Jess walked down the sidewalk, trying not to stare at the new guy. He seemed rather boring. He didn't talk much (not that she minded) and he acted as if he really didn't want to be around.
'Well if he really does know everything like he says, I don't blame him. These missions aren't that great,' she thought looking at the hotel ahead. They walked in, waited for Packard to get a room and then walked up to their own.
"He seems a little anti-social to me," remarked Sarah after they had gotten inside.
"Well he doesn't really know us and has no reason to 'socialize' with us. He is here only to help with the mission. That's it," said Jess getting up from her bed and walking to the door. "I'm going to the bar to grab a drink. Anyone want to come?"
"Sure, hang on," said Sarah running into the kitchen for a minute.
"We're not inviting the odd one are we?" asked Brad.
"Oh come on, he's not odd and no, I don't think he'd want to go anyway," answered Jess. The three of them walked to the bar together, sat down at a table and ordered their drinks.
The bar was dark; it had no windows and the lights weren't that bright. Everything inside was wood, wood flooring, wood tables, wood chairs and wood counters. There was a T.V. mounted on the wall behind the bar. They could hear that it was playing a news program. There were two bartenders standing behind the bar and three waitresses. They were the only people in the bar.
"So, now that we've been inside the lodge, what do you guys think?" asked Jess.
"Well, there's no question that this town is in the beginning stages of an outbreak and I don't think that creatures are going to stay in the lodge for long. The 'tracks' in the back are a sure sign of that," Brad said. "The question is how much time do we have left before things get too out of hand?"
"Yeah, I agree, how much does this change our plans? Oh, and we also need to figure out what's going on with the Boss," said Sarah.
The waitress came and handed them each their drinks. "Thank you. Well, it changes things a little bit anyway. We need to get our mission done as quickly as possible and see if we can get at least some of these people out of here before things get too out of hand," Jess said after the waitress was out of earshot. "I know we can't let the public know what's really going on but maybe we can come up with some other way of getting them out. That will also have to be done quickly if we want to stay in 'policy'. We might have to test every one of the people here to justify evacuation. As for whatever is going on with the Boss, I'm not sure. I'll call him back tomorrow I guess."
"Since when have you cared about policy when it comes to this?" asked Sarah laughing. Jess sent a mock glare across the table at Sarah.
"Okay, I'll shut up!" she said taking a sip of her drink.
"Anyway, well, I guess this means that we're getting up early tomorrow. 3:00 in the morning. At 4:00 a.m. tomorrow, we start our mission. We should be at the lodge by 4:30. With any luck, we'll be done by 10:00, latest," Jess said taking a drink of her beer.
Sarah and Brad both groaned and stared at their bottles. It was always like this before a mission, silent and sullen. Memories of past missions ran rampant through their minds. Thoughts and questions rang in their ears though no word was spoken. Would they live through this mission? What will happen to the town? The people?
Jess picked up her beer bottle and held it at arms length above the table. "To Alex. May she watch over us and see us through this mission like she always has."
Sarah and Brad raised their bottles to Jess'. "To Alex," came the quiet reply.
Alex had been their friend and leader of the group before Jess. A zombie had killed her. It had been their sixth mission together. The four of them had been friends since Junior High. Alex's death had been a major shock to all of them.
Jess later became the "leader" of their group when the three of them would not listen to the man that the Boss sent to take Alex's place. It was never officially said or written and Jess hadn't asked for it that was just how it had happened and Sarah and Brad wouldn't take orders from anyone else. This would be their nineteenth mission since then, if they lived.
The three of them finished their beers, paid and walked back up to their room to get ready for the next morning. When Jess finished checking her things, she walked to Packard's room and knocked on the door.
"Hey, we're setting out early tomorrow for the lodge. Mission starts at 4:00 a.m. sharp. Be ready," Jess said. She walked back to the room without waiting for a reply.
"Dinner's on its way," said Sarah putting the phone down as Jess walked in.
The three of them sat on their beds, each lost in their own thoughts until a knock came at the door. The food was brought in and set in the kitchen. Brad paid the waiter as Jess and Sarah set the table.
