Beta'd by memorial-ETHOS. Note: "I've corrected, to my own knowledge, her grammar. The majority of the story is left intact to it's original version."
Last time...
The phone was ringing in Molly's ears. She opened her eyes slightly and made a grab for it. "Yes? What is it?" she stifled an unseemly yawn and sat up.
It was Fenway. "Molly?"
She really sat up. "What's wrong!"
"There's been an outbreak here in Washington D.C."
---
Chapter two: Escalation
Molly drove like mad, trying to get back to Washington D.C. It was a four hour commute from where she lived in Richmond, Virginia.
The moment she was in the car, she grabbed her cell phone. "What do you mean there's an outbreak! Fenway, what the hell is happening?"
"Listen, we got containment out already. It was food, Caffrey. They got into our food supply."
"What was it? Is it going to go national?"
"No, the district was the first to be supplied with the product. Personally, I think its just a case of product tampering. Not genetic engineering, but Cavennaugh's got people stopping the trucks just in case."
"What product was it?"
"I'm not sure about that yet. I've got it narrowed down to three products, but I'm betting it's a new type of strawberry flavored milk."
"Why do you say that?"
"Its not a very nice shade of pink; more of a brilliant red..."
Molly made a face. "You've got to be kidding me! That's gross. I'll call you back for an update when I get closer."
She hung up the cell and mashed down on the gas; it was going to be a long night.
----
Caffrey pulled into the parking garage and rushed out. She met the rest of the team in the doorway. "Has this gotten out yet?"
"No. I managed to make it sound like there was a bad batch of strawberry milk and made sure there was a product recall." said Cavennaugh.
"How many were infected? And how much of that product was sold in the district's stores? Was all of it tampered with?"
"Fifteen people were infected that we know of, and not that much of the product was sold. Not that many people over the age of 11 drink strawberry milk; remember, it wouldn't infect the children. All of the product was tampered with. That's my guess from what I've tested so far." said Fenway.
She nodded. "So there's a product recall in effect. How much of it has been tracked down, and what excuse are we using for getting ahold of the infected milk?"
They all turned to Fenway who just shrugged. "Listen, I'm not that type of doctor!"
"Dude, you're a pathologist aren't you? Think of something!" Ramsey said, rolling his eyes.
"Give me a second... I have to remember college." Fenway rubbed his chin and closed his eyes. "AHA! An outbreak of Q Fever! Perfect. Its even got flu-like symptoms."
"Uh, do we want flu-like symptoms? Its not like the infected are walking around vomiting everywhere, Fenway."
Fenway glared at the muscle man. "Cavennaugh, it's the only one I can think of right now. And once you think about a body rejecting the infection has some flu-like symptoms, fever... confusion..."
"I get the point." said Molly. "Won't the kids that come in contact with the mutation end up like Tate? You know, sort of infected like Cavennaugh and me?"
Fenway nodded. "They might. Tate was exposed for a prolonged period of time to the artifact... I don't know about ingesting the mutation though. They might end up like you guys or they might not." He shrugged.
----
Four hours later
Fenway was examining the strawberry flavored milk; a look of scorn crossed his face. He just hated that stuff. It was nasty as hell. It being infected just made it worse.
Lucas looked up. "Hey doc, what's been happening of late?"
Fenway smiled. "We've got an outbreak, Lucas. How are you feeling?"
Lucas tried to shrug. "Ah... I know this a lot to ask, but I miss Rachel. Can Caffrey bring her here? Please?"
Fenway blinked. "Um... Lucas, you know that's not allowed. You'll have to take it up with Caffrey, not me."
The boy nodded. "I don't blame you."
"That's nice to know. Now why don't you just rest some more?"
The young man nodded before drifting back into his feverish sleep.
Fenway returned back to his study of tampering with milk. He was way over his head on this one...
----
"I'm sorry Caffrey, but if they make the move to go for genetic engineering... I won't be able to help."
She nodded. "I already knew that genetic engineering wasn't your strong point due to the fact that when you went to college there wasn't much of it around. I planned for something like this and selected a genetic engineer to sometimes consult. Her name is Daphne Larson."
