Chapter II
About 30 miles outside of Phoenix, Arizona
7:00 AM
Holiday and Amelia walked into the War Room, and stood over by White Knight. They began to get their papers together and in order for their report, when Holiday heard the door open. She looked up to see the last man in the world she wanted to see. Agent Six.
He looked at her, characteristically stoic. She looked back, uncharacteristically stoic. He looked good. He was back to wearing suits, and he still had those ridiculous pair of shades.
The door opened again, and she saw the man she didn't think she'd see in Providence Headquarters again ever, Rex Salazar. He still wore his jacket, white t-shirt and jeans. Holiday smiled, not surprised to see that he hadn't changed much.
The door opened once more, and Holiday saw the man she needed to see most, Dean Calan. He walked over to her side, and stood protectively, blocking Six's view of her.
"Good morning, agents," White Knight's old face projected itself onto the screen. "As you all very well know, we have another EVO outbreak, but this time, we're dealing with EVO zombies, or EZombs. Dr. Holiday, do we have any idea what caused this?"
"Well, sir, I'm afraid that somehow, some nanites must've escaped and combined with some chemicals released in the recent explosion in California at Chem. Co. I'm meeting with a chemist and the CEO, Dr. Caesar Salazar, later this morning. But honestly, I can't say. We would have to acquire on of these said EZombs before I can begin to understand what scientific phenomenon we're dealing with," Holiday briefed.
"Thank you, Doctor. Now, we all will be working together again until we can figure out what's going on and put these poor people to rest before they can hurt anyone else. Let's get to work," with that, White Knight disappeared from the screen.
"Okay. Agent Six, you and Rex will be partners again. Come with me, and we'll put you through the test. Afterwards, report to the lab, and either Dr. Holiday or Amelia will show you all of the data we've collected so far," Calan delegated. "Does that work for everyone?"
"Yes, that will do nicely," Six agreed.
"Yeah, that will be great," Rex nodded.
"Yes, that will do fine," Holiday approved. She seemed distant.
"Okay. Let's get to it," and with that, Calan led Rex and Six to the testing room, while Holiday headed to her lab.
Calan sat in the observing booth with Rex. They had set up the tests, and Six had volunteered to go first.
He got a 97 out of 100, which surprised him. He didn't know he had gotten that out of touch. Rex got a 92. Six knew they were going to have to changed that.
As Six sat looking at the scores, he saw a name he was sure wouldn't take the test. Rebecca Elizabeth Holiday. And as he looked at her score, he was flabbergasted. Holiday had scored a 100 out of 100.
Six knew that that meant that Holiday was smarter and a better fighter than him. He felt his ego get smashed. She had improved, and she had done it without him.
Holiday sat at her desk, watching some of the security camera footage from the first EZomb attack in California. There was a knock on her door. Without checking to see who it was, she buzzed him in.
"Dr. Holiday, hello," greeted Caesar cheerfully. "I wish our meeting could be a more pleasant one,"
"I concur. Please, have a seat," Dr. Holiday turned to him and motioned to an empty chair by hers.
Caesar accepted the offer gratefully. He looked good. He was wearing a black suit with a green tie, and still had a big smile on his face.
"I brought with me the list of chemicals released in the accident. I was hoping to compare them with chemicals found at one of the attack sites," Caesar was all business, pulling out files.
Holiday turned to the keyboard and typed in a code, and pulled up all the info they had on a screen. The quickly did a comparison, and only found two of the chemicals and chemical compounds to be the same.
"There is a lot of calcium and sulfur," commented Holiday.
"That's odd. Neither would be given off if this was some sort of awkward natural reaction," Caesar tossed in. "Is it possible that this was some sort of disease or compound released over the cemetery? Something that could infect nanites?"
"It's very possible. And it would explain the calcium sulfate," agreed Holiday. "So it's some kind of unintentional or deliberate land poisoning. Patient 0 was infected, and it must spread easily. Probably from contact,"
"So we have EVO zombies running around infecting other people. This should be a blast to solve. Contact me if you need anything," Caesar said, offering as much as he could.
"I will. Thank you, Dr. Salazar," Holiday smiled, and Caesar nodded before leaving. She sighed and turned back to the computer and began to enter in some possible combinations of chemicals to see what exactly formed this toxin. She decided to label it Chemical Z, because it sounded official and ominous and scientific. She honestly had no idea where to start.
"Dr. Holiday?" came Amelia's sweet and caring voice. She was young, just barely 19. Not even past her teenage years. She was smart, that's why she was interning at Providence. Holiday knew she would have to talk with Amelia about either staying here or going to a safer job, especially with the upcoming field work. It was her choice, but Holiday secretly hoped she would stay.
Amelia was bone thin, with caring grey eyes and wavey blonde hair. She had freckles all along her arms and face, and a slight tan to add to the appeal. She typically wore jeans and sweaters and a lab jacket.
"Yes, Amelia?" Holiday answered.
"I brought you some coffee," Amelia offered.
"Thank you," Holiday was surprised by her assistant's thoughtfulness. "Please set it on my desk. You're a doll. Would you like to help me brainstorm what's in this mysterious chemical that's creating zombies?"
"Yeah!" Amelia sat in the chair Caesar had been and pulled up closer to the computers and Holiday. "Do you think this was some freak nuclear accident, or do you believe someone created this intentionally?"
"I hope it was some freak nuclear accident," Holiday started, unsure of whether or not the hypothesis she was forming would scare the girl.
"But that's not what you believe," Amelia pushed, and Holiday sighed.
"I believe it was created on purpose, yes. Why, I do not know," Holiday admitted.
"This is crazy," Amelia said, leafing through notes. "I'm pretty sure I saw a high amount of calcium sulfate reported in Florida this morning,"
"What?" Holiday asked. "I don't think I read that report,"
"It just came in while you were talking to Dr. Salazar. I wrote it off because it's by a sanctuary," Amelia admitted, slightly embarrassed.
"Does that happen to be the Flyer about forty miles outside of Miami?" Holiday asked, gears starting to turn.
"Yes," Amelia answered, trying to see where Holiday was going.
"The Flyer reported an illness killing the animals. I know because Beverly is interning there," Holiday began to section through the Flyer's website. She hacked in to the main data frame, and looked at some reports.
"Are you finding anything?" asked Amelia nervously.
"Yes. Yes I am," Holiday turned to her assistant. "I'm afraid that this disease will infect some of the dead animals. I'm going to call Beverly. If the guys show up, show them the info quickly,"
Holiday left the lab, and Amelia began to figure out what exactly could stop the poison, or what was in it. As Amelia began to run possible figures and combinations, Rex, Six, and Calan entered the lab.
"Hey Amelia. Where's Dr. Holiday?" asked Calan.
"She went to call her sister," Amelia answered, concentrating on trying to figure out the exact number of combinations.
"What's wrong?" demanded Calan. He seemed to get tense and worried, which took Six aback. Calan had never been so intense.
"Can't a woman call her sister?" asked Rex, who had also caught onto Calan's mood swing.
"Dr. Holiday never calls friends or family at work unless it's an emergency," Calan answered, and then turned his attention back to Amelia. "What's wrong?"
"Dr. Holiday thinks there will be another EZomb breakout in Florida, near the Flyer sanctuary near Miami,"
"That's where Beverly works," Calan stated, connecting the dots. Before Six could ask him how he knew that, Holiday burst into the lab.
"It's already happened,"
A/N: I don't know what happened the first time. I'm sorry guys, that was weird. Anyway, expect Chapter III later this day. Again, reviews never hurt!