…mmm…Michael, slow down,” I whispered in between his heated, hungry lips. My body begged for more of his succulent kisses, wept against the layers of clothing that separated us. There was an energy that passed through our bodies; it surged through my limbs, leaving the heat of carnage in its trail. I shivered under the touch of his fingertips at my waist. Like little insects, those digits played with the hem of my coat, and took the plunge underneath seconds later. Unable to cure my ascended libido, I was forced to let go. My fingers weaved themselves through his short hair, forced Michael’s lips to deepen, and his taste to consume me. “Ahh…” I gasped against his cheek as his teeth grazed over my collarbone.

Soon my coat was unbuttoned fully and hung open; his body instantly filled the gap before the bitter cold could bite.  “Michael, slow, down,” I whispered, my harsh breath floated away like little clouds. More and more they came as Michael’s lips kissed, sucked, licked, and nipped along my neck.

“You don’t want me to,” he answer was assertive and labored, also like he was in pain. Out of frustration, I remove my hand from his neck and slid it in between us.  How could something feel so good, and yet so risky?  Lightly, I pushed on his vest, but he growled in warning. His hands found the hem of my coat, and once eager fingers found flesh, they circled my waist and gripped hard against my bottom.

“Ahh…” Breaths quickened and hearts raced. With haste, Michael untangled his fingers from my body and attacked his baggage. One by one, things fell with heavy thumps. I watched, amazed, by the pile up; the black canvas bag filled with his catches, the rifle, his empty gun holster, his vest…he continued to shed underneath my gaze, however we were no longer alone.  

“Ahem…” The loud, throaty sound echoed through the small clearing.

Within seconds, Michael had me wrapped his arms and his Beretta pointed straight at the intruder. Expected to see Sage, my eyes widened when I met Norris’ scowl.  

“…you must hate me…”Michael cursed and a dropped a slew of F-bombs. Once again, Norris’ ten boys were all in formation around us, guns now pointed in return. I turned away like a coward, only to catch a calculated gaze from Sage. He stood a couple of feet behind the front line, while his gun was aimed at the ground. Without giving me time to react, those emerald eyes looked away, focused beyond us.  

“What is this?” Michael commanded, while I zipped up my coat in an attempt to maintain my dignity from my knees. Head held high, I glared up at Norris like the bastard he was.

“You were informed to stay within the covered area…and here you are, uncovered,” the old man announced, as if we were underage teenagers on a camping trip.  A deep growl rumbled in my ear and I realized Michael was still close; his arms had yet to move, only tightened protectively at Norris’ condescended tone.

“We’re not prisoners. We should be allowed…” I stared only to be shot down by Norris. With his guns holstered to his side, the brute approached as a predator would. I met his stare as he crossed over distance in five long strides. He stopped upon us, and he his right hand shot out toward me. In his shadow, I watched as the old man froze, his offer extended until my fingers wrapped around his hand. With agility and strength, I was snatched to my feet by rough, worn out fingers. Then he let go. “Let’s get back to Karen before she orders the whole squad to search for you.” Norris only spoke to me, his voice surprisingly light against the fall breeze.

Norris began to walk away without any attention given to Michael. I turned to the Seal, who was already dressed and up on his feet. “Better get, before Karen alerts the president of your disappearance.” He snapped out, bitterly. Michael failed to follow when I moved forward.

“Aren’t you coming?” I called out behind as the soldiers started to close in around me.

“Nope, sweetheart,” He answered bluntly, his knife out. He stripped away at a small branch to make it into a spear. Michael’s eyes on me sent a slow shiver down my spine and an image of our naked flesh against a tree crossed my mind. I opened my mouth to counter his reluctance, but Norris cleared his throat once again. The old man’s eyebrow arched in impatience, “Go, Celeste! I’ll find you later,” Michael called out, his back to the group in dismissal.

“Promise?” I yelled back and instantly, those broad shoulders went ridged and high. “Promise…?” I repeated and waited for his response.

“Go.”

Michael didn’t give me time argue; he walked off in the opposite direction of the cove. Left alone, my anger boiled and humiliation won the best of me. Without another word, I raced back to the cove’s entry way, moved so fast the soldiers were caught off guard. I pushed past Norris and Sage to become the leader, yet before long, I moved into a sprint.

Strong, muscular legs carried me faster and faster through the chilly weather, across the slow stream, and in reach of the tracking cameras. Before long, I broke the tree line and circled the cabin. This time, I took the steps two at a time and barged through the, now, empty garden. Maddened, I punched in the code to open the front doors and ran straight to the conference room. I didn’t know if I would find her, but something told me that this would be a great starting point.

