Ch. 14 - Puppets
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"Captain Slattery!" Danny jogged down the corridor after the man, ducking to avoid the large table being lugged towards command. At times the twists and turns of the underground bunker reminded him of a ship, an oddly comforting feeling after so long on land.
Slattery turned, folding his arms, his face less than inviting. "Green."
"I heard you were looking for volunteers for a trip outside the gate, sir."
If possible, Slattery's face grew even less welcoming. "You're on leave, Danny. I told you two weeks. It's been what, eight days? Go spend time with your wife and kid."
"Kara's still working on making sure everyone has assigned housing. And shower times. And meal times. And..."
Slattery held up a hand. "I get the point. Fine. What about your daughter?"
"If I have to glue another popsicle stick onto a piece of green fuzz and talk like a frog I might lose my mind," Danny admitted.
That drew a chuckle. "Believe it or not, someday you'll miss those days. Puppets sound good in comparison to boyfriends."
Silence fell between the two men and Danny held his breath, praying that Slattery would relent on his decree that Danny take two full weeks leave. After eight days of helping Kara with logistics, playing with Frankie, having conversations of varying awkwardness with Eddie, sparring with Wolf, and being slaughtered by Carlton repeatedly at chess, Danny couldn't stand the thought of staying still for another moment - as his ninety minute run through the corridors at 0500 that morning attested. After years of constant motion, the need to do something - anything - was becoming overpowering.
"Doctor Tophet mentioned that you came by to see her," Slattery finally commented, his tone revealing nothing of what else Kelly might have said.
Danny nodded. "Every day this week, sir."
A flicker of surprise crossed Slattery's face and Danny wondered, once again, how much Kelly shared with his commanding officers. Technically Kelly was a civilian, so under no obligation to tell Captains Chandler and Slattery anything at all, but in this new world order, few of the old world rules still applied.
"I'll make you a deal, Green. I'm going to swing by Doctor Tophet's office and see what she thinks. If she says that you're good to go, you're on the team." Michael Slattery was no shrinking violet, and his time as the XO of the Nathan James gave him an impressive ability to pin a man down with only his eyes, a skill that he was currently employing quite effectively. "But if I find out that you are bullshitting me about those sessions, your leave is extended to a month. Kapish?"
Danny nodded, thanking his lucky stars that he had in fact been to see Kelly every day that week. It might have been out of boredom more than any desire to work through his trauma as Kelly would say, and the conversations might have focused more on the loss of television than the loss of civilization - man he missed football - but Slattery didn't need to know that. Hopefully Kelly would vouch for him and Danny would get back to doing what he did best. Whatever that might be. "Thank you, sir."
With little else to do - even Eddie's schedule was busier, between doctor's appointments and the physical therapy exercises that Doctor Scott suggested - Danny made his way to the small room that had been transformed into the new off-duty lounge. It had been years since Danny had time to play cards, as his mortifying loss to Diaz two days prior demonstrated quite clearly, but there was usually someone around. Which was a good thing. Because if there was one thing that the last eight days had taught him, it was that being alone sucked.
Being alone meant thinking. Thinking about the past. Thinking about the people he lost. Thinking about the people he killed. Thinking about the people he sent on missions who never returned. Thinking about every decision he made over the last four years and questioning each one.
If only he did this instead.
If only he didn't do that.
If only...
A thousand ways to save Benz, to save Alisha, to save Debbie, to save Smith.
A thousand times he made the wrong choice.
If only...
If only...
If only...
Yanking open the door to the lounge, desperate for a distraction, Danny took one step over the threshold and froze at the sight of Kenneth Tex Nolan. If there was one thing that was worse than listening to his own thoughts, it was listening to that guy babble. Danny wasn't sure exactly what about the man irritated him. There were the obvious reasons, of course, like Tex checking out Kara's ass within a minute of meeting her. But given that most of the guys here had done the same at some point or another, that didn't really explain Danny's particular aversion to Tex.
Unfortunately, before Danny could backtrack, Tex caught sight of him. "Ah, Commander Green. Come to give us more of your hard earned cash?"
