With a deep breath, Linda continued, “Now for some good news.” Almost everyone registered surprise. “The CDC has successfully made a limited run to produce what they believe is an effective vaccine. That’s supposed to be all hush, hush, but considering, I don’t think that matters to this group. I don’t know when it might be available, but at least there is one. Some more good news is that so far, the survivors in the neighborhood seem to be holding up pretty well. Mike, all of your suggestions for preparing for disaster seem to have gone a long way toward making that happen.”
Mike nodded, “Thanks, Linda. If I may, let’s have another positive prayer right now for all of us, and particularly for all of humanity.” With that Mike lead everyone in a prayer worthy of a cathedral. Su Ling listened with rapt attention, trying to understand both how his words moved everyone, including herself, and why they seemed to be so effective.
Chapter 65
The New Year - Plus Seventy-Two Days
The White House PEOC
1500 Hours EST
Marc felt almost claustrophobic in the white jumpsuit with hood and the gas mask, as he stood outside of the PEOC. The day before a Marine Major had gotten off of Marine One, which had landed on the front lawn of the White House. The Major had delivered two padded Pelican heavy duty suitcases and a large, thick plastic bag to the PEOC. Inside, Marc knew, was possibly the hope for the country and even mankind. He had been surprised that neither Susan nor the President had come out of the President’s office to receive the vaccine. Instead, a message from Susan directed Marc to make sure the 136 people in the PEOC received the vaccine immediately, and that the rest, all but 250 doses, were to be delivered to the Pentagon the following morning. Marc had just returned from personally making that delivery, as directed.
While waiting for security to open the outer door to the PEOC, Marc had a funny feeling in his gut. He hadn’t seen Susan for over two days, as she seemed to be cloistered with the President. Something was happening, but he didn’t know what.
When the PEOC outer door opened, he was stopped by a hand, palm up, in his direction. A booted foot kicked out a smaller Pelican suitcase, followed by a grocery-sized plastic bag and an envelope. The door was then closed in his face. In shock, he leaned over to pick up the envelope in his gloved hand. It had his name on it, in Susan’s flowing script. When he opened it, he found her personal letter to him.
My Dearest Marc,
For the entire time that I’ve known you, you have been my life saver. A voice of reason in our crazy world, a shoulder to cry on, a man to hold me close, and the most special person in my life. It is now time for you to leave this nuthouse and go forth and, as you always wanted to, save the world. The President and I are both sick, probably with the virus. She is delirious now, but I was able to get her to sign the enclosed order a few minutes ago. You are to order Marine One to take you to the safest place you can think of, and give these 250 vaccine doses to those you believe best deserve them.
The CDC had some type of accident before they were able to vaccinate more than a handful of their own personnel. The vaccine doses you carry are the last that will likely be available. There is a girl named Julie Carrithers that seems to have a natural immunity to the virus. She is at the CDC in the company of Special Forces Captain Schneider.
I’m sorry to be rambling on, but think my fever is getting worse. Please think kindly of me. I always just wanted to make things better for everyone. Now GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!
All my Love,
Susan
Marc tried to wipe the tears from his eyes, only to find the gas mask in the way. He opened the second folded piece of paper in the envelope and found it to be a PEO directing the Commander of Marine One to take him to the confidential destination provided by Marc Baxter. It had the Presidential Seal on it. Marc folded it back, and put it back into the envelope. Susan’s letter was placed in the outer pocket of his white jumpsuit. He then stumbled back up the stairs, into the White House and out to the waiting Marine One.
The Major looked over the PEO carefully, before saying, “You Baxter?” When Marc bobbed his head up and down, he asked, “Where to?”
Marc mentally kicked himself for not having given that question a lot more thought. Out of nowhere, which he later attributed to divine providence, came the image of his sister Lauren into his mind. “Take me to Kentucky, a place in Central Kentucky outside of Cronin. Just head for Lexington and I’ll give you directions from there.”
The Major looked doubtfully into Marc’s mask, seeing the streaming tears, but finally said, “Okay, get in and strap up. Should take a little less than three hours.”
Marc looked at the White House and downtown Washington, D.C. as the chopper lifted away and began flying away to the West. The flood of emotion was dampened by the numbness brought on by extreme fatigue. He was asleep within fifteen minutes of departure.
Chapter 66
The New Year - Plus Seventy-Two Days
Outside of Cronin, Kentucky
1745 Hours EST
Marine One circled the neighborhood as twilight began to fall. It took a couple of minutes searching before the Major decided to land next to the neighborhood shelter. As he circled the shelter 500 feet in the air, he shouted over the intercom, “Baxter, there are men with gas masks and guns out there waiting for you. Still want me to set you down?”
Marc looked out the window and saw at least six men, all armed with what looked like M-16s taking cover around their intended landing zone. “Yes, please. These guys won’t be taking any shots at you so long as you don’t shoot at them.”
