A Darker Shade of Dead (5 page)

“In what way?”

Sandra obviously didn't like calling attention to herself, but she spoke up anyway. Matt liked that. He figured she just assumed she'd been brought here for her serum and nothing else. In a way, she'd just passed a little test. She'd proven to him that she would speak up if she needed answers. It boded well for their future working together and for having her as part of the team.

“If the cleanup guys find anything strange, I want you in on it. I also want to step up testing of the remains. We need to know what strain of contagion we're working with. Do you think you can reverse-engineer it from the remains? I want to know if this is the same contagion you worked on originally or if it's Sellars's souped-up version…or some other version.”

“I'll see what I can do,” Sandra replied, jotting notes on her pad.

“So we've covered the combat angle, the scientific angle, and touched on the investigative part. John, you'll be working on the farther reaching aspects of the investigation—the foreign and terrorist possibilities. You'll be working closely with Sarah and the cleanup teams who'll be doing more detailed forensics at each scene from now on. That brings me to you, Donna.” He smiled, trying to set the girl at ease. She was eager and had a good head on her shoulders. He could tell she felt uncomfortable in this group. It was his intention to help her find her footing.

“I don't know how I can contribute, but I'm willing to help however I can.”

“That's good.” Matt praised her, glad to see her responding to his overtures of friendliness. He'd tried to charm Sarah when he'd first met her and failed miserably. Sarah had seen right through him. Donna, though, was less experienced and a little less jaded, perhaps. “You're immune, but you don't have the skills that would make me comfortable asking you to go out in the field with the combat team. Your technical background makes me want to put you under Dr. McCormick's wing, or working with the cleanup teams.”

“I can do both,” Donna volunteered. “Sandra and I talked a little about this already.”

“Dr. McCormick?” Matt raised one eyebrow in Sandra's direction, asking without words for her to elaborate.

“My experiments are small scale and I don't really require a full time lab assistant. I could use Donna's help from time to time, but not every day. And she's immune. She could be of help to the cleanup teams, able to handle certain items, vetting them for potential evidence, without the need to decontaminate them first. It might speed up the process.”

Matt considered the idea. “That makes sense. But if you're going to be out in the field at all, I'd like for you to learn some basic self-defense. All the guys on the cleanup teams are armed. They're all military and have been specially selected for the job because of their high security clearance, skills, and technical knowledge. How do you feel about carrying a weapon, Donna?”

“I don't have anything against it, and I already know how to shoot a rifle. My dad goes deer hunting upstate New York every fall and he taught me a little, though I've never hunted or killed anything.” She looked uncomfortable again.

“Hopefully you'll never have to.” Matt nodded at her. “You're already on the payroll, so we can issue you a sidearm. Sarah, would you be willing to give Donna a little instruction? The other members of the team can help you as well. And John, I see from your file that you were a martial arts instructor at Camp Pendleton while you were in the Corps?” John nodded in answer. “Would you be willing to give Donna instruction? We all need some PT in our schedule, so if we could get up a regular class a few times a week, we could keep this in-house. What do you say?”

“I'd be happy to, sir. It would help me keep my skills sharp as well, since it looks like I'm riding a desk for most of this op.”

“Don't worry. This is a fluid situation. Things can change on a dime, but for now, we'll work it as outlined. We need you on that desk, John. The foreign aspects of this could be disastrous for our country and for the world.” Matt leveled a serious look at the young man. John wouldn't get any field action on this op. He wasn't immune, and Matt was disinclined to send anyone else to their death against the zombies.

Sandra's research might yield results to make everyone immune. Or not. They'd have to wait and see. Until then, only immune personnel would be sent into possible combat situations.

“Yes, sir.” John didn't look completely happy about the desk assignment, but Matt knew he'd follow orders. They all understood what was at stake.

“We'll have the first of our safety briefings this afternoon after lunch.” Matt went over the schedule with the group, noticing that the scientific types started to take notes while the combat troops merely nodded, committing everything to memory. It would be a challenge to run a mixed team like this, but Matt was up for it.

The meeting broke up shortly thereafter and everyone scattered to their various assignments. The men of the combat team headed out the door together for some more PT while the women congregated near the door to chat. Only John Petit remained of the men and judging by his expression, he wanted to say something privately to his new commander.

Well, that was to be expected, Matt thought. He understood John's unique position. If Matt were in John's place, he'd be chomping at the bit to be let out in the field. It would be up to Matt to convince John he was exactly where he needed to be.

Matt headed directly for John's position, standing off to one side of the door near the women, but not part of their talkative group. John saw him coming and seemed surprised when Matt held out his hand for a friendly shake.

“Welcome to the team.”

“Glad to be here, sir,” John replied politely.

“Your sister's been a valued asset since she became involved in this. I have no doubt you'll be the same.” Might as well get the family issues out of the way, Matt thought.

“I appreciate the vote of confidence, sir. I only wish I could be out in the field with the other guys—and my sister.” He shot a concerned look over at Sarah who stood with the other women, oblivious to Matt and John's conversation.

“I understand, John. But you have to realize the limitations on this mission. We've already lost too many good men to this horror. That's reason enough to keep anyone who's not immune out of the field.”

John looked pained but resigned. “I see the logic of it, but it's a hard pill to swallow when my kid sister is being sent out.”

“Totally understandable, John.” Matt nodded as he followed John's gaze to the petite woman who had already faced zombies and kidnappers and come out on top. “If there's any way we can get you out in the field safely, I promise you we'll do it. Until that time, though, we need your expertise following the foreign connections. Aside from Sarah, you're the only trained investigator we have on this team. Sarah's skills are more in hands-on crime scene work. From everything I've heard and read about you, you're better suited to research and following leads in unconventional ways.”

