Perifidy

Chapter 18: Bar Night

1100 Hours

March 1st, 2001

Manhattan, New York

Metropolitan College

          "Until next time, Dr. Summers." Richard Barley said, the old man giving a pleasant smile and wave before leaving Kade's office. Kade sighed and spun around in his chair. As much as he loved chatting with his fellow English Professors about any manner of topics, he did appreciate a moment to himself once in a while. He glanced at the large stack of papers looming at him from the desk. The seniors had just handed in their second seven-page papers for the semester and Kade already knew he was in for many a long night of grading. Next to the stack of papers was a picture of Ryan in his military dress, his brown eyes filled with life despite the sternness of his expression. Next to that was a picture of Kade, Ryan and Robert, all grinning from ear to ear. He needed to send them both a letter soon, though he knew with Ryan on deployment, it would be more than a while until he got a response. Not that Kade minded. With their father dead and gone, their little until had finally starting feeling like a normal family. It had been far too long since Kade had seen her smile so often. He would need to give her a call before the week ended so she'd know he was doing okay. That was when he began to hear noises outside his window. He often heard the foolery of his students but there was a twinge of something unnatural. Something frightening. His heart began to beat. Something about them sounded off. They could've been mistaken as shouts and cries of children playing catch or Frisbee or anything else college age kids would be doing on a mild spring afternoon. Kade resisted his mind's attempts to trivialize his fears. He listened intently. More shouts and hollers. Then coughing. They began to morph, from suspicious noises to blood curdling screams, coughs and gasp. Kade darted from his office, heading straight for the stairs. His office was only on the second floor so it didn't take him long to get outside. He ran up the sidewalk, taking a hard left which let him to the main pavilion and admissions building. The sight that awaited him filled his heart with horror and his mind with utter confusion. There were men in white hazard suits, unmarked, with big yellow devices leaking a similarly colored gas. Students, faculty and visitors alike were on the ground, coughing, spasming, or laying unnaturally still. Kade opened his mouth to shout but found he couldn't. The smoke-the gas, whatever it was had entered his body. He began coughing and sputtering, immediately sinking to his knees. The taste was so beyond foul he could hardly think of the words to describe it. He could his body seizing up, as if under attack in all places all at once. He tried to scream but his lungs were filled with the deplorable gas. Oxygen was being sucked out of his body like a milkshake through a straw and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. The last thing he remembered as his breath slowed to an intermittent wheeze was the armed, faceless men. They said nothing as they stared down at him, their forms and the barrels of their guns looking like wraiths wrapped within the smoke. His last thought was of the beautiful family he'd never see again.

1800 Hours

February 5th, 2018

Herefordshire, England

Hereford Base, The Spire

          Ela traced the U.S Army Infantry Insignia tattooed on his thigh as he spoke. Silence and comfort were best at times such as these. The only reason she didn't have a panic attack right then at there at the mention of the gas was because Kade was right there next to her, his calming presence deterring anything other than peace.

"When I awoke in the hospital they'd claimed that something had happened to me and that test would need to be completed in order to fully access the changes. They transferred me to a military owned hospital and took things from there."