Again, they moved down the hall, kicking open the doors to the second apartment. Muller kicked the door, breaking it open, but stopped. Something on the other side before bouncing back closed.
“Someone barricaded it from the inside,” said Muller to the others.
Muller turned toward the door, pushing it as far as he could, “Hello, is anyone in there?”
Muller knew there was a chance that whoever was inside couldn’t understand him, but he hoped they understood that a human voice was a good thing. No one replied, but that didn’t mean they could ignore the apartment on the other side of the door. Kenji and King moved beside Muller, and together, they shoved against the door, slowly gaining ground. The scrapping noise of chairs filled the hall, and after a brief period, they had pushed enough stuff out of the way to make it their way inside. Muller took the lead, carefully navigating around the furniture placed as a blockade.
Once they were inside, they listened, making sure infected weren’t present. They quickly scanned the living area, followed by the kitchen. The bedroom doors were closed, and they knew that if someone was hiding inside, they would be in one of the two bedrooms. Muller moved to the door on the left first, checking to see if the door was unlocked. The door unlatched, creaking open. Muller brought his flashlight up, shining it into the dark interior. Only a bed and a small table occupied the room, along the wall was a closet, where they moved to check next.
Quickly pulling back the door, they found only neatly organized clothing and shoes. They left the bedroom and readied themselves to check the next room. The door was locked for this room, but it was easily broken open by King. Muller and Kenji quickly secured the room, finding it empty as well. However, a noise came from the closet, as if someone was hiding inside. Muller moved to open the door, motioning for Kenji to be ready.
Muller pulled the door open, bringing his light to the inside. Kenji held his katana at the ready but found it was a man cowering beside a pile of clothes. The man began shouting in Korean, holding his hands out toward them, shoving his face as far away from them as he could. Kenji relaxed, taking a step back, waiting for the man to calm down and realize that they were friendly.
Jackson spoke very basic Korean, after dating a Korean woman for a year and meeting the family, he tried his best to learn the culture and language to break the barrier with her family. After too many missions away, his girlfriend decided it was best to break up as he was devoted to his job. He quickly took over, trying to calm the man, giving him basic commands. After a few seconds of Jackson repeating himself, the man calmed down and turned to look at them.
Muller helped the man out of the closet, “Jackson, ask him if he’s seen the woman we are looking for.”
Jackson and the man conversed for a bit, while the others stared at them, wondering what was being said.
Jackson turned away from the man and back toward the group, “He said there was a woman who tried to get into his apartment, and he was about to answer the door when he heard the gunfire downstairs. The woman didn’t seem scared, just like she wanted to get away from someone.”
“Did he see where she went?” Muller asked.
“He said she ran down the hall, and went to the stairwell,” replied Jackson.
“That doesn’t put us any closer to finding her,” said King, in a half-joking, half annoyed tone.
“We need to hurry, the longer this takes, the further the infection spreads,” stated Muller, “Jackson, tell the man to follow us closely.”
Jackson spoke to the man again, hoping his Korean was good enough for the man to understand. Muller didn’t wait and began to clear the furniture from the door along with King. The man seemed to understand Jackson, following him toward the entrance to the of the apartment. Kenji stopped the man, drawing his knife on his hip. The man's eyes widened as he saw the blade, but Kenji flipped it around, holding the handle toward the man. Nodding, he took the knife from Kenji, realizing he was giving him a weapon to defend himself with.
They left the apartment behind, moving to search the next two floors, following the man’s statement. Quickly, they cleared each floor, finding nothing out of the ordinary. It wasn’t long before they reached the last apartment on the top floor. Their hopes were dashed as they found it empty as well. There was one last place to search, the roof.
Kenji was sure they wouldn’t find the woman on the roof, but he couldn’t give up hope. This woman was the human race’s last chance at finding a way to stop all of this. Kenji prayed that against all the odds, the woman would be on the roof, waiting for them to rescue her. Muller led the group once more, to the roof. As they opened the door, the night air whipped through the entrance. Immediately a smoky undertone filled their lungs.
The lights of the city cast a semi-glow on the rooftop, casting long shadows across it. Quickly fanning out, they checked to make sure there wasn’t anyone hiding behind any of the rooftop air conditioning units. Kenji was to the far left, following the edge of the roof. At the end, he thought he could make out a figure standing near the opposite corner from his location. Moving as fast as he could toward the figure, he was careful to check behind every ac unit.
Kenji jogged as he had cleared two-thirds of the roof. He could make out that it was indeed a woman, even though her back was to Kenji. The woman seemed to be watching the city around the building, watching the chaos below. He spoke as he got closer, “Hello, are you ok?”
The woman ignored him, keeping her face hidden. Kenji readied his katana, feeling uneasy about the woman as he approached her.
There’s something familiar about this woman. It’s odd, I can’t place it though. She doesn’t seem a threat though, I called out, and she didn’t turn to try and bite me yet, still, can’t be too safe.
Kenji inched closer and repeated himself, “Are you ok?”
