Infection Runs Deep

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR: AN UNANSWERED PAGE

"All soldiers? Wouldn't they know to take them away from you?"

"No, just my squad and some others that we've talked to. Warner and I got ourselves into a bit of a bind a while ago and someone picked their lock with a safety pin from the hole in their uniform." The tension tightened on my wrist. "Hold on. I've just about got it." A subtle click and a satisfied laugh from Luke as the handcuffs loosened. "A souvenir."

Holding the handcuffs gingerly, I said my thanks, collapsing back down into the chair. "Sorry, I didn't mean to flip out on you guys."

"It happens. Seems you've been through quite a bit, darlin'." Luke sat in the chair beside me. "What else did we miss?"

I quickly caught them up to speed on the situation. "I don't know where this leaves us. We stopped the op today, but that doesn't mean the Colonel can't repair it and do it tomorrow."

"Either way, we stopped it. That's a win, Lizzi," Ian said, curling his arms around his knees from where he sat on the floor. "The suits will be too caught up in red tape to get it started up again."

"You guys keep mentioning suits. Who are these people?"

Luke scoffed. "People who think that they're more important than they really are." I raised an eyebrow at his bitterness. He sighed, shaking his head. "They're just government lackeys. High ranking officials who make it their business to know everybody else's business."

"Like Siles," I said, my hand drifting to my throat.

"Yeah," Luke said. "Like him, but worse. More like him and some that aren't even in office."

"He certainly does not have my vote come next election," Ian muttered.

"You can't vote for a senator not from your state," I said matter-of-factly. "You're not from Virginia."

"You don't know that."

"Are you?"

He frowned, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "No."

"That's saying we even have another election," Luke mumbled, his voice almost inaudible. He raised his voice so Ian could hear. "With the gravity of this whole damn mess, I doubt we'll be ready for an election anytime soon."

A loud siren blared through the window, a long pulse followed by three short ones.

"Announcement," Luke said before I could even ask. "I thought you cut the speaker lines."

"I did," I said, my heart sinking.

"She did," Ian said in support, his head halfway out the window. The pale edges of sunrise just peeking out from the clouds. "The blast didn't come from the control towers. It came from here."

"Attention all base residents. Attention all base residents. Stay tuned for an emergency announcement." The message replayed a few times, the voice a bit staticky and unfamiliar.

Luke's ears perked at the voice. "It's that damn recording." I raised my brows in silent question. "I just, there are a lot of memories with this recording. It's at all the bases. Reminds me of days where we got out of basic due to the snow." A trace of a smile curved his lips. "Seems like a lifetime ago."

"--announcement." The voice changed, sending chills down my spine. The Colonel. "Base residents, I have an important announcement. As of 5:49 am Eastern Time, we will be conducting a test of our emergency procedures signals. Please ignore emergency signals until a secondary announcement. I repeat, please ignore all emergency signals until further notice. We thank you for your participation." The Colonel clicked off, a looming silence in the air.