Chapter 2: In Jackson We Trust

Miami, Florida

Jackson Rippner sat motionless as he stared down at the Lux Atlantic Hotel through a pair of binoculars while waiting for something to happen. He breathed in a tired and tense breath when a mild nuisance returned. It was his stomach growling but this time even louder than before. And just as before, he ignored it diligently by sucking in his gut and shifting in his seat. He was growing tired and hungry, but neither distracted his focus from his target, until now.

He placed the binoculars on the dash-board of his car with his gaze still fixed at the hotel's front doors. After a few moments of quiet observation, he sleepily closed his eyes but opened them quickly again. To counteract the lure of sleep tugging at his nerves, he breathed in a deep and controlled breath and held it for a moment through gritted teeth. Feeling the rhythmic pounding of his heart begin to quicken against his chest, he continued holding his breath, until his lungs were suffocating. Exhaling out slowly, he sank back in his seat, while relaxing his body and feeling the air from his lungs deflate in relief. A rush of elation flowed through him and he found himself doing this act several times to heighten his awareness.

Staying alert was going to be harder than he thought but necessary if he planned on getting out of Miami in one piece. He'd been on long stake outs before but always with his back-up to relieve him, which was his hit-man Hank, aka Dog. But this time, he felt it wasn't necessary to have Hank around due to the nature of his assignment, which was more personal than professional, a decision he still stood by.

Wishing he had a strong cup of coffee, he reached for a lit cigarette sitting in the ashtray that was almost burned down to the filter, and took a long puff from it. The smoke filled his lungs, which he exhaled out through his nostrils that instantly irritated his tired eyes. He was now going on thirty-six hours of surveillance and would do every trick in the book to keep his adrenaline kicking, which was hoping the fix from the nicotine would suffice for the caffeine he craved. He was going to need it from what was now happening at the hotel.

He'd only been at the hotel for a short while since following Lisa there, when all hell seemed to break loose shortly afterwards. The local health officials and a small group of military personnel arrived wearing hazmat suits and carrying guns. He watched both groups quickly assemble their teams and race into the hotel's main lobby, looking as if they were ready to shoot first and ask questions later. The paramedics also arrived on stand-by, as well several Miami police officers, whose patrol cars blocked the streets in front of the hotel.

According to the latest news report, the authorities were stretched out thin from having to aid with the growing crisis occurring throughout the city. Humanity was unraveling by the minute, and for the first time in his life, he didn't know where his priories lie to handle the crisis at hand. He was torn between leaving Miami and saving himself, or staying and risking his life, to play out his assignment. He found himself evaluating his motives over and over to why he was in Miami in the first place, and by deciding to stay, meant changing his original plans altogether. Now he was winging it, without a clue to what was next, or even how to proceed.

Hearing a noise behind him, he quickly turned his attention to his left side and stilled his body. He scanned his eyes around the fourth floor of the parking lot he was sitting in that was across the hotel. He observed a few scattered vehicles nearby but saw no one in the vicinity. The lot seemed empty and eerily quiet, making him feel jumpy by the slightest noise, and wishing now that he had park closer to the hotel to make his observations. He didn't scare easily but was on edge by recalling several hostile incidents that happened earlier. One of them he witnessed in Lisa's neighborhood late last night.

He descretely watched from his car a domestic dispute unfold between a couple that almost turned deadly. The husband was covered in blood and completely terrified of his wife, who was acting erratic and chasing him crazily around the neighborhood. Lisa tried to step in and help the man but found herself fleeing from the belligerent woman herself, once the woman's focus and rage turned on her next. He'd already jumped out of his car to intervene but the husband was able to pin his wife to the ground before she could attack Lisa, just as the police arrived. The officers tasered the woman to subdue her and then quickly hauled the couple away. He'd almost blown his cover but still went unnoticed from being halfway down the block from Lisa's view.

Riled up from the night's events, he continued watching over her residence, while communicating with several colleagues from the company he contracted with, to discuss over the phone on what was happening. All reported the same thing, which was the growing sickness and violence occurring on the East Coast. The company was tipped earlier by an informant working with Homeland Security about the civil unrest unfolding, even before incidents were reported. The information received was vague, grim, and alluded to an unknown illness as the cause to what was plaguing the population. At first he thought it was a joke, but from listening to the local news reports and seeing the violence first hand, confirmed that the informants reports were true.

