“We need some more things to help us grow crops. We need bug spray, medical supplies, non-perishable food and stuff like that. Kelly and I have an inventory list of what we have, and I made a separate list of things that we need,” says Lauren.
“Good idea. I know there are several areas around here that we haven’t checked out yet. We can always check out Bo’s ranch. He can hopefully teach us how to grow crops better.”
“That’s a good idea. I would like to check out Bo’s ranch and see his horses. When do you think we can get over there?” asks Lauren.
I climb into bed.
Callie glares at me as I settle in bed and put the sheet on me.
“I don’t know. Hopefully in a couple days. I want to go see William, check out St. Pete, check on the Big Club, and have a meeting with Jacob.”
“Another meeting with Jacob?” asks Lauren.
“Yeah, I want to know what’s going on with Jacob and Channelside.”
“I don’t like Jacob. You need to cut ties with him whenever you can,” says Lauren.
Lauren places Callie down on our bed.
Callie meows at me.
I look at Callie and say, “I don’t trust him either.”
Lauren says, “I trust you and your decisions, but eventually you need to stay here and settle down. You are a doctor and are very important around here.”
“I agree, but we aren’t at that point yet. Hopefully, we are getting closer and closer to being able to stay safely in here.”
Lauren leans in and kisses me.
“You are doing a great job honey, but we have to be careful. Jacob is Joseph’s brother, and they can’t be that far off from each other,” says Lauren.
“You are right, but I’m just trying to stay ahead of any problems. Joseph kind of sneaked up on us, I don’t want that to happen again. I need to stay on top of Jacob and things between us.”
Lauren jokes, “I’ll sneak up on ya.”
Lauren kisses me goodnight and then goes into the master bathroom.
I say goodnight to Lauren and Callie and fall asleep.
CHAPTER 6
QUICK TRIP
“We will only stop for a couple minutes. I want to tell my father what happened in Tallahassee,” says TJ to Janet as they talk inside TJ’s jeep that is parked in a parking spot in front of Rich’s office building.
Janet says, “Okay, I understand. I just want to get back to check on my cats is all.”
TJ looks at Janet and says, “I’ll make it a quick trip. You coming in?”
Janet says, “I’ll stay with Odin in the jeep.”
TJ exits his jeep and enters the office building at MacDill Air Force Base.
Janet looks out the passenger side window of TJ’s jeep and sees a familiar face.
“Hey douche! Your boot is untied!” shouts Janet at the man.
The man looks at Janet and starts laughing.
“Is that you Janet?” asks the man.
The man comes closer into view and it’s Ramano.
Ramano walks over to Janet.
“What’s going on?” asks Ramano to Janet.
Janet says, “Just living the dream. Another day in paradise. I see MacDill is a hell of a lot busier now.”
Ramano looks back at a hanger and says, “Yeah, we recently got a filled C-130 in, and it was packed with tons of equipment, vehicles, supplies, weapons, and personnel.”
“What’s going on?” asks Janet.
Ramano replies, “I don’t know but it’s something big. Something really big.”
“Damn, anything we should be worried about?” asks Janet.
“Where is TJ?” asks Ramano.
Janet replies, “He’s inside talking with his dad.”
“Good, Rich has been in meeting after meeting with some of the higher ups that are here now. Something big is going on, because I have seen some huge machines and equipment going into the medical building,” says Ramano.
Suddenly, a group of military vehicles speed by TJ’s jeep.
Janet sees the vehicles and gets out of TJ’s jeep.
Two Humvee’s, two jeeps, and two large transport vehicles drive by Janet and Ramano.
Janet watches the vehicles and asks, “What is going on around here?”
KNOCK! KNOCK!
“Come in,” says Rich.
TJ enters Rich’s office.
“Hey son!” shouts Rich as he stands up from his desk and walks towards TJ.
Rich hugs TJ.
“I didn’t find Alice, but I got some information on her though,” says TJ.
“Great, sit down. You look tired son,” says Rich.
“I am tired. I can’t stay long. Janet and I want to get back home, but I wanted to tell you about Alice and see what you thought about it,” says TJ.
“What’s up?” asks Rich.
“Well, Alice wasn’t in Tallahassee. We found a friend of hers, and she said that she left with her boyfriend,” says TJ.
“Okay, good. Glad she made it out safe,” says Rich.
TJ asks, “Did you know she had a boyfriend?”
“I heard something about a boyfriend. I overheard Alice telling your mom about a boyfriend or something. I think his name is Al,” says Rich.
“Yeah, Al. The girl we met said that she left with Al, and that they probably went to a Seminole Indian reservation,” says TJ.
“Shit!” shouts Rich.
TJ is not sure why Rich had that response.
“What’s the problem?” asks TJ.
“That’s bad news, son. The Seminole Indians around here haven’t had the best treatment from us and our soldiers at times,” says Rich.
“What do you mean? Where is the reservation?” asks TJ.
“It’s the damn casino. The Seminole casino by the concert venue and fairgrounds,” says Rich.
“The casino. That’s right, that’s owned by the Seminole Indians,” says TJ.
