The Division

Chapter 13

Over the next few weeks, Jesse had been in a happier mood. It was all because of Brittany. When she was here, Jesse paid his full attention to her. She was now gone, somewhere else in the base. Good riddance. I hoped I would never see her again. Little did I know that I would again. But I was also happy about another thing. Tobias was now able to walk. He had been for the past week, accompanied by a pretty nurse. He was getting physical therapy in the hospital, two hours a day.

Today I was going to go visit him and see how he was doing. I did almost every day. His physical therapy session was going to be done in a few minutes, so I would show up right after he was done. I decided it was a good idea to walk, I needed the exercise. I considered myself fit, but I still wanted to walk. It's healthy.

As I walked, I thought how long this place could stay stable. I mean really, how much food was there left? No one knew except for the minister. Maybe Bernie did, but we would never tell me. I had to go on more little missions to earn trust. Little by little, I would earn more trust. When I thought I had enough, I would ask Bernie. Perfect plan. But I also had to focus on Dr. Trager. He was the one I needed to see. All I needed was to tell him that I'm the son of his coworkers. Then he'll make the cure with me.

As I walked into the hospital, I saw sick people sitting in the chair. They were coughing badly, some were even vomiting. They may have been infected. But I didn't want to stick around long enough to find out. I walked past them like wind. I didn't want to get infected, it was a horrible process.

This first stage of infection is having a bad fever. You would rack up a coughing fit and break up in hives. In a few hours, the transformation began. Your skin would rot and you would lose your mind. You would be a zombie by then. Eventually if you were infected long enough, you would be mutated into a volatile. It was a vile process with pain and suffering. And how did I know this? Bernie.

I cringed at the thought as I walked into Tobias's room. He was reading To Kill A Mocking Bird on his bed. Back when Jesse and I were in high school, we had to read that book. It was as boring as dust. How was Tobias reading it for fun? He put a bookmark in and closed the book as I walked in. "Brody, you're here?" "Yeah Man, what you need?" "Nothing, I just wanted to talk to you." "So when are you going to be fit to do missions again?" "Tomorrow." I smiled. "And guess what I got?" Tobias lifted his amputated arm to reveal a robotic arm attached to it. "Now I won't feel a thing!" "So when you punch, you can't feel anything?" "Yup." "Cool."

"I'm gonna go see if Bern has any missions for me." "Okay but before you go, can I talk to you?" "Yeah sure, what's up?" "Well, I'm a little scared." "Of what?" "About how long this place can last before it falls apart." "Come on, this place can last forever!" "We're on a food shortage, remember?" Tobias was right. We were. It was only a matter of time before this place fell apart. "It's only a matter of time before this place tears its self down from the inside out." "Yeah..." "Hey Ry, that's exactly what I was thinking." I looked at my clock. It was four. I had to do a small mission before the sun went down. But if I was caught in a mission when the sun went down, that would be hell on earth; literally. At night was when the volatiles came. Need I say more?

"I'm going to the office, I'll see you tomorrow." "Stay alive for me Riley." I laughed. As I walked out, I yelled at Tobias: "I will." At least I hoped I would. There was no guarantee that I would. Out there, we don't get a second chance. That was my motto: "Out there, we don't get a second chance" I stuck by it. I lived it, learned it, and loved it. It was like my code. After I had arrived at the building, I waited outside Bernie's office. I thought I heard him talking to someone inside his office.

The door was open a crack, so I peaked in. He was talking to someone on the phone, yelling loudly. "I don't care whether if not the minister makes Trager work twenty hours a day! We have to find a cure for this Virus!" He paused. "Trager's word is shit! I told you, I don't care about how long Trager has to work, he will get the cure!" I heard Bernie put his phone on his desk and sigh. I waited five minutes for him to cool down and then knocked on the door. "Come in!" Bernie ordered.

"Hey, I need another mission." Bernie looked at me like as if a child asked for candy after getting bad grades. "Do you really think I'll send you on a mission that requires two people after what happened to Tobias?" Bernie seemed doubtful about letting me on another mission. "You don't have to send me with a partner, I can do it alone." Bernie looked at me with one of those "Really?" faces. "You got a death wish, kid." "Just send me on it, Bernie." "Fine."

Like last time, Bernie looked under his desk for that stack of papers. He decided on one and then handed it to me. It read:

This mission is considered high risk

A soldier was sent on an inspection for volatile hives. He found one around the outskirts of Edgewood, inside a townhome. The townhome is located right around the corner of Edgewood. It is rumored to be full of volatiles, mostly adults. When the soldier saw it, he reported it back to Edgewood and never went close to the townhome. Your objective is to Infiltrate the hive and destroy all volatiles. Once you have, use C4 explosive to blow up the townhome to kill any remaining volatiles. The hive will look like bloody carcasses. The ways to destroy it is to burn it, to use explosives against it, or to slice to life support pole leading to the volatile nest. You will be armed with a pistol with an attachment of a silencer. You will also receive a machete to slice the hive life support pole. The easiest way to kill the volatile nest is to slice the life support pole. The life support pole will be as hard as human muscle. It will take a slice or two to destroy it. You will be supplied with ten grenades if things go loud. Remember two things. One, volatiles have very good hearing, so travel quickly and quietly. Two, you cannot outrun a volatile; they can run up to fifty miles per hour. Keep in mind, if you are to be cornered by volatiles, smear blood all over your body. You will smell like one of them, but try not to move. If you do, your fate is surely twisted. Bernie has sight of it right outside of his office; he will be able to observe you from his window. As always, Bernie will give you directions to the townhome. Good luck.

After I had read it, I was ready. "Bernie, this mission seems like it needs to be solo." "It was meant for two people. But I guess you're right." He held up the keys to the mission truck. I only called it that because it was used for missions. "And Ry?" Bernie asked as I was about to walk out. "Yeah?" "Don't die, this mission is one of the hardest that I have. Most soldiers don't make it out alive because of trying to run from a volatile. Don't make the same mistake that they did." "Okay." I said wearily. I gulped as I walked out of Bernie's office. This mission could end my life. Let's hope it didn't.