Spy School: Outbreak

Chapter 26

NEO Base of Operations

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Atlanta, GA

May 20

1200 hours

I felt something inside me then that I'd never felt before, and will surely never feel again. It felt like lava was coursing through my intestines, like my blood was pure plasma. Hot-blooded, uncontrollable rage. Standing here before me was a man who'd committed treason against his people countless times, who'd dismissed the loss of life to turn a profit, and who's lenient punishment would be the death of millions. It was at that moment, I believe, when I swore I wouldn't rest until I had put that motherfucker in the ground.

Murray seemed to have been working out for the past year, and he wasn't fit in the superfluous way he'd been shortly before we'd gone to Mexico. Then, his musculature had been mild workouts and healthy food, but now he looked to be made out of coiled bands of titanium. He bent down to face me, and with an insufferably innocent smile said, "What's wrong Ben? Cat got your tongue?"

I began to struggle to my feet, determined to wipe that sickening smile off of his face, when he lashed out with one hand, wrapped his fingers around my neck, and hurled me to the ground. His grip was like solid iron. In my weakened state, there was no fighting him.

"Oh Ben, is that any way to treat an old friend?" He asked, mockingly. "In case you haven't noticed, you wouldn't be able to fight the old me in the state you're in, much less the new me! So why don't you just sit down like you actually give a shit about your life, and we can talk like men. In case you've forgotten, we've got some guys right outside the door who could twist you into a pretzel while eating a tuna sandwich. Okay, I'll admit, that sounded way cooler in my head. Anyway, let's talk, I want to make a deal."

I summoned up every bit of phlegm I had, and spat in his face. "Go fuck yours..." was all I managed to get out, before breaking down into a fit of wheezing coughs.

"Geez guys, you can give the guy water!"Murray yelled at the bulkhead. "How are we going to talk when he's like this?!"

The door opened, and a beefed up guard wearing full body armor handed a canteen to Murray. "Much appreciated!" He spoke, unreasonably chipper. He handed the water to me, and despite my reservations, I sucked it down instantly.

"Now where were we?" Murray wondered aloud. "Oh yes! I remember, I had a proposition to make to you!"

I regarded him warily. "What's the deal?" I reluctantly questioned.

"Well," he said. "It's more like a choice. One that we at PHANTOM, the Party for Hegemony, Aggression, Nefarious Tactics, Oppression and Malfeasance – an organization which spent an amount of time you wouldn't believe trying to come up with that name – have graciously extended to you.

"Just tell me what it is already," I spat. "I'm sick of your games. And where's Erica?!"

"Aww," He pouted. "I can't tell you now, it would ruin the surprise! And as for Erica, don't worry; she's in a better place now. Or she will be. Anywho, why don't you pick your ass up off of the ground, and come with me."

He didn't give me much choice in the matter, hauling me to my feet by my arm. He marched me to the tungsten bulkhead, rapping twice on it. With a heavy groan, it swung revealing a corridor adorned with the cold, sterile aesthetic of a facility that had little regard for human comfort. As we ventured deeper into the heart of this clandestine base, I couldn't help but notice the well-equipped guards stationed at strategic intervals, their armor gleaming ominously under the artificial lighting. Murray maintained his grip on my arm, and guided me through a labyrinthine array of dead corridors, with seemingly no rooms to enter, all the facility appeared to be was hallways.

Eventually, we reached a circular room that seemed like a high-tech command center. Massive screens flickered with images of global events, and a central console hummed with activity. Murray gestured for me to take a seat at a sleek, metallic table surrounded by sharp angles and blinking lights.

"Now, Ben," Murray began with an unsettling calmness. "Let me lay it out for you. You're in a precarious situation, my friend. We know all about your attempt to stop us from releasing the GH-O. Hell, we've been dogging your footsteps from the beginning. Nice touch with the zigzagging by the way. The CIA is falling behind man, that must've been the most obvious decoy team I've ever seen, and I went to school with you guys!"

"Cut the bullshit, Murray." I growled. "Just tell me what you want."

"Well it's quite simple really. You have a set of skills that are, to put it frankly, incredible. I've been ordered to ask you to join us, mostly just as a courtesy, as I assumed your answer is...?"

I simply glared.

"...no it is then! Pity. You really won't like what comes next."

He slapped a button on the underside of the table, and immediately the electronics around me began to sink into the floor, including the table and the chair I was sitting in. I sprung to my feet as the room began to rotate 180 degrees, slowly revealing one more room designed to be shown off as the room spun. What lay beyond the "control room" gives me nightmares to this day. Two large glass rooms. One inside which there was some kind of containment apparatus, with multiple air hoses connected to the ceiling. In the center I was able to see a tube filled with a sickly yellow liquid. The other held Erica, manacled to an iron pillar in the center. Two buttons on pedestals rose from the floor, one labeled with the biohazard symbol with a no-sign over it, and the other was labeled with a stick figure woman. My blood ran cold. It was a choice. The choice. My choice.

Murray spoke up. "Time to be a hero Ben! It's now time for you to make good on the promise you made to her. You can choose to save Erica, in which case the GH-O gets pumped through those pipes and into the air treatment of the airport. It'll be everywhere in days. A plague. Unparalleled loss of life, making the black death look like a cold. Or, you can choose to destabilize the only sample of GH-O on Earth. If you do that, we flood your girlfriend's tank with nitrogen, and she dies in two minutes. Make your choice."

The room spun back around, and Murray disappeared from view.

"You motherfucker!" I screamed at him. "I'm going to fucking kill you! You hear me?! There's not a place on Earth you can hide! I'll...!"

I broke down into fits of sobbing. I couldn't make this choice. I made a promise, but I didn't think I could stick to it. Then I heard her.

"Ben," Erica spoke softly to me. I could see tears forming in her eyes. She smiled sadly at me. "You know what you have to do."

"No! I won't!" I shouted, frantic. "I'll find a way to stop the air ducts! Evacuate the building! I just need...!"

"Ben, you made me a promise," She said, some sternness slipping into her voice. "You promised me you'd do what was necessary. If you saved me, I'd never forgive you."

Her words hurt me, but they were enough to get me to my feet. I walked to the tank holding Erica, placing my hand upon the glass. She mirrored my motion.

"Look at me, Benjamin Ripley," she spoke, fully crying now. "I love you."

With a wail of sorrow I slammed my fist down on the button labeled with a biohazard. Inside its tank, the sample apparatus began to sputter and shake, then stopping. A small explosion occurred inside the tube, vaporizing the GH-O, and I heard air being pumped into Erica's chamber.

I pounded at the glass, screaming with rage, until I was just sobbing uncontrollably. Erica slowly sat down inside her tank, putting both of her hands on the glass. There was no color in her face. She mouthed thank you, and we stayed like that for 67.6 seconds, until she finally fell to the side, and Erica Hale moved no more. 

Guys I'm sorry. I had to write it.