by S. Ganley
As soon as the helicopter landed at the field center a tanker truck full of NucleoClean decontamination spray moved into position alongside the landing pad and crews in full contamination gear started stretching hoses out to begin spraying off the helicopter and personnel. Once each team member and their passenger had been sprayed they were admitted one at a time into the decontamination section while technicians on the outside of the section monitored the process and measured the air samples being tested as they each went through the process. Everyone entering the decontamination area was required to strip totally naked after receiving an initial blast of decontamination spray, modesty was a small price to pay to ensure containment of any potentially dangerous microbes they may be carrying. One by one the team members were cleared to exit the area after air quality testing found nothing hazardous. When it came time for the teen girl to go through the process she started to panic as soon as she was helped inside the inner room of the tube. They finally had to give her a mild sedative and send a fully suited technician through the process with her to keep her under control long enough to determine that she was clean of any contaminant. After finishing the screening process she was covered in a robe and then bound to a gurney and wheeled into the nearby level three medical laboratory. She would be fully examined from head to toe for any obvious physical injuries while at the same time samples of her blood, hair, urine and saliva would be obtained and run through a complex battery of tests to locate and isolate any infectious agent she may have been exposed to or might be carrying.
The air samples and corpse were moved directly into the level five containment center without undergoing any prior decontamination process so they could be analyzed in their natural state. The containers holding the air samples were plugged directly into a battery of machines that would start an automatic analysis of each sample under the watchful eyes of two scientists. While the air was being studied, the body was moved onto a bare metal examination table, there it would be examined in depth with careful notations made of observations over the external parts of the body before it was autopsied and internal samples obtained for study. All of the activities in the different labs were being streamed via live video to several different locations throughout the United States. The crisis center in Washington, DC was charged with coordinating the efforts between the field center and the different laboratories that were monitoring the activities there. As computerized data was obtained, it was instantly made available to the main CDC office in Atlanta, Georgia were even more laboratory technicians were ready to start studying the information and working on figuring out what they were dealing with and what might be their best alternative for a cure.
Chapter 5
He was up at least fifteen minutes before the 6am alarm buzzed, a habit from military life that he doubted he would kick anytime soon. Even on days when he tried his hardest to sleep late, his body just wouldn't allow it, to many years of being up before the crack of dawn to get in at least an hour of physical training before even considering something for breakfast. His interview wasn't until 10am this morning giving him several hours to kill in the meantime. He hoped that the later interview meant that there were other applicants before him and not that this was one of those lazy offices were people just didn't like to do things first thing in the morning. Idle time was not a concept he was used to, if he didn't have something to work on or keep himself busy with he started to get jumpy thinking that there must be a task that he had forgotten about or let slide through the cracks. One thing he still needed to do today was to unload his camping gear and spread it out back for a good cleaning. This was another military habit he was going to have a hard time breaking, constantly cleaning and maintaining his gear after every use. When he grabbed a cup of coffee and walked out onto his small back patio he knew that any cleaning would have to wait, heavy storm clouds were on the horizon and the first drops of rain were already starting to fall. His tiny backyard had only a thin layer of grass so after a storm like the one that was coming, he knew it would be a mud pit until at least a full day of constant sunshine dried it up. There was little use laying out his gear only to have it get dirtier than it already was. If the heavy stuff would hold off for at least another hour he thought he could get in a good run to get his day started, a light drizzle actually felt nice during a hard run and it would ensure that he had the route he ran pretty much to himself.
He changed into his running clothes and had just plopped down on his couch to tie his shoes when something on the television caught his attention. He usually turned the set on first thing in the morning as he was waiting for his coffee to finish brewing. He enjoyed catching up on the news and was always on the lookout for any special reports from the Middle East where his former unit was even now in the middle of a deployment back to the badlands of Afghanistan. With embedded journalism these days once in a while he would catch a segment from a reporter in an area he had spent time at or even catch a glimpse of personnel from his old unit during the report. This time the special report on CNN had nothing at all to do with action in the Middle East. The reporter was standing on a highway over ramp looking down on a swath of interstate below him. As the cameraman panned from one side of the bridge to the other, viewers were able to see traffic backed up for miles leading up to a cluster of military trucks and a handful of state police cars parked across the east bound lanes. As the line of cars approached the roadblock they were being directed to turn around over the grass median and turn back down the west bound lanes which were eerily devoid of any traffic coming from beyond the checkpoint. What really caught Garrett's attention to this particular story was that the soldiers manning this checkpoint were decked out in complete chemical warfare gear. Not only were they in complete protective gear but each one of them was also carrying a rifle, something unusual for civilian traffic duty. To round out the entire scene the cameraman panned across to show a grassy rise just off the side of the road from the checkpoint, parked on top of that rise was a pair of armored Bradley fighting vehicles, one of which was oriented in each direction down the highway. The imposing 25mm main gun of each armored vehicle was aimed down the lanes of traffic in both directions sending a clear signal that whatever their purpose was along this stretch of road, they meant business. Garrett could not recall any other time he had ever heard of chemical warfare equipped soldiers backed up by armored vehicles manning checkpoints on a roadway inside the United States. While scenes like this were everyday occurrences in war torn places like Iraq, it was not what you wanted to see back here at home. Garrett forgot about his run for the moment and instead grabbed for the remote control and turned the volume up to follow the narrative of the reporter.
