Seattle, Washington,
USA
UNSC
Seattle Outpost
March
30, 2001
1850
Local Time
After half an hour of wallowing in
despair, Zyrok came to his senses. He remembered the conversation he had with
Casey and Hawkes and reminded himself that he was Zyrok. Zyrok figured he might
give it a try with Forester. If it doesn’t work out, he would still have the
purpose to find Sarah. Zyrok walked to Forester’s office and saw her locking
the door.
“Hi.” Zyrok greeted.
“Zyrok.” Forester smiled.
Zyrok smiled back as Forester handed
him a folder.
“Follow me. We’ll discuss this
report once we’re at High Command.” Forester waved at Zyrok to follow.
“Oh, okay.” Zyrok examined the
folder and followed Forester.
The pair exited the building and
walked to a heavily guarded building. Two sergeants greeted Forester and asked
for Zyrok’s High Command badge.
“Captain Zyrok is with me.” Forester
explained.
The sergeants nodded and allowed
Zyrok to enter the building. Forester swiped her UNSC ID badge on an access
panel and looked into a retinal scanner.
“Welcome Lieutenant Forester.” the
computer spoke and the metal door slid open.
“Come on in Zyrok.” Forester waved
as she stepped inside.
Zyrok huddled inside as the door
slid shut. Zyrok was amazed with what he saw inside the building as he followed
Forester. There were scientists testing with colorful chemicals and engineers
designing new body armor. It was Zyrok’s first time in a High Command facility
and it was exactly what he had imagined it to be.
“Come on Zyrok.” Forester called as she realized Zyrok had
stopped to observe a laboratory.
“Oh, right.” Zyrok snapped out of
his thought and jogged up beside Forester.
“There will be plenty of time to see
the facilities once we talk about that.” Forester pointed at the folder she
gave to Zyrok.
“What is this?” Zyrok glanced at the
folder.
“We’ll talk as we eat.” Forester
took Zyrok to the cafeteria.
As Zyrok entered, he noticed the
tables organized in groups. One was the scientists in their white lab coats and
the other was UNSC High Command officers.
“Grab a seat Zyrok. I’ll get you
your food.” Forester pointed at an empty table.
“Okay.” Zyrok nodded and quickly sat
down.
After a few minutes of waiting,
Forester approached Zyrok with two trays of food.
“Would you prefer caviar with cooked
potatoes or fresh vegetables with mixed nuts?” Forester placed the trays in
front of Zyrok.
“What do you want?” Zyrok looked at
Forester.
“Don’t worry about me, I get these
daily. Choose one.” Forester laughed.
“I’ll take the fresh vegetables. I
haven’t had something fresh for a while.” Zyrok smiled and pulled the fresh
vegetables tray in front of him.
“Sure.” Forester smiled and took the
other tray.
“So about the folder…” Zyrok placed
the folder on the table as Forester sat down.
“Okay, this report talks in detail
about the new zombies we had encountered.” Forester opened the folder.
“Okay…” Zyrok munched on the
lettuce.
“The two-headed zombie that screamed
and brought a horde over is now called the Siren. Remember the zombie with the
tentacles?” Forester asked.
“The one that took out our Pelican?”
Zyrok asked.
“Yeah, that one appeared to be
another boss zombie similar to the Titan. The tentacle boss is now called the
Wraith. The smaller size version is referred as the Tendril.” Forester
explained as she flipped over some pages in the folder.
“These new special zombies are
getting harder to kill by the minute.” Zyrok commented.
“It appears that the radiation from
the nuclear plant meltdown has accelerated and mutated the virus.” Forester
added.
“Go figure.” Zyrok watched as
Forester ate her caviar.
“Hence, we are seeing different
strains of the virus.” Forester continued to explain the report.
“This could mean we might lose the
war with the sudden shift of firepower the zombies have.” Zyrok concluded.
“Exactly. As you remember, we
already lost a Relief
Center. The
aggressiveness of the zombies combined with the boss could lead to the
decimation of UNSC troops within a few years.” Forester nodded in agreement.
“So what does High Command have in
mind?” Zyrok asked.
“My level of clearance doesn’t go
that high. What I do know is that High Command is onto something big…”
Forester’s voice trailed off as a tall man with a beard approached Forester.
“Sir!” Forester stood up and
saluted.
Zyrok quickly stood up and saluted
the man.
“I assume that’s Zyrok you talk about
in your report?” the man looked at Zyrok’s name stenciled on his shirt.
“Yes sir.” Forester nodded.
“Colonel Victor Black.” the man
stuck out his hand.
“Captain Zyrok, sir.” Zyrok shook
Black’s hand firmly.
“I’ve heard a lot of praise for
you.” Black glanced at Forester.
“Oh really, sir?” Zyrok asked.
“Yeah, being Forester’s commanding
officer for three years, the both of you have brought so much valuable Intel
for the High Command.” Black smiled.
“It’s nothing.” Zyrok smiled.
“Your efforts are greatly
appreciated. I’ll see you soon later tonight.” Black thanked and walked off.
Forester and Zyrok sat down and
watched Black leave the cafeteria.
“What did he mean that he was going
to see me later tonight?” Zyrok asked out of confusion.
“Oh, I wasn’t finished.” Forester
tapped the folder.
“Continue, please.” Zyrok urged.
“As Colonel Black mentioned, we make
quite a team.” Forester smiled.
“And…” Zyrok laughed nervously.
“Well, the UNSC is onto something
big…and we’re going to help them.” Forester spoke briskly.
“How?” Zyrok was interested.
“We’re going to search for a covert
research facility that was abandoned by Secronom Inc.” Forester explained.
“Secronom…the folks who started all
of this mess. And where exactly is this facility located?” Zyrok rubbed his
face in thought.
“Intel from High Command points to Afghanistan.”
Forester answered.
“Afghanistan?” Zyrok almost spat out
his food.
“Yeah, the Middle
East.” Forester laughed.
“Why us? Isn’t there other marines
that’s situated closer in the Middle East
region?” Zyrok complained.
“Well, we’ve got more combat
experience with the special zombies. Nobody knows what Secronom might have in
store for us when we enter their facility.” Forester replied.
“Great…just great. As if I haven’t
died enough times already…” Zyrok laughed sarcastically.
“Don’t worry. We’ll be teaming up
with a reconnaissance squad that’s situated down at the San Francisco Outpost.”
Forester assured.
“Okay…I can survive one hour longer
than before…” Zyrok joked.
Forester laughed at Zyrok’s joke and
shook her head.
“High Command will issue us some of
their top gears to increase our survivability and performance.” Forester
stated.
“Okay. I will do it…” Zyrok wasn’t
sure if he could say no.
“Great. We’ll go see Colonel Black
and depart with your marines to San
Francisco.” Forester closed the folder.
“Okay.” Zyrok nodded as he finished
his food.
“Sounds good. I’ll notify Jackal
Squadron at the San Francisco Outpost to get prepared.” Forester finished her
potatoes and stood up.
“Let’s see the Colonel now.”
Forester dumped the waste on her tray into a garbage bin.
“Afghanistan…” Zyrok thought to
himself quietly.
Unsure of what would happen in the Middle East, Zyrok knew it was probably the only way to keep his mind busy. Perhaps he would find his true self over at Afghanistan or maybe confront his past and be at peace with it. Zyrok wasn't sure about his future. For now, it was his journey to find Sarah.