Free The Last Five Days: The Complete Novel: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller by Paul Seiple Page B

things to tell Salk."
    "Did she know what caused this?"
    "No, but…" Winston hesitated. Melanie hadn't shown any signs of being sick. She deserved to know everything he did. "But she did tell me what happens to the body once you're infected. You start to crave a protein called keratin. It's in skin."
    "That's why people are trying to eat each other?"
    Winston let a brief chuckle slip. "Yeah."
    "Will this Salk guy help us since we're not infected?"
    No one's getting out of here alive. Dr. Byrd's words drowned out Melanie. Winston took another puff. "I sure hope so."

    * * *
    R obert Salk paced the opposite direction of General Hendricks. Salk wasn't a small man, average by standards. But next to Hendricks, he seemed short. Hendricks stood at least six-five and had excellent muscle tone for a man in his mid-fifties.
    A black helicopter circled above. Each man stopped after a few paces to watch the chopper and then returned to anxious movement. Neither spoke. They didn't have to. Salk's face told the story of a worried man running out of options. Hendricks had the look of a child waiting to open Christmas presents.
    Since middle school, Salk had been fascinated with biology. When most kids looked forward to gym or recess, Salk constantly eyed his watch, waiting for Mr. Woolwine's science class. He never imagined he would be in this position when he joined the Judas Project. It was pitched to him as a team of the brightest minds in science working together to bring world peace under an umbrella of the highest secrecy. But the Judas Project was a weapon. Salk was all in when he signed on and was given security clearance. There was no turning back, and the more he learned about the Judas Project, the more interested he became.
    "What if there was a biological weapon that held no fear of catastrophic casualties? A weapon with an isolated target. Once wiped out, the agent dies out, like Ebola."
    That was the way General Thomas Hendricks described the Judas Project in their first meeting. An isolated target. What was happening in Black Dog was only isolated because it was contained. Such is the case with any infectious disease. One would have thought the brightest minds in science would have known that. The allure of building something the world hadn't seen was too strong. Now the world was on the verge of destruction because of their blindness.
    The helicopter hovered above a barricaded road.
    "It's safe to land," Hendricks spoke into a two-way radio.
    Arriving were three scientists who weren't involved in the Judas Project for various reasons, none being their minds. Before Hendricks approached anyone, their lives were picked apart without their knowledge. If Hendricks didn't feel they were the right fit, he moved on. The decision solely belonged to him. Hendricks ran ARMA.
    ARMA wasn't the United States Military. ARMA, named after the Latin word for weapon, was a privately funded organization, and according the military, it didn't exist. ARMA was untraceable. The outbreak in Black Dog threatened its invisibility. Hendricks felt betrayed by his team of scientists, Salk included. This should have been contained. There was a plan. All the scientists had to do was follow the plan. Now, Hendricks had to stick his neck out, become vulnerable, something he didn't enjoy, but deep down, he knew Judas worked. He hoped the three outsiders would be able to contain the Judas virus to ensure ARMA's survival. Hendricks didn't care much about a cure. That was never part of his plan. A disease without a cure is much more feared, but this needed to be contained before the United States military stepped in.
    The first to exit the helicopter was Dr. James Jones, a driving force in the field of virology. Often called the "Michael Jordan" of virology, Dr. Jones beamed with cockiness that he called confidence. His ego was the reason Hendricks initially passed on asking him to join ARMA.
    "How was the ride?" Hendricks asked.
    "Pretty shitty. Was the