Upload
paulhitchens
View
228
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
1/24
1
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
2/24
2
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
3/24
3
Dark Winter Prelude
A Tom Clancys The Division Fancon
Dedicated to all The Division fans.
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
4/24
4
Dark Winter Prelude
A Tom Clancys The Division short story fancon
Tom Clancys The Division is set in the near future in New York City. A
bioterror aack caused a worldwide pandemic. The virus cost the lives of
the majority of the populaon, quaranne zones were established,
resources were strictly raoned, oil wells dried out, the stock exchange and
the global market collapsed. State structures like police and Special Forces
do not exist anymore.
In only days without water and electricity, people are at each othersthroats facing the deadly threat. Only a few stand between the total chaos
and the leovers of order: The agents of The Division. By ghng looters
and other criminals, they try to contain the insanity before its too late.
This fancon was wrien to be a possible prologue, told from the
perspecve of David, a young emerging journalist.
1st
Edion, May 2014
Wrien and published by MYDIVISION.NET
Tom Clancys The Division Ubiso
For more informaon visit www.mydivision.net
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
5/24
5
Day 1: Outbreak
Even if these lines may never be read by anyone, I had to write down, what I
experienced during the last days, as they turned my life upside-down. My
name is David. I am 29 years old and Im wring as a journalist for a small
magazine here in New York City. The payment is not the best for sure, but I
can do, what I always wanted to: Write. My apartment is not very big, but
its enough for a living. Family? Negave. Im living alone and only have my
grandparents, who are living in the suburb. They value the more quiet life;
however I need the rush of the big city.
It was a usual morning, the week aer Black Friday. The day on which
humanity is invading shops and stores throughout the country as if they allwere remote-controlled, always looking for the best deals, not only with
regard to the nearing Christmas holidays. My alarm clock rang at six in the
morning like every day. I was unwinding the standard program: I got up, out
of the warm bed, had a short shower and some breakfast, le the house
and headed towards the nearby underground staon.
My desnaon, the publishing building, was only four staons away, but
nevertheless it wasnt a walk in the park, especially on cold days like today.The temperature was slightly below the freezing point and the cold wind
was blowing around my ears. The ny water drops in my breath instantly
froze aer exhaling and turned into small, white clouds. The underground
was overlled as usual and the crowds of people pressed themselves into
the wagon, shoulder to shoulder. I had to stand of course; surrounded by
sniing and coughing.
When I reached my staon, I le the underground and aer walking a few
minutes, I arrived at the editorial oces. My own small oce was on the
4th oor. The enre level was exceponally empty that day. Aer asking
one of my colleagues, I received a short but concise They caught a cold and
stayed in their beds. There must be a virus in the air.
My morning was actually as always. I worked on a few new reports. Mostly
boring boulevard stu, other magazines would not lose a single word about.
Interesngly it is exactly these reports what aracts our readers to sll buy
the magazine. Anyway, our business was not very good lately.
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
6/24
6
Faster than expected, the clock struck twelve. I planned to spend my lunch
break at my favorite snack bar, right around the corner. They had the best
hand-made burgers oside the fast-food crap. But totally unexpected I
stood in front of closed doors. Closed due to illness! was wrien on a note
pasted provisionally on the window. Next door to the bar was an electronicsshop; some passersby gathered in front of the shop window. Even if you
couldnt hear a single sound, the images and text overlays spoke for
themselves. There was talk about a wave of an aggressive u, spreading
rapidly across the country. The Public Health Department recommended to
avoid crowds, public places and transportaon and, if possible, to stay at
home.
At the beginning I did not take these warnings too seriously, as the media
dramazes such topics very oen. I went back to my oce, as I had two
interviews on my schedule for the aernoon. Both interview partners
cancelled at short noce because they were ill. I realized that the warnings
on TV might not have been as unfounded as I thought, and decided to leave
the oce earlier than usual. Teachable as I was, I avoided the underground
and made my way back home by foot. During my walk through the city, I
saw that the Christmas illuminaon already hang in the streets. I thoughtthat maybe - in a few years - they might begin with decoraon as early as
July.
