“The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care.”
-Colin Powell
On or about the 15th – it’s difficult to say, as the days bled into one another and few people were keeping accurate track of the calendar anymore – I arrived in Santa Fe and was escorted to the base. To describe the situation as one of utter pandemonium would be an understatement to say the least. The limited assets of the 200th Brigade had been dispatched to every populated corner of the state, attempting to help with refugees and assist in efforts to contain the outbreak.
Much of the personnel were still on leave when the outbreak hit, and those that were deployed were finding themselves ill-equipped to offer both medical aid and “sanitizing” at the same time. The term had emerged quite on its own and I saw the use in it, though it hardly seemed fair to those who had to watch family members and friends be put down. It also didn’t help matters much that many of the soldiers dispatched to these had friend and family that they knew were being effected. But everyone quickly learned that hesitation or emotional attachments could be deadly, and were slowly making a bad situation worse.
As I say, on or about the 15th, I arrived in Santa Fe and assumed command over all state-wide assets. At this time, efforts were still concentrated on preventing the spread of the infection farther west from the western townships and the state capitol. Vasquez, despite his competence and stalwart character, was simply not qualified to be commanding both battalions at once. But with their commanding officer unaccounted for, all responsibility had fallen to him as senior commander. It was a fortunate turn of events that I had him on site to bring me up to speed, otherwise assuming command would have been a far greater challenge. And as he made abundantly clear to me, it was a relief to have a senior officer to answer to for a change. The burdens of complete command were quickly taking their toll on him.
After a week of the same situation, Albuquerque was all but compromised. Trying to contain the situation was no longer an option, and I was now authorized to greenlight a full-scale clean-up, as had been discussed in Washington already. The 200th artillery and 150th were now in a position to lay down “sanitizing” fire on all the neighborhoods considered too far gone to save. I also had the 200th’s BCT at my disposal, armed, composed and ready to mount a daring counter-offensive now that the infection appeared to be uniformly distributed throughout the city.
However, matters quickly changed when the infection found its way into our neck of the woods, apparently independent of the strain that was moving east towards us. Somehow and without warning, the enemy had made their way behind our lines and were hitting us where we lived.
With the situation deteriorating in the capitol and roving gangs of infected moving in every direction, I was forced to make the most difficult call of my career. Having ordered all forces to retreat from the field in the west, I ordered Vasquez to pack up our base of operations and evacuate all forces north to uncontested territory. Espanola was to become our home for the time being, the one population center where the infection had not reached.
And with that, we abandoned the southern stretch of the state to its fate. I consoled myself with the knowledge that this was a temporary move, and that all land and lives lost would be retaken and repaid in kind. May God have mercy on me, and the families of the victims forgive me. The call was not made easily or without deep regret. I can only say that circumstances being what they were -
There was a knock at the door. Haynes pulled his feet from the desk and sat up straight, placing the book face down on the table. Removing his reading glasses, he signaled for the arriving party to enter.
“Come!”
The door opened just slightly, enough to admit the head of his assistant.
“Sir, you wanted to be notified when the town’s delegation arrived.”
“Ah, yes,” he said, getting to his feet and straightening his fatigues. A quick check of his watch let him know that it was now fifteen past the hour, to which he muttered unhappily. “Damn civilians have no concept of time. Tell them I’ll be right with them.”
“Yes, sir,” replied the Corporal. “The Colonel is here to see you as well.”
“Ah,” he said, sounding far more positive about this bit of news. “Send him in.”
The Private pulled his head out and cleared the doorway. Immediately thereafter, it opened to admit Tomlins, wearing as always his firmly pressed fatigues. He noted the silver birds on his shoulders as well, the new insignia looking bright and polished despite their history of use.
“General,” he said, snapping to and issuing a salute. “Are you ready for them, sir?”
“I am indeed,” said Haynes, reaching to his desk and retrieving the volume he had just placed down. Marking the page and closing it, he placed it back on the bookshelf next to the other volumes. Arranged from left to right, in order of the date they had been recorded, they looked decidedly out of place amongst the other leather-bound volumes that made up his collection.
“Still reading those,” said Tomlins, more as a statement than a question. Haynes was already back to his desk and retrieving another tome, the notebook he would be needing for the sake of their meeting.
“Indeed,” he replied. “The Mage was a man who liked to play things close to his chest. Where else am I to find a record of all the plans and assets he kept to himself?”
Tomlins nodded. “Any progress?”
“Much,” Haynes said. “But I can only surmise he was expecting these books to be read long after this crisis was over. Anything of value is so buried in a hill of apologies and explanations, its difficult to know what’s of use and what isn’t.”
Tomlins hummed an affirmative, though it did sound moderately ambivalent as well. Haynes had come to expect this sort of behavior whenever and wherever Thur’s actions were raised. Few seemed to be willing to admit forthrightly that the old man had made mistakes. And on those rare occasions when they did, Haynes suspected it was designed to humor their new commander.
Sliding the notebook under his arm, he gave his uniform a final check and then turned for the door.
“Alright, let’s go. Can’t keep the civilians waiting now can we?”
“No, sir,” said the Colonel, snapping to and following him out. A number of Privates and functionaries came to attention as they left the office area and proceeded down the hall. Haynes was sure to issue casual salutes to all those who walked past, making sure to acknowledge their fine and disciplined behavior. He only wished that extended further…
So much left to do, he thought. So many people, places, and councils to take charge of.
Not an easy task to be left with, he knew. But he didn’t ask for the responsibility, nor for the Mage to have left it all to him and how he did. But the sooner he got the locals squared away, the better. Then he could focus on the larger threats, the ones which had announced themselves very loudly just a few months back, and had managed to leave some traces of their path behind…
When they finally reached the door to the conference room, he remembered something else and turned to the Colonel.
“Before I forget, could you find Sergeant Ryan for me, Colonel? I would like to meet with him as soon as this meeting is over?”
“Yes, sir,” Tomlins, his face issuing a scowl. “What about the delegation, sir?”
Haynes looked to the door, and shook his head. “Nothing I can’t handle. Just a few pencil pushers looking to get assurances that their homes will be safe for another season. I’ve done this enough times to know exactly what they want to hear.”
Tomlins nodded. “Anything in particular you want me to tell him?”
Haynes grabbed the door handle and looked back one last time. “Just the itemized list he’s managed to compile from our… guests,” Haynes said with a smile. “He’ll understand.”
“Yes, sir,” Tomlins repeated, looking somehow graver than before. With that, he snapped out a parting salute and turned on his heel to head off down the corridor again. Taking a deep breath, Hayne steeled himself for what was sure to be an unpleasant meeting. Putting on his best, most officious-looking smile, he turned the knob and entered…
