The chests of the other two infected men chasing the group exploded in a similar way.
The small group of islanders finally reached the ship. They were all breathing heavily and could barely speak. The sergeant ordered them to stay where they were until the captain could speak to them.
John and the chief medical officer walked to the edge of the ship, still wearing their HAZMAT suits.
John couldn’t help but feel pity on the small band. The men covered in blood and the women and children had terrified looks on their faces.
Through his HAZMAT suit he yelled down to the group, “What are your names?”
All six of the survivors started taking at once.
John held out his hands. “One at a time.”
The group went silent when one of the men stepped forward and gave the names of everybody in the group.
“So Doctor, what do we do with them? We can’t just leave them standing on the dock all day.”
“I recommend we bring them aboard. I want to run some tests and find out why they don’t seem to be infected like the others,” the doctor replied with a concerned look on his face.
“Will it be safe for the crew?”
“It shouldn’t be a problem seeing that we are already in our HAZMAT suits.”
After disarming the men, the chief medical officer and two Marines escorted them to one of the conference rooms in the front of the ship.
While the small group headed to the conference room, the captain ordered the sergeant to retrieve one of the infected bodies and take it to examination room one. He called the infectious disease doctor on the ship’s phone.
“Doctor, the Marines have carried one of the infected bodies into exam room one. I want you to run every test we have to determine what happened to the infected.”
After he hung up the phone he walked to the conference room.
“What is your name?” John asked one of the survivors.
“Afu.”
“Please tell me what happened here, Afu.”
Afu’s face was pale, and his eyes opened wide as he tried to remember the events of the last few hours. Through a heavy accent he started.
“We saw an immense fire in the sky then heard a loud explosion that shook the ground. Many people were terribly frightened. Some said that it was a terrible omen. Others fell to their knees and began to pray. After the initial shock of the explosion, people slowly began returning to their normal routines. Then the dust started to fall,” Afu said. His eyes were darting around wildly.
”Then what happened?” Captain Nellis asked.
“About an hour later, a few of the people in our village began to feel extremely sick and had a high fever. After a while, those who had gotten sick became unconscious. As we tried to help them with their high fevers, we noticed their eyes started to turn yellow and red. About thirty minutes later they started to become violent and attack us. At first, we were able to contain them. But by the end of the hour, half of the island had changed.”
Afu reached for a glass of water and drank it swiftly. He looked at the others with a terrified but sad look and continued. “Later, it was all about surviving. I ran and grabbed my brother, sister-in-law, wife, and children. We just started running! We managed to avoid the monsters until we came to our grandparents’ house. When we got there, we found our cousin hacking them to pieces with a machete. When he saw us, he charged, and I had no choice but to shoot him.” His eyes filled with tears. “I-I shot him… What is happening here?”
Captain Nellis stared back at Afu then the others. “I don’t know, but we intend to find out.”
When he finished speaking, the chief medical officer entered the room with a lab technician. “I would like to draw some blood from all of you to see why you have not been infected while the others have.” The children hid behind their parents nervously, and the adults nodded.
John left the room and went back on deck. He walked over to two Marines and a lab technician standing on the railing.
“I want you to go to the end of the dock where the attackers were brought down and bring their bodies back to the ship for examination.”
“Yes sir.”
Without any hesitation, the three men scrambled down the stairs in their HAZMAT suits while the other Marines covered them from behind with the scope of their guns in case any infected attackers came.
The lab technician drew blood from all three of the infected corpses. The two Marines grabbed the most intact body, and then all three men hurried back to the ship. Once on board, they took the body down to the morgue for a full autopsy. The chief medical officer met them there and ordered a lab technician to take the blood samples he had drawn and run every test they had.
Captain Nellis decided to radio Pacific Command to let them know what was happening on the island. He was immediately transferred to Admiral Galloway.
“Captain, is what my aide reported to me true?” the admiral asked.
John shifted his weight and adjusted the headpiece on his HAZMAT suit. “Yes it is, sir. We know almost nothing about what is happening here, other than some locals are infected while others aren’t. I have ordered all personnel to remain in their HAZMAT suits until further notice. But as you know, we can only remain in them for twelve hours before all the oxygen filters we have on board are used up.”
The admiral ran his hands through his hair and stared at the floor silently. He looked back at the screen and said, “OK, Captain. I will contact Washington and let them know what is happening. I suppose they will want a better update soon. You are our eyes and ears at ground zero. Someone will get back to you in sixty minutes.”
After the call ended, Captain Nellis ordered all of his senior staff members to the conference room.
“It appears that we have some kind of full-blown epidemic spreading on the island, somehow connected to the meteor. I want all the resources on this ship to aid in the discovery of what the cause is. I have been ordered to update Washington in thirty minutes. Get to work.”