Since cash was entirely useless in their current situation, the loss of five hundred bucks meant exactly nothing - except for the massive dent in Danny's pride. But, of course, there was no way he was leaving now. That would look like he was running away.
Danny settled himself across from Carl Nishioka, between Ray and Tex. "Don't you wish. Ready to empty your wallet, old man?"
It took all of thirty seconds for Danny to realize that he hadn't stumbled onto a usual mid-morning card game.
"So Ray," Tex shuffled the cards like a pro, the movement of his hands hypnotizing, "you seem to know a lot about poker. You a gambling man?"
"No...not really, I mean, I don't play often, not really, sir."
Across the table, Carl rolled his eyes at Ray's stumbling answer, and Danny abruptly recalled what Mike Slattery said about puppets not being so bad. That had to be better than watching Tex verbally pulverize his daughter's boyfriend. Picking up his cards, Danny knew he didn't stand a chance. Talk about a shit hand. "Ray plays a fair game. Guy needs to do something to keep himself awake on the overnight shift."
Danny could almost hear the sigh of relief from the kid. Tex, on the other hand, continued his less-than-subtle interrogation without a pause. "How long have you and my Katie been seeing each other?"
The emphasis on my was unmistakable. For the briefest of instants, Danny considered the advantages of not having any inlaws, a thought he immediately dismissed, horrified that it even occurred to him. What was it he said to Kelly just that morning?
"I should have gone back. Sent Kara and Frankie on to the rally point and gone back."
"So why didn't you?" Kelly asked, as always not looking at him, too busy cutting leaves from colored paper for a project at the school.
"I didn't want to leave them."
"So you made a choice. Sacrifice your mother-in-law to save your wife and child."
"No!" The word burst out, but Kelly didn't seem to notice, the scissors never wavering. "I thought she just fell behind. That she was with another group. That she would catch up."
"And when did you realize that she was gone?"
Danny paused, sorting through memories of that day, all colored by time and regret. "We were at the rally point, a couple hours later. Kara was still holding Frankie and I asked her where Debbie was. She never arrived."
Kara's eyes, the unshed tears. She had known. Even as she told Danny not to worry, Kara had known that Debbie was gone for good.
"Did you go look for Debbie?"
Danny scowled at Kelly. She knew perfectly well that once at the rally point, nobody left, not until it was time to move out. There was too much risk otherwise, that an Immune might sneak in. Once you made it through the checkpoints, you didn't leave."You know that's not protocol."
"I know," Kelly replied, her head finally lifting. "What I don't know, Danny, is what you think that you did wrong."
"Your turn, Commander." Danny was snapped back to the present by Ray's subdued voice.
Danny looked at his hand. Still shit. "Raise you ten."
Tex tossed a ten dollar bill into the small pile on the center of the table. "Got my room assignment yesterday. Little bit small but just needs a little bit of paint. And plenty of room for Katie."
Ray began sputtering, attempting to cover the sound with a cough. Everyone knew that Kat and Ray had been living together for at least a year and Danny was pretty sure he saw Kara assign the lovebirds joint quarters.
"Where are you set up, Tex?" Danny asked.
"Block E," Tex replied, confirming Danny's suspicions. Block E was filled with small rooms, assigned almost exclusively to single men.
"You're on Block G, right Diaz?" Block G was filed with young couples, Kara's attempt to keep discord to a minimum by keeping the teenagers - and their noise - away from those who were less than tolerant of the younger set.
"Yes, sir."
"How about you, Green? Figure with your wife in charge you've probably got a pretty nice suite." Tex chuckled, ignoring Danny's narrowed eyes. He and Kara, along with Carlton and Ravit and most of the senior officers, including Nishioka, were on Block H.
"Block H."
"Ah, with the Commodore. He said it's quiet, families for the most part. Not really my cup of tea. Guess that's probably why your wife put me in party central." Tex paused, and Danny made a note not to underestimated the man. Apparently Tex knew damn well that his quarters were designed for one. "Only thing that would make it better is if I was closer to that doctor of yours. Damn. That woman is a looker."