He was now within range to swing his blade if needed. The woman still had not turned around, and Kenji knew he would have to touch her to break her concentration on whatever she was looking at. He stretched out his left hand to touch her shoulder, ready with his katana in his right hand, if he needed to make a quick attack. Kenji's hand shook as he reached out before he knew it, though, his hand rested on the woman's shoulder.
The woman jumped, not expecting someone to grab her. Kenji pulled his hand back as quickly as he could. The woman began to turn, and something about her disturbed Kenji. She turned to face him, but his mind had to be playing tricks on him.
Before him stood someone he knew, someone they had all thought to be dead. Somebody they had left behind in Japan. Evans smiled at him, once she saw it was Kenji.
“Kenji!” Evans exclaimed, “It’s good to see you. Are you here to rescue me?”
Chapter 17
Dr. Victoria had sacrificed greatly for her career but knew it had been worth it. She was the top of her field as a high-ranking CDC official. Deeply respected, she had fought adversity as a woman in a mostly male-dominated field back in the late eighties. She had helped pave the way for more females to join the field of epidemiology and other subfields. During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, she was sent to Mexico City to help research and discover how fatal the virus really was, leading the team during the crisis.
Sure, her job made her personal life lonely. Dr. Victoria hadn’t been on a date in over three years, and her parents seemed disappointed that she had never given the grandchildren they wanted and deserved. Her professional job was much more important than all of that, and it was just fine with her. When the director of the CDC had called her into his office, she had a good feeling but wasn’t expecting what he had asked her.
“How do you feel about leading your own division of the CDC?” The Director asked.
Dr. Victoria was surprised but knew she had earned the position.
“I would gladly accept a Division Head position!” she replied without hesitation.
“Good. The UN wants a division set up, headed by the CDC, to determine what to do next about this virus tha
t wiped out Japan. I'm told that they’re survivors from a mission returning soon. I read in the report that they have hard drives containing research on this deadly virus,” The Director stated, “I want you to retrieve the data, examine it, then determine the full functionality of your new division.”
The next day, after having read the various survivor’s reports, she knew before even received the hard drives that this outbreak was one of the deadliest humanity had and probably would ever see. Making sure to champion the cause she contacted the Director of the CDC, wanting to go before congress and seek additional funding for the IVC. She argued it would be a monumental task, taking hundreds of personnel to keep the organization functional. Giving the raw data of the timeline for the complete collapse of Japan, she used its alarm to really drive home her point, winning by a small margin for her funding.
Two weeks later she arrived at the new compound for the IVC. Dr. Victoria toured the facilities, learning where everything was. She walked through the main building, finding the heart of the building. Many desks were placed in an open room, on one side, a room with a darkened glass wall held screens covering most of the room. Beyond that was her soon to be office. She entered the room, setting the box of her things on the desk, and began to unpack.
After she had set a picture of her parents and a few other small personal items on her desk, she leaned back in her chair. Soon the desks outside would be occupied with workers, all under her direction. She had lead teams for research and fieldwork, but never a whole division. She enjoyed how comfortable her chair was, this was the start of her eventual climb to Director of the CDC itself.
Dr. Victoria jumped as her phone rang.
Odd. Who already has my number?
She picked up the phone, holding it to her ear, “Hello?”
Dead silence greeted her. Dr. Victoria looked back at the phone, itself, discovering that it hadn’t even been plugged in yet. Before she had time to investigate further, she heard another ring from a phone. Dr. Victoria was baffled.
Where is the ringing coming from?
Looking around the room, she couldn’t see anywhere, a phone could be located. Looking back at her desk, she noticed the ringing seemed to be coming from within the desk itself. The desk had two drawers on the right side, and she wondered if someone had left a cell phone in it somehow.
Dr. Victoria quickly opened the top drawer, finding it empty. She moved to open the bottom one, noticing that it had a lock, with a small bronze-colored key in it. Quickly turning the key, she unlocked the drawer, pulling it open. Dr. Victoria had found the source of the ringing within the bottom drawer. A red phone sat inside, with a little green light next to it.
What the hell? A secret phone?
Confused, she grabbed the phone, lifting it to her ear.
“Hello, Dr. Victoria. How are you this evening?” A voice on the other line asked.
“Who is this? Why is there a phone in my desk?” Dr. Victoria asked.
“This phone is a direct line for me to reach you. All you need to know is that if this phone rings, you answer it,” the voice stated.
“Why should I? I don’t even know who you are!” Dr. Victoria exclaimed.
“Because doctor, I am the one in charge here. I’m the one who you answer to,” the person said on the verge of anger, before taking a moment to pause, “Your parents, do you love them?”
“Of course, I do,” Dr. Victoria replied, confused.
“Your mother, she enjoys her walks through the forest near their home. You should tell her to make sure she’s extra careful out there, all alone,” the voice said sickeningly sweet.
Dr. Victoria was dumbfounded. Who is this person calling her on a secret phone, threatening her parents? As far as I know, the only person I’m required to report to is the Director of the CDC and the Congressional Committee liaison, and this is definitely someone else on the phone. Surely, someone messing with me. It’s just a joke, right?