His eyes widened. "Her? How are you going to pull this one off? She's a multi-millionaire."
Caffrey stared at him for a second before shaking her head. "Its easy; we're doing the same thing we did you guys."
Ramsey shook his head. "You mean you're going to pull off another abduction? Isn't this getting a bit ironic, Caffrey? You're plan is supposed to stop alien's from abducting us all, and here you are just plucking us off the street."
She glared at the dwarf. "I selected each and every one of you because of your expertises in your fields of study. Not because I wanted to abduct you all; if I wanted to do that I would have selected better company." She left the men with her chin raised.
"What's crawled up he-"
"Complete that sentence and I'll kill you." Cavennaugh growled.
Ramsey rose his hands in defeat. "Whoa, big guy calm down... Simmer down, boy..." he said backing off.
----
Fenway was looking down at his fifteen new patients. "Its an elective treatment. This branch of medicine isn't even a month old, and it may be dangerous to your health."
"What are the side effects, doc?" one of the recently, but not completely, infected asked.
"Seizures, fever, hallucination, death..." Fenway listed.
They all looked at each other, their eyes wide. "Uh... What's the other choice?"
"The other choice is to become something you are not. You will not care about anyone or anything other then accomplishing your goals of making the human race better. You will not actually be making anything better. Instead, you would be propagating a 'signal' for Al Qaeda. The side effect of that choice is that you may die anyways."
They all stared at him. "Are you saying some damn terrorist did this to us?"
He nodded. "Yes, Osama has came back and bit you in the ass. It's your choice, of course. If you select the medicine and are cured and released, you can never talk about it. If you choose to become infected and live, well, you will live in a secret facility for the rest of your life. Or until we find a cure for the infection."
They exchanged looks with each other until one of them spoke up. "I'll try it out!" The rest nodded. Fenway started to administer the drug he had created.
----
"Hey, Caffrey! Have a moment?"
She turned around and saw Fenway. "What's happened now?"
"Nothing. Everything's fine. It's Lucas. He wants to talk with Rachel."
Molly blinked. "He knows I can't allow that..."
"He actually wants to see her, Caffrey. She's his fiancee. I think you need to consider it, just to keep his morale up."
She nodded. "I'll think about it. No guarantees though..."
----
She walked down the hall, her dark hair swinging in the motion of her grate. The dark haired woman made her way further down into where the elders met. "There was a report from the capital. They began the first part of the plan."
An older man with dark curls that were turning gray turned and looked up at her. he nodded. "Send the signal for the next phase. I wonder... I hope she will finally join us."
The young woman nodded. "She'll understand, won't she?"
"I hope she'll understand why I left, but if she doesn't..." he shrugged. "Now be a dear and send that."
"Yes, father." The young woman left the room to send the message for the next step of the plan. She paused in the hall, and entered an over look of the main chamber. A cavern that housed the underground city, her home for the past thirty years... She looked down upon the city with its hundreds of citizens, those that were chosen, those that were blessed, and those that were partly blessed. She smiled while watching the people; soon there would be more to join the home of the Blessed.
----
Molly walked into Baylock's office and sat down. "J.T.?"
He looked up. "What is it Caffrey?"
"Its Lucas. He wants to see Rachel... I'm not sure what to do."
He sighed. "Its up to you Caffrey. We can't take Lucas out of the building, so she'd have to be brought here. If we do that, she would have to join Threshold."
Molly shook her head. "I don't think Lucas would appreciate that. I'll think about it."
----
Fenway was humming to an old Beatles song when Lucas woke up.
"What are you humming?" the young man asked.
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Damn music was good then..." the doctor mused.
Lucas made a face. "What's my latest Fenway?"
Fenway went over to him and picked up the chart. "Your stats are getting better... I don't know though. I'm going to keep you for awhile more. We can't tell with this mutation."
Lucas groaned. "What about Rachel?"
Fenway avoided the young man's eye, "Umm... I took it to Caffrey and for now the answer is no."
"What! I want to talk to her at least!"
Fenway shook his head. "I'm sorry but that's protocols."
"Since when did you play by the rules!"
