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

person they knew who was still alive and actively working on what had caused this outbreak, was to see all life, all uninfected life, cease to exist within a year. That severely limited the options. They had lost contact with the Rid at Fort Dietrich over a month ago. The CDC in Atlanta had gone dark a week prior to the Rid and the WHO in Geneva had dropped off the Net completely. Chambers, a civilian researcher at the DARPA facility in Nevada was all that was left.
    “Continue,” Wood said.
    “Yes sir. We’ll be stretching our resources very thin but there is no other viable alternative,” Wilbur said onscreen. “In conjunction with those strikes, we have US Navy ballistic missile submarines and surface craft moving into support positions to launch Tomahawks. That would be a second strike option that we can address if there are still viable targets in the zone.”
    “Excuse me, General. I was under the impression that we had no contact with our ballistic missile submarines,” Wood said looking at Admiral Romero.
    “Sir,” Lonnie Packwood said interrupting before Romero or Wilbur could comment.
    “Lonnie,” Wood said, nodding his head towards the former DIS employee.
    “Sir, with the time we took to gather intel on the infected, we were able to rig up a low frequency signal that the subs would pick up. It was a long shot but it did pay off. Once we made contact with one, we were able to get them to surface and then using a satellite phone, relay the OP Order. We’ve made contact with eight boomers using that method.”
    “Eight?” Wood asked, knowing that there were far more than that at sea. Maybe once this was all over, they could reestablish contact and bring those remaining vessels into the fold.
    “Thank you, Lonnie,” Wood said. “Continue General.”
    “Thank you, sir. We estimate that a majority of the infected will be eradicated in the initial wave. However, for those cities that have large populations and rapid transit systems that are partially underground or totally underground, the surface bombardment will not have the desired effect. The majority of the structures in those cities have basements, sub-basements, and other maintenance spaces such as utility and waste water tunnels. We have to go out on a limb here and assume that the infected are also in those spaces.”
    “I understand, General,” Wood said. “I presume you have some options to deal with that contingency?”
    “Yes sir,” Wilbur said then paused. “Conventionally, we’d use what is commonly known as a ‘bunker buster’. But, the majority of those were deployed to SWA prior to this event. Those that remain in CONUS are still at the contractor’s that manufactured them. My recommendation would be to use option Four-Zero-Alpha. You have that file in front of you now, sir.”
    “I see,” Wood said, looking down at the file folder.
    “Sir, as much as I hate to say this, that is the only viable option available for assured containment and sterilization,” Wilbur said.
    Wood looked at the LCD screen in silence. He finally nodded.
    “Very well. I agree. General Whitney, General Harrelson, and Admiral Romero, do you concur with NORAD’s assessment of the current situation?” Wood asked. The three general officers looked at each other then at their president.
    “Sir,” Whitney said. “I agree with NORAD. The use of tactical nuclear weapons in those areas that infected could have taken refuge underground is the only method to guarantee we stop this from going any further.”
    Wood looked at the other officers.
    “Yes sir. It’s the only way to be sure,” Harrelson said. “But, what about the collateral damage? There has to be survivors in some of those cities. Probably inside some of those tunnels and basements.”
    “Yes. I concur with the findings,” Romero agreed solemnly.
    “There will be collateral damage,” Wilbur said. “That’s always been an issue. In this case, the risk of collateral is less than the