Scientists back at Fort Detrick had by now found several portions of Mengele’s research papers regarding the virus’ production and were hopeful that they could come up with a solution before winter set in or before the virus moved to other countries, who up to this point, had managed to avoid infection.
ANATOMY OF AN INFECTEE
Muhammad Razak lived in a high rent section of Kuala Lumpur and was following the spread of the virus throughout Asia on his television. He knew that what he was watching was disturbing and he worried that eventually he might get infected if he didn’t watch what he did. Other people in his luxury apartment building were staying indoors, however, everyone was running out of food and other essentials. Razak finally decided that he had to venture outside and see what groceries he could find. He heard that the small market in China Town was still open and so, against his better judgment, he walked the few blocks to the market area. The streets were deserted and he didn’t even see any police or military patrols as he strolled up the street. He had been a Malaysian policeman and so he still had a handgun at home, which he kept for personal protection. He now carried it inside his coat, just in case he needed it. Besides the infectees roaming the streets, there were rumors that street gangs were also roaming the area and robbing people they encountered. He hoped that he could get to China Town and back without any problems.
He was only a block away from the market when he encountered a “walking dead”, as the news stations were now calling them. He tried to avoid the person but the person appeared to be fairly alert to his movements and, whenever he changed direction, so did the walker. He decided to make a run for it and hoped the infectee was too slow to keep up with him. As he sprinted, the walker turned and tried to follow but fell behind quickly. “One obstacle avoided,” he thought. Just as the market came into view two more walkers appeared and moved toward him. Razak pulled out his revolver and fired two shots, both head shots as the news stations said to do, and the infectees dropped but not before one grabbed his arm and scratched him just enough to draw blood. Razak hardly realized he had been injured and he merely wiped his arm on his pants without a second thought. The grocer was open and although his inventory was depleted, Razak managed to get the few essentials he needed and get back home without further incident. When he was safely home, he looked again at the scratch he received and although the bleeding had long since stopped; he applied some antiseptic to it for good measure. Now home, he got back to his routine during the pandemic, and began to read a new book behind locked doors and shuttered windows.
Over the next two days Razak read his book, watched television to see what was happening in Kuala Lumpur and elsewhere in the world, and cooked himself some meals whenever he felt hungry. The scratch he had received during his shopping trip was now healed and so he had no worries about anything.
On the third day after his run in with the walkers Razak began to develop a sore throat and took some cough medicine he kept on hand. He had developed several sore throats since the smog from the Indonesian fires had engulfed the city. A few times he even thought he might be developing pneumonia, as he couldn’t stop coughing all the time. The cough medicine would clear him up again in a day or two.
On day four, the sore throat had gotten much worse and he felt achy and sore all over. He also noticed some discoloration on the arm that had been scratched. Although he began to worry, he thought a day or two of rest was all he needed. He slept quite a bit that day and watched some old movies on TV but really didn’t have much of an appetite.
By day five he felt as if a truck had run over him. He could barely swallow and the puffiness on his arm had gotten much worse. Some sores had started to develop elsewhere on his body and Razak knew that something bad was happening to him. He feared getting medical assistance as some of the news reports had talked about soldiers shooting people on the streets if they appeared to be infected. Razak thought that maybe this will clear up soon and so he stayed inside his apartment and hoped for the best.
By day six he had transformed into some sort of alien being and his face was covered with sores, many oozing blood and a pus like fluid. He felt pissed, he felt angry and he felt like he wanted to take out his rage on someone. He unlocked his front door and slowly walked down the hallway to this neighbor’s apartment and softly knocked on the door.
Mrs. Wong was a widower and in her 70’s and had lived next to him for many years. On the second knock, the door opened and Razak lunged at Mrs. Wong and tore open her throat before she realized what was happening. Razak then sat on the floor next to her and dined on her for several minutes before another neighbor opened his door to see what the commotion was in the hallway. When he saw what was happening, he quickly closed and locked his door and called the authorities.
Five minutes later, members of the Malaysian Army arrived at the building and went up to Mrs. Wong’s floor. Razak still sat there eating the arm of Mrs. Wong as they approached him in the hall. Razak tried to think about what was happening but could only feel a growing rage. He sprang up suddenly and made a run at the approaching soldiers but the first bullet fired dropped him in his tracks. He didn’t die instantly and had a momentary flashback on his life and wondered what was happening to him. Why did he feel like he did and why had someone shot him in his our apartment building? Gradually everything turned black and Razak ceased to exist.
FINDING HITLER'S TREASURE
It was a sunny and calm day on the Atlantic as the U.S.Navy ships, Safeguard ARS50 and Grapple, TARS 53, slipped from their moorings at the Norfolk Naval Base. Both ships were part of the U.S.Navy’s rescue and salvage fleet. On board each ship were members of Seal Team Six and members of the U.S.Naval Diving and Salvage Unit out of the Naval Support Activity in Panama City, Florida. Their mission was to locate and extract the secret cargo on the sunken U-532. The Grapple carried the new Deep Trekker mini ROV that allowed its surface crew to operate a submersible device and visually survey the ocean’s bottom. The U-532 was reportedly in only 120’ of water and so diving the site was no problem, however, the Deep Trekker allowed the crew to visually scan the bottom in order to try to locate possible items of interest. Dive teams would then enter the water and explore the target areas, looking for the mystery box.