Over the polished concrete floor, my boots squeaked in agony from my harsh footsteps, and the arrows clanged in their holder. Pure rage was the only motivation I had to enter the conference room without Michael, and once I was reminded of the man, my annoyance grew.

Outside the door, I banged on it for dear life, glared into the hallways safety camera, and waited. If the room was empty, I’m sure someone would be alarmed by my fist against the dark metal. I began to use my boot; however the welded hinges left little room for movement.

“Karen!” I shouted after seconds passed and then I heard a voice beyond the locked door. I pounded harder and called her name again, before there was a click and the door sprung out from the threshold; Karen stood on the other side, alarmed. “Why would you send Norris after me?”

There were no words that could describe her response. Caught off guard, Karen displayed a mixture of confusion along with anger; red cheeks and nose flared up quickly as her eyes squinted. At the moment a man of Middle Easterner descent walked into the small office from the conference room stairs; his face was of pure delight. “Well, hello, you must be Celeste Freeman. I’m Dr. Marab Adika. I’m so happy to see you’ve survived the journey.”

“Marab…please, can you give us a few minutes?” Karen cracked, her voice low and little hoarse. For the first time I noticed the deep bags under her eyes, and the slight gray color. Karen was a thin woman by nature, but without her white lab coat, her frail body was on full display. Bony fingers weaved themselves together at her waist, while her gold wedding band hung on a thin chain around her neck. She no longer fit it.

Post war world left many physical effects on people, all to the point where one became unrecognizable. With constant travel and less food supplies, most people toned down drastically, their loose, weathered skin became a reminder of their fuller days. On the other side, age lines and wrinkles pushed time forward on the body and people aged faster. This was the effect on fifty year old Karen.

Suddenly, Dr. Marab’s throat cleared and he sent a quick nod to Karen. A pearly white smile was sent my way and then the guy disappeared to the conference room. A few seconds passed while she composed her thoughts and then she turned to me with sad eyes. “I would be lying if I told you that your presence here has no effect on the cause. Everything has changed, things advanced and we are now more vulnerable since the academy attack. There are plans we need to accomplish and without you or anyone else it would be impossible. So, I can only offer you freedom in moderation.”

“What if I want no part in the rebels’ cause?” I asked, as sincere as I could without showing signs of disappointment. “I came here looking for a sliver of home, not the start of another war.”

“We all want a little sliver of home that’s we are here. Why destroy the world when we could save it and you could be a part of that.”

“How?” The world slipped out before I was ready for the answer.

“By fighting back,” Karen said. “Come, there’s more for you to see,” and she moved toward that small staircase. Once again, I found myself at a crossroad. To follow Karen would lead me into the political world of War Z, however to turn away and only stay long enough for Jasper to leave with me, would lead back struggles, a bare existence. Slowly, I turned toward the still opened door to the hallway and ran my fingers along the knob. I looked down at my beaten digits, damaged from dryness and scarred from my weapons, and they reminded me of the future if I left the cove. Fingers tightened and slowly pulled the door shut. With a deep breath, I faced the office, headed towards the steps and down into the windowless conference room, where the energy was high and big promises filled the air.

Unlike the earlier meeting, this assembly was an intimate one. Only two people sat at the long desk, while papers acted as tablecloth, no surface area uncovered. Dr. Marab sat with a coffee mug in hand and a pen in the other. He arched over a couple of papers, deep in conversation with another man. As I approached, Karen pulled up a chair at the head of the table, next to her, and gestured for me to sit. I did as I was told and then was introduced to the other man.  “Dr. Robert Klein, this is Celeste Freeman.”

Amber eyes, as brown as the mahogany table, looked up at me behind black rimmed designer glasses. Unruly salt and pepper hair grew in soft curls and framed a round face. My eyes took in his white wiry sideburns that led into an epic snow colored beard. This man was Santa Clause reincarnate.  “Hello, dear, I’ve heard you’ve come a long way in your travels.” His deep voice carried the edge of a man with history, stories about wars and secrets of our nation.”

I matched his smile with a small one, but my reaction was of suspicion. “I’m sorry but it seems that everyone knows so much about me, while I hardly know any of you? Or what you are doing?”

Karen’s fingers laced through mine, and her thumb slowly strummed my knuckles. She sent me a reassuring smile, before her eyes went to Dr. Klein. I followed her gaze. “No apologies. It’s not every day that visitors grace these cement floors and concrete walls. I guess we’ve all grown a little excited, anxious for the affects you and your beauty shall create.” I smiled at the compliment; however there was more behind his words.

