After Bella had finished her daily routine she made her way to get breakfast. She entered the cafeteria and got in line next to Jason, "I heard gunshots earlier, everything alright?" He asked,
"Yeah," Bella shrugged dismissively,
"Bella," Jason warned, giving her a stern look.
"I'm fine!" Bella laughed, clearly trying to brush him off, "I will however need to talk to maintenance about the holes in my ceiling." She relented; Jason looked at her before sighing and giving up. Bella smiled and thanked the lady behind the counter before taking her tray and sitting down next to Gwyn. "So, I was thinking you could help organise a memorial service for Ryan." Bella said to Gwyn,
"Of course, I could get it all organised today and we could have it tomorrow." Gwyn replied,
"I'd help but Travis and I are training the newbie's today." Jason said with a mouthful of toast.
"Don't speak with your mouth full," Gwyn chastised Jason just rolled his eyes.
"That reminds me," Bella said "You're not in charge of the Cullen's training. I'll train them from now on." She continued,
"What? Why?" Jason asked, obviously shocked by her decision.
"Don't take it personally," Bella rolled her eyes, "It has nothing to do with your skills, you know that."
"Then why?" He persisted,
"Do I need to explain myself any further?" She demanded, "I want to train them, end of story."
"Of course," Jason nodded, "What should I do today then?" He asked
"You'll be taking over my usual duties for the day," Bella paused to take a bite of toast, "Check in with each sector and take their weekly reports, check in with the agriculture sector, I'd also like you to check in with the Beta test and notify me if there's any changes." Bella rattled off her list of things to do,
"On it," Jason nodded, finishing his coffee and taking his tray up to the serving window.
"Hey," Travis greeted, sitting across from Gwyn and Bella, "What's happening?"
"You're not training the Cullens; you can go on the sweep of the town." Bella said, getting straight to the point,
"Righty-o" He shrugged, obviously unfazed by his reassignment.
"Glad you're okay with it," Bella smiled, "Gotta go," She said, taking her tray up to the service window, on her way out of the cafeteria she passed the table the Cullens were sitting at. "Training room, 5 minutes." She ordered and left before they could answer.
Bella leaned against the wall in the training room waiting for the Cullen boys to arrive. They entered the room and before they had a chance to say anything Bella started talking, "Don't talk, listen. It was obviously foolish of me to think that you'd be ready for a raid after just a day's training, however for the following month I'll be training you and if you're lucky you just might be ready to go on the next one." She paused to survey their faces pacing back and forward in front of them, "You have problems with authority," She looked at Jasper, "Recklessness," A glare directed at Emmett, "And a dangerous habit of bringing up personal problems in a very serious situation," She directed that at Edward. She stopped her pacing and crossed her arms, "First things first, understanding the infected."
"What's to understand?" Jasper whispered cockily to Emmett,
"Tell me then, on average how long does it take for a person with a bite to become fully infected?" Bella waited for only a slight moment before continuing, "No? How about the symptoms of someone with a bite?" She raised her eyebrows, when Jasper didn't answer she smirked, "Didn't think so. So how about you stop making smart-ass comments and start listening. Hmm?"
"Of course," Jasper said, his eyes still defiant. Bella had trained soldiers for the army, and she knew a strong willed person when she saw one, however she had broken them, and she was sure she was going to get Jasper to fall in line soon enough.
"Right," She nodded, "Within an hour the victim will start to experience a headache, fever, chills and an array of other flu type symptoms. In hour two, the victim will start to have shallow breathing, slowed pulse." She stopped her lecture, "Are you taking notes?" She raised her eyebrows and for a split second the boys looked worried, "I'm kidding," She shook her head and continued, "Hour three, the victim will got into an almost comatose state, many mistake this as them 'dying'" She made air quotes with her hands, "When they awake, they'll begin their hunt for prey immediately"
"How is this going to help us?" Jasper interjected and Bella sighed frustratingly,
"Because if you want to go on raids, you may find survivors, distinguishing whether or not they are infected is a vital skill. If you're not interested by all means leave right now." She crossed her arms again, and when Jasper didn't move she raised her eyebrows in question. When he didn't react she sighed again taking a step towards him "Look, I don't know what your problem is, maybe you're mommy didn't give you enough hugs as a child, or maybe you're just an arrogant prick. In either case I am sick of your constant whining and complaining and your annoying habit of undermining me every chance you get."
