“Ronald?”
“Hmmmmm?” Ronald answered with a mouthful of food.
“Look at that girl over there, the one with long auburn hair.”
“Tracy?” Ronald answered after he swallowed.
Austin looked at Ronald and smiled, “Do you know her?”
“Well, no, I mean we talk while I’m getting my order,” he answered awkwardly.
“So that’s what takes you so long,” Austin laughed. “Do you notice anything strange about here?”
Ronald’s head jerked up in surprise. “Austin, she’s a great girl!” He looked at Tracy then back to Austin. He did this a couple of times and then it dawned on him. “She hasn’t changed has she?”
“I don’t think so.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to go talk to her.”
Ronald quickly followed Austin to where Tracy was standing. “Hi Tracy, we’re wondering if we could talk to you for a moment.”
“Sure.” She said happily. “What can I do for you?”
“Let’s go somewhere quiet.” Austin suggested.
Tracy looked at Ronald then followed the two men to a small room the nutritionist used as an office. Tracy poked her head into the room. “Missus Mueller, may we use your office for a moment?”
Missus Mueller looked up in surprise. “Why Tracy?”
Austin steeped in front of Tracy. “I’m one of the scientists working on level eight.” He paused for dramatization then went on, “I need to talk to this young lady.”
The woman quickly rose from her desk, “Oh, of course.” Pointing to a chair, she added, “Take all the time you need.”
“Sit down Tracy.” Before he closed the door, he added, “I’m Austin and you know Ronald.”
She smiled at Ronald. “Yes.”
Austin was not sure how to start the conversation. He didn’t want to scare the young woman, but always found the best way was to just state the facts. “I noticed that you haven’t had any of the changes the rest of us have had; unless of course you are dying your hair.”
Fear registered on Tracy’s face as she sat paralyzed in the chair. She wasn’t sure how to answer the accusation, so she just sat in silence looking from one man to the other. “No, I’m not dying my hair.”
Ronald kneeled down next to her. “It’s okay, Tracy. It’s just that you seem to be the only one who doesn’t have characteristics the rest of us have come to share.”
“You seem to be immune.” Austin stated.
“What are you going to do to me?” Her eyes were terror filled.
Austin was shocked; did this young woman think they were going to experiment on her? “Nothing, well, I’ll want to send you to a place where we can keep you from the virus.”
“Send me? Send me where?”
“I don’t know yet.” Austin ran his hand through his hair trying to put everything in order in his mind. It hadn’t occurred to him that there would be some immune to the virus, not one piece of data showed there could be those who would be immune. Now that he knew this, he felt a need to segregate them. He didn’t want to run the risk that his virus could mutate to the extent that she would no longer be able to withstand it.
“We will find a place for you and others who are immune to keep you safe.”
“I don’t want to be put away somewhere.” Tracy slowly shifted from fear to agitation
“No it won’t be like that.” Ronald interjected.
“There will be others who are immune. You probably have family members who are also immune that would join you there.” Austin added.
“Others like me?” Tracy mumbled, almost to herself.
“There must be others who are immune,” Austin clarified. Turning to Ronald he added, “We need to get on this quickly.”
The three left the room. As Tracy turned to go back to her position in the cafeteria Austin gently grabbed her arm. “No, Tracy, you need to come with us.”
“Now? But no one knows I’m leaving, what about my things?”
“Someone else can get your things later. We don’t want the others to realize you haven’t changed. We’re going to tell them you have an unusual mutation of the virus.”
The two followed Austin to Irene’s office. Austin explained what was happening, or in this case not happening, and put Tracy in her care. Immediately, Irene put the word out to the military that they found a young woman immune to the virus. They wanted to get her to a safe place before anyone found out and they needed to start looking for others with the immunity.
She began asking Tracy about her family, explaining that they might have the same immunity as she does. Irene wanted everything done quickly and quietly. She thought that this could be a great breakthrough in finding a cure, and if not a cure, this young woman and the others like her may be the only way to repopulate the world with the diversity that was being taken from them.
Great care was taken to keep those immune safe. This could be humanity’s salvation. Irene shared the knowledge that there were a few with immunity to the virus with a select few scientists around the world so they would be able to save some of their heritage as well.
General Harmon was put in charge of setting up compounds to house those immune. He called in his sergeant major. “I want an account of all our military bases in the United States. I need to know how far from the general population they are, if they are self-sustaining, and if they are closed.”
“Yes, sir.”
Not an hour later General Harmon had a knock at his door. “Yes, come in.”
“I have the information you wanted, sir,” the sergeant major said as he handed the general papers on the military bases.
The General looked at the print out and decided on the locations that were best suited for the relocation camps. He picked up the phone and dialed the first number. “Colonel, this is General Harmon, I have orders for you to close your base. Effective immediately.”
“But, sir.”
“I want everyone and everything off the base by the end of the day tomorrow.”
