by Jack Hunt
Frank looked around first to make sure there were no other threats before making his way down to the guy who was beating the shit out of the other driver’s sedan.
“Hey,” he yelled from behind his mask. His muffled attempt to get the man’s attention failed, so he got a little closer. He was cautious about getting too close to anyone who might be infected and yet at the same time he certainly wasn’t going to stand by and watch someone get beaten to death.
“Sir, you want to put the crowbar down?”
The guy looked his way and told him to mind his own business, using a few colorful words. At this point the guy in the car had made his way over to the other side and got out. Upon seeing him exit the vehicle, the man with the crowbar thought it would make sense to turn his anger towards him.
“Guys, enough,” Frank yelled but they were paying no attention and the craziest part of it all was neither was anyone in the cars. They all looked scared to death or had decided that it wasn’t worth getting involved. However, one guy did get out of his car, two vehicles over and offered to help. Frank looked back at Sal who just shrugged. Sal sure as hell wasn’t getting involved.
Seeing that this wasn’t going to end well for either of them, Frank did the one thing he didn’t want to do. He pulled his Glock and fired a round into the air. It startled both of them enough to quit their antics. Frank immediately put it away to demonstrate that he wasn’t a threat and was only doing it to snap them out of their childish behavior.
“I’m an off-duty police officer, get back in your cars or I will bust both of you.”
Of course he wasn’t, but with so many looking on he had to say something. Thankfully no one was recording him, or at least he hoped not. If so, he doubted it would matter. The Internet was clogged up with news on the pandemic, no one was going to be interested in a lone guy firing a round in the air, at least he hoped not.
Reluctantly the two men returned to their vehicles, and he returned to his. When he slid back in, Sal stared at him.
Frank shrugged. “What? I had to give ’em a reason.”
“An off-duty police officer?”
He grinned. “Come on, tell me you haven’t wanted to say that at some point in your life?”
“Uh, no.” He shook his head. “You better hope that no one caught that on camera.”
The traffic began moving ever so slowly and Frank decided it was time to head in a new direction. As soon as they reached the next exit he pulled off and began traveling east.
UNDER THE COVER OF NIGHT, they lingered in the shadows of an empty residence room. A number of students had collected their belongings earlier that day and had obviously returned home at the request of their parents, as the closets were empty and the beds all made.
“You think he’s going to show up?”
“Oh yeah, Jason owes me a favor.”
“Why?”
“Does it matter?”
“Just curious,” Tyrell said. Ella observed them both and listened to their back and forth conversation.
“So how long have you guys known each other?” Ella asked. Gabriel was looking outside. He had taken a chair and placed it nearby so he could use it to smash the window.
“Four years. We went to the same high school before going to the university,” Tyrell replied. “We’ve been through a lot of shit together. Isn’t that right, Gabriel?”
“What?” He was distracted as he looked out into the darkness.
“You think this is really going to work?”
“Hell, it better.”
No sooner had he said that then white lights flashed as though a vehicle had gone up a curb and was making its way over.
“That’s him, right, let’s go.” Gabriel pushed past the other two and they both gave him a confused expression.
“But you said you were going to—”
“Change of plans.”
“What?” Tyrell bellowed.
“Look, I don’t have time to explain. If you want to get out of here, just follow me.”
Instead of breaking the window on the side that the truck was heading towards, he dashed down the corridor and entered another room on the opposite side of the building. He picked up a chair as he entered and tossed it at the window. It shattered and the chair went out.
“You asshole, you are using him as a distraction.”
“Got to do what you got to do,” Gabriel said. “Now give me your hand.”
He reached for Ella and helped her up to the window. Razor-sharp shards of glass were sticking out around the frame. Outside in the dark they could hear the truck and soldiers shouting orders.
“It’s working.”
Gabriel had figured that the moment the truck started heading for the residence with its lights on, the police and whoever else was keeping the place contained would immediately react and look to stop it. In the meantime, they would jump out a window on the other side of the building and sprint away without being noticed.
And for a moment, it might have worked if there hadn’t been so many guards patrolling the area. Tyrell had just jumped down and was brushing himself off when a flashlight swept across them.
“Hey! Stop right there.”
“Go. Go. Go,” Gabriel yelled as they darted down the side of the building hoping to make it across the green to the truck. For a brief second Ella thought they were going to make it but when floodlights lit them up and several soldiers appeared around them with guns drawn, they dropped to their knees with their hands up.
“Okay, okay!” Tyrell yelled.
In the brightness of the lights Ella was able to get a better view of what they had set up. There were military tents, and a whole whack of folks dressed in pandemic suits heading towards them.
“We’re not infected.”
