Chapter 22 I used to be a guest here

And his heart skipped a beat when he got out of there, it was just as deserted as the others, but the tracks were bigger. Designed for logistics. The gate was huge. He walked towards the gate. He realized he was alone. He did the math and realized he had used them all up. He shrugged, wincing as Uther stood next to him. 

" What?"

" Oh nothing, I thought they were all gone."

" Naah, a few of my people are on their way here."

Another train arrived and 35 Omega soldiers got off, lined up. 

"And that doesn't put the city in danger?"

"No. There is no danger. Should we blow the gate?"

" Let's try the friendly way first."

About 4 meters in front of the gate, automatic cannons were deployed and aimed at Alex. 

>> Do you want to? << it sounded from the loudspeakers. 

Alex tilted his head.

He pointed at the ground. 

>> This station << 

>> We don't want anything from the government or the CDC << 

>> Does my uniform look like this? <<

>> No <<

>> Can I at least talk to your supervisor, it's about the block signal. I can't conquer the rest of the underground with that. << 

Silence fell. 

"Tz ... I should have taken John with me" He lit a cigarette and thought. 

A laser net passed over him. Alex ignored it.

>> How about a trade? The signal for? I can offer booze Muni? Drugs? Movies? I can also offer Mona Lisa? <<

Still nothing. 

Alex took his tray out of his bag, he had reception. 

"What can I offer you ..." He looked at Uther.

"Do you have any powerful explosives? "

The latter grinned. Why, he asked.

>> Bioscan complete. ID verified. Data matches database. << it echoed. 

Alex raised an eyebrow, glanced at Uther who shrugged his shoulders. 

The door opened silently, four soldiers in exo-suits, which at first reminded Alex of a mixture of deep sea and space suits with armor and mirrored visors, stepped out and took aim at him. 

A scientist overtook the group and shook Alex's hand. 

"Finally someone other than those weirdos. "

" Um hello ..." 

"Ah manners. I'm Professor Lingston. I've been the supervisor here since the outbreak. "

" Kai ..."

Alex was pulled up by the collar by a soldier.

" Well, well, well, who dares to come here after all these years..." it hissed from the suit's speakers.

"Yes well, it's been 15 years."

" Colonel Harper, put him down! " 

He was lowered. 

" Harper harper..." Alex looked at the soldier. 

" No..."

The helmet flipped back and a redhead with poison green eyes looked at him angrily. 

"That's the one," she said. 

Lingston looked back and forth between the two. 

"You know each other?" Alex took a drag on his cigarette. 

"I was a guest here once and she..." he pointed at Harper. 

"Yes?" she replied.

Alex grinned. 

"Sex," Alex then said. Harper rolled her eyes. 

"What? We had uninhibited, raw sex back then. This scar here on my neck is from you, Jannet," he pushed his collar down and pointed to a scar. 

"You destroyed my career," she growled. 

"Your career? Oh, come on. You were a sergeant then." 

She leaned towards him. 

"Right, and I had to fight for my promotion because of you. "

" Because of me? "

" Yes, " she looked at Lingston. 

" He turned up drunk at the border and was arrested and interrogated."

" Where we've already done it, " Alex added. She ignored him. 

"After a month, his identity was clear. Major Kaiser on leave." 

"A month ..." he took a drag on his cigarette. 

" He was flown to Ramstein and handed over to his government. "

Alex grinned. 

"And where's the ruined career now? "

"That you did it on purpose to get deported! The secret service said who killed a rogue agent. Does that ring any bells?"

"But you have to admit it worked."

" Ahh!" She punched at Alex, who didn't know if he could dodge. Uther grabbed her fist, held her tight and put the barrel of a gun to her head. She stared at him in horror.

"Behave yourself," came from him. 

"Jannet, really, I didn't want this for you."

" Then what was I to you? " She gasped and stared at him. 

" Eh my mummy mouse? "

She froze and stared at him. 

" Let's be honest. I only intended to be deported back then. That month here with you was special and if I may remind you. You were the one who blocked my calls and emails. "

She cried out, turned and stomped off.

Lingston looked after her in astonishment. 

