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The Navy Man

November 16, 2012

Jumping on the train, he wasn’t proud of what he was doing. This was a unique feeling because he usually felt tremendous pride for serving in the United States Navy.

John Doe enlisted as an E-3 and worked his way up to E-5 and today was his 10th mission. It was a very special mission, too.

Doe had trained in Quantico, Virginia for this day. It wasn’t an exceptionally difficult mission, but it was dangerous and important. It was his turn to test the newest, biological weapon. Several months beforehand, a different virus infected people in a remote area of California, but this time, the military tested a more deadly and quick acting viral weapon.

Doe looked out the window as the train pulled into the Watts station. He remembered the riots and how the predominantly white, male journalists in 1965 didn’t even know where it was. They had to examine a map to send a reporter there to cover the riots.

Seconds later, or so it seemed, he was in Compton. The revered city of rap singers. Why? Cuz it’s the ghetto, yo. Looking out the single paned window, he noticed a few gangstas with tattoos and some kids and couples mingling around the station, smoking cigarettes. There were a few heads puffing on a blunt, too. The train pulled straight outta Compton and headed south to Doe’s destination - Long Beach.

"This is the final stop," the driver said as the train stopped in the Long Beach Transit Mall Station. Securing his baseball cap, he adjusted his belt and exited. His targets were already in sight. Doe was commissioned to infect all of the poor and homeless people sleeping at City Hall. This included the entire area by the courthouse all the way to the library. He was told there should be about 75 people, but those numbers were always changing because these people are transients.

Covering his mouth as he coughed, Doe quickly surveyed the area. Since it was 12:30am Wednesday morning, he hoped to be greeted with dead silence and fresh, sea breezes. Sure enough, it appeared that everyone was asleep. Most transients have no choice but to wake with the sunrise, so they go to bed early.

Doe received a shot in the buttocks about 90 minutes ago. It contained a transmittable strain of the Ebola virus and he had to infect everyone and immediately return to Los Angeles by train for the antidote. There wasn’t a lot of room for error and there was a big risk, but that’s why Doe joined the Navy - to experience exciting missions and take big risks. However, he didn’t know how he felt about this one. Not only was this an experimental weapon, he was commissioned to infect innocent people. Some were illegal aliens, but some were Americans. He feared that some may even be veterans, but he hoped vets were safely in shelters.

Feeling a little faint, Doe walked to the crosswalk at the corner of 1st and Pacific and pushed the button. Waiting seemed odd in the middle of the night, but he did it anyway, so he wouldn’t acquire any suspicion. After what felt like forever, the red hand disappeared and the walk signal appeared.

Entering Lincoln Park, he noticed about 40 homeless people. Walking past a couple laying on a blanket, he brushed by them as closely as possible, to breathe on them. It was a warm, July night, so the indigents weren’t bundled up very much. In fact, since it was about 62 degrees outside, many had no shirts and were sleeping in the grass. Walking by an elderly man in a wheelchair, Doe exhaled deeply in his direction and walked slowly onward. Approaching some stairs, he saw a dirty man and woman in their 20s, sleeping half naked under the stars, hand in hand. Tiptoeing carefully, he inhaled deeply, snuck in between them and exhaled all of the air out of his body. Beginning to feel weak in his legs from the virus, he quickly continued toward the library.

Several black guys and girls were lined up along the library’s north wall. Some were laying on pieces of cardboard. Others had sleeping bags or blankets. Most of them had a bag, some shoes, a shopping cart or some items near them.

"Watcha doin?" a voice said from behind Doe. He slowly turned and faced the speaker.

"Why you walkin’ ‘round here this late?" the black bearded man asked. Doe could tell he didn’t really care, but he was drunk and just making conversation because nobody else was up.

"Just taking a stroll for some fresh air," Doe replied and continued. As he walked toward City Hall, the stranger inquired, again.

"Are you looking for someone?" he asked.

As Doe walked, he saw a gigantic man under and on top of several blankets. This black man must have weighed 400 pounds. He snored boldly and loudly. Standing over him for a few seconds, Doe breathed all over him. As he inhaled, he could smell the fat man’s stench. It smelled like he hadn’t bathed in a month and it was gross.

Continuing his dangerous mission, he walked by a red sleeping bag. It was zipped all the way up and the sleeper was fully inside, without any body parts exposed. Right above the sleeping bag was a small bag with a white extension cord tied to it. The other end was inside the sleeping bag, possibly attached to something.

Doe wasn’t sure if his breath would travel through the sleeping bag’s fabric or not. However, he was instructed to avoid touching anyone or moving anyone’s belongings, so he just stood over the red sleeping bag for a minute and breathed. Suddenly, the zipper unzipped and a fully dressed man in his 30s, wearing a white ventilator mask sat up. The white, short haired man looked militant and held a knife in his hand. As fast as lightening, he jumped up and stabbed Doe in the neck and he bled out and died in a pool of his own blood.

The next day, the homeless people woke up and the body was gone, along with the pool of blood. Everyone was perfectly fine, too. The biological weapon failed and they never figured out why.