The senior staff members ran off to do their assignments and to get their departments to work.
John walked into the conference room; the medical staff was already assembled.
“As you know I have a call with Washington in a few minutes. What is our status?”
The chief medical officer stood and spoke for the group. “We still know extremely little about what has happened here. All of the uninfected islanders appear to be in perfect health with no signs of psychosis, abnormal behavior, or abnormal blood work. On the other hand, the infected all had abnormal levels of adrenalin and dopamine in their blood. They also had some unusual neural pathways in their brains. Oh, and one other thing… all the uninfected survivors had type O blood. The three infected samples that we took were all type A or B. At this point, we don’t know if these correlate, but it is all we have to go on.”
“Good work, people. Keep pushing – the islanders’ lives are depending on us.” John then turned to the chief medical officer. “Dr. Fuller, I will need you on the call with me to Washington.”
Within minutes, John, Dr. Stacy Fuller, and Admiral Galloway were patched into the Global Council’s conference call. Most of the primary leaders of the free world were on the video call.
The president stood and addressed the council. “Gentlemen, several days ago we discussed the possibility that the Earth might be hit by a meteor. We were relieved yesterday when we learned that it had exploded in the high atmosphere with no seemingly detrimental effects on the planet. However, it appears that our relief was premature. It has been brought to my attention that the meteor has caused an infection on the island near where it exploded. We had a medical ship in the vicinity, and they have been investigating the effects of the meteor on the islanders.”
After the president made some brief introductions, he directed the captain and the chief medical officer to address the council.
John stood and gave a brief summary of events. Dr. Fuller then upda
ted the council on what they had discovered about the infection.
Prime Minister Stokes of Australia next addressed the council. “Gentlemen, only moments ago I received a report that thousands of our citizens on our east coast and in New Zealand have started becoming ill. It appears that in a matter of thirty minutes, our hospitals in those areas became filled to capacity.” After a moment’s pause, he addressed Captain Nellis and Dr. Fuller. “At this point, do you know if there is anything we can do for our infected citizens?”
Dr. Fuller stared at the floor and replied, “No, sir. At this point, we don’t know what is causing the infection.”
“Well, then God help us all,” Prime Minister Stokes said with melancholy in his voice.
President Fisher stood and addressed the council. “With the news from Prime Minister Stokes, I think we need to prepare for the possibility of a global pandemic. Until we have further details, I recommend that we try to keep this as quiet as possible. However, I leave it up to each nation to decide what is best for their country.”
Each leader started whispering to their aides in their rooms; a few stood and left the rooms they were in.
The president then turned to John. “Any final words?”
“If this hits your country, it appears there is nothing that you can do about it. So prepare to take drastic action against the infected.”
With John’s final comments, the meeting ended.
After the meeting the president spoke with his officers. “I need an update in sixty minutes. Please have more details for me.”
All three men saluted in unison and said, “Yes sir!” All the screens then went blank.
After the meeting, John and Dr. Fuller returned to the ship’s lab to see if any progress had been made. As they walked down the steps, Dr. Fuller got an idea. After they entered the room, she turned to one of the other doctors in the lab. “What is it in A and B blood that is different from O blood?”
The other doctor replied, “If I remember correctly, it is that type A and B have alleluias receptors on the blood cell, and O blood type doesn’t.”
Dr. Fuller nodded. “Correct. Now what if the meteor had something inside of it? Say, a spore or bacteria that enters the bloodstream through the lungs and attaches itself to the blood cells. Once in the bloodstream the foreign invaders could hitch a ride until it reaches the host brain. It could then somehow rewire the brain, making the person become psychotic and forget who they are.”
The other doctor’s helmet bobbled as he nodded in understanding. She grinned because she knew that they now had a hypothesis they could work with.
At the end of the hour, Dr. Fuller and John reported their findings to the council. The world now had something to work on, if there was still time.
John stood next to Dr. Fuller in front of the video screen as she reported her findings to the council.
John was surprised when Prime Minister Stokes interrupted. He had a clenched jaw, and his breathing was raspy. “This is all very interesting, but half of my country is now showing signs of the infection, and the first infected are becoming psychotic! Most of our country is in a state of panic. The chaos has already gotten to a level that the police and military can’t handle it. Please, can anyone help?”
On the screen John could see the sweat running down the prime minister’s face as no one had any suggestions. “For God’s sake, somebody must have an idea!” the prime minister pleaded.
One by one, the other countries on the western side of the Pacific Rim reported there was nothing that they could do, as they were also starting to get reports of people becoming ill in their countries.
