Matt had noticed the Petits greeting each other. It had been hard to miss when Sarah launched herself at the man who shared her coloring, if not her height. John Petit was a much larger and more dangerous version of his younger sister. It was clear they were siblings, from their angular features to their hair, but John was as big and honed as every other man here, and he had a personnel file that consisted mostly of large blocks of black magic marker.
Almost everything recent had been redacted for national security reasons. Ostensibly he was a run-of-the-mill CIA operative. Of course, with the CIA there was seldom anything run-of-the-mill. In reality, Matt suspected John Petit’s missions were more on the dark side than the light. Black ops was his specialty if Matt didn’t miss his guess. Of course, he would never get confirmation of his suspicions. Not through official channels at least.
He’d seen enough by now to know a spook deserving of the name when he saw one. John Petit wasn’t just a spook. He was a phantom.
Matt took his place at the head of the table, and everyone else seemed to take that as their cue to take their seats. This was the first time he’d had everyone all in one place. It was an eclectic mix of skills and specialties, and Matt was in charge of the whole shebang.
“Thank you all for coming.” Matt waited while they settled in. He didn’t have to wait long. These were disciplined folks, despite their varied backgrounds. “I thought it would be beneficial to get us all together in one place so we can take stock of what we know, what we need to know, and how we’re going to go about learning it. First, let’s start with the background of this mission and how we came to this point. We have some new faces here, so I’m going to start at the beginning and then I’ll ask each of you in turn to add your piece. In fact, Dr. McCormick, you might start with a brief description of your role on the initial scientific team.”
Eileen McCormick squirmed in her seat as all eyes turned to her. Though she’d been on base at Quantico all through the initial outbreak, Matt had never seen her before a few days ago. She looked nothing at all like her personnel file photo. In fact, in person, she was stunning in an elfin sort of way. Because of her photo he’d been expecting a super geek of indeterminate age. What he’d gotten was a siren with auburn hair, green eyes, and the most seductive tilt to her lips he’d ever seen.
It was all irrelevant, of course. It was entirely inappropriate to notice how beautiful she was with anything more than calm detachment. Still, the man inside the commanding officer had sat up and taken notice the moment he’d seen her and was reluctant to be silenced. Matt struggled to remain objective around her.
For all he knew, she could sympathize more than she let on with the rogue scientists who wanted to continue the zombie research. She’d done it herself. She’d gone against orders and continued testing and perfecting her serum to counteract the contagion on her own. That lack of discipline and disrespect for orders from the highest possible authority could be a problem. Matt should view her with suspicion, but anytime he got near her, his objectivity went right out the window. He’d have to be more on guard around her. She could be a danger to his mission, and he had to be wary.
“I was a junior member of the original research team at Quantico,” Eileen began in a soft voice that got stronger as she went along. “The goal of our research was to stimulate cell regeneration in living tissue, to promote faster healing and possible invulnerability. The more senior members of the team decided to take the testing to the next step after we’d done all we could in vitro—testing individual cells in Petri dishes. I don’t know which doctors voted for using cadavers, but it was a majority, and a week later the Marine Corps shipped us several bodies that had been donated to science. Testing began, and the reagent had an unanticipated effect. The corpses reanimated and walked out of the lab in the middle of the night. The next evening, the so-called zombie attacks started.”
“Thank you, doctor.” Matt picked up the thread. “At first, the base commander sent out Marines to try to locate the bodies. When the first Marines didn’t come back, they sent out more. Eventually, they called on my group of Navy SEALs. We were doing specialized training in the area and were the closest Spec Ops unit that could be spared. That’s how I got involved. We lost everyone—all the Marines and all my SEALs, except for Simon.” Matt gestured toward the only other Navy man in the room.
“I turned out to be immune.” Simon took his cue to pick up the retelling. “After that, I went into the woods each night with the toxin the geeks—sorry, doc—” Simon sent Eileen a rueful grin but she didn’t seem to take offense. In fact, she smiled and Matt had to kick himself mentally to refocus on the discussion. Damn, the woman was dangerous when she smiled. “The science team had developed a toxin. I used it to take care of the problem in the woods. All the Marines who’d been infected, as well as my former teammates.” Simon’s expression grew troubled and sad, though he did his best to hide it. Matt well understood, as did most of the men around the table what it had meant to the man to see his friends and fellow servicemen like that—and to have to end them. Mariana reached out and took Simon’s hand, visibly confirming what Matt already knew.