More than one hour later, I arrived at my own four walls, red and freezing.
As a rst thing, I leaped into the shower in order to defrost. I spent the rest
of the day with a good book, the polical thriller The Hunt for Red
October wrien by Tom Clancy. It was a great tome which fascinated me
unl late in the evening. In the wise foresight that the next day might
become very long, I allowed myself a few more than the usual six hours of
sleep.
Normally I have a very deep sleep, but in that night, the sounds of the
howling sirens of emergency vehicles on the roads woke me up mulple
mes. I even heard a few helicopters in the air. The night was unusually
busy. I spontaneously thought there might have been a really bad accident
on the highway.
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
7/24
7
Day 2: Supplies
Six oclock. As on an ordinary morning the alarm clock pulled me too early
from the dream world. Aer all I could nd at least a few hours of sleep
despite the many interrupons. But something was dierent this morning.
Through the soundproof panes of the window came an unusual, dull noise.
It was a complete mess of dierent sounds that I could not assign at the
beginning. I got out of bed, went to the window facing the street and pulled
the curtain. I could not believe my eyes, thought I was in the wrong movie.
What was happening outside my window could have been right out of a
Hollywood blockbuster from Roland Emmerich. The streets were clogged
with solid lines of cars and trucks. It went neither forward or backward,even emergency personnel such as reghters and ambulances were stuck.
Many drivers let their frustraon run free by honking gratuitously. Passersby
besieged the shops, although most of them did not open before nine
oclock. There were tumultuous crowds. Forces of the police were
everywhere on the streets, but without a chance to calm down the angry
people. To brave the cold and the snow which fell overnight, even some
trash cans were set on re. I realized that something terrible must have
happened and reached for the remote control of my TV. No maer which
TV staon I chose, there were special programs running on every channel,
speaking about a naonal emergency. The u virus was much more
aggressive than it was assumed and spread unusually fast during the last
hours. Hospitals are overcrowded, trac collapsed and public transport can
no longer be used. Many people have already died; there was talk of several
hundreds. The message that the virus has already been detected in Canada
hit me even worse. They talked about the possibility that the disease could
develop into a global pandemic; a horrible idea.
The United States government declared a state of naonal emergency; one
should not leave the house if possible. The only excepon: The supply of
essenal resources; especially food, water and hygiene items. The state of
emergency explained the absurd scenario that was going on outside my
window. I had to act quickly and to stock up for the next days with all
necessies. I got dressed rapidly and went down to the street.
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
8/24
8
Not only because of the cold, but above all for safety, I put a scarf around
my neck, so that I was able to turn it into a respiratory protecon within just
a few seconds. Then I was oered a scene of destrucon. The highly
anxious, panicked crowds violently obtained access to the grocery stores.
They smashed shop windows; some mannequins served as the instrumentof advanced destrucon. The shops were looted in no me and everyone
was trying to stock up with as many emergency reserves as possible.
I had to try to get enough supplies and all necessies to survive for the next
days as well; my fridge was empty regularly. Therefore my priority was given
to food, water and some anbiocs. But despite the sll rather early
morning hours, I seemed to come too late. The big stores in my street were
already looted empty. Thats why I decided to try my luck at a small shop,
which I was hoping was not known to the majority, since it was located a
lile o in a narrow side street. Aer a few minutes through a New York
that appeared like a war zone, I reached the alley with the market. But I
should not have any luck. The store was not sacked, but locked up. In
addion, massive metal bars in front of the only shop window prevented
the violent entering. Disappointed, I wanted to connue my journey in
search of supplies; then suddenly a hand grabbed me from behind on myshoulder.
