Jackson stayed with Sutton as he packed his stuff up and the president walked down to them. “You have family, Dr. Sutton?” the president asked.
“No, sir, none close. Haven’t talked to my sister in years,” Sutton answered, closing his laptop. “My research is my family.”
“Well, any that you put on your team, we’ll make room for their immediate family,” the President said and Sutton looked up at him in shock. “Choose who you’ll need and I’m making arrangements to have the facility in Atlanta stocked and guarded.”
“Is there video conference set up where you want us?” Sutton asked.
Nodding, “Yes, and Jackson, bring him up to speed,” the president said, leaving.
When the president was gone, Jackson leaned over close to Sutton’s ear. “You played that very well. Don’t try to place blame because you may have an accident,” Jackson whispered, then leaned back.
“Thought that was what you were trying to get across,” Sutton said, packing his stuff.
“I’ll meet you at the Pentagon tomorrow,” Jackson said and saw Sutton look up. “I guarantee you, Sutton, you will be happy with this lab.”
“You need to tell them to start limiting contacts because I can guarantee you, the virus is in Washington by now,” Sutton told him, nodding toward the door everyone had left through. When Jackson nodded, Sutton slung his bags on his shoulders and headed out while calling his driver.
Chapter Seven
We know what is good for you
April 27
Arthur glanced at the clock and moved to the den and sat down, turning on the large flat screen TV. He laughed to himself as he sat down in his chair because he’d bought the TV for ten dollars because the man had said it didn’t work and when Arthur got it home, he found out a tiny fuse had blown. Replacing a ten-cent fuse, Arthur had gotten a seven grand TV for ten dollars and ten cents.
He turned it to a major network, something he hadn’t done in years, and waited. The director of the CDC was to come on at five and give a report of the flu virus that was breaking out. He’d made a few calls to the hospitals he worked at and none of them said they were getting stockpiled with any treatment drugs.
On the websites he visited, there were talks of deaths from the flu but they were mostly from Mexico City. Hospitals in major cities were filling up, but weren’t reporting deaths. To be honest, if Wendy had been at home, he wouldn’t have been concerned.
As the commercial ended, the screen cut to a podium with CDC in glass letters stuck on the front. A man that looked to be in his mid-thirties stepped up to the podium. “Good evening, for those that don’t know, I’m Ernie Ostimer, Director of the CDC.
I’m speaking to you this evening about the flu that arrived in our country a few weeks back. First, yes, there have been deaths, but as I hope everyone knows, the flu still kills. The latest death was an eighty-two-year-old in Rhode Island.”
Ernie looked down at the teleprompter and then down at his notes before turning back to the cameras. “The CDC is recommending that everyone use standard precautions and make an appointment with your primary care physician to receive your flu shot early this year. We are working with manufacturers to get the first batches out soon.”
Arthur leaned the recliner back, “This is the same shit you fuckers say every year,” he mumbled. He may not watch TV, but he still had to read the handouts the CDC sent to the hospitals. For twenty minutes, Arthur listened and swore Ernie was just babbling. When he’d finished his speech, Ernie started taking questions and Arthur shook his head.
“My god, is this guy even a doctor?” he mumbled as Mickey jumped up in his lap. “Oh, come on, I don’t want your hair all over me,” he said, picking the cat up and putting it on the couch.
As Ernie finished talking after the last question, because he sure wasn’t answering them, a reporter yelled out. “What about the deaths we are hearing about in Mexico?”
Arthur turned to the screen as Ernie turned toward the reporter with a remorseful smile. “I’m sorry to say, there are more deaths in Mexico than here like there always is but I hate to say it, Mexico doesn’t have our health care system. They don’t have the vaccination programs we have, so I hope you can understand why they have more deaths,” Ernie replied, ending in a sigh.
“This idiot doesn’t know and isn’t saying shit about what he does know. He talked for half an hour and never gave any information,” Arthur gasped in awe. “He’s going to be president one day.”
As Ernie took another question, the local news came on and a male anchor filled the screen. “We will bring you the highlights of the rest of the press conference at the CDC during our ten o’clock program tonight,” the anchor smiled at the screen. “We have your news and weather now.”
Raising the remote, Arthur turned the channel to the Science channel. “You ain’t bringing me shit, numb nuts,” Arthur popped off. “At least when you had the hot redhead, I could look at hooters.”
When the phone rang Arthur leaned over, grabbing the cordless and saw an international number. “Hello,” he answered.
“Hey, hun,” Wendy said.
“Hey, babe, how are you?” Arthur said, sitting up in his chair.
