The Orzstok attack helicopter landed on the roof of Sector 22 airport. Two operatives were waiting to receive the emergency arrival. Agent Luce stepped out of the chopper, a hefty looking pelican suitcase in hand.

The operatives snapped a salute. Luce nodded. His face was tense as if suppressing a snarl. "When did the freight land?" he asked as they walked down the helipad and into the building.

"Yesterday evening," one of the operatives answered as he pushed the elevator button.

"And wasn't it supposed to take off by this morning?" Luce said.

"The freight had technical malfunction in the right propeller," the second operative showed him the blueprint of the freight carrier on a tablet, the damaged propeller was highlighted with a red gradient.

"You think I'm concerned about the propeller," he said, the snarl that he'd been suppressing was starting to materialize on his face. "I'm more worried about what the hell you'll do to survive once we take away your badge."

The operative went pale. "S-Sir?"

"You are the chief of airport security," Luce snapped. "A government freight carrier had docked here and you were supposed to watch over it until it took off again! Instead what I'm left with is a broken propeller and missing cargo."

The elevator doors opened on the lobby. The squadron of operatives who'd tried and failed to detain Lisa and Cathy were seated on the benches with somber looks. They sprang up in attention the moment Luce appeared.

The government agent sneered at them all. He walked up to them. His 6'6 stature towering over most of the men and women in the kevlar suits. All of them stood stiff with fear and respect as the man with silver blonde hair stepped up to them.

"So you are the rest of the disappointment huh?" he said with disdain, pacing down the lineup of bashful operatives, making sure he glared right into their eyes as he passed them. "A pregnant woman and a teenager managed to run away while your team was on watch. A highly expensive government vehicle was stolen and slipped out of sight. Do you even know how much your incompetence is gonna cost the government?! Do you even know how much that armored truck costs?!"

The lobby was dead silent. Luce glared at them all before letting out a sigh and rubbed his forehead. Command was going to have him by the balls for his mistake. First the sensitive information about the Silver Lining was leaked. And now the government's dearest weapon had gone missing.

Luce wasn't much worried about losing respect or even becoming a joke in front of other agents. What gnawed at him the most was what the government would do to him if he messed up the job. There had been spook-stories of agents failing on duty. Some of the stories were embellished to a point that they felt like campfire creep tales. Most of them were spiced up lies, no doubt, but one fact that adhered in all of them was that no one ever heard from the failed agents again.

He set down the big pelican case he'd been carrying and pulled out a pack of gum from his pocket. He had to get Lisa Neville. And more importantly, he had to find the truck. He bit into the gum and focused on the mint for a moment.

That's when one of the operatives emerged from the east wing of the airport and snapped him a salute. "Sir, the control room received a message from the House of Operations. They've determined Lisa Neville's location," the operative said.

Luce gave a single nod and spat the gum. He stepped up to the squad of sheepish operatives. He glared at them all. "You all are lucky that I haven't demoted you yet. I'm giving you one more chance to prove to me you are not incompetent." His voice was brimming with contempt. "Gear up and fall in on the terrace. You have ten minutes. Dismiss!"

The operatives snapped another salute and followed their orders. The hunt was about to begin.

###

5 years ago.

"Cathy, I'm gonna send Dad to come looking for you if you don't come out of the bushes now!" mom called her out.

Cathy was crouched by the brush. A chrysalis hung on a stem but it was blackened as if it had been burnt. Probably diseased. The faintest of patterns was dotted on its bulbous shape. These might've become a beautiful pair of wings on a butterfly. The colors would've stood out as it perched on a petal and siphoned the nectar out. It could've looked like two vibrant black eyes, pulsing with life as the creature flew in a garden. But none if that would happen now.

"Cathy!" Mom was getting angry now. But the anger was playful. "If you don't come back soon, Dad is gonna have your sandwich too." That seemed to pull her out of her fixation on the dead chrysalis.

She rushed back to the picnic that her mom had laid out. Sandwiches, chips, salad and lemonade. Mom had her sketchbook on her lap. A half-shaded pair of pigeons was penciled on the sheet. Dad was by the lake, his can of beer next to him, his fishing line was so still it looked frozen.

Dad was telling jokes but it didn't seem to make Cathy laugh. The blackened chrysalis was still suspended from that branch in her mind. It would never get to unfurl its wings, she thought. Never get to see the flowers. Never fly in an open garden. It would be forever hanging from the branch. Forever trapped in its burnt up world rotten with sickness.

