The Tide (Tide Series Book 1) (37 page)

He cradled Meredith’s head in his lap. The chopper’s medic had disinfected and bandaged her wounds. Dom thought most of the cuts came from the broken glass of the bus’s windshield and not from the Skulls’ claws, but he couldn’t be sure. They’d probably all have to be quarantined. He combed his fingers through her red hair. This was a woman who’d risked her life to fulfill a promise to him. She’d been a colleague and friend for longer than he remembered. From their first days in the CIA until these moments spent fleeing in the face of a hellish tableau, she’d supported him, trusted him. Hell, she was more than a friend—to call her just a friend was to discount the bond they shared. He prayed she too wouldn’t be taken away from him by the indiscriminate clutches of death.

Beneath them, the city turned into a distant image of blocks laid among green splotches of trees and parks. It was almost as if the earth below no longer existed, as if they’d escaped the horrors overtaking the world.

Miguel made his way over to Dom. “My God, am I glad these assholes came when they did. Did you tell them where we were?”

One of the door gunners, overhearing their conversation, bent in to be heard over the chopper’s roar. He nudged up his visor to reveal his face. It was Frank. “Deputy Commander Shepherd didn’t want to expend too many of his men, so Adam and I volunteered to come on as gunners.” Frank nodded toward one of the other choppers flying in formation. “He’s over there. Shepherd was a bit pissed when he realized you and Meredith weren’t on the AW109. He didn’t want to send out a rescue squad since that wasn’t part of the deal. But I told him if we were going to get anywhere with this Amanojaku business, we needed to bring your sorry asses back to base.”

“Fucking Frank,” Miguel said. “Goddamned man of the hour.” Then Miguel’s expression turned dour as he peered back at the smoking buildings, growing ever smaller, where they’d made their last stand. “Damn it. How are we gonna break it to Joe’s wife and kids?”

“I’ll tell them,” Dom said, still holding onto Meredith. He calmed himself, willing the storm of emotions to subside. He was the captain of the
Huntress
and a seasoned covert operative. Yet in that moment, he felt as flimsy and helpless as a cardboard box caught in a typhoon. “I promised Joe I’d do it.”

Miguel nodded, satisfied with Dom’s assurance.

The squadron of Black Hawks slowed and descended toward Fort Detrick. As if to remind Dom of the reality of the situation, the cries of the Skulls encircling the military base rose up to greet them. Sporadic gunfire called out to meet those inhuman shrieks. He could see why Shepherd had been reluctant to send out a rescue party. He probably didn’t expect there to be anyone to rescue by the time he risked his men’s lives sending them outside of the meager safety their base provided.

The Black Hawk hit the tarmac hard, and soldiers piled out. Four medics ran toward the chopper. Each pair carried a stretcher, one meant for Meredith, the other for Eric. A grizzled man with a halo of white hair ducked under the rotor wash and headed toward Dom. He held out his hand, and Dom shook it.

“Deputy Commander Shepherd,” he said.

“You need to start my crew member, Renee Boland, on EDTA chelation therapy, followed by tetracyclin, immediately.”

“Don’t worry,” Shepherd said. “We got a complete rundown of the treatment from your ship’s chief medical officer.”

“Then I hope you do exactly as she says,” Dom said as they ran across the tarmac toward a low-lying building. Around them, soldiers carried other bodies on stretchers. “I take it you ran into a little trouble on the base.”

“That’s right,” Shepherd said. “Your boy Frank said you’ve been trying to reach us for a while.”

“That’s right.”

Shepherd paused as he glanced back at the soldiers and medical personnel carting the injured around. “When the outbreak happened, some of our people were infected. It took us a while before we could regain control of the base.”

“And your commander?”

Shepherd let out a breath. “He’s no longer with us. This virus or bacteria or whatever it is got him.”

From that statement, Dom realized Shepherd and the rest of Fort Detrick were as ill-prepared for this disaster as he was. “So I take it you were also in the dark about the Amanojaku Project until recently.”

Shepherd opened the door to the building for Dom when they reached it. “Some of my men dug through our old files. I probably don’t need to tell you this, but before the global decision to cease research and development in bioweapons, Fort Detrick served as a facility for the design and testing of biological and chemical weapons.” The Deputy Commander’s eyes swept the floor as if ashamed for a past he wasn’t actually responsible for. “According the files we found, scientists were working on the Amanojaku Project here during the 1950s. To make matters worse, the objectives of this classified project almost perfectly match the results of the outbreak we’re seeing today.”

Dom stopped in the hall, and Shepherd paused with him. “They
wanted
to create monsters? What in the hell were they thinking?”

“I don’t know,” Shepherd said. “But I want to reassure you that we’re absolutely committed to doing whatever we can to halt the spread of this biological agent.” He opened another door to a larger room filled with cots and people—a makeshift shelter. “Welcome to Fort Detrick, Captain Holland. You’ll be placed in the civilian quarantine shelter until we can be sure you and your group are clear. And after you have a chance to take care of your family and men, you and I need to have a long chat.”

“You got that absolutely right,” Dom said.