“Sir, that’s— ”
“I don’t care what you have to do or how you have to do it. Work around the clock and bring in whatever you need to get it done, but, get it done!” The general slammed the phone down.
He did this until he contacted all the bases he needed. Each phase of the job would be done by the military, but they would have no contact with the group that did a job before or after them at the bases to insure no one but a select few knew why this was occurring. They had to be sure those not infected would be safe.
Once a base was cleared it was disinfected then truck after truck brought in all types of equipment, household items, food and livestock. The trucks were staggered in time and brought in one gate and out another so the driver did not see everything being brought in. Those unloading the trucks were used for four hour increments and then sent elsewhere. By keeping everything in separate stages they were able to keep what the true use of the barracks would be for from others.
***
The remainder of Tracy’s time was spent in her room. They had to keep her segregated from those infected until she could be moved into one of the compounds. Before she left the science lab they took samples of her blood, urine, and hair.
One other woman with the immunity was found by hospital staff and was sent to Irene’s lab to be held with Tracy until they could be moved to the clean compound. Now both women could be sent on to what Irene hoped a safe place for future humans.
When one with immunity was found, they would be taken to the nearest military base for isolation to make sure they were truly immune.
“You can’t do this!” One young man yelled at the MP’s.
“You have to come with us, sir.” One of the young soldiers insisted.
“No, no you can’t do this.” The man kept yelling as two MP’s each grabbed one of his arms.
He was put in the back seat of their vehicle with one of the MP’s w
hile the other got in the front seat and drove off.
“How can you do this to me?”
“Sir, all will be explained to you once you are at the base.” The MP in the back seat answered.
The ride was a quiet one until they arrived at the base. Craig, the MP in the back seat, got out and opened the door for the young man. “Don’t worry Mister Cooper, everything will be okay.”
“How can you say that? You just drug me out of my home. Took me from my family! To bring me here. Why? Why a military base?”
“All those questions will be answered soon.” Craig nodded toward the entrance.
As they entered the building Mister Cooper looked around and was surprised at the miniscule amount of people there. He thought it was a closed base, there were only a few cars in the parking lot and they were parked behind buildings so they couldn’t be seen from the road. He followed Craig until they came to a room.
Craig opened a door and stood aside, motioning for him to go in. “Please wait here.”
Ben entered the room and turned to say something when the door was closed. He walked over to try to open it and found it was locked. As he banged on the door he yelled, “Let me out of here. You can’t do this, let me out.”
He looked around the room and saw it had a bed, dresser, closet, and full bathroom. It was rather small but had all the essentials. He sat on the bed wondering how long he would have to wait. As boredom set in he saw on the dresser a TV and went to turn it on, he found a channel he liked and began watching it. It was a few hours later when there was a knock at the door and then it opened.
“Mister Cooper.”
“Ben.”
Craig was now dressed in civilian clothing. “I’m sorry, Ben, here’s your supper.”
“My supper? What do you mean my supper? I want out of here.”
“That is impossible. You have to talk to the captain first.”
“Okay, where is he?”
“He will talk to you soon.” Craig put the tray on the dresser next to the TV and walked out of the room.
Ben heard the door being locked once again. He waited a few moments after he felt the MP had left then tried the door. Yeah, still locked in.
He ate his supper and watched more TV until he was so tired he turned in. The next morning he was wakened by a knock on the door.
“Hi Ben.” Craig entered the room as he sat up. “I brought your breakfast.”
“Will I be seeing the captain soon?”
“I have no knowledge of when the captain will see you, I’m sorry. You’ll just have to wait. I did bring a deck of cards. When you’re finished eating do you want to play a few hands?”
For a moment Ben just looked at the man in front of him. After thinking for a moment he nodded. “Yea, it will at least help the time pass.”
The two men sat playing poker for over three hours. They were interrupted with a call to the MP. He answered and after a few short moments he hung up. “I have to go. I’ll bring your lunch in a few.”
Craig brought Ben his lunch an hour later. “Maybe after dinner we can play some more poker.” He set his lunch on the dresser and left.
All Ben could do was stand there and watch the other man leave. He couldn’t believe he was being held by his government against his will. None of it made sense, but the fact he was free of the flux was a great concern to him. What if they want to experiment on me? How can I escape from a military base?
That evening the two men played poker until late, then Craig once again excused himself. Each day went as the one before it until the fifth day when Craig knocked on the door, brought breakfast in and waited.
“You gonna hang for a while?”
“No. When you’re finished with breakfast I’m to take you to see the captain.”
“I’m ready now.” Ben walked toward the door.
“No, you need to eat breakfast. The captain said that I wasn’t to bring you until you had eaten.”
Ben looked at the guy in front of him with concern. “Why?”
“That’s the way the captain wants it. That’s all I know.” In a more casual voice he added, “Look Ben. I know how you feel. Just eat your breakfast and we can see the captain and he will explain everything to you.”