“There chief doesn’t like our soldiers to go to the casino anymore since they had that huge fight, and someone got shot,” says Rich.
“What are we going to do?” asks TJ.
“I don’t know. I don’t know what we can do,” says Rich.
TJ stands up and sees two pictures on Rich’s desk.
“What’s that? What are those pictures?” asks TJ.
Rich quickly grabs the pictures and puts them in the WEAPONIZE folder.
“What is going on around here?” asks TJ.
“We have new orders and a new project going on around here. Make sure you have your badges when you are out now. The military is here now. They have shoot to kill orders,” says Rich.
“What? Are we in danger?” asks TJ.
“You will be okay if you have your badges on. I have had meetings with several powerful people, and they assure me that they will not harm any civilian who is wearing an orange government badge,” says Rich.
Rich gets a call on his radio.
“Captain Bailey are you available?” asks a woman over the radio.
“Yes, this is Captain Bailey. What do you need?” asks Rich over the radio.
“This is Commander Pine. We need your assistance in the medical building,” says Commander Pine over the radio.
“I will be there shortly. Is everything okay?” asks Rich.
“Everything is good, but we need your attention,” says Commander Pine.
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” says Rich over the radio.
Commander Pine says, “Thank you.”
Rich puts his radio on his desk.
“Who is Commander Pine?” asks TJ.
“She is a new member of MacDill. She came with a large group of people recently. We have a lot of new faces around MacDill now,” says Rich.
“Medical building?” asks TJ.
“Yeah, we had to convert one of the buildings into a medical building and hospital,” says Rich.
“Glad everything is okay here, but what are we going to do about Alice? We need to
get her and make sure she is safe,” says TJ.
“I don’t know. It’s a tricky situation with Chief Powell and his son,” says Rich.
“I’m not leaving her in the hands of some people I don’t know! I’m going to the casino!” shouts TJ.
TJ steps toward Rich’s office door.
Rich blocks TJ from leaving his office.
“It’s not that simple. It’s a delicate situation. They will kill you if you go there dressed in military gear,” says Rich.
“I will figure it out and don’t go sending me anymore asshole soldiers to bring along! I will go with people I trust!” shouts TJ.
TJ brushes past Rich and exits Rich’s office.
TJ walks down the hallway and makes it to the lobby of the office building.
“Wait! TJ!” shouts Rich.
TJ exits the office building.
Rich runs out of the office building.
Janet and Ramano look at TJ as he walks towards his jeep.
“Stop, TJ!” shouts Rich.
TJ looks back at Rich.
“We will get your sister. We just have to do it the right way. Things are getting pretty crazy around here in Tampa Bay. I don’t want to lose you and your sister,” says Rich.
“Everything okay?” asks Janet to TJ.
TJ looks at Janet and says, “Yeah, I know where my sister is. Let’s get out of here.”
Janet says bye to Ramano and gets into TJ’s jeep.
“I will do it the right way. I won’t say I’m from MacDill or a soldier,” says TJ as he looks at Rich.
TJ gets into his jeep.
Rich looks at TJ and says, “Just be careful.”
TJ starts up his jeep and rolls his driver side window down.
“I’m always careful,” says TJ.
TJ exits out of the parking spot and drives towards the exit of MacDill Air Force Base.
“What’s going on TJ?” asks Janet.
“Something big around here. I saw a folder on my father’s desk with some terrible pictures in it,” says TJ.
“What were they of?” asks Janet.
“Hard to tell, but I think experiments on zombies,” says TJ.
Janet looks out the window and shakes her head.
“I guess the rumors were true,” says Janet.
“What rumors?” asks TJ.
“About them experimenting on zombies,” says Janet.
TJ asks, “You heard about them experimenting or something?”
“Yeah, I heard it was on people and zombies. I heard a bunch of different things,” answers Janet.
TJ speeds down the road away from MacDill Air Force Base and towards his house.
“I wonder what my father was hiding. It can’t be good if he couldn’t tell me anything about those pictures,” says TJ.
“Probably not,” says Janet.
Rich enters a conference room.
“Nice of you to finally grace us with your presence Captain Bailey,” says Lieutenant General Swartz.
“I’m sorry, I had a meeting with my son,” says Rich.
“It doesn’t matter. We are just glad that you are here. I need to make a phone call to General Godfrey, but Commander Pine and her staff will go over what we need from you,” says Lieutenant General Swartz.
Lieutenant General Swartz says goodbye to everyone in the room and exits the conference room.
Commander Pine looks at Rich and says, “Captain Bailey, we need a couple of items to start phase one of project Weaponize.”
Rich looks at Commander Pine, her personnel standing around her, and then a piece of paper that Commander Pine is holding.
“We have a list of items we need,” says Commander Pine.
Commander Pine hands Rich the list.
Someone knocks on the conference room door.
“Come in,” says Commander Pine.
A very thin white woman walks into the room.
“I’m sorry to bother you commander, but we need some help from your staff with one of the patients,” says the woman.
“No problem,” says Commander Pine.
Commander Pine motions for her medical staff that is in the room with her and Rich.
“Go help them, whatever they need, and tell Dr. Yen that I want to see him in here when he gets a chance,” says Commander Pine.