“About to go eat,” Wendy answered. “Did you watch the CDC press conference?”
“Yeah, and it was so boring that the local station cut it off and will play the highlights tonight at ten.”
“Did they say anything?” Wendy asked.
“Just what we always get in the pamphlets at the hospitals,” Arthur laughed. “Oh, and the director of the CDC is the male version of Alicia. He can talk forever and not say one damn thing.”
The phone was silent and Arthur looked to make sure he hadn’t lost the call. “We have to make sure they never meet,” Wendy declared.
“So, is Alicia being her normal self?”
“Eww-ah,” Wendy warbled as she suppressed a shiver. “Hun, she’s wearing a two-piece bikini and the bottoms are thongs.”
Pole-vaulting out of his chair, “What?!” Arthur shouted and the cats took off running. “She’s seventy pounds overweight! Don’t they have, like, fashion police on the ship? I know there has to be kids, that could scare some people.”
“You’re being generous with her weight,” Wendy said, shivering again. “Alicia is an inch shorter than me and weighs well over two fifty; closer to three hundred.”
Forcing the images out of his mind, “So are you and your sister getting along?” Arthur asked, wanting his mind sidetracked.
“Oh, Gloria is having a blast and I have to say, I’m enjoying rooming with her,” Wendy laughed. “You having any trouble?”
“Trouble?” Arthur scoffed. “I’m getting yours and my tasks knocked out before eleven.”
“Well, I might just see if I can take a longer cruise,” Wendy snickered.
“You can, but your cats won’t be here,” Arthur replied. “We need to look at using their fur to make sweaters. You brush the angora rabbits out, I’m sure you can make sweaters from your cats.”
“Arthur, you better be nice to Mickey and Minnie,” Wendy snapped. “And for your information, you can do that.”
Cradling the phone into his shoulder as a used car commercial came on blaring loudly, Arthur grabbed the remote to turn the volume down on the TV. “I am being nice to them.”
“Please don’t start shearing the sheep until I get back,” Wendy begged.
“Babe, I can shave stupid ass sheep,” Arthur moaned.
“You shave them in patches.”
“Wendy, they aren’t silkworms. Their fur isn’t one long thread,” Arthur laughed.
“Will you wait?”
“Yes, I’ll wait,” Arthur promised.
“I heard you took the pies,” Wendy said and he could tell she was beaming.
“Yep, they raffled off for fifty apiece,” Arthur told her. “That’s more than we get for a pound of coffee we grow. I think you need to concentrate on making pies.”
“No,” Wendy barked, then softened her voice. “So, you’re not having any trouble?”
Laughing, “No. Oh, you wouldn’t believe how many ducks were in the field the morning after you left,” Arthur told her.
“Oh they wait till I leave,” Wendy barked. She loved to duck hunt, that’s why she had labs. Even though she was partial to ducks, Wendy loved bird hunting of any kind. “Have you worked on your book?”
“Sure have,” Arthur smiled. “I stopped typing at three this morning.”
“Don’t you kill off the knight, I’m warning you.”
“I won’t,” Arthur said.
“Hey, baby, they are ready,” Wendy said quickly. “I love you and will call you at our next port stop. The satellite phones on the ship are expensive. Check your e-mail to keep in touch.”
“Have fun, baby. I will,” Arthur said. “Love you.”
When he heard the dial tone, Arthur hung up the phone and put it in the docking station. Turning to the kitchen, he saw the cats sitting in the doorway and staring at him. “What? You have food, water, and your litter box is cleaned out,” he shouted at the cats as they stared at him with indifference.
“You can wait till Wendy gets back because I’m not feeding you the canned cat food,” Arthur huffed as Don and Daisy came down the stairs. He grinned, hearing the massive Rottweilers’ thumping footsteps on the stairs.
Still returning the cats’ stare, “Keep on, Mickey and Minnie and I’ll let Donald and Daisy eat some pussy,” Arthur laughed out.
Don and Daisy came over and he bent down and patted them. “Where did you leave Kit and Kat?”
The dogs just looked up at him, groaning with the pats. Standing up, Arthur headed to his office. Sitting down behind a massive desk, he pulled his chair up and tapped the keyboard to wake up his computer. Opening the daily roster, Arthur added, ‘check the oil and other fluids in the tractor’ to tomorrow’s list.
Several things were on every day, like gather eggs and milk cows. Then depending on the season, more would get added. One thing Arthur loved was order and with this list, he and Wendy rarely forgot any chore that needed to get done. His only regret was that he hadn’t thought of it back when Joseph was a kid. The computer replaced the dry erase board that used to hang by the back door.
