Teddy Vale
At the base entrance, the guard stopped us for the usual inspection.
“Your infection test came back negative, right?”
I nodded.
The guard was just about to let me through when Ethan Cross, the team’s new medic, suddenly spoke up.
“Wait, Captain. What about that scratch on your arm from the mutated rat?”
The air froze.
The guard’s expression changed at once.
“Captain Hale, is that true?”
I gritted my teeth.
“It is. But the wound has already been treated, and I have antibodies.”
“I’m carrying a top-level mission. I need to enter the base immediately.”
The guard hesitated, his hand already moving toward the gate controls.
But Ethan stepped across my path and blocked me.
“Captain! You were coughing badly on the way back. What if you’re a carrier?”
Then he turned to the guard, his voice firm and absolute.
“I request immediate quarantine for Falcon Squad and a full screening for Captain Hale.”
The guard’s eyes sharpened. He raised his weapon.
“I’m sorry, Captain Hale. You’ll need to come with me to isolation first.”
I froze where I stood.
A full screening would take at least forty minutes.
But the zombie king in the base laboratory would awaken in thirty.
I had to lead my team in and stop it before it broke free.