The Incident

[InfestLithium]

Papers containing the field reports swept down from the table. Most of the specialists - if not all - were silent, looking down at the fallen papers. Those across the table faced the surface of the table with a stone-cold expression. The documents near our feet meant so little to the overall cause yet held such importance that it was impossible to question whether we pick them up or not. The silence held for a solid minute or so before a word was spoken.

"Is this the only proposition you could come up with?"

The lingering silence hung over our heads despite the Director's loud voice. I began to uncomfortably grind my fingers across my leather watch. It was impossible not to glance at the hands of the clock.

6:49.

Time had seemingly stopped, yet the world continued to rotate on its axis with its inhabitants presuming their daily lives.

"I am going to repeat myself one last time. Is this the only proposition you have to offer?"

The silence of the majority was finally broken by a quiet, shaky voice.

"For now, sir."

I lifted my eyes to Bernard. Such a feeble man, yet he could easily be mistaken as the head honcho of his organization. Bernard, an emergency response specialist, had too much on his plate. Why did he have to get himself associated with this problem? He paid homage to California and nothing else.

The Director spoke up once more, but this time in a lengthy tone.

"And does the rest of your committee agree with this plan as well?"

Bernard look towards his men; three older gentlemen in their mid-30's who knew more about their jobs than they did tying their own shoes. Their faces remained fixated on the papers around the table. Getting no reply nor motion from them, Bernard stared back at the Director with that disappointed look he had when he first entered the conference room. The gesture was enough of a response for the Director.

"The nerve of you people. You were given secure intel with all the statistics and research that could have been discovered. Prodding around the area of question is not going to yield any answers. This is far from reality, and should be disposed of immediately. The most logical so-"

"What makes you think that any of this is logical?"

All eyes shifted onto Kilof, who now began to stand up from his chair. He hastily snatched one of the documents from the ground and slammed it on the table. Everyone who was stuck in mental voids were startled by the sound and quickly jerked into a straighter sitting position with the eyes looking into our own.

"Look at this: 39 soldiers dead. 15 being American and 24 being Spetsnaz. If they didn't kill one another for their country, they perished from the nuke-"

"We will not discuss about that incident! You have already been commanded by the Secretary of State to never reveal such information."

We all knew what Kilof was trying to point out. The nuke was a touchy subject but had much more relation to the impact of the event than what the Director was making of it. Kilof's brow furrowed and he held the paper closer to his face.

"'Field report has confirmed thirty-nine casualties - a 15 United States Black Ops squadron and a 24 Soviet Spetsnaz militia. No evidence links to the total deaths being from gunfire; however, the deceased are confirmed to be KIA from the nuclear blast as well.'"

Bernard stood up as well.

"The field report does not give any information about the events after the explosion, though. It is no secret that the bomb killed everyone off regardless who shot who. We know this, and it is more fact than fiction."

"The only thing that is fiction is your proposal, Mr. Bernard."

Kilof's eyes began to showcase a fiery rage within them, as if they were locked in a chicken coop waiting to burn through his eyeball. Bernard gasped and tightened his lips as he locked eye contact with Kilof.

Suddenly, a raspy and thick voice called from the front of the room.

"That is not why we are here, gentlemen. Keep the fighting for the servicemen."

Near the doorway stood the Secretary of State. He had been listening in on the conversation since we first entered the room. Despite the Director being the one in charge of the meeting, it was the Secretary that would make the approval. His squinted eyes began peer around the dimly-lit room as he spoke.

"I did not assign for you all to come here and discuss algebra or what side was killed."

Bernard sheepishly sat down, as if the comment was a direct insult to his intelligence. Kilof remained vigilant in his stance as he continued to stare at Bernard with such malice.

The Secretary slowly approached the head of the table right next to the Director.

"What we have here is a failure to communicate. No compromise has been made by either side to take action with the approval of the other. The investigation is to collect any and all evidence on the aftermath of the Nuketown. Not the battle, not the casualties, and not about a damn nuke that we can't even use anymore."

It was then the Secretary of State turned his head towards my direction.

"Isn't that right, Mr. Peterson?"

I was not expecting to talk throughout this conference. I could feel the stares looking at me now - the Director, Kilof, Bernard, the Secretary. I stood up and nervously pushed back my hair.

"That is correct, sir. But-"

I looked at the faces of my operatives.

"- my team agrees that all research and evidence should discarded or kept under heavy surveillance by the American government."

Bernard quickly jolted from his seat.

"How dare you confiscate evidence! Do you honestly believe that you can hide the devastation of a testing facility along with the geographical destruction of the vicinity?! For Christ's sake, Mr. Peterson, there is a damned crater that is ten times the size of Nuketown!"

