Cough

by Druga, Jacqueline

  Charles took in the view of the room as a whole, then lifted his eyes to the monitors watching each chimp for a few moments.

  “Charles, it’s been over twelve hours.”

  “It’s not enough time.”

  “Research shows …”

  “My gut says it’s not enough time.”

  “They look great, healthy.”

  Charles nodded, eyes forward. “Yes. Let’s hope it stays that way.”

  TWO – CHOICES

  Littlefield, AZ

  June 17

  Macy peered into the near empty peanut butter jar, then swirled a knife inside. ‘I can get two sandwiches out of this. Yeah, I can.’ She thought, then proceeded to grab four of the six remaining slices of bread. After checking out the time, she hurriedly grabbed a box of cereal, two bowls and the milk and placed it on the table.

  “Boys!” she called out. “Come on, let’s go you’re gonna be late for your first day.”

  Clay was the first to stumble into the kitchen of the small duplex. A two bedroom, four room home. Big enough for the three of them.

  “I’m tired,” Clay said, plopping in his seat at the table. He looked like Macy did when she was twelve years old. Of course, at twelve, Macy looked like a boy.

  His hair was a dead ringer for her sandy hair and, like her hair, Clay’s always fell victim to bed head.

  She turned on the sink, soaked her hands and rushed to Clay placing her wet hands on his head.

  “Ug, Mom.” He flung his wet hair. “Stop.”

  “It was sticking up.” Macy returned to making lunch.

  “No, don’t tell me you’re making peanut butter sandwiches.”

  “Yeah, why? You like them and I didn’t shop yet.”

  “Mom, its day camp. They make us sit at the nut table when we bring peanut butter.”

  “I’m sorry, the … nut table?”

  “Yeah, it’s where they put the kids that bring nuts so those allergic aren’t near them. Sometimes we’re the only ones.”

  “That’s not right. Make the nut kids sit alone. I have a can of tuna if you …”

  “No.” Clay held up his hand. “I’d rather be alone because I have peanut butter not because my lunch smells. Why do I have to do this? I’m too old.”

  “Your father paid for it. It’s two weeks. You go.”

  “Yeah, can you tell him to pay for lunch meat?”

  “Why are you so miserable?” Macy asked.

  “I’m tired.”

  “Well, if you weren’t up all night playing video games.”

  “If you weren’t up all night on that online dating site, chatting and laughing, I wouldn’t have to stay awake playing video games.”

  “Look at you blaming me.” Macy walked over and kissed him, then patted down his hair.

  “Mom stop.” He swatted her away. “Any luck this week.”

  “I met a nice man from Madison.”

  “They’re all nice at first.”

  “True,” Macy’s attention turned to her youngest son when he stepped to kitchen doorway.

  “Morning Mommy.” Her youngest Thomas stood in the archway, almost as if waiting for her to give him permission to enter.

  “Look at you, Thom-Thom!” Macy said brightly.

  Clay mumbled. “Look at him.”

  “Stop.” Macy scolded and pulled out the chair for her youngest. It was no secret she babied him, he was nine, but looked younger. He had a baby face and was opposite of Clay when it came to personality.

  Clay was outgoing, funny and sarcastic.

  Thomas was quiet and always aimed to please.

  Like tried to do for his mother on the first day of camp. He aimed to please. He wore a blue tee shirt and blue shorts. His socks were pulled up as far as they could go and his hair was wet and combed neatly. Unlike Clay who was athletic, Thomas was awkward and clumsy. He liked music instead of sports, read books with lots of words instead of graphic novels and went to bed without being told.

  He complained rarely and as he eyed the peanut butter sandwiches, Macy knew he was holding back on saying something.

  “Are you gonna tell me you don’t want to sit at the nut table?” Macy asked.

  Thomas shook his head. “No. If you make me a peanut butter sandwich, I’ll be at the table with Clay.”

  “Aw, see,” Macy looked at Clay. “Your brother loves being with you.”

