Chapter 13 - Still unknown

Leon trudged up the side of the forested mountain puffing slightly – the air was thinner and he'd been pushing himself as hard as he could without risking exhaustion. He was keen to reach their target as soon as possible, but the helicopter had to set him down at the base in case they were alerted to his presence and went on the defensive…or disappeared. His objective was to make contact with a doctor who had been involved in a research programme that Angela's would-be Special Forces kidnapper had been a part of. Following a series of unusual and suspicious events – including the team going MIA - they had become a recluse and retreated to this mountain. While the S.R.T. were currently holding a few of the SF team in a cell for interrogation, they didn't have much information on them. Being able to find out more would probably put him in Angela's commanding officer's good books and hopefully make him more conducive to working together…which he needed. There was definitely something going on and they had to try to stop this before it even started. Hopefully the good doctor would be obliging.

It was day three of his trek and even though he was already ahead of his schedule despite the steep and rugged terrain he wondered, not for the first time in his career, why he never got a mission that required being on a beach or…diving. As his thoughts strayed back to Angela, as it often did nowadays, a glint of light in the hill in front of him caught his attention. Looking closer he could tell that there seemed to be something artificial about the landscape in front of him, but it was so well camouflaged he would never have been able to find it from the air. With Step One accomplished (find the Doctor), Step Two, don't get killed by them might be a bit trickier…

"Well Dr Shultz, I have to say thanks for not setting the hounds on me when you saw me coming up."

"…I wanted to. I thought that McIntyre had finally decided to tie up the last loose end…but then I realised he wouldn't have sent just one man trekking all the way up here, not when he has his minions at his disposal."

"McIntyre, your deceased colleague? And do you mean the Special Forces team?"

"Yes…but anybody who knew him didn't believe he died. Not sure if there's anyone else beside myself who's still alive to be honest, but I don't intend to find out…"

"Could you tell me more about Dr McIntyre and the programme?" The most Leon was able to get was a death certificate for Dr McIntyre, who had been running the research programme with the SF team. He'd been killed in a lab fire shortly after being dismissed from his role, but even more interesting was the fact that a few weeks after the doctor's death, the SF team went MIA. Out of the entire research team, Dr Shultz had been the only living member that they could tie to the programme and the team.

"McIntyre….was a frightening man. When I think back, I realise he was a psychopath, but he could come across as very charming, and he used that to fool us all as to what he was really doing. He didn't have any remorse or guilt and had a blatant disregard for people. He had no ethical compass at all…and it only took the death of Dr…Dr Lee for me to realise it. He never approved of McIntyre's methods or his goals. The rest of us were a little too afraid to be so obvious in our disapproval, but he was brave and believed that the board would do the right thing and disqualify McIntyre if they had the evidence. Before anything could happen, he died after his car had a mechanical failure and crashed. They say it was because he had gambling debts…but I knew Michael! He definitely wasn't a gambler. He was earnest and honourable and wanted to speak out about McIntyre's inhuman actions…"

"What…exactly was McIntyre doing that drove Dr Lee to speak out?"

"He was running an experimental human enhancement trial with a group of SF that had volunteered for the programme. Our drug had been successful in the lab and we needed to move on to testing on human subjects. What we didn't realise was that McIntyre was running additional trials in parallel…he was infecting civilians with the T-virus and trialling our drug on them…to see if he could control them! I don't know how he got hold of it in the first place, but it's not like he cared for rules, or people – he was cruel and sadistic and probably enjoyed the entire thing. In the end, I'm pretty sure that the board had an inkling of what he was doing and were actively ignoring his methods in favour of what they wanted accomplished. When the fire happened…we all thought it was too convenient. He was the only one in the lab and the flames had been so intense that there was no way of identifying him…so we just had to assume from the entry records it was him. I feared the fact that he may still be alive and that's what drove me to leave my job and isolate myself here. I thought I would be safe here, but you managed to find me…and if you did, that means someone else eventually will too. I've been too afraid to try and speak out about what happened, but I can't just let this information sit with me and gather dust…take everything I've got on the programme and get out of here. And make sure those civilians get justice."

Angela shivered beneath the layers of bedding; she would have winced if she had had the energy for it, but muscle pains weren't the worst of it right now. She was short of breath and just breathing exacerbated the stabbing pain she felt in her chest. Her mind was so foggy that she couldn't be sure who was with her in her room, but she knew there was someone because they were there to help her drink and eat. A week in that blurry state, but she was glad when she started improving in the second. She could see who was helping her and when she realised that she hadn't seen Leon for several days, she began to feel uneasy. She was sure he had stopped by at least once during that first week but where was he now? Part of her thought maybe he had left her again…before anything really had a chance to start. She guessed it would spare them both the pain if he wasn't going to stick around. Maybe he was on another mission, but if something happened to him, would she ever know? Or maybe…he never really cared the same way that she did or she misread his concern.

She was plagued by these thoughts for a few nights and days, until something made her wake up in the middle of the night. Looking around as best she could in her weakened state she noticed someone asleep in the armchair next to her bed. She couldn't make out the figure too well, but instinctively she knew it was him. A weight that she hadn't realised was there was lifted – he was alright, he was with her and he cared. He looked absolutely tired, but not wanting to disturb him when he'd already fallen asleep she just gently held the hand that lay on top of her bed covers before falling back to sleep.

