Not Your Mothers Fairy Tale
Nate regained consciousness slowly and with an excruciating headache. He felt hung over and rolled onto his side. When he tried to massage his temples, he discovered he was handcuffed. He squeezed his eyes open but just a little because the glaring light was too much to endure. A groan escaped him as consciousness took over and the back of his head pulsed with pain.
"Hey Agent Halburg! Your sleeping beauty is coming around!" Someone yelled.
Nate forced himself up on an elbow and peered out into an open area filled with desks and computers. He fell back and stared at the ceiling, struggling to take stock of his surroundings. He was dizzy and nauseated.
"Hey Halburg, did you hear me!" The mystery person yelled again.
"Yeah, I heard you, Ramiro. Take care of it will ya, I'm busy," came a shouted demand from a female in some other room.
Nate heard the irritating screech of metal legs across concrete as a chair scraped from under a desk. He clenched his teeth as the piercing sound reached his ears and he groaned in agony.
"Damn partner, you look like you had a rough night of it."
"Where the hell am I?" Nate ground out.
"Well let's see, partner, right now, your six stories below Ent AFB, Peterson AFB, or the Burroughs Federal Building, whatever you want to call it, so I'd say it doesn't matter much because you aren't going anywhere any time soon."
"What the hell," Nate managed between a shuddering breath. "That place closed years ago. What is this, some kind of joke."
"Afraid not, partner," came the chuckled reply. "I'm surprised you'd even know that."
"I'm not, Ramiro," interrupted a new voice.
"Enough with the partner theme already," Nate said drily. "I'm not your partner."
He opened his eyes a crack at the sound of that female voice. He licked his dry lips and through squinted eyes saw the woman from yesterday staring back at him. A low groan emitted from deep in his gut as she moved from around her partner and stood next to the cot.
"Come on Ramiro help me sit him up."
The two of them grabbed Nate under the arms and pulled him up to a sitting position and the woman handed him a bottle of water. He drank it like it was his last, and threw the empty on the floor, agitated as hell to find himself in a situation that made no sense to him.
She said nothing for long minutes, just staring at him with a raised brow, before finally dismissing the man she called Ramiro. He nodded and left them alone.
"I guess you're wondering why you're here," she said academically.
"Actually, I'm wondering what you shot me with," he replied as his memory started to return and he eyeballed her suspiciously. "Just who the hell are you people and what do you want?" he asked thickly.
"For now, Mr. O'Connor, I'll be asking the questions. That, is why you've been brought here. If you cooperate sufficiently, I will get you back where you belong. If not, it's anyone's guess," she shrugged indifferently.
"Who are you people," Nate demanded again. "This is not only ridiculous it's highly unusual, even for me, and you ought to know my family will be looking for me."
"We're not concerned about that at the moment, Mr. O'Connor. But with the state of things out there right now I bet your family has a lot more to worry about than you."
"You gotta be kidding me," Nate rolled his eyes. He looked upward in exasperation. In truth, he knew exactly why he was here. He also knew there wasn't time to play dumb if he in the least bit hoped to convince her to her satisfaction.
"Look, I'm willing," he grunted fuzzily. "I'll answer all your damn questions if I can," he assured her hoping to glean sympathy from her choleric personality.
"Very good then. I'm Agent Lara Halburg." She interrupted him. "And that was Agent Ramiro. Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Weapons Unit. Does that surprise you?"
"No, it doesn't," Nathan informed her. "And now I'm positively sure what you just said is true. You aren't concerned, but I do have people who are going to need me right now, so you have my full cooperation, just get on with it so I can get the hell out of here, and soon."
Their eyes locked, hers that icy blue, and his mossy green direct stare. He knew she was gauging his words, wondering if she could trust him. In answer he held his cuffed arms out toward her and lifted his brows in question. He could tell she took it more like sarcasm, but she clicked the ring of keys off her side, unlocked the cuffs and hooked them to her belt.
"I can put them right back on if I need to Mr. O'Connor, so don't try anything funny," she warned him in a matter of fact tone.
"I'd hate for you to have to do that," he answered impatiently. "And just call me Nathan, okay? Considering the situation, all the 'Mr.' stuff, seems just a little formal."
"Excellent, Nathan," she over-emphasized as she turned and walked out. "Follow me then."
Nathan got up and followed, trying to make his legs work right, out into the large area where Agent Ramiro, was seated at a computer and down a hall to an office.
She sat down at a desk and he sat in a chair across from her. She had conveniently changed clothes since they had arrived, apparently, because she was now donned in dark blue khakis, a maroon blouse with a military bullet-proof vest that just barely hid the fact she was carrying. She saw him eye the 9mm on her hip, but just smiled that same red lipped smile she had adorned him with earlier, which seemed to say she knew she was attractive, but it didn't stop her from being serious, which at present moment, she was. She placed her elbows on the desk and clasped her hands together in front of her. A half drank cup of coffee sat there getting cold.