Ben walked over to the tray of food, picked up a piece of toast, and took a bite. He chewed, swallowed, and took a bite of the scrambled eggs. He did this for a few minutes then took a drink of the coffee, grabbed the last piece of toast, and walked to the door.
“I’m done.”
Craig chuckled. “I don’t blame you.” Opening the door and stepping out into the hall he added, “The captain will explain everything to you.”
The MP led him to another room with a small table.
“Have a seat Ben. I’ll let the captain know you’re here.” Craig closed the door and locked it.
Ben sat down. He was wild with rage over being drug out of his home so when the Captain came in he was very angry. Just as the door was opening he yelled, “Why am I here. What gives you the right to drag me out of my home?”
A tall man in an army uniform walked in the room. He motioned to a seat as he went behind the desk to sit. “Mister Cooper.”
“Ben, I’m Ben.”
“Ben, please have a seat.”
Ben looked at the man behind the desk. He was older with graying hair, but very distinguished looking. He slowly sat down. “Okay, please explain.”
“Well Ben, we have noticed that you have not had the changes that others, even in your own family, have had.”
“So, what does that have to do with anything?” Silently Ben had wondered about not having any changes. It didn’t make sense that everyone in his family had changed but him.
“This facility has been designated for filtering out those with immunity to the flux.”
“What do you mean filter?”
“We bring in those who we feel have an immunity to the flux. They are kept here until I know there are no changes then they are sent to a compound with others who are immune.”
“What?” Ben was so dazed by what he was being told he couldn’t take it in.
“You are immune. You will not be allowed to go back to your family. You will be sent with others to a compound that will keep you from the flux.”
The captain started to stand when Ben put both of his hands on the table and shouted, “No.”
“No, what?”
“No, I am not going to any compound. I am going back to my family.”
“No, sir, you are not. You don’t have a choice in the matter. The government is doing this to not only save you, but save a part of humanity that is being ripped from us. You, sir, have no choice in the matter.”
“You can’t do this! There are laws to protect me. You can’t do this.”
“Please, Ben. You have to understand. We are fighting a virus that we just have no idea of what it will ultimately do. What if it keeps mutating and begins to kill people off? What then?”
“If it does that then I want to be with my family. I want to be with them so they aren’t alone. I have that right. I can choose for myself.”
“No. Not anymore.”
***
This played out all across America when someone was noticed to have no changes. They were sent somewhere secluded and if they were found to be free of the flux they were sent to an immunity compound.
The family of the immune person would then be told their family member had contracted the virus and the mutation was accelerated to where they had to be segregated from the general population. Not much was really known about the virus so the excuse seemed plausible.
Chapter Seven
Immunity Compound
In her room at the lab, Tracy’s phone rang. “Hello.”
“Hi, Tracy.”
“Hi Ronald.”
“I wanted to tell you goodbye.”
“Oh?” Tracy said confused.
“They won’t let me see you before you leave.”
&nb
sp; “Oh, they do keep you busy.”
“It’s not that I’m too busy, Tracy. It’s because you are immune, we have to keep you safe.”
“I was hoping to see you before I leave.”
“Me too, but right now we need to protect you so we’ll just have to be patient.”
They talked for over an hour before he had to report for duty. It was a sad end to Tracy’s time at the lab. Her work was not demanding, but she enjoyed meeting new people. She didn’t count on meeting someone like Ronald. He was brilliant and kind. She thought they had hit it off rather well. There was no use dwelling on things she had no control over. She went back to the book she had been reading.
The knock at her door startled her and she jumped up to answer it. “Yes.”
“Miss Smith?” A young woman dressed in military fatigues asked.
“That’s me.”
“I’m Private Patterson. I am to escort you to our take off point.”
“Take off point?”
“Yes ma’am. We’ll depart ASAP.”
As they went out the exit door Tracy felt a rush of fear. Where are they taking me? What are they going to do to me? She followed her guide across a parking lot. She heard the sound of the helicopter before she rounded a building and saw it. She notice there were others already seated in the copter. After the two new comers had buckled in, they took off. It was rather loud so the only acknowledgement one gave another was a nod of their head.
During the flight, Tracy looked at her new companions. All she could see of the pilot was the back of his head, but there was a man sitting across from him. He was older and rather distinguished looking. There were two others with her and Private Patterson. One was a young boy of about seventeen and another man casually dressed around thirty. As she was watching him he tuned from looking out the window, he smiled and nodded his head so she smiled and nodded back.
It seemed surreal to Tracy; being in a helicopter headed to a new… A new what? She already realized she would not be able to see anyone outside the immunity compound for a while, so she guessed she would just have to make a new beginning. The thought of some of her family being there did lift her spirits; she was close to them. Holidays and birthdays were all spent at her grandmothers with all her cousins. It would be very hard not being able to attend the family functions.
Genetic Flux (Phase One Book 1) Page 6