Darren sat and listened.
“Jonas, the fella with the M1, and myself,” continued Walt, “are the center’s doctor and director, respectively. Everyone else here was getting treatment when the outbreak occurred.”
The others formally introduced themselves to Darren.
“And I think I’m speaking for all of us here, Darren,” Walt said, “when I say thank you for saving our asses out there.”
“I’m glad I was there when you needed me,” replied Darren, clearly uncomfortable from the praise.
“I gotta ask you, Darren,” Cheryl said, “but we’re two miles from the middle of nowhere. How the hell did you find us?”
“I was stationed at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico when the shit hit the fan,” said Darren. “Pardon my language, ladies. I’d heard stories about other bases that housed military personnel and civilians,” Darren continued, “but at White Sands, it’d just been military.”
“How’d you end up in Spicewood?” asked Joe. “White Sands is damn far away.”
“Is that where I am?” Darren asked as he forced a smirk on his face. “The last few weeks have been… troublesome.”
“You’re about four-hundred-and-fifty miles east of White Sands,” Joe said. “What brought you out this way?”
“We ran out of supplies,” Darren said as he looked at the ground. “We held up at the base for as long as we could, but there were only so many MREs to go around.”
“Do you mind?” Darren asked the group as he walked over to the shelves of preserved food. “I haven’t had much to eat lately.”
“Please help yourself,” said Walt.
“We got word that the army base at Fort Hood was fortified and damn near impenetrable,” Darren continued.
“How many of you were there?” asked Jonas.
“There were just over two thousand at the White Sands base,” said Darren. “Most of them headed west to California. They thought there’d be less infected out that way.”
“We laid low here at the Center,” said Joe. “There’s a spring that supplies us fresh water, and there used to be animals to hunt around here for food.”
“You haven’t been eating the animals?” Darren asked as his fingers dropped from his mouth. There was a combination of concern and horror in his voice. “Right? Please tell me you haven’t been eating the animals.”
“Not for a long time,” Cheryl answered. “The animals seemed to have disappeared a while ago.”
“But that’s how the infection spread,” Darren said. “The animals were where the infection began, and then it mutated to humans.”
“Wait,” Walt interrupted. “Do you know about the infection?”
“But none of you got sick or infected from eating the animals?” Darren asked.
“No,” said Dennis. “It’s not like we were eating the animals raw. We cooked the shit out of them.”
“Interesting,” Darren said.
“Hold on,” Walt said. “What do you know about the infection? Do you know what it is? We all assumed it was a virus, but it really doesn’t behave like one, does it?”
“No, it doesn’t,” replied Darren. “How far from Austin are we?”
“About thirty-five miles,” Joe said. “Why?”
Darren saw everyone staring at him like he held all the answers.
“I’m sorry, everyone,” Darren said. “I don’t mean to dodge your questions. Tell ya what. Just answer me a few questions, and then I’ll tell you everything I know.”
“Go ahead and ask away,” said Walt.
“So we’re about thirty-five miles from Austin,” Darren continued, “and you’ve all eaten the animals around here and haven’t gotten sick, right?”
“Right,” said Jonas. “No one got so much as a stomachache after eating the animals.”
Darren suddenly looked around the candle-lit cellar. He studied all the faces looking at him.
“You guys didn’t know, did you?” asked Darren.
“Know what?” asked David, the frustration was obvious in his voice.
“Austin,” continued Darren, “was ground zero for the infection.”
Darren looked at everyone, seeming unfazed by the surprised looks on their faces.
“There was a black ops lab in Austin that was conducting research when something went wrong,” Darren explained. “Whatever they experimented with mutated and escaped the lab.”
“What does that have to do with the animals we’ve been eating?” Jonas asked.
“The animals there were the ones that spread the infection,” Darren continued. “It spread like wildfire through zoos and ranches and eventually into the wild.”
The others sat there, stunned, as they listened to Darren.
“There was a family that visited the Austin Zoo and became infected from the zoo animals,” Darren continued. “Both animals and insects spread the infection to the suburbs and the cities.”
“Wait,” Cheryl interrupted. “How do you know this?”
“A military base not ten miles from White Sands was doing the same kind of research,” said Darren as the tone of his voice deepened.
“Are you talking about Holloman Air Force Base?” Joe asked.
Darren nodded.
“So this is a man-made virus?” asked Jonas, breaking the silence. “It’s some kind of super bug, right?”
“There is a virus component to the infection,” Darren replied, “but what’s doing the real damage is worse.”
“I think it is time you tell us everything you know about this infection,” Walt said softly. “We need to know what we’re up against.”
Darren exhaled deeply. “Absolutely,” he said. “Just keep in mind that there was no malicious intent with this research. The research being done in hundreds of black op facilities across the world was supposed to help thousands of injured soldiers.”
“Well, that didn’t go as planned,” said Dennis under his breath.
Darren told them everything he knew about the research and how it had mutated. He told them how Holloman Air Force base was overrun in minutes and how lucky they’d been at White Sands to be left standing.
