by Jack Hunt
She’d once asked her mother how on earth he had managed to deal with military operations when they dropped him in some foreign jungle and he had to eat and live in the most unsanitary places in the world. She couldn’t give her a straight answer, or at least one that satisfied. As far as she knew, his phobia had got worse near the tail end of his career in the military. It was what ultimately led to a medical discharge. From there he just crawled further and further into his shell.
When Gabriel returned, he wasn’t alone.
“Ella, this is Tyrell.”
A tall African American extended his hand. She looked at it and shook her head.
“No offense but with all that’s going on right now…”
He looked at his palm as if trying to figure out what was wrong and then the penny dropped. “Oh, yeah, right. Sorry.” He chuckled nervously and rubbed his hands up against his pant leg as if that might improve the odds of anyone wanting to shake his hand.
“Tyrell said I could stay at his place. His parents live in Watertown.”
Watertown was south of Clayton, about a forty-minute drive away. From Queens it would take six to seven hours on a good day.
“So. It’s quite something, what’s going on, eh?” Tyrell said turning his attention to the TV. “By the way, how you feeling? The last time I saw you, you were hanging upside down.”
Gabriel gestured to him. “Tyrell helped me get you out.”
“Oh,” Ella said, now feeling like a jerk for not shaking his hand. “Thanks.”
“Holy shit, look at that.” The news played a video feed of military troops getting physical with people who were trying to get into the isolation area. He turned up the volume. A reporter was on scene with a finger in one ear and a microphone up to his mouth. He kept ducking instinctively as loud bangs occurred. It almost sounded like a shotgun. Smoke started to cover the ground; riot police marched forward with shields and slammed into a rowdy crowd that had set on fire several cars near the quarantine area.
“I’m betting they break in or people inside are going to break out. You know, Gabriel, things are getting even worse at the university. They made another announcement that if anyone has a cold they are to head over to the health service. I’ve never seen the halls so crowded with students on phones. Reminded me of that time the police were called in because they thought a shooter was on campus. It’s crazy. And to think this thing hasn’t even made its way across to Brooklyn.”
“That’s what you hope. You don’t know that. For all we know some of the people in here could be infected,” Ella said.
He got this dead serious look on his face. “Are you shitting me?”
“No, I just like to make life-or-death jokes for no reason,” Ella said.
Gabriel’s lip curled up at the corner as Tyrell returned to looking at the TV. Another wave of pain hit Ella. This time it was worse than the last. She let out a groan, and Gabriel called for a nurse. “It’s okay. It will go in a second,” Ella said.
“Ella, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to leave.”
She chuckled. “Neither is staying. I think I have a better chance on the road.”
ELEVEN
Gloria was giving Sal the eye. She didn’t even need to say anything. He knew he was in trouble. It was something that all women had, like a secret, highly effective tool that could bring any man to his knees.
“I know, I know, he’s a little strange but he’s doing a good thing for us and besides, where else could we have gone? Your parents live on the other side of the country and mine are in the nursing home.”
Both of them stared down at the extra N-95 industrial respirator masks along with the surgical gloves that Frank had told them they must wear at all times until he could be sure they weren’t infected. He had placed them at the back of the house in a conservatory with heated floors. It wasn’t much to look at but it was better than being stuck in Clayton and having people break into their house.
“I just don’t see why we can’t stay in our house.”
“Adrian and Bailey. That’s why.”
“But come on, Sal, what are the chances of it making its way this far north?”
“Six hours away isn’t far and at the rate this thing appears to be spreading it doesn’t matter whether it makes it here or not, it’s how people will act. You saw it yourself, people are already getting freaked out.”
“Two or three families. That’s not a lot.”
“Right now it’s not but that will change.”
He went over to a small TV that Frank had placed in the room at the far side. The room was made of wood panels and glass. There was one large queen-size fold-out bed, and a La-Z-Boy armchair. Beyond that, there was a small table and chair with a computer, and the TV, that was it. Frank had told them they could use the outhouse.
Sal had the news on for only a few minutes before Gloria switched it off.
“I don’t want the kids listening to that. It’s bad enough that we have to bring them here.”
Sal took a hold of her by the arms. “Gloria. Best-case scenario, we stay here two days and return to our house. Worst case, we end up staying longer and we avoid this virus. Do you really want to play Russian roulette with our kids’ lives?”
She sighed. “No, it’s just…”
“Just what?” he shot back.
“You’re usually so level-headed. I could expect this kind of behavior from Frank but not you.”
“Listen, he’s come a long way from when I started treating him. Now if it was just him that was telling me about this, and there was no mention on the news, or if Kate hadn’t warned him then perhaps we wouldn’t be here but —”
“Do you even know if his wife phoned him?”
Sal stared at her blankly. “Are you suggesting he would lie to me?’
Her eyebrows rose. “Would it have been the first?”
He shook his head and scowled. “No, he’s not like that, Gloria.”
