Dawn of a New Day

by Mariano, NIck

  People can become infected with a virus in one of two ways, exposure or injection. Many vaccines are actual live viruses that expose the person to a particular virus in order to prevent that person from contracting that virus and disease. Polio shots are perhaps the best example. Chicken Pox is another commonly encountered virus. When young, many people contract Chicken Pox, but eventually recover and are well again. The virus, however, remains in our bodies and can reappear later in life as Shingles or Herpes Zoster. The disease can haunt seniors and be quite painful if not treated quickly.

  The doctors at Fort Detrick began to look at some other drugs that could prevent a certain disease by infecting the person with another virus that overrode the first virus. One of the first such drugs approved by the FDA in the United States, Imlygic, contains an infectious virus, and was used to fight skin cancer. The vaccine contains a live virus that infects and destroys cancer cells and activates the body’s immune system, so it responds to and fights the cancerous cells in a person’s body. One of the major drawbacks of this new drug was that it sometimes could only extend the patient’s life by a matter of months. The research and cost of the drug also make it difficult for many patients to gain the treatment. A similar virus was developed for HIV patients. As recently as March 2015 scientists used a polio virus to help kill a cancer virus. Doctors believed that this was the right approach to killing the super virus. It was just a question as to what virus could knock out the super virus’s combination of influenza, plague and rabies.

  Unlike the costly skin cancer drug, the U.S. Government and other governments of the world weren’t worrying about how much a vaccine against the super virus was going to cost. It was a matter of finding a cure or at least something to slow it down, or eventually over half the world’s population could be dead. Some protest groups even cheered this fact, as many felt that the world had become too overpopulated and that maybe a good pandemic was what we needed to get back on track.

  Scientists also believed that certain viruses could be killed by shaking them using frequencies. This theory said that vibrations caused by ultrasound could disrupt the outer shell of the virus and cause it to become inactivated. Another theory involved cleansing a person’s blood, as is done with dialysis, and thus removing the viruses and pathogens present in the blood. The blood would be recycled from a person’s body and laser light would be used to eliminate any pathogens in the blood.

  Many of the methods the Fort Detrick staff looked at were promising, however, given the large number of infectees throughout the world, the big question still remained to be solved. How do we get this cure out to everyone in the world and clean up this mess?

  The scientists finally decided that the virus killing another virus was the way to go. The influenza virus presented no real problems as scientists could come up with a cure for that element of the super virus, just as they had done every year when people get the new and better flu shot. Tackling the plague and rabies was a more serious problem, as so far there was no real cure for rabies once a person becomes infected. Doctors have a vaccine to protect a person against rabies, however, untreated patients, who are bitten and infected, have only the smallest chance of recovering from the deadly disease. Death is almost always certain. The same is true of the plague. Vaccines exist to help prevent an exposed person from contracting the disease, however, once infected the cure becomes more difficult. One current medication, however, is used for curing the plague and has the bonus side effect of curing pneumonia, which would be particularly helpful with the Asian strain of the super virus.

  The big question was how to treat the super virus in its entirety and get it to the masses who potentially had been exposed. Scientists considered vaccines, placing some sort of vaccine in the public’s water supply and then people would just continue to drink water everyday or using an aerosol dispersement over a city or rural area. The main problem with the aerosol was that everyone had to be outside when the remedy was sprayed over the city.

  The search for the cure continued, but the solution, although appearing very close, was still out of the reach for the time being.

  ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD

  The virus was remaining in check in South America although it had finally reached the continent’s shores. Asia was still the hotbed although that too was coming under control since the governments initiated their curfews and people were no longer strolling the streets. Europe had some cases but was fairing better than the other locations around the globe and the Middle East had relatively few cases there. Many of the Middle Eastern countries had initiated a very strict no fly policy shortly after the Asia outbreak and so very few people who could have been infectees, ever reached there. The scientists also theorized that the extreme heat in most of these countries was very climate unfriendly to the virus and, even if it came in contact with some people, the degree of contagion would be limited.

  The CDC continued to monitor outbreaks in countries and cities that had gone virus free until that point. Global Response Teams were sent to cities where the initial outbreaks were bad or where the doctors thought it could get worse. There were still undead roaming the streets of several of the major Asian cities and the military and police were doing a good job in searching out the hordes and eliminating them before they could infect additional people. The American Embassy in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur, two of the hardest hit locations, continued to keep Washington appraised of how the virus was progressing there. Both embassies had since gone to a mandatory departure of their employees and most returned home to the U.S. where the chance of contracting the super virus was greatly reduced. Only skeleton staffs of principal officers and security personnel remained. There were continual skirmishes at both embassies as a number of outsiders realized that it was probably one of the safer places in the city and rumors had it that the Americans had adequate supplies of food and essentials on hand. Almost daily people tried to scale the fences but were repelled by the Marine Security Guards stationed there.

  One of the CDC Response Teams still remained at German Intelligence Headquarters looking for additional information about the super virus and its deployment to America during the war. So far most of the files with any substance had been recovered, although it was hoped that somewhere in the extensive repository some information might be discovered as to whether Mengele had even developed a vaccine for the virus he produced.

