Free Up From the Depths by J. R. Jackson Page A

words as a Hummer roared into view, the soldier manning the M2, firing into the truck until it finally stopped. Infected swarmed through the torn fence. The last image of the video was a close up view of infected attacking the soldier who wore the camera. That image was evident from the blood spray and then the angle of the camera. The viewers in the room all cocked their heads to one side as to watch as more and more infected push through the fence and took down the soldiers who valiantly tried to turn back the tide. The screen went blank as the video stopped. Wilbur's image reappeared.
    "Mr. President. That's all we've been able to recover," he said. "From that upload, and the time stamps, we've been able to verify that it took place 22 minutes before we lost all contact with NATO."
    "Twenty-two minutes?" Wood asked.
    "Yes sir."
    "My God," Wood said. "In less than a half hour, our command structure in Europe was decimated."
    "Sir," Wilbur said. "Based on the speed of that event and the reports we've received from The Rid before they went offline, the standard containment methods won't work. We tried that in New York."
    Wood nodded his head. He had read the reports that Chambers in Nevada has sent over. He was well aware of the options available to him. The spread of this infection had to be stopped. By any means available.
    "Mr. President, we've reviewed other options. Based on the information provided by Dr. Chambers and combined with what we already know plus this footage, strike package options are limited. We still have access to FAE and Thermobaric weapons. According to what we received from The Rid, those munitions would destroy the virus. If we started with the major cities along the eastern seaboard,” Wilbur said his voice impassive. “We could target those areas with the largest numbers of reported infected. By hitting them at their core, we'd prevent them from spreading further. Continuing with that option across the nation from east to west, and focusing on large areas, we’d have all targets serviced within 24 hours. With the limited tanker support available, some of our bombers will have to use auxiliary fields when their mission is complete. I have projections that show that we can achieve target saturation by using these weapons. If we use this option, we can use the remaining ground forces to mop up.”
    “What about support? We don’t have a lot of ground force,” Wood said.
    “Yes sir. Those forces would be able to use supply depots at existing installations. That’s a two-fold mission option. Once they access those depots, they can also search for survivors at those facilities.”
    “That would be beneficial,” Wood agreed. “What about the collateral damage?”
    “That could be a problem,” Wilbur said. “Thermobaric would be a scorched earth event. There would be considerable damage to the cities and their infrastructure. Any uninfected survivors would need to seek shelter outside those areas.”
    “How would we get the word out to them?” Wood asked.
    “Sir that would be something that FEMA would do,” Wilbur said. “They have the ability to access all communications. If they could use that ability, we could limit the collateral damage.”
    Wood nodded agreement. He knew that FEMA had a large facility in Maryland, allegedly underground, that had the capability of taking over all forms of communication. But, they hadn’t had contact with that facility in several weeks.
    “If we exercised this option, how would we know that the infection was contained or destroyed?” Wood asked.
    “We’ll have satellite coverage for most of the locations and there are still some Global Hawks in the air. Both can provide us with BDA. With tanker support for a few select aircraft, we’ll still retain the ability to service additional targets on an as needed basis,” Wilbur replied.
    Wood nodded. What he had ordered his Joint Chiefs to do was sickening. But, the alternative, according to the only