Seeds Of Hunger

Chapter 16: Into the Fire

Birds chirped and leaves blew across the landscape as the man awoke from his nighttime slumber. He did his usual morning business, shaving, showering, and dressing in his favorite suit the Navy steward had left him, freshly pressed. He tied his tie and slipped on his black shoes, polished to a reflective shine by the Marines, before stepping into the living room. The building was technically a military installation but to him it was Camp David, the retreat away from D.C. that the President of the United States was authorized to use. Camp David was built in 1935 and President Franklin D. Roosevelt converted it into a presidential retreat but received the name Camp David from President Eisenhower, honoring his father and his grandson who were both named David.

The President sat at the dinner table, his morning briefing scheduled for after breakfast, and a pile of documents that required his attention, from budgets to national security matters, was neatly stacked and awaiting his attention.

The Vice President strode into the room, looking worse for wear as the President was feeling from the long days and nights, and sat himself down beside the President. The Navy stewards filled the table with a buffet of sorts as the sitting President was known to enjoy his cholesterol in the morning.

"Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, everything is secure and accounted for. The Secretary of Defense will be arriving around noon like you requested to join you for lunch." The President's principal Secret Service agent, Erica Brown, an African American woman of thirty years, was a ten year veteran of the Secret Service and whom the President considered a close friend.

"Thank you, Erica. Have you and your team eaten this morning?" The President treated the Secret Service like human beings instead of furniture, unlike some of the past Presidents who considered them a pain in the ass.

Erica let out a rare smile, "Yes Mr. President. Everyone is ready and in place. Your morning briefing will commence as soon as the National Security Advisor arrives. Mr. Arlington is expected any moment." The Chief of Staff for the President, David Arlington, was instrumental in getting the President elected and was a friend of many years. The President was forever grateful for what David had done for the team.

"Thank you, Erica. That will be all." Ms. Brown nodded slightly and headed back to the main door, leaning against the back wall. As the principal agent on the President's detail, she would remain with the President wherever he goes, except for the restroom of course; that's why they had male agents.

"Dick, I think the situation in Maryland and D.C. is getting worse. These damn flowers our people were investigating just killed a few million people!" The Vice President said over breakfast. They had been up well into the night to go over the reports of the National Guardsmen deployed there. The amount of survivors were slim but those who had survived reports all sorts of creatures they saw. The normal infected, infected citizens with their lips puckered, giant monsters, and crazy ones that ran and hunted survivors. Richard Dawson, forty sixth President of the United States, had been faced with a reality no other President had seen before him. Zombies had attacked the United States, and as crazy as it sounded, the President had been chauffeured, along with Robert Frank, the Vice President, to Camp David. Other members of Congress and the Senate had escaped and were now clamoring for the  attention of the President for direction. The truth of the matter was is that President Dawson was still trying to come to terms that zombies were real in the first place.

"Bob, I agree the situation is quite terrible at the moment, but we have to wait and hope that our troops can rescue every one not infected as possible. I will not do anything until we can confirm that everyone capable of being saved has been saved." The President had won the election a year prior on promises of tax breaks, government reform, and strengthening ties with allies while keeping the United State's enemies in check. Now everything was focused on the situation at home instead of abroad, which in private, was fine with Dawson.