Honeybee

Chapter 15

Ground troops across the country were mobilised and “Operation Honeybee” had officially begun. Their orders were to eliminate anyone infected by the TRS Virus, this included anyone who showed even the slightest sign of infection. If they had ring-spot mark on their body, they were to be killed and incinerated.

Wearing tactical masks and armed with Heckler & Koch SA80 A2 assault rifles, the troops quickly hunted down and killed the recently infected, burning their bodies in a mass cremation. They had to work harder to find the Screamers. The newly infected were easy to kill, they were lethargic and mostly out of it. But once they had fed they turned into full blown Screamers, strong and clever, but worst of all, perfectly camouflaged in the wilderness. Even infrared equipment could not detect them. Some troops thought of it as a fun game of hide and seek, and some were scared, still not believing what they were seeing. Most would have nightmares for as long as they lived, after having to kill infected women and children. The younger soldiers cried after pulling the trigger, the battle hardened just prayed for forgiveness.

The culling lasted for weeks and army units across the country were closing in on the Screamers, forcing them into various zones and surrounding them, ready for a mass extermination. It never happened. It was actually the Screamers who were luring the soldiers in. Hunting and manipulating them into a no win situation.

The attacks happened almost simultaneously. Screamers appearing as if out of nowhere, grabbing at soldiers, crushing them with their bare hands. Those who weren’t killed or eaten, became infected, adding to the numbers of the Screamers.

The Prime Minister sat stunned by the news. God have mercy on them, he thought as he remembered the words he had said when he gave the order to destroy the infected. This wasn’t how it was meant to happen. The members of cabinet that were loyally sat in front of him were avoiding any form of eye contact. Each one looked as though they had aged twenty years. Each one worried out of their mind. The Prime Minister finally spoke.

‘Gentlemen, I need options. Right now there is only one solution going through my mind, a nuclear strike on my own country, and I don’t want to do that. So give me some sort of hope. What is the situation in the States and worldwide?’

‘I’m sorry to say Mr Prime Minister, but we have no intel. We lost contact with the States during the attack and other countries quickly followed.’

‘So, we can only assume the same situation has arisen worldwide. Do we wait until contact can be established? Or are we on our own in this?’ The questions were more for his own benefit than aimed at the cabinet.

‘Mr Prime Minister… there is no hope. We either sit down here in this bunker while those beasts kill the remaining population, if there is any population left. Or… we launch a missile strike from our subs out in the Atlantic and eliminate them once and for all.’

‘And destroy the county at the same time. That is the option I didn’t want to take.’ The Prime Minister said. ‘But you may be right. If we do nothing, the population will eventually succumb to them. If we strike, there is a chance we can save at least some of our population.’

The Prime Minister gave the order to strike but it never happened. All communications went unanswered. If the cabinet members looked like they had aged twenty years, the Prime Minister felt like he had aged fifty years. He sat in despair. Shocked. Stunned. Unbelieving that this had happened. He stood up and left the meeting room. Walking down a narrow corridor, he approached a heavy door and spoke to the guard stationed there.

‘I wish to leave.’ He said. ‘Open the door please.’

The guard hesitated as if trying to assess whether or not he was joking. The look on the Prime Ministers face told him that this was no joke.

‘Mr Prime Minister, I can’t allow you to leave.’

‘I am the Prime Minister. I am in charge, and I wish to leave. Now open the damn door.’

The guard nodded reluctantly and entered a code into the keypad. The deadbolts released and the door swung open. Cool air filled the Prime Ministers lungs and he made his ascent to the surface, emerging in the Ministry of Defence building. The building was empty and he made his way through the open door and out onto the empty streets of London.

Fifteen Months Later