“You do know what they say about him, right?”
Right then Frank stepped into the back room with an armful of emergency foil thermal blankets, and some regular ones. “I know what they say.”
Gloria tried to backtrack out of embarrassment. “I was just meaning—”
“I know what you were meaning, Gloria. It’s okay.”
Now Sal felt like a right idiot. Some days he wished his wife could just learn to zip it. Gloria prodded him and gestured with her eyes. “What?” he muttered.
“Ask him.”
Sal shook his head feeling his collar tighten.
“Ask me what?” Frank said, placing the blankets down beside a stack of pillows.
Sal hesitated for a second and then came out with it. “Do you think we could speak to Kate?”
“Why?”
Sal looked at Gloria, hoping that she might chime in but she remained tight-lipped. That was always her way. She would place him in a situation and then he would have to dig himself out.
“You know, to get an update on things.”
“Update? We already know what’s going on, and anyway, she will call if there’s any more news.”
He was about to head out when he looked back at Sal. “You don’t believe me, do you?”
“It’s not that. Um.”
“Both of you have seen the news, right? You’ve seen the way people are acting back in town. Do you think I’m making this up?” He paused and looked at them as if trying to decipher their body language. “Look, if you think this is just another reaction from my OCD then you are free to leave. Remember, I’m the one letting you stay here. I’m putting my neck on the line that you guys aren’t already infected.”
“No, we know that. We appreciate it, Frank. We really do.”
That’s when Gloria stepped forward. For a split second he thought they were going to scoot through this without a hitch but oh no, here she was about to lay it on even thicker.
“It would just give us peace of mind.”
Frank
snorted and shook his head. “Peace of mind?”
“We have two kids, Frank.”
“And I have one.”
“Then you of all people should understand how scary this could be for them. Now I don’t know what the level of this situation is. Right now we are seeing all manner of things on TV but if it’s not making its way here, I would prefer to have my kids somewhere that is familiar. Our house.”
“You know what. Maybe this was bad idea. Get your things together and I will run you back to Clayton.”
“Now hold on a minute, Frank,” Sal said stepping forward and trying to get between him and his wife who he knew wasn’t going to back down until she got that phone call. “She didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Yes, yes I did.”
“Gloria, would you just shut up for once.”
Her eyes widened. “What?”
“Yeah. Give it a rest. Go sit with the kids or something.”
The look on her face was enough for him to realize he was going to get the cold shoulder for the next few days. The times he had ended up in an argument with her only to find himself turfed out of the bedroom and having to sleep on the sofa were too numerous to track.
“Frank, a word with you.”
Sal headed out the back door into the yard. He walked a short distance away until they were out of earshot of Gloria. The summer heat of a golden sun beat down on them. A flock of birds broke in the trees and flew off in a diamond formation as though sensing trouble brewing.
“Look, you’ll have to excuse Gloria. She’s just thinking about the kids. She doesn’t fully grasp the gravity of the situation.”
Frank put his foot up on a log stool near a fire pit. “And you do?”
Sal ran a hand around the back of his neck and rubbed it as if working out some tension.
“I understand that we don’t know an awful lot about this and that could be dangerous. I appreciate what you are doing for us, I know you don’t have to do it. Listen, it would just put her mind at ease if she could speak to Kate. I don’t need to. I’m pretty certain that this has gone beyond the point of them reeling it in but she would feel better for it.”
Frank studied his face, looking for a crack in his demeanor. He sighed. “Okay, but she might not get through. But I’ll give her the number.”
“Thanks, Frank. By the way, any more news from Ella?”
“Yeah, she’s at the hospital in Queens, her car is totaled and by the sounds of it some stranger is offering to give her a lift. All in all, it’s quite comforting,” he said sarcastically.
He turned to head back in when they heard gunfire. It was distant and coming from Grindstone Island.
“Sounds like it’s begun,” Frank said, not sticking around to clarify. Sal watched him head back inside. After he said something to Gloria, she glanced out and gave a weak smile. She was nervous, scared and honestly, so was he. They were out of their comfort zone and the sound of gunfire only brought home the reality of what might happen if things got out of control. He didn’t anticipate things spiraling out of control fast but honestly there was no way of knowing for sure.
Sal returned to looking at the island across the river. Without binoculars it would be hard to see what was going on, and Grindstone Island was covered in dense trees. His eyes drifted to some of the smaller islands. How many others would flee to them? How many would be armed? How many would be willing to fight to survive? Of course most folks wouldn’t imagine that people would hurt others without just cause but when it came down it, Sal knew from having worked with hundreds of patients that you didn’t have to be verified as insane to take another person’s life. He just hoped it wouldn’t get to that.
THE SITUATION HAD BECOME CRITICAL. Even with FEMA setting up quarantine centers, and doctors working all hours to come up with a vaccine, they were making little progress.
“How many got out?”