"My problem is, you're treating me like a child!" Jasper growled, his eyes darkening.
"I'll stop treating you like a child when you stop acting like one." Bella snipped, Jasper just growled "What? You gonna bite me?" She laughed, then her eyes widened. "That's it isn't it, you're not angry at me, you're angry at yourself that you couldn't control yourself that fateful night on my eighteenth birthday. Well you know what? Suck it up, barbie because I don't have to train you, I could send you to scrub toilets faster than you can say blood thirsty vampire."
Jasper's breathing was fast, and Edward and Emmett looked on with worried gazes, wondering why Bella was deliberately pissing him off. "Don't test me." was all Jasper muttered,
"Show me respect. I mean I get it, you're a big strong vampire, you fought in the civil war, and you obviously have some sort of god complex going on. But here, right now, I'm in charge." Bella's gaze hardened and Jasper sighed and looked away.
"Sorry," He muttered,
"What was that?" Bella asked, cocking her head to the side.
"I said I'm sorry!" Jasper snapped,
"That's what I thought," She chuckled turning around,
"How'd you know about the civil war?" Jasper asked,
"I did my thesis on you when I was in the academy," Bella answered, "The picture in the text book didn't do you justice," Bella turned around to smirk at them. "Now, there's a few ways the virus can spread," Bella continued her lecture as if nothing happened, and started her pacing again. "The obvious is biting, but ingesting the blood, or getting the blood in a wound can be just as dangerous, which is why we not only look for bite wounds but any other wound that may be contaminated."
Three hours and forty-five minutes later
"Remind me again why I wanted to train them?" Bella groaned as she flopped down on Jason's bed,
"I don't know, you wouldn't tell me, remember?" Jason said sarcastically,
"Oh get over it," Bella rolled her eyes but smiled at him, Jason chuckled and smiled back.
"It's the blonde one, isn't it." Jason guessed,
"I'm telling you, he never used to be such an ass." Bella paused "Then again when I knew him he didn't talk much so he might've been and I just wouldn't have known it."
"Come here," Jason said, offering a hand Bella rolled her eyes and got up without help. "How are you?"
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Bella rolled her eyes,
"Because you lost a friend,"
"Everyone has," She quickly replied,
Jason studied her for a moment, "You've never been very good at expressing you're emotions," He joked,
"Oh, you wanna start with things we're not good at. How about you're terrible habit of continuously pinning after Gwyn," Bella started to walk down the hall, Jason followed, "I mean, come one, grow a pair and do something about it." She jested, bumping her shoulder against his. As they turned the corner Edward was there, walking towards them. When they reached each other Edward said, with a quick glance at Jason,
"Could we talk now?"
Bella sighed, "Fine," she looked at Jason, "See you later,"
"I have to go check on the Agriculture sector anyway," Jason said, obviously feeling the tension between the pair.
"Follow me," Bella said, walking briskly into the head conference room, "Well, talk." She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Why are you being like this?" He asked, his eyes smouldering.
"Like what?" Bella asked, her eyebrows furrowing slightly.
"I understand you're angry at me, but you're so different now. So . . . cold." Edward murmured, coming closer to Bella.
Bella cracked a smile, "You think I'm like this because of you?" She laughed, "How egotistical can you get?" Edward looked confused, "I mean honestly I always knew you were an arrogant prick but really? You left me years ago, and you think I'm still heartbroken over you?" Bella covered her mouth to stop her laughing.
"Then . . . what?" Edward asked, he was miffed at her insults and confused as to why she's been so distant.
"I'm a leader, Edward, I have responsibilities." Was all Bella said before she stalked out.
Bella walked down the halls and towards the cafeteria, she saw Gwyn and sat next to her. "How are the plans going?" She asked,
"Good," Gwyn replied, "I asked maintenance if they could organise a memorial stone or something of the sort, they're working on it. The cooks are preparing a fancy lunch and we thought we'd bust out some of the good wine for the event."