All Marc heard on the intercom was a grunt as Marine One descended. One of the crewmen had Marc unbelted and on his way out the door within seconds of touchdown. As Marc looked back, another crewman was handing him the Pelican case, plastic bag and envelope. No sooner had the exchange been made then the large chopper rose into the air and flew quickly away to the East.
Marc stood in the open grass by the shelter as two apparent soldiers in full chem/bio gear approached him with weapons raised. With the absence of the helicopter noise, he could clearly hear them shouting through their masks, “Show me your hands!” Marc set down the case and plastic bag and raised his hands. One of the two men approached, while the other kept his rifle trained on Marc’s chest.
The man approaching said, “Who the hell are you?”
Marc initially felt the urge to be flippant, but instead decided simplicity was best in this case. “I’m Marc Baxter. I’m looking for my sister, Lauren. She and Mike live right over there.” He motioned with one of his two raised hands at their house.
The one soldier quickly looked at the covering man and said, “This guy claims to be Mike’s brother-in-law. If he’s delivered by Marine One, I’d bet he probably is.” With that the second soldier lowered his rifle and both approached Marc. “You just come from Washington?”
“Yes. Is my sister okay? All I hear about these days is death.”
“Follow me. And please do only what I tell you to do.” Seeing Marc bend over to take the Pelican case, the man said, “I’ll get that. By the way, what’s the likelihood these things are contaminated with the virus?”
Marc paused for a beat, before saying, “Probably pretty good. They need to be decontaminated, but their contents are pretty important. Please handle them carefully, okay? Oh, who’s in charge here?”
“That would be Mike. Mike Broehm. You’ll be seeing your brother-in-law shortly. I hope he’s happy to see you, because anyone else trying to get into the neighborhood gets shot.”
When Marc looked carefully at the man, he did not detect any humor in his eye.
It was over an hour later before a raw skinned Marc
Baxter, with a shaved head, was led into Peter’s glass walled greenhouse, in a bathrobe, slippers and a filter mask. The two operators had stripped and scrubbed him with soap and brushes better than a surgeon scrubs his hands before surgery. Looking at him through the glass window of the house were Marc, Lauren and several others that he didn’t know.
“Oh, my baby brother! I’m just so happy you’re alive!” Lauren gushed over the microphone that went to speakers in the greenhouse.
Mike moved to the mic and said, “Heh, Marc, I’m really sorry about the whole decon and quarantine thing, but with all the people this bug has killed, we can’t be too careful. Are you okay? How did you get here? What can you tell us about what’s going on?”
Marc looked around warily and mumbled about how he was just happy to be away from Washington. Mike picked up on the problem immediately and said, “Marc, just so that you know, everyone here has a need to know everything you can tell us. I won’t keep secrets from them. Can you at least tell me what’s in the case you brought?”
Marc stood with bowed head for a while before looking up and saying, “Mike, please. Can just you and I talk for a few minutes? You can decide after that who needs to know what.”
Mike turned to the others in the window and said, “Would you guys excuse us for a little bit. I promise, I’ll share all the juiciest parts later.”
Everyone but Lauren turned and walked away. Interestingly, Mike could hear Suzie ask, “Is he single?” He had seen no indication she had an interest in anyone of the opposite sex since he had met her, until now.
Marc then said, “Lauren, you know I love you like a sister, but can I talk to Mike alone? Please?”
Although shocked and more than a little offended, Lauren walked away as well.
Chapter 67
The New Year - Plus Seventy-Two Days
Outside of Cronin, Kentucky
2000 Hours EST
Mike looked sternly at Marc before saying, “All right, Marc. What’s so damned important that it needs all of this?”
With a deep breath, Marc asked, “Do you know the history and origin of this deadly plague?”
Mike surprised him by saying, “Yes, actually, I do. Two of the people you just sent away are Special Forces officers that were briefed about the terrorists who unleashed this stuff and that it came from the Chinese originally. What else can you tell me?”
“Mike, someone with a natural immunity to this virus was rescued in Afghanistan and was taken to the CDC. The CDC claims to have concocted a vaccine, based on this girl’s blood and the work done by the terrorist that created this stuff. Mike, I’ve been given a dose of vaccine. In that Pelican case, I have 250 more doses of the vaccine. Some kind of accident happened at CDC after the vaccine was made and it is likely no more vaccine was produced. I don’t know. Regardless, I have 250 doses and 250 syringes to administer them. Besides you and Lauren, I don’t know who to give them to. This is probably life and death stuff, Mike. If I can stay with you, I’d really like you to decide who gets those doses. Please?”
Of all the things that had happened over the past several months, this one hit Mike the hardest. He also now understood why Marc wanted a private conversation with him. “Is that all that can’t be shared with the others, Marc?”
“Yes, Mike. It is. Oh, who’s the Asian girl? My God, but she’s beautiful!”
