The Sixth Level (Secret Apocalypse Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

Dictaphones and the reporters eyeballs focus on me. They wanted to know if Maria Marsh was really immune. They wanted to know if this whole mission was worthwhile or if it was just a waste of time and energy and hope.

    "She's immune," I reassured them.

    I was then prompted to speak up as no one could hear me properly. Daniel then leaned over and repositioned the microphone in front of me so that it was closer to my mouth. I leaned forward and repeated myself. "She's immune."

    "How do we know that?"

    "Well I guess I can't be sure. But I was there. I saw everything. She came in direct contact with the infection..."

    "What does that mean? Can you elaborate please," a reporter asked, interrupting me.

    Whatever happened to waiting for the Q and A session, I thought?

    "She was bitten by another person. A person who was infected. She was bitten on the ankle. At first we thought she was going to turn..."

    "Turn?"

    "Yeah. I... I don’t know how else to describe it. When a person becomes infected, when the virus takes over they change. They turn. Maria started to change. We decided that we needed to..." I choked on the words. It's hard to believe what we were going to do, what we were prepared to do and what we had to do to survive. "We needed to take care of her," I said. "To put her out of her misery before she turned, before she became a threat to the rest of us."

    "A threat?"

    I look at PR guy to see if it was all right to divulge this bit of information. He nodded his head.

    "A person infected with the Oz virus, will attack a non-infected person to spread the infection. They become aggressive and violent. We needed to make sure she didn't attack us."

    "So you were going to kill her?"

    I lowered my head. "Yes. But it never came to that. We didn't have to. The virus never took over. She didn't turn. In less than a few hours she had fully recovered."

    "Why wasn't this information made known during your previous interview?"

    I opened my mouth to answer but the PR guy took over once again, getting the spotlight off me. "The virus is extremely fast acting," he said. "Observable symptoms include violence, aggression, increased strength and facial hemorrhaging. Rebecca’s report indicated that Maria Marsh displayed none of these symptoms."

    Daniel reached over and held my hand. It was a timely show of support. The whole thing only lasted a few minutes but I felt like I'd been squeezed in a vice and dragged over a bed of hot coals.

    "How will you find her?" a reporter asked.

    "We have her coordinates from a radio transmission that was broadcasted on the 23rd."

    "The 23rd? Why has it taken so long to act? It’s been over a week now."

    "These things need to be planned. Soldiers need to be briefed and mobilized. We have to be prepared. We have to take every precaution when embarking on such a dangerous mission."

    "Has there been any other contact with the survivors?"

    "No."

    "So how do we know they are safe? How do we know they are still alive?"

    "They are situated in an extremely safe location," The PR guy assured.

    Another lie, I thought to myself. They had been running for their lives in that last transmission.

    After a brief question and answer time they introduced the Special Forces rescue team. Apparently such a public introduction and divulging of mission information has never happened before.

    They introduced the team via satellite link up from an aircraft carrier anchored in the Tasman Sea about one hundred miles off the coast of Sydney. I wondered if it was the same aircraft carrier I saw leaving the harbor the day I escaped from Sydney.

    The rescue team were the best and the brightest. They were the strongest soldiers the US Navy and Australian Special Air Service - the ‘SAS’ had to offer. Their leader looked strong. He was a veteran of both Gulf Wars and he had served in Afghanistan. I wondered if he had served with my father.

    But there was something about him I didn't like. He didn't just look