The procedure took about an hour or so. I had to look away as soon as Tariq made the first incision with the scalpel.

Despite everything that I’ve seen over the past month and a half, all of the death and the violence, seeing a medical procedure up close and personal like that; it was too much to deal with. Surprisingly, Maria was more than happy to help. She said she was more fascinated than grossed out. She kept the wound clear, wiping away the excess blood. She handed Tariq the surgical tools when he needed them.

After the procedure, Tariq checked Ben’s pulse about a hundred times. He checked his neck pulse and then his wrist. Each time he counted the beats for a full minute just to be sure.

When he held Ben’s wrist, I noticed a tattoo of a barcode on the inside of Ben’s forearm. “What’s that?”

“Don’t know,” Kenji said. “Similar tattoo to the one the dreadlocked woman had.”

“Maybe it has something to do with the Fortress?” I asked.

“Maybe.”

After a while, Tariq seemed confident that Ben had stabilized. “He was lucky,” he said. “It was a good wound. I was able to remove the bullet. It had not fragmented or damaged any arteries or blood vessels. He will probably need antibiotics though. Keeping the wound clean is his biggest worry now.”

I was about to say thank you, but I never got the chance. As soon as he had told us his prognosis, Daniel had tied his hands again.

Maria looked shocked and embarrassed. “Oh come on, Daniel. Is that really necessary? He just saved Ben’s life.”

“It’s necessary until we find out what happened here,” Daniel replied. “We need to know if this guy is telling the truth.”

“I’m not a threat,” Tariq said. “I…”

“Save it,” Daniel snapped. “What happened here?”

“I already told you,” Tariq replied calmly. “The soldiers were isolated. They went mad. There was an incident a few days ago. One of the men was bitten. As a result, he had to be euthanized. This death, this tragedy, pushed the men over the edge.”

“And why are you here?” Daniel asked.

“Two days ago we lost contact with this outpost.”

“Who’s ‘we’?”

“The command center. The Fortress. There is not many of us left. General Spears is the only military commander still here. The rest have fallen back to home soil.”

“You mean the U.S. military have completely fallen back to the States?” Kenji asked.

“Yes. As far as I know, they are setting up their defenses on the home front. They are making sure the Oz virus does not get in.”

“Do they think the Oz Virus is going to spread that far?”

“Going to? It already has.”

“What?”

“It is already spreading. There has been an outbreak in New Zealand.”

I breathed a sigh of relief.

“We knew that,” Jack said.

“You did?” Tariq asked. “How?”

“Well, we found a computer,” Maria began to explain. “It belonged to one of the doctors who…”

“It doesn’t matter how we know,” Daniel said, cutting Maria off. “I told them. I’m a member of the U.S. Special Forces. I came in after the outbreak. After the nationwide quarantine.”

Tariq nodded. “It is good to have you around. I am sure you have come in handy keeping these people alive.”

“But New Zealand is hardly global,” I pointed out. “It’s just as isolated as Australia. Maybe even more so.”

“I agree,” Tariq said. “But it will not be long. Asia will be next. And once it hits Asia, the rest of the world will soon be overrun. You can mark my words.”

“How is it spreading?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “You have all seen it. You have all experienced it. The virus moves fast.”

“Yeah, it moves fast,” Jack said. “But that’s because we were unprepared. No one knew what was happening. The rest of the world is on high alert, right? They’ll know what to do.”

“Maybe not,” I said. “The rest of the world is really in the dark about this. They won’t be prepared.”

“So the U.S. military is just leaving Australia?” Jack asked. “They’re just giving up on us?”

“No, it is not like that,” Tariq said.

“Really?” Jack continued. “Because that’s exactly what it sounds like. What about the navy? Is their blockade still being enforced?”

“I don’t know.”

“How do you not know?”

“We’ve been cut off for quite some time now,” Tariq said.

“How long?” Daniel asked.

“At least a month. Maybe more.”

“And now we’re on our own?” Jack said.

“There is still a small but substantial force left,” Tariq answered. “But yes, the majority of the military are either dead or they have left the country. If I was to hypothesize as to what the navy was doing, I’d say they would have left as well.”

It sounded like Australia had been abandoned. Written off. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

“Do you know this man?” Daniel asked, pointing to Ben who was still unconscious.

Tariq looked at Ben. Shook his head. “No. I have never seen him before.”

“He told us that he’d been stationed at the Fortress,” Daniel said. “Apparently, he worked closely with General Spears. How do you not know him?”

“I was working with the research team,” Tariq answered. “General Spears kept everyone separate. Soldiers. Research teams. Civilians. Everyone was kept separate just in case there was an outbreak. General Spears was very paranoid about the virus. But can you blame him?”

Jack shook his head, kicked a chair over. “We are so screwed. The world. Humanity. We’re done for. Worldwide zombie apocalypse, here we come.”

“No,” Tariq said. “There is still hope.”

Yeah, we have Maria, I thought.

“What do you mean?” Daniel asked. “What hope?”

“There is a research team working at the Fortress. We are close to a breakthrough. We have had our setbacks. But we are close.”

“How are you going to keep working?” Kenji asked. “We’re completely cut off.”