Frightened as I was, I turned around and looked in the exhausted, wrinkled
face and red, glassy eyes of an older man. As a precauon I pulled the scarf
over mouth and nose, pushed the stranger a fair way o from me. He waved
his hand, told me in a low voice that he was the owner of the store and
because of the reports in the media, he wanted to protect his business
against looters. Just as I began to describe him my situaon, three shady
guys came towards us, surrounded the man and me. They had overheard
our conversaon and asked the older gentleman unambiguously to open up
his shop. The shopkeeper made clear that he would not fulll this demand;
a big mistake. One of the three stroke out and punched the man in his
stomach. Accompanied by a dull moan, he hit the ground and did not move
anymore. I wanted to calm down these guys, but only seconds later, they hit
the back of my head. Then I fainted.
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
9/24
9
Aer regaining consciousness, the three guys fortunately have disappeared,
but the shop was opened up and looted. Even worse, the shopkeeper lay
moonless next to me on the oor. Having had a humming skull, I bent over
the man and tried to shake him awake. When I tried to turn him on the side,
I noced that a knife stuck in his back. He was dead. The bastards stabbedhim. I was shocked, could hardly breathe and felt like I was strangled.
Desperate and in spite of the awareness that one can no longer help the
man, I tried to drop an emergency call via mobile phone. No chance, the net
was completely overloaded; it was not possible to think of a stable
connecon.
At that moment I realized that it now was about more than withstanding
some dicult days; in fact it was about pure survival. Emoonally, I was
completely overwhelmed at this moment. I desperately needed supplies,
even if I could never exceed certain moral limits. Before I entered the store,
or what was le of it, I covered the old man with his jacket. That was the
least I could do for him. Then I devoted myself to gather the bare necessies
for the next few days. On the wall in the store hung a clock; it was aer half-
past one, so I was unconscious for a few hours. Fortunately, there was more
on the shelves than the murderers could carry. I found a few boles ofwater and enough food to make ends meet at least a week. Unfortunately,
in regard to anbiocs, I got nothing. In addion to two plasc bags, I also
took a backpack with me and made my way home jam-packed.
The way back was denitely not easy to accomplish. Again and again
desperate passersby asked me to share my capture with them, but I could
not aord sympathy aer this crazy morning. I saw the desperaon in the
eyes of the people, but now it was me to think of myself and secure my
survival.
Aer arriving in my apartment, I wanted to ll the fridge with food, but
what was that? The light in the refrigerator was not working and I could not
hear the typical hum of the cooling unit as well. Did the power fail? Indeed.
Television, telephone, stove, all dead. The radiators were only lukewarm;
the central heang did of course fail as well. What a big mess in this icy cold.
Luckily I sll had an open replace in the living room and enough wood for a
few days. Aer a hot meal out of a can, I had to think of my grandparents.
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
10/24
10
Did they have enough to eat? Were they safe at all? Were they alive? These
thoughts racked my brain. Reaching them on short term was impossible in
any case. I would have had no chance to get through on the streets. No
landline calls without electricity, and the mobile network was overloaded or
dead; I just did not know. Anyway, I turned o my smartphone some meago, hoping that the remaining juice in the baery could sll be somehow
useful.
I decided to spend the rest of the aernoon in front of the replace, in my
warm and cozy bivouac, covered with a blanket. The past morning oered
so many terrible experiences that I had to deal with. Absorbed in my
thoughts and trying to come to terms with what I experienced, I fell asleep
at some point.
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
11/24
11
Day 3: Family
In the middle of the night I was awakened by footsteps. It was pitch black,
but at the lower edge of the door to my apartment, I saw a blaze which
must have come from a ashlight. Suddenly there were some voices. I
barely understood a word, but at least I could pick up something about
quaranne and Zone B. I was anxious and hid under my blanket. Aer a
few seconds the voices and the gleam of light were gone. Concentrated, I
heard a while towards the door, unl I nally fell back to sleep. The next
morning I was awakened by the cold that found its way into my apartment.
The re went out overnight, of course, and I shivered. The every morning
shower fell out for good reason, the combinaon of ice-cold water and a felt
room temperature of below the freezing point, did not sound convincing.
The plan for the day was to visit my grandparents to see if they were doing
well, or if they were alive at all. This made me so thoughul that I simply
could not ignore it. I had to take the risk and made me into the unknown
with a lile food, some water and warm clothes.
