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Writer's Notes: Hello you beautiful people! I apologize for this one being on the backburner. Sometimes it takes longer for me to move through an outline when I write past what my original outline had on it. *smiles* However, we are still going strong with this story. There are a few more things I want for everyone to experience in this story before it comes to an end. I appreciate everyone's patience for waiting for these updates. This is going to be a busy year for me writing wise, as well as just overall family dynamics. I love that all of you are so supportive with my fictions and I love to write for all of you. As a reminder, I have a discord server that everyone is welcome to join if they want. Just PM me and I'll send you a link. I currently am not accepting requests for stories just because I still have a large volume of stories to move through this year. I will be sure to let everyone know when I am accepting requests. I want to do a quick shout out to my Beta and good friend, Roxhall, she has been with me for nearly two years now on my fanfiction journey and I honestly couldn't do this without her. I want to shout out to my dear friend Des. Her birthday is coming up so there will be some stories coming out in honor of her birthday that I think everyone is going to enjoy. *smiles* Thank you everyone! As always, don't forget to follow, favorite and review!
[Washington, DC: The White House]
Bella led a small crew into DC to take a look at the White House and to test the limits this Zero character had. Charlie was with her, along with Abraham, Tyrese, Daryl, Glenn, and Jasper. Charlie made the point that her and Negan shouldn't be away from the children at the same time, and they agreed. She didn't want to rush the White House so soon, but Negan said that it could help Eugene with understanding how the virus was working and help develop the vaccine that would be a major game changer. Negan was certain documents could potentially be there that would give them this intel. So, she caved and now they were there on a mission. Charlie and Negan clashed with different leadership styles and not to mention that Bella was the one that usually led the missions outside the wall because she was tactical. So it was best that Negan stayed back in Alexandria while er and Jasper took point, even though Charlie wasn't liking this decision. He was a Colonel and was used to being the one giving orders, but Bella reminded him that this was diplomacy. This was a tactical mission and that she had the better experience in running a tactical mission.
Word got back to King Ezekiel about their plans to storm the White House and he came through on his promise to give men to bolster their army for the ammunition trade. The plan was to go at the White House from different angles. They didn't want to rush in from the front because that would alert whoever was inhabiting the White House of their arrival.
"I really think that I should go in first," Charlie said again.
Bella sighed. "I am not talking this to death dad. You are a marine and diplomatic. I am tactical. I have said this and explained it as many different ways as I can. If you have a problem with it then you can stay back."
"I am older than you."
"I don't care. I am leading this mission, either listen to what I have to say or get the fuck out of my way. Am I clear?" Bella's tone was authoritative and she wasn't caving just because he was her father.
Charlie's brows knitted together in frustration but he just nodded, shutting his mouth. It wouldn't matter. Bella was stubborn and was going to do what she wanted and he was going to have to live with that.
Bella looked around. "Alright, don't take risks. Stay together, we don't split the party. Ezekiel has his own set of instructions to follow with his men. Everyone understand?"
There were nods and Daryl checked his crossbow. "Let's do this." He said and straightened, prepping to take the White House.
They all lined up, going into military mode and approached the fence of the White House. Bella's eyes catch the glint of a wire and she holds up a hand to stop her dad from stepping on a very well hidden pressure plate.
"They set traps." Bella said and crouched down and looked at the wire and saw that it led towards a device that would launch several sharp spears in their direction. This wasn't something the secret service would set out. This was something that a survivalist would do and the pressure plate that was there, was a secondary trap that would set off an explosive.
Charlie frowned, cursing himself for missing that. "Okay, what now?"
Bella looked around. "Okay. There's a secret tunnel that goes into the White House. We'll take that."
"It wasn't on the blue prints." Jasper said.
"I know." Bella said.
"How do you know?" Charlie asked.
Bella glanced at her dad. "Because I've used it before. Come on." She said and she led them backwards, going for the tunnel. She didn't want to use the tunnel because it was harder to maneuver in a smaller space and if there were walkers, or bandits or Zero's men, they could run into some trouble, but she wasn't willing to risk going into a mine field with her group.
The tunnel wasn't hard to get to, and the walker activity wasn't too bad around the perimeter, but that was likely because Zero had his men clear the are to prevent herds from gathering near the White House for their own safety. The tunnel was dark, so Bella flipped on her lights on her rifle and she kept going straight. No one made a sound as they moved through the tunnel. When they got to the door that would led into the White House, she paused and slipped off her glove that she was wearing and set her hand on a palm scanner. The scanner lit up, indicating that there was power still going to it, and then it turned green and the door was open. She cleared the entrance, making sure there were no walkers there to surprise them and they continued forward.
