“People. We are stretched too thin to be effective. We can cover most of the routes but we don’t have enough to deter people from slipping through the cracks.”
“By people you mean the military?”
“Regular military, reserves or whatever we can get. Until we can plug the cracks we are going to have continued spreading.”
“General Ashford, what can you do to help?”
General Ashford was short, five-six or seven, one hundred and eighty pounds of solid muscle and a face that looked like it had been chiseled out of granite. His voice was deep and authoritative.
“Madam Acting President, we can pull troops from every major installation. The same for reserve units although most are already on duty. If you will authorize it, I can require full support from the Army, Air Force, and the Navy as long as the Secretary of Defense gives his blessing,” he said.
“They would be placed under your command?”
“I am willing to take that position if you so wish,” he said carefully.
“Roy?”
“I have no objection. We would need someone to be in command and not having too many chiefs and not enough Indians is the best way to go in my opinion,” Roy Ash, the Secretary of Defense said.
She was just about to say something when her phone buzzed. She looked at it, annoyed. She had specifically instructed the outer office not to interrupt her. She finally reached over and picked up the receiver.
“Yes,” she said coldly.
“I know Madam President but President André LeMain is calling from France and urgently wants to speak to you. Do you want me to stall him?”
“No. Put him through,” she said squeezing the bridge of her nose between her finger and thumb.
“Madam Toll,” he said, not addressing her as President, “I wish to inform you that reports of Ebola are starting to surface in several areas of France.”
“I see. Monsieur LeMaine, that is indeed terrible news. I am so sorry to hear that you are facing such a devastating dilemma,” she said smoothly.
“Oui. As I understand it, this virus originated in your country, is that not so?”
“No Monsieur LeMain. Ebola originated in Africa as I understand it, not in America.”
“Yes, but this latest outbreak. It came from your country.”
“That is yet to be determined. It could have well have been carried in by someone from any number of countries. All it takes is one infected person passing through and it can spread from there.”
“I see. I would like to speak to President Thornburg if I may,” he said abruptly.
“I’m so sorry. President Thornburg is simply unable to communicate at this time.”
“Unable? I don’t believe I understand.”
“I’m sorry, what is it that you don’t understand?”
“Presidents are never unable to communicate,” he said, his voice rising slightly.
“Well, Monsieur LeMaine there is a first for everything is that not so?”
“I see. Then I will call when he can communicate. Adieu Madam Toll.”
“Goodbye Monsieur LeMaine,” she said and hung up the phone.
“Alright General, you make the necessary arrangements along with Mr. Ash and I will approve them. I also want a report from every state even if it is just to report no cases. I don’t want us guessing. Mr.” she stopped herself, “Sorry, Doctor Peel I would like a daily update on deaths and cases. Is there any hope of discovering a vaccine to stop the monster?”
“Madam President, we are looking at anything and everything. I have a full time lab dedicated to just that. Our biggest problem is that the Chimera keeps changing. We may have made some progress in determining how it came about in terms of origin.”
“You do? Please share that information with us,” she said leaning forward.
“Madam President...”
“Oh stop it. Madam this and that. It’s too big a mouth full and I don’t care a bit about the protocol.
“Alright. Mrs. Toll, at this time it is just supposition. I would ask that you give me a little more time. The last thing I want to do is take you down a wrong path.”
“I see. Just from the way you said that it leaves me to believe this may not be an entirely random event.”
“Mrs. Toll, it is simply too early to say anything else at this point.”
“Alright doctor. But as soon as you know, I want to know.”
“Absolutely.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Jerry sat in the back of his van counting his money. He had raked in almost fifteen thousand dollars in two days alone. He was considering raising the price to three hundred but decided to leave well enough alone unless he knew they were wealthy.
There was a knock on the side of his van. He quickly shoved the money back in the suitcase and put a cover over it.
“Hello,” he said as he slid the side door open.
A young cop stood there. Oh, crap, he thought. They have tumbled on to him already. Damn, damn, damn.
“What can I do for you officer?”
“You’re Jerry Washburn, right?”
“Uh, yes. That would be me. How can I help you?”
“You’re the one that is selling the vaccine for the Ebola virus, right?”
“What is it you want officer?” he said, intestinally avoiding answering the question.
“Look, I’m married. Actually, just got married. With everything going crazy we decided to tie the knot.”
“Excellent. I thing that was a smart thing to do. Waiting is not such a good idea at this time, you know what I mean?”
“Yeah, that’s what we thought too.”
“So, how can I help you officer?”
“Well, sir. We don’t have much money. The police force doesn’t pay a lot when you first get started. I’ve only been on the force since the Ebola thing broke out.”
“And you want the vaccine for you and your new bride,” Jerry said.