“Simon came to the on-base clinic after one particularly bad night and I patched him up,” Mariana took up the thread of the story. “I was a Navy doctor, but was totally unaware of the research going on at Quantico until then. I was stationed there and rented a cabin on the edge of the base, bordering the woods, so it wasn’t long before the zombies showed up at my door. My next-door neighbors, an elderly woman and her granddaughter, were attacked, as was our postman, before we could put an end to the problem.”
“That’s when they disbanded the research team,” Eileen added. “We’d been kept sequestered until then, only asked to develop a toxin that could destroy the reanimated cadavers. We did that, but were still held until they’d all been dealt with.” Eileen looked guilty, and Matt couldn’t help the little bug of suspicion that rode his shoulder where she was concerned. “We thought we were going to be charged with something, but in the end, they decided to disband the research team and made each of us sign documents stating that we would never follow that avenue of research again on pain of arrest and detention.”
“But you did continue the research?” Matt prodded. He probably shouldn’t have, since it would take them off course in the chronological retelling he was after, but he couldn’t help himself.
“Only on a serum to counteract the effects of infection,” Eileen said quickly. “I was afraid some of the senior members of the research team wouldn’t let their work go that easily. As it turned out, I was right.” The challenge in her green eyes made him want to go head to head with her—and not entirely in a combative way. Damn, the woman got under his skin.
“All right. Let’s move to the next outbreak.” Matt needed to get back to the job at hand. He couldn’t let Eileen distract him. “All was quiet for about six months and then a zombie turned up here at Fort Bragg.”
“Just one at first,” Xavier Beauvoir spoke up. “It was sighted in the woods and reported to the MPs, though nobody realized what it really was, of course. They checked out the report, but couldn’t find it. That night they sent out my unit to look for it.” Devastation and anger crossed the Green Beret’s face. “I woke up to discover I was immune and most of my unit was dead. By that time, you’d been brought in, sir.” Xavier nodded toward Matt. “And Simon was here, already at work. I helped him until you ordered me to pick a small team and head to Long Island.” Xavier turned to the woman sitting next to him, pretty in her new black fatigues.
“I was sent out on a prowler call to an abandoned building near Stony Brook on Long Island. Up until recently, I was a county cop,” Sarah Petit informed the group. “There were two of the creatures waiting for me in that abandoned building. They attacked and smashed my head on the concrete floor. I woke up almost a week later in the hospital. Xavier had come in and taken over. I started working with him the next day and we began investigating. We discovered Dr. Sellars, a member of the original research team, had set up shop on Long Island and was actively working on the research again.”
“His new, improved zombies seemed to be able to follow rudimentary commands and could even speak a few words. The one I’ve heard most often is master.” Xavier made a disgusted face. “Sellars set himself up as the master of a small army of zombies that were harder to kill and smarter than the previous versions. It takes four darts each to bring one of the new models down, and they’re capable of working together to set traps. That’s how we met Donna.” Xavier gestured toward the youngest person in the room, a fresh-faced young girl seated near the end of the table.
“My boyfriend, Tony, and his entire football team got infected. Tony took me hostage to use as bait, I later realized. While Xavier was trying to save me, the others were herding Sarah toward a van Sellars had set up to kidnap her.” The girl’s expression reflected the horror she must’ve felt that night. “Tony bit and scratched me before Xavier could stop him. I woke up a few hours later in the grass and walked back to my dorm. I felt awful, so I checked myself in to the campus clinic where your guys found me a bit later. I’m immune, too.”
“So far, that brings us to four naturally immune people,” Matt reminded everyone. “Simon, Xavier, Sarah, and Donna.” Matt turned again to the youngest member of the team. “Donna, why don’t you tell everyone a little about yourself?”
“Well, I’m not like the rest of you.” She seemed embarrassed. “I was supposed to graduate in a couple of weeks with a master’s in chemical engineering. I’m twenty-five and since I’m immune and have a technical background, I’d be happy to help in whatever way I can. I saw what this did to Tony and his friends. We can’t let that happen again to anyone else. Not if we can help it.”