Leon woke up groggily as the light started filtering into the room. He'd slept deeply for a whole 8 hours, but rushing through the nights during his trek meant that he had been pretty exhausted by the end of it (not to mention he had already been sleep deprived before going on his mission). Overall he wasn't sure how well the mission had turned out – he had a lead…who was dead; some good data and information from the Doctor…but no samples of what they were testing; Angela was doing much better…but she still laboured with her breathing. He didn't quite feel like he was winning right now and looking at her the sweat gathering on her brow, it looked like she still had a fever. He got up to get a cool damp cloth to help wipe away the sweat from her brow and neck and remembered he was covered in sweat too…and mud and the odd twig. Guessing that she wouldn't be getting up any time soon, he silently padded over to the bathroom – he dealt with her first before deciding a nice hot shower would be just the thing to soothe his aching muscles.

Finishing up with his shower and putting on some fresh clothes, he headed back into Angela's room and found her awake. It was the first time he'd seen her really up and semi-alert since the dock and it was a relief to see her warm smile as she looked at him.

"You're a sight for sore eyes this morning." She said looking at him warmly as she slowly propped herself up a bit more on her pillows to look at him.

He smiled and walked over in a few long strides and sat down next to her, "How are you feeling?"

"Well it doesn't feel like someone's stabbing me in the lungs anymore, but I still feel like I've been put through a washing machine…Any leads on the investigation?" She really just wanted to ask him where he had been, but where Leon was concerned she found she was very unsure of where she stood.

"Considering it involved a 5 day hike up a rocky mountain I don't know if I could call it worthwhile! Our lead is a Doctor who supposedly died in a lab fire. While I do believe his old colleague, who isn't convinced he's dead, we have no other leads apart from our special guests …"

"They're going to be really tough cases to crack Leon. They've been interrogating them for the past few days, but for all the reaction and response they're getting they'd be better off talking to a brick wall!"

"Hm. I think we're going to need some heavy hitters involved with this. While I'm at it, I'm going to have to meet with your commanding officer. We don't have time to waste, not if the T-virus is involved…and I suspect it is."

"…it's more serious than just the T-virus Leon. They're using…the G-virus too…" Leon looked shocked and looked like he needed clarification so she pointed him towards her dresser. "Top left drawer, there's a brown manila folder…which you should see."

As Leon opened the folder and looked at the contents, she could see him shaking slightly with fury. "Why didn't you tell me about this earlier Angela?" Leon asked her as he continued to look at the pictures.

Angela was a bit taken aback by the accusatory tone in his voice, "You mean when I was drowning, or when you weren't here?"

"Angela…"

"You didn't exactly leave a number, Leon. I tried to find some way to contact you, but because of my history and our team's reputation they outright ignored us. We couldn't just carelessly release that information into the public…cause widespread panic and terror when we had no concrete proof that this was recent or even occurring here. We had to take matters into our own hands - that included putting our lives on the line, or did you forget the fact that two members of my team are out of action for several weeks as a result of their injuries and that I nearly drowned?" she was upset by what he had implied…and it's not like he left her with a way to contact him.

"I'm sorry Angela, I'm so used to dealing with people who aren't actually on the same side…I forgot who I was talking to for a moment and let my anger at the situation get the better of me."

"When I got those photos…I really needed someone else who knew what I went through. I just couldn't believe it. I never thought I'd ever have to deal with the T-virus again…and it could be so much bigger than Harvardville. Does that mean I'd have to 'shoot them in the head again'? I just can't bring myself to do it, use a kill shot on them. They were people once. How do you reconcile that with the fact that maybe somewhere down the line that this could be reversed? And then the nightmares…coming across infected, shooting them in the head and then realising that I've just murdered a living person. Seeing the last thing I remember of my brother on those photos…it terrifies me Leon, knowing that someone else may one day have to watch their loved ones turn into one of those…"

"I'm so sorry Angela" he said sitting on the edge of her bed. She wasn't crying, but she held herself tightly as she looked at the far wall. He knew what she was looking at, the picture of her together with Curtis and his family. Was she imagining their faces decomposed and bloody, Curtis as an unrecognisable monster? Slowly lifting his hand he touched the side of her cheek and gently drew her to look at him as he slowly moved forward. Their lips touched tentatively, another gentle brush against her soft lips before hers parted and they poured their feelings into each other. It was tender and passionate and communicated a need for each other that he hadn't felt before. It wasn't long, however, before they parted. Angela needed to stop for air and he was surprised by his emotions that he didn't continue. They were silent for several moments as they looked at each other, but one of the photographs fluttering to the floor broke their attention.

Bending to pick it up and put it back in the folder Leon could feel a familiar bleak thought raise its ugly head, a thought of never-ending plague, "Do you have any clues at all as to who dropped off the photos?"

"None. The building CCTV and street footage don't show their face at all. I haven't received anything since then, but if they're on the inside I'm sure they're feeling the heat we're putting on them all…"

"I don't want to leave you alone right now…but we need answers and I think it's time to crank the heat up even more. I'll be back in a few hours…get some rest…" he gave her hand a quick squeeze as he got up, but they didn't break contact for a few moments. There were unfinished words between them - something had changed. They could feel it, but neither one wanted to put a voice to it.