"Good work," Bella nodded, Jason sat next to Gwyn and handed Bella a plate of food,
"Eat," He commanded, Bella rolled her eyes but knew he wouldn't give up so took a bite of the sandwich. "What did the newbie want?" Jason asked,
"Nothing," Bella shrugged, taking another bite. Bella's walkie-talkie crackled before Travis's voice said,
"We're back, I hope you lot didn't eat all the food, over"
Bella plucked her walkie-talkie off her shoulder and said, "Took you guys long enough, find anything interesting? Over,"
"Nah, over" Came his reply, Bella finished her sandwich and stood up,
"See you guys later, I gotta check in with surveillance."
Bella walked down the stairs and entered the room they converted to a surveillance room, computer monitors lined almost every wall, with images of the perimeter of the complex as well as the town, "Any news?" She asked,
A well-built man spun around on a chair and swiftly stood up, "We've been receiving static and fragmented pieces of messages."
Bella cocked an eyebrow, "Anything we can understand?" She went closer to the receiver. They had hold of a military grade long range radio receiver; however they didn't have a long range transmitter.
"Not really," He shook his head "we've been trying to pin point they're location but until they can contact us it seems we'll just have to wait." The man replied,
"Have you tried realigning the satellite? It may be a problem from our end." Bella suggested,
"Already tried that," The man sighed, "The only thing we can do right now is wait for them to get through and tell us their location."
Bella pursed her lips, "Keep a close eye on this," The man nodded seriously and Bella left. Her inability to do anything to help the people trying to broadcast the message was un-nerving her.
"Bella," Gwyn's voice came over the walkie-talkie, "We need you down here," Her voice shook only slightly though it was obvious she was trying to maintain her composer.
Bella didn't need to ask where 'down here' was, she knew so she said, "Be there in a sec," Bella took the steps two at a time and made it to the observation room in record time. "What's the problem?" She asked, the entire medical team was in the small room. They were worryingly checking over their notes, Bella looked to Gwyn for an answer.
"She's dead," Gwyn said, Bella turned to look through the window, sure enough the girl lay there her skin grey and her lips blue, obviously dead.
"Who called it?" Bella asked,
"I did," Carlisle spoke up from the back, "I came to check on her and I discovered she was dead,"
Bella nodded, "Any sign that she's turning?" Bella asked,
"No," Gwyn shook her head,
"Then what caused it?" Bella demanded,
"We don't know," Gwyn replied, "We're looking and with your permission we're going to perform an autopsy."
Bella nodded, "Sure, Gwyn get that sorted then meet me in the conference room." Bella commanded before leaving, as she made her way to the conference room she spoke into her walkie-talkie. "Jason, Travis, stop whatever you're doing and meet me in the conference room. Now." When she reached the conference room she sat down then stood back up and started pacing. Soon enough Travis, Jason and Gwyn entered the room.
"What's up?" Travis asked, slumping down in a chair,
"The patient is dead." Bella said, Travis sat up straight and Jason groaned running his hand over his face.
"Now what?" Jason asked,
"There's really only one thing we can do. Keep trying." Bella answered, "That being said, we're going out ASAP,"
"What about the memorial service?" Gwyn asked,
"We'll postpone it." Bella answered and started pacing, "I'd also like to try and find a transmitter." She paused, "A working one," She clarified.
"Why is that urgent?" Jason asked,
"We've been receiving static, broken messages from . . . someone." Bella answered,
Everyone was silent, never had they accounted another group of survivors who were organised enough to send out transmissions and the discovery of such a group was hopeful. "And you'd like to try and send them a message too." Jason stated,
"Precisely." Bella nodded, "So get your shit together, we leave in fifteen minutes." Everyone nodded and rushed out. Bella headed back to the medical wing, there were a few of them talking over their notes and Bella knew that behind one of those doors they were cutting open the teenage girl, she went up to Gwyn's second in command, "Anything?" She asked,
"No, not yet," The doctor replied, shaking his head while looking at a chart,
"We're going back out," Bella said and he nodded rushed into a room and came back with a case, "We'll radio in when we get back to town; be ready for us." Bella said before leaving for the armoury.