His thoughts strayed abruptly as he jumped from feeling the cigarette burn between his fingers, which he quickly smoldered in the ash tray. Irritated, he flipped on the radio, to hear an anxious voice reporting the news.

This is Lindsey Moore reporting for KXRP with the latest breaking news! We're now hearing that health officials believe an unexplained illness could be linked to the violent attacks happening on the East coast and other parts of the nation. We're also getting word from state officials that a declaration of emergency could be in effect –

Hearing the sounds of gun shots ahead of him, his grabbed the binoculars and zoomed in at the hotel's front doors. A mob of people were pouring out quickly, scattering in all directions, while screaming and stumbling over each other to make their escape.

"Shit," he murmured to himself, a little taken back to the pandemonium that he was witnessing.

He immediately focused on a familiar figure that seemed to appear out of nowhere. It was Lisa, towing a red-headed woman behind her, Cynthia he assumed, who kept looking over her shoulder and tripping on her footing from being aggressively tugged across the parking lot. He saw Lisa stop, when Cynthia fail to the ground, appearing to be injured.

Then something strange catches the corner of eyes, which he immediately focused his binoculars on. Just ahead of both women, are a group of people approaching the hotel, rather than fleeing from it. A large male drenched in blood is leading the pack while the others are trailing behind him. All look as though their staggering and dragging their bodies along, as if they've been injured in some way.

Knowing Lisa was unaware of the danger coming towards her, he jumped out of the car and quickly made his way to the trunk. Pulling out a high-powered rifle, he immediately positioned himself over the parking lot wall, and steadied the rifle for the shot he needed to take. He lifted his finger off the trigger when hearing shots being fired from a distance and focused his scope to a police officer nearby. The poor man was being overrun by two other attackers, who looked just as mangled as the group approaching Lisa.

Looking back at her, he pressed the trigger and felt the rifle immediately kick back. A bullet whizzed out of the barrel, echoing the shot around him, making his ears ring in pain. The bullet instantly hits a parked car, smashing its windows, and making Lisa stumble backwards. She stared at the shattered glass on the ground, and then finally looked up at the approaching crowd, to see that there was something aloof about them. She watched in horror as the group began attacking the fleeing people around her.

"Shit!" He saw through the scope that the large man had quickened his pace towards both women. "Run dammit," he cursed, seeing he can't take another shot without hitting Lisa in the process. As if heading his warning, she backed up in fear and moved out of his line of fire. Without hesitating, he shot again and within seconds the bullet hit the man, knocking him to the ground.

He watched Lisa stare at the man on the ground, seemingly too petrified to move. Instead of running again, she turned her attention ahead of her, looking right at the parking lot. She scanned it quickly but doesn't focus on any one particular spot, and then moves her attention on to the next building to see if the shot came from there. Horrified, she looked back down at the man on the ground to see that he's begun moving again. She pulls Cynthia up on her feet and both are quickly on the move again, running for their lives.

Hearing his cell phone ring, he yanks the phone from his pocket and takes the call, without tearing his focus from the two women.

"Jackson, it's Nick – shit man! Have you heard the news lately? Things are getting worse here in New York!"

"Same thing is happening in Florida…but you're catching me at a bad time."

"Listen! We received more intel from our inside man and he's saying the CDC hasn't publicly disclosed how bad this virus is yet - masses of people are becoming infected! We're talking highly contagious! Don't get bit or cut from anyone sick or you're fucked! If I were you, I'd forget about your 'special assignment' and get the hell out of Miami! The company has secured several of our safe houses that are away from the cities – you need to get to one of them soon! They're stock with explosives, amo, guns - ".

"Can't now - need to finish this - " Jackson interrupted, trying to catch his breath while rushing back to his vehicle. He loaded the rifle in the trunk and removed a second automatic pistol that he tucked in the back of his pants. The first one was nestled safely in his side arm holster.

