THE ALEX FLETCHER BOXSET: Books 1-5

by Steven Konkoly

  “Good evening. Tonight’s top stories: Tensions with China increase as the fate of several hundred World Health Organization health workers remains unknown. At least two more U.S. aircraft carriers and an additional battle group are dispatched to the region. At the U.N. Delegates from Germany and Australia went so far as to blame China once again for exacerbating the pandemic situation by kidnapping WHO inspectors, a reference to China’s mishandling of the 2008 avian flu pandemic.”

  “Here at home, the number of flu cases continues to rise, as the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services race to stay one step ahead of the pandemic. Earlier this afternoon, the CDC reported that the number of lab-confirmed cases in the U.S. reached thirteen thousand yesterday, only six days into the crisis.

  “Shortages of food and medical supplies have caused considerable disruption throughout the nation, as most Americans hurried to the stores over the weekend to stock up on groceries and essentials. Most had to wait hours to buy groceries, or were turned away altogether.

  The screen cut to a commercial, and Alex started to fast-forward past them.

  “Are the kids up in the attic?” asked Kate.

  “Ryan was up there on the Xbox. They’ll love the new games. I got a bunch we can all play, and a couple for Ryan and me.”

  “Let me guess, Call of Duty Future Warrior and Insurgency Three?”

  “You peeked,” he said flatly.

  “The other games look fun, I guess, but I’d have to be really bored.”

  “I don’t think that’s going to be a problem. We could be in quarantine for a long time,” Alex said and stopped fast-forwarding.

  “I know. I really can’t imagine this thing blowing over in a few weeks—or even months.”

  “I’m glad I can spend it with you and the kids. It could be worse,” said Alex, pulling Kate in closer.

  “Me too.”

  The news made Alex more nervous than he would ever admit to Kate. If the pandemic continued to spread in the U.S. at the same pace as seen around the world, the electrical grid, emergency services, medical and food supply systems would collapse. Then things would get desperate out there—and that tended to change people for the worse.

  Chapter 16

  The next morning, Alex found Kate in the attic walking on the treadmill. Her pace was slow, but he could see that the treadmill was set to the highest incline possible. Kate was wearing maroon running shorts and a black cutoff running top, which to him resembled a bra. She was sweating and breathing heavily, as she struggled to keep her pace on the incline. She shot him an annoyed glance and didn’t say a word. Alex knew she didn’t like to talk during her workouts. He walked over to her and checked the time on the treadmill. Four minutes left. He decided to do a set of pull-ups. As he turned around, he heard the treadmill start to grind, as the incline was automatically lowered for her warm down.

  He walked over to the freestanding pull-up bar and began a declining set, starting with twelve pull-ups. Halfway through the set, Kate interrupted.

  “Hey, did you see that Portland’s considering school closures next week?” she said, out of breath.

  Alex finished a few more pull-ups and hopped down to the floor. “No. Did they say anything about any of the other towns?”

  “Falmouth closed today. They made the decision last night at an emergency school board meeting. They have six confirmed cases at the high school and a few more at the other schools in town. School officials made the decision because they suspect that there might be a dozen or more unconfirmed cases present at the school. I guess one of the original cases identified last week was a guy from Falmouth, who travels back and forth from New York every week for business. He has a son and a daughter at Falmouth high school. Had a son and daughter. He died early in the week,” Kate said.

  “Was all this on the news?” Alex asked.

  “Yeah, they just ran the story this morning,” she responded, pressing a few more buttons to slow the treadmill even further. “I hope the rest of the family is all right.”

  “That’s really sad. I can’t imagine. Was there anything about Scarborough?” he said.

  “Nothing. Just Portland and Falmouth. The governor’s office is looking into statewide school closures, but they will probably wait for the feds to make the recommendation. It has something to do with emergency funding, but it sounds like it has more to do with politics.”

  “It always does,” he said and hopped up on the bar for a set of ten pull-ups.

  “I still can’t believe you haven’t heard from Ted,” she remarked, stepping off the treadmill and onto a mat to stretch.

  Alex finished, hopped down, and raised his arms above his head for a stretch. “I just hope I didn’t kill the guy. I did hear from HR. They left a voicemail on my cell phone letting me know that I am checked out, and should expect a final package shortly. God knows what’s in that package. Probably a non-disclosure agreement for me to sign, or something equally as asinine.”

  “Nothing like a formal apology for the home invasion and pepper spray attack?” she asked incredulously.

  “Not a mention. I really don’t care, either. I’m just glad to be done with them,” he said, hopping back up on the pull-up bar.

  “I’ll be done soon, too, if I don’t come up with something better than diarrhea to keep me out of the office. I’ve cancelled several appointments already, and Jim left me a message yesterday asking when I could reschedule them. I’ll need to call him today. Monday at the latest.”

  Alex finished several pull-ups and dropped back down to the floor. He started to cough again, which forced him to bow toward the ground. “Damn it! I can’t get rid of this,” he said, exasperated.

  “Maybe you need to take it easy,” Kate said, wiping her face with a crisp white towel.

