Day by Day Armageddon (2 page)

  Almost out the door when I got the call to get in uniform and report to squadron H.Q. More to come.

  Just got back from my meeting at my squadron on base. I'm a little troubled. We got word that we have an important mission to fly tomorrow, on a Sunday. Apparently we are to fly recon over Atlanta, actually Decatur, Georgia. We are to focus on a specific area, namely the area around the CDC in Atlanta. It's nothing serious, we are just ordered to be a check and balance for the "G-men" in Washington, to make sure the CDC isn't hiding anything. It is just a photo recon, and signal recon mission.

  Reminds me of the time I listened to my ex-girlfriend's phone conversation when I was flying training missions around the San Antonio area. I love the equipment as it saved me a lot of money and time with that woman. Also in the news, one of the reporters was really punking out the Bethesda public affairs officer for not allowing press passage into the hospital to ask the medical personnel questions. O'rielly was asking…"What are you people hiding?" The young officer held her ground and insisted that it was just for the protection of the press corps that no extra personnel be admitted to the hospital, and besides it was
not
public property, it was a U.S. Government military hospital. Sort of odd that such a low ranking officer would be giving this type of interview.

  I don't know what to think now. We were on station, sent to spy on our own government (CDC) at 0816 this morning. We started tuning our equipment to intercept any cell phone/land line/data transfer in or out of the CDC. I almost couldn't believe some of the things that were being said. There was an FBI agent on board, not unusual for this situation, as it is technically illegal under posse comitatus for the military to be deployed inside the United States for official missions.

  The agent was to be the official commander of the aircraft as to circumvent us breaking any laws by operating inside the US. We were getting broken transmissions between the different CDC compounds about the virus being difficult to contain, and how the director of the CDC doesn't wish to look bad or in a bad light in front of the President. They were being as confidential as possible about this problem.

  They went on to say that one of the infected males that they had quarantined had bitten a nurse in a fit of rage when she was trying to Iced him. They had strapped him to his bed and put a mouthpiece in his mouth to avoid any further problems. The nurse wasn't doing so well and he had started to run a fever over the last few hours. The CDC voice also said, "Jim, (person on the other end) you won’t believe the vital signs we are getting from the male." Jim said, "What do you mean, can you give me specifics?" CDC voice, "no, no specifics over the phone."

  That is enough to start worrying, I called my parents and told them what I thought they should do, then I started my own preparations. Found out we were not coming in tomorrow, we were only required to call in by 0800 hrs.

  Already cleaned up my rifle, so it was time to take care of the pistols. That brings my weapon number up to four firearms and a good knife. Went up on the roof to clean my solar cells, they were dingy and dusty. I also pulled up my notes on switching power from the power grid to submarine batteries. Might prove useful in the future. I loaded all my magazines (10) for a total of 290 rounds. I never like to load the full thirty per magazine, to avoid jamming.

  My bottom floor windows are only double pane, so I went to the local super hardware store to purchase some DIY window bars for the two windows I have that are chest level. All others are too high to effectively reach without a ladder. I am going to install them now.

  I installed the bars using a tape measure, pencil, 5/32 drill bit, and a square head screwdriver (proprietary screwdriver that came with the bars and it's supposed to be difficult to get the screws out without using a drill.) If a looter is good enough to drill out my bars and take my shit while l'm still sleeping, I'll fucking load it on his truck for him.

  While doing a quick walk around my yard perimeter, I have decided that my rock wall is not nearly high enough. Any able bodied man could easily jump it. I had the wall built with the house. I have broken some bottles that I had in the spare room and I used some bonding cement to glue the shards around the top of my wall perimeter every foot or so. At least it might slow someone down. I was listening to my headset radio while I worked, I can only see the situation getting worse.

  The radio says that the president is issuing a statement in the morning at 0900 EST. Down the street a ways, I can see a family packing up the SUV and leaving. No one takes vacations this time of year so I can only infer that they are bugging out. I'm going to get more supplies tomorrow after I listen to the president's speech and call in to my squadron to check in.

  All I can say is, wow. The President pretty much said that the illness is highly contagious and there is no cure at this time. He said that Americans are encouraged to stay indoors and to report anyone with "suspicious symptoms" to the authorities at once. One of the press cronies managed to get a question in and asked, "Mr. President! Mr. President! Could you please elaborate on suspicious symptoms?"

  The President replied that we should be on the look out for person or persons acting wildly and looking ill.

  Me also said,
"It is extremely important that if any of our family members have these symptoms it is paramount that you give them no special treatment, turn them in just as you would a stranger with the same symptoms "

  A 1-800 number flashed on the screen and he then said:
"
I
urge you to call this number in the event that there are any outbreak symptoms in your community. We have specially trained men and women to handle the situation, we will take your loved ones to a suitable medical facility for treatment."

  The President also said that he is ordering a full withdrawal of American military and civilians in China and Iraq. He commented that he was considering withdrawing troops from the DMZ in South Korea. A video clip played in the background showing the U.S. Embassy in China being evacuated under the close supervision of heavily armed U.S. Marines. One of the clips showed three Marines taking down the American flag to signify that the embassy was officially decommissioned. I'm off to get supplies.

