(I DO NOT own The Walking Dead, Code Lyoko, or any names/brands that might appear in the story. Any references to any person living or dead is merely a coincidence, and should NOT be taken as intentional. All of that being said, I hope you enjoy the story!)
Having barely escaped Washington D.C., Air Force One and the precious cargo within continued its flight towards Colorado. The presidential plane had been in the air for a few hours now and the people onboard had been receiving sporadic reports about what was happening down on the ground below.
Several reports were also coming in from what was left of some surviving National Guard units across the country, but they were very few and far between. Others came from the last transmissions of news agencies in the states they flew over. Hell, they even heard from a few people talking from some old CB radios.
The reports made it clear that the situation in the United States has become even worse since the events that occurred in Washington. Although there was a few areas in the country that were reported to still be safe thanks to U.S. military support - the most notable places being the entirety of the Hawaiian Islands, Fairbanks, Alaska, and most of the city of Sacramento, California - the rest of the United States had fallen into complete anarchy.
Entire states across the nation had simply stopped transmitting any and all information to the United States federal government, whether it was directly to the president onboard Air Force One or to surviving officials in Sacramento or elsewhere. Countless people were dead everywhere...
Reports that the officials on Air Force One were briefed on were totally unprecedented. These reports included hundreds of firefights between armed civilians on the streets of practically every major city, and what could only be described as "herds" made up of many thousands of the infected that were roaming all over the American countrysides and cornfields. Uncontrolled fires burning in many cities and forests. Dozens of city and state governments collapsing in the face of all of this.
Unfortunately, this was just the tip of the iceberg. There was so much more horrors out there, stuff that no nightmare could possibly match. The fact that there was still any people alive out there was nothing less than a miracle.
After reading some of the status reports that came out of New York City, a disturbed President Resnick finally felt the need to shut his laptop so he wouldn't have to read any more of it. He just had to look away for a moment.
This crisis should've seen the American people coming together in their time of need, but instead they were shooting each other in the streets like dogs? Robbing and raping and brutalizing each other?
How could things have fallen so far so fast for his beloved nation?...
"My God..." the president mumbled under his breath. Not even in his worst nightmares did he ever think any of this possible...
Vice-President Inouye and General Benavidez both had similar feelings to the reports. How in God's name were they going to overcome this pandemic? Let alone all of the lawlessness seen throughout the nation? It was hard to enforce the laws of the Constitution when you had practically no military or law enforcement at all to help you.
But everyone on this plane was still going to give it their best shot. After all, if they didn't... who else would?
Just then, Agent Mettic popped his head in through the door, quickly getting everyone's attention.
"Heads up, guys. We're about fifteen minutes away from NORAD. I'd start preparing for when we land." the veteran Secret Service agent announced to the three high-ranking officials in the room. "Our fighter escort's finally arrived too. If you look out the window you might see them as they come up to the plane..."
As Agent Mettic left again to prepare his Secret Service agents for what will happen after they land, President Resnick, Vice-President Inouye, and General Benavidez all went to the windows to watch as the fighter escort arrived. Only seconds later did they see the jets come up fast and then slow down to match the speed of Air Force One.
The eight F-16 fighter jets that now surrounded the plane were of the 222nd "Stryder" Fighter Squadron, 201st Fighter Wing out of the Hill Air Force Base in Utah. Their job for today was to provide a strong fighter escort for the presidential aircraft as it finally began its approach to its destination - the Peterson Air Force Base near the Cheyenne Mountain Complex.
Two F-16 aircraft were positioned off of each wing of Air Force One, followed by another two in front of the jet and another two behind the jet. Absolutely nothing was going to get close to that plane if these experienced fighter pilots had anything to say about it.
Up in the cockpit, the pilot, navigator and co-pilot of Air Force One were all relieved to see the jets. After that horrible mess back in Washington, they were all looking forward to a calm landing and a safe place to rest...
"Air Force One this is 'Stryder One' of the 222nd Squadron, but you can call me 'Full Band' instead." the squadron leader introduced himself by both his callsign and his pilot nickname. "We're here to provide you an escort as you come up to your destination. Welcome to Colorado." the squadron leader had heard in an earlier briefing about what happened with Air Force One back at Joint Base Andrews and he was happy to see that the president's plane had made it this far.
"Copy that, 'Full Band'. Thank you for the warm welcome." the pilot smiled tiredly as he spoke over his headset. "Air Force One is very happy to see you guys. We've had one hell of a rough day so far..." he added with an exhausted sigh.
"Sorry to hear that, Air Force One. I promise that you'll find some much better hospitality once you're down on the ground." 'Full Band' responded, sympathetically. "We'll help guide you into Peterson AFB and we'll keep the airspace safe and secure for you all during your stay. Please give the president and vice-president the best regards of all of us here in Stryder Squadron, and you all be sure to have a good flight as well. 'Stryder One' out."
"Gratitude and best wishes right back to you, 'Stryder One'. Air Force One out."
As the pilot and co-pilot prepared landing procedures, President Resnick glanced out a nearby window to look at some of the F-16s. The sight of these jets brought back some old memories...
Twenty years ago, the president was in the United States Navy, flying an F-14 Tomcat from the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier during the Persian Gulf War. He fought in a few dogfights against the Iraqis and several bombing raids on Baghdad as part of the effort to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's tyrannical rule...
