The Unwanted Ones - Book One

Chapter Twenty

We walk into the room and see Orlando sitting at the head of a long table. Behind him the wall is covered in maps, charts, and a large white screen. In front of him on the table is his tablet and a laptop. He's out of the hospital gown and is instead wearing a black shirt.

He stands to greet us and I note the grimace he does. He's obviously still in pain, but he plays it off with a wide grin.

"Hello to all of you. I'm sure you're wondering why I asked to see you," he tells us, sitting back down. He gestures to the other seats at the table, inviting us to sit down. Gwen takes one of the seats nearest to him, and I can't help notice how quick Luis is to sit next to her. Melissa sits on the other side from him, and Carrie sits next to her. On the other side Philip takes the seat closest to Orlando. Danny sits next to him, and Matt sits on his other side. I sit next to Matt and Lena sits next to me. We all have our attention on Orlando.

"I want you all to go on a tactical mission to retrieve the cure for the virus Gregory infected our leaders with." he says in an even tone. The range of the emotions in the room following this statement range from surprised to uncertainty.

"You're serious?" Matt speaks up, looking at Orlando with a look of disbelief. Orlando nods.

"Very serious. You're all completely capable of completing this task." he asserts. "You'll be leaving tomorrow at fifteen hundred. That's military speak for 3:00pm, for those of you who are wondering."

He types on his keyboard and the screen lights up. He then pulls a walkie talkie from his waistband, and speaks into it. "Bring in the equipment now."

A woman wheels in a cart. On it are all different types of gadgets. I look from the cart back at Orlando.

On the screen is a map similar to the ones on the wall.

"This is where you're going. Nolan has a hoard of scientists, from what we've gathered. They work near the capital, in a large warehouse. That's where you'll be going. Tomorrow at fifteen hundred hours you'll take one of our stealth jets to the edge of that area." he says, pointing at the map on the screen.

Clicking a button on the laptop, the next slide appears. On it are blueprints of what must be the warehouse.

"At any given moment there are around twenty guards at this warehouse, five outside, ten inside, and five guarding the back entrance. It's four stories, but there's also a basement. That's how you'll enter. Get into the sewers, and break into the building."

"How are we supposed to break into it from the sewers?" Carrie asks quizzically.

"That's where these lovely things come in," Orlando answers with a proud smile. He points over at the cart and motions for the woman to push it closer to him.

He picks up what looks like a pen. He holds it up for us to see.

"When you click the top, a laser comes out. Can cut through ten feet of concrete. This is how you'll get in," he tells us. He starts picking up more items to show us. A compact machine gun, like he'd mentioned to me earlier. Tear gas in small balls that you press a button to activate. Communicators that have an earpiece that'll allow us to talk to each other during the mission. And of course, a basic  handgun. Then he goes to the next slide to show us our suits that we'll be wearing.

"Wow, those actually look nice," Gwen says, never one to mince words.

"Why thank you," Orlando says in an amused voice. Her face reddens when she realizes he was the one who designed them, but only slightly.

"Once you get into the building, find the cure. Any means necessary, but shoot for covertness. It would be best if they don't even know you're there, alright?" he finishes. We all nod. After a few more instructions he sends us off.