Another specialist, who some have dubbed "Neil", was sitting on the other side of the table quietly before standing as well.

"Bernard is right. We can't hide a massive crater let alone the area itself. Investigation could lead to discovering what caused this kind of destruction."

Kilof had just about enough of the conversation. He slammed his palms on the table and glared menacingly at Bernard.

"And what do you suppose, wise guy? That this was the work not of humans but aliens?"

The word rang out heavily throughout the room. Silence rolled back in just as it did before the debate ignited. Everyone - including the Directory and the Secretary stood in awe of what Kilof blurted out. Aliens. It was difficult to swallow such an idea because it was true. What happened in Nuketown - despite the nuke - was not from a human.

Time again stood completely non-existent until the Bernard, who became less tense after what Kilof said, finally began to speak.

"We should just recover everything we can at Nuketown before making any claims."

The Secretary, having recovered from shock, cleared his throat.

"It seems that...ahem...that we cannot come to a conclusion. That being said, we will further hold the decision until I review was was made of the intel and each of your propositions."

He began to turn towards the door and opened it, soon halting afterwards. His unsettled face turned to look at us.

"Good day to you, gentlemen."

The door closed.

This is my first story ever. It's not intended to be some horror-themed tale but one that gives a little closer inspection to the behind-the-scenes work. All criticism/comments are greatly appreciated. I know that I am not a good fiction writer.

[Boom115]

I always liked the idea that there are stories going on outside of our heroes quest. The radios/tvs through out our maps provide us with this; and it has always been one of my favorite parts of the game. So great start Infest and I hope to see more!

[sh3baproject]

subscribed to an interesting story. please make more.

[InfestLithium]

Thanks for the feedback friendos! It was a spur-of-the-moment story, but I'm happy to hear that there's some interest in it. Without further ado, we move onto the second chapter.

/================================================/

"Work bogging you down, Nick?"

A plate filled with hickory-smoked bacon, two eggs over medium, and orange slices with a mug filled with black coffee was placed in front of me. I stopped drumming my fingers on the wooden table I sat at. The aroma filled my nose instantly and for once, I felt more at ease. There was no cure like home for my troubles.

"Just a lot going on now, the usual."

That was a lie. Not that I wanted it to be, but I couldn't speak what was going through my mind. I could still hear the voices from yesterday's conference racing back and forth. Nothing made true sense anymore, but I truly believed that I couldn't fathom the actual truth behind anything.

Ruby heaved a great sigh as she turned to look at the window. She was a fairly tall woman with luscious auburn hair. Her skin had a creamy complexion with semi-rosy cheeks. The curve of her body was a flawless hourglass minus a little extra on the stomach (but she was all the beautiful to me). I could see her olive green eyes peer through the **** please report this topic, post **** window. The morning sun's rays bounced gently off her glossy eyes as to give them a twinkle. It seemed as if she was tearing up, but I couldn't quite tell.

"I wish you could stay more at home," she whispered. "I know that your job is very important to you - all of us. But it would be nice if you got some more time to spend here."

My lips began to tighten as I played around with my breakfast. The yolk from the eggs began to ooze out slowly, smothering the bacon.

"You know how work is. Lots of papers to look over, orders to handle, more paper than a dictionary."

All Ruby really knew about my work was that I worked at the desk filing field reports in the CIA. It wasn't that I didn't want to tell her about yesterday - I couldn't. We were promised very secure housing options to ensure that our families would be protected by the government, but I didn't want to take that route in having her worry. She already had enough on her plate as it is.

She turned around and began to say something until the a knock was heard at the door. Before she could make towards the door, it opened.

"Am I late for breakfast?"

In came Kilof, dressed in a dress shirt with a a yellow tie and black slacks. His combed black hair was pushed back as he took off his sunglasses. In his hands was the Sunday newspaper that he must've gotten from my driveway. He closed the door behind him and smiled at Ruby.

"G'morning Sean! Don't you worry - I'll whip you up something quick."

Kilof looked over to me and smirked.

"Well well, Nick, you looks like you're stuffed."

I glanced down at my plate to see a cluster of yolk covering the entire dish. I had not eaten a single bite off it. It was clear that I wasn't in the mood to eat.

Kilof pulled a chair and plopped himself down. The man was so bulky and tall that he made our wooden chairs look like toadstools meant for children. His facial hair sprawled across his chin to form a thin 5 o'clock shadow. He placed both hands on the table and took a big sniff of the air.

"Sure smells wonderful, Mrs. Peterson. I wish Carrie made breakfast as good as she does gardening."