“So those infected fuckers out there,” said David as he broke the silence, “are machines?”
“Not really,” answered Darren. “Think of the nanites more like robots—really tiny, programmable robots.”
“That really doesn’t help,” said David.
“The nanites were built and programed for two functions,” Darren explained. “They were programmed to replicate and build more nanites, and they were programmed to repair the human body from the inside.”
“‘Repair from the inside?’” Jonas asked. “That’s amazing. Was there any success?”
“The research proved to be hugely successful,” answered Darren. “Animals with various diseases were cured, and animals with broken bones were healed within days.”
“So what happened?” Samantha asked. “If everything was going so well, how did those things lead to the end the world?”
“All we know for certain is that the nanites mutated,” Darren said. “Around that time was when a militant animal rights group managed to break into the lab and release all the infected animals into the wild.”
“Damn,” said Joe.
“From what I heard,” said Darren, “the scientists never got a chance to study the mutation before everything went to shit—and everything went to shit fast.”
“I could kiss you, Darren,” said Walt as he jumped up off the ground where he sat.
“Uh, this isn’t good news, Walt,” said Jonas. “This is actually way worse than we originally thought.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah… We’re all pretty much fucked,” said Walt as he walked around the basement. “But this also explains so much.”
The others looked at Walt like he’d lost his mind.
“Are you okay, Walt?” Cheryl asked, standing next to Walt.
“After I looked into Hector’
s eyes,” explained Walt, “I realized I’d looked at the face of someone who was completely in the grasp of their addiction. His body was still ‘Hector,’ but his mind was focused on only one thing.”
Everyone looked at Walt, waiting for the punchline.
“Hector wasn’t in control of himself any more than any of us were when we were in the depths of our addictions,” Walt said. “Now with Darren’s information about the nanites, I think I know what happened to the infected.” Walt stopped to catch his breath.
Everyone’s attention was fixed on Walt.
“Not only that,” continued Walt, “I think I may know how to slow down, and possibly stop, the infected.”
8
Lago Vista Clubhouse
Lago Vista, Texas
“Know what I really miss?” asked Mears to no one in particular. “Coffee. Real fucking coffee.”
Mears set his coffee cup down.
“We’re all here with you two because we trust you, and quite frankly, we feel safer with you both,” said Cain as he nodded toward Butsko and Wilder. “But I think it is time you tell us what we’re doing out here.”
The group was huddled together in the clubhouse’s VIP room. This room was in the back, and was designated for the club’s exclusive members. Everything in the room was expensive leather and Brazilian mahogany. Wilder liked the room because there were no windows, and the room itself was sound proof. Wilder imagined many older rich people in this very room playing poker, smoking cigars, and drinking expensive brandy.
Wilder looked around at his fellow soldiers and the civilians who had volunteered.
“Firstly,” Butsko started, “Wilder and I want to thank you all for trusting and believing in us. What we’re doing out here will hopefully turn the tide in our favor.”
“Please keep in mind,” Wilder interjected, “that Butsko and myself aren’t proposing a way to win this war against the infected, but there is a chance we could gain the upper hand.”
“Enough foreplay, Sir,” Vasquez said to Wilder as she smiled.
“EMP,” was all Butsko said.
“EMP, Sir?” asked Mane.
“One night, Wilder and myself were brainstorming,” Butsko explained. “We wanted to know our enemy better and what made them tick.”
The silence of the group was broken only by the occasional sips of coffee.
“Yes,” Butsko continued. “The infected are human beings, but they are also something more. They’ve been infected with a bio-nanotechnology that essentially kills the humanity of the host and takes over.”
Melvin hung on Butsko’s every word.
“So at the end of the day, the infected are basically being run by really small machines,” Butsko continued. “These nanorobots have fused with the various organic systems of their hosts, but like all robots, they require a power source.”
Everyone looked at Melvin as he breathed in deeply. They could practically see the light bulb go off over Melvin’s head.
“Unfortunately,” continued Butsko, “most of the research has either been lost or was destroyed during the outbreak, so we’re not one-hundred percent sure exactly how the nanites function.”
“May I add something?” Melvin said, jumping up from his seat.
“Please do,” said Butsko.
“I think you’re on the right path,” Melvin agreed, “especially in that the nanites fuse with their host’s body. If it weren’t for the fact the infected were trying to kill us, it is pretty amazing what the nanites have done to the body.”
“How do you figure that?” asked Wilder.
“The nanites, it seems,” continued Melvin, “are unable to take over the host’s body without killing it. So the first thing it does is attack the central nervous system and shut down the host’s brain. Without brain function, there’s no breathing, no heartbeat, or any other vital organic processes.”
Melvin paused to let the others digest what he said.
“While the host is dead,” continued Melvin after a few seconds, “the nanites are able to tap into the central nervous system and control the host. I believe, if they wanted to, the nanites could re-start the heart and lungs, but those aren’t necessary for the control of the host.”
“They’re being efficient, right?” asked Megan.
