Adam finally looked around at the faces around them.It was apparent that this was not just any plane.It was a military airplane.Though they were not all in their uniforms, they all had that discernible aura about them.The aisle door opened and marching footsteps approached.“Commander”“Commander”Men saluted as the figure came down the big Antonov An-124 Ruslan airplane rumoured to be capable of carrying 350 men in its cabin and about 88 more in its upper deck. Decked in the Army Green Service uniform with the silver eagle insignia, the formidable-looking woman marched towards Adam and Layla.“What were you two doing down there, like ducks waiting to be ripped apart by the walkers?”“Walkers?”“Aunt Catherine?"Adam and Layla chorused together.Adam turned to look at Layla, just as the military woman also turned to her. “Who are..."Her eyes flickered a bit and she said, “Lay? Little Lay? Is that you?”“Little Lay?” Adam said in wonder when he saw her looking at the woman with a
“I should have known that I would meet you stuffing your face.” Layla said with a wan smile as she straddled the stool next to Adam.Adam deliberately scooped up more omelettes on the platter and raised them up to her eye level before chewing loudly with a playful smirk.Layla smiled again yet Adam could see that it didn’t get to her eyes.“Ralph offered and it was only gentlemanly to accept.”“Of course”"I don't want to hurt his feelings.”“I am sure that was the only reason why you accepted it,” Layla countered, her smile warming up slowly.“Of course, I even manage to keep some for you. If you beg nicely, I would give you some.”“Or I could call Ralph and ask him to make me more.”“No, he only listens to me now. I have bought his soul,” Adam said.“My aunt would kill you if she heard that,” Layla said.She looked over as he uncovered a plate of steaming French omelettes.Adam pushed it to her and waited awhile while she pushed the food around the plate with her fork, before he ask
Colonel Catherine Aguilar was welcomed to the shelter with such respect.An accord which was extended to her entourage as well.While the liutenant colonel and the men with him went with the supply unit to sort out what the colonel’s plane brought, Colonel Catherine offered to help Adam and Layla gain knowledge of the whereabouts of their people.The supervisor in charge of the facility listened carefully to Adam’s explanation.“I am really sorry, mister. This place has been more busy than a beehive for weeks now. People come in every day, so I can’t really say if your people are here or not. One thing I can do is ask the men in charge of evacuation. They would have more details.”The man quickly arranged to have the evacuation team brought to him.There were about twenty of them.“They used to be more than this, colonel but just two days ago, we lost some of them to the sickness again. Let’s hope any of these have seen the people.”Then he gestured to Adam with a respectful "Mister.”.
“Adam!” The familiar voice made Adam turn his head swiftly.“Dude, it is really you!” Jeremy’s voice followed that of Yoshi as the latter ran towards Adam in excitement.He jumped on Adam, who was already expecting the jump.The boy held on tightly to his neck as he shouted, “You are alive! You are alive! They took them, Adam!”“What is that little bastard yelling for?!” came another voice that Adam had not expected to hear again anytime soon.The young boys who had stopped in their duty of washing the long buses quickly resumed their duty as the afternoon approached.All of them but Jeremy, whose expression changed, said nothing.The owner of the voice entered the section of the building where the buses were being kept for washing and servicing.“I said…”He paused suddenly as he came face-to-face with Adam.Then he burst into a throaty laugh.The man leading Adam on his search looked at him in surprise but he was too focused on his mirth to bother.He bent over and laughed again.T
Despite Anthony’s jittery confession about what happened, he did not have the full details of where Adam’s family were taken.His colleague was the one who had spoken to the man on the phone.Anthony had just gone along with the plan, as his colleague had asked.The promise of a better career was what prompted his silence about the matter.When the colonel demanded to know who the colleague had been on that particular trip, Anthony grimly proclaimed that he was dead.The man died in the same town where Anthony got his bug from.Anthony was already leaking in his uniform by the time the colonel released him.He held his hand tightly to his butt as he ran back to the toilet.After which, he would report directly for his punishment.As hilarious as the scene would have been for Adam as he remembered, the anxiety of what could have happened to his family clouded his mind beyond all things.A touch startled him and he looked at Layla beside him.“They would be fine,” she said in assurance.
Dixon wondered if he was hallucinating. The phone with him was already dead, and he had lost his sense of time. The chilly night he just had out in the open was not doing any good for his body as well. Still, when he looked ahead the second time, the building was still right there. Happy that he might be finally close to the facility, he walked faster with joy in him. If there were houses here, surely the shelter couldn't be that far. He thought to himself as he moved closer. It looked like an abandoned shack yet it was boarded up from the outside. There were little planks criss-crossed against the door and nailed shut. Though excited, Dixon slowed his walk. He could see the crooked padlock on the wooden door. The red padlock peeked out from under the board nailed over it. “What the hell?” He muttered to himself as he looked around furtively. What was in that shack that someone was willing to protect so badly? He decided to look around for any window he could peep through.
“Liars! They are nothing but liars. I told you they have nothing to offer. They couldn’t save us so they sent us here to die!”A man and a woman stood in front of Alagan Gate.They were staring at the notes pasted on the signboard.The auburn-haired woman flinched every time she heard the snarls of the zombies from within the city.“Something must be keeping them from the gate," she said quietly as she stared desperately at the warning notes.“What does it matter? If we can’t enter the gate, we can’t get to the facility!” the man snapped at her.His beaked nose flared as he looked at her. “I told you we should stay put. I told you we shouldn’t listen to that ridiculous recording. Now see this!” He jerked his hand towards the notice. " It is all your fault!"“This is not the time for blame,” the woman said timidly. “We need solution.”“Solution. You want a solution,” the man responded with snorted laughter. “Have you gone mad, woman? There is no solution! The world is coming to an end
Colonel Aguilar got a call. The men confessed that they truly had Adam’s family with them. “He is the one that master wants, though,” said one of the men as he pointed at Adam “Well, you are in luck then. Here he is. Take us to him,” Colonel Aguilar said. The men didn’t argue. Two of Aguilar’s men entered Watson's jeep and they led the way. They had not gone far when the colonel’s phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and picked up the call immediately. She kept repeating, “Yes, sir.” “Okay, sir.” “Right away, sir” on the phone in a contrite tone until the call was disconnected. “We have to turn back,” she said immediately. “What?!” Layla asked in shock. The captain sighed loudly and closed her eyes for a moment before saying, “I am so sorry, Lay, but I really have to. My action at the moment is a breach of protocol. I was on duty when I decided to do this. I thought I could help you with this and get back to the facility before they finished offloading the supplies.” “Wh