  The medical staffs in Asia had recently been in touch with Fort Detrick and, after a number of video conferences; everyone was now trying to come up with a virus, anti-virus. Most medical experts agreed that if a strong enough virus could be identified they might be able to use that virus to override the super virus. The big question was, what virus? They started to look at what vaccinations the average child and adult receives and came up with a list they decided to use as a starting point. Childhood vaccines included measles, meningitis, polio, tetanus, whooping cough, mumps, rubella, pneumococcal, Hepatic A and B, Zoster, Diphtheria and your everyday influenza. Most of the labs had samples of the super virus strain and so researchers began attempting to mutate that strain with one of childhood vaccines in hopes that one of these viruses would overpower it. Everyone knew it would be a long and tedious process but right now it was the only hope anyone had for finding a cure. They also went back to see what anti-viruses the military had developed during the Cold War in anticipation of a biological attack by the Russians.

  Despite the fact that a major part of the world was inundated with trying to find a cure for the super virus and patrolling their streets for those who had turned because of it, terrorism as we know it was still in full swing. Terrorist groups like al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Taliban, Boko Haram and ISIS, were still carrying out attacks around the world. From the start of 2015 until mid-year over 1,000 had been killed outside of Iraq and Syria. Beheadings and attacks on tourist locations were continually in the newspapers and the headlines were divided between the super virus and terrorism. Many of the
attacks involved “lone wolves” who decided that they would undertake their personal jihad against the government of some nation or against an individual. Spectacular bombings were shown on the television and people around the world had to worry about two enemies, the Nazi super virus and ISIS and its subordinate groups. Police and the military were split in fighting the two and not only did they have to fight walking dead around their cities, but they had to worry that someone hadn’t planted a bomb somewhere too. The fact that most airlines were not flying to any countries helped to eliminate some of the problem, but most European and Asian cities already had terrorist sympathizers among them. The groups became more brazen as time went on and they knew that they weren’t the primary concern of most governments at the moment. While many of the groups had originally concentrated their attacks in the Middle East, they now directed efforts on targets in Europe, and the United States was also high on their list of places to attack. The population was torn and frightened and didn’t know if they would become infected with the super virus, be attacked by an infectee, or be shot or blown up by a terrorist group or “lone wolf.”

  The President of the United States met daily with his National Security advisors to discuss the situation as it applied to these two concerns. After one meeting in August he met with General Sutherland, who headed the U.S. military effort against both ISIS and containment of the super virus. The General discussed how the military had located a lost German U-boat off the shores of North Carolina and extracted a piece of cargo the sub had been carrying. He discussed how the Germans had sent three subs to the U.S. toward the end of World War II, with the intention of launching a biological attack against the Americans. He said that one of the cargoes had been responsible for the New York attacks that had taken place a number of months prior. The second cargo was responsible for the virus that was now spreading around the world and the last cargo was what they had just recovered in July. Sutherland then turned his attention to the present ISIS situation and how they were becoming more powerful and brazen in their attacks and that it was just a matter of time before the U.S. had another attack like the World Trade Center. Even though the President was well aware of what had taken place so far in 2015, the General decided to stress some of the recent attacks worldwide. Many had received front-page news coverage, however, many were small and overtaken by other news. He talked about how Boko Haram had carried out a number of attacks in the African nations with major events taking place in Nigeria and Kenya. Yemen also seemed to have more than its share of attacks and it was a known fact that ISIS had major training centers throughout that country. Early in 2015, terrorists had attacked the offices of the satirical news magazine “Charlie Hebdo” and killed 12 people after the magazine had printed an article against the prophet. In February 2015, Boko Haram had killed at least 90 people and injured over 500 in a town outside of Fotokol, Cameroon. In March gunmen attacked the Bardo Museum in the center of Tunis and killed 21, including 18 foreign tourists. That same month Islamic State militants carried out five suicide bombings in Sana’a, Yemen, and killed 137 people and injured close to 350. In April, gunmen associated with the Islamic terrorist group Al-Shabaab, opened fire on students at Garissa University in Kenya and killed over 150 people. In June, fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq detonated three car bombs in Kobani, near the Turkish border, and killed 146. That same month 27 people were killed and 227 injured when a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in Kuwait City, Kuwait. Another attack took place on June 26th when terrorists attacked tourists in the Tunisian town of Sousse. The General said the list went on and on and he and the Joint Chiefs had discussed the matter and believed it was time for the Americans to think about a major retaliatory strike on ISIS and perhaps Boko Haram. The General added that he had several ideas he would like to run past the President, if he eventually agreed to such an attack. The President said he would sleep on the idea and get back to the General soon.

  Later that month a man opened fire with an AKM assault rifle on a Thalys high-speed train between Amsterdam and Paris. Two U.S. Military members and their friend intervened and stopped the attack from turning into a blood bath. Both the American and French Presidents later honored them for their heroic actions.