President Resnick was glad that that part of his life was long over and long done with. Though he made many memories and several friends in the navy during his time in the Persian Gulf War, he always hated the possibility that he would've killed innocent people in any of his bombing raids on Iraq. Resnick knew that he probably did do so at one point or another, but he never allowed himself to dwell on it.
As soon as the war ended, he left the service and didn't look back as he went home to Burlington, Vermont. He also didn't dare look back when he went into the House of Representatives either. Nor the Senate. And certainly not the Presidency either...
The sight of rapidly approaching ground took Resnick out of memory lane. Air Force One was coming in for a landing at the Petersen Air Force Base. Remarkably, the engine that was damaged back at Joint Base Andrews had held on all this time, and in a sign of improving luck there was no problems whatsoever that happened after the plane finally landed. Thank God for that...
President Resnick and Vice-President Inouye were almost safe now. Maybe there was still hope for America yet...
After the plane finally stopped and a stairwell was brought up for the plane's occupants, Agent Mettic gathered up his surviving Secret Service agents and informed them of what was going to happen next. They all were to provide security for President Resnick, Vice-President Inouye, and General Benavidez from the Peterson Air Force Base in a convoy of armored vehicles that would take them straight to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. The National Guardsmen and both of the Marine One pilots who were also onboard were to disembark and be reassigned elsewhere.
Though they now were on the ground and in a fortified military base, the Secret Service agents were not to allow 'Torchbearer', 'Pioneer' or 'Foxhound' out of their sights until they were truly safe inside.
Five Secret Service agents were the first to go down the steps, followed by President Resnick, Vice-President Inouye, General Benavidez, and then Agent Mettic and the rest of the Secret Service agents with him. They were greeted with the sight of one of the busiest military bases that they had ever seen.
Jets and transport aircraft were in the sky, helicopters patrolled the perimeter along with tanks, and thousands of military personnel were everywhere. If President Resnick wasn't safe in a place like this, then he wasn't going to be safe anywhere else. Agent Mettic would be amazed if anyone or anything hostile managed to make it inside...
Returning a salute to two guarding soldiers who had saluted him, President Resnick climbed into the armored limousine behind them with Vice-President Inouye and General Benavidez. Before he hopped inside to join them, Agent Mettic stood on the door step and he banged on the roof of the limo. With a loud cry of: "Let's move it out!" from the lead agent, the limo and the convoy of vehicles both in front of it and behind it all began to roll down the road.
The trip to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex usually would have taken half an hour. But since parts of Colorado Springs were still declared off-limits due to the infected, the convoy took well over two hours to get to the facility thanks to several long detours. The military was doing a very good job in keeping all of the alternate routes safe and secure for continued usage, so luckily the presidential convoy didn't run into any threats.
"'Granite Castle', this is 'Section.'" Agent Mettic spoke into his walkie talkie, using the codename for the NORAD facility as well as his own official Secret Service codename. "'Torchbearer' and friends are almost at your location, ETA is one hour. Be advised, it is absolutely imperative that 'Torchbearer' and friends are moved inside the facility as quickly as possible once we arrive."
"Roger that, 'Section.' We've already prepared for your arrival. Security will not be an issue." a military official within the base replied, "'Granite Castle' out."
"Very good. See you soon, 'Section' out."
As the armored presidential limo and the convoy rolled through the streets of a ruined Colorado Springs, the occupants of the limo could hear the sounds of distant gunfire in battles raged between the military and the infected.
Colorado Springs was still not totally safe, but the military had secured about one-thirds of the city and there was more than enough security for the presidential motorcade to get through the city and to the Cheyenne complex. But even so, everyonw thought that it would still be prudent for them to get through the city as quickly as possible, as who knew what could happen...
The shots from a sniper team on the roof of an office building close by startled everyone in the limo. The loud, near window-shattering "boom!" of a tank just down the street firing on a horde of infected had frightened everyone a second time, though like before they quickly calmed down.
Everyone was totally on edge. However, General Benavidez seemed to be pretty ecstatic at what he was seeing out the window...
At the moment, they were on a street filled to the brim with troops and vehicles making their way to combat zones throughout Colorado Springs. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff gestured at the troops as he looked over at everyone else in the limo with a huge grin on his face.
"Look at 'em, everyone! Look at 'em!" General Benavidez said pridefully as he saw the U.S. military still fighting on. "There goes my boys!"
He turned to look at the president. "You'll see, Mr. President!" Benavidez beamed, "Once we get Colorado Springs secured, once Sacramento is, we'll start to spread out out of our positions and we'll retake the rest of the Union from these infected bastards!"
"I sure hope so, General... for all our sakes." President Resnick gave a simple reply, staring out the window to watch the troops as well. A lot of them looked utterly terrified about what they were about to get thrown into. All that the president and the others could do was wish those poor boys luck in fighting the infected.
If Colorado Springs was anything like Washington D.C. had been, they were going to need it.
An hour later, President Resnick and his entourage were led under very heavy guard through a concrete hallway leading into the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. The Secret Service and Agent Mettic refused to leave their side even after being asked to by some of the soldiers. Their mission wasn't complete yet, after all.
