#SciFiSaturday

June 17th

Challenge: Story time again, no more than 500 words. Zombies and chemical warfare. 

"And, release!"

The terse voice crackled in her earpiece, but Blaise's finger hovered over the button.

"Deploy, damnit, what are you waiting for?"

The droning engines made thinking nearly impossible. She always stayed on mission, on point, and she also avoided looking down. Yet, this time she had glanced down, as that was integral to the orders (release and report), noticing what looked to be houses and busy streets. Nothing like the bunkers and military installations she was usually assigned.

Children. Playing soccer in a nearby field.  

That had done it. Blaise's hands gripped the controls, but she knew she couldn't go anywhere near the firing mechanism. Her indecision had wasted so much time that she had flown past the deployment area, heading over mountain ranges, and then past an open expanse of desert.

Finally, she depressed the red button, sweat running down her forehead. The bogey landed harmlessly in a sand dune, crimson smoke trailing out of it and into the air.

"Uh, mechanics failure, sir. Not sure what happened." She tried to keep her tone even.

"Good thing you've got two missiles. Circle around and try again, or it'll be court martial, Officer." 

Blaise took a deep breath. Her training had instilled honor, and forbid insubordination. However, she saw little honor in carrying out today's orders. She also remembered the rumors of Officer Houston's refusal to carry out a mission. No one had seen him in weeks and had assumed he'd gone AWOL, but now Blaise wasn't so sure.

The Corporal knew what he was doing. If she started questioning things now, every decision she'd made in the last few years would fall apart. With a heavy heart, she maneuvered the aircraft to turn around, back toward the mission coordinates.

"Thata girl. Now, deploy, or it'll be your ass."

Again, the populated area came into view. For a split second, she closed her eyes, pressing the button. When she opened them again, she forced herself to look. Like the other projectile, the missile had landed without exploding. It was in between two cars in a parking lot near the soccer field. Crimson fog permeated the area, spilling from the missile in droves. Through the cloudy mass, Blaise saw a few civilians milling about, with no one on the ground. At least not yet.

"Looks like your mechanical failure resolved itself."

She ignored the Corporal, her attention fixed on the erupting chaos below. As the smoke cleared, horrific scenes took its place. People were grabbing one another and tearing into necks, limbs, or whatever they could get a hold of. The toxin hadn't killed anyone. Instead, they were killing each other.

"What the hell is this stuff, sir?" Blaise was choking on tears.

"Return to base and report on the effects, that is all, Officer."

Her hand rested over another button, one to be used only in emergencies. Blaise couldn't think of a more pressing situation.

"I fucking quit," she told her Corporal before hitting the EJECT button.