Outside, there was a completely contrarian scenario compared to
yesterday's chaos. The streets were deserted. There was a decepve
silence, abandoned cars on the streets, empty, looted stores, burning
garbage cans, light snowfall, luckily no wind. It was cold anyway. In the
distance I saw two soldiers patrolling the streets; apparently the military
was own in overnight and should now provide for peace. A few helicopters
circled in the sky at a safe distance. One carried a large box that was
hanging on a rope. I spontaneously thought that it might transport life-
saving vaccines and everything would return to normality within a few days,
so that one would forget the cruel experiences of these days. However, the
realist inside me buried that hope quickly. Suddenly I heard shots. Four guys
with assault ries ran towards the soldiers, shot them, took their equipment
and disappeared as quickly as they had shown up. Reexively, I took to my
heels and hid myself in the next side street between two dumpsters. I could
not believe what had to be le of morality and humanity, aer only a few
days and was amazed at how quickly the world could lead into disaster.
Now I had to travel about 30 miles to the house of my grandparents. First, I
made my way through numerous backyards and carefully maintained
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
12/24
12
gardens; I made good progress. The further I moved away from the city
center, the safer I felt. There was also no sign of military presence. I saw a
few people on the streets, but they always kept a safe distance. No one
wanted to take the risk to get infected.
Aer about two hours of walking I reached a highway that would take me
directly to my family in the suburbs. To cover all the way on foot would be
impossible on a single day; not even thinking about the way back.
Fortunately, there were a lot of abandoned cars around. I tried to nd one
that was sll running. However, in most vehicles, the fuel tanks have already
been emped. Besides food and water, gasoline and diesel were the
currently most valuable assets and therefore parcularly popular among
looters. I wanted to give up disappointed but then I saw a snow covered van
standing in a driveway. It was not locked and the engine started right aer
the second aempt nally I once was lucky. Despite some obstacles on the
highway I made good progress. On my trip I hardly met other people. I had
planned to count them, but I did not get far. The poor result aer more than
25 miles: Three cars, one minibus and exactly eleven passersby. Where were
all the other people? Entrenched in their homes? The last mile I had to walk
again, a roadblock prevented the onward journey. Before I got out of thevan, I glanced in the glove box and was surprised once more. Inside, there
was a blank polished revolver as well as a map of New York and the
surrounding area. Actually, I am strictly against weapons, but with the world
being on the brink and considering the events of the last two days, its easy
to throw one or the other principle overboard. The revolver and the map
vanished into my jacket pocket.
The closer I got to my grandparents' house, the stronger was this strange
feeling that something might not be right. I really was worried. They indeed
were not the youngest anymore, but hale and hearty, not rusty. But
everyone knows that when it comes to infecous diseases, small children
and the elderly are most at risk. I told myself again and again that
everything was okay and tried to think posively. From a distance I could
already see the house, the blinds were down, and the Star -Spangled Banner
was blowing in the wind solely. Everything seemed shuered. The frontdoor of the house next door was open. As I got closer, I heard suspicious
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
13/24
13
noises coming from the bungalow. Carefully, I took a look inside, put my
hand into the pocket of my jacket and grabbed the revolver. A loud rumble
ran through the silence, a shy cat escaped from the house. Presumably she
was startled more than me. My hand, which francally held the shoong
iron, slowly relaxed again. A moment later I stood in front of the door of mygrandparents house. I was as excited as on the rst day of school. My head
was completely empty. I knocked on the door. No reacon. I knocked
harder; sll no reacon. I shouted for my grandmother, but the only thing
that was happening, was the shaking of a curtain on the rst oor of the
other neighbor's house. But even aer some me of waing and further
knocking aempts, there was sll no reacon. A queasy feeling came over
me, so I tried it through the garden at the back door.
Although it was winter, you could already see at a quick glance, with how
much love and devoon my grandmother took care of the garden. Even
without owers or foliage you could recognize the accurate cut shapes of
hedges and bushes easily. A few steps further, I stood in front of the pao
door.
