Page 7 of Alpha Infected
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Too tense to sit, Ice stood in front of the TV with Hazard and Jax, watching yet another newscast. He held Hazard in front of him, his arms wrapped around the omega’s waist and his chin resting on top of his head. Usually, Hazard would teasingly grumble that he was taking unfair advantage of their height difference when he held him this way. But today he rested quietly against Ice’s chest while they watched the havoc taking place on the TV screen.
Despite the containment teams working ‘round the clock to capture the infected, it was madness out there in Tulsa. The number of infected continued to rise with alarming speed. They attacked citizens, spreading the virus and moving on before the containment units even knew they were there.
The rapid rise was due to the large victim pool available in the city. Some people didn’t learn of the warning in time. Others were trapped in locations such as malls or grocery stores where they were unable to barricade themselves away from the infected. And of course, some citizens foolishly refused to heed the warning to shelter in place and went outside, only to find that the scourge was indeed as deadly as the reports said.
Road blocks were set up on all highways in and out of Tulsa and all arriving and departing flights were cancelled in an attempt to stop the virus from leaving the city. But there were other ways for the infected to slip out. The virus wouldn’t be contained to Tulsa for much longer. They needed to stop it soon before the powers that be began to consider using the ultimate containment method - bombing the city into non-existence.
The news broadcast they were watching cut to commercial just as the door to their barracks opened and Ortiz walked in.
“Boys,” she said, giving them all a nod in greeting.
“News?” Ice asked.
“Yes. They need us in the strategy room now. Colonel Gibbs found someone who says they can stop the spread of the virus.”
Ice sighed with relief. Sitting inactive while a Code Z ripped through the neighboring city had been tough.
Hazard flicked off the TV and the four of them immediately hustled up to HQ. The base grounds were eerily still and largely empty. Most personnel were indoors under lockdown. Armed soldiers patrolled the base grounds in protective suits. And although the siren was now silent, yellow emergency lights flashed a constant reminder that they were on a Code Z alert.
Inside HQ, they walked down unusually quiet halls until they reached strategy room six. Another armed soldier was stationed outside the door. She opened it for them and stepped aside to allow them entry. Everyone seated around the table - Lieutenant Colonel Gibbs, his aide, two other senior ranking officers, and someone Ice didn’t recognize - all looked grim. Their frowns and furrowed brows were appropriate considering the circumstances.
All of the military personnel were armed with side pieces holstered on their hips. Ice approved of the precautions. Even though they were on lockdown and there were no reports of infected in the immediate area, no one should be unarmed right now.
There were two large monitors set into the wall at the front of the room. One was currently blank. The other was on, the screen showing the weathered face of Brigadier General Stone. Stone, an older African American man with short silver hair, was in command of the three special forces units stationed at Fort Grove. He would have final say on how the 448 handled this Code Z.
A young civilian man sat among the military personnel. He wore a non-descript gray sweater over a white and brown striped button-down shirt. His brown hair was styled in big frizzy curls and gold wire rimmed glasses perched on his nose. A big gray toy castle sat on the table in front of him. Ice recognized it from the commercials that played on Saturday mornings. It was Castle Grayskull from the He-Man cartoon.
After saluting Gibbs and Stone, Ice and the other 448 members took their seats at the table. Gibbs started the meeting.
“Team, this is Dr. Burke,” the colonel began. “He has information that will help us stop the Tulsa scourge before it gets worse.”
“How do we know he’s not some crackpot?” Ice asked.
General Stone answered. “His identity has been verified.”
Ortiz rapped her knuckles on the table. “Let’s hear it then.”
“Dr. Burke, the floor is yours,” Colonel Gibbs said.
Dr. Burke cleared his throat and rose from his seat to speak. “I worked for KV Perkins Pharmaceuticals, a company headquartered in Tulsa.”
“Past tense?” Hazard questioned.
“Yes. I was fired yesterday.”
“And what did you do at KV Perkins?” Jax asked.
“I was the lead scientist responsible for developing enhancement supplements to improve athletic performance. What makes our product revolutionary is that unlike steroids, athletes would be able to use it in competitions without being penalized or disqualified. And the supplements wouldn’t show up in drug testing. We were very close to the final product. In fact, we had an earlier version fully developed and ready for market.”
He paused to clear his throat and smooth a hand down the front of his sweater.
“But our CEO Bray Egan wanted to take the drug to the next level for even better results. At his request, we created strength enhancer RX-2. That product wasn’t finalized yet. However, despite the delay, the CEO called a board meeting. He wanted to demonstrate SE RX-2 to the board & shareholders, and push it out to market before the quarter ended. But since I knew the product wasn’t ready, I refused to administer it to humans. That’s why he fired me.”
“And he went ahead with the demonstration without you,” Ortiz surmised.
The curly brown head nodded.