Through the narrow hallways they passed all manners of people who were understandably bewildered to see the President of the United States up close and personal. Anyone who did try to meet the president was instead met with a team of angry Secret Service agents, and if they were really unlucky they were met with a loaded handgun pressed against their face.
Agent Mettic had given specific orders to keep people away from Resnick, lest the president's safety was compromised. He wasn't going to order anyone to shoot these people if they got too close, per se. But he figured that if the agents looked big and tough, these people would do as they say.
Cries of "make way!", "clear the hall!", "move!" came from the Secret Service as they escorted the president and his entourage. Normally, both President Resnick and Vice President Inouye took the time to meet new people whenever they travelled, but the current circumstances meant that this was not the time for that kind of nonsense. Together, they had a nation to save and time was always of the essence from here on out. And after what had happened in Washington D.C., it was abundantly clear that they needed to get to work immediately on trying to fix this nation.
As the group walked through the halls, Agent Mettic noticed an all-too-familiar face who was approaching to greet them...
Director Souers. The bastard who had done the unthinkable and abandoned President Resnick, Secretary Lansing, General Benavidez, and Vice President Inouye to the mercy of the infected hordes back in Washington...
With unbridled rage building inside from what had happened, Agent Mettic suddenly remembered what he had thought to himself when he was told Director Souers had run away like the coward he was, He was: "gonna have a "friendly chat" with that idiot. CIA or not."
In a moment that stood out as one of the most unprofessional of Agent Mettic's whole career, he rushed to the front of the group and he tried to punch the Director of the CIA right then and there. Had it not been for President Resnick and General Benavidez quickly grabbing him and holding him back by the arms, Agent Mettic easily would have pummeled Director Souers over and over until he had knocked out all his teeth.
Director Souers himself appeared to be completely untroubled by the near-attack from the agent, which only made Mettic feel even more pissed off than before.
As Vice President Inouye, Mettic's Secret Service team, and the civilian employees around them watched the scene, Mettic and Souers stared each other down as they began to speak to one another. President Resnick and General Benavidez were having a tough time holding back the agent.
"You son of a bitch, Souers!!!" Mettic growled as the president and Joint Chiefs chairman both held him back. "Do you have any idea what you did back in Washington?! You left the Secretary of State to die! You left the Vice President to die! You left the Commander-in-Chief himself to die! What you did counts as fucking treason, you bastard!"
"I waited for as long as I could for Mr. Lansing to get to our helicopter, Agent Mettic." Director Souers calmly defended himself against such an accusation. "I still have no clue where he was at the time, but I was told that the infected had breached the perimeter."
The agent's eye twitched in rage when he saw Souers casually check his watch for a moment or two. Did this asshole not understand how bad of a mistake he had made, or did he just not care?!
"Whether or not that was true at the time is beyond me," Souers continued, "but nevertheless I still stand by giving the order to take off. I simply wasn't willing to risk the lives of my chopper pilots waiting for Mr. Lansing, no matter how important he is."
"He's the Secretary of State! He's not someone to just abandon to the infected!" Agent Mettic protested, "Besides, you took off long before you and your pilots were ever in any danger! The defenses around the White House were still holding for Christ's sake! Are you out of your mind, Director?!"
"I'm not out of my mind, Agent. It's just not my fault that he couldn't simply look at a clock and see it was time to go."
Though Agent Mettic wanted to bash Souers's face in with all the strength he could muster, a stern look from President Resnick made Mettic finally cease trying. Silent orders were given by the president, and the agent was honor-bound to follow them...
So reluctantly, Mettic stopped struggling against the president and General Benavidez and ceased trying to attack Souers. The two men cautiously let go of Mettic's arms after this.
After it was clear that the situation had started to calm down a bit, Vice President Inouye let go of a breath she didn't realize she was holding in. If Agent Mettic had hit Director Souers then that'd definitely cause some serious problems for him...
In any event, Agent Mettic still wanted answers. People could have died because of what Souers did back at the White House. Some may actually have...
"You took off before getting any confirmation that the president and vice president had been evacuated from the White House..." Agent Mettic's voice had a deep tone of frustration to it. "What if something happened to Marine One and they needed your chopper to evacuate? You could've gotten the president killed, Director!"
"They look fine to me, Agent Mettic. I think you may be overreacting a little bit." Director Souers said with a casual shrug, as if his abandonment of the senior officials of the United States government amounted to absolutely nothing. "Honestly, Agent, do you spend all your time trying to assault government officials like myself, or do they just let anyone into the Secret Service these days?"
Before Mettic could retort at Director Souers, President Resnick hurried between the two men and he pushed them apart.
"Alright, ENOUGH!!" the president loudly demanded for the two men to stop this stupid nonsense. Thankfully, both Agent Mettic and Director Souers had the sense to drop their argument and near fist fight right there and then, if only from the orders of their commander in chief. Besides, this was definitely not the time nor the place to get in a bare-knuckled fist fight.
President Resnick glared at Agent Mettic, beginning to scold his friend first. "Ryan, don't you ever, EVER try to hit a senior official ever again. Ever." the president warned, "I expect far better from you as a member of the Secret Service. If you ever try to do something as stupid as that again then I'll have your badge next time... Understood?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Agent Mettic noticed Director Souers smirking at this scolding from the president. It was very frustrating to the agent, but he ignored it as best he could and he nodded at his commander in chief and friend.