The small surface fleet reached their target area later that day and after doing some initial sonar readings found two or three favorable locations for the sunken U-boat. After about four hours of running several sweeps of the target area, the Grapple locked in on one site that appeared to be the most promising location for the sunken U-boat. As dusk set in, the ships anchored and planned to start their searches early the next day. That evening the teams gathered to discuss possible scenarios for recovering the lost cargo. The crews then kicked back and after dinner sat around and told war stories before retiring for the night.
At 0700 hrs. the next morning the Deep Trekker was deployed and after several hours of searching found two favorable objects that could be their missing cargo. Two dive teams entered the water and ten minutes later were on the ocean’s bottom and searching for their target. The first object that Trekker had located turned out to be part of the wreckage from the sunken U-boat. U.S.Naval records from the war indicated that the U-532 had been sunk by a Naval patrol plane after it surfaced and attempted to fight its way out, after surface vessels had detected and began their attacks of the German sub. Wreckage from the bombed U-boat was scattered over a wide area of the ocean floor, and after over fifty years, much of the wreckage was covered by large amounts of sand and debris. After almost three hours of searching the teams found nothing, and following decompression stops, surfaced and returned to their ships.
A second group of divers began their search later that day, and after two hours, also were unsuccessful in their search.
The next morning the surface crews continued using the Deep Trekker in their search for possible target locations. One or two additional targets were located and Team One returned to the ocean’s botto
m to scour the area for the Nazi box containing the virus. Their search was again unsuccessful and after some on board talks, Team Two returned to the dive site with underwater metal detectors and two SAV-7 Underwater Scooters that they would use for transporting themselves through the water and, to blow sand from various areas, in hopes of uncovering their target. By the end of day three the recovery teams were no closer to finding and retrieving the missing Nazi cargo.
Back at Norfolk, one of the computer geeks decided to run some computer simulations to see how the missing cargo box might have sunk after the U-boat was bombed and went down. After several hours of simulations it was determined that the missing box would have drifted much further as it sunk than the dive teams were estimating. Some new coordinates were sent back to the recovery ships and, the following day, dive teams entered at the new locations after Deep Trekker had identified some favorable targets. The first three targets the dive team searched turned out to be more wreckage from the U-boat, however, the last target turned out to be what appeared to be the missing cargo container. The target was identified as what appeared to be a steel type box with large hasps securing its top and with the Nazi SS Emblem on its lid. The dive team marked the target location and sent up a marker lift bag before they were forced to surface, as they were beginning to exceed their allowed bottom time for the dive. A new team entered the water and converged on the marked target and after blowing a large amount of sand from it, attacked it to a special lift bag and sent it on its way to the surface.
The Grapple had been equipped with a special biohazard containment vessel before its departure from Norfolk. The Navy wanted to make sure that its crews would stay safe in the event the box with the virus began to leak after it was exposed to the air and surface temperatures. The crew of the Grapple was suited in special biohazard suits and breathing devices and when the box reached the surface; they quickly moved it to the ship, detached it from the lift bag and sealed it in the containment vessel. An EOD person also monitored the surrounding air and the outer part of the box to ensure that none of the virus was escaping. Once secured, the two ships weighed anchor and began their journey back to Norfolk. Three Naval helicopters provided overhead security for the ships’ journey home.
The ships arrived home the next day and the special cargo, still in it’s containment unit, was loaded into a specially equipped Sikorsky CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter, where it began it final journey to the Army Medical Command at Fort Detrick in Maryland. Once there the package would be checked for leaks and secured until General Sutherland provided the laboratory with further instructions regarding the package.
MARY PHILLIPS
Mary Phillips was retired and lived in Ashburn, Virginia, after retiring from the Department of Commerce, where she worked for over twenty-five years. She followed the recent events in Washington, D.C., and feared that the virus would somehow make it way the thirty some miles to where she now lived. She had a nice home in the country and grew her own vegetables and had a few chickens that provided her with enough eggs to last her through the week. She hadn’t heard of any walking dead incidents in the general vicinity of Ashburn but she knew it was only a matter of time before some infectee slipped by everyone and ended top roaming through the countryside there. What Mary didn’t know was that the virus could jump from animals to humans because of an Antigenic Shift. In an Antigenic Shift Type 2, the virus jumps directly from an infected bird back to a human. In an Antigenic Shift Type 3, the bird strain can jump from one type bird to another animal host, such as a pig or chicken, and then to a human. The new strain then spreads rapidly from person to person and, if left uncontrolled, a pandemic results. Unfortunately none of this information was even disseminated to the public by the government for fear that there would be a mass panic and people would start killing every animal and bird in sight.
