The woman looked back at Daniel, her eyes narrowing. “So you helped him back you say…”
Daniel shrugged. “I just didn’t want to leave him out there by himself. It’s dangerous.”
She cocked her head as she looked at him skeptically. “So you just tryin’ to be a good Christian, are ya?”
Against his better judgement, Daniel decided to tell the truth. “Well, I don’t know about that. I’m not a Christian. I just wanted to help.”
The woman’s eyes widened as she stepped back from him. “Not a Christian? What’s wrong wit choo? Don’t choo see it’s the end of times? You need to get right with God before yer time comes. Ain’t no way you gon’ get in Heaven, otherwise.”
Daniel smiled at her disarmingly. “I appreciate that, but I’m okay. I’d be even better if you’d put down that shotgun. ”
The woman stepped forward threateningly, her grip tightening on the gun. “The Lord works hard ev’day ta keep the nonbelievers like you under his protective wings, and what do you do? In the face of the Armageddon, in the shadow of the Devil, you push him ‘way.” She nudged her head to the side. “You not think all dis is the work of the Devil?”
Daniel shook his head, a somber look on his face. There’d be no more smiling until he got this woman down off the ledge. “Well, it certainly seems bad. I guess it could be.”
The woman did a double take. “You guess? You guess?? People are gon’ crazy, attacking each other. They get sick un’ next thing ya know they killin’ people. If that weren’t bad enough, the bad men come out and try to take control, taking people’s money, food, and water. I heard sometimes they even take the women and girls. Probly rapin’ em.” She raised her head to the sky, speaking loudly. “‘For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come - sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greeed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.’” She lowered her head, tilting it to the side as she looked at him. “It don’t matter what choo believe, though. It’s happening, and ain’t nothin’ you kin do ‘bout it.’
Daniel shook his head again. “You’re right. Nothing I can do. I’m just trying to stay alive.”
The woman nodded smugly, happy that she’d convinced him to agree with her point of view. In an instant, the smug look disappeared, replaced by a look of intense determination. “So you should be praying to the Lord. Repent yer sins and accept Jeezus Christ as yer Lord and Savior!”
“I’m sorry, lady, I can’t do that and I won’t pretend to do so out of fear. Besides, if I did, it wouldn’t be honest.”
“Well, if you ain’t a good Christian, maybe you’s one a dem.” She put the rifle firmly on her shoulder. “Tyler, you go to the bafroom an’ clean up.”
“Mommy don’t hurt him, he’s a nice man.” Tyler protested, still staring at the ground. “He don’t wanna hurt us….”
The woman’s eyes shone wildly, filled with anger. “I said go to the bafroom and clean up! You wanna whippin’?”
Daniel wondered how the thin woman could possibly spank the man, who was considerably bigger than her, but he realized that the man still thought like a child and would most likely not try to fight back.
Tyler shuffled his feet, unwilling to leave. “But, Mom…”
The woman raised her voice even louder, a shrill sound that cut through the air as she shouted. “I said go! Now, go on, get!”
The man-child turned and shuffled away, still holding his elbow at his side as he walked to the restrooms. As he entered the brick opening that curved into the men’s room, the woman spoke to Daniel again.
“Seems like you been a bad influence on ma boy.”
Daniel shook his head, his hand still up. “I just tried to help him.”
“Don’t lie. You lyin’ proves the Devil is in you.” Lowering her head to fix Daniel in the rifle’s sight, she continued.
“‘Praise be the Lord, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.’”
Her eyes widened at the feeling of cold metal against the back of her head, accompanied by the sound of Serafina’s voice. “Put. The gun. Down.”
The woman hesitated, unsure of what to do, even though her next actions had been explicitly stated. Instead, she raised her voice again, preaching.
“‘The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion.’”
The woman turned her head slightly in an effort to see Serafina, the gun still trained on Daniel. “Are you wicked?” She asked, a sly smile on her face.
Serafina’s face was one of firm resolve. “I’ll tell you what I am. I’m a person who doesn’t appreciate someone like you threatening my husband. Now either put the gun down, or I’ll put a bullet in your head.”
Anger came over the woman’s face as she slowly lowered the gun. When the barrel was finally no longer pointed at Daniel, he relaxed, letting his arms come down.
“All the way to the ground.” Serafina ordered.
The woman slowly crouched and set the gun on the ground, her back still to Serafina. When she was done, she stood back up, slowly, bringing her hands up.
“‘The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him All his thoughts are, "There is no God."’”
Serafina shook her head, pushing the woman forward, away from the gun. “I’m getting pretty sick of your preaching, so why don’t you give it a rest?”
The woman went silent as she was led forward, over to a nearby bench. Her face took on a calmness that was a dramatic change from the look of anger that had been there a mere sixty seconds before.
“Have a seat.” Serafina ordered.
Daniel walked over to his wife’s side. Looking down at the woman, he thanked Serafina. “Thanks sweetie. You saved my ass.”
“No shit.”
The woman recoiled at Serafina’s words as she’d been struck, a look of fear on her face. She looked at Daniel, pleading. “Please don’t let her hurt my boy.”