Mom noticed Cathy's face turning pale. She touched her daughter's cheek. "What is it, Cat?" she said. "You're not feeling well?"

Cathy looked up at her mother. "Mom, what if...what if I fell asleep and never woke up?"

Mom frowned in worry, she put her unfinished drawing aside, moved closer to the girl. "Why are you saying that, dear?" She wrapped a reassuring arm around her daughter's shoulders. "What happened?"

Cathy shook her head. She looked at Dad. His back was still turned to them. He still hadn't caught any fish. She turned to her mother. "Mom, I'm scared." She sank further into her arms. "I'm scared if I fall asleep like that I'll never get to see you again. Never get to see Dad again. Never get to have these picnics again."

Mom hugged her tighter. "Hush, dear," she whispered softly. "That's never gonna happen. I'm not going anywhere. Dad's not going anywhere. I'd rather die than leave you alone, Cat."

Cathy tried to hold back tears. She failed. She couldn't understand what made her feel so afraid. What the hell was so haunting about it?! It was just a dumb cocoon!

Before she knew it, her dad was next to her as well and she found herself enveloped in her parent's embrace. Somehow, the tears got worse now. "Don't leave me. I-I don't wanna fall asleep. D-Don't--"

###

"Leave!" A voice screamed inside the truck.

Lisa and Marllowe were startled outside. Cathy was screaming? Lisa's heart sank. Marllowe had gone incredibly still. His gloved hand tightened around the lug wrench.

He got up and stepped closer to the truck. They could hear the girl slamming around inside the truck, knocking over gear and banging her head over the wall while growling in a feral voice. "Don't leave me! Don't leave me, ya coward!" she was screaming from the inside.

Lisa gasped under her gas mask. "She had the virus." Her hands gripped at the lapels of her sweater. "W-We'll have to...we'll have to k-kil--"

"No, we won't," Marllowe said. "There is still a way to save her."

Lisa swallowed hard. "Really?"

"But we'll have to restrain her first," Marllowe said. "The way she is thrashing around, she is either gonna trip the wrong button or end up hurting herself."

"How do I help?" Lisa said.

"You don't," Marllowe said. "You'll have to stand back on this one. Think of your child, Mrs. Neville. You've done enough running around already."

Lisa was turning pale with fear. Her grip on the sweater tightened. She just nodded. Marllowe told her to go to the cabin of the truck and push a blue button on the panel under the steering wheel. "And then just sit back in the passenger seat and wait for me to come back," he said.

Lisa was starting to feel sick to her stomach. Her heart was crashing against her ribs.

Breathe in. Breath out.

She did as Marllowe said. The back door of the truck slid up and Marllowe stood right next to the entrance with the lug wrench at ready.

Cathy leapt out of the truck in a flash of movement. She was fast but not fast enough to catch Marllowe off guard. He dove towards her and raised the wrench as his momentum propelled him forward.

Cathy's now bright purple eyes registered the blur of movement that was about to strike her. Her teeth bared, spittle flying as a growl erupted in her throat. She charged at Marllowe head-first, slamming her shoulder into his torso.

She pushed against his weight with all her strength. "You wanted to give me a hug, old man?!" she growled and sank her teeth into him, right above his waist.

His kevlar vest didn't let the bite reach down to his flesh. Marllowe grimaced, more in disgust than in pain. He slammed his elbow down on her shoulder-blade to knock her down.

He then dealt a swift backhand with the angular end of the wrench to cap her in the side of the face, knocking her further away. Cathy staggered back on her feet.

Marllowe soon clipped their distance without letting her have a chance to recover. He drove the heel of his boot into her stomach and flattened her on the ground. He dropped the wrench and grabbed her wrist and snapped a handcuff around it.

He twisted her arm behind her back and grabbed her other wrist to lock it together in the metal bracelets. Cathy lay on her stomach struggling under his weight. The virus had turned her fierce but her meager body and petite frame never had a chance against him.

"Don't leave me, ya coward!" Cathy kept growling, gnashing her teeth, biting at thin air.

Marllowe was worried she might bite her own tongue off. So he stuffed his handkerchief in her mouth and tied a knot behind her head.

He stood up, feeling lucky he was done with replacing the deformed tyres of the truck. They'd need to get to Sector 27 as quick as they could.

He looked down at Cathy, struggling in her restraints, still gnashing her teeth. She was running out of time. He was about to haul her off the ground when he heard the noise.

The din of slapping blades cutting the wind. The roar of a powerful engine. The sound of the government chopper approaching.