Matt liked the way she included herself in the team. He wasn’t sure what she’d be able to contribute besides her immunity, but he was glad to have her in the group. At the very least, she could work with the science team.
“I’m sorry I left you in that field, Donna,” Xavier said with obvious regret. “They’d snatched Sarah and we had to get her back.”
“I told you before that it was okay.” Donna smiled kindly at Xavier. “I totally understand. I would’ve done the same under the circumstances.”
“You’re a peach, petite.” Xavier’s Cajun charm came to the forefront. “I got Sarah back, but not before mon ami over there got himself bit.” Xavier gestured toward Lt. Sam Archer, the man who’d been Xavier’s XO, or executive officer, on the mission up north.
“You got me back by sticking a huge needle in my chest, Captain,” Sam answered with audible humor. It was clear these two were old friends. “I woke up in Eileen’s lab feeling like death warmed over.”
“Right.” Matt took over again. “He gave you the serum Dr. McCormick has been working on, and it made you immune. So you’re the first induced case of immunity we’ve got. We’re up to a total of five people who can interface with the creatures without fear of the contagion.” The repetition of facts brought everyone’s focus back to the matter at hand. “While Sarah was being held prisoner, she heard Sellars on the phone with one of his comrades. Specifically, she heard names. Jennings, Rodriguez, Zhao, and Krychek.” He pointed to a whiteboard along one wall where he’d already made some notes. “We believe two of those names—Jennings and Rodriguez—refer to two members of the original science team. The others are more problematic and that’s why you’ve been brought in, John. We need you to check the possible foreign and/or terrorist contacts.”
“Roger that,” John replied. “Already in progress.”
“You seemed to be the logical choice because not only are you a former Marine, now a CIA operative, but being Sarah’s brother, we figured you’d realize something was up when she quit her county job and took this one. The easiest way to keep a lid on everything was to bring you in since we needed CIA input anyway.”
“Never thought my little sis would be instrumental in getting me this kind of gig,” John joked, earning a few chuckles from around the table. He seemed basically easygoing, which made him a good fit for the team. Matt thought he’d work out well.
“All right. That brings us up to the present and why we’ve all gathered here at Fort Bragg. Simon, give us a sitrep about the action on base.”
Simon proceeded with the situation report.
“Yes, sir. It’s been a trickle of infected individuals. Not the kind of large groups reported on Long Island. It started with one who infected some of our guys. We took care of that situation and since then we’ve had a few show up every couple of days. Usually one creature that infects a few other innocents along the way before we can track it down and end it. We haven’t been able to figure out where they’re coming from or why they’re trickling in like this.”
“Which is where we start.” Matt stood, going to the whiteboard. He began diagramming where each person around the table fit into his plan of action. “We’re going to attack this on several fronts. First, we use our immune personnel in the field. Simon, Xavier, Sam, you’re primary. Sarah, you’re with them on cleanup, but I want you to take the lead when it comes to scene investigation. Any clues you turn up, I want you to follow up, interfacing with whoever else you need on the team.” Nods all around answered his orders. “Reno and Lew, you’re combat team backup. I want you on tactical support for the primaries at all times when they’re in the field. Further, Reno will coordinate field operations of the cleanup teams. Which brings us to the next prong of this attack. The science angle. Dr. McCormick, you’re to continue your work on your immune response serum. I also want you to work with the cleanup teams on after action reporting.”
“In what way?”
Eileen obviously didn’t like calling attention to herself, but she spoke up anyway. Matt liked that. He figured she just assumed she’d been brought here for her serum and nothing else. In a way, she’d just passed a little test. She’d proven to him that she would speak up if she needed answers. It boded well for their future working together and for having her as part of the team.
“If the cleanup guys find anything strange, I want you in on it. I also want to step up testing of the remains. We need to know what strain of contagion we’re working with. Do you think you can reverse-engineer it from the remains? I want to know if this is the same contagion you worked on originally or if it’s Sellars’s souped-up version…or some other version.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Eileen replied, jotting notes on her pad.