"If you go for the Ice Queen thing," Danny replied, shrugging. Noticing that Ray had quietly folded, Danny wondered when the kid would make a break for the door. "Tell us a little bit about you, Tex."
"I'm an open book." Tex grinned, leaning back in this chair until two legs were off the floor. "What do you want to know?"
"Where were you when the world to hell?" It wasn't a question that Danny normally would ask, as evidenced by the shock on Diaz's face, but Tex deserved a little razzing after his earlier performance.
Besides, it wasn't as it Tex was rattled. "Little bit here, a little bit of there. Started my time off in Cuba."
"Gitmo?" Danny asked, dropping a card casually and wondering how long he could nurse his hand along.
"Yup. Bunch of those bastards tried to take me and my crew out. Managed to fight them off long enough to grab a sailboat, get ourselves out of there. It was a long trip to Florida, I'll tell you that."
Ray stared at the other man, mouth falling open. "You sailed from Cuba?"
Tex snorted. "Don't act so surprised, kid. How do you think your grandparents got here? If they could make it, figured I could do the same."
"So what happened once you hit Florida?" Danny asked, genuinely curious.
"Went looking for Katie and her mom, Claire. Only found Claire. Thank God Katie wasn't there. Those bastards. She never stood a chance."
"That what you were doing the past couple of years, taking care of them?" There was no judgment in Danny's voice. Were the situations reversed, it was what he would have done.
But Tex surprised him. "Nah, Red Flu took care of them for me. But by the time I tracked them done, I had run into the Ramseys and their looney-tune followers. Once I found out that they were taking out military bases for fun, I had to make sure that they wouldn't find this place. I was just about done when I ran into Captain Chandler. And there you have it, Kevin Bacon and the seven degrees of separation."
Even Ray was chuckling when Slattery stuck his head through the door. "Green, just the man I was looking for. Your request is approved. Nolan there volunteered to go as well. And take Taylor with you."
"You sure that Doctor of yours doesn't want to come along as well?" Tex wheedled.
Damn. Of all of the people that Danny didn't want to spend time with...
"No." Slattery was clearly not amused. He tossed a laminated paper across the room. Spreading it across the table, Danny could see several places marked with an X. All in Immune territory. "We've cleaned out everything north of here, but Doctor Scott suggested a few hospitals that might have ethanol. Hit as many as you can."
"How much of this stuff do we need?" Danny asked, refolding the map and putting it in his pocket.
"As much as you can find," Slattery replied. "Takes the bikes. That way you can carry more. Once we have a stockpile, Captain Chandler wants to start setting up distribution sites."
Danny raised an eyebrow. This was the first he had heard of extending the cure beyond the limits of the camp. "Distribution sites?"
"It was Kara's idea actually," Nishioka chimed in. "She thought it might help sway public favor towards us and undermine the Ramseys. They might be claiming to speak for the President, but if we can get people the cure, we might just have ourselves a revolution."
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A revolution.
Danny was still seething two nights later as he, Wolf and Tex closed in on the fifth location on Doctor Scott's map. While they were able to locate ethanol at two of the prior hospitals, it was nowhere near the quantity that they would need to start vaccinating the public.
Why hadn't Kara told him what she was planning?
Of course her answer, the one she gave during their whispered fight the night before he left, the kind designed not to wake up the kid or alert the neighbors, made perfect sense.
She was brainstorming. It was just an idea. Nothing was final. And what was he thinking volunteering for a mission in Immune territory when he was supposed to be on leave?
By the time he left the bunker, they were both angry.
"Sounds like a solid plan to me," Wolf said as he rifled through the pharmacy shelves. As with most of these places, it had been cleaned out of the most useful medications. But in a demented twist of fate, the fact that the Immunes controlled this area meant that there were fewer survivors and therefore fewer people to ransack the place.
Locating a bottle of antibiotics, Danny pocketed the bottle, not bothering to check the type or expiration date. Those pills were worth their weight in gold.