They sat down to a silent dinner of steak and potatoes. When they finished, Sarah cleaned up and Brad turned on the T.V. They watched a local news program for an hour then turned it off; there were six more reports of people disappearing.
"If we're going to test the policemen that were at the scene we need to do it soon before they all go home," Jess said getting up and grabbing the supplies they would need. "Anyone going to come along?"
"I think I'll sit this one out. I'm going to get to bed early," said Brad.
"I'll come with you, I don't think I'll be getting much sleep," answered Sarah picking up her things.
They checked the map and then walked down the street towards the police station. "What's our cover story?" asked Sarah.
"Well, we're just going to have to tell them that we're medical doctors investigating a possible infection that originated at the scene those policemen investigated. That will have to do and if we can't get in then we can't get in. It won't be the first time we haven't been able to do these tests on people that we really needed to," replied Jess. "We might even be able to get a list of the bystanders that were there and have them tested as well. This is it." The two of them walked into the station and up to the desk.
"Can I help you?" a graying man behind the desk asked.
The two of them told their story and showed the man their fake I.D.s.
"Alright, let me call them up into one of our rooms. You can do your test in there. Kim will show you were to go," said the man pointing to a young, blonde lady in a magenta-colored business suite. They followed her to a small room at the far end of the building.
"Here it is," she said shortly.
"Thank you," Jess said walking in. The two of them set up their equipment as the men started filing in.
When everyone was present, Jess looked up and explained the process. There were eight of them. It wouldn't take long. Sarah took the first four of them and Jess took the other four. When all the samples were taken (each one labeled with the names of the officers from which they were taken), Jess mixed in the fluid. "It will only be a few more minutes, we thank you for your time," Sarah said.
When the test was complete, Jess pulled Sarah to the side. "Well, five of them are okay but there are three of them that are infected. We don't have any place to put them in quarantine. I guess we should have figured this out before we came," Jess finished trying to think a way out of this problem.
"Yeah, well, we could let the five that aren't infected go and then talk to the other three. We wouldn't tell them what's really going on but instead tell them that they have been infected with an incurable disease. We don't have any of the new anti-virus to help them," Sarah said. "They won't like it but there's nothing we can do."
"Alright," Jess replied.
They let the five officers that were not infected out and then explained to the other three their condition. They seemed understandably shocked and confused.
"Well, is it contagious?" asked a tall skinny man with a mustache.
"It is very contagious but only at a curtain stage, and it is deadly within a half hour," answered Jess. "I'm sorry but you don't have much time left.
"I'm guessing it's contagious after we die from it then?" asked a shorter man with red hair.
"Yes," Jess answered. "I'm afraid there isn't anything we can do."
"Did you three go back to the scene after the first time that the rest of the officers did?" asked Sarah.
"Yes, we did. All three of us. We were asked to secure the area for further testing later on," the third man answered. "That was about fifteen minutes ago. It only took about five minutes and then we were back."
Jess and Sarah got up and walked to the far side of the room. "That must have been when they were infected otherwise they would already be zombies," Jess whispered to Sarah. "Is this room sound proof?" Jess asked one of them men.
"Yes, it's normally used for handling dogs that are in training. We wouldn't want barks to distract anyone who might be doing paperwork in the rooms down the hall," came the reply.
"We are going to collect our things, we'll be back to discuss your options at this point. Please stay here," Jess said as the two of them began picking up their things.
"I hate doing this but I don't see that there is anything else we can do," Jess said. "We're going to have to lock them up in here and make sure that the door is not opened under any circumstance. It's the only way to keep them from infecting others."
"I agree. Lets do it then," answered Sarah.
When they had everything, they shut the door (making sure no one noticed that there were still men inside) and told the security guard to lock it. They walked over to the desk and requested a meeting with the chief. After waiting for about thirty minutes, they walked into his small, tidy office and sat down.
They told the chief that the room they had done the tests in had a large possibility of having a very deadly airborne virus in it. Jess told him that the door needed to be sealed and under no circumstances, was it to be opened. The chief agreed and they watched as a team of men welded the door shut to keep anyone from entering.
Jess and Sarah thanked the chief and began walking back to the hotel. They hadn't gotten a list of names but they had taken the risk down slightly.