"Since I found out that breaking them has consequences. Listen Lucas, you don't want Rachel involved in this. Just being a member of the red team is dangerous, and Caffrey's rules are correct. Don't break them like I did. I found out the hard way." Fenway turned away and walked out the door, his shoulders slumped.
----
The woman entered another room. "The elders have agreed. Phase two of the plan is to commence."
The man standing in the shadows turned. A slight smile lit his strong face. "I'll tell the others to begin, then. Tell your father that he will soon join us in this fight."
The woman nodded before turning to leave. She paused when he spoke again.
"You're only a half-blessed aren't you?"
She turned back around. "Yes sir, I'm not of age yet."
He nodded. "Ah, I see. That may change soon if you wish it to."
She smiled. "That would be nice." The woman then left the room.
Mannings stood there, and rubbed his chin. These people were strange, but of course most cults were.
----
Fenway was humming to himself again, now standing on the roof of the Threshold building. He could see forever from here. he hummed the song he had danced to at his first wedding. Nigel stopped when he realized he was doing it again. Hell it'd been years since he'd thought about that song. It was ironic that his favorite song shared its name with his first wife, Lucy.
He chuckled. maybe he wasn't so old after all... Lately it seemed he felt so young.
The doctor looked up at the stars. Hell, he had joined NASA just for them. That was foolish, considering he got car sick just from reading in a moving vehicle. It had all been worth it though. he was here now. Wasn't he?
The stars were calling him again, as was Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.
----
Harper entered the store. he walked along the aisle appearing as normal as possible. A young woman accidently brushed against him. "Oh I am so sorry," he said. She looked up and he smiled. She nodded, going on her own way, but there was a slight recognition in her eyes. She shook her head as she went on; he breathed a sigh of relief.
So far so good. He finally found what he was looking for; the canned food aisle. He took a few items from his jacket after checking to see if anyone was looking or if there was cameras. Of course there were none in this aisle. It wouldn't be worth the price of the tape, considering the price of canned foods.
He took out the green bean cans and stuck them in front of the other cans. They would be snapped up first because they weren't dented and they looked new.
On the way out he picked up a few groceries and stood in line for a few moments. The cashier, another pretty, young woman, smiled at him as she rang up his purchases. He soon left, but the woman didn't forget his face.
----
The man walked down the aisles, reading the list as he went. "Milk, check." he muttered to himself. He squinted to read his wive's handwriting. When he realized that there was no way he could read the chicken scratch, he called his wife on his cell. "Honey, what's on your list after milk?"
His wife, whom was on bed rest, laughed. "Still can't read my lists after all these years?"
"Uh-huh. Sorry, hon."
"Its canned foods, green beans, peas, corn, and the such. Just pick up cans that aren't dented this time. Alright?"
"Okay. I'll do so. Love ya, see you tonight." He hung up his phone and went to do the rest of the shopping.
----
"I think we got another outbreak!" Ramsey shouted running into Fenway's lab.
Fenway's head shot up; he'd been napping again on the job. "Huh? What?"
"There's an outbreak, Fenway, you're up."
Fenway sat up and stretched his back, creaking. "An outbreak? Another one?"
"Uh-huh. Come on old dude. You got a job to do."
"Where was the outbreak this time?"
"Here again. There were thirteen infected this time; that includes another pregnant woman."
"Another one! How was it passed this time?"
"Cans of green beans. This time it's genetically modified."
"The infected blood while the plant is growing again?"
"Yeah, just like Sonntag did."
"How do you know all this?" Fenway asked.
"Because Daphne Larson is here; Caffrey abducted her."
Fenway rolled his eyes as he strolled down the corridor with Ramsey. He entered the main meeting room seeing Caffrey talking to a slender brunette.
"Doctor Fenway, this is Doctor Larson. She'll be joining you on the medical aspects of Threshold for a little bit."
They shook hands as politely as possible. "We've met." Daphne said coldly.
Caffrey looked confused then shook her head, "Never mind, I don't want to know..." She walked out of the room and called over her shoulder, "If you're acquainted go on and get to work then."
----
"I still don't agree with your views on genetics, Larson. This is solid proof of why I don't share those ideas."