  “Probably. Anyway, you just need to buy a little more time at work. The way things are looking, you won’t have to hide much longer. They’re starting to shut down the schools, and other steps will be taken by the state and the feds within the upcoming week. I’d just keep stalling them. Tell Jim you still have a fever, but you might be able to meet with clients. Trust me, they won’t want to see you any time soon. Speaking of calls, I still need to call my parents.” He paused. “I haven’t heard anything from them about bringing my brother’s kids out.”

  Kate turned her head toward Alex and gave him a perplexed look. “What do you mean?”

  “What do you mean, what do I mean?” he replied, buying himself a few more seconds.

  “I don’t remember you mentioning anything about your parents bringing Ethan and Kevin out,” she said sternly.

  “Well, I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen. I was talking to Daniel a few nights ago, and getting nowhere with him, as usual. My parents are stuck there babysitting and raising his kids, that’s why they won’t leave. They can’t. My brother won’t let them go ‘without some advance notice.’ Unbelievable if you ask me. ‘Karla can’t come home at three in the afternoon to babysit.’ And of course, God forbid they actually have to dig into their own pockets to pay for babysitting. I thought that if my parents brought Kevin and Ethan, then there would be no babysitting issue for Daniel.”

  Kate waited patiently for his tirade to end. “First of all, Karla would never go for it, and neither would your brother. Second, your parents will never make the trip. For the same reason you just ranted about and many more. Same story with my parents. But that’s not why I’m a little upset with you…”

  “Can I get a drink of water before we get into this?”

  “You look like you’ll live. We’ve talked about all of this before. Your brother and my sister are off the list and have been off the list of people allowed to stay with us for quite a while. Things would not work out with them here for any duration of time. Pandemic, long weekend, short weekend, Super Bowl party. It doesn’t matter. It never worked before, and I can’t figure out why you continue to press the issue with them,” she said.

 
“I felt safe making the offer because they’ll never make the trip. I just feel that I have to at least make the offer.” That’s a weak excuse.

  “I know. I have the same guilt with Claire, but her husband can be intolerable and so can she.”

  “They’re not that bad. Not as bad as Daniel and Karla.”

  “I think they’re worse. They try to take control of everything, and if you’re not on the same page, well, I don’t need to describe the scene any further. Bottom line? We can’t have them here in a quarantine situation. Plus, they think it’s all a joke anyway. I can almost guarantee that they would not take food rationing or quarantine protocol seriously, which could threaten our family,” she said, shaking her head.

  “If they were on board with the whole idea from the beginning, I might have reconsidered and invited them, but they weren’t, so I have never mentioned it to them. I don’t know why you would even consider it for Daniel and Karla. They openly mock all of this,” she said, waving her hands around.

  “You’re right, sorry,” he apologized.

  “I can’t count the number of times you’ve lectured me about how important it will be to stick to our plan. ‘In a quarantine situation, there is no room for error. We have to stick to the plan. No variations.’”

  “All right, you don’t have to mock me. I’m sorry. They’re not coming out anyway, so we don’t have to worry.”

  “That’s not what I’m worried about. I’m worried that you didn’t think about the dangerous situation you might have created. If your brother took you up on the offer and sent the kids out with your parents, then what happens when your brother and Karla finally come to their senses about the pandemic all around them? Where do you think they’ll be headed? Here to join their kids. How would we deal with that? Tell them it’s too late, sorry? Head on back to Colorado, here’s some TerraFlu, we’ll take care of the kids? Not likely they’d leave. Do we let them in and try to quarantine them for ten days in the mudroom area and hope they’re not harboring the flu? Would they leave if they showed symptoms? If they won’t leave without their kids, do we send the kids out onto the streets with their parents and some supplies?”

  She continued to look softly into his eyes. Alex had a hard time meeting them.

  “You’re right. It could lead to a disastrous confrontation. I really never thought of it this way,” he said and leaned over to kiss her forehead.

  “Do you think we should just forget about trying to convince our parents to come out here?” he asked. “I don’t feel like giving up on them, but you’re right. At a certain point…” his voice trailed off.

  “I don’t know. I hate to give up on them, too. I’m still trying to get my brother out here. He’s only a few hours away, but I’m certain that he’ll head to Princeton when things get bad. He’s really tight with them. He always heads down there when they have something going on. If my parents won’t come to him, he’ll go to them. He still drags the family to Princeton for every holiday. They haven’t celebrated Christmas or Thanksgiving in Concord since they moved in.”

  “He’s a momma’s boy. First child is always a momma’s boy,” he teased.

  “You’re not,” Kate said. “I wouldn’t have married you if you were.”

  He tightened his hug for a moment and kissed her neck. “They should all be going up to New Hampshire. Your parents included. They could easily ride out the storm up north. It kills me to think that your brother would abandon the perfect mountain hideout for New Jersey.”

  “My parents have the same problem as yours. They’re stuck. I guarantee my sister will head up there when the flu racks the Baltimore area. She’s probably on the way already with the kids. They’ll all flock to Princeton. Trust me.”

  “Well, at least the mountain camp will be empty. If the situation gets out of control here, we could always pack up as much stuff as possible and head up into the White Mountains. Does Robbie keep the place stocked in the winter?” he asked her.

