When the rains may come (Science Fiction)

9. Then they were gone...

Two black heavy-duty SUVs came to a halt outside the Neville residence. A team of operatives exited the vehicles. Four of them went around to the back with their rifles cocked and ready. Other two slammed a battering ram through the front door. And two others checked around the front yard and the driveway for any evidence pointing towards an escape.

The ones who'd gone inside soon found all the rooms to be empty. Also the closets just had hangers and no clothes, even the pantry was devoid of all supplies.

The two operatives checking outside observed a big rectangular shadow in the dusty driveway. This is where a car would've stood for a long long time. And there were tyre tracks moving away from the shadow. Fresh tyre tracks.

Neville and his wife had already left the house. That was affirmative. And that's what they reported to Luce.

"Retreat from the area and report back to your seniors," Luce answered from the radio room in the Sector 22 House of Operations. He then plugged the communication jack into the radio slot corresponding to the Sector 22 Airport authorities. "I wanted to pass down an important message to your security unit. It's about holding back a certain passenger from boarding the escape flight which is about to take off in two hours, presumably," he said. "The passenger's name is Lisa Neville. She is pregnant and she will be with her husband Richard Neville. A file containing their pictures and flight details is already mailed to you guys. I want you to make sure neither of the Nevilles Or whoever they come with board the flight. I repeat, don't let the Nevilles board the flight."

###

"You're telling me my husband ran away from C3MC?" Lisa asked Cathy as they drew closer to the airport.

Cathy nodded. "He was hoping to expose the government's motives about the Silver Lining Initiative," she said. "And he also wanted to deliver the card to you. So you could get on the flight."

"So that him and I can get on the flight together, right?" Lisa asked.

Cathy sighed. "He wasn't so sure about it, Mrs. Neville," she said.

Lisa frowned. "So he was never gonna make it."

Cathy looked down. She shook her head. "He was already infected."

Lisa stared at the road ahead, feeling a sob choking her throat, tears welling up in her eyes. Her one hand left the steering and rested on her pregnant belly, as if reassuring the child she carried. She kept driving.

The night breeze was thick with a purple mist, the 'death breath' as it had been dubbed by the news. This was the effect of special cluster bombs that were dropped during the strafe. Their purpose wasn't to destroy the cities but to fill the air that the people breathed with lethal toxins. The radios often mentioned the names of the "enemy nations" that had done this to Ardvenia, but it hardly ever mattered to Cathy. For all she cared, they were just the people who lived beyond their borders. What she didn't understand was why they hated her country so much.

Then Lisa finally swallowed hard and said. "So the virus killed Richard?"

This thing is just one difficult question after another isn't it? Cathy thought. "No. It wasn't the virus."

"What?" Lisa's eyes were wide.

"He didn't die because of the virus," Cathy said. She felt torn on whether she was supposed to elaborate. She was a stranger to both Neville and Clint. Both of those had been mere passing acquaintances. Running all the way to Lisa Neville to deliver a card was no act of keeping a personal promise. It was merely the right thing to do. And yet, something about both Lisa and the Harrises felt familiar. It somehow felt like...home. It was a strange feeling. She wasn't sure what to make of it yet.