"And exactly how will that work?" he demanded. "We send out a radio broadcast and tell people where to meet us? Might as well call up the Ramseys while we're at it. The second that they find out we have a cure we'll be target number one. Again."
"So we take out the Ramsey's communication center," Wolf argued.
"A block of C4 should do it," Tex noted, sliding what looked like a bottle of booze into his bag.
"Yeah, once," Danny retorted. "With the minor complication of letting them know that we're still out here. Remember the target number one problem?"
"Then we go north, vaccinate people along the way, word of mouth style," Wolf suggested, although they all knew that it wasn't a viable option. Nishioka ran the model before they left. Without gathering people into centralized location, vaccinating the population would take years. Years of people continuing to die.
"What we need is a way to block the signal without them knowing," Danny replied, his mind going instantly to Alisha. That was the type of problem she excelled at. Figuring out a way to piggyback signals from the Arctic. Blocking their location from the Russians. Linking into the satellites before they went dark.
Tex's head snapped up. "You have people that can do that?"
"Not anymore." Every death was a blow, but Alisha's still stung, the hole she left still gaping. Danny headed towards the exit from the hospital pharmacy. "Let's check the offices too, just in case."
He was checking a fridge, having learned early on that doctors and scientists didn't have the same gag reflex as the rest of them and were not adverse to storing poisonous chemicals next to their lunch, when the slightest of scrapes alerted him to the fact that he wasn't alone. Signalling Tex, he waited until all three men were in position before moving around the desk. While the presence of rats and other small animals wasn't unusual, there was something distinctly human about this sound.
Something confirmed when the muzzle of his M16 came into contact with a head full of very human, albeit pink, hair. Reaching down, he yanked the woman out by her shoulder, taking in her torn clothing and the gas mask clutched in one hand. Civilian, then. Hiding from the Immunes? Or just looking to get high?
"Well holy shit," Tex blurted, moving to stand next to Danny. "If it isn't Valkyrie. The Ramseys' favorite puppeteer."
Valkyrie. Everyone knew that name. The creator of the Ramseys' propaganda machine. The person who turned the Nathan James crew into America's most wanted. The woman who was responsible for the destruction of every last operating CDC lab. Doctor Scott would probably kill the woman with her bare hands if she were here.
Pushing the woman roughly into the desk chair, keeping his gun on her, Danny stepped back. "Aren't you going to say anything?"
"What is there to say?" the woman spat, her eyes flashing.
"Are you Valkyerie?" Wolf demanded.
"Valerie Raymond. Otherwise known as Valkyrie. In the flesh." She pulled her worn flannel around herself, a motion that highlighted how big her clothes were on her, as thought she hadn't been eating regularly. "Just shoot me and get it over with. At least this way will be quick."
Danny exchanged glances with Tex and Wolf. "You sure this is her?"
"One hundred percent. Saw her with my own eyes, talking to the Ramseys. What happened? No longer the favorite child, sweetcakes?" Tex taunted.
Valerie tossed her matted hair over a shoulder. "If you must know, I left. Turned out that there were some things going on ... that I didn't know."
"Didn't know what?" Danny demanded harshly.
"Didn't know they were killing people!" Valerie shrieked, arms waving. "I thought we were helping! Gathering the survivors! Giving them food and supplies! I didn't know it was all contaminated!"
"Are you kidding me?" Danny's eyes bulged, staring at the woman in front of him in disbelief. "You created the damn program telling people to come to the safe zones where they were being killed!"
"I didn't know!" Valerie wailed again.
"Do you have any idea how many lives you destroyed? How many people are dead because of you?" Turning, Danny slammed a fist into the wall.
"Should I shoot her?" Wolf asked, deadpanned, and although Danny didn't think Wolf was serious, part of him wanted to say yes. Wanted to shoot her himself.
Wanted to see this miserable excuse for a human being pay for all the pain and misery that she caused.
But before Danny could make a decision, Tex made it for all of them. "I suggest a halt on the execution. Miss Raymond here might actually be the solution to our problem."