Chapter 5

After they all finished dinner, Cameron and Cole watched their family turn the corner towards their own apartments and closed the door.

"I'm going to bed." Cameron said to Cole with a yawn, then turned towards his bedroom.

"Okay you do that, I'll implement my plan." Cole replied under his breath whilst walking towards the apartment door.

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*Knock* *Knock* *Knock* *Ding Dong*

The noise at the apartment door woke Cameron from his sleep, he walked towards Cole's room and knocked but no answer came. He walked towards the apartment door, pulling a knife from the kitchen counter, slowly approaching the door he looked through the peep hole and sighed in relief. He put down the knife and opened the door to see Lexie standing there looking anxious.

"Hey Lex are you okay?" He asked looking at her with concern, she looked at him with a scowl and pushed past him into the apartment.

"I need proof." she stated blankly while throwing herself down on the couch and looking at Cameron expectantly. Cameron had no idea what to do. Lexie had always been a very forward thinking person, if she wanted something she would find a way to get it. Lexie worked as a General Surgeon in the NYU Langone Hospitals back in New York, she was one of the top surgeons in the country. She always got her way whether it was her dream job or her husband who was the owner of a massive car dealership back in New York.

So when Cameron saw her sitting on his couch with that stern expression he didn't quite know what to say but he knew he had to tell her something or she might just blow her top.

"I'm terrible at maths, right?" he said to her as he sat on the couch next to her,

"Yeah,so?"she replied looking confused.

"This is the only way I can think of to prove it to you, ask me any maths question and I will answer" he said.

"Okay 1) How on earth does that prove anything and 2) You won't be able to do that, because as you said your crap at maths." she replied in an annoyed tone.

"I have evolved my upper head point, meaning I have enhanced cognitive thinking. Something like simple maths problems need almost no time at all to comprehend." he said. Lexie looked at him with confusion, but went along with it purely out of curiosity.

"25x60"she said, "1500,c'mon gimme a hard one" he answered before she even finished asking, "321÷30"she said, this time with a determined tone which was put down when Cameron answered at once with a "10.7".

It went on like this for a good 10 minutes before she beloved him, and the only reason she did is because he recited pi to 40 digits, there was no way Cameron could remember that without some help as he had had a terrible memory ever since they were children. Lexie then stood up and gave Cameron a hug,

"Okay fine I believe you," she said into his neck "you better have a proper plan."

"Oh don't you worry we do."Cameron replied with a smile on his face.

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Cameron was finally drifting back off to sleep when suddenly a blaring alarm rudely interrupted him. He shot up from his bed and went for the door, he dashed towards Cole's room only to see he was still absent. Cameron then remembered Cole's plan and realised he must have implemented it during the night. 'He could've at least given me a heads up' Cameron thought to himself as he left the apartment and entered the hallway, which was now drenched through with water. Cameron saw his sisters and parents stood in the hallway sopping wet and staring towards him, they already knew what had happened and came out to soak up the virus, accepting their fate.

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Two weeks had passed since the inoculation of the ferrous family. The goings on of the workshop had halted due to the entirety of the staff being infected with Covid-19, therefore material inventory had tripled in size. Most of the workers had not been infected beforehand so the tented area had also tripled in size, the sergeant had been reprimanded for letting the virus spread to their benifactors. He had not been stripped of his rank but he had been put in charge of clean up and a superior officer was sent to take over command, Sergeant Major Jared Ackles.

Sergeant Ackles was a tall man, even taller than Cameron, and his calm yet imposing aura made everyone fear him. Cameron knew the Sergeant Major during the apocalypse, he headed up a survivor squad and went by the handle Sarge, simple yet effective. He was a level 6 evolved human back then and he specialised in close quarters combat, wielding a giant battle mace which he got from a travelling trader. The mace was made from the skull and bones of a General rank Sterben covered in vicious serrated spikes from head to toe, it was a fine weapon he named it after the Sterben it was made from, Destroyer.

Cameron decided to get on good terms with Sarge as he would become a valuable asset in the future, so he went to get to know him. It was late so Sarge was most likely in his quarters, so that's were he headed, a bottle of scotch in one hand and two glasses in the other.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Sergeant may I enter?" Cameron asked in a polite tone as he knocked at the door. The Sergeant had taken a room on the first floor of the building which Cameron had offered him to make his stay more pleasant,

"You may." Came a stern voice from inside. Cameron entered to see Sarge sitting at the dining table reading a book, "I thought you might like a drink Sarge." Cameron said whilst walking into the room and holding the bottle of scotch higher so the Sergeant could see it from where he was sitting.

"Well thank you sir" Sarge replied, the sergeant had become quite meek in the presence of Cameron as he felt guilty due to the actions of his comrade.