John cracked a smile. “You could say that.”

Matt understood the grin. CIA operatives never did anything in conventional ways. In fact, the file he'd been given on John indicated the man was anything
but
conventional when he was running down bad guys. Though the file had been heavily redacted, Matt had learned enough to know that John was a much needed asset on this team.

The women moved out of the room at a sedate pace, and Matt and John followed. Sarah looked back and beckoned to her brother to join her while she walked ahead with Donna Sullivan and Mariana Daniels. John excused himself and left Matt at the back of the pack. He noticed when Sandra hung back from the others, letting them outpace her. She was good at fading into the background.

Matt sped his pace just slightly until he was walking beside her. She gasped when he snuck up on her, and he had to stifle a chuckle. Apparently he hadn't lost the ability to be stealthy when the situation called for it.

“I reserved the gym facilities for sixteen hundred hours,” Matt said softly, gaining her attention.

“Yes, I know. I heard you say that during the meeting.”

“I'd like especially for you to attend, Sandra. You can use the machines, even if you don't want to participate in the martial arts practice, but I'd like for us all to gather as a group.”

“An exercise in team building?” Sandra asked. She was a smart cookie. She'd grasped the reason for his insistence on this group PT session right away.

“It couldn't hurt. We have a diverse group of people here. I want them to feel more comfortable with each other.”

“And sweating together will help us work together, right?” She raised one eyebrow, an amused smile tilting one corner of her mouth. “All right, I'll be there.”

Sure enough, at 1600 hours, when the team gathered, Sandra was among them, wearing form-fitting sweats. She was so petite he could span her waist with his hands. The soft fabric clinging to her curves made his mouth water. He'd never seen her in something so…enticing.

John called the group to order, taking his place at the head of the class. He'd act as sensei and Matt would be his second. They were both highly ranked martial artists. John held a fifth-degree black belt, while Matt's was third-degree. The other guys were all first-degree black belts in various forms of martial arts and would most likely separate from the ladies, who were mostly beginners.

Matt didn't think it would hurt for the women to see just how highly skilled the male team members were. Just as the men would benefit from seeing the women making an effort to learn self-defense. Each of these guys could judge for themselves how well each woman could handle a physical threat. This was as much an exercise in evaluating everyone's level of skill and preparedness as it was a team-building effort.

Matt called the group to order and they formed loosely around him on the matted area. The gym was big enough to accommodate them, with a row of machines off to one side that included treadmills, stationary bikes, and weight equipment. They had the area to themselves for this first workout.

“I expect we'll break into two groups after the warm-up.” Matt stood next to John as everyone else arranged themselves in a loose semicircle around them. “I'll take the less experienced folks on that side of the mats, and the rest will form up with John on this side.”

“Meaning, you get to work with all us girls,” Donna teased. Matt was glad to see she felt comfortable enough with him already to do so.

He grinned at her. “Rank has its privileges.” Everyone laughed at his comeback and the easy tone was set for the workout. “John, if you'd lead us in the warm-up.” Matt stepped to the back of the class, letting John sort out who would stand where.

He lined them up in rank order as would be in a traditional martial arts
dojo
. Matt should be up at the front of the class, but he decided to hang back. He would observe and nurse the constant pain that went with him everywhere.

Matt's combat career had ended with injury—as many Special Forces careers did. He'd messed up his back so badly that it would never be the same again. He still practiced martial arts. In fact, he'd regained a lot of mobility through exercise, but he would never be able to hold his own again with someone like John Petit or the other guys, for that matter. The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak.

He still had the skills to be able to teach less experienced students. The women would be easy for him to deal with and it would free up John to work with the front line troops on this mission. All except Sarah.

When they formed two groups, Matt was surprised to see Sarah Petit go with the less experienced group. Another odd thing—Mariana Daniels hadn't shown up at all, though Simon was there.

Before the real work of the class could begin, Matt decided to speak with Simon. They'd finished the warm-up and everyone was milling around, taking a short break before continuing. Matt motioned to Simon and he came over.

“Where's Mariana?” he asked without preamble.

Simon looked decidedly uncomfortable. “She…uh…well…she's been feeling poorly and I told her to sit it out tonight. She could probably participate in kata practice, but I'd really like to keep her away from any actual sparring right now.”

“Why?” For the life of him, Matt couldn't understand Simon's reasoning. Mariana had faced the zombies more than once. She should take any opportunity to learn how to defend herself, in case it happened again.

“Well…see…she's…”

“Pregnant!” Donna broke in. “Isn't she?” Donna had been unabashedly listening in to their conversation.

Simon blanched, nodding.

“I knew it!” Donna crowed.

Matt was stunned. He'd never even considered the possibility. He really wasn't used to dealing with women on his combat teams. “How did you know?” he asked Donna, curious.

She laughed again. “I can think of only one thing that could make a Navy SEAL so uncomfortable to discuss. Well, maybe a few more than that. I bet he'd never go buy tampons for his girlfriend, either. Of course, she won't be needing those for a good long while now that she's got a bun in the oven. Congratulations, Simon.” She patted his shoulder and sauntered off, already spreading the news to the other women. Simon just looked stunned.

“Is she always like that?” he asked Matt.

Matt shook his head, watching the women react to her news. “I couldn't say, but I guess we'll find out.”

Simon grimaced as he turned back to Matt. “So yeah, Mariana's pregnant. That's why I think we should keep any potentially dangerous activity to a minimum, for the time being. She'll want to exercise, but sparring isn't something I think she should be doing.”

“I agree one hundred percent, Si.” Matt clapped him on the shoulder. “Congratulations. Imagine that. Next year at this time there'll be a little version of you and Mari running around underfoot. I bet you're happy.”