"Understood, Mr. President..." Mettic replied with a nod, "On my father's soul I swear that it won't ever happen again."
Resnick nodded and he turned his attention towards the other offender. Souers already hid his smirk by then. Lucky for him, the president didn't notice.
"And George, Ryan's still got a valid point." President Resnick stated, "You did leave far too soon back in Washington... I needed Ed Lansing here at this complex, and because of you he's all the way over at Mount Weather instead. Not to mention how we really could've been in a serious pickle if there did turn out to be problems with Marine One after your chopper already left..."
"Mr. President, Secretary Lansing had a strict itinerary that clearly noted the time of departur-"
"I wasn't finished speaking to you yet, Director." Resnick interrupted, using Souers's title instead of his first name like he normally did - a habit of his that arose whenever he grew angry at someone in his cabinet.
The CIA director quickly went silent as the annoyed president continued to speak.
"Look, George, you abandoned Ed in Washington." Resnick stated, "I wasn't asking you to risk your life for any of us, but you left him and you also left me and Amaya before you got any news that we were in the air. That was completely uncalled for, and it could have been a serious problem if we needed a different helicopter to get away from the White House. You're very lucky that I need you at the moment, because in any other circumstance I'd seriously consider firing you right here, right now..."
Director Souers was stone-faced at President Resnick's words, showing no sign of remorse or regret for what had happened at the White House. Showing no reaction at all, Souers simply nodded at the president.
"Of course, Mr. President." Director Souers said, "It will not happen again..."
"You're right, George, it won't."
The president continued. "Furthermore, I also expect you to cease antagonizing Ryan like that." he said, "It's entirely unprofessional and uncalled for as Director of the CIA. I don't care if you two like each other or not, but I expect you both to play nice from here on out. Understand?"
The CIA director's teeth clenched at this next demand, the first real show of emotion from the president's scolding. But in the end, Souers could only give a silent nod at this second really did seem to loathe Agent Mettic for some reason...
Though Resnick considered Souers's silent response to be a tad bit insulting, he decided to drop the issue there it since he didn't want to deal with any more of this nonsense between him and Mettic. He had more important things to do at the moment instead of playing babysitter.
Now that everything was settled, Resnick and everyone else resumed their trek through the hallway as Director Souers joined them. Out of the corner of his eye, Agent Mettic noticed Souers was glaring at him again for a few brief moments.
Wisely, Agent Mettic ignored it and didn't give Souers any satisfaction of a response.
Deep near the heart of the complex, President Resnick and his entourage were led over to the center of the Tactical Control Center for NORAD. This was a massive room filled with dozens of men and women working on computers, and three huge screens hung up on the far wall.
While the men and women down on the computers were working on who knew what, the giant screens displayed all current information about the United States and the status of the pandemic. A fourth giant screen on the opposite side of the room displayed a map of the world with similar information, and it also showed which cities of the world were still standing and which ones were not.
Unfortunately, many places on the U.S. map were marked with a red hue, meaning that they had been lost to the infected. Some places such as Philadelphia, Chicago, and Houston had yellow hues, meaning that the fight in these cities was still ongoing against the infected.
The Hawaiian Islands had a green hue, meaning that the whole state was secure. The only other places in the United States which had the same green hues were Sacramento, California, the Mount Weather facility in Virginia, Fairbanks, Alaska, a tiny dot near Atlanta, Georgia, and of course NORAD. Right now, all of these places were critical to the U.S. in fighting the global pandemic.
The people whom the president and his entourage walked past were all very busy. Many were hurriedly typing away codes on their keyboards, some others were talking on their telephones to their counterparts in Sacramento or Mount Weather, a few were shuffling through government papers to find whatever information they needed from in them. The general atmosphere of the room just screamed "stress" and "worry."
Both President Resnick and Vice President Inouye greatly admired the tenacity and hard work of all of these people, and more than once they found themselves stopping to have a quick conversation or two with them. Speaking with the president and vice president proved to be a morale booster for all those who got the chance to do so.
The group then noticed a scientist in his mid-to-late forties with balding hair hurrying towards them with bundles of papers in his hands. The poor scientist looked exhausted and he was probably only running on coffee at this point. He was so occupied that he didn't even notice he had dropped a couple of papers during his rush.
When he reached the group and held his hand out toward the president, the scientist spoke. "Mr. President! Sir, my name is Dr. Eric Emery." he introduced himself, "I'm the lead scientist working on developing the vaccine here at the NORAD facilities. It's a great honor to meet you, sir."
"Good to meet you, Eric. You're doing your nation a great service." President Resnick said, accepting the scientist's hand and shaking it. Once the introductions were out of the way for everyone else, they all went down to business.
Where President Resnick and his entourage were standing right now was a small glassed room right in the middle of the Tactical Control Center. It had full 360-degree views so that anyone inside could see all of the monitors that were around them, and in the center of this glassed room was a large circular table complete with several interfaces and a holographic map of the United States. Essentially, it was a control center for the president and vice president to use at their leisure. A place where the higher-ups can look through the newest information and all of the relevant data that they could ever want. A very useful tool in a crisis such as this...