She scoffed at him. "Just because you're afraid of something doesn't mean you shouldn't experiment with it. These studies have made me a fortune because I have the guts to explore them, despite people's concerns. Otherwise I have studied this subject extensively."
Fenway snorted, "Yeah, whatever. At least when I go to bed at night, I know what I've done is right."
She glared at him. "Are we going to argue the whole time?"
He nodded. "Yes, we are. And for once I get the enjoyable experience to be the one briefing you."
"You don't need to. Caffrey gave me the info already."
Fenway growled. "Of course she did..."
----
Cavennaugh entered the local grocery store where the cans of beans had been purchased. He walked up to a young woman surrounded by cops. "You're the cashier that was manning the store? Did you see any of these men?" He handed her a few pictures of Captain Manning, Harper, and Janklow.
She studied the photos for a minute. "I think I saw him." She pointed down at Harper.
He nodded. "Where's the canned food aisle?"
The confused cashier pointed to the aisle. "What's all the fuss about?"
"Nothing madam. He's just got a warrant out for him." Cavennaugh walked back there, motioning for one of the cops to follow him. When they reached the green beans he said quietly. "I want every can in this store pulled off the shelves and put into the big rig I got out in the parking lot. Any questions?"
The poor cop nodded. "Uh- yeah, I got several."
Cavennaugh glared and pulled out his wallet. he yanked out his Homeland Security clearance and handed it to the doubtful man. "All of them answered now?"
The man nodded rushing to do what he was told. As Cavennaugh left, he shouted over his shoulder. "Pull all the surveillance tapes as well!"
----
Fenway and Larson spent the next several hours alone in a lab together, trying not to kill each other while inspecting several hundred cans of food.
Lucas watched in amusement from his bed, ever so often snickering at the poor doctors. "Why do you two have to test every single one of those cans?"
"Because J.T. is a sadist, that's why." Fenway muttered as he opened up yet another can of corn.
Larson rolled her eyes. "I thought this was going to more action filled. You know, the exciting world of genetic engineering. Instead I have to open up a hundred cans of nasty bargain food..." She sighed.
"It could be worse..." Fenway muttered.
"How can it be any worse then this!"
"We could be shot at, infected, abducted... Need I go on?"
She rolled her eyes. "Pessimist."
"Optimist."
Lucas was watching the two growl at each other. "You two didn't have a relationship or anything did you?"
"NO!" they both shouted; they sounded disgusted at that idea.
"Then why are you two arguing the whole time? Can't we all get along? You know, let's be happy!"
"Are you sure he's alright?" she said pointing at the young man.
"Oh. He's going to be like this for awhile. He's hopped up on drugs."
"That explains that." she said shuttering.
"No it doesn't. He's like that normally."
Her face blanched. "You're not serious, are you!"
----
Meanwhile, across town...
Cavennaugh was looking at a list, and it had nothing to do with who had been naughty or nice. Well, in a way maybe it did. It was the list of the people who had bought infected green beans. Not a nice list to be on at all. Twelve people had been crossed off that list, but one remained. It was his job to find the last infectee. Oh what joys of a job did J.T. manage to give him.
Currently he was walking where the young man had last been seen. It seemed to be some sort of open park area; the agent made a face. It was nice and sunny and full of cheer. Not his sort of thing at all.
Sean walked along the asphalt walks. it wasn't his sort of park at all. This park didn't have many trees. in face it just seemed to be a wide open area with lots of people in it. It was sort of like an open fairground, a place where people could congregate.
He looked back down at his picture. Nope, he hadn't seen the young man yet. He continued to walk on the steamy asphalt; it had just finished raining a hour ago. Sean looked up once more, and he saw someone familiar.
It was the possible infectee. The young man raised his head when he sensed Cavennaugh's presence. The young buck took off running, weaving through the crowd. "STOP!" Cavennaugh yelled after him before giving chase. He didn't want to risk killing the young man if he wasn't infected... He looked everywhere for a buffer to stop the shock bullets. The young man was running through a puddle of water. Cavennaugh took quick aim and fired.
The electricity pulsed throughout the water, and went into the young man. A shock just strong enough to knock him out, but not hurt him. Cavennaugh spoke into this headset. "Target acquired."