At that Mike smiled and said, “That’s Suzie. Careful, she’s brilliant and you’ll get to meet her later.” Mike then shouted for everyone to come back and the next two hours were filled with information sharing, sad stories and many funny ones. Marc didn’t try to hide his disgust with what the President had done and only claimed that he did his best to mitigate the worst of her policies.
Late that night, Mike sat with Linda and Sean in Peter’s big pickup truck in the garage. They had been discussing Mike’s decision of who should get the vaccine. The first fifty or so were easy, being close friends, family and security people. After that it became more difficult. At one point, Mike asked both Linda and Sean if they would take up the burden and decide. Both adamantly refused.
Mike,” Sean said, “like it or not, you’re in charge here. You are the only one who can make the decision that everyone will accept as being completely unbiased and fair. Brutal as the decision is, you also need to take into account who will help lead the human race going forward. Buddy, I trust you’ll make the right decision.” Linda nodded her agreement. Everything having been aired, both got out of the truck, leaving Mike to the longest night of his life.
The End, Book 2
Appendix A: Characters
I. Kentucky
Mike Broehm (Pronounced Brame and rhymes with frame)
Mike is an outwardly simple man who lives in a nice subdivision in Kentucky. He is married to Lauren, has two grown children and suffers from a weight problem, along with high blood pressure and pre-diabetes. He works as a research biochemist at a local university.
Lauren Broehm
Mike’s wife. Lauren’s parents had died in a tractor trailer/car accident when she was in college. Lauren was 18 at the time and her brother Marc was only 6. Lauren had helped her aunt raise Marc and was later appointed as Marc’s guardian.
Kerry DuBois
Kerry lives in Mike’s neighborhood and works for state government in the transportation cabinet. His background includes a bachelor’s in Social Engineering from UC Berkley.
Jim Carson
Jim is one of Mike’s hunting buddies and a CPA and economist.
Fred Callahan
Fred is one of the few black men living in Mike Broehm’s neighborhood and is Chief of Police in the nearby town of Cronin. Fred’s Korean-born wife is named Penny. His son is Sean Callahan.
Sean Callahan
Sean is a Major in the U.S. Army Special Forces Command (SOCOM), commander of a Green Beret company and is the son of Fred Callahan.
Onie Lisle
Onie is the widowed wife of retired KSP State Trooper Jim Lisle and mother of four grown sons and three grown daughters. She becomes Mike Broehms’s go-to person to handle neighborhood relations and general, non-security related organization.
Linda Sharpe
First Lieutenant Linda Sharpe is a Team Leader in Sean Callahan’s Special Forces (Green Berets) Company. She leads an “A” Team of operators in the field. She’s the orphan of two Army parents and just missed being on the US Olympic swim team.
Rollie McDermott
Rollie is another of Mike’s hunting buddies and a builder who can build or fix anything.
Peter Worthington
Peter is a university professor of mechanical and environmental engineering. In his mid-50s he is recognized leader in meeting environmental standards for exotic metals mining, through which he has become wealthy. His land is connected to Mike Broehm’s land. He is married to Elizabeth, who is a good personal friend of Lauren Broehm.
Jim Webb
Jim is a semi-retired electrician who lives in Mike Broehm’s neighborhood. He is a life-long member of the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers).
Freddy Dobson
Freddy is Kerry DuBois’ crony and the son of a wealthy East Coast family.
John Chapman
John is Kerry DuBois’ crony and a former community organizer from Louisville, Kentucky who had been brought on by the previous governor to be his Lieutenant Governor. John is well wired with the unions throughout the state and was instrumental in organizing the get-out-the-vote effort to get elected. He convinced the Governor to pardon his friend and money man Jerry ‘the Tank’ Monahan for the minor drug transgressions for
which he was convicted 15 years earlier. His brother-in-law is General Steven Thompson, Commander of the Army National Guard in Kentucky.
Jerry ‘the Tank’ Monahan
Tank is from the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. He accumulated a great deal of wealth from extortion activities targeting the coal companies back in the 1970s. He branched out into marijuana sales before being arrested by federal and state agents. Tank owns the Pen and Ink Saloon in Frankfort, through a shell company, where he has a private office and meeting room, including a very private entrance to an underground garage.
Mickey Blondiac
Mickey, known as “Blondi,” is a DuBois crony and the political commentator for the largest paper in Central Kentucky. He publishes a weekly column called Blondi’s Corner.
Scott Shelby
Scott is a financial advisor who left Wall Street, after his heart attack at the age of 32, and opened up a small financial firm in the town of Cronin. He handles Peter Worthington’s portfolio.
II. Washington
President Katherine (with a “K”) Fontaine.
Katherine Fontaine is the ambitious wife (and attorney) of former Senator and former Vice President Walter Fontaine – and a former liberal/moderate Senator from California.
The Final Proclamation (An America Reborn Thriller Book 2) Page 34