“No sir. Just for her. I was able to scrape two hundred dollars together. I just want to make sure she is safe. I’ll take my chances. I don’t want anything to happen to Jenny.”
“What is your name officer?”
“Andy Metzer.”
“Andy, I’ll tell you what. I’m willing to help you under one condition.”
“What kind of condition?”
“That you don’t tell a single sole that I gave you two bottles of the vaccine for free.”
He’s eyes got wide as he looked at Jerry.
“Sir. I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. Just promise that you will not tell anyone, even your wife, about how you got it and that it was free. Can you do that?”
“Yes sir I can. I...Bless you Mr. Washburn. What a wonderful thing to do.”
“Look, you cops are in enough danger as it is. This is just a gift for all your service,” he said and handed him the two bottles.
“I can never thank you enough,” Andy said, his voice choked. He looked like he was almost ready to cry.
“Go home Officer Andy and take care of that young woman of yours.”
The officer turned and Jerry could hear him sniffing back tears.
When he was gone, Jerry sat there a long time, just looking out at the parking lot. Finally he closed the door, got in the driver’s seat and drove off. He made one quick stop. At a trash dumpster where he threw the bottles of water against the side, making sure each was smashed. He then drove off and never looked back.
**
“So how in the world are we going to do this? Five miles is a hell of a long way down. And then how do we know they can be adequately protected?” Mark said.
“I have an engineer friend coming in a few hours. He helped build a dozen or so megabuildings. The man is a genius when it comes to overcoming obstacles,” Randal told him.
“Going up a mile and down five is a heck of a lot different in my mind.”
“I guess we will just h
ave to wait and see what he comes up with.”
“You know, I could put you in a bio suit, strap a parachute on your back and shove you in.”
“How would I get back up?”
“Your friend can work on that while you are on your way down.”
“Obviously the CDC has one very sick Director. The Ebola must have turned his brain to mush.”
“Doctor Peel, Doctor Riser. Here are the latest figures,” the young man said.
Randal looked then over then passed the sheet over to Mark. He went right to the bottom of the sheet then looked up.
“It was bound to happen sooner or later,” he finally said.
“A quarter of a million people dead and over a million new cases reported.”
“It is only going to get worse worldwide. When I talked to the President this morning she said Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria all have had cases reported.”
“What about China?”
“I don’t think they are going to share that kind of information with us. Bad ‘face’ or whatever they call it,” Randal told him.
“Then these are just the countries that will share information. We know nothing about the Pacific Rim. Some of those countries are pretty medically challenged. They could have hundreds or thousands of cases and not even know it,” Mark replied.
“I’m afraid you are exactly right.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CTV NEWS: America suffered its worst day of rioting since the sixties and seventies. Clashes between police and protesters and looters broke out across the nation yesterday and last night. Fighting was reported in California, Washington State, Detroit, Chicago, Pittsburg, and Washington D.C. So far two hundred and ninety-seven people are reported dead while the number of injured is estimated to be in the thousands.
Police have been outnumbered as more and more looters join in the fray. Police Chief Jason Potts was quoted as saying “We are seeing the worse element in society looking at this as a time to be totally lawless. They are the absolute dregs of society.”
Several other police chiefs echoed similar sentiments. One chief went as far as to call them ‘filthy slime, the scum of the earth’.
***
Acting President Toll reached for the remote and turned off the television. The six newspapers stacked neatly on her desk all said essentially the same. Not only were they fighting a deadly virus but an equally deadly disease, loss of hope.
The virus had now been reported in thirty-nine states and fourteen countries. The death toll worldwide surpassed five million people with over sixteen million suspected cases, when she finally went to bed late last night.
People in almost every country were wearing a face mask of one type or another. Many states and even countries did not even have enough masks for the entire population so they were forced to improvise.
On top of that, the number of military infected by the virus had left the lines to prevent travel even thinner.
“What do you think we should do?” she asked the Secretary of State.
“I’ve been talk it over with General Ashford and we agree, based on your approval, that we should redefine the goal. Forty-six states have known cases. The four remaining states are safe for the moment. With the number of deaths within our military mounting, we are suggesting we redeploy our troops to protect those states.”
“You mean allow travel between infected states?” she asked.
“The feeling is that we need to make sure this spreads no further. Right now those that believe they do not have Ebola may try to flee to states with no reported cases. If even one gets in that should happen to have it, then we lose another state in a short period of time.”
“I don’t know Roy. Think about that for a moment. What if you had no symptoms and felt perfectly healthy. As more and more contract the disease in Washington would you consider going to a place you knew was safe?”
Roy sat back and rubbed his forehead. Actually he had been considering sending his family to New Mexico, one of the uninfected states. Now he was being asked if he would be willing to abide by his own suggestion.