Everyone exits the room except Commander Pine and Rich.
Commander Pine sits down in a chair at the long oval shaped conference table.
“Sit down Captain Bailey,” says Commander Pine.
Rich sits down and replies, “Please, call me Rich.”
“Well, Rich, take a look at the list I gave you and let me know what you think,” says Commander Pine.
Rich looks at the list and tries to understand what is written on the list.
Commander Pine stands up from her chair, takes off her military jacket, and places her jacket on the back of her chair.
Rich says, “I’m not sure we have some of these items. Some of these might be tough to come by, plus you are using a lot of power in this building now. The solar panels won’t provide that much power.”
Commander Pine walks over to Rich and says, “We need the top three items for sure. We can help with the power supply as we have generators and a couple different ways of generating power.”
Commander Pine walks over to Rich and sits in the chair next to him.
“Rich, I’m Marissa. You can call me Marissa. I feel that we can help each other out around here and have a mutual appreciation for one another,” says Commander Pine.
Commander Pine runs her right index finger along Rich’s left arm and shoulder.
Rich looks into Commander Pine’s brown eyes.
“I will do my best Marissa,” says Rich.
Commander Pine slowly walks away from Rich.
Rich watches Commander Pine walk away.
Commander Pine looks back at Rich and smiles.
“You are a smart man Rich, and I want to work with you. We have our orders, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t have some fun as well,” says Commander Pine.
Rich takes a deep breath and gathers himself.
“I went over the information you gave me in the WEAPONIZE folder. I have a couple questions though,” says Rich.
Commander Pine replies, “Sure, what do you got?”
“Well, I see project Weaponize is about using the zombies as weapons,” says Rich.
Rich looks at the list Commander Pine gave him.
Before Rich can say another word, he is interrupted by Commander Pine.
“It’s also about securing Tampa Bay, neutralizing any threats, and arming the correct people around here,” says Commander Pine.
“I understand and agree with the securing of Tampa Bay, but how do we know who a threat is?” asks Rich.
“If they shoot at you, then we shoot back. It’s simple,” replies Commander Pine.
“It’s that simple huh?” asks Rich.
“Major Hoffmann and Colonel Meyers are in charge of securing the area, collecting subjects, and neutralizing any threats,” says Commander Pine.
“I have teams and people around Tampa Bay as well,” says Rich.
“We will see how everyone plays with each other,” says Commander Pine.
Rich still feels uneasy about project Weaponize and everything about it.
“What’s the point of weaponizing zombies? Shouldn’t we be figuring out the best way to kill them or working on a cure?” asks Rich.
“Another team is working on a cure at another facility. Our orders here at MacDill are not to worry about a cure, but, instead, use the zombies as weapons,” says Commander Pine.
“But, why?” asks Rich.
“We have our reasons, but mostly it’s to take control of the zombies and use them to our advantage. We need to control them and start winning the war against them,” says Commander Pine.
“It’s that bad, huh? We are losing the war against the dead?” asks Rich.
“There are too many of them. Out of the 7.5 billion people that were alive before the world fell apart, about 80 percent are estimated to be dead now,” replies Commander Pine.
Rich can’t believe that number.
“That’s like six billion people. Six billion people are just dead?” asks Rich.
Commander Pine responds, “Let me show you something. I think our equations and formulas will help you understand what we are doing here.”
Rich is hesitant to go with Commander Pine.
Commander Pine walks over to Rich and says, “I’m not going to feed you to a zombie or anything. I want to show you our chalkboards.”
Rich says, “Okay.”
Rich walks with Commander Pine into a hallway.
Commander Pine sees a doctor walking towards her and asks, “Dr. Yen? Do you have time to talk with me?”
Dr. Yen replies, “I was just coming to see you. I have a couple minutes for you.”
Commander Pine, Rich, and Dr. Yen walk into another room.
There are several equations, diagrams, drawings, and notes written on several large chalkboards.
“You weren’t kidding,” says Rich as he looks at the chalkboards.
“Rich, this is Dr. Yen. These are his equations and this whole project started because of his research,” says Commander Pine.
Rich says hello to Dr. Yen and looks at the notes on the chalkboards.
“Keep the brain intact,” says Rich as he reads what is written on several chalkboards.
“That’s essential. We need the brain to keep working. If the brain loses its blood supply and dies, then the body dies,” says Dr. Yen.
Dr. Yen walks over to Rich.
Rich says, “Yeah, we know how to kill the zombies, but why keep them alive or try to control them?”
Dr. Yen smiles and says, “I doubt you will understand the why of our research. Don’t worry about the why, but how we can fully succeed with our research.”
“With all due respect doctor, this is my base and I have the responsibility of keeping it safe and protected. Keeping a large number of zombies here for experiments poses a threat to the safety of MacDill and Tampa Bay. I’m worried about the living, not the dead,” says Rich.
Commander Pine says, “We have the best security measures in place. Our subjects are fully restrained and won’t pose a threat. You won’t even know they are here.”
Rich looks at Dr. Yen and asks, “Any chance you will find a cure for the virus?”
Fight 4 Us (Book 7): Weaponize Page 6