“Celeste, Dr. Klein is my father-in-law. It was through his connections that allowed my husband and me to convert this old land into something more important.”

“I am just the guy who ordered all the man power,” he flagged off the prestigious image Karen had conjured and blew his nose.

“Yes and without you, we would only be in a small box, hoping that viruses skipped over us.”

“Has it? “ I asked, curiously.

“Only the ones we unintentionally wanted,” Dr. Marab jumped in before he offered me tea. Politely, I declined and asked for an explanation of the intended illnesses. “The cove has been turned into a lab for a cure, much like the academy. Along with a group of scientist, as well as Robert and Karen, we strive to find a cure,” he stated confidently. Chills spread through my body as he gestured toward the piles of paper, most diagrams of DNA configurations with marks scribbled throughout. Some had pictures stapled to show bacteria, however the worse was pictures of the undead. They seemed to capture some and photographed once the creature was put down and laid flat on a metal bed.

“Have you found one?” I asked while my eyes looked down at the face of a young boy. His innocence returned in death, however blue veins and gray skin hinted to the monster he became.

Karen was the one to speak up. “We’ve seen signs of promise with over latest version, however to understand a cure, you must understand the disease. This virus that is bringing the dead back to life is the most complicated thing we’ve ever seen, Celeste. It starts out as a single molecule, however once it finds a host, it multiplies drastically. It spreads through the bloodstream and attaches to brain, and then the body is under its control in less than ten seconds…”

“Which explains why you should aim for the head,” I added, looked at the group for confirmation.

“For the brain,” Dr. Klein specified. “However, the extraordinary part is not what we know will happen, but what happens when the Z virus takes over the body for long term.”

“They mutate, like the ones at the academy.”

“Correct.” Dr. Marab affirmed my comment. He picked up a picture that was taken the night I met Norris. It was a slightly blurred image of the cluster in the hallway, taken by a security camera. “Before the mass outbreak, many military academies all over the world were transformed into laboratories. The schools were informed that they were a part of an international campaign to find a cure for the world’s top diseases; AIDS, Cancer, foodborne illnesses. Science professors from top ten universities in the country were in on the campaign as well. The U.N. offered rewards for countries that discovered major factors, as well as assigned weekly checkups on the improvements of the research.”

“But, why? And where did they get funding?” My interruption was sudden, and caused a huge distaste amongst the group; however, Dr. Marab only paused and rethought his answer.

“In every country’s budget, there’s room for experimentation if you can prove that it would better your country and the world. There is also funding for it in the military budgets. The US had a fair raise in their budget right before the outbreak.”

“Are you suggesting that we came up with the virus?”

“Intentionally, I don’t think anyone came up with such a disease. However, there’s money to be made from chemical weapons and when it’s not in safe hands, it can destroy the world.”

“So who do you think came up with it.

“We don’t know, but I was in Israel when the first Z virus came upon my desk. I was also, the one to notify the UN of the deadly virus, yet it was too late.”

The room grew silent at Dr. Marab’s confession, thoughts plagued the three’s minds once again, as image littered the table. There black and white images sucked me in, and my eyes danced across each one, tried to comprehend exactly what they showed.  I came to a map of Europe and the Middle East in front of Dr. Klein. Red ink trailed linked countries with numbers at highlight margins.

“What does that map show?”

“It shows the progress of the virus.” Dr. Marab answered and picked up the remote. Soon the picture displayed on the big screen and we all watched as he used a pointer. “In Israel, the package came with a letter written from a colleague in this Eastern European region. Immediately, I was alarmed by his rushed Hebrew. He scribbled a warning of sorts about chemical warfare being used on civilians, and diseases being erected. Towns were eradicated in days, and refugees were heading my way. At first, I was astonished by his assumptions, especially when the countries he named barely had enough money to feed their own government. It made no sense that they would be able to afford the means to create any virus. But as I continued to read, I realized that the money they lacked in creating was enough in buying. He continued on about wealthy countries providing chemical weapons to their allies for wars. Of course, I was skeptical, so I looked into the records from border patrol amongst others. I found that our immigration rate had doubled and most from the regions he wrote about. When I tried to reach him back on the cellie, he never answered.”

“So a country had provided the virus as a weapon?” I was on the edge on my feet as more map appeared and the red dots littered the European and Asian continents.

“The US has done this before, as well as the UK, Spain, and most Islamic countries. Guns and military equipment are the usual gifts given to insure that a country still has ties to resources, but what happens when they are asked for more?” Karen threw out toward the table.

