by Bobby Akart
Hunter was somewhat winded as they walked back up the slope toward their driveway. The air thinned considerably at the tree line, which was between eleven and twelve thousand feet above sea level. At high altitudes, there was less oxygen in the air, which forced the body to adapt by breathing faster and deeper. Hunter understood why the Kenyans always won marathons. Their distance runners trained at the highest altitudes in the hilly areas of the country surrounding Eldoret, which featured a mild climate and eight-thousand-foot elevations.
“Exactly,” added Hunter, who took another deep breath. These walks with Tommy served to establish security as well as get them in shape for the thinner air. “I kept building my checklist and gathering up what I could before it wasn’t safe to go into the city anymore. If I was wrong in preparing for the worst and nothing happens, then I spent my money on food, common sundries, and outdoor recreational gear that I’ll use someday. But if I’m right, then we’ve got a chance to survive.”
Several white-tailed ptarmigan were startled by the men as Hunter kicked some gravel with his boot. The small birds, also known as snow quail, scurried up the rocky landscape before taking flight to a safer position up Quandary Peak. Hunter eyed their movements and wondered if there was enough meat on them to make a meal.
Tommy stopped near several large rocks and copped a squat. Leaning on his rifle to catch his breath, he continued. “You and I have a job to do, Hunter. We have people we care for who rely upon us. I don’t take the care and protection of my wife and daughter lightly. I believe you feel the same way. Janie, of course, is quite a pistol and an excellent addition to our group. Barb and I consider her to be part of the family, just like you are.”
Hunter again became distracted by the sound of a screeching bird flying through the tall evergreens below them. In order to establish perimeter security, he’d need to become accustomed to the movements and sounds of the native animals. Otherwise, he’d find himself shooting at ghosts.
“Tommy,” started Hunter, “I believe we can survive the spread of this disease. It’s not the pandemic that concerns me the most. It’s our fellow man. As we outlast the plague, for however long it takes, what’ll we encounter along the way?”
Tommy rose from his granite rock perch and led the way toward the Blue Lakes Trailhead. “Wickedness, eventually, but not at first. I believe that people will try to help one another survive. They might share food or supplies and then form groups out of necessity. But, eventually, there will be a catalyst.”
“Whadya mean?” asked Hunter.
“Historically, every cataclysmic event had a trigger pulled, resulting in the collapse. Mac is convinced the governments of the world see the plague pandemic as an extinction-level die-off. If that’s true, and I believe it could be, then the trigger for the massive demise of humanity is the pandemic.”
“Makes sense,” interjected Hunter.
“Now, consider this,” continued Tommy. “As this pandemic situation progresses, several things are going to happen. I mean, besides the deaths, of course. Our government has already disappeared into the mountains, literally and figuratively. Soon, our critical infrastructure, the engine that keeps America running, will run out of gas. By that, I mean the human beings required to operate these utilities will either stop coming into work, or they’ll be dead.”
“Good thing we have solar and our own well,” added Hunter.
“Yeah, in this case being forced to go off the grid due to lack of available utilities paid off,” said Tommy, who then continued to make his point. “You’ve seen the long gas lines for yourself. It’s just a matter of time before they’ll be nonexistent because the gasoline trucks won’t be running. Without gas, people aren’t nearly as mobile and have to resort to old-fashioned means of transportation.”
Hunter laughed. “Feet, hoof, and bicycle wheels.”
“Pretty much. As a result, our universe, our place on the planet, if you will, gets much smaller. It’s only as large as our feet, or horse’s hooves, will take us. For the newly formed small groups like us or communities like Breckenridge, numerous small-scale cataclysmic events can occur, which can bring us down.”
“Sickness besides the plague, for example,” added Hunter.
“Yes. Or lack of food or fresh water, severe weather, and outside influences.”
Hunter stopped as they reached the edge of the first of several connected small bodies of water comprising the Blue Lakes. A trout jumped out of the lake and flopped around in the air before disappearing below the surface. Hunter took in a deep breath of the fresh, cool air.
“Tommy, I suppose by outside influences you’re referring to those who might want to take what we have.”
Tommy patted his rifle before slipping his arm through the sling to shoulder it. “Yes, sir. That’s another conversation we’ll need to have, but not now.”
“Okay,” said Hunter as he stared off across the water. He was certain Tommy was referring to the use of lethal force. Hunter had killed, many times. Sometimes it was harder than others, like when a young child stood in front of you, determined to kill you.
“Let me just say this,” Tommy continued. “America has faced many challenges in her history, as has our planet. Just because the earth has been relatively quiet under your feet doesn’t mean that it will always be that way.”
“That’s true,” said Hunter. “There have been extinction-level events and mega-disasters throughout history, yet life managed to persevere.”
“It could be worse, Hunter.”
“How so?”
Tommy patted the younger man on the shoulder and gestured for them to head back to the house. “Asteroids, the Yellowstone Caldera erupting, nuclear winter, to name a few. At least with the pandemic, if you combine the will to survive with your God-given instincts, you can come out on the other side with an opportunity to have a decent life.”