Bella closed and locked the armoury door behind her and set the case on the log in table. She flicked the locks and without asking Jason handed her a tranquiliser gun. Bella swiftly loaded the serum filled darts into the gun and put the tranquilliser gun into a weapons case. Bella quickly chose her weapons; two pump action shot guns, two revolvers, and an army issued automatic rifle as well as a katana which she holstered on her back. "Better take extra ammo," Bella commented as she started to pack a duffle bag,
"Way ahead of you," Jason winked,
"Okay guys," Bella said, facing her friends. "We need that transmitter, that's our first objective. I don't think we'll take any more men with us, any objections?"
"To what part?" Travis joked, Bella rolled her eyes,
"Seriously guys," Bella said, "We just lost Ryan, that's still painfully fresh. However we need another subject as well as that transmitter and as you know I'm not very good with waiting." The trio chuckled, "So, you guys ready to go?" She asked they nodded and Bella slung her duffle bag over her shoulder and picked up the weapons case. Her three closest comrades followed her dutifully out to the Land Rover, just as they were about to step outside Edward appeared.
"Where are you going?" He asked. Travis, Gwyn and Jason looked at him with mirth, it had nothing to do with him and the three knew Bella didn't like to be second guessed in any way, shape or form.
"You three go to the car, I'll be there in a sec." The trio nodded and almost pitied Edward as they knew he was about to be chewed out.
"You need to mind your own business," Bella said once they were gone,
"You are my business." Edward answered,
Bella laughed, "Are you thick or something? I'm not your business, what I do has nothing to do with you. And not to mention, that I'm in charge here, so the choices I make have nothing to do with you on both a personal level and on a basic ranking level. Now I suggest you go back to doing whatever you were doing." Bella turned to leave and Edward put a hand on her shoulder, Bella took a deep, angry, breath and turned around and punched Edward.
Edward fell to the ground and put a hand to his nose, which was now bent out of shape and bleeding slightly, "How'd you do that," He asked through his hand which was still clutching his nose.
"Goodbye, Edward." Bella replied. She stormed out to the Land Rover and jumped into the driver's seat, flinging her duffle bag and weapons case in the back which Travis caught with a muffled oomph. She slammed the door and started the truck before pulling out.
The drive to Port Angeles was quiet, and Bella slowed the car as they started to go into the heart of the city. They tried to avoid the city centre as that's where the infected congregated, but Bella knew from living in the area that there was an electronics store in the mall. They parked in a side street, and Bella killed the engine. She took a deep breath and turned in her seat slightly so she could see everyone. "Okay guys, there's a mall three blocks over and the electronics store is on the third floor. We'll leave the tranquilizer gun here and get one of the infected on the way out." She looked at her soldiers and with a nod from Bella they started moving. Gwyn rummaged through the duffle bag and strapped a light first aid kit to her back before slinging the duffle in the back of the truck. Jason and Travis double checked their weapons and strapped extra ammo to their belts.
"Everyone ready?" Bella asked,
"Let's do this," Travis smirked, cocking his gun.
"Born ready," Jason replied, Gwyn nodded confidently.
"Right," Bella looked at each of her friends, "Let's stay alive, shall we?" With that Bella opened her car door, everyone else followed suit. Bella stayed close to the ground and close to the wall. Instead of going on the main road she focussed on the side alleys, weaving between the blocks. They arrived at the end of an alley and across the street they saw the mall entrance. The glass doors were wide opened and smashed, although it was obvious they were once barricaded shut. Bella turned to the trio behind her and whispered, "It's highly unlikely, but if any survivors are found take them straight to the truck for medical attention, if infected administer the serum." They nodded and Bella swiftly ran across the street and into the mall, she could hear the others following. She raised her rifle to her shoulder and spun around checking for infected, she stopped and listened, she could hear them and they could hear her.
"What?" Jason whispered,
"Fire at will, and get to the bloody store." She answered as they small group of infected came barrelling around the corner. She squeezed the trigger and fired into the group and ran to the first set of escalators. She silently thanked whoever decided that the mall needed both elevators and escalators or they'd be screwed. She could hear the others firing behind her and she stood at the top of the escalators firing in every direction as the infected realised there was a meal to be had. "You guys done down there!" She yelled down the escalator.
"Coming!" Came the reply a few more shots were fired before Bella heard their footsteps against the metal steps of the escalator.