Shocked, Serafina stepped back, lowering her gun. “I’m not going to hurt your boy.” She shook her head. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Daniel reached out and laid a hand on his wife’s arm, trying to calm her.
She shrugged it off, angrily. “If we wanted to hurt either of you, we would have.” She raised her left hand and pointed at the woman, keeping the gun in her right hand pointed at the ground. “You’re the one who aimed a gun at my husband after he helped your son get back here. Seriously, what’s your problem?”
The woman looked away, muttering under her breath.
“‘So are the paths of all who forget God; And the hope of the godless will perish.’”
Daniel spoke up this time, putting his hand out towards her. “Enough with the sermons, lady. Seriously.”
“Mommy?”
Looking over, the three of them saw Tyler standing near the entrance to the bathroom in his underwear - briefs that had once been white, but now were old and grey. In his hand, he held his ripped pants.
The woman looked up at Serafina, fear in her eyes.
“Go on.” Serafina said with a nod of her head towards Tyler.
As the woman went to her son, Daniel walked over and picked up the rifle, examining it. It was loaded and ready to fire. Shaking his head, he released the magazine, letting it fall into his hand. Placing the magazine in his pocket temporarily, he opened the bolt and removed the round in the chamber before closing it and engaging the safety. Walking over to the RV, he carefully tossed the rifle, magazine, and loose round up on the roof of the vehicle.
Walking back to where Serafina stood watching the mother and son, he said, “Let’s get outta here.”
The woman looked up at Daniel and Serafina, hope in her eyes. “You’re not going to hurt us?”
“Of course not.” Daniel replied. Serafina simply glared at them in response, still angry.
The woman stood and raised her head to the sky.
“‘Praise the Lord! Oh give
thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.’”
“Jesus Christ, lady. Give it a rest already.” Daniel said reflexively.
This time both the woman and the man-child drew back in fear. The woman’s eyes were wide, fixed on Daniel as she spoke. “Please do not take the Lord’s name in vain, sir.”
Daniel put his hands up in exasperation. “Fuck. Alright, look, we’re outta here. We wish you the best, but I suggest you get out of the city. Find somewhere away from people, and keep your boy close by so he doesn’t get himself hurt again.” He looked at Serafina who nodded in agreement. Together, they walked back to the Jeep, leaving the woman and her son behind.
“Thanks again.” Daniel said.
His words were met with silence as Serafina walked back to the Jeep, eyes staring straight ahead. She climbed into the passenger side, slamming the door behind her.
As he got into the car, Ashley asked, “what happened?”
Serafina answered before he could. “Your Dad was a dumbass and almost got himself killed, that’s what happened.”
Looking in the rear view mirror, Daniel saw the girls exchange a glance knowingly. Their stepmother rarely got mad, but when she did, it was because he had done something that deserved her wrath. What happened at the RV fell into that category, and there was nothing he could say to defend himself. He’d let his guard down, and it had almost cost him his life.
With a heavy sigh, he put the Jeep in gear and turned around, driving back the way they’d come.
CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN
Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center, Virginia, 1:45 a.m.
“Doctor Michael Roberts.” Chang said, leaning back in his chair, satisfied. He’d spent the last seven hours searching through databases, hospital records, and websites to identify the person that had introduced the drug to the population through a clinical trial.
“You found someone?” Doctor Bowman asked from her seat, her left eyebrow raised as she rested her head on her hand. She was clearly tired, having stuck it out with him through the evening and into the late night.
He nodded. “I found the person. I’m sure of it.”
At that, the tall blonde doctor sat up straight, swung her legs to the side, and hopped off of her chair. Walking over to him, she nudged Doctor Reed, who’d fallen asleep, his head resting on his desk. He protested, groggily. “Hunh? Tired…”
“Andrew found him.”
“Wha? He sure?” Reed lifted his head from the desk slowly, bringing both hands up to his face, using his palms to rub the sleep from his eyes. He stood from his chair wearily, stepping over to Andrew’s desk on unsteady legs, where he joined Doctor Bowman in looking at their leader’s computer monitors. The military team members had left several hours prior, having accomplished what they’d been asked to and unable to assist in the detailed medical analysis and research.
Doctor Chang pointed to the big LCD screen on the right. On the screen was a picture of a thin, dark haired man with rugged features, and a face covered in stubble. The man’s eyes looked warm and inviting and his lopsided smile was disarming. The man would be easy to trust. “Doctor Michael Roberts began running a clinical trial for a cancer treatment drug called Rogenex seven and a half months ago. That’s the first correlation. Second, the trials were run in Southern California.” Chang looked at the other two doctors. “His office is at the UCLA Medical Research Facility.”
Lisa Bowman nodded in agreement, standing up straight to stretch her back. She pointed at the keyboard. “Can you check the AHFS DI?” The American Hospital Formulary Service Drug Information was managed by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. It contained in-depth clinical drug descriptions for every medication available in the United States.