“But isn’t chemical weapons against some UN law?” I questioned, and each person hissed. Karen’s arm folded and her lips clamped shut. Dr. Klein only shucks his head in disgust.

“Yes, according to the Chemical Weapons Convention. The OPCW has reported that nearly 78% of materials were damaged in over 190 countries, but there is always a way around the random searches and inspections. Sometimes the reward from sacrificing two to ten million people during a war is underweighted to security of wealth and status,” Dr. Klein added and produced a list of the population. “In two years, almost half of our population is gone, or unaccounted for, and those that we can mark, are being taken down quickly, or hiding under falsity.”

 “Why the government would shut the doors on its own people, allow the virus to take over control of our nation? It’s swallowing everything out there. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

“Because, it has not reached the ‘important’ ones.” Karen flipped through a few papers and produced a small map of our nation. Across the mountains, along major rivers, beaches, and deserts, stars marked the location. She used his finger to guide me through the place. “By time the war began, there were several encampments already built for catastrophes. They were usually in the mountains up north, in the deserts over west, or beaches out east. The government procured acres of land and developed what looks like miniature states.  Most of the military was pulled back and sent to guard these areas,"

“Politian’s left their offices by the tens and flocked to designated bases.  Most of DC was vacant by time the rebellion landed at its doorsteps, and they are all snuggled tight behind 40 foot walls and mountain sides to wait out the war.” Dr. Klein angrily, his emotion became infectious. My hands balled in my lap as I was reminded of images of war Karen showed me.

“And what will happen then?” I asked as horrific scenarios battled for the greatest nightmare award. Chills spread through my back as I recalled the Z’s from the academy. If all the creatures turned into those mutants there would be no ‘fight or flight’ only death with seconds.  

“They’ll start over,” Karen added, after a few tensed seconds. Everyone looked at the images, and while I learnt of this only minutes ago, fear, anguish, and rage graced the faces of the other three.

“This is ridiculous.” I snapped when their truth overwhelmed and appalled me. I couldn’t wrap my hands around the information and yet the facts were placed on a dinner mat. Why would the government let millions of people die, if a cure was possible? I asked the question.

“When the cure is discovered, it is impossible to save to everyone. The resources will be too low and the politics too high. In order to guarantee safety for those like you and I, we must attack, while our biggest enemy is still fightable.” Dr. Klein voiced, only to be interrupted by the slam from the hallway door.

Suspicious, Dr. Marab rose first, while Karen and Dr. Klein quickly piled the papers up. Their fingers moved so fast and cleared the table, and within seconds everything was hidden in a briefcase. I watched as Dr. Klein took the leather case and sat on it; all the contents were immediately hidden.

“There’s no one,” Dr. Marab called from the staircase, and the two shared a gaze. The older man stood at this point, briefcase in hand and said that their time was up. He turned to me with a sweet smile.

“I’m not one for sugar coating things, especially at my age, so I will give you fair warning. If you decide to fight back, than the risks will be maximum and your role will be an undecided one. However, if you decide to turn away, do it now, before you know too much. Sometimes the truth can do more damaged than what we can recover.”

With that, I watched Dr. Klein exit through a hidden set of doors to the left of the room. Karen looked at Dr. Marab, who informed her that he would stay in case someone comes back, and then she looked at me. “Let’s go somewhere more secure.”

Karen led me through the secret door and down another flight of steps. We emerged into an unused space with a monitor beside the door, a camera hung from the corner. Quickly, she pulled the door open and we exited into a hallway. This one was different than the hall I walked through before. It had no windows, dim light carried from florescent ceiling fixtures. As I observed the space, everything seemed sterile and clean. “What level are we on? “I asked as we began to walk.

“This is where our laboratories are, as well as the infirmary and patients rooms.”

“Why did we leave the conference room?” A multitude of questions came as we passed by several windows that showed into different rooms.

“Because even though everyone says they are here for the same reasons, you can never be too careful about whom you trust. We have a lot of involvement from former D.C. residents. Do you understand?”

Ah, and I did. Even at the cove, they kept the number one rule of survival; never trust anyone. However, it seemed weird that they were so forthcoming to me with information. I didn’t ask why and decided to just observe. I was confident that the cove would show its true colors and I would already have one foot out the door.

“Karen, if you don’t mind, I would love to hear more…about the virus, your cure…” I looked around, made sure that we were completely alone. “…and about phase 1.”

There was a moment’s pause at my last word, where Karen eyes widened in surprise. I kept her gaze to make sure she knew I was serious and before long she gave away a slight nod. A small smile formed across her lips. “I’m glad you are curious, Celeste. It’s that drive that will lead you to all the answers.”