“Who are you?” She asked again, “If this is a joke, it’s not a very good one."
Whoever was on the other side, sighed, “Dr. Victoria, I'd prefer to avoid anything drastic. Just keep doing your job, and when I call, answer the phone. If you can do that, there won’t be any problems.”
Before she could say anything else, the line went dead. Dr. Victoria quickly slammed the phone down onto the receiver, then picked it back up, hoping to get a dial tone. The phone was still dead, and as she inspected the phone trying to find some clue of who it was that had called her, she noticed the light was now red. As well she found there was no way for her to call out from the phone as there were no buttons.
Thoroughly perplexed about the whole ordeal, she thought about what to do next. She grabbed her cell phone, scrolling through her contacts until she found the Director’s number. Starring at the green call button on her screen, deciding if she should call the director or take the phone call she had just received seriously. She didn’t want to take it seriously, but also couldn’t ignore the veiled threat to her mother's life. The thought dug into her as she tried to move past the odd phone call.
Maybe I should go check with the security officer downstairs, see if they received any phone calls they put through to my office, get a name hopefully.
With chills shooting down her spine and goosebumps running along her arms she walked back through the office area arms crossed. Dr. Victoria glanced around the empty room, hoping to see someone else, ready to jump out at her and tell her it was all just a prank someone had pulled, but there was no one in sight. She took the elevator back down to the lobby area, walking as quickly as she could, hoping to find an answer.
The security desk came into her view. Shoot, what was his name, Ryan? No, Rodney? I can’t remember.
Dr. Victoria didn’t wait to call out to the man behind the desk, “Hey, I have a question!”
The security guard turned in his chair, brow furrowed at her as she approached, “Yes, Ma’am?”
Dr. Victoria stopped at the desk, “Have you received any phone calls recently? Any that you directed to my office?”
“No, Ma’am. It’s been really quiet down here. No one has come to the building but you, the phone hasn’t rung either. Is everything okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Dr. Victoria felt her stomach drop, realizing that whoever had called, had called her directly.
This is real. Someone has a direct line to my office, and they are threatening my family…
“Ma’am?”
“What? Oh, sorry. Yes, uh, what was your name again?” Dr. Victoria said, realizing that she was lost in her own thoughts.
“Rodger. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes! Sorry to waste your time, Rodger. I’ll let you know if there’s anything else I need,” She said, backing away slowly, before turning around back to the elevator.
During the elevator ride, she stared at the blob of a reflection of herself in the semi-shine of the metal. What am I going to do? What can I do? I don’t want to make this person mad, and they hurt my family. I guess, for now, I’ll just have to go along with my work, and hopefully, this goes away. Maybe it’s just a way for the government to make sure I’m doing my job?
Dr. Victoria exited the elevator, deciding to focus on her work, tomorrow was the first day of building an entire division from the ground up. It would be a busy day, and currently, there was only a skeleton crew stationed at the compound, mostly security and people contracted out to make sure everything was set up. Tomorrow Muller was to arrive, and she would be busy choosing members of their new organization together.
✽ ✽ ✽
A week had passed, and everything was moving smoothly. Muller had proven to be a fantastic choice and had helped her set up several teams to coordinate and oversee the total and complete quarantine of Japan. Together they had even deployed two teams to make sure that all the nuclear power plants in Japan were shut down and decommissioned. After the tsunami and earthquake that caused the Fuku
shima Nuclear power plant to flood, leading to a reactor cooling system failure, Japan had cut down its running plants from forty-two down to eight. That helped them considerably, allowing them to dedicate teams to worry about other objectives.
Muller began drafting plans to have several teams placed throughout the Pacific, ready for any ships that had escaped Japan before the quarantine had been declared. Muller had even suggested setting up a small field office in D.C. for direct communication within the US government, in case troop deployment was ever needed. He suggested they send his team member who had escaped Japan alive, Ramirez. Ramirez accepted the job, hoping his bureaucratic job would keep him away from the Demon Virus.
So far, Dr. Victoria felt as though everything was working out the way it should. Being the head of the division, she made the decisions and approved everything. She loved it and was extremely happy with her current posting. Dr. Victoria had completely pushed the odd phone call and the red phone out of her mind, until the second week. Burning the midnight oil, she was signing approval forms for equipment requests when the phone hidden inside her desk rang.
Jumping at the unexpected noise, her fright quickly turned to dread as she remembered the uncomfortable call. Will it be that same mysterious caller or the Director calling to check on me? Hoping it was the latter, she reached down to unlock the drawer, revealing the red phone inside.
“Hello, Dr. Victoria,” the same voice from before said, “Working late?”
Her stomach dropped at the sound of the voice.
“This joke isn’t funny anymore…” Dr. Victoria replied before being cut off.
“I assure you, doctor. This is far from a joke. I’m pleased with your progress so far. Everything is being handled quickly and running smoothly, I see my judgment in you was well placed,” the person said adherently.
What Remains (Book 3): Epidemic Page 11