Andrew moved his mouse to the left screen and opened a new browser window. He typed in the website address and the website popped up almost instantaneously. He was grateful for both their lightning fast internet connection and the fact that the web was still up. If or when it went down, they’d certainly be handicapped. He entered his username and password, the same ones he used for every account he had, something he knew was a security faux pas. With access granted, he entered Rogenex into the search bar. Instantly, the drug description and chemical composition came up.
Rogenex is a newly developed drug designed to terminate abnormal cells that replicate when a person has cancer. While performing this function, the drug is also designed to stimulate normal cells in the body to assist in restoring the normal life/death cycle of cells.
Note: This drug has not been approved by the FDA and is still in the clinical trial phase.
Chemical Composition:
Oxytetracycline
Metronidazole
Calecxitin
Epinephrine
TGN1421
Inactive ingredients: Carnauba wax, castor oil, corn starch, FD&C red #40 aluminum lake, hypromellose, magnesium stearate, powdered cellulose, pregelatinized starch, propylene glycol, shellac, sodium starch glycolate, titanium dioxide.
“There it is.” Andrew said quietly, in awe of their sudden discovery. Finally, it had all come together. The long hours had paid off with this: the discovery of the doctor who’d run the trial, who should be able to provide additional information - if he was still alive, and the drug name and composition, which they’d be able to spend time analyzing to determine each ingredient’s effect on the body. Right now, TGN1421 seemed like the likely culprit, but proper analysis required them to look at each ingredient without any predetermined opinions.
Unable to stifle a yawn despite the excitement she felt at having a way forward, Lisa said, “So now we know that blend of chemicals exists in totality.”
“Yes, yes we do. And we know what it was designed to do.”
“We still need to know more about the patients, though.” Jonathan interjected, his hand rubbing the stubble on his chin.
“Agreed.” Andrew said, staring at the screen. After thirty seconds of staring at the monitor, he realized he wasn’t actually reading anything. Fatigue was setting in fast, and he suspected none of them would have much luck fighting it.
While physical exhaustion makes a person want to simply rest, giving their muscles time to recover and, in some cases repair, mental exhaustion requires a ‘down time’ for the mind to reset. During times of high mental stress, the body responds with a surge of stress hormones, which include adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones help a person react quickly to challenges and high pressure situations. When the stressful situation is over, the body has time to readjust and balance hormone levels. Long periods of stress are much more taxing on the body and its functions. As cortisol levels remain high, it begins to interfere with the normal body functions, including digestion, sleep, and the immune system.
Doctor Chang knew the team was at that point, and while the recent discovery was both exciting and promising, pushing the team to keep going wouldn’t be productive. Solid sleep and a good meal in the morning would prime them for making significant progress during the day.
Pushing himself back from his desk, he stood up and stretched, feeling the muscles in his back cry out in relief. “Alright, follow me,” he said, walking to the door of the lab. He opened it and stepped out into the hallway, holding the door open for them to follow. When they did, he reached back into the room and shut off the lights, then turned back to his teammates. “Let’s go.”
Too tired to argue, Lisa and Jonathan followed him through the maze of hallways as they wound their way back to the wing of the building that held the sleeping quarters. No one spoke as they walked, their fatigue so great that it required all of their effort to perform the simple task of putting one foot in front of the other. When they reached the quad that held their rooms, Andrew stopped and leaned against the wall next to the door to his room.
“Okay. It’s two-twenty. We sleep until eight. Meet in the dee-fac,” ‘dee-fac’ was the nickname for the dining facility, “at e
ight-thirty for breakfast and we can talk about the next steps and our assignments. I’ll need to set up a time to brief the President with our latest discovery as well.”
Jonathan shook his head.
“What?” Andrew asked.
“I can’t sleep until eight, not with this new information. Can we meet at seven-thirty?”
Andrew looked at Lisa.
Yawning, she nodded as she began unbuttoning her lab coat. She started walking towards her room as she worked the buttons, calling back over her shoulder. “Seven thirty works. See you two then.”
“Okay, great. See you then.” Andrew smiled, glad that his teammates were as motivated as he was.
Doctor Bowman stopped by her door and turned back to him. “Hey, Andrew?”
”Yes?”
“Great job. I think we’re finally gonna make some real progress.”
“Thanks.”
Jonathan put his hand on Andrew’s shoulder. “Agree. Great job, Andrew.”
“Thanks.”
Jonathan stepped away, reaching his door in two long strides. “OK, well, if we’re meeting at seven-thirty, I need to be up by six-thirty to get my workout. Good night.” He closed the door behind him, leaving Chang in the hallway by himself.
Closing his eyes for a second, he contemplated the thought of simply resting where he stood. How easy it would be to just drift off right here….
Catching himself as his body jerked forward, stopping his progress before he hit the floor, he shook his head and reached for the door. He entered his room, closing the door behind him. The room was dark, with only the nightlight in the adjoining bathroom providing any illumination. He kicked off his shoes as he pulled off his lab coat, tossing it onto the chair. He stumbled to the bed, falling onto it. With the last bit of energy he had left in his body, he told the room’s home assistant device what time to wake him up before sleep rushed over him, taking him from the world of the conscious.
CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT
Surviving Rage | Book 1 Page 33