Veritas

Introduction

It was just another day, at least everything up to that point would have hinted so. It was around noon when everything went to hell. An explosion in the Columbia River, and a leak that could take weeks to clean. But that's not what made it bad....no, it's what followed that defined a new age.

2 years ago a company called Veritas found its way to a small island right off the coast of Oregon. Soon after a private facility was made, the Veritas Institute of Science. Being a private institute, nobody but the scientist and private military were allowed. For the most part, it didn't bother the community; it was supposed to be just another day; at least, until the explosion. The institute was completely isolated, the only thing that came and went from the island was a tanker. A tanker that delivered and received all types of materials, including the hazardous kind.

No one knew how, but on September 15, 2027, there was an explosion on that tanker. In the heart of Portland, Oregon that changed everything.

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"Run!" we bolted, sweat dripping from our faces, feet stampeding behind us. They were on us in seconds. Swarms of children, we were being chased by children. My blood ran cold as I heard the faint whispers say, "...Hermo". Time slowed down, my chest tightened, and my muscles tensed. I had stopped running. Ricky grabbed me and slung me over his giant shoulders. "No time to stop now Danny, we gotta go". Tears welled in my eyes as I stared into the hoard of the infected, somewhere in there was my younger brother. I fought against Ricky's grasp, but he quickly tightened his hold, "NO, LET ME GO!" I shouted, "I NEED TO GET HIM BACK!" I cried, " Please..." I gasped out as I clenched my teeth and fought back my tears. Ricky threw me in the car and jumped in behind me, "It's too late Alex...he's gone" as we drove off, a small hand reached out, and for a single moment I saw my baby brother in the swarm of infected. Afraid, and alone. My tears streamed down my dirt-covered face, as I thought back. "Why did this happen... why didn't I protect him... why did I run...".

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"Hey Ricky!" the Chief Officer shouted, as the rain continued to pour. "Give me a hand with this barrel, real quick!" Ricky was a big man standing at a little over 6 feet tall, and a good 260 pounds of mostly solid mass. So carrying a 200-pound barrel wasn't too hard. He had to strain a little to get it on his shoulder but after that, it was smooth sailing. "Should I be touching this with my bare hands," he asked the Chief Officer, an older man by the name of Gregory; with a hardened face from years at sea, he grimaced as he glanced over at the barrel. "I don't know, it was loaded on the island last minute...it doesn't even have a label or anything". He said reading over the inventory load, "Ok whatever, I'll just do this quickly" Ricky shouted as he ran off with the unlabeled barrel over his shoulder. "I swear that the island is always sending us away with weird stuff, I need to get a new job". Ricky thought to himself as he reached the lower levels, "Cargo tank 3, cargo tank 3" Ricky reminded himself as he searched for the door labeled 3. "5, 4, ah here it is 3"

He placed the barrel down and reached for the door when suddenly it opened. "oh if it isn't the new guy?" Ricky said as the slightly shorter stout man walked out of the cargo tank, beads of sweat dripping from his face. "Jack, what are you doing down here?" Ricky asked, eying him annoyingly. "You know we aren't allowed down here unless we are loading or unloading stuff," Ricky said, eying the older man, possibly in his late 40's. "Don't get your panties twisted, I was just doing inventory," he said intently, staring at the barrel beside me. "Speaking of, that's the last barrel", he said as he reached out for it. "Don't worry I'll take it from here", Ricky tightly grasped Jack's wrist. "I was told to handle it", Ricky said, tightening his hold for emphasis. "Fine suit yourself..." Jack replied, yanking his hand out of Ricky's grip.

The rain continued to fall and most men were in the living quarters up to some form of trouble or another. The rest of the day was pretty quiet, that evening we arrived to unload off the Columbia River upstream in Portland, Oregon and that meant work time. The sound of machinery, cranes, and metal against metal resounded all over the tanker as things were loaded and unloaded. When everything was finished we had a couple of hours before we had to leave, so I and a couple of the guys decided to go and have some fun while we were still in Portland. Trying to hit as many of the local breweries as possible everybody was quite drunk by the end of the night including Ricky.

As he stumbled his way back from Bailey's Taproom, he thought he saw Jack walk into what looked like a building that closed due to the recent Protest. Mostly fueled by anger, in current political affairs between China and Russia's recent accusations in the procurement of Uranium and controlled nuclear materials in a Controlled Arms race against the U.S. and the United Nations' lack of response in Assistance to The States. Protester numbers grew by the day, as people grew anxious if World War 3 was on the verge of becoming a reality.

Curious and still drunk Ricky decided to follow him, as he walked into the dark building he heard a rattling noise like chains. Ricky quietly crept through the darkness following the rattling when there was a sudden clunk noise as chains hit the floor. As he rounded the corner he saw Jack heading into what looked like a cellar closing it behind him. "What the hell is going on, what is Jack up to..." Rick thought to himself as he slowly opened the cellar door, only... it wasn't a cellar at all. It was some sort of tunnel, and it gave Rick goosebumps. But he continued into the darkness.

As he silently crept he heard the heavy footsteps of Jack far ahead, if only he could run and catch up, but then Jack would notice he was being followed. So he continued further and further into the tunnel, Sobering up the further he crept. After about 10 minutes the tunnel began to open up, Ricky had long since lost Jack's footsteps and now only heard silence. In front of him was a door with light seeping from the bottom. He pressed his ear up against the door and listened "it's all set up, cargo hold 3 is armed, and mostly everyone is off the ship" Rick quickly recognized it as Jack's voice. "Okay then we should head to the bunker, all hell is about to break loose" an unknown female voice responded. "They are waiting downstairs for us," she said as the knob began to turn. Not knowing what to do, Rick entered the closest tunnel and quickly and quietly ran down the stairs deeper into the darkness. Behind him, he saw glowing lights, probably flashlights. as he continued running, the drunkenness began to fade and was converted instead into fear. "What did Jack mean by ' it's armed?"

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