The Last Outbreak (Book 1): Awakening (5 page)

Out the front doors of his building and into the street, it was surprisingly quiet for this time of the morning. Other than the single alarm sounding from somewhere at the other end of town, you’d think the entire city was dead. According to David, they were more than thirty minutes behind schedule; however, as Ethan reminded his friend, “This wasn’t something that a few shortcuts through town couldn’t fix.”

“Yeah,” David said, “I’m sure your sister will absolutely feel the same way.”

“Emma will be fine, she always is.”

“That’s all good and everything and you may be cool with being one write up away from the unemployment line, but I need this job. I mean I’m completely grateful for you hooking me up, but I really do need this.”

“No worries, I’ll just call… damn it!”

“What now?” David said.

“I forgot my phone, but it really wouldn’t have mattered anyway; the battery was dead before I even fell asleep last night.”

“Let’s just get to the truck and you can use mine to call her.”

“Can’t.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know her number,” Ethan said. “It’s in my phone, but I can’t remember the last time I actually had to dial it.”

“Great,” David said. “So this will
actually
be our last day of work. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.”

Ethan shook his head and continued up the long block toward Old Bridge Road before turning onto Second Street. Reaching the newly constructed building, he walked through the door and hurried up the stairs to the second floor.

Working for the man who employed his sister had its privileges. Directly reporting to her was not one of those perks. He and David were brought on a little over six months before when a large donation was made to their humble city in exchange for the benefactor’s anonymity. The company, and more precisely the man behind the company, demanded to remain in the shadows.

.      .      .

Ethan’s sister Emma moved back to town for exactly thirty days, to meet with the building commission and the bank manager and to ensure the transition played out exactly as planned. She was also assigned the responsibility of reporting back on the construction of the two adjoining structures.

First City Bank more than doubled its square footage and for the first time, owned a vault that would accommodate more than two people at a time. The building attached to the bank’s west wall, and also built by the mystery investor, offered only one office and a reception desk that sat along the expansive second floor. The first floor was nothing more than a few potted plants and three severely uncomfortable leather chairs.

Only days before his sister’s arrival, she proposed a plan to pull Ethan out of his yearlong depression. She offered him one of only three jobs within this small satellite office. He would drive an armored truck from the lot behind the bank into the city, load into the armored vehicle whatever he was asked, and without making a single stop, he’d deliver the load back to the bank and then be done for the day.

As Ethan reluctantly agreed to take the job, he had one request. He asked that Emma also bring on his best friend and pay him twice what he was making. He knew David wanted to start a family and presumed that the man in charge of this operation had unlimited resources. Their meager salaries would be of little concern to a company worth millions.

Emma agreed without a second thought. She set them up with uniforms, two armored vehicles (one black and one white) to be driven on alternate days, and three weeks of basic weapons training. The day she said goodbye, she handed them each a new utility belt, an Austrian born Glock 17, and a “Welcome to BXF Technologies” handbook.

The uniforms were fine—at least he wouldn’t have to worry about choosing what to wear every day and for Ethan, driving the massive vehicles was as much fun as one could have while still getting paid. Also, never having to worry about some of the more serious traffic infractions had its appeal, within reason.

His sister explained that he must do whatever he had to do to get his route completed by five in the afternoon. This must happen each and every shift, without exception. If he and David had to work through their lunch, then so be it. If they had to start earlier in the morning, that was okay too. If they needed to avoid pausing at every single stop sign, she wouldn’t ask them any questions. If there were any problems, she promised to personally have them taken care of. Ethan just needed to make sure he got his job done. Every. Single. Day.

Ethan was in no position to decline the job offer, even though that’s exactly what his gut told him to do. Over the last six months, he’d given his sister more than enough reasons to find someone else—anyone else for the position. His sights were elsewhere and everyone could see it.

Three days before she arrived in town, the siblings spoke on the phone for over two hours. He later told her that if he’d known what she was calling about, he would have never taken her call. She told him that she’d do most of the talking and that this was one conversation where he really needed to listen, even if he didn’t want to. “Ethan—Mom, Dad, and I have waited long enough for you to bounce back. But now we need you to meet us halfway. We love you and are worried about you. This is as good an opportunity as you’re going to get.”

.      .      .

Ethan’s life collapsed the day his fiancée left town. There was no warning, no goodbyes, and no time for him to come to terms with the loss. The two never spoke again and as he attempted to put the pieces back together, his upcoming position as deputy sheriff was eliminated due to budget constraints.

As the days turned to weeks and he continued to freefall into depression, Ethan received a phone call that would forever change his life. He was told that his father had suffered a heart attack coming down the mountain and had completely lost control of his truck. The tree he plowed into was older than the valley itself, and after eight hours of intensive surgery, he received the first bit of good news in over a year. His father would live.

Exactly sixty-one days later, the final two blows were handed down, each more devastating than the one before.

His father needed to move closer to where his rehab facility was located, in the city. The drive back and forth, three times per week, was doing as much damage to his mother’s health as it was healing his father. This would mean he’d only see them every other weekend; however, with as much as he’d lost in the last year, he still had his sister. And the very next day, that was also taken away.

