Текст книги "The Eden Plague"

Автор книги: David VanDyke

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Текущая страница: 11 (всего у книги 15 страниц)

-19-

Elise and Daniel met them hand in hand at the cavern with all the vehicles, what they called the Motor Pool. Daniel knew there was something seriously wrong when he saw the expressions on their faces as the two men in the Cherokee got out.

“Weren’t you guys supposed to take off?” Daniel saw the Land Rover but didn’t see Zeke. By the time he had looked around, the others had opened the back of the SUV and hefted his body onto the cold cavern floor.

Daniel stared at it in shock. At them. “How?” Elise clutched his hand, her eyes pouring tears.

“Unlucky shot. They had four guys on the house. We only spotted two. The other two must have been a reaction force. They opened fire on us and we took them out. But Zeke…” Skull waved vaguely, a helpless thing. More emotion showed on his face then, than Daniel had ever seen before: grief, anger, bitterness.

Daniel wanted to make some kind of gesture to Skull. If it had been Larry, he might have hugged him. He settled for putting a hand on the bald man’s shoulder. “Thanks for bringing him back.”

Skull shrugged Daniel’s hand off, turning away. Daniel could smell his barely-buried rage. Maybe that was a good thing; maybe rage meant he wasn’t sociopathic, just…angry.

They took Zeke’s body and put it on ice in the bunker’s morgue. The scientists wanted to make sure they had the cadaver to study later. That was what Zeke would have wanted, they claimed. Daniel got the family settled into quarters. Elise stayed with them, and even though they’d only just met, the two women clung to each other in sisterly comfort. The children seemed to accept her naturally as a second mother, or at least an older sister. Eventually they all slept.

Daniel’s sleep was troubled with images of death and horror, of bodies lying asleep and he couldn’t wake them. He woke in the middle of the night, thinking, it wasn’t supposed to happen this way!

But he knew everyone died eventually.

The next morning brought some relief. When Daniel got to breakfast he found Ricky shoveling canned ham and eggs into his mouth, with Cassie and Millie and Elise at the table with him, eating more sedately. He got a plate of breakfast and sat down with them. He spoke to the boy. “How you doing, sport? You remember me?”

Ricky shook his head.

“That’s all right, it was five years back or so.” He looked at Cassandra. “Sorry to be such a stranger. And I’m sorry to have brought this on you and your family. If I’d have known…”

“None of us can know, DJ. We’re in God’s hands.”

That made Elise angry, though not as angry as she might have been before the Plague. “How can you believe that? With all this crap going on, how can you believe God cares?”

Cassandra turned to the other woman. “Maybe because I think things would be a lot worse if He didn’t.”

“Then why doesn’t he clean the world up? Why just keep things not too bad and not too good?”

“Maybe He expects us to do our part. Make our own mistakes. Take responsibility. Maybe He doesn’t want to be our nanny. And maybe He works through people – people who make things like the Eden Plague.”

Daniel held up a placating hand. “Please, let’s not have my two favorite women in the world fighting.”

“We’re not fighting, we’re arguing.” Elise looked petulant, irritated.

“Either way. We’re all friends here, and we’re under a lot of stress.”

Cassandra reached across the table to put her hand on Elise’s arm with earnest, tear-filled eyes. “My heart aches for Zeke, but he died doing what he wanted to. Protecting people. Saving people. Saving us. He passed this Eden thing on to Ricky and saved his life. We treated Beulah and she recognized me this morning! We have to hold on to the good he did. And this Eden Plague is so amazing! This whole thing. It will change the world. He was willing to die for that.”

Daniel said, “Yeah. But will it change the world for the better? It could be a wrecking ball.” He exchanged glances with Elise. Then Spooky caught his eye from across the room.

“Excuse me a minute.” Daniel walked over to the Vietnamese man.

Spooky said, “We go now. Skull and me. Better that way. You want to reach me, you talk to Van Vinh.”

“What about…what about Skull?”

“I don’t know. He love Zeke. He very angry. Maybe he stir up the hornets. What can we do? No man can live in another’s heart.”

Daniel licked his lips. “You still have some Eden Plague in that other syringe?”

“Yes.”

Daniel stared at him, willing him to understand.

Spooky’s eyes widened fractionally. He nodded, slowly. “Only if I must.”

“It’s better than killing him. At least then he has a chance to change. Maybe the Eden Plague will help him heal some of his pain.”