John noticed President Fisher, who was on a portion of the screen, stand. He was rubbing the back of his neck with his hands. “Listen, we need all the countries that the infection has not reached yet to put all their resources to coming up with a solution!” His voice started to strain. “Don’t fool yourself; what is happening in Australia will happen to each and every one of your countries. I know that some of you are doing everything that you can, and some of you are in denial and are refusing to let your scientists help.” Fisher’s nostrils started flaring, and his eyes got wide as he looked at the screen that showed the Russian representative. “But if this planet is to survive, we will need everybody’s help. We will reconvene in two hours to report any progress.”
After the meeting ended, John turned to Dr. Fuller. “From what I just saw, it looks like we are the world’s best hope.”
Day 4: Captain John Nellis
Under orders from the Pentagon, Captain Nellis had remained anchored off the coast of Niue. The entire crew was working furiously the entire time trying to discover everything they could about the infection. After eighteen hours, all of the bio-filters on the HAZMAT suits were beginning to clog up with CO2. With everyone on board in their HAZMAT suits full-time, all the filters on the ship were used up. After twenty-four hours, the situation was becoming critical.
Captain Nellis convened a quick meeting with his senior staff.
“We have a serious situation here. We believe from our investigation and initial reports around the world that only people of non-O blood type are threatened.” Captain Nellis’s eyes quickly darted around the small room with a pained stare. He suddenly surprised everyone by removing the hood off his HAZMAT suit. “I don’t recommend that everyone does the same thing just yet. I know that I am type O, but I couldn’t let anyone in my command do the same until I did it first. In the long run, it probably doesn’t matter much because our filters are almost used up. So we need to make the hard decision of what to do next. I know that many of you in this room will have to make the hardest decision of your lives. You all know what is at stake. The world is counting on us to continue our work on understanding the infection. We are probably further along than anyone else in the world. We have the expertise to get the job done.”
The men and women in the room looked around at one another, some with panic in their eyes and others with bold courage, knowing that the time to decide was soon.
The lieutenant in charge of the Marine contingent on board walked up next to the captain and was the first to speak. “I think it is clear that we only have two choices. We can’t have any infected on board, so we either need to detain and then dispose of the ones that will be infected or move us to the shore of the island. I don’t say this lightly… I am AB negative and know that I will be infected. But being a soldier, I know that this is bigger than me.” He then removed his hood. “I speak for myself and all my Marines. We know our duty. I have given orders to my soldiers that are of type O blood to confine the rest of us in the brig. As soon as we start turning, we are to be shot and our bodies thrown overboard. None of us want to turn into one of the beasts we saw when we first docked.”
Captain Nellis stepped forward and put his hand on the lieutenant’s shoulder. “Thanks you, Lieutenant. I respect your courage.”
“Now I need each of you department heads to return and break the news to your direct reports. Let them know what the two options are. We will ferry any non-O personnel to the island if that is their choice. Have everyone report on the deck in fifteen minutes.”
John returned to the bridge and gathered its staff. As he entered the room many of the men and women had shock on their faces to see him without the hood to his HAZMAT suit.
“Listen up. I have just talked with the senior staff on what our options are regarding the infection and the situation with the air filters.”
As John looked around the room he could see terror in some of their eyes.
“We can’t stay in our suits much longer, so we only have two options. The non-O blood type personnel can either be placed in the brig or be ferried over to the shore of the island. We will be meeting on the deck in ten minutes with all of the ship’s personnel for everyone to declare their blood type and to make their decisions.
John walked out of the bridge onto the command deck and paced back and forth, looking down on the
deck of the ship while the entire crew assembled.
The majority of the personnel had removed their HAZMAT suits, but not all. John could only assume they were non-O and had not been resigned to their fate.
John looked down on his crew; sadness filled every part of his body and his legs began to weaken. He had to hold onto the railing to steady himself. Every few minutes he could hear one of his crew cough. He knew that the change was starting for some of them.
John looked down to the small group of Marines and nodded to them, which was the signal to begin. Each took up different positions on the deck.
Captain Nellis raised his arms, and the entire crew looked in his direction.
“It has been an honor to serve as your captain. You are some of the best and brightest that our great nation has to offer. For many of you this will be the last time we will see each other in this life. But if God is willing, we will have a great reunion in the next. The dead will be remembered by the living, and your sacrifices this day will not be in vain.”
As John paused to catch his breath, more coughs broke the silence.
“I need each of you to step up to the Marines one by one and show them your dog tags. You will then be divided into three groups. Os will return to you stations. The non-Os who wish to be placed into the brig until the end will go to the starboard side. The non-Os who wish to be taken to the island will move to the port side. God bless you all.”
John stood on the command deck, looking down on the deck as each of the crew stepped forward and presented their dog tags.
As each of the O personnel slowly returned to the posts, John could see survivor’s guilt on their faces.
Most others chose to be placed in the brig and await their fate. Only a handful chose to go to the island.
AB (The Blake Reynolds Chronicles Book 1) Page 3