They emerged from the trail at the top of the driveway. Tommy directed Hunter’s attention to the top of Quandary Peak, which rose three thousand feet from where they stood. He then spun around and looked in all directions. From Blue Lakes to their west, the valley below their home, and over toward Red Mountain east of where they stood, the magnificence of the Rocky Mountains was laid out before the two men.
“Is this not one of the most incredibly beautiful places you’ve ever seen?”
“It is,” agreed Hunter.
“However,” concluded Tommy, “behind any one of these ridges could be an unimaginable threat that could kill us before any plague rears its ugly head. Such is the world, Hunter. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. We just can’t be afraid.”
Chapter 2
Day Fifty-One
Quandary Peak
“Janie, hold this end of the tape measure, please, ma’am?” asked Barb as she surveyed the darkest corner of the basement toward the front of the house. While they all agreed that creating a biosafety lab within the confines of their home was extremely dangerous, the high winds and potential for rockslides completely eliminated an external building, even if they had one.
“You got it, General.” Janie chuckled as she stretched the metal tape to the corner of the block foundation.
Mac snickered as her mother reacted to Janie’s insubordination. Since Barb’s forced retirement from the military courtesy of the present occupant of the White House, or wherever he was hiding, she had loosened up considerably. However, Mac knew her mom still had respect for her former rank.
“Janie, you simply must stop calling me General. But if you insist, you got it, General, is a wholly inappropriate way to address a superior officer. So you have to decide. We’re family now. No more General, okay?”
Janie appeared shocked by Barb’s stern tone and replied sheepishly. “Yes, sir,” followed by a hearty laugh as she added, with a snappy salute, “General!”
“Mac, I blame you for this-this Janie doll!”
“Why me?” protested Mac, with a laugh. “She’s incorrigible, but she’s our Janie doll.
Ya take the good with the bad when it comes to this one.”
Janie stood in the corner of the room, beaming from ear to ear. Last night, after the discussion of the Level 6 declaration, She and Mac had a deep conversation about Janie’s family back East. Mac wanted Janie to feel totally comfortable with her parents. The group had come together from similar backgrounds and for a common purpose. Janie was considered a part of the Hagan family, a sister Mac never had.
“Hey, I’m standing right here,” announced Janie. “I can hear you talking about me.”
Barb made a swirling motion with her hand, indicating that Janie should turn around. “Perhaps you should turn around and stay in that corner for an hour or so.”
Janie began to follow Barb’s instructions when Mac came to the rescue. “Come on, Janie. Mom’s just kidding. Besides, if we run out of lab rats, you may be the first human trial.”
“What? No way! You said we’d use the mountain goats first!”
Again, Barb took the lead. “Nope. Sorry. Prohibited by the Audubon Society or something like that.”
Janie continued to stand in the corner.
“Jeez, Janie. Come out of the corner and let’s finish this list for the guys. They’ll have to go into town and pick up what they can find.”
Janie joined Mac and Barb as the three scientists took up seats on cut tree stumps on the back patio. The backyard of the home was one option for building the makeshift biolab, but the group determined the flat land would be more suitable for growing crops. The rest of the property was rocky, on a slope, and dangerously close to tall pine trees. Although Hunter planned on cutting several trees for firewood, building the lab outside would require materials they might not be able to obtain.
“Okay,” started Barb. “We have all of the equipment and lab supplies we need. The last thing to do is build the laboratory.”
Constructing a secure room with the proper safety measures required a sealed workspace, a biosafety cabinet, and a decontamination chamber. Most of the parts for the biosafety cabinet had been purchased by Hunter based upon Mac’s list. Some items had been procured from the Fort Collins lab.
Although the plague bacteria would be wholly contained within the biosafety cabinet, the room itself would be built using multiple layers of protection, including plywood affixed to studs with both nails and Liquid Nails to create a seal. An added layer of 6 mil plastic sheeting would then be wrapped and taped on the inside followed by another layer of plywood.
All of these precautions were put into place in the event of an accident. The unspoken understanding between the three women was that an accident meant you weren’t coming out and the lab would be a total loss.
The cabinet itself would sit on top of a workbench constructed out of plywood and two-by-fours. A double-door base cabinet from the local hardware store would serve as the frame with several modifications, including a vent hood and cut Plexiglas doors added.
The three finished up their deliberations because they suspected the runs to the local building supply store would be coming to an end. With the list in final form, the conversation turned back to the email declaring a Level 6 emergency.
“Mom, you were fairly quiet during our conversations last night concerning the email I received,” said Mac. “I figured you were thinking things through and I didn’t want to press you for an opinion. I can’t wait any longer for you to weigh in.”
Barb laughed. “Well, you have more patience than you did as a young girl, I’ll say that.”
“I have zero patience,” Janie chimed in.
“No surprise there,” Barb added laughingly. “Listen, the goal of the WHO, the CDC, and even my unit at USAMRIID was the elimination of infectious diseases, not the eradication of diseased individuals. However, there was always the rumor floating around regarding a presidential policy directive issued by the President at the start of the Ebola crisis.”
“Mom, do you mean an executive order?”