“It’s hard to tell but they are estimating around twenty-two people. They knew what they were doing. Chief Boyle spoke with an officer who managed to apprehend one. He said they were going to head home as they didn’t think they were infected.”
“And are they?”
“Who knows?”
Kate sighed. “What a mess this has become.”
“Listen, Kate, all we can do is work with what we have. Those who are infected, and those they came in contact with. The rest is in the hands of God.”
She chuckled. “Yeah, let’s issue that as a statement. I’m sure that will put the general public’s minds at ease.”
Kate had worked with Director Trish Kenwood for close to eight years. In that time they had seen all manner of threats raise their ugly head and they had experienced a few breaches but nothing on a scale quite like this. Contrary to what people believed, there was only so much they could do. Their best attempt at stopping a pandemic was either finding a cure or containing it. So far they had failed on both fronts.
She looked at a flyer on the wall that listed some of the known ways that humans could defend themselves from mild and severe flu: Vitamin C and D were recommended. A clinical research had shown that after sixty polio patients were pumped with a massive dose of 20,000mg of vitamin C over the course of three days with a period of rest, all of them were cured. Unfortunately, people were lucky if they managed to get the daily recommended dose of 60mg. As the director continued to talk about what FEMA was doing, Kate’s eyes went down the list of ways that could prevent and treat different forms of flu. One was a black elderberry extract. Those who took it over a period of forty-eight hours lost all their symptoms. It then went on to list a Korean fermented cabbage dish called kimchi that had been used to treat avian flu. The problem was, this virus wasn’t responding to any of these natural supplements or the various antivirals that had worked in the past.
“Are you listening, Kate?”
“Yeah, sorry. I really need to get some sleep.”
“How long have you been up?”
“Going on thirty-six hours.”
“Go, get some rest. You are no good to us like this.”
“By the looks of it, it doesn’t seem to matter anyway.”
“We’ll crack this one, we always do.”
“And if we don’t?”
The director didn’t reply immediately and when she did, she dodged the question. “Go get some sleep. I’ll speak with you later.”
The screen in front of her went black and Kate laid her head on her desk. She pulled out her phone and began flipping through some photos of better days. Before everything went wrong. It was hard to watch the man she loved disintegrate in front of her eyes. Having a background in disease research, prevention and management, she figured they would find an answer to Frank’s disorder, it just never happened.
Even before she left for Atlanta, her work had become her life and in many ways she knew it had played a role in their marriage unraveling. He wasn’t entirely at fault. They had simply grown apart. Both of them were consumed by disease and a need to survive. She had buried herself in her work because it was the only time that she didn’t have to deal with his antisocial behavior. She began dialing the number Frank had given her for the hospital.
The line was busy. Great!
No sooner had she put her phone down when it rang. She answered it.
“Is this Kate?”
“Speaking.”
“This is Gloria. Sal’s wife.”
It took her a second or two for her to register and put a face to the name.
“Gloria. Right. How are you? How’s Sal?”
“That’s what I’m calling about.”
Over the next ten minutes she brought her up to speed on what was happening. As much as she wasn’t at liberty to discuss certain aspects of the work at the CDC, she could reassure her that the best place to be was with Frank, no matter how odd he seemed. She took her concerns as nothing more than a mother looking out for her kids. She would have been the same way.
“Will you be joining u
s?”
“No, I have too much work here, besides I’m in the area which is locked down. Do you know if Frank has spoken with Ella since I last talked to him?”
“I can put him on the line if you like?”
“Sure.”
She rested her phone against her head, and got up and went over to a cabinet and pulled out a bottle of melatonin. Even though she was exhausted and her mind was racing, she knew that if she didn’t take something to help her sleep, she wouldn’t get any. She tossed one back and downed it with a gulp of water.
“Kate.”
“Frank. Any update?”
He filled her in on what had occurred since he’d told her about the accident.
“So she has a way to get there?”
“Well, yes. I mean, not exactly. I’m still waiting to hear back from here.”
“Listen, Frank. I don’t want you to rely on her figuring this out. Had you left by now, you would be halfway there.”
“Oh, we going to do this again?”
“Look, I don’t want to fight. I just want to make sure our girl stays alive.”
That’s when it hit her hard. The knowledge that this wasn’t just about getting her kid to safety, keeping her away from people who might have a cold, it was literally coming down to the wire. It was a matter of life or death.
TWELVE
It was getting worse with every passing hour. She couldn’t stay there any longer. Hike, hitch or accept the help of strangers, she was going to get the hell out of the hospital. The television news feed continued to show reports of riots and looting taking place in Manhattan. How long would it be before the anxiety and fear spilled over to those on the outside of the quarantine area? Ella had hauled herself out of bed and slipped back into her tattered clothes. Gabriel and Tyrell had stepped out so she could have some privacy.
Against her better judgment, she was going to take them up on the offer of a ride after an announcement that all flights out of the country and out of state had been canceled until further notice. At first she was going to catch a bus but her father had nipped that idea in the bud.