The Flu 2: Healing

by Jacqueline Druga

  Before Henry could ask any further questions, Lars hung up.

  “What the hell?” Henry dropped the pen.

  Kurt reviewed the notes. “An injury and blockage? Maybe he is speaking about a clot.”

  “Or constipation.” Henry shook his head. “I think they have him drugged.”

  Tom nodded. “I agree. He was very cold about an old friend dying and he kept calling her Rose Marie when he knows damn well her middle name is not … Son of a bitch! We’re dumb.” He swung out his hand. “It’s code!”

  “What?” Henry asked.

  “Code. He said he would come up with a code and he did. Bet me. He gave us information.”

  “Kurt,” Henry said, “he may be right. Grab a map of Erie and Tom, call Commander Briggs.”

  * * *

  Fort Detrick, MD

  They had to run. With only two hours on the tanks they underestimated the time it would take to get into each sealed lab room. The first lab in the first building was a test. In four buildings, the containment rooms were sealed. A small amount of C-4 was used to blow the secure door, and when they opened the biosafety cabinet, the cylinders were filled with the virus samples. Each cylinder contained six samples, each within a metal test tube structure and each of them contained a glass vial. All unbroken, all untouched.

  They wrote down the inventory, secured a timed device to the cabinet, another in the room and moved on.

  They had fifteen minutes when they rushed into the final building. Not a lot of time. At the security desk, Mick saw the reason for the black monitor. The entire panel had been destroyed.

  “Something is up,” he said. “Someone destroyed this on purpose.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know.” As he had in the other buildings, he checked the location of the lab and ran with Doc that way. “What’s our time?”

  “Thirteen minutes.”

  Down the final corridor and a left into the lab, Mick stopped. He groaned.

  “What the hell?” Doc blurted.

  The door to the lab had already been blown, just like they had done elsewhere. It lay half off the side, amidst other debris.

  “The cabinet.” Doc said. “It’s closed.”

  “That’s a good thing. Let’s check it. This has to be where the MHS is. We haven’t found it yet.”

  “I got a bad feeling.”

  “Yeah, me too. Let’s do this. Hurry.” Mick charged forth toward the lab door climbing over the debris. The second he entered the containment room, he swore his heart stopped.

  Rip.

  Not only did he tear his suit, he felt a searing pain in his leg. He halted abruptly.

  “What is it?” Doc asked.

  “I ripped my suit.”

  “Oh my God, step out. Let’s repair it.”

  “No time. No time.”

  “Mick, we have to repair and disinfect.”

  “No time everything is going to blow.” Mick paused only briefly to look at his leg. He knew it was bleeding. He flew to the cabinet and opened it. The carriage lifted. “There aren’t many in here. H5N1.” Mick pulled the cylinder. “Check. Accounted for.” He moved to the next. “Zaire95” Pause. “Check.” He grabbed the next. “MHS.” He lifted the cylinder and opened it. “Fuck!”

  “No.”

  “Gone. All the internal cylinders are gone.”

  “All six?”

  Mick nodded. “What’s our time?”

  “Where’d they go?”

  “I don’t know. What’s our time?”

  “Six minutes. Mick …the antidote. It should be marked.”

  “Here.” Mick lifted the cylinder out and opened it. “Gone. The antidote is gone.”

  “So everything else is accounted for but that. I guess we didn’t need to be Einstein to realize someone blasted the door for something.”

  “Let’s set that explosive.” Mick pulled forth the explosives bag and crouched down.

  “With that suit of yours ripped, at least we know the room wasn’t …”

  Mick put the C-4 on the tank. “What?” and grabbed the timer.

  “Mick,” Doc whispered.

  “What?” Mick placed the timer.

  “Look down.”

  Just as Mick attached the timer, ready to set it, he glanced down. There, by his foot, was a single metal internal tube. And beside it, a broken vial.

  They were wrong. The room was hot.

  * * *

  The explosions sounded as they drove the jeep frantically out of Fort Detrick.

  Doc repeated, “Two miles, two miles then pull the fuck over. I mean it.”

  Two miles at top speed didn’t take long, and both men moved quickly. The red bag was ready. They sprayed each other down with disinfectant, then ripped off the suits, quickly placing them in the bag. Again, they washed with the items they had brought, secured the bag, then immediately lit it aflame.

  Doc wanted to tend to Mick’s wound. He scrubbed the leg until Mick cringed and vocally expressed pain. The cut wasn’t big, but that wasn’t Doc’s concern, and he told Mick that.

  Mick’s suit had ripped and not only was his skin exposed, he had an open wound.

  They wiped down everything that they had touched in the jeep, steering wheel gear shift, everything, refueled the tank and drove off.

  They had to call in. Another few miles away, they pulled over. Mick put on a brave front, acting tough, but Doc saw right through it. Doc was scared that he himself had been exposed, and his suit never even ripped. He could only imagine the turmoil Mick was feeling. He watched him, his jaw clenched, face red, but Mick’s eyes stayed forward.

  * * *

  “Let me make the call,” Mick said, and picked up the phone. He dialed and it didn’t take long for Henry to answer.