Ella was shoved to the ground. A chunk of dirt went in her mouth as her wrists were zip tied and she was treated like a criminal. She looked over to Gabriel who was being hoisted up. He was gazing at the truck and she could see the frustration in his eyes. They were so close to getting away and now they were being escorted back to a secured area. Instead of being taken back to the residence hall, they were led into a white tent. To the left and right of them were beds that were behind zipped-up plastic. On either end was a soldier wearing what appeared to be a gas mask. It was unnerving to say the least. Ella was escorted into an empty section of the tent and they then zipped up the compartment. To her left and right were Tyrell and Gabriel. Gabriel slumped down on the bed while Tyrell beat against the plastic so hard a soldier raised his gun at him.
“How the hell can you get away with this? I want a lawyer,” Tyrell shouted.
On the opposite side of the room to Ella were several other students. Another girl and two guys that looked to be in their early twenties. They stared back at them like confused lab rats.
“Gabriel?” The girl had dirty blond hair that was tied back in a severe ponytail. She was wearing torn jeans and a tight grey jacket that showed off her figure.
Suddenly Gabriel came to life. He obviously hadn’t seen her when he came in. “Hayley, how did you wind up in here?”
She pressed her body against the clear plastic. “Me and Zach were hustled in here after they found out that Craig’s roommate was ill. They’ve taken blood samples and asked us if we came within six feet of him or used any items that belonged to him. We’ve been telling them no but they don’t listen.”
“How long have you been here?” Ella asked
“Three hours.”
“What about you?” Hayley asked Gabriel and his head dropped as he began to bring her up to speed. She nodded and then looked over at Ella. “Who are you?”
“Oh Hayley, this is Ella. She was in an accident, Tyrell was going to give her a lift home.”
She nodded and eyed her suspiciously. “Where do you live?”
“Clayton, New York.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “That’s quite a distance.” Her eyes darted back to Gabriel. “Were you about to
go with them?”
“Yeah, I can’t get home because of the quarantine, so I figured I could stay with them until they had dealt with this.”
She looked back at Ella again before returning to a cot they had set up. It was like what a soldier might sleep on in Afghanistan. It had a grey blanket and one white pillow. Besides that there was nothing else around them.
“Zach, you okay, man?” Tyrell asked.
Zach had dark buzz-cut hair and was at least six feet tall with a tattoo of a skull on the side of his arm. He was wearing nothing more than dark boots, jeans and a muscle shirt.
He shook his head in response but muttered nothing. He looked as though he was in shock.
“He saw Brian die,” Hayley said.
“Brian’s dead?” Gabriel shot back.
She nodded affirmatively.
“Oh god, you should have seen it. He had blood coming out of his eyes and nose. It was a mess. Zach went to get him some help and that’s when they showed up and dragged us out. No one has told us anything. By the way, do you guys have a phone on you?”
“No, I left mine back inside the residence,” Gabriel replied.
“I have one,” Ella said.
“You think you can call my mother? I was supposed to get back to her about returning home but things just spiraled out of control.”
“What’s the number?”
She gave it and Ella dialed. There was no way for her to get the phone across to Hayley so she was going to pass on a message to her mother that she was okay. The problem was she wasn’t getting any answer.
“Where’s your mother live?” Ella asked.
“In lower Manhattan.”
“It’s probably been quarantined. No answer right now.”
“Even if it was, they wouldn’t take away people’s phones, would they?”
“Who knows.”
All of them looked despondent. Hayley returned to her bed and Tyrell slumped down against his. Ella turned to Gabriel who was looking at her. “Who’s Hayley?”
“My girlfriend.”
EIGHTEEN
Skin wasn’t touching and neither could she get his infected blood on her as she pressed her hand against the pane of glass. Kate was on one side looking at the man she had fallen in love with two years prior. He was sick and she knew that in a matter of hours he would be dead.
It was hard to fathom that it had come to this.
Tears streaked her face leaving a trail of black mascara.
She didn’t think she would ever be in another relationship after Frank but after throwing herself into her work at the CDC, the long hours working beside Dr. Tom Jenkins had changed that. Like her, Tom had been married once before but unlike her he had drifted apart from his wife. They had remained friends but believed it was better to separate before that changed.
Kate understood the frustration that came from the long hours that pulled them away from family events. In her case, her family always came first but after Frank’s condition had gotten worse, the only thing that helped her to stay sane was her work.
She stared at him as the reality of how it would end began to dawn on her. She felt more than frustration; she was angry with God for allowing this. Tom was a good man who had helped thousands of people over the course of his career, yet his accomplishments would remain unknown.
He’d been treating an infected patient and thought he’d taken the necessary precautions, but a mistake made when taking off his suit would cost him his life. After dealing with the infected, they would enter an emergency shower station to spray off whatever blood had ended up on the suits. When he removed his, somehow he must have missed some of it and it found its way onto his skin. Within fifteen hours he was exhibiting the early symptoms of the Agora virus, and by the sixteenth hour after onset, he had asked to see Kate.
At first, she thought it was some kind of sick joke. Until she saw his face and then she broke down. They had planned to get married next year. It was what had caused tension between her and Ella. Even though she knew Ella disapproved and Frank wouldn’t be thrilled, she was happy. For once in her life she felt she was with someone who understood both her passion and her pain. Now it was about to be robbed from her.
