V Plague (Book 11): Merciless Page 23

  “You should go with them,” I said.

  “You should shut the hell up,” she replied without looking at me.

  A moment later she reached out and took my hand, giving it a squeeze. I moved a little closer to her, then called the all clear to Sergeant McCrary over the radio. He acknowledged my transmission and almost immediately the jet’s engines began thundering.

  The plane started rolling, slowly at first, but rapidly building speed as it approached. I turned my head, checking the runway, then went back to watching the jet when I didn’t see any infected. Before it reached the point where we were standing, the front landing gear left the ground. A couple of seconds later the rear tires lifted off the tarmac and the big jet climbed at a steep angle.

  It was no more than a few hundred feet in the air as it passed over where we stood. The noise was nearly overwhelming, vibrating internal organs against my rib cage. But I was smiling and so was Rachel when I looked over at her in the moonlight. She noticed me looking at her and leaned close, kissing me softly.

  “Much better than the last time we did this,” she said.

  “The takeoff or the kiss?” I teased.

  “Asshole,” she muttered, still smiling.

  “Yep,” I laughed, squeezing her hand and heading for the Hummer. “Let’s go get that sat phone and see if we can get an eye in the sky to help us find Irina.”

  “What then?” Rachel asked as she got in the passenger seat and slammed the door.

  “Beats me,” I said. “Haven’t thought that far ahead.”

  “What if we don’t find her?”

  “We’ll find her,” I said with more certainty in my voice than I felt.

  38

  “You’ve had an eventful day, sir,” Jessica said.

  Rachel and I were parked next to the empty fuel tanker. I was standing on the tarmac, speaking on the sat phone, while Rachel occupied the elevated gunner’s position in the vehicle to keep watch on our surroundings.

  “That pretty much sums up my life, Jessica,” I answered, smiling. “Please tell me you’ve been keeping an eye on the area.”

  “Not a close one, but I’ve looked in when I could,” she said. “There’s a lot of things going on that have kept me occupied.”

  “Anything I need to know about?”

  “The Army and Marine units left Idaho. They’re in Nevada now, at Groom Lake. I hope they’re looking for the aliens. We could sure use some help.”

  “What the hell are they doing in Nevada?” I asked.

  “Heavy Russian presence along the west coast. They don’t have a clear path to make it to Hawaii. They took out the Russian ground forces in the northwest, then moved to a more secure location.”

  “Do you know if my wife is still with them?”

  I hadn’t forgotten about Katie for a second. But my concerns had been put aside while I took care of business. Now that I had a moment to think about her, the fear and worry threatened to take control of my emotions.

  “Yes, sir. She is. And the virologists from Seattle are there, too. I’m sure she’s being taken care of.”

  I was quiet for a moment, thinking about my wife. Then, again, I had to set those worries aside and focus on the task at hand.

  “Thanks, Jessica,” I said. “Now, I’ve got someone missing in Omaha, and I need you to help me locate her.”

  “I don’t understand. Aren’t you on the plane?” I could hear a keyboard clacking over the open circuit. Assumed she was bringing up a real time satellite image. “Sir? What the hell are you still doing in Nebraska?”

  “Not leaving a friend behind,” I said.

  Jessica was quiet for a moment.

  “Where do I start looking?” She asked.

  I explained the situation to her. Described the location where I’d last seen Irina, the vehicle she was driving and her direction of travel.

  “Are you still recording? Can you go back and see what happened to her?”

  “Yes, sir. I can. But I wish you’d called me before staying behind. What if she’s dead? You’ll have missed the flight for nothing.”

  “Not for nothing, Jessica. There’s some Canadians on that plane that haven’t been vaccinated. They’re starting to turn. The sooner they get to Colonel Blanchard’s location, the sooner they stop dying. They couldn’t afford to wait.”

  “Copy that, sir,” Jessica said gently. “I’ll start looking right now, but it’s going to take some time. Do you want me to call you back?”

  “Yes, but don’t hang up. Can you transfer me to the Admiral? I’ve got something he needs to know about.”

  “Stand by, sir. I’ll get you over to him, then call when I have something.”

  There were a series of clicks, then a long stretch of silence. I was starting to think I’d been disconnected and was preparing to place another call when one of Packard’s aides finally answered. He didn’t want to let me speak with the Admiral, saying he was in a meeting with his senior staff.

  I got a little brusque, then a little colorful about what would happen to the man if he didn’t get the Admiral on the phone. It wouldn’t have surprised me if he’d hung up in my ear, but thirty seconds later the transfer was made.

  “Major. We’re in a bit of a crisis here. What’s so urgent?” Packard asked when he picked up the call.

  “Sir, sorry to interrupt, but something you need to know about. I’m at Offutt Air Force Base. When we arrived, there were two platoons of Spetsnaz here, searching USSTRATCOM.”

  “I was aware of their presence,” the Admiral said.

  “They were looking for something called the Athena Project, sir.”

  “Say again?”

  I could tell by his voice that I’d captured his attention.

  “Took a personal diary off a dead Spetsnaz. One of the Rangers with me reads Russian and translated the most recent entry. They were here specifically to find information on the project.”