  “I love being with my brother too, so we have to do it at summer camp,” said Clay.

  “It’s two weeks.”

  “Then we go on vacation,” Clay said with fake dramatics. “With Dad. When will we ever get to see you? To spend quality time?”

  “Oh, now stop,” Macy shook her head.

  “You’ll probably be married.”

  “I will not.” Macy laughed. “What’s the big deal? Lots of kids want to go away.

  “Do you know what it’s like to go away with Dad? He makes an agenda. An agenda, Mom for vacation.”

  “I know.” Macy wrapped the second sandwich and poured cereal into the bowls. “Please eat. It’s a long day.”

  “Why does he feel the need to fill our summer vacation?” Clay asked.

  “He doesn’t want you bored. He knows I work,” Macy said.

  “I like having things to do,” Thomas said.

  “Quit sucking up,” Clay commented. “Mom? Are you gonna go to the store so we don’t have to have peanut butter tomorrow?” Clay asked.

  “I have news for you,” Macy held up the empty jar. “Even if I don’t go to the store, you won’t have peanut butter. My direct deposit goes in at midnight, so I can ride out to …” She stopped when her phone rang. She lifted it, saw the caller’s name and handed the phone to Clay. “Answer it. It’s your father.”

  “He’s calling your phone.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t want to talk to him.”

  “Why?”

  “Just answer it. Tell him I’m in the bathroom.”

  Clay shrugged and lifted the phone. “Hey, Dad.”

  Pause.

  “Mom’s in the bathroom. Yeah. She’s been in there awhile. Making weird noises. It’s scary.”

  After facially conveying disgust, Macy snatched the phone from Clay. “Hey, Rege.”

  “Mace, you sick?” Rege asked.

  “No why?”

  “Clay said you were in the bathroom …”

  “I’m fine. What’s up?”

  “What’s wrong? Why are you being snippy?”

  “I’m not being snippy. I’m rushed. What’s up?”

  “Just wanted to let you know I was able to change the reservation to after the fourth. We leave the seventh.” Rege said. “So no worries, the boys will be home for the community day.”

  “Oh, good, thank you,” Macy sighed out. “I appreciate you doing that. I didn’t want the boys to miss it. Aside from the Christmas Carnival, this is the only thing that they get to do. You and I both know…” Macy peered at the boys. “Nothing ever happens in this town.”

  THREE – WELL PLANNED

  Airnamics Flight 7430 – LAX

  June 17

  The gate alerted them that first class would be boarding in ten minutes, and Flight Attendant Sharon Kelly finished her cabin preparations then made her way toward the door to wait. She stopped to check her reflection, make sure her makeup was good and hair straight. Not that it would look that way after the five hour flight, but at least she’d greet the passengers looking good.

  The other flight attendants or the ‘young ones’ as Sharon called them, weren’t as worried. It was the old school ways in her, plus the fact that people always noticed the older Flight attendants and she wanted to present her best.

  She always did.

  “Counting down the days?” Todd, another flight attendant asked her.

  “I am,” Sharon smiled. “Twenty-four hours from now, my vacation officially begins.”

  “Where are you guys headed?” Todd asked. “Liza said you are going on a dream
tour.”

  “I am. London, then Paris, visit his family in Munich, then off to Rome, Seoul, and then back home, finishing off in Vegas.”

  “Whoa. Wait. You said a whirlwind vacation. All this in eight days? You’ll be exhausted.”

  “I can sleep on the plane.” She winked and greeted more passengers. “He likes to do this. I knew when I met him he was a jetsetter.”

  “So I take it this isn’t on your dime or buddy pass.”

  Sharon laughed. “No. He has a corporate jet we’re using.”

  “But you met him on one of our flights, correct.”

  “Yeah, his plane was down for maintenance. He says I am his lucky charm. He met me on the flight to invest in a corporation and he said it ended up being golden.”

  “Aw,” Todd smiled. ‘He sounds delightful. So he’s an investor.”

