“Yes,” said Stealth, “I had noticed the low numbers.”
“Once the full scope of the epidemic was clear, the Army took much more aggressive measures toward controlling it,” said Freedom. He’d moved up behind them. A few yards back, a pair of soldiers pushed the heavy cart laden with the Cerberus crates. Danielle walked over to inspect their loading job. “There were attempts to contain them, at first, but it came down to killing them. We used a backhoe to dig a few mass graves out there by the hills, and burned most of the ones we’d already contained.”
“Of course,” said Stealth with a faint nod of her head.
“It took a little over a year, but we cleared out a good chunk of the surrounding region. We’ve even made some headway into Yuma.” He looked down at her. “To be honest, ma’am, I’m surprised you haven’t accomplished more at your base.”
Danielle looked up from the crates. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“No offense meant, ma’am,” he said. “I just thought, well, with your combined abilities I’d think Los Angeles would be a lot further on by now. It looked like there were a thousand exes just gathered around your base.”
“We estimate fifteen hundred on an average day.”
“Again,” said Freedom, “no offense meant, ma’am, but why haven’t you done anything about them?”
The cloaked woman stared at him. Danielle recognized the look and could guess what was coming next.
“We are at a sub-base on the Yuma Proving Grounds, correct? The city of Yuma is fifty nine miles south-south west of our current position.”
Freedom paused just for a moment. The corners of his mouth twitched with grudging respect. “That’s correct, ma’am.”
“So the area you ‘cleared out’ with your superior numbers and weaponry consists of the mostly-empty proving ground and the outskirts of a small city, population ninety thousand, less than fifty thousand of which would have transitioned according to all known statistics regarding the ex-virus.”
The smile flattened out. “Correct again. Ma’am.”
“There are over five million ex-humans within the city limits of Los Angeles,” said Stealth “This is one hundred times the numbers you have dealt with, and does not include the greater Los Angeles county area. If we had killed one hundred exes a day, every day, for the past nineteen months, we would have only eliminated one percent of the undead population of the city.” She paused to let the numbers sink in. “We have better uses for our time and resources.”
“I apologize, ma’am.”
“Why did you say most of them?”
Freedom blinked. “Ma’am?”
“When you were explaining the Army’s aggressive stance, you said you burned most of the ones you had contained. What did you do with the ones you did not burn?”
He set his mouth in a line and stared at her blank mask. When she didn’t budge, the huge officer leaned back on his heels. “The project director, Doctor Sorensen, asked us to get him some live specimens, so to speak.”
“What did he require these specimens for?”
Freedom straightened up to his full height. “The doctor’s a genius in the fields of neurology and biochemistry, ma’am. He was trying to determine the nature of the ex-virus and determine if anything could be done for the people who’d been afflicted.”
“And what did he determine?”
“I couldn’t say, ma’am. I’m a soldier, not a doctor.”
“This is everything, right?” interrupted Smith. He’d wandered back and was looking over the cart. “Nine crates altogether. Looks like we didn’t lose one between Los Angeles and here.”
No one returned his broad smile.
Danielle checked the boxes and gave a nod. “Everything looks good.”
“And here’s the colonel,” said Smith. He waved to a quartet of men. Freedom’s back went stiff and he delivered a sharp salute, as did the soldiers around him.
“As you were,” said the officer. He held out his hand. “Colonel Russell Shelly, commander of Project Krypton. On behalf of the United States Army, I’m honored to welcome you both to the Yuma Proving Ground.”
Danielle shook his hand. Stealth ignored it.
“You just missed your companion, Zzzap,” said Shelly. “He left about fifteen minutes ago. Did you get his messages?”
“If he had a full stomach he probably forgot to send them,” scoffed Danielle.
“Well,” said Shelly, “why don’t we get out of the sun? We could have lunch if you like. Or we’ve got a shop set up for you, Doctor Morris. Want to take a look and see if it meets with your approval?”
Smith cleared his throat. “Sir, there’s a matter of some weapons and ammunition. Miss... Stealth had her guns confiscated when we arrived.”