"I'll head to one of our east side safe-houses…, that's if I can make it. Call me with an update again soon." Before the voice over the line could protest, Jackson hung up and jumped in his car. He revved up the engine and quickly pushed on the gas pedal, screeching the tires down each floor towards the exit.

Seeing the exit gate and no one around it, he sped up and passed the empty attendant booth, and crashed out of the parking garage. Screeching onto the street, he firmly pumped on the brakes and turned the steering wheel sharply to make a hard left, which resulted in his car to start fish tailing. He quickly leveled it out by pumping on the gas pedal again, while controlling the steering wheel to make the car go straight. He almost collided with two other vehicles in the process, and heard the sound of crashing metal, as the cars impacted each other from behind him.

Scanning the mayhem of people screaming and running in every direction, he quickly looked around for both women. Just ahead of him, he sees several more cars wrecked or abandoned, and quickly maneuvers around the pile up that's now blocking the road. He finds himself, weaving in and out of the street and sidewalk to push forward to avoid the chaos around him. Finally, he catches sight of Lisa hurrying down the sidewalk with Cynthia hanging on her arm, who's painfully limping from her injuries.

Moving steadily past the disabled vehicles and pulling up to the women, he stops and steps out of the vehicle with the engine still running. Lisa still doesn't notice him until he whistled loudly to get her attention. He watches her turn in his direction, and amid the confusion and chaos, she drops her mouth open when laying eyes on him. She's in complete shock to see him and is looking more terrified then before.

"Hey Leese!" he shouts out, knowing he needed to say something. "Need a ride?"

Kings County Georgia

"Look Lori, we don't have time to argue about this! You need to take what you can, and we have to get on the road! Rick is gone - you gotta except that for Carl sake, please!" Shane pleaded, as he firmly grasped Lor's shoulders, while keeping her focus on him.

Lori's eyes filled with tears again, as she shook her head. "How is this happening?" she spoke in disbelief, not really expecting an answer from him."Tell me how this happening?" She sobbed out.

"I don't know, but we're running out of time. If you saw what I saw at the hospital, you'd already be gone. Baby, we got to move now!"

She gasped in a nervous breath and turned away from him, trying to wrap her head around the words he was speaking. She looked back in his eyes for reassurance, and saw his gaze was firm but insistent that she make a decision, knowing he wouldn't leave without her. Trusting him fully, she broke from his hold and grabbed a box with personal items enclosed, rushing down the hall. "Carl! Let's go son!" she yelled with a sense of urgency in her tone.

Carl came running down hall with a backpack and stood by his mother's side, still looking confused on why they had to leave. He watched as Shane grabbed the box from his mother, and walked to the front door holding it open for both to exit. His mother grabbed his hand and all three rushed out the door, jumping in the deputy's vehicle and speeding off.

Carl looked over his shoulder and stared at his house, wondering when he would return. Once Shane turned the corner and the house was out of sight, he pulled from his backpack a small picture, and silently looked at it. The picture was of him and his Dad, both smiling and sitting by a lake, holding up a string of fish that they had caught that day. Tears began rolling down his cheeks but he firmly pressed his lips together to not whimper or make a sound from the disbelief that his dad was gone.

Shane glanced in his rear view mirror, seeing Carl look distraught but didn't say a word to comfort the boy. What he did do was step on the gas pedal at the sight of the freeway entrance, knowing he needed to make it out town sooner than later. Gripping the steering wheel with one hand, he reached over with the other and grasped Lori's hand tight to reassure her that everything was ok.

"We're gonna be fine," he finally said to both, relieved that they were on the road. "I'm going to take care of you. Both of you. So don't you worry none."

Lori smiled sadly, leaning on the door, with tears streaming down her cheeks. She gripped his hand tightly, and with an inaudible sigh while nodding, acknowledged her appreciation.

Everyone flinched and looked out the car windows towards the sky when they heard and felt the rumble of a small group of military helicopters fly overhead. They were flying at a low attitude, heading towards the town, which made Shane firmly step harder on the gas pedal to hightail it down the freeway. Whatever was going down was happening now and he didn't want to stick around to find out what that could be.

"Yeah, don't you two worry," he said again, feeling as though he was fleeing from the gates of hell, as the pit of his stomach began to turn.