Also unfortunately, one of Mary’s egg laying chickens had come in contact with a common crow that had become infected as it flew through the Washington area and ate some bits and pieces of a dead infectee. That crow then flew northwest through Ashburn and left droppings in the chicken coop at Mary’s house and, one day while feeding her flock, a infected chicken pecked at Mary’s finger, breaking her skin, and infecting her with a mutated version of the super virus.
Two days after this incident Mary began to feel some minor flu effects and thought it was time to pull out the cough medicine and medicate herself. On Day Three she began to notice some discoloration on her arms, legs, and neck, and having watched TV, she knew that these were the basic symptoms of the deadly virus. She thought, “Please don’t let me have the virus, I don’t want to die.” She also feared that someone would see her and take matters into their own hands. There had been several incidents of card-carrying NRA members shooting whomever they perceived as infectees since the virus outbreak began. Mary thought she’d just honker down and stay on her little piece of land in the country and go unnoticed.
By Day Four Mary was starting to lose all sense of reason and felt pissed off for no apparent reason. There was no one there to make her mad but she felt like she could kick someone’s ass, just for the hell of it. By Day Five, she decided to venture out and wreck havoc on whoever was unfortunate enough to cross her path. There were no other houses close by but she casually strolled down some country road looking to see what she could find. A car appeared on the horizon and was headed in Mary’s direction. As the driver saw Mary, he slowed to a stop and lowered his window to see if she was in need of assistance. Mary grabbed his arm without hesitation and started to bit again and again while he screamed in pain. Five minutes later the driver lie dead, or perhaps just in a suspended state, before he too would begin his stroll down the road looking for new friends and victims.
Mary eventually reached the small town of Ashburn, which besides the gas station/corner grocery, was shuttered and closed. A few people visited the station daily for milk and whatever supplies were still making their way to the store. Several farmers brought local produce and some chickens to the store for sale but most grocery items were gone once they sold out at the store.
Mary entered the gas station undetected, as the owner was working on someone’s automobile in the shop. By the time he realized he had a visitor, it was too late. Mary still had some degree of reasoning even though the virus had killed the majority of her brain cells. She sensed that if she stayed put, she might get more visitors as the day progressed. One by one people came to the station for basic essentials or to get some gas before the pumps went dry. One by one Mary attacked these fine folks and several would eventually turn and become Mary’s assistants in crime.
Night fell and Mary remained in the dimly lit station and waited for new customers. Around midnight, Howard Simpson, a Deputy Sheriff, from the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Department, pulled in to get his nightly cup of coffee from the all night station. Simpson thought it was strange that the outside lights by the gas pumps hadn’t been turned on yet and so he approached the station with caution. There had been reports of gangs robbing stations in the area and stealing gas and whatever supplies they could find. He opened the door and called out to Robert Booth, the station’s owner, but received no reply. Simpson slowly withdrew his 9mm pistol and scanned the station’s interior as he entered. He heard some heavy breathing to his right and as he turned he spied Mary slowly approaching him. He could tell almost immediately that she was infected, as the front of her face was heavily swollen and pus and blood oozed out from numerous sores. Blood also covered the entire front of the woman’s clothes. Simpson took quick aim and fired two well-placed shots to the frontal lobe of Mary’s head. She dropped instantly. A moment later Simpson heard a second sound and turned to see a bloodied Robert Booth approaching him. Two shots later Booth also was down and out for the count. Simpson radioed his headquarters in Leesburg and requested assistance and a clean up crew. He then sat down and had his evening cup of coffee, although leftover from early morning and quite strong, while he waited
for backup to show up. The virus had reached Loudoun County and Simpson knew that he would see more of the same soon.
FINDING A SOLUTION
It was now well into the month of July and the doctors and scientists at the Army Medical Command at Fort Detrick were still sifting through the stacks and stacks of files that the CDC had gotten from German Intelligence. The files provided some clues about how Mengele and his team has engineered the super virus, however, the staff at Fort Detrick was still having problems figuring out how to come up with a vaccine that could stop the virus once it entered someone’s body. Another group was working on an improved version of the X554 vaccine to use as a preventive for the virus but doctors wanted something that could also cure people if they were exposed.
Doctors knew that it is often difficult to overcome a virus and that many viruses could and can survive vaccines, various sulfa based drugs, antibiotics, home made remedies and just about anything the scientists could whip up to fight it. The virus itself is one of the smallest factors a body can react to, and unlike bacteria, a virus theoretically never dies. Researchers found active viruses in Europe from the Middle Ages while excavating some ancient ruins. They just become dormant and then something triggers them back to life. If the wind blows and some virus infected dirt flies up a person’s nose, the virus can interact with the body’s moist membranes and become active again. The result is that the person becomes sick with whatever virus type is involved.
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