"Let's move," Bella said and started her silent jog firing when the odd infected was found. They rounded the corner into the food court and the group of infected looked up, Bella steadied herself and started firing. The others made a line on either side of her and together they moved into the food court firing at the infected.
"Reloading!" Bella barked as she pulled out the empty clip and loaded and fresh one. She started firing again when Jason called,
"My guns jammed!"
"Travis! Cover him!" Bella ordered, as she continued firing, Jason struggled with his shot gun before giving an annoyed grunt and throwing it aside and grabbing his automatic rifle from his back and started shooting.
"Jay, you alright!" Bella yelled over the shooting, sparing a glance to her second in command.
"Just peachy!" He yelled back sarcastically as he fired.
They finally thinned the horde and moved through the food court and to the escalators, once on the third floor Bella strained to remember where the electronics store was. "Dammit!" She cursed,
"Where are we going!" Jason demanded, looking over the railing and dispatching the zombies on the lower level.
"This way!" Bella yelled over the shots being fired. They reached the store; the metal shutter of the store was down. She yanked on it and quickly realized it was locked. With a quick shot to the lock it was open she yanked it again and it quickly went up. "Hurry!" She yelled, the others stopped firing and sprinted to the store. They pulled down the metal shutter again and the infected banged against it.
"Damn," Travis chuckled breathlessly,
"Getting outa shape there?" Jason jested,
"Okay guys," Bella paused and looked over the shop which was, surprisingly, intact; most likely due to the metal shutter. "Let's see what we can see." They moved together through the isles until they reached the radio section. Bella crouched down and read through the boxes. She was hopeful that they would work, after all they looked untouched.
"Here," Travis said, handing Bella a large backpack which Bella filled with a few different transmitters; hoping that they were powerful enough. She zipped it up and handed it back to Travis who slung it on his back. Bella stood up and looked at the metal shutter which the infected were still banging on; no doubt drawing more infected to the area. She strode towards the shutter with determination and drew her katana. The others stood behind her and raised their guns, she paused and turned towards them,
"Try not to shoot me, okay?" She winked before raising the katana and opening the shutter. She swiped her katana in front of her and took off two heads. She drew one of her revolvers and used it to complement the sword. The others were firing rapidly and Bella cleared a path and took off in a jog, almost half of the infected took off after her. She turned around and started firing with her revolver when she was out of ammo she holstered the revolver and slung the rifle from her back and started mowing them down. From behind the horde, Jason, Travis and Gwyn were firing as well. When the infected numbers were down Bella yelled, "Move, Move, Move!" And sprinted down the escalator; Bella could hear the others following. They fired at the infected that were sprinting towards them and continued to try to out-run the ones behind them. When they reached the ground floor Bella turned and started firing again. The others followed suite and quickly the horde were just a pile of corpses.
"Hurry," Bella said and started a quiet run back the way they had come. When they reached the Land Rover she jumped in the driver's seat and started the motor and as soon as the others were in the car she gunned it down the alley. The car was filled with the heavy breathing of the group, once Bella had slowed her pulse she said, "Everyone okay?"
"Fine," Jason replied,
"All good here," Gwyn said,
"Fine, honestly what else did you expect?" Travis joked; Bella shook her head but couldn't help but smile at the successful mission. She moved to the outer suburbs of the city were only a few infected still lingered. She parked the car but kept it running as she eyed an infected stumbling on the road.
"Okay guys, let's do this quick." Travis handed Bella the weapons case and she took out the tranquilizer gun and opened the door of the truck and leaned out. She put her eye up to the scope and lined the cross hairs up with the zombie's neck. She shot twice and the two darts flew through the air and penetrated the zombie's neck with ease. Bella sat back in the driver's seat and floored it to where the infected lay. Once the car had stopped everyone jumped out and moved towards the infected. Jason and Travis quickly moved to secure the hands and feet of the infected and Bella held its head still so Gwyn could examine it. The infected was female, which pleased both Bella and Gwyn as they had a lot of notes on how the serum worked on females; they wouldn't be working from scratch.
"It's working," Gwyn said as the infected slowly started to stop struggling, "Administering sedative." She said as she took the needle and poked it through the skin on the woman's neck.