To my surprise, it was not locked, so I entered the house cauously and
stood in the living room. It was died up; everything was in its place, just as I
had remembered it. My search led me further through the kitchen and the
bathroom, without any trace of my grandparents. Seconds later, I stood in
the hallway in front of the stairs to the rst oor. A careful Hello? directed
upwards unfortunately remained unanswered. Worried and anxious not to
cause unnecessary noise, I slowly followed the stairs to the rst oor. With
each step, the queasy feeling in my stomach grew. Actually, it was already
clear that something was not right, but being in such a situaon I refused to
believe it. Aer arriving on the rst oor, I stood before the door to the
bedroom. A slightly musty smell was in the air, I did prepare myself for the
worst.
I carefully grabbed the door handle and knocked soly with the other hand.
I did not know why, but I thought it was just right at this moment. Pressing
down the handle, I slowly opened the door. When it was open about half a
meter, I stretched my upper body through the gap and peeked into the
room. Then I saw my grandparents lying in their bed, covered with a blanket
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
14/24
14
and completely moonless. They were dead, presumably fell asleep
peacefully and never woke up again. I hoped they did not have to suer. At
that moment, I felt a deep pain in my chest, as if someone would ram a
knife in my heart. In disbelief of what I just had seen, I closed the door
again; I could no longer endure what I saw, thought I wasnt real. With tearsin my eyes and uer empness in the head, I went down the stairs back to
the living room. On the second last step I stopped and sat down; the elbows
on my knees, the head resng on my hands.
Slowly I began to realize that I now was completely on my own. My parents
died in a car accident. I was just two years old. My grandparents were
always there for me, they were my last family support. Actually, I had hoped
to get some words of good advice from grandma and grandpa about how to
survive this dicult situaon, but now all hope was gone. The rest of the
day I spent on the stairs, alone with my thoughts of my grandparents and
many tears.
Aer some me I calmed down a lile and was able to get a clear thought. I
wanted to provide my grandparents a dignied funeral, but it was
impossible to be realized in this chaos. So I decided to let them rest in their
bedroom for the next days and, as soon as the situaon would normalize to
some extent, to resume this plan.
It was already dark when I searched the other rooms for useful utensils. I
knew that the remaining juice in the baery of my smartphone and the
installed ashlight app would be good for something. I could nd some food
cans and an almost complete case of mineral water in the kitchen. The plan
was to take these supplies back home on the next morning. Although I sllhad some supplies le, but by the looks of it, I had to hold out longer than I
inially hoped. Then I lay down on the couch and wrapped myself in several
warm blankets; it was prey damn cold and I was sure to not even get a
wink of sleep during the whole night. But soon fague that came with the
sorrow overcame me, and I fell asleep.
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
15/24
15
Day 4: Zone B
Again, I woke up in the middle of the night. I thought I heard voices again.
With the blankets pulled over my head, I did not dare to risk a single look,
but a few seconds later, the ray of a ashlight shine through my coon
protecve shield. Then there were clearly noceable voices, two in number,
male. They sounded very young. Fortunately, they seemed to not have
noced me yet. Based on the noise I could clearly locate them in the
kitchen. Obviously, I now had two opons: Waing under the blanket unl
the two would disappear again or surprising them in the kitchen. Luckily I
sll had the revolver in the pocket of my jacket. Carefully, I freed myself
from the blankets, stood up silently, and approached the kitchen. There
they stood, examining the wooden, white wall cupboards. They looked very
young; I guessed them to be in their early twenes at the utmost. I pulled
the revolver out of the pocket, pointed it at the larger one of the two guys
and gathered all my courage.
I welcomed the two boys with a determined: "Don move! Who are you and
what are you doing here? Startled, they turned around and looked at me,
saw my revolver and literally froze to pillars of salt. They probably were
assuming to be alone. I demanded an explanaon of who they were. The
smaller of the two guys was jusfying himself to me. They were brothers,
came from the neighborhood and sll lived in their parents house. The
family ran out of food. Without fuel in the tank of their car and several miles
to the nearest supermarket, they had no other opon but loong
supposedly abandoned homes during the night. The house of my
grandparents was not the rst one they visited this night. So far they had
been lucky, never got caught and never encountered the homeowner, told
me Mike. His bigger brother Jason kept himself discreetly in the background.