"Let me start by saying, you're here because I think you have information we need, having to do with what is now classified as global pandemic MCHVc IV."
Nathan took on his best poker face and said nothing, simply waiting for her to continue.
"Does any of that sound remotely familiar to you?" She asked surreptitiously.
"It might. But everyone knows we're dealing with a pandemic." He shrugged noncommittally.
She nodded slowly and they had a brief staredown after which she cleared her throat and went on. "Fine. But is everyone aware that this pandemic is turning its dead into zombies?"
He watched her, as she watched his face drain of color to a pasty, pale, nauseated expression. He thought about what he had seen on television at the office. God, this couldn't be happening.
"I think you're pushing the package a little far now," Nathan said giving her his best dry mouthed smile hoping against hope she would chuckle and admit it really wasn't true.
She merely smiled too. Only her smile barely reached her eyes.
"Let me give you the current stats. There are breakouts in North Africa, Israel, North and South America and Canada. In South America the stats are worse with Brazil being ground zero and Venezuela and Colombia experiencing catastrophic events. Hospitals are in lockdown.
People are dying and afterward, they have to be killed. Humanely of course.
You see why it's critical to the survival of our nation? We need answers yesterday. I was assigned to this case five years ago, when we received intel that a splinter group operating out of West Africa started bragging to Nigerian leaders that they had a weapon of mass destruction and they intended to use it. That was mostly written off as bluster because it seemed highly unlikely any of those groups could have something of that magnitude.
But a few weeks ago, when a plane was shot down over the northern Congo, the Amadi-Ndidi command blamed American interference, showing some flimsy evidence of an American stinger missile strike.
We knew otherwise but they condemned the attack as an assassination, when it was proven that the group's long-time leader the Imani-Ndidi was killed in the crash. They promised there would be retribution.
Shortly thereafter, the first reports started to trickle in that an Ebola outbreak had occurred, but U.S. health ministers in the region quickly realized that it was something far worse."
That much Nathan knew, because he had done his own research, but he wisely kept it to himself. He knew the implications were staggering. And now, if what she indicated was true, that they were in the throes of some undead apocalypse, the hellscape coming would override any attempts to stop it. It would be unsurvivable. His thoughts ran willy-nilly as she droned on about their findings until she hit on a subject that left him inwardly gasping for breath.
"So, it has ravaged all the way through Nigeria and up into North Africa in a matter of days," she went on, "being carried in the wind or by someone infected, I'm not sure but it's imperative we find out. I want to know how much you do know, because your father, was our only connection at the time."
"At the time?" Nathan stood straight up out of his chair. "Wait, you had contact with my father as early as five years ago?" Nathan was thunderstruck.
"We did." She confirmed if rather aloof.
"You do know that Nathan O'Connor Sr. went missing more than ten years ago?" Nate added in case she was mistaken.
"Look Nathan, I, more than most, am truly sorry. I know his loss was devastating to your family, and this will be crushing to tell you, but about the time your father supposedly went missing, he accepted an offer to work for the U.S. government.
I was only brought in when we lost contact with him five years ago. He was hired by means of a private contract to work undercover with our troops in Africa. We were desperate to find those bio-weapon labs. Nathan O'Connor knew people, he had contacts," she ended obliquely.
Nathan was beyond devastated. Beyond crushed, but truth be known, he wasn't surprised. It was just hard to hear it. He wanted to know so much more. If he ever had the opportunity. As his mind worked through all the details he came to a startling fact. He probably would have done the same thing, and he cut straight to the point now.
"So, what you're telling me is, Agent Halburg, you hope I know something more, but the bad news is, I don't. I am in possession of one random, classified syllabus containing contacts and the notes he took while on assignment in Ethiopia years ago."
"Does it look like this," she asked, pulling a huge binder from a suitcase, slamming it down on the desk and opening it up in front of him.
Nathan stared at the voluminous set of documents, and finally nodded. "Yeah. Except about half the size." He conceded.
"Bingo, Nathan O'Connor. What you have, goes to this. It was the beginning of the investigation. It has vital information. The dates, contacts and locations, the diseases that were discovered in the bio-lab and their destructive properties, such as how they kill or maybe the key to finding a vaccine.
When your father, well---" she stopped mid-sentence and shrugged, knowing she didn't really have to continue the statement.
"Let me finish for you." Nathan concluded. "When dad went off the radar so to speak, when he took a government spy job, all those years ago, it went missing as well."
"Exactly," she nodded solemnly. "At the time, there was only that one copy. We surmised that it fell into the wrong hands. And I think it did. Giving some terror group access to find those bio-labs, and what was in them. They wouldn't have allowed them to remain, they would have destroyed them when they got what they wanted. My only question is, how did you end up with it and where is it?"
