Patient Zero

Chapter Thirty-Four

Baltimore, Maryland / Tuesday, June 30; 3:16 P.M.

WE ENTERED THE main warehouse floor, which was big enough to be an airplane hanger. Back in the shadows I could see a number of vehicles, mostly civilian with a few military Hummers and transport trucks sprinkled throughout. There were two big storage bins lining one wall, one marked EQUIPMENT and the other ARMS. A soldier with an M-16 stood outside the arms locker, eyes slowly scanning the room, his finger laid straight along the outside of the trigger guard. One corner of the room had been turned into a makeshift training area with several hundred square feet of blue gym mats.

The other candidates I’d tussled with-minus the clown I’d punched in the throat-were seated in the front row of an otherwise empty section of folding chairs. I could feel their eyes on me, and two of them gave me cautious nods: Sergeant Rock and the Jolly Green Giant. The latter held an ice pack to his face.

Across from them was a second row of chairs and these were filled with a dozen hard-looking men and women in fatigue pants and black T-shirts. No one wore any patch or insignia indicating branch of service or rank, but at least half of them had military tattoos of one kind or another.

Church stepped onto the mats and gave each group a long, considering stare. Even in that vast room he gave the impression of size and substance. All conversation ceased immediately and every eye was on him. I’ve seldom encountered a more commanding presence and though he was surely aware of the effect he had on everyone there wasn’t the slightest sign that he was jazzed by it. It was a fact of life to him, or, more probably, a tool.

Grace and I stood at the edge of the training floor, she on the side with the dozen-her team, I presumed-and me closer to the four men I was supposed to lead.

“Time is short,” Church began, “so let’s cut right to it. With the loss of Bravo and Charlie teams at the hospital we are critically shorthanded. Over the next three months we will recruit and train at least a dozen additional teams, but that doesn’t help us right now.” He paused and looked at Grace’s team. “Echo Team needs to build, train, and get to combat readiness asap. I expect each member of Alpha Team to assist in any way possible.”

Grins began to form on the faces of some of the Alpha Team bucks, but Church said, “Understand me here. If anyone, any single person, no matter what rank or MOS, does anything to interfere with the training process-whether by a harmless stunt or some kind of hazing nonsense-I will take it as a personal insult. It will be better for you to wake up in a room full of walkers, let me assure you.”

That wiped the smile off everyone’s face. We all knew he meant it, and I was starting to get a pretty good idea that he was a total whack job.

But he was our whack job.

He turned to Echo Team. “Lieutenant Colonel Hanley has chosen to spend the rest of the day in intensive care. Apparently his larynx got in the way of his good judgment. Pity about that.” He looked real broken up about it, too. Church pointed to me. “Captain Ledger is now your team leader, effective immediately. You will all offer him your very best support.” He didn’t add a cheesy “or else” but everyone heard it.

He waited for questions. Perhaps “dared” is another word, and then beckoned me over. When I was within range for a quiet comment I murmured, “ ‘Captain’ Ledger? I was only an E6 in the army.”

“If ‘captain’ doesn’t suit you, we can discuss it later.”

“Look what’s my brief here? Is this a hand-to-hand session? Do you have a curriculum you want me to follow?”

“No, but in short I need you to know their capabilities and their flaws so that you know who to trust and at what moment.”

“With Alpha Team watching?”

“Yes.”

I shook my head. “Not going to happen. If my guys are going to have to go in alone, then we train alone. Show them some respect.”

I was aware of having said “my guys,” and Church was aware of it, too. He smiled. “Fine then.” He signaled to Grace. “Captain Ledger will be using the gym floor. Take your team to the small arms range.”

She hesitated and then nodded, called to her team and led them away.

Church walked over to a chair on which was a stack of thick folders. He handed the top four folders to me. “These are the records for your team. These are the men who have the best overall qualifications and whom we could get on site in time to meet you. I have a few others on their way here from the field, but the earliest ETA from that group would be thirty hours. These other folders are possibles. I’m having them all brought in and if you have time I want you to review the candidates and make your selections.”

“Who do I have to clear them with?”

He shook his head. “No red tape in the DMS, Captain. Your team, your call.”

Jesus Christ, I thought. No pressure there. I said, “Listen, Church, since you yanked me out of my life and stuck me with this job, and since you seem to want to give me a lot of personal freedom of action and authority, I hope you’re as good as your word when I want to do things my way.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning, as of this moment there’s the police department way, the federal law enforcement way, the military way and my way. If you want me to function at my best then you’re going to have to accept that I’m going to have to make up some of my own rules. I don’t know enough about your playbook and, quite frankly, I don’t like the way you operate. If I’m not a cop anymore then I’m something else, something new. Okay, then from here on out I’ll decide what that is; and that includes building, shaping, and leading my team. My team, my rules.”

We stood there like a couple of mountain gorillas, eyeing each other to see if this was going to be a fight or a collaborative hunt. He smiled. “If you’re looking for an argument, Captain, you’re wasting your breath and you’re wasting your own training time.”

“Do I have to salute you?” I asked, keeping the smile off my face.

“I would prefer not.”

“What about my job? I’m supposed to report back to work tomorrow and I have to let someone know at the precinct. And my-”

He cut me off. “If time allows, you and I can sit down and go over whatever details need seeing to. I’ll even have someone go and feed your cat. All of that is beside the point. Right now, I need you to step up and be the team leader.”

“I want to see Rudy.”

“Dr. Sanchez and I will have a talk first. You can see him later.”

“Can you tell me one thing at least?”

“Make it quick.”

“Who the hell are you?” When he didn’t respond I said, “Will you at least tell me your first name?”

“As far as you’re concerned, it’s ‘Mister.’ ” Blindsiding this guy was never going to be easy. “Have fun getting to know your men, Captain Ledger,” he said. “I’m sure they’re all dying to get to know you better.”

With that he turned and left.

“Son of a bitch,” I said softly and turned to face my team.