Project Apollo

Chapter 10

Hyman Seafood Freezer Truck

Dupont Circle – 12:15AM

Stacey Chapman shivered awake in the back of the freezer truck – restrained, barely conscious. She found herself propped back in a medical chair at the center of the cargo hold. Tables lined the interior of the truck and two large kennels marked the corners. Inside the first was a trapped Middle Eastern man clawing at the grate, while inside the second an unconscious African American in a military uniform sat limp, huddled over himself.

Mohammad Azir approached his subject in the chair. Glaring over his respirator at her, a syringe with a blue substance lowered to her arm. But Azir's arm shook fighting the effects of the bacteria in his own system. After a couple of attempts he was able to calm his arm and the syringe met her skin. The thick needle punctured her skin and emitted the blue bacteria into her. She fell limp as the bacteria began its course through her body.

He placed the syringe back on the table and looked down at the caged man. He could tell the pathogen was taking over his body.

"Help me! Help me!!!" He cried for clemency, until the twitching accelerated. His eyes met the corner of the room. He then grabbed the cage and began violently shaking within the crate. The man convulsed into full seizure, his fingers and toes clenched to their breaking point. After a minute of seizing, the body fell limp – dead.

Azir first observed unemotionally, but then after looking down at the man, couldn't help but to be momentarily fazed. His eyes distant and still has the vision of his own impending fate settled upon him. He twitched out of his fear and approached the table, returning to the job at hand. There he found a checklist.

Symptom

Hemoptysis - CHECK

Fasciculation - CHECK

Nasal Hemorrhage - CHECK

Convulsions - ____

Azir started to jot the last check mark down, but a muscle twitch jerked the pen around on the paper. He dropped the pen as his hand seized beyond his control. After taking a breath and supplanting the torture that waged in him. He made a fist and banged twice on the driver cabin. Khan kicked the truck into drive and drove away.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thirty minutes later, the Compound bay doors screeched open. Fiona Whitt walked in as the Spartans witnessed a living ghost before their eyes. A myriad of expressions laced the room. Cusick face gaped in shock, while Axle's remained blank and unaffected. Seamus smiled and shook his head in welcomed disbelief, while Ashton lips curled upward slightly in admiration at the approaching recruit. Fiona's silhouette slowly materialized into a full fleshed image of an old friend.

"I am a Spartan, I am a Spartan who does not exist, except for the purpose of safeguarding our country from enemies both foreign and domestic. I am a Spartan for life, death is the only discharge. I am a Spartan who fights for the Common Good of all. Nothing Is As It Seems. Nothing Is As It Seems. Nothing Is As It Seems," she recited the Project Credo hinting to all in the Compound her reasoning for her pseudocide. She stopped before the Spartans and smiled at them all individually.

"I guess this makes me the first civilian to enter this God forsaken place..." Fiona quipped, even bringing a slight grin to Axle's coarse face.

"I haven't seen you since... your funeral," Seamus broke the ice.

"For what it's worth, we are sorry. Trying to have a normal life, you know?" Fiona, in one quick gesture, raised her ring finger for everyone to see.