  “Yes in pharmaceutical companies. Medical research facilities. He said he does it in honor of his father who passed away from an unknown virus.”

  Todd cringed. “Horrible. Are you meeting in New York?”

  “We are. He’s at his Golden Nugget Company now and flying out tomorrow.” She inhaled. “I am so excited.”

  “So where does the whirlwind vacation end.”

  Sharon grinned. “Vegas.”

  “Oh! Maybe he plans on marrying you there.”

  She laughed. “Doubtful. After that he goes back to Germany and I start back to work the next night on the red eye.”

  “Vegas is a blast.” Todd nodded at the arrival of passengers.

  “He wants to zip line down Fremont Street.”

  “You have to do it. I am so envious.”

  Sharon nodded. “I am lucky.” She then placed on her best look and smile and snapped into work mode to greet passengers.

  FOUR – SEVEnTY-TWO HOURS EXACTLY

  SAT Biomedical Research BSL4 Facility

  San Antonio Texas

  June 17

  Seven in the morning was far too early for Charles to meet the select board, especially since he had been there all weekend watching the chimpanzees. All eight of them. He hated to take time out of his work, but really, he was at a standstill until the current, unethical experiment was complete. He supposed the meeting would take his mind off of things. It was early because the German investor was leaving the United States for his holiday.

  Charles was glad. He wouldn’t have to hear from the Investor Aldus Beutel for at least two weeks. He like many people, drove Charles insane. Especially since Aldus was also a scientist, he had clearances to enter all Bio Safety Level labs, and intelligently snoop and nit pick.

  Before entering the board room, Charles sent Emir a text message.

  ‘Keep me posted. We’re approaching the final hour.’

  ‘Will do.’

  Charles stepped inside the room, the director was there along with Aldus and another man. A man Charles assumed was Beutel’s henchman.

  “Dr. Kimble, have a seat,” Director Rupert indicated to a chair.

  Charles sat down. He seemed so far away from everyone, they were at the other end of the long table.

  “You know Dr. Beutel?” asked Rupert.

  “Who doesn’t?”

  Aldus chuckled. “Nice to see you again. I won’t keep you long. I do want to see everything. But tell me. Did it work?”

  Charles looked down at this phone. “It’s not seventy-two hours.”

  Rupert furrowed his brow. “I thought it was?”

  “Not yet. A few minutes.”

  Rupert exhaled. “I’d say success, right, close enough.”

  “I’d rather wait until the seventy-two hour mark to mark it as successful.”

  “Just like you,” Rupert said. “So basically if nothing, then all is successful.”

  “If nothing then we failed somewhere,” Charles said. “Meaning, we didn’t expose correctly. I’m good. But I highly doubt all four of my inhibitors and antidotes work.”

  “They could,” Aldus said.

  “Unlikely. It’s more likely, I didn’t expose them …” Charles paused and rubbed his head. “Look, I hated doing this. We have already been fined nine times for animal abuse. I agreed to expose the chimps to EC175 because it is so deadly and unknown. But if I failed in exposure, then I don’t want to do this again.”

  Aldus asked. “Dr. Kimble, you need to cure this. It is imperative. You know this.”

  “Then we’ll find other ways to test.”

  “We have,” Rupert said. “We have tried and you and I both know, the only thing better than testing it on the chimps is a human test.”

  Charles saw it. Aldus looked at the quiet investor.

  “Oh, no.” Charles shook his head. “Never.”

  Aldus, again did that sneaky chuckle. “Oh, I would not ask that. I would however recommend not giving up on the chimps.”

  “It’s wrong. They are living beings.”

  “They are animals,” Aldus said. “Who can save humanity? The lives of a few chimps are nothing compared to the lives of mankind.”

  Rupert lifted his hand. “Let’s not talk animal rights. Let’s talk this test.”

  “Tell me,” Aldus said. “What happens if you didn’t fail in exposure and you were successful in the cure?”