“So we’ve covered the combat angle, the scientific angle, and touched on the investigative part. John, you’ll be working on the farther reaching aspects of the investigation—the foreign and terrorist possibilities. You’ll be working closely with Sarah and the cleanup teams who’ll be doing more detailed forensics at each scene from now on. That brings me to you, Donna.” He smiled, trying to set the girl at ease. She was eager and had a good head on her shoulders. He could tell she felt uncomfortable in this group. It was his intention to help her find her footing.
“I don’t know how I can contribute, but I’m willing to help however I can.”
“That’s good.” Matt praised her, glad to see her responding to his overtures of friendliness. He’d tried to charm Sarah when he’d first met her and failed miserably. Sarah had seen right through him. Donna, though, was less experienced and a little less jaded, perhaps. “You’re immune, but you don’t have the skills that would make me comfortable asking you to go out in the field with the combat team. Your technical background makes me want to put you under Dr. McCormick’s wing, or working with the cleanup teams.”
“I can do both,” Donna volunteered. “Eileen and I talked a little about this already.”
“Dr. McCormick?” Matt raised one eyebrow in Eileen’s direction, asking without words for her to elaborate.
“My experiments are small scale and I don’t really require a full time lab assistant. I could use Donna’s help from time to time, but not every day. And she’s immune. She could be of help to the cleanup teams, able to handle certain items, vetting them for potential evidence, without the need to decontaminate them first. It might speed up the process.”
Matt considered the idea. “That makes sense. But if you’re going to be out in the field at all, I’d like for you to learn some basic self-defense. All the guys on the cleanup teams are armed. They’re all military and have been specially selected for the job because of their high security clearance, skills, and technical knowledge. How do you feel about carrying a weapon, Donna?”
“I don’t have anything against it, and I already know how to shoot a rifle. My dad goes deer hunting upstate New York every year and he taught me a little, though I’ve never hunted or killed anything.” She looked uncomfortable again.
“Hopefully you’ll never have to.” Matt nodded at her. “You’re already on the payroll, so we can issue you a sidearm. Sarah, would you be willing to give Donna a little instruction? The other members of the team can help as well. And John, I see from your file that you were a martial arts instructor at Camp Pendleton while you were in the Corps.” John nodded in response. “Would you be willing to give Donna some instruction? We all need some PT in our schedule, so if we could get up a regular class a few times a week, we could keep this in-house. What do you say?”
“I’d be happy to, sir. It would help me keep my skills sharp as well, since it looks like I’m riding a desk for most of this op.”
“Don’t worry. This is a fluid situation. Things can change on a dime, but for now, we’ll work it as outlined. We need you on that desk, John. The foreign aspects of this could be disastrous for our country and for the world.” Matt leveled a serious look at the young man. John wouldn’t get any field action on this op as currently planned. He wasn’t immune, and Matt was disinclined to send anyone else to their death against the zombies.
Eileen’s research might yield results to make everyone immune. Or not. They’d have to wait and see. Until then, only immune personnel would be sent into possible combat situations.
“Yes, sir.” John didn’t look completely happy about the desk assignment, but Matt knew he’d follow orders. They all understood what was at stake.
“We’ll have the first of our safety briefings this afternoon after lunch.” Matt went over the schedule with the group, noticing that the scientific types were taking notes while the combat troops merely nodded, committing everything to memory. It would be a challenge to run a mixed team like this, but Matt was up for it.
The meeting broke up shortly thereafter and everyone scattered to their various assignments. The men of the combat team headed out the door together for some PT while the women congregated near the door to chat. Only John Petit remained of the men, and judging by his expression, he wanted to say something privately to his new commander.
Well, that was to be expected, Matt thought. He understood John’s unique position. If Matt were in John’s place, he’d be chomping at the bit to be let out in the field. It would be up to Matt to convince John he was exactly where he needed to be.
Matt headed directly for John’s position, standing off to one side of the door near the women, but not part of their talkative group. John saw him coming and seemed surprised when Matt held out his hand for a friendly shake.
“Welcome to the team.”
“Glad to be here, sir,” John replied politely.
“Your sister’s been a valued asset since she became involved in this. I have no doubt you’ll be the same.” Might as well get the family issues out of the way, Matt thought.
“I appreciate the vote of confidence, sir. I only wish I could be out in the field with the other guys—and my sister.” He shot a concerned look over at Sarah who stood with the other women, oblivious to Matt and John’s conversation.