“No, dear. PPDs are different. These have the weight and effect of law, just like executive orders, but they don’t have to be disclosed. Sometimes they are made public, especially when they don’t contain any onerous language. PPD-8 comes to mind.”
“What’s that?” asked Janie.
“It’s similar to a series of executive orders designed to raise the nation’s level of preparedness in the event of national catastrophes, including terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and cyber attacks.”
“If that PPD was made public, what makes you believe there’s one involving the Level 6 emergency declaration?” asked Mac.
“The speculation began when the President changed the number of a presidential policy directive from PPD-29 to PPD-30. PPD-28 dealt with electronic eavesdropping after the Edward Snowden affair. PPD-30 dealt with the administration’s policy concerning United States citizens being kidnapped abroad. The period of time between PPD-28 and PPD-30 was seventeen months and included the height of the Ebola crisis.”
Mac stood up and walked through the grass behind the house. Her mind wandered for a moment as she considered how they would keep it mowed. She’d have to tease Hunter about not buying a reel mower, or a tiller for that matter, since they planned on installing a garden.
“Do you think PPD-29 relates to the Level 6 eradication?”
“Yes, and for one other reason,” replied Barb. “These directives are secretive and involve allocating money as well as directing agencies, including the military, to take certain courses of action. They can also involve our foreign policy.”
“Did it involve USAMRIID?” asked Janie.
“Maybe, but I’m certain it involved the CDC and also the WHO,” replied Barb. “During the Ebola crisis, several closed-door sessions of the UN Security Council took place. There was nothing else going on in the world that would justify this extraordinary gathering except the spread of Ebola. During these meetings, it was suggested the only way to stop the spread of the disease was to eradicate the infected populations in Western Africa.”
“That would be genocide!” exclaimed Janie.
“Yes, to an extent, although the decision to take such drastic measures wasn’t necessarily based upon ethnicity. It was rationalized as applying only to the infected.”
Mac shook her head as she attempted to comprehend such a thing being considered. Finally, she asked her mom what was on her mind. “How, um, how would they do it?”
“Probably by using a lethal dose of potassium chloride,” replied Barb.
“Like Dr. Kevorkian?” asked Janie.
“Yes,” replied Barb. “The other option was a holdover from the Vietnam War—napalm. The injection was the first step unless they deemed the spread into the population too extensive.”
Mac was starting to see the ramifications of the Level 6 declaration, but she still couldn’t understand why they would take such a drastic measure. “Obviously, people wouldn’t volunteer for the injections, so they’d have to be lied to.”
“That’s right,” added Barb. “But the real red flag would be if the health care workers and their military escorts suddenly pulled out of the region without notice or explanation. That would mean the napalm was next.”
“Mom, assuming that PPD-29 existed, who would authorize such a thing?”
“A President and his fellow world leaders who felt it was the only way to save humanity.”
Chapter 3
Day Fifty-One
North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)
Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado
Decades ago, during the Cold War, as nuclear threats loomed from Russia, and later Iran and North Korea, the United States created a series of fortified, state-of-the-art bunkers across the country, built to house the President and key officials of the government.
Locations included Raven Rock Mountain in Pennsylvania, Peters Mountain in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, and of course, the most well-known of them all—Cheyenne Mountain. Located outside of Colorado Springs, the m
ilitary’s North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, was never kept secret from the public.
NORAD includes the command post responsible for defending both Canada and the United States from air attacks such as Russian bombers or North Korean missiles. The project started in the 1950s as our government tested nuclear weapons in the Pacific Ocean. The race with the old Soviet Union to obtain bigger and more powerful nuclear warheads led to a certain amount of fear and paranoia in Washington.
Our scientists began to learn the devastation that could be inflicted by a nuclear warhead carrying an electromagnetic pulse, EMP. An EMP detonated at an altitude high enough over the United States would send out a massive pulse of highly charged electrons. This burst of energy would overwhelm the electronics of America, causing computers to crash, critical infrastructure to fail, and have a devastating effect on the world economy.
With this threat looming, Congress, and the President through executive action, established a continuity-of-government plan. There were specific procedures and protocols to be followed in the event of a nuclear war, as was envisioned in the fifties, or today, in the case of a catastrophic global pandemic.
Nature abhors a vacuum, as they say. For any government to function, the possibility of a vacant post or unfilled position at the highest levels of succession goes against the laws of physics and nature. More importantly, it goes against the laws of political power.
The continuity-of-government plan was sound in principle, and Cheyenne Mountain, in addition to the other facilities, insured the government would still be standing following the crisis.
After President Garcia, his cabinet, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff entered Cheyenne Mountain as part of his Continuity of Operations Executive Order, some in America breathed a sigh of relief. Others saw the move as a failure, an abandonment of the American people in their time of need.
Within days of the news breaking, crowds began to show up at the various entry points to Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs. At first hundreds and then thousands of Americans protested the President’s decision. Times had changed since 9/11 when President George W. Bush initiated the same directive. Washington was clearly under attack that day and the terrorists had already proven themselves successful in their cowardly operation.