Agent Mettic and his Secret Service agents took up guard positions around the room as the president, vice president, General Benavidez, Director Souers, and Dr. Emery all went to stand around the table in the center of the room. Each stood in front of an interface.
"Okay..." Dr. Emery muttered to himself, cracking his fingers before turning to one of the interfaces.
The doctor then typed something into it, causing the holographic map to zoom closely into Georgia. Specifically, it was looking at the city of Atlanta now. A building within the city was highlighted in a neonish-yellow.
"Here, Mr. President, is the national headquarters for the Center for Disease Control." Dr. Emery explained, "Although Atlanta fell to the infected yesterday evening, the facility is still secure and there's scientists inside who are currently working to find a cure for the infection just like us and our colleagues in Sacramento."
"The CDC facility in Atlanta is still secure?" Vice-President Inouye asked with a tone of surprise in her voice.
"Yes, Madam Vice-President." Dr. Emery confirmed. "The city fell, but the CDC facility is still functioning."
Dr. Emery then used the interface to pull up a holographic map of the CDC's interior. "The Atlanta facility has a fortified underground complex complete with a laboratory and enough food and water to last for the next several weeks. Atlanta's facility is also unique in that it has prototype virtual intelligence computer to help everyday operations. Everyone in the facility calls her 'Vi' - their uncreative acronym for 'virtual intelligence', I believe."
"How's their power supply? If Atlanta fell, won't the electrical grid go with it soon?" Vice President Inouye asked.
Dr. Emery visibly cringed at this question, as if speaking about the Atlanta facility's power grid was going to lead to an uncomfortable conversation.
"Unfortunately, Madam Vice President, the outside power supply for the facility was cut just before the evacuation was complete." Dr. Emery explained to her. "We don't know how that happened, but the point is that they only have enough fuel to power their emergency generators to last for a couple of weeks at best. We didn't get the chance to give them a fuel shipment before the city fell..."
"What happens if the generators there go out?" General Benavidez inquired, clutching the handle of the Football's briefcase. The thing had been handcuffed to him ever since Washington and he didn't dare let it out of his sight.
"... the entire facility will self-destruct itself to prevent any contaminants from escaping."
When he saw the look of utter horror on the faces of the others at the table, Dr. Emery quickly had to explain things. "That facility houses some very dangerous materials, everyone. Things that would make this outbreak look like the common cold..."
The doctor continued, "I'm talking about materials such as weaponized smallpox and Ebola strains that could devastate all that is left of humanity. Airborne pathogens which if released could destroy the earth's entire biosphere. Seized bio-weapons from terror groups and rogue nations - stuff that you never want to leave that facility..."
"So those scientists will die in just a couple of weeks? Are they aware of this?!" a shocked President Resnick demanded to know.
"Yes sir, and it may be even sooner." Dr. Emery told him, "They knew the risks well before they were locked in. They volunteered to do this."
Those scientists volunteered to stay even though they knew it would end their lives...?
"Only eleven scientists made it to the facility in time before its lockdown." Dr. Emery continued, "Originally it was fifteen, but the other four cracked under the pressure and committed suicide. Everyone who didn't make it to the facility to begin with are all either dead or missing. Some also fled before the lockdown began..."
With a sigh, Dr. Emery pinched the bridge of his nose under his glasses. "I don't like it very much either, but the survivors all know what will happen to them and they're working towards a cure as hard as they can."
The CDC scientists in Atlanta are still doing their duties even though they are living on borrowed time. It was a horrifying thought to Resnick, Inouye and Benavidez, even to Mettic who overheard all of this stuff. But Director Souers was completely unimpressed...
"Yes, yes, they're all going to die... How unfortunate." the head of the CIA said dismissively. "But we all need to focus on a more important thing: creating a cure. If eleven lives need to be sacrificed to help make one, then so be it."
Though Souers earned several scowls from what he had said, they silently and begrudgingly conceded that he had a valid point. Though only because everyone in that facility was already doomed and couldn't possibly be saved...
This outbreak has already killed countless people everywhere. Whether those eleven CDC scientists died or not, the government needed to get a cure created and made ready to be shipped out all over America and the world.
President Resnick decided to just move past Director Souers's heartless words and focus on moving forward instead.
"Dr. Emery, who is the lead guy there in Atlanta? Who's the person reporting in to us at least?" President Resnick asked the doctor.
Dr. Emery typed in a few more keys on the virtual keyboard of his interface. The map of the CDC interior was quickly replaced by the face of an expert CDC virologist in the Atlanta facility. Though this scientist was not originally the head of the Atlanta facility, he was the most experienced one to have survived the outbreak and who also made it to the underground complex before it was locked down.
After some more information about this scientist loaded up, Dr. Emery turned to his president and gestured at the holographic image.
"This man is Dr. Edwin Jenner. He's the closest thing we have to a leader in Atlanta right now, Mr. President." Dr. Emery announced who this man was. "Both he and his wife Candace made it to the facility only minutes before the lockdown procedures began. As we speak they are both hard at work towards finding a cure, and so is all of the other scientists in that facility... well, all who are left at least."
"How's their work progressing?" General Benavidez asked the doctor.
"Unfortunately, no progress has been made there or anywhere else. This includes international efforts."
No progress on a cure... Not in Atlanta, not in Sacramento, not anywhere else on this whole godforsaken planet.
