by David Spell
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, Scotty. Nothing at all,” his girlfriend said, trying to keep a straight face, but bursting into laughter again.
“She just told us how you two met,” Melanie said, a big grin on her face, “and the terrible pickup lines you used to get her number.”
The muscular man smiled broadly. “I thought I was pretty smooth. And those lines must not have been too bad because she gave it to me,” he said, proudly.
The door opened and Admiral Williams slipped back in. He made eye contact with Chuck and motioned with his head to the other side of the room. McCain could see the weariness in the elderly man’s eyes, but knew that his boss was a warrior.
“Everything OK, sir?”
“I’ve been on the phone,” the CIA man said, “trying to get some more assets for this operation in Atlanta. Things are slowly coming back to normal. The President has even authorized using military units to eliminate the infected up and down the east coast. So many of the local police departments have been gutted and so much of our military is committed to other things. I’m asking for a few spec ops units from the west coast to be assigned to our mission but I’m still waiting to hear back on that.”
“What about other feds?” McCain asked. “If we can’t get military units, maybe we could get some FBI, ATF, or even DEA agents to help us take down this cartel?”
Williams paused before answering. “You know how badly the FBI let us down. They had a terrorist mole assigned to one of their deputy directors. And that mole had dirt on his boss and blackmailed him to do his bidding. Several other traitors were identified and removed from the Bureau. The President doesn’t trust them. He’s cleaned house and fired the Attorney General, as well as the FBI Director.
“Believe it or not, he’s directed the CIA to oversee the elimination of the zombies and the coordination with local law enforcement in regards to cleanup. The director is a good man but he’s a political appointee. He’s smart enough to know that he’s in over his head and is letting me run the show, for the time being, anyway. The FBI has been ordered to cooperate with us in every way possible, but I don’t see them having a large role in this mission.
“The President wants the situation in Atlanta resolved ASAP, so that’s why I’m here. I don’t want to send you in until we’ve got all the pieces in place, but we have to eliminate the cartel’s presence, recover the virus, and those poor women must be rescued. The President was very clear in his terminology. This is more of a military operation than a police operation so I’m not sure how other federal police officers would respond to those orders. You’ll probably be working with a mixed bag of special operators, but I’m confident in your abilities to accomplish the mission.”
The admiral handed McCain his satellite phone. “I just got another video that you’ll be interested in. One of our drones followed two of the cartel’s vehicles out of Atlanta. They left on Thursday morning and we intercepted them yesterday outside of El Paso before they could get into Mexico. I was able to borrow a SEAL team from Coronado to stop them.”
Chuck suddenly remembered something, his finger poised over the video play button on his boss’ phone. “I’m sorry, sir, but I’ve been meaning to ask you about the rest of my men. If our weapons have GPS trackers in them, where’s everybody else? Rogers and Matthews were the only ones unaccounted for when I left, but Jimmy Jones told me he would be leaving, as well, to try and locate a young woman, a police officer in Athens.”
The CIA man sighed. “I’m sorry, but it looks like Agents Rogers and Matthews didn’t make it. Were they traveling together?”
Chuck nodded. “Both of their families were on the west side of Atlanta, out I-20. When I released everyone to take care of their own, they left together. How can you tell that they might be…dead?” He hated to even vocalize the possibility.
“The trackers allow us to pinpoint where the weapon is. Both of their rifles are over near I-285 and I-20 and haven’t moved for weeks. I’ll give you the coordinates to check after we deal with the cartel. It’s possible that they both lost their M4s and kept going, but that doesn’t strike me as likely.”
Williams let those words hang in the air before continuing. “On the other hand, Agent Jones lost his rifle in Athens but Shaun told me that he and the police officer he went to rescue are back at the CDC site.”
“That’s really good news, but I hate to hear about Chris and Terrence,” Chuck said, shaking his head.