  THE BADNESS CONTINUES

  The carnage continued throughout Asia and parts of Europe, with isolated cases still popping up around the Washington, D.C. and Wilmington, NC, areas. Reports continued to come into the CDC and Army Medical Command about hordes of undead still roaming through the streets of many of the major cities of the world. South America was also seeing a slight increase in infectee cases since the virus made its way there.

  One particularly bad incident took place at the Navy Ship Yard just outside the U.S. capital. A number of infectees eluded the authorities and somehow managed to find some old drainage tunnels that led into the shipyard, thus avoiding the perimeter fencing and security. When they again came above ground they were right in the middle of the facility and went on a wild rampage, killing over fifty people and injuring over a hundred before military sentries arrived and put a stop to their attacks.

  In another interesting incident, a small horde found an entrance into one of the old catacombs that ran under the streets of Rome, Italy. When they exited the tunnel system they were right in the middle of the American Embassy compound. The compound, which is protected by a high metal fence and armed guards at the perimeter, had a lesser amount of security once inside. They lied in wait until some unsuspecting employees came around the corner after enjoying their morning cappuccino at the snack bar on the compound. The horde immediately encircled the unsuspecting Italians, and when they were finished, over ten employees were dead before Marine Security Guards responded after watching the incident on their CCTV monitors. In another Rome incident, a horde used the tunnel system under the city to make their way to the Via Veneto part of town where all the exclusive restaurants and coffee bars are located. Somehow they figured out that if they wore coats and hats over their deforming bodies they could evade detection by passersby until they reached their destination. They strolled casually down the avenue before stopping and springing on some coffee drinkers at a sidewalk cafe. Fortunately some alert Carabinieri were nearby and responded quickly with guns blazing. Only three bystanders were killed in this incident although police, and later CDC teams, were amazed that the horde had resorted to a sort of disguise to carry out their attack.

  A number of reported incidents from around the world started to reveal that the infectees were using a certain degree of brainpower; at least what was left of the brain after the virus infected it. More and more incidents began to spring up where infectees used attack routes that illustrated some degree of reasoning. In the recent Rome attack, they had resorted to a kind of disguise to avoid detection. In an incident in South America, some infectees on an ocean vessel had used a small dingy to reach shore before authorities noticed them and eliminated the threat. In an incident at a military base in Europe, an infectee, a former pilot, hid on an outgoing transport plane and once the plane was airborne, attacked and killed the crew of the plane before taking over the controls of the aircraft. He was able to fly the plane a fairly long distance before authorities became suspicious when they couldn’t reach the flight crew on the radio and began to think the worst had happened. A fighter group was scrambled and after it was visually confirmed that it was an infectee at the controls and not the original pilot, the plane was shot down using two AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles. In another incident at a popular beach in South America, infectees covered themselves with robes before they made their approach on some unsuspecting sunbathers. When they finally dropped their robes the sunbathers were shocked to see what was underneath. Fortunately one bather had his 9mm pistol with him and he took out the threat before they could attack.

  Scientists were starting to worry that the virus had mutated ever more as the number of incidents continued to grow where infectees were actually reasoning more and more. Some of the bodies
of the killed were taken back to labs where scientists and doctors examined their brains to see what was causing this phenomenon. Some of the forensic pathology findings were startling. It appeared that some infectees were experiencing a process called Autophagy. Autophagy is a normal physiological process that deals with the destruction of cells in the body. It involves the body turning over destroyed cell organelles using existing proteins and forming new cell formations. The brains of some of the examined infectees revealed that their brains had actually rejuvenated and that some of the frontal lobe areas, which should have been completely destroyed by the super virus, had now recycled and were actively working to some degree. Enough of the brain was destroyed so the infectee would never be able to return to his normal self, however, enough of the brain experienced Autophagy to enable the infectee to reason again. Scientists estimated that some affected infectees were now processing information at about the same level as a third or fourth grader but this allowed them to make decisions that the normal infectee could not. They also theorized that only about thirty per cent of the infected had or would undergo this transformation. When the world leaders were informed of this discovery they grew even more concerned that the fight against the virus would take longer than they hoped.

  The doctors at Fort Detrick had managed to capture two specimens displaying the Autophagy syndrome, as they were now calling it. They decided they would perform a number of simple mental agility tests to see how much reasoning an infectee actually possessed.

  The first test was the Knox Cubes, a nonverbal intelligence test, which used a pegboard with different shaped holes and colored pegs to see if the person could reason where to place the correct peg. One infectee was able to correctly place almost 75% of pegs before he flew off on a rage and threw the board against the wall. The second test was the Proteus Maze, which measures the psychological planning capacity of a person. The two infectees were placed in a specially constructed room with a basic maze. Many of the maze runs led to dead ends and then one had to retrace his steps back in the maze in order to advance to the end. One infectee acted as the leader while the other appeared to follow him. At one point when the lead infectee began to make a wrong turn, which would have led to a dead end. The second infectee nudged him and motioned to an alternate route. After twenty minutes the two infectees had navigated the maze and stood outside of it. The last test, Picture Concepts, involved showing the infectees a line of five pictures, one of which was different from the other four. Both infectees managed to cross out the incorrect picture on 30% of the picture gallery.