  “There is no cure,” Charles said with a disbelief chuckle. “This thing can’t be cured. We have an antidote that could work within twelve hours of exposure and an inoculation. But once exposed, there’s no turning back. If I am successful then I want to take what’s left of EC175 and buried it in our Nevada facility.”

  “Get rid of it?” Rupert asked.

  “Destroy it. Destroy it all before it destroys us.”

  “That’s a great sentiment,” Rupert folded his hands and leaned into the table but you know as well as I do that destroying it all is impossible seeing that ….”

  The ringing of Charles’ phone cut through the tension and surprised everyone.

  Rupert shook his head and spoke annoyed. “You brought your phone? You could have at least turned it off.”

  “No.” Charles lifted his phone. “It’s Emir and if he’s calling, it’s important.” He answered the phone. “Hello.” His head lowered. “Be right there.” Charles stood.

  “What’s going on?” Rupert asked.

  “You may want to come with me to the lab.” Charles raced to the door. “Results are in.”

  Before he heard anything else, Emir heard the banging on the door as soon as he stepped off the elevator.

  Stokes kicked the door on Lab Nine.

  “Stokes!” Emir yelled.

  “You people changed the locks and now I can’t get in here.”

  Just as he started to think it was an obsessive reaction to a man who wanted to mop a floor, Emir heard it.

  Holding the door, Stokes looked over his shoulder with a look of desperation. “They’re dying in there. What did you do to them?”

  The loud sounds of coughing mixed with frantic pant-hooting carried out even though behind a metal door.

  Emir raced into the observation room.

  “Hey!” Stokes followed. “You can’t …”

  Emir slammed the observation room door. Shutting him out and then he stepped to the counter, closer to the window. He watched with undeniable horror, hand over mouth as the chimpanzees frantically jumped, screamed and coughed. That was when he called Charles.

  It didn’t take long for Charles to arrive and he did so with Rupert and Aldus behind him.

  Emir wanted to cry. The chimpanzees were suffering. The coughs were producing only blood that shot from their mouths with each hack.

  “Dear God.” Charles said breathless.

  “We need to put them down. Put them down now. They’re suffering.” Emir said.

  “Unfortunately,” Aldus intervened. “By the time you prepare the gas, most of them will be dead. Were they all exposed at the same time?”

  Rupert answered. “Yes. We had eight test vaccines. Each were given a different one
.”

  Aldus keep this focus on the window, watching as if he were at the movies. Enthralled. “This thing is fast. Do we have any secondary exposure tests?”

  Sadly, Charles nodded. “We have two that entered the room eight hours post release and two that were exposed to these chimps yesterday.”

  “Wonderful,” Aldus said. “We will get a look at incubation in contact victims.”

  “Wonderful?” Emir barked. “How can this be wonderful?”

  “Because this thing …” Aldus said. “Is out there. We need to know what and how to deal with it, should it become a reality.”

  Emir shook his head. “We are far from that.”

  “Not really,” Aldus said. “Number two.”

  Through the chaos and confusion, so focused on the suffering chimpanzees, Emir failed to notice Jugs. The chimpanzee in cage two. He was frightened, huddled in a corner and quiet. But more than that, he was fine.

  FIVE – ORIGINS

  SAT Biomedical Research BSL4 Facility

  San Antonio Texas

  June 17

  In the name of science a lot of things could be explained. But in the name of humanity, at least as a human being, there were a lot of things Charles could explain yet could not forgive. Especially himself. The chimpanzee experiment using EC175 was top of the list. He had experimented with animals before. Nothing that had turned deadly.

  He was left with a blood bath and the carcasses of seven chimpanzees. Four of them died quickly, the others were lingering and suffering and they had to put them down.

  The cleanup involved a BSL four team and the lab had to be extinguished.

  A part of him believed that the chimpanzees would be fine and would show only minimum effects. After all, while the markings showed that EC175 was partially manmade, it was still biologically part of the Paramyxoviridae family which included repository tract infections. Primates were genetically disposed to early immunity or high tolerance to viruses in the Paramyxoviridae family. So why would they be to EC175.