The Pentagon

Chapter 21 The Pentagon

POV Mike Banning

Collapse Day

"What do you mean it spread? We had it under control!" The president of the United States shouts throwing his phone against the bulletproof glass of the presidential limousine, wincing due to a bite on his right arm with a face full of concern.

"Code red, I repeat, code red, the president was injured while visiting the general hospital, we were attacked by several patients with symptoms of rabies, the president along with several agents were injured in the process." I announce on the radio while we are in the Black Beast (Presidential Limousine) being escorted by other secret service vans towards the White House.

We had to leave the hospital immediately as a result of the attacks of collective rage while the policemen tried to contain whatever was happening in the hospital. However, the President seems to have some information about what is happening.

My name is Mike Banning agent of the United States secret service and this is my story of how I ended up being the head of security at the Pentagon in the apocalypse.

"The damn thing is in the air." Says the President, snorting heavily and taking the phone again. "This is an order from the president, we are no longer at DEFCON 3, from this point on considering the threat scale as DEFCON 1."

A chill runs through my body, DEFCON 1 has never been used, this is only comparable to a nuclear-type disaster. My God, what is happening? Upon receiving the orders, the presidential caravan began to accelerate at high speeds, running over the civilian vehicles that we had ahead of us to open the way. On our way back to the White House, I could see several military vehicles speeding toward the center of the city and helicopters flying overhead.

Shortly after, we arrived at the White House and were greeted with an impressive sight, the White House had become a fortress. Snipers on rooftops, secret service agents carrying heavy weapons from one side to another, and even Marine One (Presidential Helicopter) was ready to take off. However, the president had passed out and was immediately taken to the medical station along with the other injured officers.

It was hours later when we realized the magnitude of the situation when the president along with the other agents who were bitten began to attack the other people. These were retained, however, biting many people in the process, this no doubt triggered a wave of infections within the facility.

Washington, DC was one of the first cities to fall. Shortly after, the order was given to eliminate every infected with no exceptions.

The vice president decided to take shelter in the presidential bunker, however, he was infected, it should be noted that we lost contact with the bunker minutes later.

Due to the situation, many security personnel panicked and began to leave their positions to go rescue their families who were in the city.

The shots were heard throughout the city along with some explosions, many people decided to start heading in the direction of the White House, where they thought they would be safe from the cannibals.

The National Guard set up a camp at the White House to keep civilians protected, however, this quickly collapsed due to the number of infected.

An evacuation process by air to the Pentagon began, but not everyone managed to evacuate in time. Many people were left behind, government officials, soldiers, agents, and civilians.

I was one of those lucky ones who managed to board the last helicopter while thousands of people crowded trying to reach the helicopter, it was a heartbreaking scene that still gives me nightmares to this day.

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My nightmare is interrupted by a loud knock on the door, weeks have passed and I still have the same nightmare over and over again. The knocking on my door is still going on, so I get up from my bed and head to my door, opening it shortly after. "What happens?" I ask slightly annoyed. On the other side of the door is a woman with several folders, she is the general's assistant, who is in charge of the Pentagon.

"Excuse me, but the General urgently requests your presence in the command room." She says quickly as she runs into another room and breaks the same news to other people. Possibly some walkers are prowling the perimeter or a guard fell asleep at his post again.

During the first days after the collapse, panic reigned within the Pentagon, there was no reliable command structure at the time until we lost contact with the rest of the government. At the end of the week, a General took control of the Pentagon and things finally began to slowly progress.

We have thousands of people in the security of the facility, most of them refugees along with many of the workers who took refuge in these very facilities when things got out of control. The generators are still running, we also have solar power and a large stockpile of supplies and ammunition.

We have tried to contact other groups of survivors, but we have not had the luck that we wanted. We have the resources, we are self-sustaining and we have security.

However, we realized how wrong we were… When the big bad wolf came knocking on our door.

He quickly walked towards the command room where there were already several people gathered around the General, while others ran back and forth.

The General keeps his hands behind his back as he watches a screen, shortly after, more people finish arriving in the command room and the General breaks the silence.

"1 hour ago we received an unidentified transmission from a group calling itself an empire requesting our surrender and submission, as well as giving them full control of the Pentagon facility." At this, many protests are heard from members of the outraged command room. The General makes a sign with his hands and everyone falls silent again.

"Of course, we ignored this signal and made it clear that the United States of America does not negotiate with terrorists, however, shortly after, security cameras at the ends of the perimeter began to detect movement." He says with a sigh as he turns one of the screens in our direction.

This makes newcomers including myself tense at the picture and what it means for everyone.

The screen shows a large number of vehicles in a row, from motorcycles to large trucks, many of these vehicles were modified in such a way that they seemed to be taken from one of the Mad Max movies. Until a person on the other side of the camera stares and then walks over to the camera and covers it.

"They plan to take over the Pentagon." I say what many in the room are thinking but no one dares to say. The situation is more precarious than I imagined, we do not know what we are facing.

"Exactly, that was just a recording that happened minutes ago, since we lost the cameras in that area, I decided to send a small group of men to collect more detailed information on this enemy. I'm waiting for them to communicate. Is this your main force or is it just an advanced force? We need to know what we're up against." The General explains looking at each of us. However, we are interrupted by the sounds of the radio.

"This is reconnaissance unit reporting." A voice is heard from the other side, before this, we all remain silent. "Mission failed, the enemy is…" That is all he manages to say before he is heard struggling. At this, many of the people in the control room have expressions of fear and uncertainty while the General just rubs his eyes.

However, a new voice makes its presence known over the radio, most shocking of all, is that the voice belonged to a child. "Hello, hello, does anyone hear me? Hellooooo."

The General takes the radio and begins to communicate. "We hear you, who are you?" That is all the General says before being quickly interrupted by the child's voice.

"Hehe, my name is Justin, but most people call me Highness Justin, leader of the empire, and you guys will call me that eventually." Says the child's voice over the radio causing different reactions in people, from disbelief to fear. "My offer still stands~ I'm quite benevolent." He says in a sing-song voice over the radio.

"I don't know who you think you are, brat, but the Pentagon will not fall to terrorists." The General says quickly over the radio gritting his teeth, you can tell he's annoyed.

"That's unfortunate for you, I'll give you a demo, camera B-15." Justin says on the radio, in that the General gives the order to place the B-15 camera on the main screen, seconds later, we can see two people on the ground kneeling and gagged, these are some of the men that the general sent to collect information. Behind them is a boy with some kind of syringe in his hands and a smile on his bloodstained face.

"Open your doors or I'll huff and I'll puff..." He says animatedly as he injects a red liquid into both of the kneeling people, causing them to convulse and stop moving, dying in front of us.

"And I will break down their doors." Says the boy in a dark and cruel voice while the previously dead men revive in record time standing up without attacking the kid.

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At that moment the video cuts causing panic in the room. What the hell just happened?

"What was that? Can he control the dead? We are lost, lost!"

"General, we have to negotiate with them..."

"We can't fight that..."

Many voices are being heard, many are still perplexed by what they have just witnessed. Until the General pulls his gun from him and fires into the air causing everyone to stop what they're doing and look at him.

"Everyone prepare for combat and take the non-combatants to the underground shelters immediately!" The General shouts to everyone in the room. "And someone sounds the damn alarm!"

"Sir, vehicles approaching from all directions." Another voice shouts in the room.

The big bad wolf is knocking on our door.