“Almost… got… it …” he says through clenched teeth. Then I hear one last high-pitched squeal from the wolf. The man holds up his arm and in his hand is the wolf’s head. I can feel all of us staring at him.
He grunts and threw the head back into the woods. He stands and hands me back the knife. Blood covers it from tip to hilt and I slide it back into its leather sheath. The man is breathing heavy as he walks back to the group. “Come on,” he says. “We can’t stay here any longer. We’re sitting ducks.”
I look around and ask, “Where’s Kyle’s body?”
The man doesn’t even look
.
“I’m sure the other animals came in and took it while we were killing the wolf.”
“Why didn’t they try to stop you from killing one of their own?” Julia asks.
“They aren’t working as a pack. They could care less if one or two of their ranks was thinned out.”
“How do you know so much about these things?” Jessica asks.
“Because he used to work in the lab that created these things,” another new person to the group says as he approached us.
“Look,” the wolf killer says. “I’ll be glad to tell you everything I know, but first we need to get moving. These things are getting stronger and faster and smarter by the minute. We need to move …
now
.”
None of us argue.
“Lead the way,” I say to our new group member. Without a word, we head in the same direction that the tiger attacked us from. No one says a word. We all just follow.
5
We walk in silence through the woods. By now, our original plans to follow the train tracks back to the station are forgotten. We follow this newcomer hoping he has the answers to what the hell is going on and how we can kill these things.
“This should be good,” the wolf-killer says as he looks around. We have been climbing up a hill for the last forty minutes. From where we are, we can see about a ten-mile radius of the woods around us. He’s taken us to higher ground. Brilliant idea. I’m mad at myself for not thinking about that.
“I think it’s time for introductions,” I finally say as everyone sits. Our group has been cut in half (bad choice of words.) Of us that remain, only Julie and I have introduced ourselves. The rest have either had gone silent or are huddled over their surviving child.
“Now you know who we are,” I say after a few minutes. “The big question is: who the hell are you guys? Where did you come from? It sure seems like you both know what’s going on here.” I pause for a second and then, “Is there any way we’re getting out of this alive?”
“My name’s Jason,” he said before the wolf-killer could speak. “I’m a student and I belong to an animal rights group. I… I don’t know how to say this,” Jason stutters, looking for the right words, “but I think I caused this.” Jason suddenly has eight icy eyes staring through him. Jessica stands, but before she can say anything, Jason continues. “Let me explain. I didn’t make these animals what they are, but I helped liberate them.”
“That’s where I know you from!” Julie almost shouts. “You came by my shelter a few days ago and gave me a bunch of these fucked up animals. Do you have
any
idea what those animals did to my shelter? They killed my partner, slaughtered all the other animals in my shelter, and then the military came and burned it to the ground.” She stares him straight in the eyes, not blinking.
“I’m so sorry,” Jason almost whispers. “If I had known what was wrong with those animals, I would have destroyed them myself. I… I didn’t know.” He looks around at the group. No one is cutting him any slack. “Look, our… my intentions were good. We wanted to liberate a bunch of animals that were enduring God knows what kind of testing in that lab. We knew they were aggressive…” his voice trails off. Looking back up, he says, “They bit my friend and I saw them attack the soldiers.”
“Soldiers?
”
Julie asks. “You saw soldiers too?”
“Yes,” he answers. “These soldiers showed up and started torching the place. When they saw that Vicktor was bitten, they shot him point blank in the head. Those sons of bitches didn’t hesitate for a second. They just blew him away. They were going to kill Sean and me as well, but the animals started attacking them. Those animals… they just tore those soldiers apart. I never saw anything like it.”
“Yeah. We know,” Julie says. “We’ve been getting attacked for the last four hours.”
“Wait a minute,” I interrupt. “Sean? Your other buddy’s name was Sean?” Jason nods. When I describe Sean, Jason’s eyes get wide.
“Yeah that’s Sean,” he says excitedly. “Where is he? Is he all right?”
“No, he’s not all right,” I answer. “Our soldier friends whisked in and grabbed him in front of about twenty witnesses.”
Jason pales. “Where the hell did they take him?”
I don’t respond. I just stare with a
you’re serious
look on my face. I give Jason the shortened version of what happened to Sean.
No one says anything. I looked around at the group. Everyone looks beaten down and defeated.
“Come on everyone,” I say, trying to sound positive. “We have another piece of the puzzle, and we now know where these animals are from. Some messed up lab was experimenting on them.” I hesitate long enough for my reason to catch up to my racing thoughts.
“So what the fuck were they testing on those animals?” Julie asks. “What could they possibly be doing to them to make them this aggressive? For Christ’s sake, we saw a goat tear apart a man… a
goat
.”
“That’s the same question I’ve been asking myself since we liberated the animals,” Jason responds. “I’m thinking it was some kind of steroid.” We all look at him questioningly. “I know it sounds weird, but I figured they were testing some new kind of steroids on those animals.” Then, turning to Julie, he continues, “That’s the only reason I brought the animals over to your shelter. I read about you and your work and figured these animals just needed to let the drugs run their course. After they got through their systems, the animals would be back to normal.” He looks at everyone. “They just needed refuge.” Jason stops talking and stares at the ground. “I’m a fucking idiot,” he concludes.
Then, Jason suddenly looks up. “But,” he says excitedly, “we
do
have one more piece of the puzzle that needs to explain himself.” All eyes turn to the wolf-killer sitting about fifteen feet away from the group.
“My name’s Brice,” he says without looking up, “Brice Allen. I worked in that lab that Jason over there broke into.” He pauses to let that sink in. Before anyone can ask a question, he says, “You’re right, Jason. We were experimenting on those…
these
animals,” he says as he stretches his arms and points to the woods around us. “You are way off on what we were doing in that lab.”