They did not want trouble. I put away the gun and we decided to connue
the conversaon in the living room on the couch at candlelight.
Then the two told me things I inially did not believe to be true. Meanwhile,
the whole world has been aected by this aggressive u virus. The order as
we knew it had collapsed. Millions of people lost their lives; the world was
descended into chaos. Mike told me about a conversaon between two
neighbors, which he had picked up the day before. It is believed that
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
16/24
16
terrorists bred the virus in a laboratory and were responsible for the
pandemic. What movaon should be behind all this? To this queson he
had no answer. It was possible that even the criminals had no idea what
they bred and what would be triggered by this bizarre creaon. It made me
feel sick. I did not want to hear any further details.
I oered the brothers to take a part of the supplies with them. They were
very grateful, grabbed two bags full of food and beverages. When they le
the house, even Jason said a word. A quiet but honest -sounding Thanks. I
tried to fall asleep again, but the rest of adrenaline in my body knew to
prevent that eciently.
When the rst rays of sun hit the old-
fashioned 70's wallpaper on the livingroom walls, I also gathered together a few supplies and made me on my
way back home to my apartment, sll being prey red from the restless
night. I did not dare to take a further look into the bedroom, but I would
come back to enable my grandparents the promised funeral.
I le the house and locked the door. I was aware that this simple lock would
be no obstacle for even more looters, but it felt damn good to get back a
lile bit of order.
It was another ice-cold morning, but the sky was clear and blue, and the
sun's rays warmed my face. I almost thought, it was a normal day and the
last 72 hours would have been just a really bad nightmare. I le the
neighborhood on the same way as the day before, hoping the borrowed van
would sll wait for me at the same place right before the roadblock. It
actually stood there; I was lucky!
Aer about ten miles towards the city center, I saw military vehicles on the
road. Slowly I approached the soldiers. One of them waved to me and
shortly aerwards he called me via megaphone to stop the car next to him.
Apparently it was a kind of a trac control. I did not mean any harm,
followed his command and stopped the car in front of the soldier. At that
moment my biggest concern was that the soldiers could nd out that my set
of wheels was only borrowed. I hardly came to a halt, when they
screamed at me Get out, now. So I got out. Two soldiers with respiratory
masks grabbed my arms and pressed me against the van; I felt the cold of
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
17/24
17
the B-pillar on my right cheek. They seemed to be interested only in me,
dedicated the car not even a single glance. Aer a short but thorough
search and taking away my revolver, they dragged me in direcon of a small
tent, which was set up next to the military vehicles. I had weak knees, but
then I saw a label on the side of the tent, a big red cross. I was relieved andthe feeling in my knees came back. In the medical tent they introduced me
to a military doctor. I do not remember his name, but for sure his brief but
concise explanaon of what purpose should be served by this acon:
Prevenng the further spread of the virus. In the past days one has tried to
seal o the town center as completely as possible, limit the spread and
isolate infected persons. The city should be healed from inside out. For this
purpose, quaranne zones have been established. Now one wants to
prevent that people from outside carry the virus in the city core again. At
least this was the plan of the government. Apparently, the doctor was not
really convinced, but as a member of the military, you follow commands,
you do not doubt them. He prepared a quick test, wiped with a test strip
over my forehead and hands. A few seconds later, the result of the test was
already available. He looked at me with a deep frown and waved the two
soldiers. Then everything went prey fast. They grabbed me again by the
arms and xated me. Surprised and nervously I asked what was going on.
The doctor said he was not sure, needs to give me a shot, but I should not
be worried. I was sure to be healthy, felt physically t, could not remember
myself to feel even one of the typical u symptoms. A feeling of anxiety
pierced bone and marrow. Before I could say anything else or defend
myself, I felt the needle of the syringe permeang my skin and fell asleep.
