Left 4 Dead 2 - Preview

The skies above Washington DC were empty. Not a single cloud or star cluttered the darkness. There was not even a moon. The air above the airport was dead quiet. The streets were empty. Outside the White House armed soldiers wearing paper masks stood vigilantly. Inside the elaborate corridors were secured by more soldiers with their masks hanging off their belts in case they were needed quickly. A tall woman dressed in an expensive grey suit walked confidently down the halls, accompanied by two large men in dark suits; the secret service. In her hands she held documents and folders with "classified" written in bold red all over them. She turned a corner and approached a set of double doors. She shook her short, neat brown hair out of her dark eyes and sighed. The two soldiers stood at the doors opened them for her and she stepped inside. The room she entered was large with a projector screen to the back. A grand rectangular table took up most of the space of the meeting room. Eight chairs were on each side of the table, occupied by military officials and other important people in suits. One chair was at the head of the table, unoccupied. The woman stood at the chair and waved at everyone to sit down before doing so herself. This woman was United States Secretary of Defence, Norah Hanham.

'Time is short,' she started promptly, 'so I'll be quick.' Hanham cleared her throat and put her hands together. 'First things first; the President is secure.' There were a few relieved sighs around the table. 'The President and his family and the majority of the cabinet and other VIPs have been evacuated from the country.'

'When will we get our turn?' a plump man toward the back asked. Hanham looked at him.

'We will leave when we have fixed the problem,' she said eloquently. The relived atmosphere of the room suddenly went sour as everyone began feeling anxious. 'We need to stay here so that we can enforce a positive image to the public.'

'We have to die just so that we can make the public feel better for a few more days?' another man said, standing up. 'Can't the President do that?'

'The President has given his orders and we need to follow them,' Hanham said calmly. 'Sit down.' The man paused, clenching his fists. 'Sit. Down,' Hanham ordered. The man sat down with a thump. Hanham sighed and opened a file.

'Here's what we have so far; we believe the virus originated from Central Asia and the first infection was in Louisiana. We're not certain how it spreads but considering how contagious it is and how fast and wide it has already spread; we think it might either be airborne or spread through water. First recorded infection was in University Hospital, New Orleans and the entire hospital has been quarantined. Observation of those infected show signs similar to the rabies virus.'

'Except rabies kills you,' a woman interrupted, 'and doesn't mutate your body.'

'I said it was similar,' Hanham looked to her. 'I didn't say it was rabies.'

'But what about these mutations?' a man with glasses interjected. 'No virus ever recorded could cause these mutations. Nothing can cause mutations to this degree. We've had reports of people growing tongues three times longer than they are, developing claws that allow them to tear through nearly any material and even people developing enough strength to dent a metal door.'

'The mutations are more extreme in New Orleans,' Hanham reported. 'As it spreads, while there are mutations like you described, there are none as severe as the ones in New Orleans.' Hanham sighed and passed a file around. 'Avery Ingram will be overseeing the rescue operation of those trapped in Louisiana. The USS Abraham Lincoln is positioned just a few miles off New Orleans. Ingram is flying over from England to run the operation on the Lincoln with Admiral Jaeger.

'Do you think it's wise for CEDA to handle the evacuation?' someone else asked. 'They're such a new organisation...'

'They have the resources of the nation at their disposal,' Hanham said confidently. 'Nationwide; our priorities are to study the infection and prevent it from spreading. We're getting reports that it's reached Canada and Mexico, so we need to prevent it from getting any further. We can't have another swine flu incident...'

*

Half an hour later, Norah Hanham left the meeting room, this time empty handed. As she walked alone down the corridor, someone called her name out from behind. She turned and saw a short man with grey hair and thick glasses approaching her. Norah sighed and waited for him.

'What can I do for you, Keith?' she asked him, folding her arms. Keith took her by the arm and gently stepped to one side.

'I heard about your plan of rescuing New Orleans,' he said.

'You mean CEDA's plan?' she corrected him. Keith gave her a stern look in response.

'I'm no idiot, Norah,' he said. 'Neither are you. You know I'll find out sooner or later.' Hanham looked around to see if anyone was watching. She took Keith's arm and stepped inside an unoccupied room. Norah gently closed the door and turned around, leaning against it. She gave Keith a knowing look and stepped toward him.

'Why New Orleans?' Keith asked. 'Why not focus on evacuating surrounding areas so that this damn thing doesn't get any worse?'

'The President hasn't been handling this outbreak very well,' Norah sighed. 'After only three days; he's already bottled it and jumped ship.'

'That's a good thing about him,' Keith said sarcastically. 'He can predict the future...'

'The reason everything is so difficult to control is because we know very little about the virus itself,' Hanham explained. 'Each sample we take from those who are infected degrades so it can't be analysed. This is why New Orleans is so important.'

'Why?' Keith asked. 'What's in New Orleans that isn't in God knows how many towns or cities in America?'

'Ingram has a man over there,' Norah explained. 'That man has a sample of the virus.'

'What?' Keith asked, surprised.

'After day one,' Norah said, 'he sent someone in to take a virus sample so we could study it and know what we're up against.'

'How did he know...?' Keith said softly.

'That's why I'm sitting on it...' Norah sighed. 'I don't trust Avery Ingram. Richard Jaeger thinks he's an ass but he might be the only one who can get us a sample of this virus. If we can get it; we can make a cure and then... well, the President won't look so incompetent.'

'Well, then...' Keith sighed. 'Let's hope we can get him out before...' Norah nodded. She smiled and then turned to open the door. As she stepped out of the room, Keith called her back.

'Norah,' he said as she stopped and looked back to him. He started shaking his head. 'Don't screw this up.' Norah looked away and merely nodded. She walked off down the corridor, leaving Kevin alone. He held his hand to his face and started biting his nails worriedly.

Author's Note – Keep an eye out in November for my new Left 4 Dead stories!