeze, why not just shoot them or gas them as the Nazi’s did?”
Rich said, “We asked him why the cover and Sarge will fill you in.”
Sarge continued, “When we asked him that, he reached into his desk and pulled out this packet of papers. It is full of directives, orders, and communications relative to the running of the camp. He told us that two days ago a team came in and infected the staff, and killing all the occupants with some kind of injection. Everyone was told it was a vaccine and that they would be cured. It wasn’t; the staff was infected to make it look like there was a containment issue.”
The man again said, “Yeah, but why bother to try and cover it all up? The world has gone to shit and now who is even left to tell it to?”
Sarge re
plied, “Us. We are left to tell it to, and anyone else we see. We looked these over at the camp and got a rundown from the man and will be sending them with Rich and Rita to Kentucky to be checked into. We have set up a system that we will use for comms to get the info back to us and others. This has been no accident people. We have all been duped, and it looks like the world is in a bad place. There will be no quick recovery.” He then motioned to Rich and said, “Rich would you care to recount the tale?”
Rich stood and walked into the circle, shaking hands with Sarge and changing places. He began, “Sarge and I spent some time talking with the man while the others were canvassing the camp. He recounted how the whole thing went down. It seems as though the powers that be were in the midst of a coup on the American people.”
Murmurs could be heard from those around the circle as he continued, “Initially, those we called the black suits had a directive; we called them mainly because no one could identify what branch of the government they were from or even who they reported to. Turns out that they answer to no one, they do the clandestine bidding for those who would control things, inside the government as well as some outside it that control things with their money. These men are ruthless and without mercy or conscience. There is so much that has been played out in the background of this atrocity against the American people that only time will truly reveal.”
I asked him, “Do we know what happened?”
He nodded replying, “He did give us a brief overview, and many will be glad to hear that not all went as planned. The Ebola scare was a true release of the virus into the American public in the six cities named on the news back in September. This was done by our own government.”
The man stood again, angry, saying, “Wait, this was released on our soil…Intentionally?”
Rich replied, “Yes, it was meant as a distraction to the public. Keep the public eye on this, and they could mask the real and much more sinister plan. The fiat nature of our currency was imploding, and the rich in this country would not lose their position. Think about it, if the country fell into hyperinflation much of their money would be lost in stocks and other investments. To save the banking and financial system from John Q. Public, they instituted the bank holiday before the crash could come. The people could not get their money.”
