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Chapter 10 - Too Late

Desmond felt the burning sensation of everyone's eyes looking at him. A dozen thoughts went through his head at the same time. Why did they want him? Did his father send them? How did they find him?

A few moments passed.

He finally stood up straight and stepped forward. "I am Desmond Black."

The emotionless screamer stepped up to meet him until they were only a few feet apart. Des studied it's features: blank, neutral, almost as if it weren't really a human. But then again, it really wasn't a human. It was something in between monster and human.

Or maybe it was entirely monster.

The screamer stared into his eyes for a few moments and handed him the envelope. Then it turned and joined the line of screamers waiting for him. Des and the rest of the soldiers watched as the screamers all turned at once and ran towards the side of the road.

At this point, Des finally took in all of his surroundings. They were in the middle of a desert, but it was an area with lots of hills where hiding would not be hard.

The screamers quickly were out of view and the soldiers were left staring after them. They had all just been through one of the strangest experiences, and no one was ready to shatter the silence that had enveloped them like a dense fog.

Finally, one soldier stood up straight and placed his hand on Des's shoulder. "What does the envelope say?"

Des looked down at the envelope and flipped open the flap. A single small piece of paper slid out into his waiting palm, moist with sweat from the intense heat.

He slowly unfolded the note as some of the soldiers gathered around to get a look at the message from the undead.

His eyes scanned the words written down. A second time. A third time. Then he slid the note back into the envelope and walked back towards his vehicle.

He threw open his door and stepped in. "Drive," he said forcefully. "We need to get to the base as quickly as possible, this needs to get to the highest available officer there."

The other soldier in their vehicle jumped in right as they started to pull away and other soldiers rushed to their vehicles. The ones who had seen the note were quickly spreading the word about what they had seen.

Dirt and sand kicked up in the air as the entire convoy began to move forward as one. They were at the base in less than an hour, and before the vehicle had even stopped, Des was already opening the door and walking towards the entrance with the note and his briefcase.

Agent Carter and Agent Smith quickly followed, waving off the guards that were moving to stop Des. He walked straight to the soldier holding the MPI and grabbed the device from him, pushing the needle into his arm to take the sample.

The screen glowed green and an instant later, he was opening the door. The agents caught up with him and led him down a series of halls until they reached a pair of large doors. Des sprinted towards the doors and threw them open.

The second he did, a grim look overtook his face. "We're too late," he said.

He walked across the room, completely overlooking the books that adorned the walls and chairs that sat around the desk. His long steps took him directly too the desk itself, where he reached forward and broke the calm silence to turn the head covered in blood that laid on the desk.