Charlie was surprised that Bella had a higher security clearance than him and he was starting to think that he didn't know his daughter at all. She was in the Army. He knew that. She was a combat medic. She was a surgeon. How did she gave clearance to have access to the White House?
Everything was silent as they moved through the White House, almost as if the place really was vacant. But things were too neat. No dust settled, so Bella knew better than to let her guard down. People were there, they were just hiding because they had to know they were there. Bella motioned for Abraham and Daryl to file back and wait because she had suspicions that there were people nearby. So Daryl and Abraham nodded, hanging back in the shadows. Bella and the others moved towards the Oval office and when she arrived she narrowed her eyes as she saw Edward sitting behind the large mahogany desk.
Edward smiled at Bella. It was a smooth smile, his expression neutral. It was hard to read Edward sometimes and this was one of those times. Bella couldn't believe her eyes. She glared at the man that came out of nowhere and grabbed her arm. Other men surrounded them quickly, weapons drawn. "How nice of you to drop in," Edward said and nodded to his men and they took their weapons away. Bella motioned for the others to let it happen. It wasn't the time to fight back, yet.
Edward was dressed smartly, his long legs seemed bright, yet deadly cold. "There is a front door. You didn't have to sneak in."
Bella glared at Edward. "I'll remember that for next time." She said, her tone clipped.
Edward clicked his tongue. "Hmm…so naughty. I thought I taught you better than that." He said and walked over and stood in front of her. "Felix release her, we're not barbarians."
The man that was holding Bella's arm, let go and took a step back.
"Tell me Bella, what brings you to my home?" Edward asked, putting a hand in one of his pockets.
"Scouting around. The White House was on my list. I was told there's a really cool chair," She retorted.
Edward kept his smile, a slight look of amusement. Then it darkened fast and he slapped her hard across the face.
Bella felt the sting of his hand and it made her waiver in her flashback briefly but she shook it off. "That's the last time you get to hit me," Bella said and she heard the jingle of the chain beside Edward and his men did as well.
Edward laughed a little. "You really think you're tough. I'll kill you and your entire crew," he spat.
Bella looked around. "One, two, three, four… hmmm. Seems like we're missing people." She said and then there was screaming and some gun shots and a roar.
Edward growled, his attention snapping towards the sound. "What is that?"
"Oh that? My other part of my crew. Oh and a tiger." Bella said and then she snapped the zip ties that bound her wrist and she spun with a spinning wheel kick and knocked the weapon out of Felix's hands and then ducked as Edward swung at her, sliding a knife out and swiped it at her but Bella blocked his arm and wrapped it, swooping her other hand over and locked it, collapsing his arm at his elbow and grabbed her other hand and put him in a triangle arm lock. He tried to fight the lock and she bent his arm back towards his shoulder before shifting and forcing his hand back towards his face and sliced him across the face deep making him scream out in pain. She slid her arm up, hooking up diagonally under his armpit and then used her leg to sweep at his leg and used his weight and gravity to take him to the ground.
Charlie freed himself and tussled with Felix and managed to get the gun that Bella kicked out of Felix's hands and shot Felix in the head tiwce and swung the gun around and it clicked when he tried to shoot Edward.
Bella watched Edward try to get to his feet but she kneed him in the face, splattering blood onto her pants and Edward groaned in pain.
"I told you that was the last time you'd get to hit me," Bella said coolly.
Edward stared up at Bella, his green eyes wide. He was shocked at her ferocity. He didn't know she could be this powerful. "Are you going to kill me?"
"Killing you takes something from me and I'm done letting you take from me," Bella said venomly.
Jasper and Glenn were able to free themselves before another henchmen swung at them. The screams and gunfire stopped and Daryl entered the room, his crossbow raised, but lowered it when he saw that Bella and the others had it handled.
Edward wiped his face where his face was bleeding. "This is my home."
Jasper picked up the handgun one of the henchmen that Glenn knocked out and checked it. "Bella, may not be able to kill you. But I'm not Bella," he said and fliped the safety off and pointed it at Edward. He fired twice, in Edward's head, ending his life. Jasper looked at Bella. "What's next captain?"