  It was a total mad house. I got into an accident in the parking lot at the hardware store, and some lady almost fought me for the (4) five gallon barrels of water that 1 bought at Wal-Mart. I also bought some more 9mm rounds while I was there. I am happy that i have a few cases of MREs and enough water to sustain me in case this gets worse. I also bought some cheap throwaway facemask to wear in case there are any outbreaks at my location. I bought what was left on the shelf in the canned goods section. I purchased fifty cans of different soups. I can't believe this. I haven’t felt this surreal since 9/11

  My parents are safe out in the hills of Arkansas, I advised them to stay home and don't go into town for anything. They always have a freshly stocked freezer, and water is not an issue since they use well water. They have a small generator for electricity in the winter when the power lines freeze and break.

  I bought some hardware at one of the major hardware chains; some boards for general purpose and some heavy steel brackets and bolts to install a primitive barricade on my front and hack doors. It was just a simple 4x4 board sliding into a rest on the inside of my door to keep anyone from smashing their way in. I think that if I ration myself to one litter per day and 1000-1 500 calorie diet, I could last for at least five months on my current supply of food.

  I also hopped on the citizen band radio today to see who was on. Went to channel nineteen to hear what the truckers had to say about all this. They were generally angry about all the roadblocks and cargo searches they were experiencing. Apparently the CDC and INS were concerned about semi trucks carrying a truckload of illegal immigrants in the trailer over the border. Something about it not being safe and that they had an incident of a case of this bug when an INS agent opened gate to the back of another trucker's trailer.

  According to what I was hearing, they had to quarantine the whole truck and the agent on duty because every damn person in the hack was infected and one of the infected immigrants attacked the agent, probably scared of going back to Mexico. I'm going to call one of my Marine buddies out in San Diego to see what he is doing about all this.

  I just got off the phone with my buddy Shep in the Marines. He said that there were armed National Guardsmen on the street corners in San Diego and that he was being called in to be a part of his base's security team. He told me that he was told to move his wife on base to the cold war shelter that was being reopened and that they were going to close the gates and quarantine the base in the event that there was an outbreak in that area. The sun is down now. I have motion sensor lights on my house around the perimeter. In the event a looter sneaks over and tries to steal anything, at least the light will go on.

  When I go to sleep tonight, I will sleep with the Glock under my pillow and the CAR-15 next to my bed.

  The news is going on about reports of strange phenomenon reported in the major cities, apparently some cases of cannibalism has been reported. That's America for you. The shit hits the fan and everyone goes crazy. Since I happen to live in the outskirts of the eighth largest city in the nation, this news isn't good news. I hear police and ambulance sirens going up and down the street outside my wall. I'm hungry but I have already had too much to eat today. Celery fits the bill I suppose.

  CNN is reporting with a web camera in Times Square. Apparently they own it and the feds haven't thought to have it shut down. They are panning it around and the grainy images are showing armed military troops shooting civilians. Damn, there are going to be some lawsuits over this one.

  The image was shortly cut-off by the emergency broadcast system the Secretary of Homeland Defence stepped up to a podium marked with the seal of the President.

  
"America, I'm sorry to report that despite our best efforts, this disease has broken the bonds of our containment measures. It is no longer safe to inhabit larger cities. Safe zones are being set up on the outskirts of high population areas and will be open to those not infected with this disease. Please try to remain calm, as what I'm about to say will sound quite abominable. This disease is reportedly transmitted by the bite from one of the creatures. We are not sure if this is linked to saliva, blood or both. The infected soon succumb to their wound and expire, only to rise within the hour and seek out the living. It is not known why those who die of natural causes are returning, however this is also the case. I apologize that the President could not be here, as he is being transferred to a secure location. May God be with us all in this trying time. I now turn you over to General Meyers. "

  As soon as the Homeland Defence Secretary began to close his folder, he was bombarded with questions from the press corps below the stage. It was more like Wall Street trading than a press conference. Even though you couldn't see the crowd of press in front of the podium, you could feel them there by the ambient noise, camera Hashes, and garbled voices.

  I can't fucking believe this is happening. I have to call my family.

  After trying to call for over thirty minutes, I realized that that's exactly what everyone else in the United States is doing. The phone lines can't handle that kind of usage. I tried my mobile phone. Same results. "Network busy." I also listened to what the General had to say during my redial attempts.

  
"The best defence in this situation is to remain in your home and await the evacuation teams. Avoid infected personnel at all costs. If you are forced into an altercation with one of these individuals, the only thing that will have effect is trauma to the cranium. If you are unfortunate enough to be forced to defend Yourself from a loved one, do so with same vigilance you would a stranger, as that is what he
or
she is. Try your best to avoid getting bitten as there is no way to avoid infection by these means.

  
The reports coming in from our troops returning from China indicate that the creatures are primarily attracted to loud noises. It seems they use this
as
a primary method for finding prey. It would be in your best interest to remain quiet and calm. "

  I'm scared… I really don't know what else to do other than turn the lights out sit here and write… my rifle is slung over my shoulder even as I sit here… There is a knock at the door. Back soon…

  One of my fellow officers from the squadron came over to tell me about the rumours he had heard from our mutual friend when he came back from a mission over one of the outbreak areas in Atlanta, GA. During the mission, Jake said that he had seen numerous infected corpses walking the streets in the south part of town. He said he could see the stray dogs barking at them in the streets and watched as the infected tried to lunge at the dogs. He was using the camera pod to digitally zoom in. To him it seemed like some of the younger gang members were trying to take law into their own hands by shooting the infected corpses.