----
"That's it, we're done!" Daphne said happily.
Fenway leaned back in his chair and sighed constantly. "We can sleep!"
"No you can't." said J.T., coming in the lab with more samples of food. "We just got news of another outbreak.
Fenway and Daphne stared at the portly older man. They shook their heads, backing away from him. "Don't you even think about it. We haven't had any sleep all night. Can't you get someone else to inspect food items?" Fenway growled.
Lucas called from his bed. "Sleep is for the weak!"
Fenway twitched. He was about to say something when he decided just to bite his tongue. "Okay. J.T. if you want this batch done you have to promise me I can get some sleep in the next hour or two. Otherwise I'm going on strike."
J.T. glared at the doctors. "Are you both planning a coup d'état ?"
The doctors glared back at him, their arms crossed. "What if we are?"
"You know I could have both of you thrown in the holding cell... But then you'd get sleep. Wouldn't you? Luttwak would be proud. Alright, examine this batch then get some rest." He put the items down with a couple of files before leaving.
Fenway walked over to them, and lifted the files. "Hmm... Seems like it was a larger outbreak this time. Twenty possible infectees. All items already recovered. I wonder how they figured out it was the corn this time?"
She walked over to the cans as well, and popped one open. "Hmm... I wonder why; could it be that it has an orange cast to it?"
"Charming. And marked as a thanksgiving brand. How sweet of our alien friends to make our holidays more colorful with orange, genetically-modified corn. Why the hell would anyone eat this stuff!" he said as he sniffed it.
She shrugged. "Let's confirm it."
----
The dark-haired woman was walking once more. She was sure nothing good could come from this. "Father, we haven't put enough development into this. This is happening too fast. Without the proper precautions, it might backfire on us."
"I don't care. The chosen have requested it. Thus we do it. That is all that really matters. They know what they're doing."
She turned to look up at her father. "Have you ever considered they just might be wrong? Its not ready yet. I've oversaw the progress for the past two months. Trust me on this."
He rounded on her, glaring. "We've awaited the coming of the Chosen for the past three hundred years! We cannot mess this up; we must do what they say."
She took in a breath. "We must take the proper precautions; otherwise everything we have done will be wasted. This plant is harder to modify. It's taking more time because its more complex. We shouldn't have to move this fast..."
He raised a hand. "No more of this treachery. Get back to your lab!"
She hung her head, raven locks falling into her face. "Yes, father." she said, dejected. She then headed for her lab...
----
"We've got to catch Harper if we're going to put a stop to this!" Cavennaugh growled at Whitaker.
"Well, what's more important? Tracking down all the new infectees or tracking down the vector?" Whitaker demanded. "If you think about it, Cavennaugh, the new ones are taking orders now. Just because of sheer numbers they're more of a priority to detain!"
Cavennaugh twitched. "Well, if we don't stop Harper soon there will be even more of them!"
Both men stared each other down; neither gave up. Caffrey coughed lightly. "How about we compromise?"
"Yes Caffrey? What do you have in mind?"
"Send two teams; one to gather infectees, the other to find Harper. His last known location was that grocery store where the cashier identified him. Find him and the infection stops in its tracks, and then we can all rest..." she said longingly.
Whitaker nodded. "Go ahead then, find Harper..."
----
The woman entered the parking garage and started the car. It was now time to head to the lab. She drove for several miles, admiring the scenery. Soon these lands would be occupied by forests of glass. She sighed at that thought. She could just imagine the sound of a forest made of crystal. It would literally resonate with pings. For some odd reason she had always had a fondness for glass. She soon arrived at the green houses, parked her hybrid and entered the building.
In the doorway she reached out and touched the wall. The glass was unusually warm for this season. Typically, it would be bitter cold but it was a warm winter.
She smiled at the feel of the glass; its smoothness put her at ease as she walked in. "What are the latest results for plants?"
"They're not growing as fast as we would want. I recommend waiting, madam."
She nodded. "As I thought. They are just more complex, are they not?"
The worker nodded. "We cannot keep up with their needs. Its just not possible..."