Bella watched Jasper and he didn't even hesitate or flinch when he shot Edward. It was one of the things about Jasper when he went to his dark place. "Search the office. Do something with the others." She instructed.
Ezekiel entered the Oval Office and looked around, whistling a little. King Ezekiel was tall, broad shoulders, dark dreadlocks that flowed back his shoulders and his dark skin was good at hiding scars that he had up his arms. He wore a leather medieval tunic and Bella saw that he was truly build to be a warrior king and him being eccentric helped him survive this far, so she didn't question it. He was a refreshing character. "We have cleared the rest of the White House my lady." He said with a slight bow.
Bella smirked a little. "Thank you my liege." She bowed back.
Charlie rolled his eyes. "Alright, let's search stuff." He said and moved over towards the desk and opened drawers. There wasn't much in the desk that would be considered useful.
Ezekiel raised a brow and looked at Bella. "He's looking for…papers?"
"We're looking for information about the virus. What started it. He's old school. Do you have a guy that can get into the computer?"
"Why not take the contraption with you back to the safe zone?" Ezekiel suggested.
Bella thought about it. "That's brilliant. Yeah, load up computers. We'll take it all back with us. The filing room. Find anything Tyrese," she said when she saw him come in.
"Yeah, shit ton of stuff." Tyrese said. "Lot's of paper records. But it'll take time."
"That's fine." Bella said and looked over at Daryl. "Hey, the bookshelf, there's a hidden panel. Press it in, there should be a black book in there."
Charlie frowned. "How do you know these things?"
Bella looked at her dad and raised a brow. "Classified."
"The world ended." Charlie retorted.
Bella sighed. "I wasn't just a combat medic. Espionage dad. I was part of something bigger than you." She said and Daryl found the panel and pushed it in and found the black book that Bella mentioned. He grabbed it and brought it over to Bella and handed it to her.
"What's in it?"
"It's a personal file of the president. Anything that happened during his time, he put in here and left it for the next President. These are the details that aren't in any other file." She said and opened the book. She scanned the pages, looking for the dates that corresponded with the virus first happening. She tapped the page. "Hmmm."
"What?" Charlie asked and leaned in, as did everyone else including Ezekiel.
"The virus happened on French soil first." Bella said. "It was estinguished quickly. The virus was being created for warfare. A way to disable combatants in a warzone." Bella explained.
"That's in the book?" Abraham asked.
Bella shook her head. "No, but France was in development of a way to fight an enemy without losing lives of their own army. That's why bioweapons were being created. It was my job to find this information out." She said and scanned the pages. "A facility here in DC was developing the virus as an ally to the French. We were taking their failures and trying to turn them around. They called this the Z-2-H-5 strand." She frowned. "The virus is airborne and bloodborne. The spread of this virus would be catastrophic. They tried to contain it. But they couldn't. When the virus hit the air it infected everyone in the facility immediately. They didn't know it was airborne." She murmured and shook her head.
"How did the virus spread after that?" Daryl asked.
"Well, from what I know, the first outbreak happened in DC. But there is no way the infection could have spread that rapidly." Bella said and kept reading. "Oh no."
"Oh no what?" Charlie asked. "I heard chatter in France about something big happening." He explained.
Bella looked at her dad. "When it was found out that there was a breech in the facility, they leveled it."
"They leveled it?" Daryl frowned.
"When they took out the building, spores of the virus must have been floating around. Apparently the virus acts like a mold spore. It can withstand heat and cold, and does not die in water according to these notes. Essentially they made a super virus. And it spread rapidly through the air." Bella said and kept reading.
"Well if we're all infected with the virus, why do we not turn into the dead?" Ezekiel asked, not understanding.
Bella's eyes danced on the page. "Because it's dormant until death." She said and looked up at Ezekiel. "The virus is activated when you die. The reason why people turn when they're bit is because of the enzymes in a walker's bite. The enzymes break down the protein in the virus and trigger the virus that way as well." She said and looked at Jasper. "That means-"
"That means that Eugene can figure out how to make a vaccine to give people immunity to the virus." Jasper said, finishing her thoughts.
Bella nodded. "This is big. We didn't know how the bite triggered the bite in people, but this right here will help. Ty being immune to the walker's bites has to have something to do with protein." She said and smiled. "This is it."
Daryl smirked. "Damn straight."
Bella looked at her dad who was even smiling a little. They had made a break through with the virus. They were on the brink of saving humanity from the walking dead.