“You’ve got to keep working at this, Kate. Find a cure.”
“I can’t do this. I’m barely holding it together.”
“Then go.”
The whole search for a cure was taking a back seat in her mind, all she could see before her was a good man about to die, and her life unraveling. She hadn’t heard from Frank in hours and she was beginning to doubt that he’d left to collect Ella. It wasn’t that she didn’t think he was up to the task. She knew if push came to shove, he would walk over hot coals for Ella but it was his disorder that bothered her. Watching it imprison him had almost destroyed her.
“Back at the apartment. Go into the closet, turn around and reach up and you’ll find a container. It’s my handgun. Ammo is in the drawer in a box. If you decide to leave the city, you might need it.”
He was beginning to sound like Frank. She had often wondered if his background in the military had been why she was drawn to him. Tom had served as medic with the army for twelve years before he left and got involved with the CDC as an emergency management specialist.
“No, I should stay here until…”
“It’s not going to get any better, Kate.” Tom looked down. “Get out of the city on the east side. There will be plenty of time to find a cure for this later, but you need to go be with Ella.”
Her brow knit together. She was confused. “We’re locked down, you know that.”
He offered back a weak smile. “Go to my office, in the first drawer on the left there is a clearance card that will get you through security. If anyone asks you, you are going to collect a sample from Charlotte. As long as you have the papers and the card from my drawer, you’ll be fine.”
She shook her head. She didn’t want to leave him alone. Tom had been good to her, maybe too good and that’s why she was finding it so difficult. Where was she meant to go, back to Frank? That would be a disaster. Her entire life was beginning to fold in on her just when she thought it was finally coming together.
“Go. Go now!”
She didn’t need to be told what would happen in the event that the government truly felt this was out of control. More tears rolled down her face as she turned away and headed in the direction of his office. Tom held a prominent position with the CDC. There were only a few that had the authority to give clearance if a cordon sanitaire was put into effect, and he was one of them.
It didn’t matter if you were police, CDC employees or even working for FEMA, if you ended up inside a quarantined area, you didn’t get out unless you were cleared. Being as the symptoms didn’t show up for fifteen hours, it meant anyone could contract it, especially CDC employees.
She felt like a deserter as she gathered her belongings, entered Tom’s office and collected the card, an official document that would allow her to pass through security without being stopped. Throughout the entire time that she was still in the building, her heart was beating fast and she fully expected to be stopped.
As the final door buzzed and she stepped outside into the cool crisp air, she cupped a hand over her mouth and leaned against the wall. Her body quivered. What was she doing? She couldn’t leave. They were depending on her. This went far beyond her needs. Though she was one of many working on finding a cure, she was an important cog in the machine. She went back and forth in her mind about returning to her post.
Finally it was a text from Ella that pushed her to leave.
Mom, the CDC is at the university. They’ve quarantined me. Dad’s on his way but I don’t think even he is going to make it through. They have this place locked down.
She stared at the phone and turned to leave when the exit door she had just come out of opened and Director Trish Kenwood poked her head out.
“Kate. There you are. Security told me you had left
to go home?”
She was at a loss for words. It wasn’t like she couldn’t have demanded to leave. Her apartment was in the quarantined zone and she was already in overtime. But that didn’t matter.
“I heard about Tom, I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, I…”
“You worked closely with him, we’re relying now on you, Kate, to step up, carry on his work.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and nodded knowing that she wasn’t going to be able to walk out of here. Whatever notion Tom had of her leaving was just that — an ideal, a hope, a dying man’s last wish of safety for the woman he loved.
“Come on, I need you to take a look at a patient.”
Kate gripped her cellphone in her hand and pursed her lips together before following her back into the building.
FRANK PLANNED to drive straight through the night until he reached the university but the chances of them getting there before dawn were slim to none. Every road was jam-packed with people coming and going.
“They can’t all be leaving their homes,” Sal said.
“No, they probably aren’t. This is likely all the people that wished they had stocked up on supplies.”
Sal chuckled to himself. “Crazy, isn’t it. We spend a fortune on insurance for our homes, cars and life, we put money aside for a rainy day and take all manner of supplements to ward off bugs and yet when posed with preparing for a worst-case scenario we laugh at the folks who put together bug-out bags, hide weapons and invest in underground shelters. And yet they are the ones that aren’t going to be scrambling. We are.”
Frank was partially listening to him while focusing on the GPS. Thank god satellites and electricity weren’t done. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what would happen if that went down. As it stood right now he was surprised that most people were actually handling themselves and treating each other with a degree of respect but that was because it hadn’t fully dawned on them. The gravity of what was occurring was nothing more than a radio or TV soundbite. Something that could be easily ignored by those who believed that the news only tried to spread fear but the truth was, the wolves were out and already hunting down and killing their prey. At least that’s how he saw disease. How long would it take for it to sink in? Three days? A week? A month? Eventually everyone would come around to the fact that the government wasn’t able to control this, what then?