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Chapter thirteen
When they arrived back at the base, Modo drove right inside. "We need a medic!", he yelled. There was immediately action. Two nurses ran to Modo's bike and did a quick exam on Gaya. She was still unconscious and bleeding bad from a wound on her head.
"We need to stitch that wound and stop the bleeding. Go get a brancard!" The other nurse ran away to get it. Modo had a worried look on his face. "Is she gonna be okay?", he asked. The nurse shrugged. "Who knows? Only time will tell."
Any other people would have called the nurse insensitive, thinking she didn't care. But in times of war, you needed to protect yourself. Keeping your distance. Otherwise it would destroy you. But Modo knew. He looked sad when they took Gaya away to the medic room.
"You alright, big fella?", Throttle asked, while laying a hand on his shoulder.
Modo nodded. "Yeah… What happened out there? Why did they follow us? And why didn't we notice?"
Throttle was rubbing his chin, deep in thoughts.
"I don't know… I think we found something big, something they want to keep secret. Something they are protecting so well, that they'd only sended two buggies after us, to make sure the building stayed good secured."
Modo looked at him. "So, I guess we are going to find out what it is they hide? And destroy it?"
"Bingo. But we need a good plan. First step, finding out what is inside that building."
Vinnie joined them, a little upset because Gaya got hurt under his watch. "Hey bro's, maybe Jake still have those documents on his computer. Better found out soon what the plan is, so we can pound that slimy fish faces for what they did to Gaya!" He slammed his fist into his other hand.
"Patience, Vinnie my man, patience. First things first. Go get Jake and meet us in Carbine's office", Throttle said, still with a thoughtful frown on his face.
Moments later, Throttle, Modo, Vinnie, Jake and Stoker sat with Carbine in her office. Everybody had a sad look on their faces because of what happened. Gaya was wounded, how bad they still didn't know, and they'd lost another soldier. Even Vinnie knew this wasn't the time for fooling around. No. It was payback time.
Carbine sighed. "Well… I think we all agree that our first priority is finding out what is going on in that building. Jake, please tell me you have something."
Jake looked at his computer.
"Well, I've found some documents that tells us there are about a 100 prisoners. They run experiments on them. By the looks of things, they are testing with some kind of virus, called Inferno." Jake swallowed. "I really don't wanna tell all the details, because it's disgusting. Very disturbing. The Plutarkians are sick people, that's for sure now. I think it's safe to say that the virus kills people, very slowly and very painful. They inject it into the test subjects, which are the prisoners."
Everybody in the room held their breath. A virus? How can you fight something that small, but so deadly?
"We need to make sure they don't get the chance to spread that virus", Throttle said.
Carbine nodded. "Yes, but how?"
Vinnie rolled his eyes, everyone in here was missing the obvious.
"Well, what about blowing up the building? Destroy everything in sight, including that stupid virus. Duh."
Stoker shook his head. "No, that's too dangerous. We don't know what happens if the virus comes free after we attack the building. And what about all the prisoners? We just kill them all? No. We need to know more about this virus."
Vinnie pouted, but the rest agreed with Stoker.
"As far as I can see, the virus is still in progress", Jake said while scanning through the documents. "They inject it for now, but I think they wanna developpe it, so they can spread it through the air. I've found some test results, saying that an infected subject… Wait, what?" Jake looked confused and readed the line again. "An infected subject bit an healthy one and infected him. Why would he bite another prisoner?", Jake wondered out loud.
Modo suddenly got an idea. "Yo, bro's! Remember that story Charley told us about her dog? He got sick and went all crazy and stuff. They had no choice to put him down. It was some kind of virus, very dangerous. What was is called? I can't remember…"
Throttle thought about it. "I can't remember either…"
"Rabies", Vinnie said, like he was stating the obvious. Everybody stared at him.
"What? Why are you guys looking at me like that?"
Carbine smiled. "It's just… It's weird to hear you say something that actually makes sense." The rest of the group broke out in laughter, glad to have a little moment to break the tension.
"Well, at least I have listened to Ch… Charley's stories!", Vinnie said, his ears drooping by saying Charley's name for the first time in weeks. The laughing stopped immediately.
"You're right Vinnie, I'm sorry", Carbine said and then looked at Jake.
"Can you find something about this… rabies?"
"Already on it!", Jake said, busy typing on his computer.
"Ah, here it is. Rabies is an virus from Earth. It's very deadly, and no cure. It spreads by blood and saliva. First, it feels like you have a fever, with shivers, vomiting and headache. At a later stage, hyperactivity, neck stiffness, muscle spasms and paralysis occur. Eventually, complications such as swallowing and breathing problems can lead to death. Animals can also show aggressive behaviour."
There was a long silence, which was broken by Stoker.
"Knowing the Plutarkians, they will exploit the aggressive part off the virus. To make spreading easier."
"So, if they can't spread it through the air…", Modo said slowly.
"Then they will make sure it is spreaded by our own people", Throttle finished firmly.
"Oh my…", Carbine looked unsure, something that didn't happen fast. "We need to find a way to stop them!"
Nobody said something, all in shock from the latest developments.
"Jake, can you find out in what stage they are with developing the virus?", Throttle asked, breaking the silence.
"By the looks of things, early stage."
Throttle nodded. "Good, that will give us some time to think about what to do to stop them."
"I agree, but they know we saw the building. The chances are they will speed up their work. Or maybe they will spread it before it's even finished. I assume that, even in this stage, the virus is deadly enough to cause some real damage!"
Vinnie stood up with a dark look on his face.
"Well, then I suggest we come up with an idea as fast as possible. Otherwise, Mars is done. Along with everybody and everything that's left on it…"
Cliffhanger! Muawahaha! Please review! :)