She sighed. "Very well, continue. Just try to hurry it up a bit, even take a few shortcuts if necessary."
He nodded, then turned and left.
----
Caffrey and Cavennaugh were sitting at a table looking at a map. "Alright, this is the area where he was last seen."
She nodded. "We've got to remember that they have the tendency to disappear on us like Gunneson did..."
"Oh, great! I forgot about that." Cavennaugh rubbed his head, looking miserable. "There's no way we're going to catch him like this, is there?"
She shook her head. "May-"
She was cut off by Ramsey who had came running into the room. "Another outbreak! Its real big this time!"
"How big!"
"At least three hundred!"
"How exactly did they do this?"
"Apparently our friends have upgraded from simple product tampering and placing items on shelves. Either they hijacked a truck and injected the products with the mutation, or they've got their own company."
Cavennaugh and Caffrey exchanged looks. "Dare we ask what product was it this time?"
"Bread. Simple bread."
----
Fenway was shook. "Huh?" he said sleepily. "What is it now?" he muttered, stifling a yawn.
He saw Cavennaugh. "Another outbreak, Fenway. You gotta get up and do your doctor stuff."
"Then why didn't you wake up the other doctor! Let me sleep!" He glanced at his watch. "I HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN THREE HOURS OF SLEEP!" he shouted at the poor, secret agent man.
"Not my problem. It will be though if YOU KEEP SHOUTING IN MY EAR!"
"What's going on?" two voices chorused.
"Lucas, go back to bed! Daphne, we've got work. Again." He turned back to Cavennaugh. "Now what was the outbreak this time?"
"Three hundred people have been infected by Harpy PA Co. bread."
Fenway's mouth hung open. "Are you serious? Three hundred?" he sighed. "Let's get to work then..."
----
"Fenway, I need answers quick!" growled J.T.
The doctor glared at him before continuing. "My guess would be that it is the company. Just because the wheat was genetically modified, it was not injected with the mutation."
Ramsey rolled his eyes. "I could have told you that in a moment... The company name is an anagram for Apocrypha."
They all turned and looked at him. "WHAT!" he growled at them. "That's what I'm for aren't I? Hello? Remember me the, linguist?"
"Sorry Ramsey, we should have asked you." Caffrey said consolingly. "So there is a company out there, somewhere, that is with the infectees? That doesn't make sense..." She put her head in her hands.
"Yeah it does, Roberts acted like he really believed in that word." said Fenway. "He almost said it with a reverence, like a religion alm- Oh shit."
"What is it Fenway?"
"Almost like a cult..."
They all sat up straight, their eyes wide in disbelief. Caffrey's mouth fell open. "A cult, that knows about the aliens?"
"THAT ACTUALLY WANTS TO GET INFECTED!" Ramsey stuttered.
"Why am I not surprised..." muttered Daphne... "I get drafted into this to deal with psychos. Figures."
----
Ramsey's fingers were flying across the keyboard. "This might take awhile to find this company. It should be a legitimate company. At least that's what it looks like to me..."
"But if its legitimate, how did it get past the FDA? Its not like they let people sell bread that can make you into an alien..." Cavennaugh muttered.
"Well, I don't think bread is the FDA's top priority... Well, as long as all the ingredients are labeled correctly that is."
A result suddenly popped up. "Here we go, Harpy PA Co." He read out the summary on the front page: "To make the world a different place, using science to better humanity. To take the has-beens of the past, and renew them for the future..."
Cavennaugh rose an eyebrow. "You've got to be joking. This is too good to be true..."
"Hmm... Its even got an address!" Ramsey said pointing at something on the screen. "Worth looking at, muscle man?"
"Yeah, it looks worth seeing into..."
----
"So you guys have tracked down the company to Pennsylvania? And you plan to take a trip there?" asked Fenway.
"Yes," said Caffrey. "And we want you and Daphne to come along."
"With guns? And shooting? And violence? And bullets flying all over the place?" said Fenway, sounding distressed.
"Yes." said Cavennaugh. "That's exactly where we want you two to go."
"NO!" they chorused at the same time. "No way in hell!"
"You guys really have no choice. You're both going one way or another."