“We have got the Fortress,” Tariq said. “We have got protection. We can finish our work. We can save this place.”

Daniel still seemed unconvinced. “So, let me get this straight. The command center, the Fortress, lost contact with this station two days ago?”

“Yes,” Tariq answered. “Correct.”

“And so they sent you here to investigate? By yourself?”

“Not by myself. I accompanied a team of Green Berets. They had been working directly under the command of General Spears.”

“What happened to the Green Berets?”

Tariq shook his head. “They came in the night. Took us by surprise. We thought we were in a clear area. Eventually, we ran out of ammo. We were surrounded. They just kept coming.”

“And you were the only one who made it here alive?” Daniel said.

“Yes. Only just. I had to check myself over a couple of times just to make sure I had not been bitten.”

“Wait. Why did they send you again?”

“I told you, I have had experience with the Red Cross. I came with the Green Berets as a precautionary measure. When we lost contact with this outpost, we assumed they had run into some trouble. We figured they would need medical attention. But the Green Berets…” he said, trailing off.

“Go on,” Daniel urged.

“None of them made it. And when I got here, the soldiers were on the brink of insanity,” he said, motioning towards the dead soldier. “And he had completely lost his mind.”

Daniel pointed to the laboratory door, the one with the warning written in blood. “What’s in that room?”

“He said that is where he put them,” Tariq answered. “He said he could not bring himself to kill any more of his brothers.”

“Are they all in there?”

“I am not sure. I have not been in there. But I do not think it would be wise to open that door.”

I totally agreed with Tariq on that point. Especially since the warning was written in blood.

Do not open. Infected inside.

You’d be mad to open it. Or suicidal.

“I doubt all the soldiers are in there,” Tariq continued. “It is only a small facility. They would not physically fit.”

“Do you have any idea of where the other soldiers would’ve gone?” Daniel asked.

“No. They have just vanished.”

“Just vanished, huh?”

“Yes. There is no sign of them. It is like they have disappeared into the desert.”

“Why were you locked up?” Daniel continued. “Why was this soldier guarding the door? Why did he tell us not to let you out?”

“I have no idea. You have to believe me. I do not even know that man. And when I tried to ask him what had happened…”

Daniel held his hand up, cutting Tariq off. “He called you a liar. He told us not to trust you. Why would he say that?”

“I do not know. Please, that man, he had lost his mind. He was in a manic state.”

Daniel looked at Kenji and shook his head. I think he was at his wits end.

Tariq on the other hand remained calm the whole time. His story sounded plausible. Maybe the dying soldier really was crazy with cabin fever.

“What are you even doing here in Australia?” Kenji asked, taking over the questioning.

“I was flown out here, to the Fortress, when things got really bad.”

“Why were you sent here?”

“I am a research scientist. I was sent here as part of Project Salvation. Our mission was to develop and manufacture an anti-virus. But unfortunately, things have gone from bad to worse since I arrived. Nothing has gone to plan.”

“What the hell is Project Salvation?” I asked.

“Project Salvation. The cure. It was supposed to be a solution for the outbreak. It was supposed to stop the plague.”

“How?”

Before he could answer a soft alarm sounded.

“Whoa, what’s that?” Maria asked.

“That is the proximity alarm,” Tariq informed us. “It is tripped when something moves through the motion sensors.”

“Oh,” I said. “Well, of course it’s going off. There are literally hundreds of infected outside.”

“No, the motion sensors are set up at least ten miles away. So if it is tripped, the soldiers have time to respond appropriately and prepare.”

“So what is it?” Maria asked. “More infected?”

“Guys.” Kenji said. “I think you should come take a look at this.”

Kenji had moved into the communications room. It was only a small room connected to the mess hall. Actually, it wasn’t much of a room at all. It basically consisted of one long table with a few computers, a rack of walkie-talkies, phones, and what appeared to be satellite phones. The windows in the communications room had also been spray painted over. And again, someone had scratched out a few small peep holes.

Kenji was looking at one of the computer monitors. It appeared to show black and white images of the desert.

“The surveillance cameras are attached to the motion sensors,” Tariq said from out in the mess hall.

I couldn’t see anything. Just the barren desert. A few low-lying scrubs. Rocks.

“I don’t see anything,” Maria said

“False alarm?” Daniel asked.

“No,” Tariq answered. “You can control the cameras. If you would allow me...”

Daniel hesitated, not wanting to untie someone who was a potential threat.

“Come on,” Kenji said. “We need eyes on the target. You know we do.”

“Fine,” Daniel said as he moved back out into the mess hall. He untied Tariq from the table, but kept his hands tied.

Kenji moved out of the way and Tariq sat down in front of the computer and began typing furiously. Even with his hands tied at the wrists, he could still type amazingly fast.

The screen divided into four different images. With the arrows of the directional pad, Tariq panned each one back and forth.

“I still don’t see anything,” Maria said.

“Wait,” Daniel said. “Go back.”

Tariq slowly moved one of the cameras. “There,” he said.

“Black smoke,” I whispered.

“Yes,” Tariq said. “It is a rogue nano-swarm.”