“But you say with the Psycho, they maybe turn very evil.”

“That’s just a guess. We have no evidence or proof of how any of this works. I just know we have to give him a chance. What you do is on your own conscience.”

He looked at Daniel’s face for a few more seconds, searching. For what, Daniel didn’t know; certainty perhaps, but he wouldn’t find it. Spooky swallowed, then bowed, formally. “Goodbye, Daniel Markis. I think you are the Colonel Zeke now.”

Daniel bowed to him in return, shaken. Master Sergeants don’t become Colonels overnight. He guessed now he had no choice. He sure didn’t feel ready. Pushing the thought aside he watched Spooky walk down toward the motor pool.

Good luck, Spooky.

***

A week of being buried alive here in Sosthenes made Daniel realize the idea about quarantining himself wasn’t going to work. Physically he was not limited; it was the oppression of the mountain above him, the damp cold air anywhere not heated by machinery, and the lack of open spaces that was getting to him.

He drove himself hard, to keep the oppression and the black thoughts of Zeke’s fate away. He spent as much time with Elise as he could spare, and with Millie and Cassie and Ricky, trying to make up for the Zeke-shaped hole in their lives.

Cassie bore up well, and she quickly established herself as the master of their intel field work, what is called tradecraft by those in the business. She spent long hours with Vinh, who ate up the knowledge and reveled in his job as gopher, supply specialist and intelligence operative. She soon had him taking trucks to various towns and cities, never the same place twice, selling currency and coins to private collectors and shops and jewelers, buying loads of electronics, spare parts, cabling, fresh food, everything that the bunker needed.

Vinny and Daniel set up satellite and microwave dishes and other antennas on the mountaintop under cover of the trees, and some extra radar-scattering netting strategically placed to mask any overhead surveillance. The bunker entrance nearby was one of a dozen or so that led to various points on the mountain, providing access or escape for people on foot. By midweek everyone was taking sunlight breaks at least once a day at the nearest hatchway.

They also got all the internal telephones working, at each entrance and in all of the main rooms and offices. The phones weren’t connected to the outside world but were still useful for their work.

By the end of the week the lab equipment started arriving. Daniel risked going outside driving one of two trucks, following Vinh to pick up several large crates in Richmond. It was a great relief just to be up in the sunlight and out in the open, bouncing along the country roads down to the freeway feeders to the Virginia capital and back. He thought if he could do that once a week he might be all right.

Larry had taken off on his own the day after Zeke died, heading back to Atlanta. That gave Cassie enough time to set up a rudimentary anonymous webmail system with him, using free accounts for communication. As long as everyone stayed away from certain keywords like ‘Eden’ or ‘Plague’ or ‘Markis,’ everything should be fine. Computers might be able to look at every e-mail in America, but people couldn’t: they could only see what the software flagged. That was how to stay below the radar of the creeping Big Brother that America’s government had become since 9-11.

They decided to keep to a more or less similar week to the outside world, work five or six days but for sure take Sunday off. Everyone was pushing too hard. So it was on a Sunday afternoon right after the barbecue outside their best hatch that Daniel found Elise.

She had been sitting against the mountainside a couple of hundred yards up on a granite ledge. He remembered she liked it there. She gave a little wave when she saw him hiking up, but he didn’t smile.

“Elise…I need to talk to you,” he said awkwardly.

“I know. I mean, okay. Let’s talk.”

He took a deep breath, then sat down beside her, not touching. Staring out into space. “I need to know something first.”

“Sure.” She didn’t sound sure, even to herself.

“Can the EP be fixed? Really? Can the conscience-enhancing portion be overcome?”

Elise did a kind of double-take, as if he had asked her a completely unexpected question. She thought about the question for a minute. “Not easily. Not soon. It repairs cells. It repairs a lot of things. It balances processes. If you told it not to repair brain cells or processes – theoretically, I mean – then it wouldn’t repair nerve cells either. That would preclude a lot of other injuries getting fixed. But it’s more than just brain cells or neurons or axons or whatever. It’s the regulation of hormones and a thousand delicate neurological processes. The fact this thing works at all is a miracle, testimony to the creators’ work. They did amazing things with primitive technology.”

Daniel nodded. “If the Russians really did it. I’m still wondering about extraterrestrial influence.” He let a long breath out. “So the virtue effect is intrinsic. Impossible to separate from the advantages. That’s good, I think.”