----
Two hours later they were on their way to Harpy, Pennsylvania. Fenway was trying to figure out how to hold his gun, which thankfully wasn't yet loaded due to Cavennaugh's quick thinking. "So you pull the trigger?"
Cavennaugh looked like he wanted to bang his head on the steering wheel. "YES! You point the gun at the bad guy and pull the trigger! Simple isn't it!"
"No!" both doctors said at the same time.
"Fenway, you seriously haven't ever held a gun!"
"No, I've never held a gun. I'm a doctor; its not my job to kill people. My job is to help people get better, not send them to a hospital in the first place."
Daphne nodded. "I agree with him! Do we really have to do this?"
"YES!" Caffrey and Cavennaugh said at the same time. "Great, we're turning into them!" growled Sean.
"Listen, we need you two! We can't tell if food is being genetically modified or not!" Caffrey said.
----
They were sneaking around premises in the dark. Fenway was one grumpy doctor, and so was Larson. It wasn't everyday that they played secret agent man, and neither of them liked it.
"There's nothing here except empty buildings!" growled Fenway.
"There has to be something here!" Cavennaugh muttered.
"This is creepy!" whispered Daphne.
Fenway nodded. "Yeah, it is..."
They explored the grounds, not knowing they were being watched...
----
They finally decided to wait and see if anyone came into an abandoned parking garage. They sat there quietly in the dark, waiting for something... anything... Daphne and Fenway had dozed off where they were sitting, and Molly was close to doing so as well.
Cavennaugh heard something coming. He poked Molly as he saw headlights appear from around the corner. The hybrid parked and a man got out. Cavennaugh quietly snuck behind the man and grabbed him. The man struggled for only a few moments before realizing the futility of trying to get away.
They drug the man into the SUV. Caffrey hopped into the driver's seat and really took off. Fenway and Daphne just watched, eyes wide, as Cavennaugh started to interrogate the poor man.
"Where is Apocrypha hiding!" He shoved the barrel of his gun to the terrified man's stomach.
The man stuttered, "I- I don't know what you're talking about!"
Fenway rolled his eyes. "Wrong thing to say, buddy. That just sets him off..."
Cavennaugh now shoved the gun into the man stomach, hard. "Stop messing around!"
"Ok-kay... Ummm... Its down the road! That way!" The man pointed down the road.
----
They pulled into the parking lot in front of the green house a few minutes later. "This better not be a trick!" growled Cavennaugh who was doing his best to look intimidating.
"I- It's not!"
Fenway rose an eyebrow and exchanged looks with Larson. "Can we stay out here, perhaps?"
Cavennaugh nodded. "Caffrey, you stay too!"
----
He entered into the darkened greenhouse; greenery was everywhere. He felt the warm moist air hit his face as he entered. Sean looked around, while waiting for his eyes to adjust to the night. After several minutes of surveilling the area, his eyes were finally adjusted. Sean started to walk quietly. He put his feet down as carefully as possible. Each time he moved his feet he felt around for anything that might just break or make noise. It was slow going but it worked.
The agent walked throughout the greenhouse as quiet as a mouse. He looked at the plants as he went by; they seemed... Different. Not the sort of plants that Sonntag had been growing, but they weren't terran by his standards either. They grew strangely. Plants that would have been drooping slightly stood stick-straight without help. Cavennaugh looked around. Something wasn't right here. It was like they were growing almost every type of vegetable possible with the mutation... He shuddered, but that wasn't the feeling he was getting.
Sean was the type of person who no one could scare. Yet, for some strange reason it felt as if someone was walking on his grave. It was that instinct, a soldier's instinct, that had kept him alive for all these years. He swirled his head around quickly, his eyes seeking the enemy he knew to be there. There was no one, though; he shook his head and attributed the creepy feeling to paranoia.
He went back to examining the plants. 'It might be best to film them now.' he thought to himself, taking out the small camcorder. He switched it on night vision, and started to film them. Sean avoided the light of view port, knowing it would ruin his sight. He decided to keep it in his peripheral vision. He quietly walked along the path, filming the strange plants for the doctors, but avoiding touching the plants. Suddenly he felt a wisp of wind hit him. His head jerked up again. Once more he attributed it to his own fears.