“Well, how about you clear that up for us, Brice,” I say angrily. I hug Fi closer to me. My eye is all but useless now and I need to know Fi is next to me.
Turning to Jason, Brice continues: “Go ahead, Jason. I know you’re thinking it. You’re the one who broke into the lab.” Their eyes.
“How about one of you assholes fill the rest of us in!” Susan yells.
“Oh my God,” Jason whispers.
“That’s right,” Brice says with no humor in his voice. “That wasn’t some civilian lab you broke into, testing lipstick and eye shadow.” Jason looks. “You,” Brice says slowly, “broke into a private lab funded by the military and other interested defense contractors.” Jason’s eyes go wide. Brice is shaking his head back and forth.
“You have no idea what you released.”
6
10 miles outside Fort Hood
Wilder’s knuckles are turning bright red as he grips the edge of the viewing window he and Butsko are looking through. He is gripping that edge as if it is the only thing grounding him in reality, this reality. What Butsko just told him about the animals and the current situation has his head swimming. Admittedly, Butsko doesn’t know the entire story. They weren’t absolutely sure what they were dealing with. That’s what the installation was for: to isolate, understand, and destroy the as-of-yet unknown threat.
The installation, nicknamed Sils, was built five years ago in order to research and develop more cutting-edge science, and implement the findings into practical military uses. They have everything at Sils: from weapon development to biochemical testing labs.
The facility was modeled after the Vector Institute in Koltsovo, Russia. The Vector Institute was, and some say still is, one of the most sophisticated biological research facilities in the world. The CDC and the
U.S. Army Chemical and Biological Defense Command
were both modeled after the Vector Institute. Vector was part of the Soviet Union’s
Biopreparat
, which was that country’s biological warfare agency initiated in the 1970s.
Biopreparat
was a sprawling network of secret laboratories, each one focusing on a different deadly hazard. At its height of operation, it employed 30,000 workers and developed bio-weapons such as anthrax, Ebola, the Marburg virus, Q fever, and small pox. At least those were the ones that the U.S. discovered.
What was most interesting about
Biopreparat
was that the research labs, scattered all around Russia, were mainly civilian research labs that, along with developing deadly bio-weapons, also did research into other harmless areas. All of this right in the backyards of communities and neighborhoods. This is how the Soviets were able to escape detection and continue developing destructive weapons all the way up to 1992.
The U.S. government liked this.
Hiding in plain sight,
one General had said.
This way, we can dive further into cutting-edge science and weapon development while working on genetically engineered corn in the same facility.
Sils has the capabilities for all levels of biological hazard, CDC levels 1-4. Over the years since its initial construction, it has been upgraded with the latest security equipment, biohazard containment systems, and cutting-edge technology. Two years ago, the facility also got its own security team to guard it. When Wilder asks Butsko what outfit guards Sils, Butsko says it is so above top-secret that they don’t have a name.
“Technically, they don’t exist,” Butsko says. “We could both be court marshaled just talking about them.” He moves in closer to Wilder. “This is no bullshit, Dan. This facility is the real deal. You no longer exist in the everyday channels of the military. You belong to Sils now, as we all do.”
Wilder stares at Butsko, trying to process everything he was just told. His world hasn’t just turned inside out--it’s imploded. There are alleys and dark corridors of the military complex he can’t even begin to believe exist. Now he is part of that shadow world. “What about my team?” he finally asks.
“They’ve already been briefed and told what they need to know about this place. They don’t know a tenth of what I’ve told you, and even you only know about two percent of what’s going on here. They don’t seem too happy to be a part of all this, but they won’t leave your side, Dan.”
Wilder looks back into the viewing window. The house cat is just sitting in the middle of the room, staring up at the same window Wilder is looking through. It doesn’t move, it doesn’t lick itself, and it barely looks to be breathing. A chill runs up Wilder’s spine. It is almost surreal. This tiny house cat that can’t weigh more than six pounds is being held in a state-of-the-art biohazard containment lab. No one is allowed into the room with the cat unless the cat is knocked out first.
Butsko and Wilder walk around and peer into the various viewing windows. Each contained one animal. There are about twenty-five containment cells holding all kinds of species, from house cats and dogs, to snakes, goats, chickens, and in a few rooms, cows and horses. The eeriest of all the animals are the predatory ones. There are two wolves and a tiger at the far end of the room. When Wilder looks through the window, he can feel those predatory eyes burning holes right through his head. He is glad there was twelve inches of reinforced steel separating him from those wolves and tiger.
“So,” Wilder asks, trying to digest this info. “All these animals were released from one of the civilian labs outside of Austin a few days ago?”
“Yes. Some kids who volunteer at an animal liberation group broke in and ‘liberated’ them.” Butsko says “liberated” in a low, deep voice, making it sound like a curse word.
“I’m having a hard time understanding how a bunch of kids could break into one of these labs,” Wilder says.
“You have to understand that these are different times we live in,” Butsko offers. “There’d be no point in using this civilian lab if we decked out the perimeter with all the most recent, state-of-the-art security and surveillance equipment. That would have eventually tipped someone off that there was more than just make-up being tested on those animals.”
“Okay,” Wilder says. “I can understand that, but why would such lethal research be conducted at that lab then?”
“Up until two days before those kids released those animals, that lab was one of our least productive.” Butsko can’t take his eyes off the wolves behind the glass. Shaking his head, he continues, “That lab was, in fact, a week away from being shut down. Then they had a breakthrough.” Wilder notices those last words sound bitter.