  “Mick, give us good news.”

  “I … I wish I could.” Mick cleared his throat. “Power was still on, Henry. Cabinets were secure and sealed. We took out buildings one through five and accounted for everything but the MHS.”

  “Was it not stored there?”

  “No, it was.” Mick said gravely. “It’s gone. The vials and the antidote were gone.”

  “Oh my God.”

  “Henry … I … I ripped my suit going in to the final lab. Scratched my leg.”

  “But the cabinets were sealed, right? You disinfected, everything was clean. It wasn’t hot.”

  “One of the MHS vials was on the floor. Whoever took it must have dropped and broke one when they were removing the inner cylinders.”

  “Did you seal the suit and disinfect right away.”

  “No. We set the explosives.”

  “May I speak to Dr. Kiddi?”

  Mick handed Doc the phone.

  “Yeah,” Doc said sadly. “We’re scared right now.”

  Mick shot him a glance.

  “As well as you should be,” said Henry. “Listen to what I am going to tell you about the MHS. Keep an estimated time of exposure. When you get back, pull a blood culture from both of you and examine them. Seal the room you work in and use precautions. Check the blood, this thing is visible right away. If it is there … if it is in your blood, Mick’s blood, you both have 72 hours before you become ill. You have less than two days before you must leave wherever you are, because after forty-eight hours, you are highly contagious and are walking bombs. Do you understand the severity of this?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Conditions of your testing must not be compromised. If the tests come up positive, incinerate the samples, right away.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Mick cleared his throat again. “Tell him not to tell anyone.”

  “Mick asked that you not tell anyone,” Doc said to Henry over the phone.

  “You have my word. And please, get back to me.”

  “Yes, sir.” Doc disconnected the call, and his hand trembled as he put the phone down. “We may not have it.”

  “You don’t have it. I do.” Mick said. “I know it.
I feel it in my gut.”

  “Let’s not give up, okay? Let’s get back and check.”

  Mick nodded. “Call Briggs, tell him we’re on our way back. Make sure he doesn’t tell the boys we’re returning. Just have him meet us at the clinic.”

  Doc agreed and picked up the phone. It was going to be a long ride home.

  * * *

  Lodi, OH

  There was heavy silence in the room after Henry informed Kurt of what he was told on the phone call. Kurt had to know. He knew the virus almost as well as Lars. He protested it when he learned of it.

  Even though Henry promised not to tell anyone, he had to inform Kurt because Kurt was right there.

  “What will happen to them if they have it?” Henry asked. “I know they’ll get internal—”

  Kurt held up his hand and shook his head. “This makes me sick. It makes me physically ill to even think of it. Our flu will look like a picnic. The only saving grace is that this thing is fast. Two days. High fever, a burning rash, but the rash is like an iceberg, nothing compared to what will happen underneath the skin. Cold symptoms, stomach flu symptoms.”

  “Maybe they don’t—”

  “Do you remember how many scientists and techs died of this thing, just from touching a contaminated surface? Hopefully, they will be spared.”

  Henry lifted the phone.

  “Who are you calling?”

  “MHS is missing.” He dialed. “I’m calling Lars.” A few seconds passed and Henry requested with emotionless authority, “I need to speak to Lars Rayburn.” Pause. “Do not give me that. He called for my help. I am calling back.” His voice raised. “Let me speak to Dr. Rayburn. Now!” His eyes closed and he waited. After a few moments, he said, “Lars.”

  “Ah, good to hear from you,” Lars said. “My roommate the guard was none too eager to put me on the phone. Did you come up with a diagnosis for Rose Marie?”

  “Lars, we did. But that’s not why I’m calling.” Henry sighed. “It’s gone, Lars. The MHS is gone. Someone took it.”

  * * *

  Erie, PA

  “Where is it!” Lars raged at Ace. After his phone call he had stormed past the guard and screamed Ace’s name in the street until the leader arrived and pulled him aside.

  “What are you screaming about?”

  “Where is it?” Lars asked again. “You know what I am talking about.”

  “Actually, I don’t.”

  “Let’s try this again. You were with Homeland Security, you know if it, you know the location, you are the logical culprit. Where is the MHS?”

  “I don’t have that.”

  “The hell you don’t and you show me where it is.”

  Ace laughed. “If I did have it, why would I show you where I’m keeping it?”

  “Because you brought me here for it. I’m not here to be a doctor, I’m here for the MHS. Isn’t that right? Now if you have it, you damn well better show me where you have it. Because if you are going to keep us all, all of us around the world’s most deadly germ, I need to make sure it is secure! Your little ‘dominate the world’ plan will go out that window if that germ stands an inkling of escape. Now, I’ll ask again. Where… is …it?”

  * * *

  “I should have known,” Lars said, smacking his head. Something was up with the Diary Queen, it drew too much attention and had two guards on the building.

  It was empty as Lars followed Ace across the small store and to the back. “How ironic. A place that symbolized something so sweet holds something so bitter and deadly.”

  Ace said nothing. He unlocked a door and left it open for Lars, and stepped into the room.

  Lars followed. “You’re keeping it in the basement of Dairy Queen?”

