Part One

Ansem’s Death

24 hours after the outbreak the Hudson, Potomac, and Delaware River quarantine lines have been breached.

The infected gorged on the city masses, only biting, never finishing their meals, forming unstoppable hordes.

F-18 fighter jets all along the continental United States spooled up their nuclear warheads ready to put an end to the epidemic before it swept the nation.

The President of the United States sat safely underground in NORAD with one hand over a red phone, waiting to say the four words he always feared… Initiate Project Clean Sweep. A presidential order that will nuke every major city on the eastern seaboard: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.

CHAPTER 1 - MILES FROM THE STORM

Samuel Gordon Chase currently resided in the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. Unbeknownst to him, he had landed himself in the very same stronghold as the President of the United States. He was stuck in the safest place in the country, trying to get to the frontlines. Didn’t make much sense, but he could not leave his family to battle this nightmare alone.

Samuel ran right by the presidential suite, looking for a means to escape. He entered the helicopter docking bay. All of the air force flocked in droves to the outbreak. At a base it looked like controlled hysteria. He ran up to one of the pilots attempting to take off. “I need a helicopter back to New York!”

“Sorry doctor, all transports are currently being used to evacuate.”

“Which helicopter is going furthest east?”

“Captain Decker,” the pilot pointed him out, “is taking a team into the red zone…”

“Where is that?”

“D.C.”

Close enough, Samuel thought.’ He ran across the helipad and made his way over to the runways, where the pilot had pointed. He climbed aboard Decker’s ship. As he crawled through the bowels, a hand reached out from around a corner and grabbed him.

“You’re not supposed to be here.” The uniformed man who had apprehended Samuel gave him a stern look.

“Let go of me, I’m a doctor, I’m part of the rescue team.”

“This isn’t a rescue mission, Doctor. This is a demolition op.”

“What?”

“The Commander and Chief has ordered the bombing of all the major cities on the east coast.”

At those last words a chill pinched Samuel’s nerve, the one that lay nestled between his shoulder blades, on his back. It told him what he feared the worst was real. But he still had to ask.

“Is New York one of them?”

“It’s second on the list.”

Samuel was taken off the plane and escorted back to his room at the base. He tried walking outside into the hallway, but the guard stationed by his door did not allow it. Samuel was trapped in his room without any television, radio, or the freedom to leave. He was officially a prisoner.

The thought of Vanessa, his wife, Warren, his son, and the twins, his daughters, suffering a gruesome death. If what was being described in all of the reports was accurate, that would mean… people beng eaten alive by other people, the dead rising, hell on earth. These thoughts terrorized him, being confined to this small bunkroom on top of it. He had visions of being stuck here forever as the world devoured itself around him. Only to be left alone, in this giant cement shoebox, his manifested tomb. He had to get out. He pounded on the wall in frustration and at the same time decided he both had had enough of this and was going to go for it.

The door swung open, and Samuel tried to leave again. When the guard grabbed his wrist he motioned that he was going to the med-center, but they didn’t buy it. Samuel wasn’t getting away this time. As he was being escorted back, right before he tried hitting the guard to escape, Atticus Ross approached.

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“General Saarsgard needs to see the doctor immediately,” Ross told the guard.

Samuel followed Atticus down the hall, trying not to hurry past the man. He was just so relieved to be out of that tiny room.

“What does the General need me for?”

“The general is in Hartford, Connecticut on the Northern Front.”

That would put him barely two hours away from New York. Either this was an extraordinary piece of luck, or Atticus wanted to help him. “Can you get me out of here, Lieutenant Ross?”

“Actually, it’s Captain Ross now. Things are changing fast.”

“Do you have your own—”

“Plane? Right this way.”

Atticus led Samuel out of the barracks and into a side dock away from the main bay. Their prototype was sitting on the dock.

“Is this …it?”

Samuel eyed the oddly shaped airplane. It missed the customary aerodynamic features like a pointed nose and slender wings. Samuel gushed over an aircraft that looked more like a spaceship than an airplane. It was almost chunky. As much as Samuel’s curiosity was piqued he also wondered if it could even fly, looking like it did.

“Yes, but we don’t have your devices on board. Right now, it’s your basic air and space craft, equipped with a full arsenal and hovering tech.”

“I could tell by the shape of the wings. This bird is also meant for orbit.”

“You have a keen eye, Doc. The wings are shaped for all-terrain landing, but the ship has certain features that revert it back to a more traditional fighter jet form if the need arises.”

“It is truly an exceptional vessel. Can you get me to New York, Captain?”

“Unfortunately, Doc, I can only help you as much as my orders allow.”

“What are your orders?”

“There is Intel that a shipping company is responsible for sending out a product unauthorized by the FDA. It might be the cause of all this. I’ve been ordered to find a woman involved with the shipping company.”

“That’s all they gave you?”

“Right now, everyone is on a need to know basis. I have a full description of this woman, Rebecca Pratt, plus the operation objectives and the maps, but besides that…” Atticus shrugged. “I’m as clueless as you.”

“How dangerous did they tell you it was?”

“It’s a solo mission.”

“That sounds like a good thing.”

Atticus smiled.

“What?”

“It's refreshing being around non-military folk for a change.”

“What did I say?”

“Command rarely sends us out there alone.”

Samuel watched his hesitation closely. The soldier found his nerve.

“They don’t expect me to come back.”

Samuel stared at the young airman, speechless.

“This vessel is expendable to them.”

Atticus rubbed his hand along the side of his slick plane. He had spent over three thousand hours in the cockpit of the War Bird and now they were both as expendable as any other piece of hardware in the United State Air Force.

“I’ll help you find her,” Samuel promised Atticus.

“And whatever happens, if we come out of it alive, I’ll help you get to your family, Doctor Chase.”

“What about your orders?”

“Doctor, we’re at Defcon two. I think my orders have room for a detour.” Atticus smiled grimly. “Assuming we aren’t all nuked by day’s end.”

“That’s risky and grim, Captain.”

“It’s time to go.”

They started up the War Bird’s main lines. Atticus fueled up auxiliary fuel tanks and Samuel helped him move the tanks into the cargo bay. “Do we have guns?”

“Do you know how to use a gun, Doctor Chase?”

“I was an eagle scout. I can fire a rifle.”

“Good. I’ve packed us a full armory and pantry. We may have to live in this bird for a while.”

“What about my devices?”

“Last I heard, they’re being held by the General’s men. If you want to save your family, we need to go now.”

Atticus was right. There was no time to retrieve Samuel’s patented devices. The ones specifically made for his presentation, the one that never happened. Which meant he never got to see the product of his plans for hand-held versions of the Tachyon Resonator, Time Collider, and QWC. They boarded and sealed the ship. Once the air lock was closed, Samuel followed Atticus to the bridge. The captain sat down in the seat on the left. Besides that, was only one other seat to the right.

Samuel wondered, “Is that…”

“Your seat?” Atticus finished. “Yes. This vessel was made for you, Dr. Chase.”

Samuel sat down and buckled his seat belt. Two computer screens lowered from above him and keyboards unfolded from his seat’s armrests. “How are we supposed to transport survivors?”

“Don’t worry, Doc. There’s plenty of room in the War Bird. It is much more versatile than it looks. You’ll see.”

Atticus launched from the R&D dock of the Air Force complex. They departed from a safe haven, an impenetrable stronghold. With ease, they gave up their spots inside a base people running from the outbreak would kill for a chance to have access to. If protocol was kept this could end up being one of the last bastions of the United States government. Atticus and Samuel put Cheyenne Mountain Complex in the rearview camera without a moment’s hesitation, with only a tiny lick of regret.