Elise replied, “I’m not so sure it’s good, if we can’t defend ourselves. I think this imperfect Eden Plague will push some people into being puritans and pacifists and Pharisees. It’s falling off the horse the opposite way. You feel it yourself, don’t you? You risked lives back there on the island because you used nonlethal ammo, when one shot to the brain would have put Karl down for good. But you couldn’t do it. Is that good or bad? What’s the lesser of the evils?”

Daniel replied, “I don’t know. I’m glad I didn’t have to kill him, and I’m glad he didn’t kill anyone else. I don’t have any easy answers. We have to operate within the parameters we have right now. Maybe later you can tweak the virus to keep the reluctance-to-kill virtue without making it a vice.”

She shrugged. “Maybe.”

Daniel rubbed his eyes, thinking. “Okay, then what about the hunger? The food needs? The excessive fertility?”

Elise let out a breath, as if she had been holding it. “That can be improved a lot easier, I think. Just time and money and research.”

Daniel nodded, thinking. They sat back against the granite, watching the puffy clouds, feeling the breeze through their jackets, smelling the sweet pine. He opened up a bag of trail mix and M&Ms, what backpackers called “gorp,” and set it on the rock between their thighs. A handful went into his mouth with a practiced flick. He took a deep breath. “Elise…” his voice trailed off.

“Yes. Go on, it’s okay.” Her tone was gentle.

“Elise,” he started again, “I care for you. I could call it something else but maybe it’s too soon. I think you care for me. But I think I’m in charge of this whole thing now and I need to think about bigger issues than just the two of us. That means I need to…to put aside at least that much turmoil. Oh, I’m not saying this very well, I’m making it sound like it’s a coldblooded decision.” He turned to her, to look in her eyes. “I just mean –”

She reached for him then, her lips for his. Relief flooded through Daniel’s body, relief that she had not rejected him. The kiss was magical, electric. He felt connected to her in a physical way, like a joining of their nervous systems, as if in that moment he could reach out his hands to her body right there on that breezy chilly mountainside, and it would be wonderful. But something stopped him, the thing that had begun to get in the way between them. A desire to do things better. To not screw this up the way he had screwed up his other relationships. He hadn’t given the two of them nearly as much thought as he had about the world-shaking implications of the Plague, and he felt embarrassed to have put her in second place. But dammit, wasn’t all of mankind more important than any two people? He gently broke the embrace, still holding her head in his hands. “Elise, we need to –”

“Shut up, Dan, and take me here,” she whispered huskily. “Right here and now. I can’t think of a more glorious place.”

He groaned, eyes squeezed together. “Elise, I want you too, so much. But I want to do it right.”

“Oh, we’re going to do it right all right.” She stared at him wide-eyed when he only chuckled, pained. “Okay. Do what?”

“You know. I mean…if we’re in love…if we love each other…”

“I do love you,” she said.

“I know. I mean, I mean, we should…make a commitment. Make it official.”

Elise sat back, obviously stunned. “You mean like, uh, married? Sure, I assumed we would, eventually. But a moment like this only comes along once in a while. Let’s take it while we can.” She reached for him again.

He held her gently away. “Elise, I…I…I made a promise. To be a better person. I keep my promises. And I mean, I’m not a real religious guy or anything but I just think…I want to be married to you before we…you know.” His voice dropped to a miserable whisper. “So maybe I won’t screw it up this time.”

She reached up to take his hand in both of hers. “I can’t argue with your enhanced conscience now, can I?”

“Don’t put this on the Eden Plague! That would mean it’s not really me. But after my divorce…I promised God I’d do everything right with the next woman in my life. I screwed up so many times.” His face begged her to understand.

She shook his hand between hers. “Well, I have to admire and respect you for sticking to your beliefs and promises, even if they’re not mine.” Her eyes crossed slightly as she thought it through, thought of a way around Daniel’s dilemma. “There won’t be any official marriage certificates or anything like that, right? We’re off the grid. So a marriage is just our commitment to each other.”

“It’s a commitment in front of witnesses.”

She sat back in defeat. “Damn you, I was going to construct a nice little argument for saying our vows right here and now and then doing it like bunnies.”

Daniel laughed, a great belly laugh of relief that lasted a long time, leaving his eyes and nose running. “I love you too, you know.” He reached for her embrace and they basked in the shared warmth of their bodies.