“I understand, John. But you have to realize the limitations on this mission. We’ve already lost too many good men to this horror. That’s reason enough to keep anyone who’s not immune out of the field.”
John looked pained but resigned. “I see the logic of it, but it’s a hard pill to swallow when my kid sister is being sent out.”
“Totally understandable.” Matt nodded as he followed John’s gaze to the petite woman who had already faced zombies and kidnappers and come out on top. “If there’s any way we can get you out in the field safely, I promise you we’ll do it. Until that time, though, we need your expertise following the foreign connections. Aside from Sarah, you’re the only trained investigator we have on this team. Sarah’s skills are more in hands-on crime scene work. From everything I’ve heard and read about you, you’re better suited to research and following leads in unconventional ways.”
John cracked a smile. “You could say that.”
Matt understood the grin. CIA operatives never did anything in conventional ways. In fact, the file he’d been given on John indicated the man was anything but conventional when he was running down bad guys. Though the file had been heavily redacted, Matt had learned enough to know that John was a much needed asset on this team.
The women moved out of the room at a sedate pace, and Matt and John followed. Sarah looked back and beckoned to her brother to join her while she walked ahead with Donna Sullivan and Mariana Daniels. John excused himself and left Matt at the back of the pack. He noticed when Eileen hung back from the others, letting them outpace her. She was good at fading into the background.
Matt sped his pace just slightly until he was walking beside her. She gasped when he snuck up on her, and he had to stifle a chuckle. Apparently he hadn’t lost the ability to be stealthy when the situation called for it.
“I reserved the gym facilities for sixteen hundred hours,” Matt said softly, gaining her attention.
“Yes, I know. I heard you say that during the meeting.”
“I’d like especially for you to attend, Eileen. You can use the machines, even if you don’t want to participate in the martial arts practice, but I’d like for us all to gather as a group.”
“An exercise in team building?” Eileen asked. She was a smart cookie. She’d grasped the reason for his insistence on this group PT session right away.
“It couldn’t hurt. We have a diverse group of people here. I want them to feel more comfortable with each other.”
“And sweating together will help us work together, right?” She raised one eyebrow, an amused smile tilting one corner of her mouth. “All right, I’ll be there.”
Sure enough, at 1600 hours, when the team gathered, Eileen was among them, wearing form-fitting sweats. She was so petite he was pretty sure he could span her waist with his hands. The soft fabric clinging to her curves made his mouth water. He’d never seen her in something so…enticing.
John called the group to order, taking his place at the head of the class. He’d act as sensei and Matt would be his second. They were both highly ranked martial artists. John held a fifth-degree black belt, while Matt’s was third-degree. The other guys were all first-degree black belts in various forms of martial arts and would most likely separate from the ladies, who were mostly beginners.
Matt didn’t think it would hurt for the women to see just how highly skilled the male team members were. Just as the men would benefit from seeing the women making an effort to learn self-defense. Each of these guys could judge for themselves how well each woman could handle a physical threat. This was as much an exercise in evaluating everyone’s level of skill and preparedness as it was a team-building effort.
Matt called the group to order and they formed loosely around him on the matted area. The gym was big enough to accommodate them, with a row of machines off to one side that included treadmills, stationary bikes, and weight equipment. They had the area to themselves for this first workout.
“I expect we’ll break into two groups after the warm-up.” Matt stood next to John as everyone else arranged themselves in a loose semicircle around them. “I’ll take the less experienced folks on that side of the mats, and the rest will form up with John on this side.”
“Meaning, you get to work with all us girls,” Donna teased. Matt was glad to see she felt comfortable enough with him already to do so.
He grinned at her. “Rank has its privileges.” Everyone laughed at his comeback and the easy tone was set for the workout. “John, if you’d lead us in the warm-up.” Matt stepped to the back of the class, letting John sort out who would stand where.
He lined them up in rank order as would be in a traditional martial arts dojo. Matt should be up at the front of the class, but he decided to hang back. He would observe and nurse the constant pain that went with him everywhere.
Matt’s combat career had ended with injury—as many Special Forces careers did. He’d messed up his back so badly that it would never be the same again. He still practiced martial arts. In fact, he’d regained a lot of mobility through exercise, but he would never be able to hold his own again with someone like John Petit—or any of the other guys, for that matter. The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak.
