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before had he been faced with such an intriguing solution to warfare and
he was determined to exploit this aberration in the natural order. However, it
was the mutants that fascinated him the most and his men were instructed to
trap these intact using live humans as bait. Through their speed, agility, and
strength, he saw the potential for creating a biped bioweapon that was
unmatched in combat.
    Mitchell’s thoughts shifted back to the
present as he heard his two senior fighting men approaching. Deacon and Jeffers
were former marines imprisoned for treason and smuggling. They were reliable
warriors and independent thinkers unlike the other inmates who followed him
like loyal lapdogs seeking their master’s approval. Most importantly these two
soldiers were skilled in fighting tactics and had extensive combat experience
before being incarcerated. Besides these two, he had eight other men who were
former army or marines with combat experience that he had assigned as his
sergeants. Under these leaders were another one hundred that Mitchell had been
training in small-unit tactics and marksmanship. He deemed them his alpha teams
and afforded them better privileges, food, and weapons than the rest of his
underlings. They would serve as a strike force once his new plans were in
place.
    As the two men approached, Mitchell stood
and waved a finger at the map. “What do either of you know about the road to
the Grand Coulee Dam and surrounding regions?”
    “Nothing, boss,” said Deacon while Jeffers
merely nodded. Mitchell allowed both men to dispense with military formalities
around him when they met. “But I can inquire with the men to see if anyone grew
up in that area.”
    “Gentlemen, this is the next front,
perhaps the most significant real estate we will need to acquire for any
further expansion to be fruitful. The Grand Coulee Dam has three power plants
which have enough juice to provide a city like Seattle with energy for a year.
We take that and Fort Lewis and our esteemed Secretary of Defense Conrad Lavine
will fall.”
    “But wouldn’t Fort Lewis already have a
contingent of troops there to safeguard that resource?” said Jeffers, who
adjusted the camo ballcap on his shaved head, his eyes staring ahead while he
stroked his wispy goatee.
    “Contingent is the key word. From what
I’ve gleaned from our scouting patrols on the roads who’ve interrogated
survivors who strayed from those regions, Lavine and his band of soldiers are
stretched thin,” said Mitchell, pressing both hands around the image on the map
in the shape of a triangle and pressing his face close like a jeweler
inspecting a fine emerald. “Direct action against Lewis at this stage is too
risky but if we take the dam we will control the greatest power source in the northwest
and cripple their future capabilities thus breaking that fool Lavine’s mighty
grip on this region.”
    “What do you propose we do? Our numbers
are too few to go up against the troop base that Lewis can muster in response
to an assault on the dam,” said Jeffers.
    “Leave that part to me.” He walked to the
window and looked out at the gray clouds which resembled an ashtray. “What I
need is to have the men harvest a few dozen more of the fast-moving mutants,
increase the daily quota of undead the men have been collecting in the
semi-trucks, and intensify the small-unit drills here. I want our alpha teams
on standby for their upcoming relocation—I have a ranch in mind a few hours
from here that will need to be cleared to provide us with a forward operating
base for the mission ahead.”
    “Copy that, boss,” said Deacon. “We’ll get
right on it.”
    As the two men turned to leave, Mitchell
raised his hand. “And one more thing—bring me a woman from the group of
captives, someone with spirit.” The door closed, leaving Mitchell alone in the
comfort of his own mind where he felt most at ease. He had no desire to be in
the presence of a woman. He despised the