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Authors: Stephen Knight
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name I assigned to the bioengineered virus that started all of this.”
“Bioengineered? So whatever’s causing this is man-made?”
“Without question. The signature in some of the precursors that I was able to find in the bug’s building blocks definitely point to something from the old Soviet Union. I learned all about Soviet biological weapons when I was working for the government in the 1970s and 1980s.” As he spoke, Safire drifted toward the vending machines behind him and regarded their wares through the glass in their doors. “How it can reanimate the dead is still something we don’t know. There’s obviously some components that make up the virus which we’ve never dealt with before. But I have developed a method for preventing humans who are bitten by the dead from becoming one of them, and if the drug is administered while the individual is alive, even their death won’t result in them rising again.”
“But why would the Russians develop a weapon like this in the first place? It’s not like they could ever deploy it.”
“Perhaps,” Safire agreed. “Or perhaps they had a therapy that would prevent their troops and citizens from turning into ghouls after exposure. Maybe they lost the records for the therapy over the decades, or maybe they never had one to begin with, and what was released was only a test study. Whatever the case, the U.S. most certainly experimented with some rather esoteric weapon systems. Did you know we worked on a weapon that was designed to make all the Russians go mad and attack each other? What we face now is much the same, only ours was chemical, this is biological.”
McDaniels sipped some more of his coffee, then poured it down the sink. “But the question remains, doctor... with all the research that went into creating this process you’re speaking of, you’re the only one who knows what it is? No assistants, no researchers, no laboratory partners, no one at all?”
“Just me, major.” Safire smiled grimly. “You see, if you had been a little faster in getting to us, you might have been able to save two colleagues who could have replicated my work, and who in fact contributed to it greatly. But doctors Walsh and Vinjamuri were taken by the dead, like so many others before them.”
“Our... tardiness was hardly our fault, doctor. It took a while for your message to make its way through the command structure and get to someone with the horsepower to actually do something about it.”
Safire waved the explanation away as he turned away from the vending machines and sat heavily on the cardboard paper cases again. “Whatever. The end result is the same. I’m the only one who knows how to do what needs to be done, and I’m just thrilled to be trapped here in the city with the rest of you. Truly.”
McDaniels put his helmet on and walked to the door. “Then maybe you can make yourself useful? Get off that skinny ass and take a look at Jimenez, he’s hurt bad. And since he’s one of the people who will be saving you and your daughter, maybe you might want to do something to start returning the favor ahead of time.” He put his hand on the door knob and turned back to the Safires. The daughter looked at him with anger in her eyes; the elder couldn’t be bothered with such a useless emotion. His expression was totally blank.
“We have to save you whether we like you or not,” McDaniels said, as much to Regina as to Safire. “But it might be better for all of us if you didn’t act like such a prick, doctor.”
“I’ll take that under advisement,” Safire said sarcastically.
CHAPTER 6
“We have about six hundred rounds of five-five-six per man, and around half that in nine millimeter. I have one hundred fifty-five tungsten cored magnum rounds for the AA-12, and one drum of high-explosive minigrenades for a total of 25 shots. Three hundred and ninety rounds of .45 ACP for our sidearms. Every man still has five M67 frag grenades, four M8 smokers,
“Bioengineered? So whatever’s causing this is man-made?”
“Without question. The signature in some of the precursors that I was able to find in the bug’s building blocks definitely point to something from the old Soviet Union. I learned all about Soviet biological weapons when I was working for the government in the 1970s and 1980s.” As he spoke, Safire drifted toward the vending machines behind him and regarded their wares through the glass in their doors. “How it can reanimate the dead is still something we don’t know. There’s obviously some components that make up the virus which we’ve never dealt with before. But I have developed a method for preventing humans who are bitten by the dead from becoming one of them, and if the drug is administered while the individual is alive, even their death won’t result in them rising again.”
“But why would the Russians develop a weapon like this in the first place? It’s not like they could ever deploy it.”
“Perhaps,” Safire agreed. “Or perhaps they had a therapy that would prevent their troops and citizens from turning into ghouls after exposure. Maybe they lost the records for the therapy over the decades, or maybe they never had one to begin with, and what was released was only a test study. Whatever the case, the U.S. most certainly experimented with some rather esoteric weapon systems. Did you know we worked on a weapon that was designed to make all the Russians go mad and attack each other? What we face now is much the same, only ours was chemical, this is biological.”
McDaniels sipped some more of his coffee, then poured it down the sink. “But the question remains, doctor... with all the research that went into creating this process you’re speaking of, you’re the only one who knows what it is? No assistants, no researchers, no laboratory partners, no one at all?”
“Just me, major.” Safire smiled grimly. “You see, if you had been a little faster in getting to us, you might have been able to save two colleagues who could have replicated my work, and who in fact contributed to it greatly. But doctors Walsh and Vinjamuri were taken by the dead, like so many others before them.”
“Our... tardiness was hardly our fault, doctor. It took a while for your message to make its way through the command structure and get to someone with the horsepower to actually do something about it.”
Safire waved the explanation away as he turned away from the vending machines and sat heavily on the cardboard paper cases again. “Whatever. The end result is the same. I’m the only one who knows how to do what needs to be done, and I’m just thrilled to be trapped here in the city with the rest of you. Truly.”
McDaniels put his helmet on and walked to the door. “Then maybe you can make yourself useful? Get off that skinny ass and take a look at Jimenez, he’s hurt bad. And since he’s one of the people who will be saving you and your daughter, maybe you might want to do something to start returning the favor ahead of time.” He put his hand on the door knob and turned back to the Safires. The daughter looked at him with anger in her eyes; the elder couldn’t be bothered with such a useless emotion. His expression was totally blank.
“We have to save you whether we like you or not,” McDaniels said, as much to Regina as to Safire. “But it might be better for all of us if you didn’t act like such a prick, doctor.”
“I’ll take that under advisement,” Safire said sarcastically.
CHAPTER 6
“We have about six hundred rounds of five-five-six per man, and around half that in nine millimeter. I have one hundred fifty-five tungsten cored magnum rounds for the AA-12, and one drum of high-explosive minigrenades for a total of 25 shots. Three hundred and ninety rounds of .45 ACP for our sidearms. Every man still has five M67 frag grenades, four M8 smokers,
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