We pulled into the multi-story parking facility. Jack reversed into a parking bay so we were equal distant from the entry and the exit doors just in case we had to leave in a hurry.

All the cars inside the parking lot were covered in a layer of dust. Just like the office building, I thought. The dust was much thicker here then it was inside the office building, though. It was so thick we couldn’t see inside any of the cars. I guess it was possible for anyone or anything to be hiding in there.

I shook my head. I had to stop scaring myself.

We all piled out of the Humvee. Daniel had blood pouring down the side of his face.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

“Yeah. I’m fine,” he said, regaining some color in his face. “It’s just a scratch.”

“Just a scratch? There’s blood everywhere!”

Kenji reached into the back of the Humvee and retrieved a small medical pack. He stepped forward, up to Daniel. “Let me check it.”

Kenji dabbed away at the cut, but blood continued to pour out. “Might need stitches. But we can put this butterfly band aid on. Should do the trick for the moment.”

“Are you sure?” Jack asked. “Why is there so much blood?”

“Lot of blood vessels in the face. Even a superficial cut will bleed heavily. I’m Kenji by the way,” he said, introducing himself to Daniel as he put the butterfly thing on. “Kenji Yoshida. Private first class, US marines. And this is Jack.”

“Hudson, Daniel.”

“Marines?” Kenji asked.

“Not really.”

“Army? Air force?”

“Freelance,” Daniel answered.

“Ah, understood.”

Kenji finished putting the band aid on.

“It’s all right,” Daniel said. “I got it.”

Kenji handed him some more bandages and Daniel blotted and wiped away the rest of the blood off his face.

“Whoa,” Jack said. “Check out the cut on your chest plate.”

It looked like the wire thing had sliced into his armor. The cut was deep and wide. It was amazing that Daniel wasn’t more seriously injured. There did seem to be a lot of blood, but I guess Kenji was right. It wasn’t that bad. He seemed to have gotten off lightly.

And Daniel looked to be in good spirits.

“It’s cool,” he said. “I’m OK. Trust me, I’m fine.”

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He had definitely gotten over the shock. He was back in business mode. More focused than ever, especially since the mission was back on and we had an amazing opportunity to actually accomplish our goal. Maria was so close.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Kenji asked as well. “That’s a pretty impressive gash,” he said as he closely inspected the suit. He had a puzzled expression on his face. “What kind of armor is this?”

“It’s a combo of Kevlar and carbon fiber and other things,” Daniel answered.

“I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“It’s custom made.”

Kenji nodded his head in approval. “Well, it looks like it saved your life.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.”

Once we were sure Daniel was all right we sort of just stood around. I think we were in shock now. It was just so unexpected to be finally reunited like this. I mean, after everything that had happened this morning, the last thing I expected was to run into Jack and Kenji in the middle of the city. But I guess it was lucky we did run into them, because they totally saved us.

We hugged again, for longer this time, just the three of us. I don’t know about the guys but I didn’t ever want to let go. Daniel was sort of standing off to the side. But I don’t think he felt awkward. I think he understood exactly what this meant to us.

Jack then threw his hands in the air like he was doing a hallelujah. “Wow. This is just incredible. It’s a miracle. Where have you been?” he asked me. “What happened? And where’s Kim? Is she all right?”

I think as he asked the question about his sister, his mind was showing him the worst.

I told him what had happened when Kim and I made our escape from Sydney Harbor, after he jumped out of the boat. I told him how we ran out of fuel, drifted up the coast and eventually out to sea. I told him that we were in bad shape. We were dehydrated and starving. Kim had lost a lot of blood. But we were picked up by a coal ship and towed to New Zealand. We were locked up in a special quarantine facility for survivors and refugees, but we were the only ones there.

“When we got there,” I said. “They stripped me down, hosed me down, and cleaned me with some sort of chemical spray. I don’t know what it was. And they shaved my head. I’m not sure what they did with Kim because we were separated. After about a week I was given the all clear and extradited back to America. But they still wouldn’t let me see Kim. They said because she had an open wound in her arm, she had to remain in quarantine for longer.”

“But she’s all right?” Jack asked again hopefully.

“As far as I know,” I answered. “But she’s still in the quarantine facility in New Zealand. I don’t know when they are going to let her out. They wouldn’t tell me anything. But yes, the last I heard she was doing fine.”

I didn’t tell him about my own fears. That I thought she’d died or had been ‘taken care of’ as part of the containment protocol. And I didn’t tell him about the outbreak.

“So you made it back to the States?” Kenji asked in disbelief.

“Yeah. But I was the only one.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I was the only one who got out of Australia. No one else made it. I was labeled as the only survivor. It was completely crazy. When I got out, nobody really knew what was going on. The media called it, ‘The Secret Apocalypse’, because the military and the government had covered it up. People around the world only knew bits and pieces. Rumors, basically. Even now, no one really knows how bad it is or how bad it could get. And I think that’s probably the worst thing, the fact that people just don’t know how bad it could get.”

“Wait a second; you were the only person to make it out?” Kenji asked. “The sole survivor?”

I nodded my head.

“That’s insane,” Jack said. “So the Oz virus has spread right around Australia? How many people have been infected? How many people have died?”

I didn’t know how to say it. So I just went ahead and said it. “No one really knows for sure. But there have been reports that the death toll could be as high as twenty-two million.”

Jack and Kenji both turned pale. Jack looked like he was going to be sick. Kenji went quiet for a bit.

“Twenty-two million,” Jack repeated. “That’s everyone. That’s the entire population.”

I nodded my head as I thought about the death toll and how I’ll never really come to terms with it. And I tried to ignore the fact that even as we spoke, the death toll was steadily increasing.