Cavennaugh continued to walk down the path. He paused to examine the corn plants. They were straighter then any maize he'd ever seen. He noticed that the leaves didn't look to be soft. They looked like they would be smooth to the touch, and probably rigid as well. He blew at them; normal corn plants would have at least swayed a fraction of an inch or two. Instead these plants did not stray at all from where they stood, standing still against his heavy breath. He shook his head.
"Snap!" his head swirled. Now he was sure he wasn't alone. He heard footsteps running in one direction, away from him. All caution forgotten, Cavennaugh started to run that way. Suddenly, he tripped over something. Sean managed to catch himself. He looked down at what he fell over. His eyes widened when he realized just what he had tripped over. Whatever it was it had a timer with less then thirty seconds on it. It didn't take much for him to decide to quit his chase of the unknown suspect. He started to run towards the nearest exit, but then he realized that his time was almost up. Instead he threw himself through the glass wall as the bomb went off, spilling fire into the sky...
----
Caffrey's head snapped about when she heard the explosion. The man dived out of the SUV as fast as possible, running into the nearby woods. She started to chase after him, but stopped when she thought about Cavennaugh.
She looked and saw him laying on the ground; shards of glass reflecting the flames surrounded him.
Fenway got out of the SUV as well, closing the door behind him so Daphne wouldn't leave. "I'll see to him, just help me get him into the vehicle!"
She did so, before gunfire erupted nearby. They heard Larson gasp. "Oh my god, they're shooting at us!" They rushed toward the SUV as fast as possible as the bullets missed them by mere inches. Daphne threw open the door as Fenway and Caffrey tossed the large man into the vehicle. Daphne crawled into the driver's seat, and the moment everyone was in the car, they took off.
"We have to handle this now! We must stop Apocrypha, while we still have a chance!" Molly cried out.
"Its not worth Cavennaugh's life right now!" growled Fenway. "Is it?"
"Plus, I think they put a stint into their own operations."
She drove madly trying to get further away from the explosion; she heard fire trucks coming. Daphne pulled over on the side of the road as they ripped by. She then took off again, her eyes more on the rear-view mirror then anything else.
She drove as fast as possible, but not fast enough. Soon she noticed headlights rounding corners, coming for them. Larson put her foot harder down on the accelerator, but nothing helped. She had already been pushing the car to its limits; it would not go any faster. "Damn SUV!" She hit the wheel.
Fenway looked up, his eyes wide. "Let Caffrey get behind the wheel!"
"No, I'm fine!" Then they heard gunfire again. The car behind them pushed closer. Caffrey grabbed out her phone, calling for backup.
"Where are you guys? I thought I told you to stay within a five mile radius!"
"We're on the way!"
Daphne swerved as the car tried to ram the back of the SUV. "How stupid are these people!" she demanded. "For them to think they could actually ram this monster off the road!"
Bullets hit the SUV several times. Fenway and Caffrey ducked as hot lead pelleted the back seats. Molly bit back her screams, as did Fenway with his curses. Caffrey stood up suddenly. Fenway reached up to jerk her back down. "ARE YOU CRAZY!"
She shook his hand off her pants, and lifted her gun, firing back. The bullets took out the remaining glass in the back, and hit the car behind them. It had hardly any effect. "Hand me Cavennaugh's gun!"
Fenway passed her the gun with the electric shells. She took aimed and fired. The car pulsated momentarily with electricity causing the drivers to suddenly stop in confusion. Another car joined the SUV, leaving the Apocrypha organization behind...
----
The raven haired woman watched the elders in an uproar. Never had the organization came this close to being fully discovered. "I told you we were moving to fast, but you never listen to me, do you." She looked down at her watch, it was time... "I have to go now father, to see if anything remains for my work." She left the room of the elders to themselves...
She walked once more out of the room. She had been right, again. Why did they never listen to her? She wasn't some silly child who knew nothing of the world... After all, she was her father's daughter was she not? And she would follow in his footsteps, just like they wanted. But why then did they still not listen? She sighed as she walked the soon to the destroyed halls of the Apocrypha...
----
to be continued...