"National Guard elements as well as New Jersey State Police officials will only tell us that yesterday's earthquake in the south central region of New Jersey may have uncovered an underground pocket of methane gas which is being vented into the atmosphere. As a precaution against possible methane exposure, the area immediately surrounding the epicenter of the earthquake is being cordoned off while authorities assess the potential dangers of this event. Residents caught inside the zone..." at this point the view cut away to a computer animated map of southern New Jersey with a red circle drawn over an area several miles in diameter, "are asked to remain in their homes for the time being to limit their exposure to methane fumes. Anyone within the highlighted area suffering from sudden flu like symptoms, dizziness or nausea is asked to call the 1-800 number being displayed on your screen at this time. Doctors and health experts will offer advice on over the counter medications as well as home remedy treatments to help with your symptoms. Health officials are asking that residents avoid going to hospitals and local health clinics except in dire medical emergencies, those facilities throughout the area have experienced large crowds of symptomatic patients that are stretching their resources and making it difficult to treat those with more urgent medical needs. Health experts are telling us that exposure to the gas will only result in a
temporary period of flu like symptoms that is easily treatable with over the counter medications, rest and by limiting further exposure to the methane."
The report continued on and explained that as a precautionary measure, roadblocks have been set up on major thoroughfares leading into the area and traffic is being diverted around the impacted zones. The camera once again panned across the soldiers and state police officers manning the roadblock on the western edge of the zone. Garrett remembered the news segment from the day before about a minor earthquake in that same region and how unusual it was for that area of New Jersey. What he found really interesting about this particular report was that it occurred to him that it was pretty much utter bullshit. A methane gas leak could not possibly impact an area so many square miles in diameter. Plus, the use of armed troops in full chemical warfare gear backed up with armored vehicles pointed to something much more significant. The first thing that came to his mind was some kind of biological or chemical attack by terrorists. He had serious doubts that methane gas would be responsible for the type of symptoms the news just reported. First of all he knew that the gas was not toxic, while it could cause respiratory problems when in a situation where the amount of methane displaced the majority of available oxygen such as in underground mine shafts. Out in the open environment the worst he thought that could happen was danger from an open flame causing a flash fire or explosion. While he was no doctor or scientist he thought that the symptoms being described by the reporter were a little extreme and unlikely. Garrett flipped the channels and saw that at least three other networks were carrying the same story. Two of the other networks were showing video from roadblocks along different stretches of road leading into the area, in each case a similar deployment of soldiers and state police was visible. Garrett thought that at least an entire mechanized brigade was being used to support this effort. The patches on their uniforms identified them as National Guard troops and Garrett was pretty sure that it took a minimum of a presidential order to activate such forces on American soil. Whatever was really going on inside that sealed off section of New Jersey was something that must have the highest levels of leadership worried and that thought alone made him shiver.
After watching the news reports continue until they pretty much started repeating the same information along with a video loop of the same images he had already seen multiple times, he switched the television off and finished getting ready for his run. He was now pushing his available time to the limit but was still determined to get at least a three mile run completed before getting ready for his interview. A good hard run would get his energy levels up and clear his head so he would be as ready as possible for any off the wall questions they may hit him with during the interview.
#
Dr. Woods studied the readings on his computer screen and made notes on a nearby scratchpad. The results of the air analysis samples had come through just over an hour earlier and his team had been pouring over them ever since.
"It’s the same every time we look at it, the RNA segments point to H2N2," he muttered to the face looking back at him from a nearby video monitor.
The interactive video station had allowed him to maintain constant contact with the field teams so they could share information in real time as it developed. A second smaller window on the screen showed their connection with the main CDC office and the laboratory technicians working on the same problem there.
"I concur, that is what we are seeing as well on this end Dr. Woods. But there is one small exception that makes me hesitate in conclusively identifying it as H2N2 just yet."
Dr. Woods knew what the man was about to say, it was the same thing that his own analysis had identified, "Yes, I see it as well, that last protein is much different than our archival data is showing. What do you make of it? A mutation?"