As everyone else at the table reeled from this terrible news, President Resnick moved away from his interface and he walked over to Dr. Emery. The president wasn't willing to give up just yet.
"I'd like to speak to Dr. Jenner, if possible." President Resnick requested the doctor. "Can we arrange that at all?"
With a nod to the president, Dr. Emery began to type in some more commands into his virtual keyboard. After another moment or two, the familiar ringing sound of a video call request was heard by everyone in the room. It was only a moment or two more before they finally got an answer to the request.
A small screen quickly popped up on Dr. Emery's interface along with everyone else's. The connection to CDC Atlanta had been made...
Dr. Edwin Jenner looked pretty worse for the wear. The bags under his bloodshot eyes and the five o'clock shadow on his face made it clear that he had been so busy that he hasn't slept in ages. At the moment, Dr. Emery was the only person that Dr. Jenner could see.
Not realizing the importance of this call just yet, Dr. Jenner looked to be pretty annoyed since he had been called as he was in the middle of something.
"Dr. Emery, can this wait? Candace and I are in the middle of an important test on those flesh samples we received yesterday." Dr. Jenner asked. Everyone could see his wife over in the other side of the room, the background of the video call. She was carefully looking into a microscope.
Rather than responding to his old friend, Dr. Emery simply walked off to the side so that President Resnick could walk into Dr. Jenner's view. Once Resnick was standing where Emery was, Jenner's eyes slowly widened as he realized exactly who he was about to speak with.
"Dr. Jenner, this is President Resnick..." President Resnick politely greeted the exhausted scientist. "I've heard some really good things about you all in Atlanta. It's a pleasure to finally meet you and your wife."
Dr. Jenner was stunned into silence, but President Resnick's voice drew the attention of Candace Jenner over on the other side of the room. She was so surprised to see that the president was speaking to her husband that she nearly knocked over the microscope and the precious samples that she had been examining. Luckily she caught it all just before it could've fallen from her table.
After making sure that both the microscope and samples were okay, Candace wasted no time in hurrying over to her stunned husband's side and to speak with the president himself.
"Mr. President?!... Sir, I- Y- You..." Candace blurted out and stammered from shock. It took a moment, but she soon collected her thoughts and spoke again to the president. "I... It's an honor to speak with you, sir..."
President Resnick simply smiled at Candace Jenner as Edwin stayed in a stunned silence. The leader of the free world himself was speaking with them right now. It was quite a lot for him to take in...
Realizing that the president was waiting to speak to her husband as well, Candace bumped Edwin on the shoulder with her elbow in an effort to snap him out of his silence. Thankfully this worked. Edwin immediately gave his full attention to the president.
"U- Uh, yes sir... It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. President." Edwin said. Looking at a small mirror he had set up on the wall behind his computer monitor, he suddenly realized how bad his appearance was right now. God, the President of the United States himself was speaking to him and he looked like complete shit. If only Edwin knew in advance that this call was coming then he'd have cleaned up a bit beforehand...
"You mind if I call you Ed and Candace? I prefer to know people on a first-name basis." President Resnick asked the couple. When the two doctors nodded, the president smiled and he continued. "Ed, Candace, as you both might've guessed... our nation's in a bit of a pickle right now..."
"That's the understatement of the century, sir..." Candace agreed, a tired-but-bemused look on both her face and her husband's.
President Resnick smiled at the pair again before he went on. He needed to get to the point sooner or later.
"As you know, this outbreak is affecting the entire world. Not just the United States." the president explained, "I can't even begin to count how many have perished globally so far. From what I've been told, international efforts at finding a cure are just not succeeding. Most countries have already collapsed..."
Resnick's face suddenly fell. "Your Atlanta facility and the others over in California might literally be our last hope in ending this..."
Edwin and Candace Jenner were both already aware of how bad the situation was. But to hear their own president say it for himself...
"I know that you all in Atlanta are living on borrowed time right now. I'm terribly sorry for that, and I promise that you'll all be in my prayers forever." President Resnick said to them with genuine sympathy. "But whatever happens to you and to the Atlanta facility, we need every last bit of the scientific data that you have by the time that... well, you know..."
The president had trailed off at the end. He morbidly finished the rest of the sentence only in his mind - 'By the time you all get blown up.'
"Of course, sir. I'll have someone send all the data we currently have to our counterparts in Sacramento." Candace assured, then added, "We won't let you down."
"Very good. Thank you." President Resnick nodded. "Furthermore, I would appreciate it if you guys could send daily updates to us here at the Cheyenne complex and also to our colleagues over in Sacramento. I'd like for all of us to be up to date with everything that's going on in each other's facilities."
"Yes, Mr. President, I'll handle that. I'll send daily video updates to you and to everyone over in Sacramento." Edwin promised, already thinking in his head about what could be important enough to share. Hell, that was probably everything they were doing in the Atlanta facility. Edwin knew that he'd have to make a lot of videos over the next couple of weeks...
President Resnick was relieved that something was finally going their way for once. He didn't want to jinx it, but he couldn't help but think that maybe their luck was finally changing.
"Thank you both." the president said with gratitude. "Anyway, that's all I wanted to speak to you about for the moment. I'm sure that you're both very busy right now, so I'll leave you here and we'll call you again if we need anything else..."