  “I’m keeping it safe and secure and you’ll see that.” Ace led him across the empty basement and to a single silver door.

  It was apparent it was a walk in cooler.

  “This door is air tight,” Ace said as he opened it.

  “Do you just have the virus perched on a shelf next to old produce?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.”

  “Me? You have a deadly virus down here and you call me ridiculous?” He stepped inside.

  “Pull the door closed,” Ace instructed. “We won’t be locked in.”

  The freezer was emptied except for a single, small stand up freezer placed in the center of the room. Ace placed his hand on the lid. “They’re in here.”

  Lars walked to the case and hesitated in his reach for the lid.

  “Go on, check to see if they’re safe. I assure you they are,” Ace said. “They aren’t just glass tubes. The vials are inside metal tubes as well.”

  “The antidote?”

  “There as well. Look for yourself.”

  Lars lifted the lid. The stand up freezer had a shelf inside, and placed on it were five metal tubes and five vials. “There should be more.”

  “There should be,” Ace replied. “That’s why you’re here. I need you to make more antidote.”

  Lars laughed. “How would I have the means to do that?”

  “I’m working on that.”

  “We’re not even sure the antidote works.”

  “It does,” Ace said. “I know for a fact. I was pulling the vials and I dropped one of the metal cases. When I went to retrieve it, I notice the top had broken and the vial inside had smashed. I was exposed. I immediately took the antidote. As you can see, it worked.”

  “How unfortunate.” Lars shut the lid to the freezer. “This is insane. You realize that, right? Destroy this now.”

  Ace shook his head. “I won’t do that.”

  “Do you honestly plan on using that?”

  “If I have to, yes.” Ace nodded. ‘How do we know what’s out there, on the other side of our borders? Outside our country? We don’t.”

  “I can almost assure you, it isn’t people waiting to start a war or kill us. Not now and not for a long time. My God, an influenza pandemic has decimated our world. Billions are dead. Our country, this country, is struggling to hold on to what life remains, and you want to possibly use a weapon that can kill off what remains of this country or a good part of it.”

  “No, Lars. I don’t want to use the weapon to kill off this country,” Ace said. “I want to use the weapon to control it.” He walked to the door and opened it. “Let’s go.”

  “You’re insane. Completely and utterly insane.”

  “Actually, I think I’m pretty smart.” Ace motioned his hand for Lars to walk out. “I mean, it takes smart man to think of this as a means to get what he wants.”

  “No it doesn’t. It takes a cold blooded killer to even conceive the idea.” Lars walked past him.

  * * *

  Damon, NY

  They made it back faster than they took to get there, but once they got to the hospital and settled into the quarantine area near the Ebola patients, time dragged.

  It seemed as if it took hours, when actually it was only a little over one.

  Mick sat in the hall, his elbows to his knees, face buried in his hands. All he could think about were his boys. He thought for the longest time about their lives and how it was possible he would never see them grow up. He was angry; it was never his intention to cause them any more pain. All he wanted to do was ensure they had a future, one without the threat of a deadly virus wiping them out again. At least one controlled by man.

  Briggs showed up shortly after Doc had drawn Mick’s blood. At first he bolted down the hall with childlike enthusiasm, sputtering off about how Lars gave them vital information on how to infiltrate the camp. He was proud of how easily he deciphered the message. And then Briggs finally noticed where they were and put two and two together.

  They talked the entire time they waited on Doc.

  “And you’re sure?” Briggs asked.

  “Positive. We need to infiltrate that camp, with minimal loss of life to civilians, take out his entourage and get that germ. Top priority. That’s what
needs to be done and I know my part.”

  “But—”

  “No buts. If you were me, what would you do?”

  “I don’t know, Mick. I don’t know if I’d give up hope.”

  “With this thing? Is there any hope?” Mick asked. “No. I don’t want my boys to know if I’m sick, I don’t want them to even think I’m sick.”

  “But you never know what can happen. You don’t. Look, we had people who should have died of the flu, they didn’t. Miracles happen.”

  Mick chuckled. “Why does that sound so odd coming from you?”

  “You don’t know me,” Briggs said. “Get to know me. You’ll see. Rethink—”

  “No.” Mick grunted and stood. “God. This wasn’t supposed to happen. None of this. Why didn’t I just listen and stay home with the boys? Why did I decide to take this stupid road trip?”

  “To save them. To save your town.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Maybe it was psychic. Maybe it was fate. God’s intervention. Who knows? But had you not taken the road trip, you would have not known what was out here. How do you know Lodi isn’t supposed to be the recipient of the missing virus? You could have been sitting ducks and anything could have happened to your town. Why? Because you believed that all was good in the world, you never would have seen the bad coming.”

  “You’re reaching.”

  “I’m trying to be reasonable,” Briggs said. “And we still don’t know.”

  At that second the door opened and Doc stepped out looking tired and worn. His face was drawn.

  As soon as Mick saw him, he knew. He exhaled and closed his eyes.

  “I t-took a while,” Doc stuttered, “because I had to incinerate the …” He cleared his throat. “Mick … Mick, I’m sorry.”