Barren Fields Read Free

all soldiers are not inoperative due to the fever at the same time. The time frame for the drugs’ effectiveness is two to three weeks depending on the individual. All troops will be re-inoculated with the drug at such time as it becomes ineffective and as long as the order for martial law due to societal unrest is necessary.
    I appreciate your concern for the welfare of your men and I have the same concern for mine. This is why I have written more than the required “follow your orders or be relieved” reply. I have observed the Zeus drug being administered to the German soldiers and have had it administered to myself while in Moldova with the Tiger Battalion and can personally certify its effectiveness. I will also mention that the reduction in fatalities to your troops resulting from armed conflict will help to prevent your troops from building grudges and animosity against the populace they must keep under control. Anything we can do to reduce casualties in the expected upheaval must be done.
    Inoculations are expected to begin with the arrival of Zeus on Monday. In coordination with the military the CDC will be distributing inoculations nationwide to select first responders in high value areas.
    Sincerely,
    General Arthur C. Taggart”
    George looks at the paper a moment longer attempting to make sense of the information his brain doesn’t want to accept.
    “This is happening at every base in the U.S.?”
    “ Every base was yesterday. Today they were injecting that Zeus drug into first responders. That means police and hospital personnel as well.”
    “My father is at the hospital!” George yells as he stands up and turns for the door.
    “George, you can’t go into the city,” Keith tells him and grabs his arm.
    “I have to try, Keith. Maggie, I’m sorry, but I need to at least check if I can make it to the hospital.”
    “You can take our truck,” Keith says with a small amount of relief.
    With George leaving, he can stay here with Maggie and won’t have to put her through the stress of travelling.
    “Keith, please go with him.”
    “I’m not leaving you alone when the shooting is so close.”
    “Then make sure George has a gun before he leaves.”
    *
    Driving up the Yscloskey Highway, not even a mile from Keith’s and Maggie’s house, George sees the origin of the shooting. A crowd of some young hoodlums are shooting across the canal at people on the other side. George slams on the brakes to keep from hitting people that are standing in the road. He squints his eyes and tenses up expecting the murdering gang of armed people to turn their guns on him at any moment, but they ignore him and the screeching of his tires as he comes to a stop.
    What he witnesses over the next few seconds is something he can’t comprehend. The shooters on this side of the bank aren’t a bunch of young punks or criminal looking people at all, but an assortment of men and women who are shooting at the people on the other side. The crowd of people over the waterway is no less strange. They are also men, women, and even some children. It appears to be hundreds of them crowding along the edge—just like they do along the streets during the Mardi Gras parades.
    George’s stomach lurches, but he is able to keep himself from vomiting at the horrendous sight of bodies falling to the ground or into the canal as they are killed. More than the nausea, there is a cold and fearful feeling George gets while watching the scene. The people shooting look terrified and the people being shot look, how can he describe it, they look vacant. They are just standing there with their mouths hanging open watching everyone on this side of the canal. They aren’t running away, flinching, or noticing when the person standing next to them falls dead from being shot. They are doing nothing but standing there as one after another is killed by the bullets these shooters are sending their way.
    As repulsive as what he is witnessing is, he has to get