McCain turned his attention back to the admiral’s satellite smart phone and pressed play. A SUV and a full-sized van came into view on a deserted stretch of highway. Both vehicles suddenly veered off onto the shoulder, slowing down just as they came to an overpass. Armed figures appeared from concealed positions beside the interstate. Chuck watched several SEALs firing into the SUV while others focused on the second vehicle, quickly eliminating the driver and passenger.
The commandos cautiously approached the rear of the van. Moments later, the ten kidnapped women were standing with the SEALs on the side of the road as the two vehicles were searched. One of the victims appeared to be injured, and one of the operators tended to her. Two minutes after it started, a Navy Seahawk helicopter touched down on the roadway and the freed hostages were placed aboard.
Three minutes after that, with the scene secured, the vehicles having been searched, a second Navy helicopter touched down, allowing the SEALs to board. Start to finish, the operation had taken seven minutes and twelve seconds. Chuck handed the admiral’s phone back.
“Very impressive. What’s the story?”
“The SEALs used stop stick sticks to flatten their tires. They gave them a chance to surrender so that we could interrogate them but those silly men thought they could win in a firefight with the best of the best. Six dead cartel members and they rescued ten women who were being shipped back to Tijuana. One of the hostages was slightly wounded during the shootout. A spent round hit her in the head. It took a couple of stitches to fix her up.
“Another of the girls was Puerto Rican and bilingual. She heard some of the soldiers talking as they were loading them into the van. Thanks to her, we know who we’re dealing with now. Antonio Corona, aka, Tony the Tiger, is calling the shots in Buckhead. He was the lieutenant for his uncle, Jose “Pepe” Corona, the head of the Tijuana Cartel. Antonio was sending the girls to his uncle as a gift and was asking for more soldiers. We recovered a letter from one of the bodies that confirms what the girl overheard.
“But it gets even better. The SEALs found two vials of liquid wrapped with bubble wrap, in a small box. The letter said that they contained the zombie virus and Tony the Tiger was giving his uncle a ‘very special weapon.’ As you can see, this is really turning into something serious. Those vials will be delivered to us at the CDC in a couple of days for evaluation, but thank God we intercepted and stopped those bastards.”
Chuck sat back taking it all in. The last thing that they needed was to have the bio-terror weapon in the hands of one of the largest Mexican criminal gangs. It was bad enough that the invaders in Atlanta had the weapon, but the CDC agents and some of their friends would be paying the gangsters a visit very soon.
By 2200hrs, McCain was ready for bed. Terri Mitchell had prepared a guest room in the small house for he and Beth. Terri tried to give the admiral the other open guest room but he had deferred, giving it to Emily and Scotty. Williams chose the couch in the main house. Tim, Tom, and the Blackhawk crew rolled out sleeping bags on the living room floor. Colonel Doran set a watch schedule, making sure the helicopter was guarded all night.
Beth had moved to the small table in the kitchen, she and Melanie still engrossed in conversation. That made Chuck happy. He had been concerned about how that relationship was going to work out. He need not have worried as the two young women were clearly enjoying getting to know each other. He kissed Melanie on top of the head, Elizabeth on the lips, and went to bed, falling asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.
An hour later, his wife crawled into bed, sliding right up next to him. Always a light-sleeper, Chuck’s eyes popped open.
“Are you awake?” she asked, excitedly.
“I am now,” he yawned. “I was sleeping good, too!”
“Sorry, but I had to tell you congratulations. Melanie told me! You’re going to be a grandfather!”
“Thanks! And you’re going to be a grandmother.”
Beth had clearly not considered the ramifications of her husband’s daughter’s pregnancy. “Wait a minute! I’m way too young to be a grandmother.”
“You’ll be a good one,” he went on. “I wonder what they’ll call you? Granny Beth? Grandma Beth?”
The young woman swatted his chest softly and laughed. “That’s not very nice!”
Chuck wrapped his arms tightly around Elizabeth. “I’m really glad you guys got to hang out. I’ve got to leave tomorrow but Mel said they’d love to have you stay here with them. I should be…”
“No!” she answered emphatically, pushing herself up and looking into his face. “I’m not leaving you again. I’m going with you.”