"Uhh what different to see her so emotional. So Kaiser was it? "

"Right, right now General Kaiser from the north block. "

" Ah I saw the TV broadcast from Canada. So the North Block really exists?" 

Alex nodded. 

" We've exceeded the extinction rate." 

" Fantastic! Come on in."

Alex followed him in. Inside it seemed sterile, but he saw so many high-tech toys.

"We live pretty self-sufficiently here, food, drink, clothes etc. no problem. The only thing we lack is socialization. I mean we're breathing down each other's necks here. "

"I can understand," he looked around as he walked. 

"Well, about the interfering signal, you'd have to talk to Earl, he's our senior, so to speak. "

" I've got time ."

" Good, so yes, we'll join them, when can we get into their system? "

Alex looked at him. 

" That's a pretty quick decision."

" Well, our Ai suggested the north block as the best solution."

" Uhh an Ai ... Wait a minute. " Alex lifted his tablet and pressed a few buttons. He found a device in search mode and pressed connect. "

>> Connection to network started, connection established. Integration into the network.<< it sounded.

"You should have access now, if your Ai can do the file creation, it can also access the data archives. Our scientists have investigated the infected further, but are getting nowhere. "

"Ohh interesting" He pulled a tablet out of his lab coat pocket and turned it on. His eyes lit up, he typed in the search term infected and clicked through the data very quickly. 

"Cough syrup?" he looked at Alex.

"Yes, we found the pathogen in it and after the contact in China, the same cough syrup from Indian manufacturers was in circulation there. "

"I'll have to check the warehouse to see if we still have any lying around. "

Alex was led to a door. 

"Earl's waiting for her inside," Lingston said and hurried away. 

Alex entered the room, which reminded her more of a chill room. Hanging on the wall was a huge 4k TV with an action movie flickering on it. 

"Come and sit with me. " it sounded. 

Alex went in that direction and sat down on a beanbag. He looked at the other beanbag, where an alien in Bermuda shorts and a bowling shirt was sitting and chilling. It looked like a gray male. But with friendly eyes and a big grin. 

"Well, surprised? "

"I always hoped there were aliens here."

Earl chuckled. 

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you fifteen years ago, but nope, they wouldn't let me. Damn bureaucrats."

"Let me ask you something, as a higher-up."

Earl looked at him. 

"Nah, I have no idea what that shit is. Alex I'm a geneticist, not a virologist. I mean ... I know more than these ... but this infected stuff. Phew bad stuff. "

" So no cure? "

"Right, not from my side. Maybe from one of the seniors at my place, I can only do something temporary, but before you keep talking."

 He patted Alex's forehead, Alex flinched as if electrocuted, slumped over, blacking out. When he regained consciousness, he felt relaxed.

"I was just screwing around with you a bit to make it easier for me to communicate. "

" That's relaxing ..."

Earl grinned. 

" Watch out, or I'll experiment on you."

" Am I as relaxed afterwards?"

" Ehmm yeah..."

" Ei then."

Earl looked at him in amazement. 

" What are your next goals Alex? "

" First to secure the USA's underground, then Russia, I want to secure the border with China and take Japan before Lee." 

" Good. There are many things here that can help you. We even have combat robots."

"You mean real Terminator things?"

"Well... Not quite. But they'll be a great help. Then suits like the ones you've already seen and so on. "

Alex lit a cigarette and took a drag.

"Okay... that'll speed it up..." 

" But Alex, do you know what you're going to do first?"

" No?" 

"You're going to do me two favors, the first is to let me stay with you. The second will be that you go to Mrs. Miesepter and fuck her brains out." 

"Oh, Jannet hates me."

" Rather the other way around, you should have seen her face when she saw you on TV. "

" The problem is, even if that's true ... I already have three at home ..." 

Earl grinned at him. 

" All the better."

" Better?" Earl nodded. 

"Now hop to it."

Alex groaned and stood up as if he was being steered. When his head was clear again, he found himself in a changing room. Jannet was banging on a locker and muttering under his breath. Alex sighed. He walked up to her, turned her around and kissed her. She looked at him, startled, and returned the kiss. Then she tugged at his clothes.