The Secret Weapon (2 page)

C
oraset Prescott rested on the soft carpeted ledge of the picturesque window sill in her apartment on the 40
th
floor. She had a perfect, unshielded view of the western sky as the sun shined with brilliant hues of oranges and reds. It was a breathtaking sight she appreciated every evening.

This was her set time
for reflection. Coraset lived alone. She was never married and never had children. Memories were all she had of her mother and two sisters, all of them passed away during the pandemic. The only family she had was her stepfather name Brecco, an eccentric scientist for the Federation.

Before the outbreak,
Coraset worked for Erato Biotrade as Director of the International Humanitarian Aid Division. She was committed and loved her job. She was truly into making a difference in the lives of the unfortunate and destitute. When Haiti and Chile suffered an earthquake in 2010, Coraset worked tirelessly to ensure medical supplies and drinkable water reached the devastated nations. When Pakistan had major flooding, she sent pallets of bottled water, food provisions and medical supplies. Getting the supplies to the citizens during that time was nearly impossible because Pakistan really didn’t want Western society interfering, but Coraset never gave up and was successful in getting the aid into the country. When tornadoes tore through Missouri and Alabama in 2011, Coraset made sure Erato Biotrade was right there to assist afterwards. When the tsunami hit Japan, supplies were in the country within twenty four hours. She helped put Erato Biotrade on the forefront of humanitarian efforts in the world, and they were called many times to help smaller communities, as well.

Coraset was among the privilege in
2012 to be vaccinated before the outbreak, but she didn’t realize it at first. When she noticed the main survivors were Erato Biotrade employees, she knew they were responsible for the destruction of humanity, and she was devastatingly disappointed. The very company that saved lives around the world was the ones that destroyed it.

Bethesda, Maryland was where Coraset lived and worked before the outbreak
. She had a corner office. She travelled the world almost every week. Now, she lived in the Barat Region and worked in a greenhouse as a horticulturist. She grew and harvested orchids. It was a job she chose when Erato Biotrade employees and executives were offered their choice of positions. It was out of the limelight, not in the least lucrative, and she could disappear into an uneventful life. A severe lifestyle change she never regretted choosing.

Coraset looked down at the empty streets. The lamps were lit. Bugs were dancing around the light source.
She grasped the glass of Chambourcin Reserve with her fingertips and brought the glass to her lips. She hesitated, taking in the silence of her apartment, and swallowed the last bit of her drink. Coraset stood, took her glass and bottle to her immaculately clean open kitchen. She rinsed the glass thoroughly and wiped it clean with a towel that was folded neatly on the sink’s edge. She set the towel neatly on the counter and set the glass upside down to let it dry. Coraset corked the bottle and placed it inside the cool empty refrigerator. She stopped to gaze at the white and steel interior. It looked like a reflection of what was inside of her. An empty shell, nothing to give, and nothing to warm the soul. She slammed the door closed.

As she crossed the open room out of the kitchen area into the living
room, the small computer on the coffee table came alive with a single beep. A red cursor on the top left hand of the screen blinked rhythmically. Coraset didn’t want to turn around. It was a personal message that was meant for her. Usually when an announcement was meant for everyone, her computer would simply start playing on its own and loop until she turned it off. She’d catch the news before she went to work or after she came home.

Coraset pulled the hair
band from her right wrist, and choked her long black hair into a ponytail in one swift motion. She sat down facing the terminal and pressed the space button. The Erato symbol was centered showcasing an eagle with wings spread full length in front of olive branches designed in the shape of parenthesis. A message replaced the symbol.

FROM: 19

TO: 7772

NEED TO SPEAK WITH YOU PRIVATELY
.

BARAT REGION, TOWER SIX, ROOM 104
.

30 MINUTES
.

Immediately, Coraset leaned back with a sigh and wondered why he wanted to meet so late. She didn’t feel like leaving her apartment that time of evening, but she knew the person behind the number. She’d go out of her way to help him anytime he needed.

Coraset
dragged over towards her shoes that were placed neatly beside the door leading to the hallway. She put on a black jacket over her black sleeveless turtleneck, walked out of the apartment, and locked the door. Wishing she was going to bed instead of going out, she shuffled down the hallway.

The
elevator door slid open revealing mirrored walls and a woman reading a glass tablet. Her attention didn’t leave the words that appeared on the screen. The pale woman was taller than Coraset with long blonde hair that stiffly lay in place framing her long thin face. The two women had seen each other before in passing, but they had a quiet agreement of not speaking to one another that suited them both.

Once the elevator arrived smoothly
at the first floor, Coraset stepped out, leaving the blonde to ride down to the grocery store in the basement level. She walked with purpose towards the glass doors and out onto the city sidewalks.

She walked up the sidewalk passed two buildings before arriving at Tower Six
. The only difference from her building was the name, which hers was called Tower Nine. Coraset entered an empty lobby, clean of any personality or décor. It had plain marble tiled floors, glass on three sides facing the street and two corridors in the back leading to rooms and elevators. In between the corridors plastered in the center of the lobby wall was the word ‘SIX’ in tall, block lettering.

Coraset went
to the left side hallway and stopped at the fourth door on the left. She knocked a couple of times before she heard an indication to enter. Coraset walked in hoping the meeting wouldn’t take long, but to her surprise, the person she thought she was meeting was not there. Instead a woman, a man, and a uniformed police officer were waiting for her.