“Okay, mister goody-two-shoes. Let’s go get married. Today.” She leapt to her feet, pulling him with her down the trail.

They tried. It turned out that the rest wouldn’t let them. After the girlish shrieking from Cass and Millie, the backslapping from the men, and confused looks from Ricky, everyone made them wait until the next day. But Daniel and Elise insisted on having the wedding outdoors in the sunlight.

It was a short, moving ceremony. After “You May Kiss The Bride” Elise whispered in Daniel’s ear, “Now let’s go up to our ledge and do it like bunnies.”

And so they did.

No doubts remained in either of them as he took her in his arms and their bodies melded together, nothing between them anymore, with the blessings of their friends and, Daniel knew, of God. Time suspended itself as they wrapped themselves in each other. “Stick that in your image enhancers, satellite-watchers,” he muttered as they stared up at the twilight sky from inside the double sleeping bag. He laughed and buried his face in his wife’s sweet hair. If this love was the EP’s doing, he’d given up on his doubts, and on fighting biology, and just accepted things as they were.

-20-

It was days later, after bouts of dreamy pleasure and sessions of hard work for the both of them, that they finally made time for the conversation they had been trying to have before. Daniel dragged Elise back up to their ledge with a picnic dinner and sleeping bags as twilight fell she took his licentious look with good cheer and eagerness. But once they’d gotten there and set out the food, he said, “I need to talk to you about something.”

She looked worried for a moment, then sat back, picking up an apple and taking a crunchy bite. Her freckles danced as her strong jaw worked. “Uh-oh. When the man says that it’s always bad,” she teased, knowing full well it was usually the other way around.

He pushed aside the distraction of her simple natural beauty and plowed on. “Remember what we were talking about here before? When we had the conversation?”

“About doing it like bunnies?” He laughed. “Okay, yes. About the Eden Plague and fixing it?” she asked.

“Yes. I’ve decided something. I’m sorry if it sounds like I left you out of the decision, I don’t mean to,” he put on his most determined expression, “but I really believe it’s the right thing to do.”

“Do what?”

He licked his lips. “To start the Plague going. As soon as we can.”

She sat back, still chewing apple, crossing her eyes slightly as she always did when thinking deeply. She ate the whole fruit, including the core, except that little stem they always leave on to ensure everyone knows it’s really from a tree. Daniel sat and let her think.

Eventually she responded. “You know, if we had a few months, we could probably make it airborne. Graft in some highly infectious influenza. One good thing is, it appears the virus is designed to survive in all sorts of media – blood, saliva, salt water, even chlorinated water doesn’t faze it. And once it’s ingested, it’s very infectious. Kind of like Ebola.”

“That’s good news. You know, they’re going to be watching for people pulling research off the web.”

“I’ll work with Vinny and Cass to make sure we don’t get traced.”

“So…you agree with my plan?”

“Sounds more like a goal than a plan, but yes…I always did.” She smiled reassuringly.

“Even if it causes chaos.” His tone of voice made it a statement, not a question.

She sighed. “Yes. Horrible as it might be, it will make a better world.”

He felt a twisting in his gut. Where have I heard that phrase ‘A Better World’ before? “I bet Oppenheimer said the same thing.”

“Wasn’t he right? After Japan, has there been another use of atomic weapons?” Her gaze was intense.

“No. But a couple weeks ago you were arguing that assassinating enemy scientists was wrong,” he said.

“I didn’t say I had it all figured out. I don’t think there are real parallels anyway. This isn’t a weapon. It’s just goodness that this evil world won’t be able to cope with.”

“But it won’t be just those who accept it that get cured. If you make it contagious, it will be indiscriminate.” Daniel looked at her for approval.

“Good. The faster the better.”

“I think so too. But let me play devil’s advocate for a minute. Aren’t we making that decision for all people? Shouldn’t they decide for themselves? And what if five years down the line we all turn into aliens or zombies or something? What if it does something completely unexpected and wipes out the human race?”

“Come on, Daniel,” she said with exasperation. “I thought you were the risk-taker and adventurer.”

“I’m also the one who took the Hippocratic Oath. First, do no harm. I’m not sure I’m not violating it.”

She shook her head. “If you do surgery, you have to cut. You have to harm to save. But…whatever you decide, I’m with you. I’m your life partner.”

“You’re my wife.”

