128 (Operation Armageddon: Book 1)

Chapter Seventeen: The Epicentre | Part 1

"I spoke to Detective Washington and Detective Stewart earlier on and got their input on the... incident at Edison Palmer station in Edison," the captain began, rubbing his red nose that frankly reminded Matthew of a ripe tomato.

The captain then stood up, turning around and walking slowly towards the windows. He then pulled up the blinds to let more sunlight into the room. He cleared his throat, continuing with their discussion. "You three, and another civilian—Gregory Adams, is it? You all defied direct quarantine orders from the CDC and the DOD."

Matthew frowned, pursing his lips. "How was the DOD involved?" he questioned, confused about the situation.

"For your actions, we would put you in quarantine," the captain chided, ignoring Matthew's previous question. Just as Matthew was about to protest, the captain stopped him. "But we won't," he said.

Matthew frowned. If the captain was so eager to settle a punishment with him, then why didn't he go ahead and it? He was utterly confused by the new captain's response to the situation; he just couldn't tell if he was disappointed or impressed.

"50 infected subjects escaped from Edison Palmer Hospital two days ago on a train," the captain started his explanation. "It ran on the same line as the one you took, except that it arrived in Brooklyn earlier. The infected had all dispersed into the neighbourhoods by the time your group and the paramedics arrived. The CDC has sent out workers to quarantine those of the infected that have been captured—around 35 of them. But the remaining 15 haven't been accounted for, and we require your assistance to curb an outbreak that might arise from this."

Matthew scratched his head. So, he broke the law within the Infectious Disease Act, angered a bunch of people, before some changed their minds and were now depending on him and his friends? It was honestly a great feeling for him. It was great for his efforts to finally be recognised. However, the captain—or the NYPD in general—was missing out on something.

Yael.

Yael was the reason for all of it. An outbreak couldn't have possibly emerged out of nowhere. Unfortunately, there was no way to trace evidence back to the corrupted company. The validity of the worksheet that he had snatched from the hospital days ago couldn't be proven, and neither had he checked the flash drive. He just had a feeling that neither of these two items were enough to prosecute Yael.

They needed more.

"Captain Watkins, have you heard of Yael Technologies Corporation?" Matthew questioned as he got up from his chair. He swiped dust off from the back of his pants, as the chair he had sat on was rather dusty. It wasn't a surprise for Matthew, however. He quickly recalled his times with Captain Jones.

Jones never had to speak with anyone privately. And all of that was owing to the fact that he would never keep conversations between two people only. He just felt that group discussions were healthier than secretive conversations between only two. And so, no one had ever entered his office, and thus no one had sat on the visitor chair.

However, Matthew quickly snapped back to reality as the captain answered his question promptly. "Yes, I have," the captain said. "What about them?" he asked further, curious to know what was on Matthew's mind.

Matthew turned away from the captain and headed towards the door. As he laid his hand on the doorknob, ready to exit the room, he turned his head to face the captain one last time. "Whatever the case is, don't trust them," he warned, before turning the doorknob and heading out of the captain's room.

"Where are you going?" the captain questioned him, as he hadn't technically dismissed Matthew. However, there wasn't any point in holding him back either. He would have dismissed him within the next few moments either way.