  “Not really. They have everything you’d find in a camp, but no food or stuff like that. I know he has enough firewood to keep the stove going forever, and a well, but that wouldn’t work if the electricity died. He does have a propane tank for hot water and the stove.”

  “We can keep it in mind. We can definitely get there on a single tank of gas.”

  “Probably,” Kate said.

  “Well, anyway, I won’t push the issue with my parents. God knows I’ve pushed it enough.”

  Kate squeezed his hand, and he hugged her tightly.

  “I think we made all of the offers we needed to make. I don’t feel guilty at all about it. If they come, we’ll have to deal with it. Within a few weeks, we’re going to have all the guilt we can handle around here, dealing with our neighbors,” she said, and they both headed down the stairs.

  Chapter 17

  Ryan and Alex sat side by side on the edge of a dark brown couch, several feet in front of a large LCD screen TV. Alex was perched forward, intensely studying the screen. Both of them held Xbox controllers.

  “Don’t do it, Dad. Use the remote optics on the rifle,” his son warned him.

  “I got it. I…what? There’s no way they could hit me,” he yelled, flying back into the couch.

  “I told you to quit peeking around corners. Use the gun camera. If you lose your rifle, you can pick up another one, or use your secondary,” Ryan explained.

  “But I was quick peeking,” he complained, demonstrating with his head, moving it back and forth quickly.

  “Everyone knows that trick,” Ryan quipped.

  “Can we reset to right before I got my head splattered? I don’t feel like fighting through the entire shopping mall again,” Alex pled.

  The smartphone on the table next to the couch began to ring.

  “Hold on, Ryan,” he said, grabbing for the phone and answering the call. “Hey, Mike, did they pepper spray you yet?”

  “Go ahead without me, Ryan,” he told his son, and Ryan nodded his head affirmatively.

  Alex got up and walked down the stairs from the third floor to his home office as Mike responded.

  “No, not yet, but probably soon. I just resigned about twenty minutes ago. I’m headed back up the turnpike.”

  “What happened, man? You don’t sound good,” Alex said.

  “I’m fine. I just can’t believe I quit my job. Still in shock, I guess. Anyway, it was unbelievable down there. So get this. I wake up this morning and head down to breakfast at the Courtyard Marriot, and I run into one of the reps from Vermont, who’s also temp assigned to the area, and she’s hacking up a lung all over the fruit station. I made sure not to go anywhere near her. She sits down at a table with three other reps, and one of the guys looks like they just dug him out of his grave to work.”

  “Which could very likely be a new official Biosphere policy,” Alex joked, causing Mike to burst out laughing.

  “No kidding, man. So I really start to rethink this whole thing. These people were fine at the beginning of the week. I remember seeing them at the orientation meeting. Now they look like extras from Night of the Living Dead. So I head out to my assigned area and start to make some office calls. Every office is like a scene from a zombie flick. I went into an internal med office in Methuen and walked right out. Three people in the waiting room were hacking and groaning. I’m not kidding, it was unreal. I sat in my car for a while thinking this over, after nearly taking a bath in hand sanitizer. I hope Biosphere didn’t cheap out on that stuff like they do everything else.”

  “Have you been wearing a mask and gloves?” Alex asked.

  “At first, but you feel like a complete imbecile walking into an office with a mask on your face. The gloves aren’t so bad, but what’s the point? If you touch your eyes or mouth with the gloves on, it doesn’t matter. The gloves only work if you throw them away after each office and don’t touch your face while you’re still in the office. I quit using them after day one. My hands are so dry from washing and using sanit
izer that I could use them as sandpaper.”

  “Dude, I’m glad you’re on your way home. Load up your cars, and caravan out to Colleen’s parents in North Conway. The number of cases is exploding. Did you talk to Michelle?”

  “No, I talked to Ted. He didn’t take it very well. He wanted me to get in touch with the district manager down here and transfer my samples to her. I told him that I was already halfway home and would drop the stuff off at my storage locker for him to inventory.”

  “You better recon the parking lot at the storage locker. He might be there waiting for you. And tell your wife to keep the door locked. Did you tell her what happened to Kate?”

  “Yeah, she couldn’t believe it. How am I going to caravan out to North Conway if Ted repo’s my car?”

  “Just pack up a load today and drive it out there tonight. It’s only a few hours away. Even if you only had one car, you could make multiple trips. Gas is still available everywhere for the moment. I’d make as many trips as you can with the company car and charge the gas to Biosphere,” Alex suggested.

  “Yeah, that’s true. I keep thinking in terms of just making one final trip.”

  “A few weeks from now, it might be a different story. One trip might be all you get,” Alex said.

  “From what I saw down in Boston, that version of the story isn’t too far away. We were briefed by a Biosphere exec during a working breakfast yesterday. He proudly announced that Boston has one of the fastest growing numbers of cases. Almost three thousand confirmed cases so far, and the number of cases is expected to reach fifteen thousand by early next week. And that only takes into account the cases confirmed by a hospital lab. I saw at least twenty potential cases this morning alone and that’s just in a few offices. Not even big offices. I think this thing is about to break wide open.”