“Exactly,” Melvin almost shouted as he turned to Megan. “The nanites are conserving their energy, which is really the host’s energy.”
Megan started to ask another question, but Melvin put his palm up and stopped her.
Everyone knew Melvin was on a roll, and it was impossible to stop him.
“The human body naturally produces and emits a certain amount of energy,” said Melvin, the others uncertain whether he was talking to them or himself. “I’ve guessed that these nanites have managed to tap into the body’s energy source and that’s what they’re using.”
Melvin looked up to see the other’s as they stared at him.
“That’s exactly what Wilder and I came up with, Melvin,” said Butsko.
“It was mostly Butsko,” Wilder said to the others as he nodded toward Butsko.
“What does all this have to do with EMPs?” asked Jones.
“We’re almost there, Jones,” replied Butsko. As he turned back to Melvin, Butsko asked, “So do you think the nanites are completely powered by the energy from humans, or do you think they are somehow manipulating energy created from a moving body to keep themselves charged?” Melvin opened his mouth to respond, but was silent.
“I don’t know,” Melvin finally responded after a few seconds. “That’s a great question.”
“This is the question Wilder and I came to as well,” Butsko said.
“I know this all seemed confusing,” Wilder said to everyone, “but knowing one’s enemy is a basic strategy of war.”
“We realize that much of what we’ve just talked about is based on speculation,” Butsko said, “but we do know some hard facts. The nanites kill human hosts, and after the body is reanimated, the nanites have complete control.”
“There is one more thing we know for a fact,” added Melvin. “We also know that the nanites have to be powered by something.”
“Exactly,” Butsko said. “From this info we came up with two possible courses of action.”
“We could plan recon missions to those military bases known to have experimented with the nanites,” Wilder said. “Once there, we could look for the research and try to better understand the nanites and possibly find a cure.”
“The logistics and risks for something like that would be crazy,” said Mears. “We already know that most of the military bases have fallen to those bastards. Even our own base fell.”
The room grew silent and somber as everyone reflected on the friends and family they’d lost.
“That’s exactly what Wilder and I thought,” said Butsko after a few seconds. “Attempting to raid various military bases would be suicide. Besides, we don’t have the fuel, the manpower, or the firepower to even try to execute missions like that.”
“So what’s our second option?” asked Steele. “Do we even want to know?”
“This brings us back to EMPs,” Butsko responded.
9
Will to Heal Center
Spicewood, Texas
The mood in the cellar was electric after Walt’s claim that he might be able to slow down and possibly stop the infected.
“Are you serious, Walt?” asked Jonas. “How does Darren’s information about these bastards being controlled by nanotechnology help us?”
“Bio-nanotechnology,” Walt said as he corrected Jonas. Jonas was about to ask something else, but was cut off by Walt.
“Let me explain,” said Walt. “I’ve had theories about what might be going on for a while now, but never shared them because I had nothing to base my theories on. Now that Darren has given us this very important information, my theories are starting to make more sense.”
Walt paused for a second and realized Da
rren was now the one at a disadvantage. Walt knew the others were aware of his research into the connections between the neurotransmitter dopamine and addictive behavior.
“Darren,” Walt said as he turned to the soldier. “Do you know anything about addiction?”
“I know it ruins people’s lives,” said Darren, stoically. “My brother was a junkie, and the only thing my family and I could do was watch him slowly kill himself.”
“I’m sorry,” Walt said. “I didn’t know.”
“The brother I grew up with and knew basically ceased to exist,” Darren continued. “By the end, I didn’t even recognize him. By the end it seemed as though the addiction had completely taken over his life.” Darren looked up at Walt. “Are you suggesting that the infected are somehow addicted to killing?”
The others stared at Walt and waited for his answer.
“Yes,” Walt said. “I mean, no… kind of. My theories came together after I saw Hector up there. He had that look in his eyes that most of us have experienced at one time or another. ‘Hector’ was gone. What I saw as Hector tried to infect me was pure impulsive behavior, marked with increased agility and motor activity and a compulsion to bite me.”
“All characteristics of having elevated levels of dopamine,” Jonas said.
“Exactly!” Walt said, almost shouting.
“Wait, wait,” Darren said, holding up his hands. “What’s ‘dopamine?’”
“Sorry,” Walt said. “Dopamine is a hormone and a neurotransmitter. In the brain, it’s a chemical that’s released by nerve cells that sends signals to other nerve cells. Dopamine is one of the ways the various cells communicate with each other.”
“Research has shown that dopamine plays a large role in both motor control and motivational or reward-based behavior,” Jonas added.
“This is what led researchers to start connecting dopamine and addictive behavior,” continued Walt. “Basically, dopamine levels in the brain increase with most types of rewards.”
“So dopamine increases when someone takes drugs?” Darren asked.
“Yes, but that’s not all,” Walt answered. “Simple things like eating one’s favorite foods, skydiving, or even driving really fast in your new sports car can trigger elevated levels of dopamine in the brain.”
Outbreak (Book 2): The Mutation Page 13