  There was a sudden, low babble of voices and I realized I was on a speaker phone. I remained silent as several discussions took place on the far end of the call.

  “Major, what did the entry say?” Packard asked when the hub-bub died down.

  “The Russian soldier didn’t understand why they were being sent. It was just a passing reference to why they were here. He was more concerned about the damage the war has caused and wanting to go home and bury his family.”

  “Did they find what they were looking for?”

  A new voice spoke up. I had no idea who it was, but if the Admiral was OK with them asking, so was I.

  “Yes, they did. They had a top secret, SCI file and were on their way out with it when we intercepted them.”

  Packard spoke up before anyone else could chime in.

  “Could they have transmitted the contents of that file before you stopped them?”

  “I don’t believe so, sir. The troops that were conducting the search were neutralized while we were below ground, inside the old SAC bunker. There’s no way they had comms to get a message out. We were several stories beneath the surface, surrounded by hardened concrete.”

  “Where’s the file, now?”

  “In my possession.”

  I probably should have found a way to get it on the plane, but had been more focused on getting those people safely in the air.

  “Have you read it?” An unknown voice asked.

  “Haven’t had an opportunity,” I said.

  There was more silence for a moment.

  “Anything else?” I could tell the Admiral was addressing his staff, so I remained quiet.

  After a few moments of silence from the other end, Packard spoke again.

  “What’s your status, Major?”

  “Still in Omaha, sir. I’ve got a missing team member to find.”

  “What about our Canadian friends?”

  “On a flight west, sir.”

  I didn’t feel like going into details about me having stayed behind. It wasn’t important at the moment
, and it sounded like he had bigger things to worry about.

  “Major,” a different voice interjected. “Is there any way for you to send us the contents of that file?”

  “No,” I said, understanding the reason for the request, yet still irritated. “I’ve got a sat phone and that’s it. This is all paper, and it’s a damn thick file.”

  “I’m going to turn that plane around,” Packard said after a moment.

  “Sir, you can’t do that,” I quickly said. “None of the Canadians have been vaccinated, and some have turned already. They need to get to Colonel Blanchard before we lose any more.”

  “Major, this is a priority. If this is something the Russians want, then we need to know what it is.”

  “Understood, sir,” I said, forcing myself to remain calm and patient. “But the Russians don’t have the information. It’s safe for the moment, with me. Turning that plane around will almost assuredly result in the death of more of the Canadians. Deaths that could be prevented.”

  There was a brief, muted conversation before the Admiral spoke again.

  “Very well, Major. The Colonel has some Ospreys at his location in Nevada. With auxiliary fuel tanks, you’re within their range for a round trip. I’ll have him pick you up. Flight time from Groom Lake to Omaha should be about four hours. Coordinate with Seaman Simmons. Packard out.”

  There was a click, then the circuit went dead. Lowering the phone, I looked up at Rachel who pointed toward the far end of the runway. A handful of slowly moving figures were stumbling around. They were too far away to have heard us, so I didn’t worry about them at the moment.

  Rachel turned a slow circle, traversing the Mark 19, checking around us. Finding nothing, she looked down at me and smiled.

  “You look happy,” I said.

  “I guess, in a strange way, I am,” she said after a moment’s reflection.

  “In the middle of a dead country, with infected prowling around looking to have us over for dinner?”

  “We’re alive and we’re together,” she explained, shrugging.

  I thought about that for a bit, pulling out one of the packs of cigarettes I’d taken off the dead Russian. Lighting up with the USMC Zippo, I leaned against the side of the Hummer to watch the males walking around the runway.

  “Hard to argue with your point,” I finally said.

  Stood there, thinking about things and tempted to pull out the file and start reading it. I didn’t have enough light to see, and needed to be paying attention to other things, so I left it where it was. Tucked inside the back of my waistband.

  “Why are they turning? The Canadians.” I asked. “Didn’t you say that shouldn’t happen?

  “I said it was very unlikely. Apparently I was wrong,” she said, still scanning our surroundings with the weapon. “You have to remember that this is an engineered virus, not something normally occurring in nature. The Chinese must have found a way to harden it so that it can survive without a host.”

  I shook my head, trying to comprehend something I knew nothing about.

  “Think of it this way,” Rachel continued when I didn’t respond. “They made it a weapon. Created something that can live in the environment for an extended period of time, waiting for a viable host to come along and breathe it in. The whole area was probably blanketed in it when we landed.”

  “How did that happen? It can’t move around on its own, can it?”

  “No. No, nothing like that. A virus moves by being transmitted from host to host. That’s why our modern world was so dangerous, in regards to a pandemic. An infected individual, not showing any symptoms, gets on a plane in Africa. Within less than a day, he or she can be in Asia, Europe or America. Then they become infectious and begin shedding viral components. The virus just jumped half way around the globe in a matter of hours.