When I woke up, I was lying in a bed. Opposite to me there was a clock on
the wall. It was just before nine, I had slept for more than half a day. My
eyes wandered around the room. It seemed to me as if I were in kind of an
improvised hospital. Plasc curtains on the door, a disinfectant dispenser
right next to it. However, the furniture of the room appeared to be from a
hotel. I wanted to get up, but my hand was ed to the bed with a cable e.
Instead of panicking, I tested my body for any tubing for infusions and the
like; fortunately without success. However, I was wearing a strange
nightgown. I sll felt completely healthy, but very insecure because of the
doctors statement and wanted certainty. The door opened. A young
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
18/24
18
woman in a white coat and respirator was approaching my bed. She said I
should have no fear, would be safe. I took the opportunity and asked her
where I was and how things stood with me and my health. She said she did
not have much me and, being a nurse, had to take care of many other
paents, but would give me a brief overview.
I learned that the result of the quick test outside the city was not
unmistakable. And because they did not want to take any risks, I was
brought here for further examinaon. Here this was the Plaza, right on
the edge of the Central Park. This luxury hotel has been transformed into
one of many quaranne facilies and is part of the so-called Zone B. While
I was asleep, further tests were made, but the results and hence the total
certainty about my condion would not be available unl the next morning.
The nurse le me a bole of water, a paper cup and a sleeping pill. She said
it would be beer to rest for the night rather than racking my brain about
the pending test result. I decided to take the pill and fell asleep a few
moments later.
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
19/24
19
Day 5: Enrollment
The morning aer I was awakened by the medical round and was not really
awake, but knew that the following diagnosis could decide on my life. So I
did my best to concentrate on the words of the doctor.
His name was Woolsey, as he introduced himself to me; the typical name
tag on his white coat was missing. His handshake was very rm, his voice
deep and sober. He made a decisive impression at rst glance. Beer that
way than any quack doctor, who beats around the bush, I thought.
The quick test was not unmistakable. It has been found a small number of
inuenza viruses on the test strip, but the number was not sucient to
detect a disease with certainty. For this reason you were moved here,
considering the quaranne requirements for naonal emergencies, and
subjected to addional tesng. Yesterday, we have taken a blood sample;
the result has been available since a few minutes. I have good news for you.
We could not detect the dangerous virus in your blood; you are healthy. We
assume that you must have had contact with infected recently, which is why
a few inacve viruses stuck to your hands and the forehead. explained doc
Woolsey.
Suddenly I had to think of my grandparents, the virus cells must have come
from the doorknob of the bedroom door, what would explain everything.
But I did not tell him the story; I did not want to talk about it. I thanked him
sincerely for the good news; a huge weight was lied from my mind. The
next queson I wanted to ask him was, when I would be discharged from
hospital, but before I could ask him, he said: "You have to leave now, we
need every single bed." He sounded very harsh. Fortunately they washed
and even disinfected my clothes overnight.
Aer the medical round le my room, I got up and dressed in my own fresh
clothes. A look out of the window told me that I must have been at least on
the tenth oor and revealed the view on the Central Park. The usually very
popular aracon for locals and tourists was deserted. It was a truly bizarre
scene. Even more cars than the days before blocked the streets and piles of
garbage began to pile themselves. Within only a few days, New York City
transformed from a vibrant metropolis into a second Detroit. Then I walked
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
20/24
20
into the hallway. In spite of the short me, the hotel was converted into a
fully funconal hospital. Among other, I spoed signs labeled X-Ray, OP
and ER. The laer seemed to be on the ground oor, as well as the exit.
The elevators were indeed funconal, but could only be used by the
personnel for paent transport. So I took the lile detour via the staircase.The ground oor looked like a baleeld. The emergency room lived up to
its name. The oor was covered with blood, wounded screamed panicked in
pain, at every corner was coughing and sniing, desperate relaves sat in
sort of a provisional waing room, separated only by curtains from the
scanty and anything but clinically clean treatment rooms. War could not be
worse. I was shielded from all this by a simple Plexiglas window, which
divided the foyer into two halves. So apparently one wanted to make sure
that you could not get infected.