The H2N2 flu virus also known as the Asian flu had been eradicated since the last known outbreak in Chine back in the mid 1950's after claiming close to two million victims across the globe. The factors that set each variation of flu apart came from their 'H' or hemagglutinin factor. Hemagglutinin was a protein that caused red blood cells to clump together in the presence of an antibody, the manner in which this clumping occurs and the antibodies which cause it are the differentiating factors between each strain of flu. What they were seeing in this particular sample had all the same characteristics of the Asian flu with one small variation, the antibody that would cause the red blood cells to clump together was one that was carried by the virus itself and not already present in the body. This meant that the body’s own attempts to fight off the infection would actually result in further replication of the virus within the bloodstream. Each replication would force the body to produce more antibodies to protect itself and thereby spread the virus further and faster through the body. In effect the virus turned the host into a greenhouse, growing more and more of the virus in its attempts to protect the host. This definitely explained the rapid advance of the virus, the body’s own defense mechanisms were being used against it.
The scientist on the screen at the field hospital shook his head as he pondered the question, "quite frankly doctor, I have no idea. This is something I have never seen before. Our first batch of tests were kicked back by the computer as possibly contaminated because of that single protein. But what are the odds of each sample having a contaminant that yields these same specific results? I think that we are looking at a completely new strain of virus here."
Dr. Woods had to concur with that assessment, this was something new. While the overall symptoms were similar to a flu variation, the rate of infection and the speed at which this virus progressed was unmatched by any known outbreak before. By their calculations the average person would succumb to this virus within twelve to fourteen hours of their initial infection. As with any pathogen based outbreak there would be those who immune systems were able to successfully overcome the process but these individuals would be far and few between and only identified following exposure. In this case they were fortunate that their field team had located that girl who appeared to fall into the small percentage of those immune to this particularly nasty bug. Now it was imperative that they figure out just what about this young lady gave her that immunity.
"What about the girl? Have you had any luck sequencing her RNA to find the outliers that are defeating the virus in her system?" Dr. Woods asked.
"No luck yet, all of her samples except hair have run through our system multiple times and there is just nothing obvious that is contributing to her immunity. With the virus itself being so damn subtle in its appearance from other flu strains, her immunity could come from the same type of subtle variation in her genes, it could take us months to isolate the correct combination and that’s with full computer support from the CDC lab."
Dr. Woods understood all too well how complicated and drawn out the process of finding the exact nature of this girl’s immunity. They would assign several members of the field team as well as personnel at the CDC lab to continue working on that angle while everyone else pressed forward with analyzing the virus itself.
"Keep feeding all your data to Atlanta on the girl, in the meantime, where are you with the autopsy on the body?" Dr. Woods asked, referring to the corpse their field team had recovered from the medical center in Browns Mills where they also found the girl.
"We're ready to get started, just waiting on you to give us the word. We have gone about as far as we can with external samples so far, I personally would like to get some deep lung and tissue samples under the microscope. The path this virus follows in the respiratory system may give us a clue on how to combat infection."
Dr. Woods gave him clearance to proceed with the autopsy after reminding him to switch the video feed to the two cameras covering the autopsy suite. Dr. Woods wanted to follow along with each step of the process, the more eyes they had on the procedure the better chance of spotting any anomalies that could be missed by the surgical team.
#
"Ma'am, I've been here since two in the morning and a lot of the people who have been called up lately got here well after me. Can’t I just get a prescription for some antibiotics or something?" Carl asked the rather frumpy charge nurse who seemed more interested in the soap opera that the lobby television was tuned into. It also didn't escape Carl how the TV was angled much more towards the reception station than towards the lobby area where it clearly had been intended.
He had finally made it to the hospital early in the morning after being forced to stop several more times since barely breezing through the road block to find roadside bathrooms. His symptoms had been on a roller-coaster ride with his fever spiking for an hour or so and then backing down again. By the time he finally made it to the emergency room he had been so exhausted from his bodies up and down battle with this virus that he had signed in and then promptly passed out for a couple hours in the first free chair he could find. This had caused him to miss his name being called the first time and by the time he finally realized that the staff had given up on calling him and removed his name from the waiting list, the emergency room had filled to capacity with sick people. He had discovered that the news had broken the story about an outbreak in south central New Jersey that they were blaming on a pocket of methane gas released by the earthquake in that area. Once the news started reporting an outbreak of an unidentified illness not far from Camden hypochondriacs started rushing to nearby hospitals convinced they were infected with yellow fever, small pox or some other exotic disease. Carl ended up caught up in the rush on the emergency room and instead of being seen on the merits of his actual symptoms he was now faced with the prospect of trying to convince this uncaring and compassionless charge nurse that he was probably the only actual sick person mixed in with this sea of idiots.