Ruby placed a plate full of food in front of Kilof as she gave a short laugh.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure she is a great cook, Sean. No need to make me feel so bashful."

After placing the food before him, she took her mint apron off.

"I'll be upstairs opening some of the boxes if you need me."

She hovered over to me and gave me a soft kiss before ascending up the stairs. Kilof kept his gaze onto her until her legs were no longer in sight.

"She seems pretty chippy, so I'm hoping that all is well."

Kilof took a few bites of his egg as he looked over to me. He winked.

"Looks like I'm gonna be Uncle Sean within a matter of months. Damn, it feels so close though."

I laughed.

"Yeah, she is doing very well. Pretty excited, if you ask me. She's been pretty concerned about me, but you know how Ruby gets."

Kilof nodded his head with a smirk.

"Yeah, I know how it goes. Carrie's been tryin' to persuade me about little monkeys running around the house. As much as I love her to Hell and up, it just ain't the right time for that."

He tossed the newspaper over to me.

"Have a look inside."

I opened up the newspaper to find a bundle of typed reports held together with rubber bands. The first page seemed to show nothing but data tables, algebraic functions, and a long list of scientific terms. I pulled off the bands an flipped through each page. Each report looked almost identical in terms of content.

"I don't understand. It looks like a laboratory report. An extensive one at that."

Kilof had already finished up his plate at this point, and pushed it off to the side.

"That's just the entire package. While it relates to one another, take a look at page 42."

I counted through the documents until I came across the page Kilof had said. A compilation of names were listed:

Field Researchers

Zone 52a - Nevada, U.S.A., Northern Hemisphere

M. Anderson

J. Devore

E. Zachary

D. Bernard

A. Rookman

M. Johnson

L. Weskamp

Z. Krueger

W.P. Epsom

I kept reading over the names repeatedly. I could feel Kilof staring directly at my head, but I didn't bother to look up at him. The names were flowing through my mind until I started to focus in on one name in particular.

"...Bernard?"

Kilof furrowed his brow as he rigidly pointed his finger at the paper.

"Exactly. That son of a bitch was involved in this."

I shifted uncomfortably in my chair.

"What exactly is this?"

Kilof leaned over just enough so that we were only a foot from one another's faces.

"These documents were held within the directory of the CDC's so-called proposition from the conference. Everyone went soon after the Secretary of State left, and I was the only one left cleaning up dead trees on the floor."

He pointed once again to the papers.

"Those idiots forgot to come back for their intel, so I collected everything myself. Like they say - you snooze, you lose."

I dropped the newspaper bundle on the table with a loud thunk.

"Are you out of your damn mind, Sean? You don't think that they'll snoop around to retrieve their information back? Hell, we could get into some deep shit if we're caught with this."

I was trying to keep my voice at a low volume, but I could already feel myself getting worked up. Kilof looked right into my eyes with that same smirk he had earlier. He seemed fairly calm for someone who just a day ago was ready to strangle another human being.

"That's the thing, though. Nobody knows that we have it. And even if Bernard and his little tools come crawling after it, they won't risk making a scene out of it. This has his name right on it. Now what is he going to do - tell on us like a child with his fingerprint involved in the crime scene?"

As much as I wanted to retort back at Kilof, I knew he was telling the truth. Bernard's name was on a list of those involved with Nuketown. He would easily be reprimanded and have no choice but to give up on the Nuketown compromise.

"You do realize what happens if anyone catches wind about this, right Kilof? Not just about Bernard, but about us handling this kind of intel?"

He grabbed the newspaper bundle off the table and tucked it under his arm. Without any warning, he reached over to my plate tossed the egg-soaked bacon strip into his mouth.

"Let the bait," he said after gulping the strip, "come to us."

/================================================/

Any questions or comments? I'd be more than happy to answer them. I will also include a new twist in the next chapter that is quite different than most story-telling.

[Tasha]

Ohh, sweet !

I read a lot of books, but this is actually my first time reading such a forum story.

Really nicely written so far !

I do think there are too many blank lines.

Looking forward to that twist in the next chapter. 8-)

[InfestLithium]

Ohh, sweet !

I read a lot of books, but this is actually my first time reading such a forum story.

Really nicely written so far !

I do think there are too many blank lines.

Looking forward to that twist in the next chapter. 8-)

Thank you friendo! I really base this story's style off of my own. It's meant to be as vague as possible in the beginning, but then becomes much more clear as you read on. The goal is to place yourself in the situation just as you stated, where there is not enough information to start off with. Such is a first person narrative as well.

Chapter 3 will come shortly in a few days. If there's anything you - anyone - wants to perhaps see more of, then don't hesitate to comment. :)