Lea Cassis
, the Barat Region Senator’s wife, and Barat Police Detective Lewis Price faced Coraset. The uniformed police officer blocked the door so Coraset couldn’t leave. She knew Lea, but she had no idea who the detective was. Coraset was calm as she waited to hear what this meeting was about.

“I told
him you would come.” Lea remarked as she shifted her weight to one leg. She wore a long sleeve black sweater dress that stopped just below her knees and black high heel boots completed her outfit.

Five other
uniformed police officers rapidly walked in from other rooms in the apartment and surrounded Coraset.

“What is this about?”
She asked as she eyed every officer carefully. Her mind began to race. She wondered where Senator Cassis was. What was his wife trying to do?

Detective Price stepped forward and
stated, “I’m Detective Lewis Price of the Barat Region. I need to speak to you about the murder of Police Lieutenant William Donner.”

Coraset
glared at Lea who was smirking evilly. With a subdued anger, Coraset stated, “I don’t know anything about a murder.”

“She is such a liar,” Lea
whispered towards Detective Price. “She knows him.”

“I’m going to n
eed for you to put your hands over your head,” Detective Price ordered as he pulled out his weapon.

The six police officers
followed Detective Price’s lead and pulled out their weapons, as well. Coraset slowly moved her hands to her head. One of the police officers frisked her and when he was done, he forced Coraset’s hands behind her back, and her wrists were placed in handcuffs.

“You really thought I wouldn’t find out.” Lea spoke as she slowly approached Coraset.
She was talking about something other than what Coraset was being arrested for, but she didn’t let on to what she meant.

Coraset
stared at her, confused by her last statement.

Lea laughed and asked smartly, “Do you realize that killing
a police officer of any rank from any region has the punishment of death?”

Coraset
stated angrily, “I didn’t murder anyone.”

Detective Price commanded, “Take her away.”

They walked Coraset out of the apartment. When the police tried to put her in the back of the police van, she fought against them. She didn’t want to face a trial and the death penalty. She didn’t do what Lea claimed she did. She didn’t know any police lieutenant, and she never killed one. Coraset managed to head butt one of the officers and kick the leg of another before she was controlled by a tranquilizer to the back of the neck. She became weak and collapsed within seconds.

It was over a day later
when Coraset woke up finding herself in a ten by ten cell. She had dry mouth, a splitting headache, and the room was spinning. She closed her eyes and took in several deep breaths. Once she opened them again, Coraset noticed on her right side was a cold cement wall and on the left were a silver toilet and a sink. A thin slit window went down the center of the wall facing the head of the bed, and her feet were facing the only wall with an entrance into her cell. Coraset closed her eyes again. At least, the Federation didn’t kill her. In the new government, trial and punishment was all executed the same day, and since she was still breathing with a massive headache, her fate had to be prison instead of death. Now, Coraset had one question. How long was she to stay in prison?

A year and a half passed and Coraset was still a resident of the Mojave Prison.
She never had any visitors, but that never truly mattered to her. She still had her stepfather, but she didn’t want him travelling from the Barat Region to Death Valley by himself. It was at least a four hour drive, and anything could happen. There were people who still lived outside of Erato, and they would try to take his car or mug him if he stopped to get gas. It was a worry she didn’t want to bear.

Coraset
sat on the bed with her hands together in her lap, and she waited patiently for her breakfast and to take a shower. She stared at the bare wall in front of her. She never wanted to make her cell feel like home. She hated being there. The small space remained just as empty as the day she arrived.

Finally her
tray of food was shoved in through the slot in the door. The eggs and soggy toast was never edible, but she always took a couple of bites to satisfy her angry appetite.

An hour
later the food was taken away, and Coraset was finally taken to the showers. She placed her towel and comb on the tiled wall in front of her. She took off the orange jumpsuit she was required to wear that indicated she was a dangerous inmate and her underclothes, but she kept on her flip flops. She stepped under the stream of cold water from the rusty hooked shower head. With her eyes closed, Coraset tilted her head back letting the water beat on her face, neck, and chest. The steady rhythm on her body felt absolutely heavenly.

Coraset
was the only inmate in the showers, and she was being watched by male armed guards. She was used to it. She simply acted as though they weren’t there. Most of them looked forward to watching her while she was showered.

The first time
in the prison shower, one of the guards tried to take advantage of her. Coraset got the best of him. She gave him the impression that she wanted him, and when his guard was down, she got his gun and killed him. Coraset was placed in extreme solitary confinement with no lights and no windows. Her shower privileges, outside privileges, and her library privileges were taken away. She remained in there for three weeks.

When Coraset returned
back to her regular cell, another guard decided to try his luck. She let him have his way. She was all over him as much as he was all over her, and she got a hold of his night stick. She brutalized him, and he eventually died of his injuries. She was put into extreme solitary confinement for a month. The warden ordered the guards not to touch her or approach her alone. She was considered very dangerous, and she was to be treated as such.

The three guard
s that watched her that day in the shower had their rifles armed and ready. They noticed her smooth chocolate colored skin, her malnourished thin frame, and subtle but perk breasts. Her wet black hair was pasted to her back, arms, and shoulders in twisted strands. Before she could apply soap, the shower abruptly stopped. The guards lifted their weapons higher, surprised themselves that the water had stopped so sudden. Coraset looked at each one of them, turning only to look at the guard against the wall behind her. She didn’t say a word. She didn’t ask any question.