After more than six years of working to complete her bioengineering degree, and then flying around the country for interviews, Emma received the job offer of a lifetime. A company with deeply rooted ties to the military and government demanded that she join their team out on the West Coast within the month. She couldn’t say no.

Her conversation with Ethan went as well as could be expected. What she couldn’t foresee was how much further he’d sink in the coming months. They spoke nearly every single day and she came back to town as often as she could manage. It was never enough, not for her and definitely not for him.

.      .      .

The day Emma returned to officially offer him the job, her brother appeared older. Not his physical appearance, but the way he carried himself. His outward demeanor. He was friendly, he finally laughed again. He was having fun with life, and many nights too much fun. Life had beaten down the thirty-eight-year-old man who she grew up idolizing, but for the first time in a long time, Ethan looked happy.

He was softened by the things that kicked and punched him, but he was a man. He looked at things with a much different eye now, but knew what he wanted and initially that didn’t include a job driving a truck full of someone else’s money.

He agreed to do what his sister asked, but only until the sheriff’s office had another position available. The experience he gained through this opportunity may just look good on a resume, even if he had to list his sister as his supervisor.

Dropping out of the sky as the sun began its forward push along the West Coast, the unnerving turbulence pulled Emma from the fitful nap she’d succumbed to less than an hour earlier. As her eyes adjusted to the dimly lit rear cabin, she straightened in her seat, brushed her hair from her face, and glanced the two side tables.

As her world crystalized, she reached for her phone, entered her password, and noticed the lack of reception the plane’s interior offered. “Great.”

As the jet banked right, the first hint of what was to come appeared through the window on the opposite side of the plane. Not more than a few miles from where they were to touch down, the city streets were a virtual war zone. From an altitude of less than three-thousand feet, spot fires peppered the urban landscape, only to be eclipsed by the countless number of vehicles attempting to flee the area.

As the Gulfstream continued its descent, Emma stretched the exhaustion from her back, legs, and arms. With one hand braced against the right wall, she stood and started for the cockpit. Moving past the stainless-steel-trimmed appliance stack, and dual coffee makers, she was greeted by the flight’s Private Concierge.

He was good looking, but not intimidating. He smiled, although only enough to make certain he had her full attention. His voice came out of the dimly lit galley in a calm and professional tone. He slid closed the cockpit privacy divider and held out his hand as Emma approached. “Ms. Runner, is there something I can get for you? We are actually about to land.”

“Have the pilots seen what is happening out there?”

“Yes, we are all very aware of the situation. We’ve been re-routed to Burbank and have a car waiting for you.”

“Have you spoken to Mr. Goodwin? He’s going to want to know—”

“Yes Ms. Runner, he’s instructed us to get you to your destination and wait for our next assignment.”

“Next assignment? It looks like Armageddon down there. Why don’t we just fly somewhere else?”

“Well, there isn’t anywhere else. Burbank is the only alternative, the only still one taking flights, aside from LAX.”

“Okay, then why not LAX? It would be closer from there to my house anyway.”

“Yes it would be much closer, although as you can see, the streets are impassible from there into Inglewood or even Playa Del Ray. Nearly everything heading north is going to be a no go. It’s Burbank. Only Burbank.”

Attempting to look out the left window, Emma leaned forward. “What about Mr. Goodwin? Isn’t he flying into LAX? He said that he and Mr. Dalton were heading back to the offices, aren’t they going to be heading right into—”

“They took a different route and landed nearly thirty minutes ago. Mr. Goodwin is already into the city and should be arriving safely at the building in just a few minutes. He wanted to pass along his well-wishes and asked that we get you to your destination quickly and safely.”

Well-wishes?
Emma thought.
Sounds like he’s sending a Christmas card.
“Did he give any details as to what—”

The privacy door to the cockpit slid open and the co-pilot leaned out through the opening. He nodded to the Concierge and disappeared back behind the controls of the G280.

“Ms. Runner, we’re landing. You’ll need to take your seat.”

She paused for a moment longer, but only stared. He was kind and composed and would certainly give an answer to anything she asked. It was just that the questions she had couldn’t be answered by this concierge only minutes before they touched down and she knew it. Emma smiled and before turning away simply said, “Thank you.”

Moving through the rear cabin, she avoided the windows and instead reached for her phone. Sliding back into her seat, she again opened her messages. Three new texts, all from Marcus Goodwin. Before viewing the most recent, she opened the one sided conversation sent to her brother.

Reading back through her unanswered texts, she shook her head before adding one last request.
Ethan, I’m heading home. Please get back with me as soon as you can
.

As the text struggled to send through the poor signal, she opened the message from Goodwin.
Emma, I need the documentation from the most recent test subjects uploaded to my private server as soon as you get home. And, be sure to use the VPN from your desktop ONLY
.

The second message was time stamped only seconds after the first.
Emma, Our mainframe appears to be experiencing some delays, go ahead and let the upload continue for as long as it takes. I need those results this morning
.

The last was send only minutes before she opened her phone.
You should be landing in the next few minutes. A car will be waiting at the hanger when you arrive. You will be home no later than seven-thirty. I’ll be expecting the report by eight
.

Shaking her head, Emma leaned forward and pulled her bag in between her feet. Opening the side pocket, she dropped her phone in, just as it began to ring.