“Sweetie, I don’t know how safe it’s going to be where I’m going. I’ve got a big mission to plan and execute and…”
“I’m not staying here,” she said, in a tone that Chuck hadn’t heard before. “I love Melanie and the Mitchells are beautiful people but I’m going with you. I’ll stay out of your way while you work, I promise. I’m a pretty good administrator and you might even find a job for me.”
She paused for a minute and then continued. “And please don’t talk to me about danger. Nothing I do for the rest of my life will be as dangerous as the day we had today, or the last two months, for that matter.”
McCain shook his head and was silent for several minutes. It was hard to argue with her logic, he thought. He finally sighed and said, “Okay. I’d rather bunk with you than Scotty any day.”
Centers for Disease Control Compound, East of Atlanta, Sunday, 1220 hours
The Blackhawk circled the compound, the sound of the rotors carrying inside the buildings where the scientists were hard at work. Dr. Nicole Edwards clicked ‘save’ on the file she had open on her computer, and rushed outside, hope rising inside of her. The helicopter’s side doors were open and she could see several people crammed into the passenger compartment as the aircraft circled the location.
Some of the CDC agents had grouped near the gate, smiling and talking quietly. She got he feeling that they were expecting someone. Maybe it was him, she thought, hanging back in the shadows of the main building, where the labs were located. Nicole heard footsteps and glanced around to see Jay Walker and the Asian agent heading towards the front entrance.
Jay slowed as he came even with the epidemiologist, nodding and smiling at her. “Hi, Nicole. You working Sundays, too?”
“Seven days a week until we can solve the riddle,” she answered wearily.
“We need to get over there where all the excitement’s at but let me introduce you to my boss. Tu Trang Donaldson, this is Dr. Nicole Edwards. She’s the brilliant mind behind that solution that kills the virus on contact and if I was betting man, I’d bet that she’ll have a vaccine developed before long.”
“Nice to meet you, Ma’am,” Tu greeted her warmly. “Thanks for all your hard work. These can’t be easy conditions to work in.”
Edwards blushed at Walker’s kind words. She also found herself surprised that the powerful looking Asian man spoke English with a slight Southern drawl.
“Very good to meet you, Agent Donaldson. Thank you both, but I think your job is much harder than mine! Do y’all have any idea who’s on the helicopter.”
“Just call me ’Tu.’ We’re not sure; we were just told to expect some guests.”
Walker gave a slight tip of the head to the woman and shrugged. “Could be,” he said, softly, as if reading her thoughts.
Nicole looked away as Jay looked into her eyes. Then the two agents were gone, off to join the others as the aircraft touched down just outside the gate on the driveway. Agent Walker was a very interesting man. He was confident but not cocky. In a lot of ways he reminded her of Chuck, just a smaller version, she thought, smiling to herself. Jay was clearly interested in getting to know her. He had gone out of his way to sit with her the previous day in the dining room and she’d been impressed that he had been familiar with her work. Jay was a pleasant man and they’d had a nice chat.
When she had mentioned Chuck during their conversation, however, she had felt a slight shift in his demeanor. And he had read her like a book. Am I really that transparent? Nicole wondered with a sigh.
The passengers were still inside the aircraft as the pilot shut the engines down. Edwards found herself walking towards the gate. A white-jacketed figure was suddenly strolling beside her.
“Hi, Nicole,” Dr. Martin greeted her. “Sorry, no more world-class scientists today. Agent Marshall informed me that there’s a big operation being planned and some of the key players are on board. We’ve also got a paramedic joining us. We’ve been lucky that no one has needed a doctor, but with Mrs. Marshall’s pregnancy, it’ll be good to have someone with medical training on-site.”
“Where are they all going to sleep? We don’t have that much space here.”
Martin sighed. “I know. We’ll figure something out. I’ll talk to Admiral Williams and see what we can do.”