Both Edwin and Candace thanked the president for the call and they both wished him goodnight as well. After the video call ended, they both hurried back to whatever it was they had been working on for the last several hours. Edwin made sure to write a post-it note reminding himself to make daily logs for the president and for all of the people over in Sacramento. Candace likewise reminded herself to remind Edwin later in case he forgot.
After the video call ended, President Resnick stepped away from Dr. Emery's interface and he walked back over to his own.
Before Resnick could speak to everyone again, Vice President Inouye hesitantly raised her hand as if she was a schoolkid asking the teacher for permission to speak. Resnick was very amused by that. With a nod in her direction he yielded the floor over to her.
"Dr. Emery, is there any chance that we can try to speak with Secretary Lansing? I've been really worried about him ever since we evacuated Washington." Vice President Inouye requested. Both President Resnick and General Benavidez suddenly felt a pang of guilt for not even thinking of trying to reach Lansing to see if he was okay or not. Unsurprisingly, Souers didn't really give a shit.
"I'm sorry, Madam Vice President. We're still trying to reach the Mount Weather facility. Aside from CDC Atlanta we've been having communication troubles with everything east of the Mississippi." Dr. Emery apologized to her.
The doctor continued. "However, I can confirm that Secretary Lansing escaped Washington with several National Guardsmen in a helicopter just after the White House fell." he explained, "He made it to Mount Weather just a few hours after you evacuated the capital. He's apparently okay, and we'll work to try to get communications restored with Mount Weather as soon as we can so you can speak with him again."
Vice President Inouye, President Resnick, and General Benavidez were all very relieved to hear this, and so was Agent Mettic who overheard their conversation. Lansing made it out of D.C. with his life. Resnick praised the Lord for this good news. Now they had important business to get through...
The president smiled at everyone at the table. "Alright, everyone. We've got a nation to save... Let's get to work."
Agent Mettic was finally in his new "home."
The exhausted agent looked upon his new small, cramped, concrete-lined quarters. The room was furnished only with a cot, a chair, a table, lamp, toilet, sink, and a military-grade laptop. Spartan accommodations.
It wouldn't be the most comfortable place on earth for him to live, but he'll learn to deal with it just like how his fellow agents had to learn to deal with their own similar quarters. Though he certainly wasn't happy about the strong scent of turpentine that this place still reeked of...
Now that the president and vice president were safe, the agent finally let himself relax as he plopped down on the chair. Mettic unloosened his tie and placed both his gun and his walkie-talkie on the table next to the laptop. His suit jacket was tossed over to the bed for now, his shoes were untied and then simply kicked off to who knew what part of this small prison cell-like room.
The agent terribly missed his D.C. apartment. It burnt down during the chaos and rioting in the lead-up to the city's fall. He lost everything he owned, including precious things like his only picture of his missing niece Anne and a collection of vintage vinyl records. Even his goldfish, "Sushi" and "James Pond."
Mettic opened the laptop he was provided and turned it on, signing into his official U.S. government email account so that he could read an email from General Benavidez on what tomorrow's itinerary was going to be. After reading up on that, Mettic took the opportunity to catch up on some new bulletins that came from other parts of the country.
Some of the only good news that Agent Mettic read came straight out of Sacramento, where House Speaker Elijah McCarthy had announced that a major refugee camp on the outskirts of the city had been defended from an attack by a huge horde of the infected. Judging by how bad the situation was back in D.C., Agent Mettic wasn't surprised that there was so little good news from anywhere.
The whole country had fallen apart... At least some semblance of society survived out there in California. And with luck, it can spread back to every corner of the Union.
It was getting late now. The last couple of days had been grueling and Mettic needed to catch up on some sleep.
With a tired yawn, Agent Mettic had almost pressed the laptop's power button when he remembered what he had been thinking of back when the president was fleeing the White House. That thing about his brother...
"Drop dead." - the last thing Agent Mettic ever heard from his brother was still a very vivid memory even after all these years...
Did his brother still hate him for all that had happened between them back then? Or could he have forgiven him?
... Well ... there was a way to find out...
Taking a deep breath, Agent Mettic was about to look up his brother's military service profile and type a message to him when he suddenly heard a knock on his door.
The now-annoyed Secret Service agent quickly abandoned his laptop to go and answer the door, grumbling in annoyance to himself the whole way there.
When Mettic saw that it was just one of his own agents and not Resnick, Inouye, Benavidez or even Souers, he almost blew a gasket from how angry he suddenly felt. It took a lot of effort to not blow up on the agent.
"Carpenter, it's late and I'm really, really tired." Agent Mettic tiredly told his subordinate, then he crankily warned, "This better be good..."
The agent who knocked on his door was Bob Carpenter, a guy who Mettic was only vaguely familiar with before the outbreak began. From what Mettic remembered, Carpenter was of the stoic type, reminding him a little of himself when he was a regular field agent. A guy who took no shit and who took his job seriously, y'know?
But right now, Agent Carpenter looked like he was close to freaking out. Mettic's frown quickly faded away as he realized that this might actually be serious.
"Agent Mettic, sir. We've got a problem. A bad one." Agent Carpenter said in a hushed tone of voice. "You remember when we were back at Joint Base Andrews? When we had to make that run to Air Force One?... The infected were all over us and we lost some people?"