“I see your point,” he finally said, “But think of the strain it would put on those states? Their infrastructure would be overwhelmed in a short time. States are having to be self-sufficient as it is. New Mexico for example has little in the way of farming. A huge influx of people would deplete their supplies in short order. Then what? We would have the same things happening in Albuquerque as are going on in Los Angeles. The fighting would be over food this time,” he replied.
“Roy we are in one hell of a pickle. It’s damned if we do and damned if we don’t. The only thing I do know is that we have to do something. Sitting on our hands isn’t going to do us one bit of good.”
“I understand and feel your pain. I honestly believe keeping those four states free from infection should be our major concern right now.”
“Can the troops really do that? Keep everyone in or out of the states?”
“Short of building a fifteen foot wall around each of the states, it is our best option.”
“Just to make sure I totally understand you, we would pull all our troops from the infected states, all forty-six of them and utilize them to sequester the remaining four states. Is that correct?” she asked.
“Yes. That is the suggestion at this time but like all things, we may be forced to change tactics as the situation warrants,” Roy warned.
“Yes, I fully understand that Roy. Then I assume if one of the protected states suddenly has an outbreak, the troops will be moved to bolster the protection of the other states?”
“That’s our thinking right at the moment,” he replied.
“Boy. I don’t like it much but I see the necessity. What you are saying makes sense. Alright Roy. Tell the General that I approve of the plan. Please let me know the minute the status of any of the state’s changes. I feel bad because it will look like we have more or less abandoned the infected states. It's like we have pronounced a death sentence on them.”
“War is hell Madam President. Make no mistake about it, we are at war.”
“Yes we are,” was all she could say.
CHAPTER THIRTY
After Bud dropped him off at the landing, Ed started the long walk to his house. He knew it was just a little over five miles to the ferry landing from his place.
When he was younger he used to run from his house to the ferry and back as part of his routine. How he was walking along dragging his beat-up suitcase. He had always scoffed at the fancy ones with wheels but right now he was wishing he had one.
The first couple of miles had been okay but the further he walked, the heavier the suitcase seemed to become. You know, he said to himself, there was a time when I could have run home with this in my arms and not even be winded. Then he laughed. That time was long past.
By the third mile he had to stop and rest. That’s when he decided he was going about this the wrong way. The road he was on was seldom traveled. He decided to just lay the suitcase on its side and cover it with some brush. Once he got home he could come back and get it in their other car.
Having to leave the good family car in Kentucky was a pain but Bud had assured him that it would be okay and he could come back and get it when all of this all blew over.
He looked over his handywork and then started on down the road. It seemed to take longer than he remembered but as the sun started to rise, he could just make out his house. It wasn’t more than a half mile down the road now.
Night gave up its hold on day and the sun started to creep over the horizon. He was tired but was not about to stop at this point. Finally he reached the neat white fence that ran along the front of the property. His wife would certainly be surprised he thought as he started to slip his key in the door.
The door swung open before he could unlock it. That was totally unexpected. Meg had always double checked to make sure the doors were locked when he wasn’t home. He shov
ed the door open and knew immediately something was terribly wrong. It was the smell that hit him first. It was so pungent that it almost took his breath away.
Even through his mask he could hardly breathe. He took a tentative step into the house and turned on the lights. Everything seemed to be just like when he left. He checked the kitchen. The dishes were sitting in the drain board and everything was neat and clean except for one plate with a half-eaten sandwich.
He slowly climbed the stairs. He didn’t have to go into the bedroom to know that something terrible had happened. He looked in and saw Meg and his two girls lying under the covers. Maggots were crawling around on their faces and flies were everywhere. There was nothing he could do. Somehow the virus had gotten to them.
He slowly walked back downstairs, out to the garage and closed the garage door. He rolled down all the windows in the car and started it up. He laid his head back, turned on the radio to one of his favorite stations and went to join his family.
**
“Mark I would like you to meet my good friend, Buck Martin,” Randal said.
Buck was a raw boned, leather faced man who looked to be between thirty and a hundred depending on how the light hit him. He stuck out a large calloused hand and almost crushed Mark's. He wasn’t trying, it was just that he didn’t even know his own strength.
“Nice to meet you Mark. Randy here has been telling me nothing but good things about you,” he said with sort of a Texas draw.
“Heard good things about you too Mr. Martin,” Mark replied, trying not to rub his hand. He was a doctor, not a damned roughneck.
“Now as I understand the problem, you got something at the bottom of a very deep hole in the ground and you want to send someone down to take a look.”
“Essentially that is what we have in mind.”
“By deep hole, Randy here tells me it is over 26,000 feet. That seems a tad far. How did it get there?” he asked scratching his chin.
“Well sir, we don’t know. It just is,” Mark said.
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