local population death has come.”
It was a grim yet fantastic statistic. Carpenter shook his head in disbelief.
“ What are the chances of survival?”
“ My mission is codenamed Necropolis , Colonel. The City of the Dead. I guess my superiors were less than optimistic when they received the initial brief.”
Silence stretched out, it seemed poignant given the horrendous nature of their discussion. But silence never gave out solutions.
“ So what has changed their initial appraisal?” he asked, but the answer came shortly after Carpenter said it. “This boy?”
“ We have Sir Alan Coe, the CEO of Phoenix Industries, in custody,” Shipman said. “Not a happy bunny, but better than being in the pot. Sir Alan denies knowing anything about Whittington’s activities, of course. Even went as far as suggesting that the good doctor was a maverick. Couldn’t explain where Whittington was getting his funding from. The brass believes him though. Rationale? He wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize his knighthood. Can you believe that?”
Carpenter said that he could believe that, he could totally believe that. “He must’ve given up something,” Carpenter guessed. “Off the record?”
“ Of course,” Shipman said with a wry smile. “Isn’t it always the case? Coe told us that Whittington had approached Phoenix Industries with his research and they turned it down.”
“ Ethics?”
“ Commerce,” Shipman explained. “It wasn’t marketable.”
“ Meaning?”
“ Whittington’s research evidence was unreliable. His animal tests had varied results. Sure the Lazarus Initiative worked on some subjects. But others died and stayed dead. But one or two appeared to be immune to the process altogether. Coe fervently denies that such experiments were escalated beyond the animal phase, and tested on human subjects, with Phoenix Industries’ knowledge or consent.”
“ Yet such a comment shows that he had knowledge that this was exactly Whittington’s intention,” Carpenter said astounded.
It was Shipman’s turn to nod, a small thing, barely noticeable. “Ten percent of the local population are about to face the apocalypse, Colonel. And the boy, Thom Everett has the potential to be their saviour.”
“ He was tested ?” Carpenter was now agog. The scale of this news was remarkable. “How could this happen?”
“ This is where Coe hides behind his assumed ignorance,” Shipman said. “All he says, off the record, was that Whittington found a test group and covertly applied his research. The boy survived, deemed immune.”
“ And his parents?”
“ Did not feature in the equation.” Shipman’s reply was blunt.
“ And you’re going in there to get him?”
“ That’s our mission,” Shipman conceded. “The boy is the only known person to have survived the process. The brass have considered worse case scenario, what if one of The Risen escapes the cordon? We could be looking at widespread contagion. The boy is our only hope of finding a way of containing it.”
“ The Risen ?”
“ It’s what the brass chooses to call the infected,” Shipman mused. “It’s better than the alternative ; less dramatic, I guess.”
“ So how is it spread?” Carpenter asked quietly.
“ Come and watch the CCTV monitors,” Shipman said. “You’ll see first hand.”
***
The chaos at the barricade began with one of the troopers yelling a warning.
“ Corp, we have movement, ahead!”
Kunaka noted that there was excitement to the voice, the cork coming out of an hour of expectation, wanting something, and not wanting something, to happen.
“ Wait here!” the Corporal ordered Kunaka, and headed off to the barricade, where all of the troopers were now facing the city, rifles poised.
“ O’Connell, over?” Kunaka said into his short wave.
“ Here. What’s happening? Over.” O’Connell sounded impatient. Too much time cut out of the loop.
Kunaka briefed him, his words clipped as he
It was a grim yet fantastic statistic. Carpenter shook his head in disbelief.
“ What are the chances of survival?”
“ My mission is codenamed Necropolis , Colonel. The City of the Dead. I guess my superiors were less than optimistic when they received the initial brief.”
Silence stretched out, it seemed poignant given the horrendous nature of their discussion. But silence never gave out solutions.
“ So what has changed their initial appraisal?” he asked, but the answer came shortly after Carpenter said it. “This boy?”
“ We have Sir Alan Coe, the CEO of Phoenix Industries, in custody,” Shipman said. “Not a happy bunny, but better than being in the pot. Sir Alan denies knowing anything about Whittington’s activities, of course. Even went as far as suggesting that the good doctor was a maverick. Couldn’t explain where Whittington was getting his funding from. The brass believes him though. Rationale? He wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize his knighthood. Can you believe that?”
Carpenter said that he could believe that, he could totally believe that. “He must’ve given up something,” Carpenter guessed. “Off the record?”
“ Of course,” Shipman said with a wry smile. “Isn’t it always the case? Coe told us that Whittington had approached Phoenix Industries with his research and they turned it down.”
“ Ethics?”
“ Commerce,” Shipman explained. “It wasn’t marketable.”
“ Meaning?”
“ Whittington’s research evidence was unreliable. His animal tests had varied results. Sure the Lazarus Initiative worked on some subjects. But others died and stayed dead. But one or two appeared to be immune to the process altogether. Coe fervently denies that such experiments were escalated beyond the animal phase, and tested on human subjects, with Phoenix Industries’ knowledge or consent.”
“ Yet such a comment shows that he had knowledge that this was exactly Whittington’s intention,” Carpenter said astounded.
It was Shipman’s turn to nod, a small thing, barely noticeable. “Ten percent of the local population are about to face the apocalypse, Colonel. And the boy, Thom Everett has the potential to be their saviour.”
“ He was tested ?” Carpenter was now agog. The scale of this news was remarkable. “How could this happen?”
“ This is where Coe hides behind his assumed ignorance,” Shipman said. “All he says, off the record, was that Whittington found a test group and covertly applied his research. The boy survived, deemed immune.”
“ And his parents?”
“ Did not feature in the equation.” Shipman’s reply was blunt.
“ And you’re going in there to get him?”
“ That’s our mission,” Shipman conceded. “The boy is the only known person to have survived the process. The brass have considered worse case scenario, what if one of The Risen escapes the cordon? We could be looking at widespread contagion. The boy is our only hope of finding a way of containing it.”
“ The Risen ?”
“ It’s what the brass chooses to call the infected,” Shipman mused. “It’s better than the alternative ; less dramatic, I guess.”
“ So how is it spread?” Carpenter asked quietly.
“ Come and watch the CCTV monitors,” Shipman said. “You’ll see first hand.”
***
The chaos at the barricade began with one of the troopers yelling a warning.
“ Corp, we have movement, ahead!”
Kunaka noted that there was excitement to the voice, the cork coming out of an hour of expectation, wanting something, and not wanting something, to happen.
“ Wait here!” the Corporal ordered Kunaka, and headed off to the barricade, where all of the troopers were now facing the city, rifles poised.
“ O’Connell, over?” Kunaka said into his short wave.
“ Here. What’s happening? Over.” O’Connell sounded impatient. Too much time cut out of the loop.
Kunaka briefed him, his words clipped as he
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