"It's hard to forget..." Mettic stated, "Why? Where exactly are you going with this, Carpenter?"
Agent Carpenter was clearly reluctant to say whatever he needed to say. But after a moment or two of utter silence, he broke after Agent Mettic glared with annoyance at him.
Rather than speak, Carpenter simply pointed down the hall to where another person was standing.
Further down the hall was another Secret Service agent. Mettic recognized him as Steve Livingwood, a low-ranking Secret Service agent who had only become a part of the service just two months before the start of the outbreak. Livingwood looked even worse than Carpenter did... The poor guy's violent coughing fit could be heard even from this far away.
When Livingwood approached, Agent Mettic noticed that he had the sweats, chills, and his face was as pale white as a ghost. Livingwood looked like he was close to passing out right then and there...
Wait a second... those were symptoms. Livingwood couldn't be... couldn't be...
...could he?
"Livingwood? Carpenter?... What the hell's going on here?..." Agent Mettic asked with a stern, impatient tone which hid his sudden worry. If this conversation was leading to where he thought it was going...
Agent Livingwood hesitantly approached Agent Mettic and Agent Carpenter. Understandably, Livingwood looked completely terrified over what he was about to reveal, but he had to be brave enough to just man up and do it. If only for the sake of his fellow agents and the president...
Without saying a word, Agent Livingwood reached to his left arm and rolled up the sleeve of his shirt and suit jacket. Agent Mettic's eyes slowly widened from horror as he saw what Agent Livingwood had been hiding from everyone ever since they escaped Joint Base Andrews...
A bite...
There was an infected man in the Cheyenne Mountain Complex right now. The infection was present in this supposed safe haven for the President of the United States.
To his own astonishment, one of Mettic's men had been infected. The president and vice president were still in danger and so was everyone else in this facility.
As the horror and realization of this finally began to set in for him, all Agent Mettic could say to the two agents was just two words.
"... oh, fuck."
"Yes... Yes, sir... Of course, I understand. I'll make sure that it's done."
In the dark corner of a room somewhere deep within the complex, a dark conspiracy was finally taking shape.
In this room was a person and a radio which had a direct link to an undisclosed, a place where their fellow conspirators were planning to do something that will fundamentally change the nation as they knew it. They planned to end the weakness that they viewed was corrupting the remnants of their government and dooming the nation...
This person was known to the other conspirators only by the codename: "X." Right now, X was talking about the finer details of the plot with "A", the leader of the conspiracy.
"Mettic?" 'X' wondered at a suggestion that 'A' had offered. "No, sir. In my view he's too loyal to the big man. We won't be able to recruit him..."
'A' said something else, to which 'X' responded with, "Yes, it is my recommendation that he be eliminated. Same with all of the agents under his command." 'X' said, then added, "They're the Secret Service, sir. They're all sworn under oath to defend the big man. None of 'em will side with us when the shit hits the fan, I guarantee it..."
After another few words from 'A', 'X' nodded. "Yes, sir. I understand..."
This conspiracy was top secret. Absolutely no one else could know about it.
Should the wrong people find out about what they were intending to do soon, all of the conspirators would end up in prison for the rest of their lives. Either that or get hanged on false charges of treason...
The conspirators plan was to remove President Thomas Resnick from power by any means necessary. The same for all of those people who support him, including Vice President Amaya Inouye if it came to it. No one could be allowed to stand between them and fixing what was left of their country.
Either President Resnick and all of his cronies stand aside and allow who the conspirators saw as better people to take charge of the government, or they all get the knife for refusing. Such is the fate of actual traitors like Resnick.
The plan they had for saving America was very complex. Everything needed to go smoothly. But if they did manage to pull it off correctly then no one still alive can stop them.
... not even the President of the United States himself.
"Him? Really, sir?" 'X' asked with surprise at something that A had said. Something about one of the other people close to the president. "Do you think that is best? You know what he's like..."
Some stern words from 'A' set the record straight. "O- Oh, yes sir..." 'X' meekly said, "Sorry sir, I didn't mean to presume... I'll handle it."
'X' was feeling anxious, and rightly so. As much as they were willingly taking part in this plan, 'X' was always taking an incredible risk when they transmitted back to 'A.'
The radio was always kept on an encrypted channel, but the thought that someone might discover it always stayed in the back of 'X's mind. Though 'X' had a headset on out of a caution to keep any pesky ears from listening to whatever 'A' was saying, which helped ease them both a little bit.
As they listened to 'A' give more instructions, 'X' wrote it all down in a special cipher which was known only to them and the others back in the undisclosed location. The entire conspiracy relied heavily on 'X' and what they needed to do. They had to pull it off.
Though they were still very nervous, 'X' felt like they were prepared and ready for anything at this point.
After writing everything down in the special cipher, 'X' now had to get to work on carrying out the plans immediately. If they were careful, they should be able to get all of this done. Maybe even quicker than scheduled if they were quick enough...
So, 'X' signed off from the secure radio channel... but not before 'A' told 'X' and every other leading member of the conspiracy the words which signaled that their grand plans were now officially underway.
The words were simple:
"'Operation: 'Rubicon' is now underway, my friends... You all have your orders...
... God willing, this great nation will be ours very soon."