End Plan by Cameron Stevenson

Author:Cameron Stevenson [Stevenson, Cameron]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-03-04T00:00:00+00:00

The man examined Cole, the surviving victim of the nest of infected, in the small hospital tent at the base. Nicholson and Stevens stood behind him. So far, so good, he thought. The young soldier showed no signs of the virus.

The bodies of the others who hadn’t been so lucky rested in a corner of the tent in body bags, awaiting burial. There’d been some heated discussion on this, but there was no way to get them back to the island for proper interment, and no way to store them until there was a way. Charlottetown had categorically refused to take them on board.

A nearby graveyard, outside the fence, had been earmarked for the purpose. The man didn’t think this was the last time it would be used.

“How’s it look?” asked Cole nervously.

The man smiled at the young soldier. “I think you’re going to be fine,” he replied. “I’ll check back on you later,” he said, and left the tent. Dawson was waiting for him outside.

“How does he look?” asked the major, repeating the soldier’s question.

“I think he’s going to be fine,” replied the man, repeating the answer. “No signs of the virus. I think the vaccine’s a winner.”

Dawson nodded. “Well, that’s a break, anyway. Now what about these live infected? What happened to this Plan of yours?”

The patrol the man had been with hadn’t been the only one to encounter them. The others had been luckier though.

“Why don’t we find somewhere to sit down and discuss it,” said the man. There were too many others around. No use creating alarm with his speculations. Although they weren’t really speculations anymore.

“Fine,” replied Dawson, “let’s do that.” He turned and walked towards the terminal building. The man followed him, along with his ever-present escort.

Dawson led them to the administrative office. A soldier was busily setting up a radio set. He looked up as they entered.

“All ready, sir,” he said to the major.

“Good work, Poole,” the major replied, “can you give us a few minutes, please?”

“Yes, sir.” He straightened from his task and saluted, then left the room. Dawson closed the door behind him, looked at the man, and gestured to a chair beside a desk strewn with maps. The man sat in the chair and the major took a seat at the desk itself. Nicholson and Stevens remained standing near the door. They had to be getting tired of doing all that standing around, the man thought idly.

“Now,” said the major. “The Plan. What’s gone wrong?”

The man wasn’t sure how much the major knew. If he had to guess, he’d say only the very basics — that had been the pattern so far. Success hinged on the commander in front of him though, and the basics weren’t going to be enough.

He took in a deep breath and let it out.

“I’d better start at the beginning.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.