Nathan's lips pressed into a thin line. "It's in Cortez. But you're not getting to it without me, that's a promise. It doesn't really matter how I ended up with it, but I have a family and a dog waiting for me. I get the syllabus for you, and you let me out of the loop."
"It's a deal, Nathan O'Connor," she agreed holding her hand out to shake on it. She wondered randomly who he was trying to protect but decided right now it didn't matter because this time Nathan shook her hand, and she immediately got on an intercom and called Agent Ramiro, her strong man, to come to her office. When he arrived, she instructed him to take Nathan back to his room.
"Really?" Nathan challenged.
"Of course," she replied with lowered brows that almost touched across her forehead. "I can't take the chance that you leave without me."
Ramiro laughed out loud. "Don't worry Halburg, he knows he's six stories under. Come on sleeping beauty."
Nathan followed Ramiro down the hall, taking in the surroundings of this underground facility.
Anyone here would never be threatened by what was happening in the rest of the world. At the intersection Nathan stopped as he caught movement in the corner of his right eye. Ramiro stopped with him as Nathan stared down the long hall that ended at a glass wall with a single door.
Ramiro cocked his head to one side eyeing Nathan hard. "You wouldn't get five feet through there. Do you know what goes on in there? That's a testing and research facility. Top Secret. The NBC bio-labs. Dangerous stuff in there, but the safest place on earth. You were right when you said they closed this place a long time ago. They closed it alright, to the public. Now let's go. Agent Halburg won't be long, and you can get the hell outta here."
Nathan was a little surprised when Ramiro showed Nathan a chair near where his desk was. Nathan sat down, and Ramiro went over to a refrigerator and got two waters, handing Nathan one as he sat back down at his desk.
After long moments went by, Nathan asked him if he had family.
"Yes sir, I do. A wife and three daughters," he confided pointing to the pictures on the desk.
"Well, where are they?" Nathan ventured.
"They're tucked away in a safe place. We knew this was coming. I imagine you knew it too, or you wouldn't be here right now, but we got people working on it. Don't you worry. Despite what you and Halburg might have discussed, your government knows what it's up against. Some of the best minds in the world are working to get it in check." Ramiro assured him confidently.
"Well, that's really good to hear," Nathan assented trying not to sound too glib. If Ramiro noticed his insincerity, he gave no mind to it, and Nathan stood up as the agent took a call.
He looked around the large room with interest noticing two other connecting halls and various other small offices much like the one he had been in when he woke up.
In a far corner other agents and researchers worked silently but Nathan noticed the phones rang quite a bit, and sometimes those people worked together discussing heaven knew what, and other times they went off down a hall to other offices he assumed.
Ramiro ended his call with a curse, slapped the cordless receiver to the desk and jumped up. "Damn, come on O'Connor," he said and took off toward one of the hallways Nathan had seen others hurry to just moments ago. Nathan followed.
They stopped at an elevator and Ramiro punched the button. Inside, he hit number two and the elevator jerked and began its ascent. At floor two, the door opened and they both got off in what appeared to be a wide-open cafeteria, but it was closed as far as he could tell and the people in there were watching a big screen TV that hung from the back wall. Nathan noticed immediately that Agent Halburg was there as well. She must have had some other means of access Nathan surmised.
She turned when he and Ramiro walked up and came directly over.
"We have to go right now," she said looking at Agent Ramiro with a new earnestness.
"I just got the call," Ramiro apprised her briefly. He took Nathan by the elbow. "Keep up."
They strode off in the direction of the kitchens, leaving the others and Nathan fell into step right with them.
"Is there some emergency?" He asked as they passed through a set of swinging doors that led to the kitchens area and on down a long aisle of stove tops, ovens and various other kitchen settings.
"We have rioting and a developing situation in Denver, and that's just a sample of what we're up against O'Connor," Ramiro clued him in. "I'll fill you in on the rest once we're on the road."
"Just keep our protocol." Agent Halburg advised him directly.
She was curt and no nonsense now, so Nathan followed them in silence out a narrow back door that opened with a swipe of a card on a lanyard around her neck, up a cat-walked stairwell to the next floor and out a side door that opened right to the parking garage. As they reached a brand-new black Tahoe, she opened the back hatch and took out a duffle as Ramiro placed Nathan in the back seat and he got in the front passenger side. She threw the bag in between them and slammed her door starting the engine, and they took off leaving the darkness of the garage behind for the falling shadows of nighttime.
As they clipped their seatbelts, Nathan heard Agent Ramiro inform her that they had moved POTUS underground and their time would be very limited in terms of what they could do from this point on.
"I know Ramiro, but we have to retrieve this objective. It's the difference between getting a head start on a vaccine or the loss of millions of people in the interim. It's a risk I have to take."
"Just don't forget Halburg, there is going to be very little help for us on the other side of this trip," Ramiro added cryptically.
"I know Ramiro," was her only reply.