"Good work," Bella nodded, "Secure her." Bella ordered and Jason and Travis quickly tied her hands and feet. They then carried her and placed her in the back of the Land Rover. Bella got back in and swiftly made a U-turn and drove back to the highway. Just as they were coming close to the town Bella picked up her walkie-talkie, "Medical team, can you hear me?" She asked,
"Loud and clear, over." Came the reply,
"ETA 5 minutes, be ready. Over" She turned back to Gwyn who was watching over the woman in the back, "How is she?" Bella asked.
"Vitals are good, and she's still out cold." Gwyn replied, Bella pulled into the emergency entrance and was met with a few members of the medical team, as soon as the car came to a halt they got into action. They opened the back of the Land Rover and put her on the hospital bed and quickly started to wheel her to the observation room. Once in the room they cut her ties and cuffed her to the bed, they then proceeded to stick an IV into her arm to administer fluids and serum if need be.
"How long until she wakes up?" Bella asked from her place near the door,
"About 20 minutes, maybe less." Gwyn answered; she had gotten the amount of sedative almost perfect.
"Right, Gwyn and I'll wait here. The rest of you can go to bed." Bella said the group nodded looking worn out and sleep deprived. It was about midnight and no doubt they had spent the last 9 hours going over notes and trying to figure out how the teenage girl died. Bella sat down on a chair in the room and Gwyn sat next to her with a chart in hand ready to take notes as soon as the girl was awake. Bella made a point to be there when a patient woke up, after numerous special op missions she was an expert at telling when people were lying and at interrogating the subjects. They waited, and in about 15 minutes she started to stir. Bella stood up, and checked in the mirror to make sure she wasn't too bloodied up; after all she didn't want to scare her. She thought she looked acceptable and stood next to the woman's bed. Gwyn stood near the foot of the bed and both watched the woman closely. Her eyes flickered and slowly opened and immediately started to stress and pull on the hand cuffs that secured her to the bed.
"Calm down," Bella soothed, "It's okay, you're safe."
"What? Why?" The woman stuttered,
"Merely a precaution, you understand that you're not exactly stable." Bella said, the woman looked around and her breathing slowed down to a normal pace and her eyes were less frightened. She nodded, "Can you tell me your name?" Bella asked softly,
"Kat," She answered, "Kathrin, Kathrin Shoemaker." She continued,
"And how old are you?" Bella continued with the easy and necessary questions before attempting the harder ones,
"I'm 27," She answered,
"Okay, Kat," Bella, "My name's Bella and this is Gwyn." She gestured to Gwyn and Kat nodded with a weak smile. "Can you tell me what you remember, Kat?"
"I-I" She stuttered,
"It's okay, take your time." Bella soothed her,
"I was with a group of people, we were hiding in a house." She paused for a moment and Bella nodded, it made sense considering where they found her, "And they broke in, they were so fast." She shuddered, "They bit me, and I ran. They chased me, chased the others."
"Where did they bite you?" Bella asked,
"My arm and my shoulder." Her voice had dropped to a whisper.
"It's okay Kat," Bella smiled kindly, "You couldn't tell us a rough date this occurred could you?" She asked,
"The exact date, no" She shook her head, "But it was 2012 and it was November." Bella was shocked, although she hid it without effort. Two years this woman had been infected, they didn't think the serum would work on someone who was infected that long.
"Thank you," Bella responded,
Gwyn looked up from her notes and spoke for the first time, "Kat, could you tell me if you have any medical conditions?"
"No, No I don't." Kat replied, "How am I . . ." She trailed off,
"Alive?" Bella finished and Kat nodded, "We've developed a serum that has potential to cure the infection. However we don't know how stable the serum is, that being said you may turn back and any time. That's why we must secure you to the bed, you understand?" Bella asked kindly, Kat nodded and looked at the hand cuffs.
"Okay, well we'll just take some blood and then we'll leave you to rest. Unless you're hungry?" Gwyn said, looking up from her clip board.
"No, No I'm fine." She answered, Gwyn nodded and moved over to the cabinet and produced a needle and a few vials. She swiftly drew some blood and left to take it to the lab.
"We're glad to have you here," Bella said, "If you need anything just press the button behind you."
The girl nodded and just as Bella was about to leave she said, "Thank you," Bella looked back and simply smiled before leaving the room.