  “In this case, there was probably a significant outbreak here. There are infected roaming around right now. I have little doubt they’re leaving the virus on every surface they touch. Maybe not even touch. Probably just by breathing, since it’s airborne. So it was present on the runway when we landed. And that big plane probably stirred up everything when it landed. Created a viral cloud, hanging in the air. We opened the door, and… well…”

  “Yeah,” I said, sighing. “I get the picture. Think it will ever die out?”

  “No idea,” Rachel said, turning another circle to check our surroundings. “Joe could probably tell us. But I’m optimistic. The scientists said they were safe in the Arctic because it couldn’t survive the cold temperatures. Perhaps the coming winter will wipe it out. At least what’s in the environment, just waiting to infect someone.”

  “Then the infected just start spreading it again. Right?” I asked.

  Rachel nodded after a moment.

  “So, what are we doing?” She changed the subject.

  “Waiting for a call back from Pearl,” I said. “Jessica’s reviewing archived satellite footage to see if she can find Irina.”

  “What do we do when we find her? Sorry, I know I already asked that, but we need to think about it.”

  “Admiral Packard is sending a plane to pick us up. We go to Nevada when we find Irina,” I said.

  “Then what?”

  I shrugged my shoulders, crushing the butt out under the toe of my boot. Looking up at Rachel, I saw her completing another circuit with the weapon. Then the sat phone began vibrating, dancing across the Hummer’s hood. I lunged, snagging it an instant before it would have fallen off and crashed to the tarmac.

  “Found her, sir,” Jessica said when I answered.

  39

  I brought the Hummer to a stop a mile short of our destination. Normally, I would have driven closer, but I was worried about alerting our target to our presence. Other than a low sound created by the wind blowing through the empty city, the environment was completely silent. The rattle of the vehicle’s engine would carry a long way with no other noises to mask it.

  Our destination was an eight story hotel in downtown Omaha. Jessica had successfully tracked Irina after she’d lead the infected away from us outside of the air base’s fence. She had driven north slowly, keeping the females interested enough to stay on her trail. Once she had covered two miles, she accelerated away from them and began looking for a way to get on the freeway that would take her back to the airport.

  She’d found two different on-ramps, both of them completely clogged with wrecked and abandoned vehicles. Continuing on, she began working her way north on surface streets that paralleled the highway, apparently satisfied with the slow progress she was making. She didn’t seem to be in any hurry, which I could understand given the circumstances.

  As she pressed into the downtown area, the streets narrowed and she had to slow to navigate around roving bands of infected and abandoned vehicles. That’s where she ran into trouble. Approaching an intersection, she’d been unable to see the waiting ambush. Slowing to steer around a wreck, she’d been unprepared for the pickup that suddenly roared out of a side street and slammed into the side of the Cadillac she was driving.

  Three men dashed forward at the instant of impact from where they’d been hiding behind an overturned police car. While Irina was still stunned from the crash, they smashed out her window, opened the door and pulled her out of the vehicle. She had tried to fight, but they’d quickly subdued her.

  Restrained, she was loaded into a waiting SUV and driven directly to the hotel. Jessica lost sight of them when they drove into an underground parking garage, but she was sure no one had come or gone since they arrived.

  “I should have been with her,” Rachel said when I relayed what I’d learned.

  “So you could be taken, also?” I asked.

  I was feeling guilty, too. Guilty for having sent Irina off, but also for what I’d said to Rachel when she hadn’t gone with her. Tactically, I’d been correct. But neither of them were trained soldiers. And if I was being honest with myself, neither of them were men.

&nb
sp; Yes, that’s sexist as hell, and both of them would take offense at the thought. But it’s also a sad reality in the new world we found ourselves in. A world not unlike the majority of human history. The strong will prey on the weak, and when it comes down to brute force, men almost always win a battle with women.

  Rachel must have read my mind. She gave me a look, then reached out and took my hand.

  “It’s no one’s fault, other than her attackers,” she finally said. “Let’s go get her back.”

  I nodded, glad to have a target to vent my frustration on. I’d climbed behind the Hummer’s wheel and Rachel joined me in front after securing the gunner’s port in the roof. Jessica had stayed on the phone with me as I drove, guiding me to where Irina was being held. When I pulled to a stop, she had told me she’d be watching, wished me luck and disconnected.

  Rachel and I stepped out and I swapped rifles with her. There was no doubt she was becoming quite adept with the weapon, but there was also no doubt that I was the better shot. She agreed with me and willingly traded away her sound suppressed rifle.

  I shot several males as we made our way deeper into the downtown area of the small city. They weren’t close, or necessarily even a threat, but I didn’t want them to notice us and start following. I’d seen enough times how others would be attracted if even just one infected was on the trail of some prey. I didn’t understand how it worked, but knew it would happen.

  So, when we came across any males, I’d pause and quietly dispatch them before continuing. I was surprised we weren’t encountering females, but they had most likely all been drawn to the noise from the air base and the airport. I wasn’t going to look that gift horse in the mouth!

  We covered the mile in slightly less than half an hour. This was slow, but you can’t move stealthily through an urban environment with any amount of speed. While I was antsy to get to Irina and make sure she was safe, it wouldn’t do any of us any good if we alerted her captors to our approach by exciting every infected in a ten block radius.