“Dad!” Sadie ran across the room. Dom turned to catch his daughter as she leapt into his arms. Kara sprinted after her and embraced them both.

A long road lay ahead of them. They still didn’t know who’d first sent Meredith the memo that sent them on this wild-goose chase, nor had they found out why IBSL had failed. Who was responsible? Had someone deliberately sabotaged it? Was there a larger conspiracy at work—or was it just the CIA that had blundered?

All those questions swam in his mind as the world seemed to crumble around him, but at least he had found something to hold onto. He had his daughters. He had a crew willing to put their lives against the terror of the unleashed Oni Agent and the brightest scientific minds in the world working on a cure.

And, above all, he had hope.

––––––––

D
ear Reader,

Thank you for reading
The Tide
. I hope you enjoyed Dom and the Hunters’ adventure as much as I enjoyed writing it. Dom’s journey has just begun, and the Skulls are still hungry.
The Tide
continues with the second book in the series here:
http://amzn.to/1FxMprN

If you’re interested in future releases in this series and other works of mine, please consider joining my mailing list. I won’t spam you and I won’t share your email:
http://bit.ly/ajmlist
. As a thank you for signing up, I’ll send you a copy of
Fatal Injection
for free.
Fatal Injection
is a novella featuring Officer Ana Dellaporta from my
Black Market DNA
series.

In any case, as an independent writer, your feedback and support is crucial to my craft. If you’ve enjoyed the story, please consider writing a review (as long or short as you like) on Amazon at
http://bit.ly/thetidenovel
. Reviews help independent authors like me spread the word so others might experience our stories. I greatly appreciate any and all honest feedback. Every review is important!

I love to hear from readers. Keep in touch through a number of places:

Website:
http://AnthonyJMelchiorri.com

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/anthony.melchiorri

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/tony_melchiorri

Email:
[email protected]

––––––––

Breakwater (The Tide, Book #2)

––––––––

T
he Oni Agent outbreak has devastated countries across the globe. Despite this apocalyptic new world, Captain Dominic Holland and the Hunters are determined to save the survivors and develop a cure. New threats and discoveries challenge them every step of the way. But they soon find potential help from an unlikely source...if they can survive long enough to receive it.

Find it here:
http://amzn.to/1FxMprN

––––––––

Enhancement (Black Market DNA #1)

––––––––

I
n the year 2058, Baltimore’s latest crime epidemic is illegal genetic enhancements. Convicted dealer Christopher Morgan finds himself on a hit-list before he’s even released from prison. In a race for survival, he must uncover a shocking conspiracy involving organized crime and genetic engineering.

Find it here:
http://amzn.to/1rhSboa

––––––––

Malignant (Black Market DNA #2)

––––––––

A
genetically engineered and unstoppable cancer is spreading through Baltimore’s citizens. Christopher Morgan eagerly joins Doctor Robin Haynes on a quest to engineer a cure. As the cancer spreads across the country, they discover the disease may be connected to a criminal organization. With the body count rising, they find themselves embroiled in something deeper than they ever imagined—an underground world of scientific intrigue, organized crime, and medical conspiracies.

Find it here:
http://amzn.to/1xkBiyh

––––––––

Variant (Black Market DNA #3)

––––––––

W
hile treating a patient, Robin discovers a dangerous pathogen long-since thought to be eradicated. Her investigations lead to a startling and terrifying revelation. Now, Chris Morgan may be the only one that can help her uncover the truth. 

A powerful adversary from Chris’s past has returned. The lives of thousands, maybe millions, are at stake. 

Find it here:
http://amzn.to/1NgIti3

––––––––

Fatal Injection (A Black Market DNA Novella)

––––––––

B
altimore PD Officer Ana Dellaporta must unravel a sinister plot involving missing persons, murder, and genetic experimentation. And when one of her close friends goes missing, she must uncover the gruesome truth before the trail goes cold and her friend becomes the next victim.

Find it here:
http://amzn.to/1BRcAEf

––––––––

The God Organ

––––––––

B
rilliant biomedical scientist Preston Carter introduces an implantable artificial organ designed to grant its recipients near-immortality. But many of those recipients are suddenly dying. With the organ already implanted in his own body, Carter must uncover the truth before he’s killed by his own invention.

Find it here:
http://amzn.to/1yjmMGF

––––––––

The Human Forged

––––––––

F
ormer Army Specialist Nick Corrigan is abducted and unwittingly becomes embroiled in a biotechnological nightmare. He embarks on a dangerous adventure to return home. The only person that might be able to help him is a man Nick never knew existed—his clone. 

Back in Washington, CIA analyst Sara Monahan makes a startling discovery while tracking the use of biological weapons in an ongoing war in Africa. She races to uncover a global conspiracy that may shake the very essence of what it means to be human. 

Find it here:
http://bit.ly/thf14

––––––––

A
nthony J Melchiorri is a writer and biomedical engineer living in Maryland. He spends most of his time developing cardiovascular devices for tissue engineering to treat children with congenital heart defects when he isn't writing or reading.

Read more at http://anthonyjmelchiorri.com and sign up for his mailing list at http://bit.ly/ajmlist to hear about his latest releases and news.