“Admiral Williams? Who’s he and how did the Navy get involved with what we’re doing?” Edwards asked with a smile.
Her question was left unanswered as the passengers started to disembark from the helicopter. Two large bearded men holding rifles were off first. One of them helped an elderly man climb out. The next person off the aircraft was Agent Scotty Smith. The scientist had gotten to know him and his girlfriend, Emily, during the time that they had all stayed at Chuck’s house. And there’s Emily now, Nicole noted with a smile, as Smith helped her to the ground.
Several of the CDC agents pointed at Scotty, a ripple of excitement running through the crowd as Smith waved to his friends. Another figure was climbing out, a smile on his face. Oh, my God! It’s him! He actually made it back. Edwards realized that she’d been holding her breath and let it out, her heart pounding inside of her chest. Chuck assisted a young woman to the ground and the group made their way towards the compound. Is that his daughter? What was her name? I think it was Melanie, Nicole remembered.
When the Atlanta CDC agents recognized McCain, it was all they could do to contain their excitement. Everyone knew that yelling might draw infected to the location but these men were thrilled to see their boss, giving each other high fives and slapping one other on the back. Grace, the female police officer, stood quietly next to Agent Jones, holding his hand as tears streamed down her cheeks, trying to smile even as she cried.
When the group got inside, everyone wanted to shake McCain’s hand and hug him, the federal officers all talking at once. Edwards saw that the young woman let Chuck have his moment, standing off to the side, smiling broadly. Dr. Martin and the older man walked towards the dining room, talking as if they had known each other for a while. I wonder if that’s the admiral? Nicole pondered.
Edwards watched McCain turn, looking for his young companion, and then motioning for her to join him. She did, stepping forward with a shy look on her face as Chuck introduced her to the group, his big arm around her shoulders. Scotty Smith saw Edwards standing back from the circle of CDC officers and broke into a big grin.
“Hey, Nicole!” He greeted her and covered the distance in two strides wrapping her in his massive arms.
Emily joined them, embracing the scientist warmly. She and Nicole had shared a bed in Chuck’s guest room for over two weeks before the rural CDC location was up and running. Scotty had been relegated to the living room couch. The women had become close, and after living under the same roof for a couple of weeks, Scotty considered Nicole a part of the team.
“I�
�m so glad to see you!” Edwards finally said, grinning. “It’s been too long. You guys look great.”
A deep voice came from beside her. “Hi, Nicole! It’s good to see you,” Chuck said, hugging his friend, the woman’s heart suddenly flooding with emotions.
After a moment, he pulled away and motioned at the pretty young lady beside him. “Nicole, I want you to meet someone. This is my wife, Elizabeth. We got married last week.”
Edwards was already extending her hand, expecting McCain to say, “This is my daughter.” When she heard the word ‘wife’ she almost withdrew her hand. Chuck saw the stunned expression on Nicole’s face and interpreted it as surprise.
“Yeah, it surprised me, too,” he said, slipping an arm around Beth’s waist. “We met a couple of months ago and got married this past Monday. Beth, Dr. Edwards is one of the leading epidemiologists in the world. She and her team are working night and day to find a cure for the virus.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Dr. Edwards.”
Nicole could only force a smile and nod at Elizabeth. She had so many questions. The group started moving towards the dining room, sweeping them all along. The scientist’s stomach had been growling just a few minutes before, letting her know it was lunch time. Now, however, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to eat.
As everyone moved in the direction of the dining room, Chuck and Elizabeth found themselves being swept along, everyone wanting to speak with McCain. The big man felt a strong hand grab his right arm and a gravelly voice spoke so that only he could hear it.
“Don’t you ever pull a stunt like that again! You had everyone here worried to death about you.”
Chuck turned and looked into the unsmiling eyes of Andy Fleming and immediately understood that when he spoke of ‘everyone’ being worried, he really meant himself. Fleming was a man of few words but had become one of McCain’s best friends.
“Hey, buddy, good to see you, too.”