“Okay mister old-fashioned, yes I’m your wife and you’re my husband. But if I disagree I’m going to let you know. So now you have my views. Let’s practice making the next generation of Markises. Less talk, more do.” She reached for him with abandon.

***

The next day Daniel called a council of war. He termed it “war,” not because they were going to make war on anyone, but because he thought it likely enough their actions would start one.

Against them.

He prepared to explain it all the best he could in the conference room, with computer-projected slides and diagrams. Military briefing habits die hard.

Larry was back, with a whole group of his family members. Daniel wasn’t sure what he had told them but there were about twenty of them, and they were not invited to the council. They were too new and he wasn’t going to risk some kind of schism or budding political dispute in their little community.

He’d made sure that Spooky and Skull got invited back as well. Spooky came, but Skull didn’t. Daniel couldn’t worry about that.

Spooky had brought several family members with him after all: the old, and the sick. They were immediately injected with the Eden virus, and started getting better right away.

Daniel was glad they weren’t among those southeast-Asians who didn’t believe in medical intervention. He remembered a big lawsuit in California some years back, with the doctors trying to force a Hmong family to allow their son, crippled from birth, to be operated on. The family won, and the boy stayed crippled. There were eerie parallels with the present situation.

So it was a small group that sat down to decide the fate of mankind: the scientists Elise, Arthur and Roger; Larry, the Nguyens, Cassie and Daniel.

Daniel opened with, “Good something-time, everyone. What, it’s afternoon? Hard to remember in here.” That got a courteous laugh. “I called you here to tell you about some plans I have.”

Everyone sat up a bit straighter, eyes fixed on him.

“I’ve sounded everyone here out so I think we’re all in agreement, but I want to be sure. We’ve got a couple of dozen new people and we need to keep friction to a minimum. That means we need to have a formal structure, for now.

“Spooky said a while back that I should be the new Colonel Zeke. But I don’t feel right about that. I propose this to start: we’re now the Sosthenes Bunker Council. One year from now – and you can tell people this – we can have elections to choose new Councilmen and Councilwomen. I will be the Chairman until then, unless anyone objects or wants to be it?” He looked everyone in the eye one after another. It was obvious he wanted them all to be on board for this critical first period, because he had to be autocratic to get anything done.

“Okay then. If anyone asks, that’s my title. Chairman. Like a town council, not like Mao.” Daniel laughed, then put on his most earnest expression. “But here’s a serious subject. Very serious. We’ve just been drifting from crisis to crisis, doing what has to be done, but ignoring the main issues. So here’s the first one, and the biggest.”

He swept the room with his eyes. “I think we need to spread the Plague. Come what may.”

A babble broke out, then calmed down after a minute. Daniel held up his hand for quiet.

“Most of what I just heard was, ‘why now?’ I’ll tell you why. First, Jenkins isn’t going to forget I killed his son. He will hunt us down.”

“So why not just turn yourself in?” asked Roger.

Daniel smiled at his brazen lack of couth, and waved back the glares directed toward the man. “It’s a fair question. The main answer is, that won’t stop them. Yes, he blames me personally, but he also can’t lose control of the power of the Eden Plague, so he will be do everything he can to find us before turning it over to his superiors and being cut out. So that’s the second thing. They will be researching. Jenkins will figure a way to pour resources into labs and scientists and within a year or two will probably be ahead of us. If he figures out how to inoculate against it, or how to get rid of the virtue effect, we lose all our leverage.”

Elise cried, “But then we won’t be a threat to him!”

Daniel shook his head. “Honey, we’ll always be a threat. We’re an uncontrolled power bloc with the potential to destabilize the world. And that leads to the third thing. They will find this place eventually. Despite all we can do, unless we seal up completely and never leave, something will happen. They will locate us, and they will come and disappear us. We have to move soon. We have to blow it open so wide it can’t be suppressed.”

“So why not just put it out to the media?” Vinny asked. “I can make it go viral worldwide.”

“Without proof, that won’t mean a thing. It will just alert Jenkins to our plans. We will go to the media, but only after we have acted.”

“You are starting to sound like a terrorist, DJ,” Larry said with a smile, but Daniel could tell he was uneasy.

“Terrorists bring death and destruction as a way to get what they want,” Daniel disagreed. “I am proposing we bring life to millions – billions – of people. Call it insurgency, or a freedom fight. I don’t think there’s ever been anything quite like this before, but the closest I can think of is a war for independence. Spreading freedom and liberty, even though it upsets the established order.”

