Dead & Alive (Short Story): Outbreak by I.J. Smith

CHAPTER ONE
    OASIS
    A town in the south of England called Gosport has a rich military history. During the war, underground warehouses were created. Not to protect people, but to hide a massive store of weapons.
    Over the years, places like this have become privatized. These underground warehouses are protected by armed guards and perimeter fences covering five miles in each direction.
    Today was a special day.
    A fleet of black 4x4 vehicles approached the gates. The guard was simply waved away; the occupants were officially never there.
    The gates opened and the vehicles drove a mile into the grounds. A small building stood isolated, several people waited outside for the important visitors.
    Several people emerged from the vehicles; Three men and two women. All were dressed in black, they remained silent not even talking to each other.
    A large overweight man (appeared), walked towards them. He wore a jacket that was too small; a white shirt with a crooked tie, his stomach hanging over his trousers and he had short, shabby grey hair.
    “Great you could all make it, I am Doctor Steven Banks,” he greeted them holding out his hand.
    The five people simply stared at him, one of the women stepped forward. “We are not here for names. We are here to see what the millions in research has built for us!” she stated.
    Steven simply shook his head, in a way he was scared of these people.
    He turned and walked back towards the building, followed by his guests.
    “As you know, we have been developing a non-fatal weapon,” he was saying when he was interrupted.
    “Non-fatal!” a male loudly said.
    Steven turned to look back at the guests, sweat covered his brow. “Yes. It is a biological weapon. When dispersed it will blanket an area, and will neutralize everyone in the area,” he replied.
    “Neutralize how?” one of the women asked.
    Steven wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Basically it gives people a bad form of the flu. The body can naturally fight it off in 48 hours, but it will not kill them. Once spread, you could stop an entire army without firing a shot and they would be unable to fight back,” Steven told them.
    A man in a black suit chuckled. “I doubt it would be that effective,” he replied.
    Two people in white, long coats stood by a missile launcher. Steven guided the visitors towards them. One of the people by the missile launcher was holding a green glass case, she was loading it into the missile.
    When the glass case was loaded, Steven told the visitors, “We are ready!”
    One of the men spoke out, “Wait, are we testing this on British soil?”
    A woman from the same group stepped forward. “It is the only way. A non-fatal weapons test has been agreed upon from the very top. Besides with current affairs abroad this is the only viable option,” she told him.
    “Can we trust this is safe?” the man asked her.
    The woman smiled. “We have worked alongside Oasis for many years. They have proven their work many times. Anyway just in case we have an antidote waiting for any unforeseen problems,” she told him.
    With no one else speaking out the woman turned to Steven and nodded her head, giving him the sign to proceed.
    Steven moved to a nearby computer terminal.
    “3…2…1…AND MISSILE AWAY!” he announced.
    The missile launched towards the south.
    With a big smile on his face, “You should see results within the hour,” he said in an excited voice.
     
    The sun was shining over the water. The local ferry was going back and forth from the next town. The area was alive with activity, children played on the grass while eating their ice creams. Parents laughed aloud, enjoying the company of other parents. Young couples walked hand in hand, falling in love.
    On a wooden bench dedicated to the memory of World War Two, an old man sat. Holding his walking stick in one hand and an ice cream in the other, that was melting under the sun making the cream run through his fingers. He looked at the sun