Project Apollo

Chapter 17

The National Mall

Northeast Washington, DC – 6:30 AM

The Spartans marched east against the cool autumn breeze that swept over the National Mall. Brushstrokes of colors had been painted over the sky as the sun peaked over the horizon. Xander explained, as they walked together.

"Apollo's rise is certainly a reference to sunrise, which should be coming in the next five minutes from the east." Xander spun to face the Capitol Building, pointing to the source of the auburn hue that had already begun to creep over the horizon.

"Follow the dial... We need to follow the sun dial at sunrise." Catherine noticed where they were heading. Her eyes climbed to the heights of the Washington Monument.

They ascended to the circle of pavement encasing the monument. The flutter of American flags could be heard as the Spartans followed Xander to the monument's base. Xander turned to the east from whence they came and watched as the auburn turned to red. Looking out over the National Mall, he could see the sunlight slowly cast onto the lawn before them.

The sun began to creep towards them, they felt its warmth embrace for a moment as the team illuminated in the day's first light.

"It's beautiful..." Ashton gaped at the sight before them down the Mall. The Capitol Building glimmered in the foreground of the rising sun.

"So, this isn't the target?" Seamus asked.

"No. It will point us to the target."

"How will it point us anywhere, it's pointing to the sky," Seamus asked, squinting toward the monument's pinnacle.

Xander's eyes traced the sun as it shined past them. He remained locked on the ground and continued to follow its path past the monument.

"It's shadow..." Xander explained, as he walked the monument's growing shade.

"It's pointing us toward the target." Catherine exhaled as the revelation hit.

They stopped as the monument's umbrage took shape pointing west with a slight Southern angle.

"It's not directly west... but it's close..." Xander gazed in the distance, reshaping the landscape of the city before him. He mentally explored a myriad of landmarks beyond the pointed shadow of the Monument.

"What is over there?" Ashton asked, following the ghostly path paved by the monument's shade.

"There's the Potomac River and... Arlington," Seamus recalled, adrift in the clue's intricacy.

"Twenty-One Steps Before Anonymous..." Xander recited the line from the quatrain.

"The Lincoln Memorial?" Catherine offered.

"No, there's 145 steps there." Xander rattled off from his memory. The other's offered aimless hypotheses, while Xander remained focused before them.

"Nothing is even open! What could the target be?" Seamus succumbed to the frustration of his own mental dead-ends.

"Before anonymous..." Xander marveled as Seamus's words jarred a hypothesis. The tone attracted the others, who sensed a lead.

"What place is always open, even at this time? A place that represents the anonymous...." He led them along his logical path. Ashton understood immediately and dropped her mouth at the discovery.

"It's the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier," Ashton answered. But Xander was already on his way to the van.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Catherine Mueller slammed on the brakes bringing the van to a screeching halt on the road alongside Arlington National Cemetery. A beat later – Xander, Axle, Seamus and Ashton unloaded from the van as if sweeping a room. They carried assault weapons and wore respirators over the bottom half of their face for any contagions they may encounter.

The four Spartans bolted through the white grave markers that lined the rolling hills of the cemetery. Their firearms were cocked at the readied position for any terrorist on the acreage. They stayed low and quick, checking all sides of the large perimeter as they hiked up the cemetery slope toward the tomb.

There were no mourners within eyesight, just the white headstones undulating over the grassy dunes. The Spartans cut through the years of memorials until they climbed the steps to the tomb. They became alert probing the scene for anything out of the ordinary. And then they heard shouting ensue behind them. A lone sentinel guard emerged from the training facility located below the tomb, firearm drawn.

"Put down your weapons!" The sentinel barked at them. Xander did not listen as he spotted Lieutenant Walker in the small green shack next to the tomb. His face dripped of blood, so much so that Xander could not make out his chin or lips underneath the crimson mess before him. His twitching had grown violent and Xander noticed that the Lieutenant had a strange raving about him, while his eyes remained seemingly catatonic.

"Listen sir, your guard is very ill and I cannot allow you to approach him. He is caring a deadly disease that will infect you if you do not keep your distance," Axle barked back. The guard stepped forward assertively at first and then noticed the respirators. For a moment he considered the safety of his colleague and sized them up. After seeing the American military firearms, he decided to holster his. Then the commanding officer climbed the stairs, stopping dead at the horrifying sight of Lieutenant Walker.

"We must take him with us, if he has any chance of living," Xander shouted.

"Is he going to be okay?" The sentinel asked lost in the scene. Ashton flashed him a grave look that provided the answer he did not want to hear.

And then a thought occurred to him.

"The tomb cannot go unguarded," the sentinel added, already tugging at his formals. His uniform was loose, wrinkled and off-centered, but he began primping his appearance the best that he could. Formalities were of secondary importance as duty called.

Walker awoke from his mental stupor and began rocking back and forth in his chair. He closed his ears to block out the ringing behind them as his mind continued to turn on him.

"My head! It hurts so bad! What is happening to me?" the bloodied man growled a terrifying plea.

"Listen to me! You have been infected by a deadly bacteria. We are going to have to bring you in," Xander ordered as the CO quickened his march to begin his pacing of the black mat in his colleague's stead.

It was too late.

"Make it stop! Make it stop!!" Walker screamed. The tortured soul could not barricade itself from the infectious attack. Xander approached, double checking his gloves on the way. Walker, possessed by the disease, began seizing out of the chair.

"No!!!" Xander reached out, but Walker fell rigid on the ground, shaking uncontrollably. He convulsed over himself, spraying drops of blood onto the stone on which laid. The Spartans knew there was nothing they could do as they watched the man shake into ruin.

After a long horror, Walker's eyes froze, settling up and into his skull. His body stopped, along with his heart.

And then stillness.