“So now we’re revolutionaries?” Larry said.

Daniel nodded, undeterred. “We have to be. I have thought long and hard about this and I am willing to accept that responsibility. I can’t let the fear I am making a horrible mistake deter me from doing what I think is right. ‘That Others May Live’ has been my code my whole adult life. I know there will be unintended consequences. Like any vaccination, the Eden Plague will save a lot more lives than it loses.”

Silence prevailed for a time as everyone thought about what he had said.

“So how are we going to do it?” Roger asked, always the scientist.

Daniel held up a hand. “First, we have to agree to do it at all. To impose a solution on the world. To spread the Eden Plague against their will. Sure, a lot of sick people will welcome it. But a lot of people will get it without a choice – from us spreading it deliberately. From birth, even, as soon as pregnant carriers start having babies.” He looked over at Elise and smiled. “So I’m going to leave this room right now. I’ll be at the nearest hatch, enjoying the breeze. I’ll come back in at sundown or when someone calls for me. But you all have to talk it out and reach a consensus, without me to impose it. Because it might be the most important decision ever made.”

Daniel turned on his heel and left the conference room, hearing the voices rising as soon as the door shut. He walked with a measured, fatalistic tread toward the nearest opening on the mountainside.

Daniel knew he should have just pushed it through. That’s what a military leader would have done. But this wasn’t a military operation anymore. He was leading a bunch of civilians, and they had to make their own decisions. Besides, Daniel thought there were enough in there that agreed with him to sway the rest. If not…he’d figure something out.

Jogging up flights of steps just to burn off energy, once he got to the hatch he opened it and sat down on a nearby log, within easy hearing distance of the telephone in the box just inside. He stared out over the low hazy West Virginia mountains, smelling the pine in the air, hearing the rustle of leaves in the breeze, wondering about the future.

It was less than a half hour before the phone rang. He took that as a good sign.

The conference room was silent as Daniel reentered. He sat down in the empty chair at the head of the table, and deliberately did not look at Elise. He didn’t want people thinking he was politicking with his wife.

Spooky cleared his throat. “Mister Chairman,” he said softly, “I believe we are of accord together. We are willing to bear responsibility with you. We will spread the Plague.”

Daniel released the breath he’d been holding and smiled. Spontaneous applause broke out, a relaxation of their nervous tension. He took the breath back in, deeply. Now for the first test of their resolve and unity. “All right, that’s talking the talk. Can we all walk the walk?”

“Meaning what?” asked Vinny.

“Meaning…we have to infect everyone here to start.” Daniel reached over to a side table where a small bag rested, unnoticed until now. Pulling out a cloth, he unrolled it to reveal five small syringes.

He didn’t think they expected him to throw it in their faces like that – to take concrete action after an abstract decision. But as it slowly sank in, he could see the acceptance form on every face, most especially those who were not yet infected: Spooky, Vinny, Cassandra, Roger and Arthur.

Cassandra spoke first. “I’m in. I’m fine with it. I’ve seen what it can do. Shoot me up, doc.” She rolled up her sleeve.

Daniel took the first needle and walked over to her. Looking in her eyes for a moment and seeing no uncertainty, he plunged it in. She smiled, a little strained, but determined.

The rest rolled up their sleeves as well, and he got it done as quickly as he could, before anyone got cold feet. “Everyone’s seen the effects. Be prepared for the appetite. We have no shortage of food. Just eat what you feel like. And keep an eye on each other, in case of anything strange. But now that that’s done, we have to give it to everyone else in the bunker.”

“What, against their will?”

Daniel stared at Vinny, who had spoken. “We’re talking about doing it to the whole planet. If we can’t do it to our own people, our own families, how can we justify doing it to everyone else in the world?”

There came another exchange of shocked glances. It was all becoming real to them, and fast. He’d had days and days to think it over and settle it in his mind, but they were getting steamrolled in real time. He had to do it this way, though, or the consensus might collapse.

“So what I propose doing, and you will need to ratify, is this. We start putting it in the drinks at our meals, and keep doing it until everyone is in. Nobody gets to opt out.” Daniel could tell some were very uncomfortable with this idea. The values of individual liberty and self-determination ran deep in American culture. He stamped on his own misgivings and forced the issue. “So that’s my first formal motion. I move the Bunker Council approve infecting everyone here, without their express permission.”