Free Evacuation by Phillip Tomasso Page A

he’s no one now, just a survivor like you or me, but he has a fancy as shit bunker to wait it all out in. That’s the difference.”
    “So what was this? This facility? I mean, if there’s no government…”
    “Never said there was no government. Just a lot fewer of them, is all. Hell, they needed some serious down-sizing anyway.” He laughed in a short, guttural burst. “This camp is military. Medical. What we were told almost a week ago is that they’re set up around the country. Going to be used for research. A way to find a cure to un-infect the diseased.”
    “We were going to be guinea pigs?”
    “Blood samples only. It isn’t asking much. Doctors need clean blood to work on ways to fight the virus, which is an oxymoron, since a vaccination against a virus was what caused it all in the first place. Point is, if you didn’t get inoculated, your blood is prime real estate.”
    “But, I mean, I thought I heard it was a contaminated vial that impacted a shipment of vaccinations that got sent out, so a case full of people were given the medicine. However many vials are in a shipment, or a case. I don’t get why this is so widespread,” I said, knowing my desperation for answers was transparent as shit.
    “You heard wrong. The vaccinations against the H7N9 were contaminated. Not every shipment, but most. Apparently, the vial that broke wasn’t immediately discovered. The contaminant was in the air, fouling up shit for nearly twenty-four hours before someone spotted broken glass under one of the workstations. That stuff…that contaminant…managed to find its way into everything. Went out in shipments across the country. The entire country and this is where it gets worse -- overseas. I have no idea what kind of fucked-up shit’s going on in Europe, but I can bet it ain’t any prettier over there than it is over here,” Vitale said.
    I stared at him.
    He stared back.
    “You knew. The military knew.”
    “We got word about the vaccination issues, but as they say, far too late. The elderly, the young, they were first in line. Most first responders, your firemen, police officers, paramedics and a good portion of the military, too were in trouble and we knew it. What we didn’t know, couldn’t know, was the side effects. That. This. These zombies. No one knew.”
    “Holy fucking shit. You knew. Most of the military spared?” Dave said.
    “Most? No, they were not, son.”
    “And what happened to them.” I pointed toward the camp. “To everyone here?”
    “We’re about to find out.”
    I had numerous questions that I wanted answered, but now wasn’t the time. I only prayed there would be time later. It felt like there might not be and that worried me.
    “Look, I’m leaving one of you here. Right fucking here,” Vitale said. He pointed a finger and jabbed it toward the captain, “That fucker tries to move the boat, you shoot him. Fucking headshot.”
“Sir?” Marf let his eyes move from the captain to his sergeant. “You’re not serious, sir?”
    “The fuck I’m not. When we left the port, when we all climbed onto the vessel there, Captain Travis up there, he hadn’t heard shit from the camp. In hours. How long it take us to get here? Like four five hours. And nothing from the camp. The whole time. Nothing. Got the crewman up there trying to reach someone. Anyone. Think that fucking captain shared any of that information with us ? He didn’t. Not with you and not with me. So we boated all the way the fuck out here, and we now I’ve got three soldiers out there. And fuck if I have heard from them in, how long, Spade?”
    “About six minutes,” he said.
    “Six fucking minutes of radio silence since we heard about Barron. Six fucking minutes. So yeah, I’m serious as shit. Keel tries to pull away from the dock, blow the fuckers brains all over his own damned deck.” Sergeant Vitale grit his teeth. He knew Keel heard every word. Wanted it known not as a threat, but a