He still had the skills to be able to teach less experienced students. The women would be easy for him to deal with and it would free up John to work with the front line troops on this mission. All except Sarah.
When they formed two groups, Matt was surprised to see Sarah Petit go with the less experienced group. Another odd thing—Mariana Daniels hadn’t shown up at all, though Simon was there.
Before the real work of the class could begin, Matt decided to speak with Simon. They’d finished the warm-up and everyone was milling around, taking a short break before continuing. Matt motioned to Simon and he came over.
“Where’s Mariana?” he asked without preamble.
Simon looked decidedly uncomfortable. “She…uh…well…she’s been feeling poorly and I told her to sit it out tonight. She could probably participate in kata practice, but I’d really like to keep her away from any actual sparring right now.”
“Why?” For the life of him, Matt couldn’t understand Simon’s reasoning. Mariana had faced the zombies more than once. She should take any opportunity to learn how to defend herself, in case it happened again.
“Well…see…she’s…”
“Pregnant!” Donna broke in. “Isn’t she?” Donna had been unabashedly listening in to their conversation.
Simon blanched, nodding.
“I knew it!” Donna crowed.
Matt was stunned. He’d never even considered the possibility. He really wasn’t used to dealing with women on his combat teams. “How did you know?” he asked Donna, curious.
She laughed again. “I can think of only one thing that could make a Navy SEAL so uncomfortable to discuss. Well, maybe a few more than that. I bet he’d never go buy tampons for his girlfriend, either. Of course, she won’t be needing those for a good long while now that she’s got a bun in the oven. Congratulations, Simon.” She patted his shoulder and sauntered off, already spreading the news to the other women. Simon just looked stunned.
“Is she always like that?” he asked Matt.
Matt shook his head, watching the women react to her news. “I couldn’t say, but I guess we’ll find out.”
Simon grimaced as he turned back to Matt. “So yeah, Mariana’s pregnant. That’s why I think we should keep any potentially dangerous activity to a minimum, for the time being. She’ll want to exercise, but sparring isn’t something I think she should be doing.”
“I agree one hundred percent, Si.” Matt clapped him on the shoulder. “Congratulations. Imagine that. Next year at this time there’ll be a little version of you and Mari running around underfoot. I bet you’re happy.”
“Stunned, to be honest. I didn’t really think of it happening so soon. Now that it has, I’m beginning to enjoy the idea. It’s kind of awesome and scary all at once.”
“I can only imagine.” Matt stepped away as John called his group to order. “Please give Mari my best wishes and tell her she’s welcome to join us for whatever part of the class she can handle.”
Simon thanked him and hustled to take his place on the mats with the other guys. Matt turned to his little group and wondered where to begin.
“Have any of you done any martial arts before?”
Matt expected Sarah to at least have had some training. Until recently, she’d been a county cop. When she raised her hand, Matt wasn’t surprised. What did surprise him was Eileen’s raised hand.
He turned to Sarah first, since she was closest. “Did you study with your brothers when you were a kid?”
Sarah laughed. “Far from it. Our dad didn’t think it was ladylike, so I wasn’t allowed to learn. I took a few training courses with the police department. That’s all.”
Matt was surprised. “Well, you won’t face that same attitude here. I think it’s important for every member of this team to at least know how to defend themselves if necessary. If nothing else, it’s good exercise.” Sarah nodded in agreement and he turned to Eileen. “How about you, doctor?”
“I have a green belt in go ju ryu karate. I know that’s probably quite different from what you’ll be teaching us here.” She seemed to want to downplay her abilities. Matt wouldn’t let her do that. She was a vital member of this team, even if she spent most of her time in a laboratory and not in the field.
“You’ll be surprised at the similarities, I’m sure. This is good. You can help me demonstrate the moves.” Eileen indicated her agreement as he turned to the last member of his small group.
“I’ve never done anything like this before,” Donna answered without being asked. He was discovering she was a forthright kind of person. He liked that, though he’d have to get used to her lack of military discipline. “But I’m eager to learn.”
“Good. We can build on that enthusiasm,” Matt replied, standing and facing the three ladies.