When I arrived in the fresh air, I le the quaranne zone. As expected, it
was bierly cold and although I was innitely happy to be healthy and to be
able to go home, I somehow longed aer the warm bed in the Plaza. Aer a
few steps I turned around, saw the former hotel in its full glory. It was
wrapped by a huge tarpaulin with a cross on the front side and Zone B
leering at the corners. At a distance of about ten meters, they built abarrier of barbed wire fence around the hotel. Addionally, the area was
guarded by the military.
Then the weather turned. A stormy wind moved through the streets, huge
snowakes slapped me in the face while clouds of steam rose up over the
manhole covers. Despite the scarf in my face it was damn uncomfortable;
the way home seemed to be endless. The fall of the snow was so dense;
somemes you could not even see the next three houses. When I nally
approached my front door, I could see that something was scking to it. A
moment later I stood in front of the door and could not believe my eyes.
POLICE LINE DO NOT CROSS was wrien on a yellow band, which was
aached to the frame and stretched across the door. I feared for my home,
my belongings, all that was le. At that moment I did not care about the
barrier, I tore o the tape and entered the house. I took the staircase step
by step and ulmately was on the rst oor, standing in front of the door ofmy apartment. I heard several voices from inside. I had the vague feeling
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
21/24
21
that my apartment was occupied. Even if it should prove to be a mistake, I
opened the door without thinking and rushed in. I was confronted with
three gures in squalid clothes, my furniture was totally devastated.
One of the three came up to me and pushed me to the ground. The other
two drew their pistols. One of the two armed men stood next to me and
pointed the barrel of the gun at me. My heart was pounding like crazy. He
shouted at me, asked me what I wanted from him. Before I could answer
him, I heard a loud Weapons down and don't move! from the stairway.
The two guys with their weapons let up on me and aimed towards the door.
In that moment several shots in quick succession fell under deafening noise.
All three occupants were hit and went down to the ground. Pools of blood
formed on the laminate instantly. Then two more guys with machine guns
entered my apartment and looked at me, perceiving how paralyzed I was.
Don't worry, sir. We will not hurt you. We are here to help. said one of the
men. I did not know who they were, they did not wear uniforms, only had a
patch on the right sleeve of their jackets with a bird of prey and the leers
SHD as well as strange watches with luminescent rings. They tried to
reassure me, brought me a glass of water.
Then one of the men told me that they were eld agents of the Strategic
Homeland Division. The main dierence from any other agency,
organizaon or department was that the Division is a last resort measure. As
such, the members of the Division supersede any other operave, agent or
federal employee in the eld. They have a form of execuve power and
answer directly to the President. Another major point was that the Division
is a covert organizaon in peace me; its members are embedded within
society all across the naon, waing and preparing for acvaon. The
Division must ensure that the key infrastructures and people that remain
are protected. During their patrol they had heard the suspicious noises
coming from my apartment and saved me not a second too late. I was
relieved and surprised at the same me that such organizaons really
existed.
To ensure that I was not a troublemaker, they quesoned me and wanted to
hear my story. I told the agent from me and the experiences of the last ve
days. I think I have impressed them in a certain way. The taller of the two
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
22/24
22
slapped me on the shoulder and wished me all the best. Gratefully, I
accompanied the two agents down to the front door of the building.
Aer arriving downstairs, they oered me to join them. They were looking
for reinforcement, and I would have a good chance of joining SHD, but had
to take some tests and a hard training before I would become a Division
agent. The idea appealed to me. I hesitated, but then I realized that I had
lost all that was important to me: My family, my home, my job, everything.
Only faith in humanity and a beer future remained. To go with them might
be the only way to really change something, to give my life meaning again. I
did not know what to expect or what risks I would take, but sll I decided
for the Division.
The only queson le is: What will it take to save what remains? This is
where my story begins.
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
23/24
23
8/10/2019 Dark Winter Prelude
24/24