“Everybody says I barked at you earlier…and that you didn’t deserve it.”
Roger shook his head. “Dude, my skin is thicker than that. I used to be a cop, remember?”
“Yeah, but you’ve become a pretty valuable member of the team. They’re right; you didn’t deserve to be talked down to like that.”
Roger shrugged. “I didn’t give it a second thought. You shouldn’t either.” He tossed back the last of the coffee and set the mug next to the pot. “If you need me I’ll be out there. Doc’s putting the finishing touches on his IEDs.” He narrowed his gaze and lowered his voice. “Just knowing that he can build homemade explosives kind of gives me the heebie-jeebies, ya know?”
Hatcher nodded. “Makes me glad he’s on our side.”
Roger pulled the door open and glanced down the hallway. “I’ll give you a heads up when he’s ready to test them.”
“You might want to pass the word amongst the residents. We wouldn’t want a panic thinking we were under attack again.”
“Copy that.”
Hatcher watched him walk away and he took a deep breath. “Yeah, dammit. He’s a Freeway.”
“And these are the tanks that we’ll use to transport the cure.” The sailor patted a large stainless steel tube. “It can be pressurized, right?”
Carol looked to Broussard, who nodded. “As long as the pressure isn’t too high.”
The sailor shook his head. “I think it’s around a hundred pounds, but…I’m not positive.”
“I think they’ll be okay.”
He gave the researcher a confused look. “They?”
“They’re…it’s bacteria. Trillions and trillions of bacteria.” Carol added proudly.
The sailor’s face scrunched. “Like biowarfare?”
“Against the virus, yes. It should be relatively harmless against the uninfected. Perhaps a sore throat or a mild fever.”
The sailor rubbed at his neck and nodded. “Good to know.”
“Don’t worry, soldier. Once this is out in the world, everyone will eventually contract it; they’ll have immunity to the viral attack.”
“Yeah?” The sailor stared at the large stock tank and slowly shook his head. “Using bugs to kill other bugs. What a kick in the ass.”
“I suppose that’s one way to look at it.” Carol patted the young man’s arm. “We can start the transfer first thing in the morning.”
The young man snapped from his reverie and nodded. “I’ll pass the word along, ma’am.”
Carol and Broussard stepped out into the hallway and made their way back toward the lab. She watched as the sailor passed their door then she shut it and turned to Broussard. “Is this really about to happen?”
He gave her a slow shrug. “It’s past time, don’t you think?”
She sighed and fell into her chair. “I can’t help but think that the CDC would have thought of this if were indeed viable.”
“Perhaps if they’d had the time.” Broussard leaned against the table next to her chair. “We can only do our best.” He glanced across the lab then toward the door. “I know that our…testing wasn’t exactly—”
“Say no more.” She came to her feet and took a deep breath. “I know what you’re about to say and I’ll take the full brunt for it.” She turned and faced him. “It was unethical. It was…”
“Wrong.”
“I was going to say necessary.”
“No you weren’t.” Broussard pushed off of the table and faced her. “We both know what it was.” He blew his breath out hard. “But you are right. It was necessary to test it before a real world application.”
She lowered her eyes. “But…”
“But we should have waited. Found somebody who would consent.” He glanced at her. “What we did was unspeakable.”
“But it worked.”
Broussard nodded slowly. “We hope.”
Her eyes widened. “You saw the results.”
He nodded slowly. “In a healthy human. We still can’t know for sure the response of an infected individual.”
She nodded and crossed her arms. “We’ll find that out soon enough. I just wish I could know where they’ll start.”
Broussard shrugged again. “That is out of our hands. However, I hope they will arrange some way for us to monitor the results.”
“Surely they will.” She spun on her heel and made for the door. “I’m going to talk with the yeoman.”
“Why?”
“To see if they can arrange for us to watch. I don’t expect them to take us ashore, but maybe they can set up some remote cameras or something.”
“A drone.” Broussard shot her a grin. “If they can use them to destroy, surely they can use them to relay images.”
She nodded at him then pulled the door open. “I’ll see what they can do.”
Shooter slipped into the house and listened intently. He turned to Sinner and shook his head. “I think it’s empty.”
“One way to find out.” Sinner pushed past him and hefted the sawed-off shotgun to his shoulder. “ANYBODY IN HERE?” he shouted.
Shooter cringed and ducked beside the door, waiting for the scream that he knew was about to reverberate throughout the house. Slowly his anal sphincter loosened its grip and he slowly opened his eyes. “Really?”
“What did you expect? We’ve cleared these houses twice now.” He stepped into the living room then turned for the stairs. “I’ll start up here.”
“Wait! The master bathrooms always have the best stuff.” He tried to push past the larger man and found his way blocked.
“I know.” Sinner grinned at him then turned for the steps. “I’ll let you know what I find.”
“Dude, come on. I need to find Simon something or he’ll have both our heads.”
Sinner lowered the shotgun and flashed Shooter an evil stare. “He can try.”
Shooter sighed and fell into a slow step behind him. “Fine. I’ll check the bedroom then.”
The pair split up at the top of the stairs and Shooter found himself in a hallway lined with bedroom doors. “I think these are the spare rooms.” He pushed the first door open slowly and stared into what was obviously a nursery. “Yeah. These are the kids’ rooms.”
“Master’s over here.” Sinner waved him toward the other side of the hall. “You check the bedside tables, I’ll raid the head.”
Shooter pulled the small drawers out and rifled through personal belongings. “Need any Viagra?” He
