Chapter 41- Zero Sum

Book Five

Hexxenkessel

Chapter 41

Zero-Sum

Cavill, Virginia

When you can’t run, you walk as fast as you can.  When you can’t walk, you crawl away from the scene of the danger.  When you can’t crawl anymore, you die where you fall.  Tom McVay crawled as fast as he could out of the burning wreckage, the terrible inhuman howls still rending the early morning air.

The fire had spread fast but very few of Cavill’s inhabitants had been very interested in the fire.  Most of them had quietly began to leave Cavill as the day broke.  But those of them that still had an interest were out on the street watching the Cristakis place burn to the ground.

Tom McVay crawled until he could crawl no more.  Whatever had been after him, whatever awful thing it had been had surely been burned to death in that inferno behind him.

Tom lay on the gross of the Cristakis family lawn for a moment, panting and staring up at a lightening sky.  Tom had wondered if he would ever see the sun rise again.  But already there were streaks of blue and gold in the sky above him.

Tom couldn’t really hear much anymore.  The gunfire and the explosion had robbed him of most of his hearing.  Everything sounded tinny and far away.  He couldn’t hear the sounds of shouts and cries, screams and roars.  The town of Cavill was nearly empty of people.

He could feel the vibrations in the ground though.  Something large, larger than a truck, was rumbling down the main drag of Cavill. Tom was sure he knew what it was but he was just as sure that it couldn’t really be happening.

Tom didn’t hear the bark of the dog but he noticed the pair of paws that came and stood by him.  Tom looked up, it was deputy Andy’s dog.  Tom reached up and took hold of th dog and ruffled its fur.

“Good boy.  You’re still alive then?”

Washington, D.C

Hayden McDonald sat back at his old desk again and tried to make sense of what he was reading.

“You’re sure about this?” he asked.

Jack Krane, his deputy, looked up from his own desk.  His face was gaunt, made to look worse by two days of growth on his chin.  “Yep.  Checked and double checked.  I asked for confirmation,”

“Who from?”

“The Chilean State department.  They said affirmative.  There is a huge mushroom cloud in Venezeula”

Hayden closed his eyes for a moment and felt the darkness seep in from all sides.  It was like trying to hold back a tidal wave.

“Payload.  What was the payload?” he asked.  “Where the hell did they get authority to use nuclear arms?”

“Relax, it was conventional ordanance.  A MOAB, a very high yield conventional bomb,”

“Moab?” he asked, trying to pick out the reference.

“Mother of all bombs,” said Jack Krane colorlessly.

Hayden got to his feet and poured a cup of coffee for himself and then another for Jack.  Normally he’d have a secretary for this sort of thing but all non essential staff had been sent home.

He’d lost count long ago of how much coffee he’d drunk.  He had been counting as an alternative metric for keeping an eye on the crisis, which by now it was.  There was no question of the scale of the problem.  General Pierce had left the Whitehouse for the first time since the “coup” or the “takeover” as they preferred to refer to it now.

As a veteran political operative, Hayden knew spin when he heard it.

“Jack, we’re going to go and speak to Colonel Carpenter,”

“Sure boss.  Are you sure we don’t want to speak to…” Hayden cut across him.

“Carpenter, he’s in charge.  Pierce is away so Carpenter runs the show,”

The two men got to their feet.  Hayden did his jacket up and across the room he didn’t see the way Jack did the same, with a similar movement of his shoulders.  Hayden was a busy man, a man with an ability to narrowly focus or broadly strategize.  He was often unaware of what was going on right next to him.  It had cost him a marriage and a number of other failed relationships.

The two men walked to the oval office.  Hayden knocked and then entered.  Admiral Burroughs was sat in the largest chair holding court with other officers.  As ever, Colonel Carpenter stood to the side.

“Mr McDonald?  How can we help you?” asked the insincere Admiral.

“Can I have a quick word with Colonel Carpenter, admiral?” asked Hayden.

“Sure you can.  Colonel?” Admiral Burroughs pointed across the room as if Colonel Carpenter might not have been paying any attention.

The colonel walked across the room, a clipboard in his hands.

“What is it gentlemen?” he asked in his normal quiet voice.

“We need to talk,” said McDonald.

“Sure, let’s take a walk shall we?  Get the blood flowing,”

“What concerns you gentlemen?” asked Carpenter.

“Venezuela” replied McDonald.

“Ah.  I guess you’ve heard about General Petersen’s resignation.  Brave man,”

“Resignation?” asked Krane.

“He made that his last order in the service, giving that order.  He had grit, true grit,”

“I see,” said McDonald, reading between the lines.

“Look, the situation was out of control and we had to close it down.  The problem is that it may have escaped the marine cordon.  Due to the conflicting orders…”

“That were coming from General Pierce,” spat Jack Krane

“That doesn’t matter now.  Due to the conflicting orders, the perimeter may have been breached once or twice.  Once is once too many.  We’re getting reports of possible outbreaks in other small towns in Venezeula but we cant tell if there is any truth to it.  And oddly enough, the Venezeulan government isn’t feeling too cooperative,”

“What about Cavill?” asked McDonald.

“We’ve got a unit on the scene under some Captain.  He’s already rounding up survivors and creating a perimeter.”

“Make it tight this time,” said McDonald.

“Obviously, “ replied Carpenter.

“Will it hold?” asked Krane.

Carpenter fixed Krane with a look that spoke an awful lot.