Glancing at his list for tomorrow, Arthur put the computer to sleep and headed to the master bedroom located downstairs. There was another one upstairs, but that one was Joseph’s. Upstairs, there were three more bedrooms, two bathrooms, and another room that he used for a library.
Walking into the bedroom, he found Kit and Kat sprawled out over the bed. As he stared at them, Don and Daisy jumped up on the bed. “I think I’m sleeping on the couch,” Arthur said, heading to the bathroom to take a shower.
***
Hearing the alarm, Arthur cracked his eyes open and saw the four dogs on Wendy’s side of the bed. “When momma gets back, she’s going to kick your asses,” Arthur groaned, sitting up and turning on the lamp on his nightstand. Don lifted his head off the bed and looked at Arthur and then looked up at Wendy’s pillow.
Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, Arthur turned to Wendy’s pillow to see the cats lying side by side. “Don, don’t. You know Wendy lets the fur balls sleep in the bed.”
Giving a groan, Don put his head back down as Arthur got up. “Up,” he barked and the four dogs jumped up and bounced off the bed. Looking at the bedspread, he could see the dog hair. Like the cats, the dogs were brushed regularly, but they still shed. Unlike the dog hair, there was much more cat hair.
Turning to look at the four dogs sitting in a row and looking at him, “Hey, you know momma lets them sleep up there. I’m going to have to wash the bedspread to get your hair off,” Arthur said, grabbing his workout clothes and heading to the bathroom. “Wish I could leave the cat hair, though.”
Brushing his teeth and washing his face, Arthur grabbed a towel to dry his face when he heard, “Meow,” at his feet. Since Mickey was a very dark grey, he knew it was Minnie, the light grey at his feet.
“I don’t like you,” Arthur stated, putting the towel back on the rack and Minnie rubbed past his leg, meowing. “Yeah, I let the dogs sleep on the bed and you can’t tell momma,” he teased, walking out of the bathroom.
Walking into the kitchen with all the animals following, he smelled the coffee. “Automatic coffee maker; definitely a top ten invention,” Arthur said and felt both cats rubbing his legs. “What?” he cried out, pouring a cup of coffee.
The cats looked up at him and meowed. Stepping over, he looked at the cats’ food bowl. Spinning around and glaring at the dogs, “Who ate the cat food?” he yelled.
All four dogs laid down on the floor, looking pitiful. “I know one of you ate it because these two haven’t emptied their food bowl in the last year,” Arthur snapped, walking over to the pantry and getting a scoop of cat food.
The cats charged him and then one went to each leg, walking in a circle and rubbing against him while meowing loudly. “So, you act like you love me only when you have no food?” Arthur accused, dumping the food in their bowl. Getting what they’d wanted, the two cats left Arthur and paid him no further attention.
Putting the scoop away and grabbing his coffee, Arthur turned around and saw each cat take two bites before walking off into the living room. “I hate cats,” he mumbled, heading for the back door.
The dogs leapt up, running for the door as Arthur held it open. When the dogs ran out, Arthur closed the door and headed to the gym. All the gym equipment was reclaimed or bought from a gym going out of business. He wasn’t a bodybuilder; Arthur just wanted to stay in shape.
It was Wendy who had started them on getting and staying in shape soon after Joseph had been born. They were both lean and well-built, looking much younger than their ages.
Working out and then swimming a few laps, Arthur climbed out of the pool to see the four dogs sitting at the back door, looking away from him. Grabbing his towel and drying off, Arthur headed for the door and saw one of the outside cats. The only one he kinda liked, but he wouldn’t get close to the damn thing.
It was a short-haired yellow cat reminding him of Morris from the TV commercial. The only difference was the size. This was the only outside cat that had a name: Kong. He, nor Wendy had ever picked the cat up but he knew it weighed close to if not over, forty pounds. When Kong was sitting, his head was well over Arthur’s knees.
The security camera at the barn several months ago had caught Kong fighting a raccoon and killing it. Searching the internet, Arthur couldn’t find anyone that had proof that a cat could or had killed a full-grown raccoon.
Kong would follow him around and Arthur was expecting any day for the cat to look up at him and bark. There wasn’t an animal on the farm that didn’t give way to Kong. Even the bull moved away when Kong walked out of the barn.
Stopping at the dogs as he dried his hair, Arthur watched Kong lazily look around, paying the four dogs no attention at all. “Hey, I would let you in the house, but I know you would kill the cats and I’m worried you might kill me in my sleep,” Arthur explained with no shame, letting the towel drape over his shoulders.
Turning his head slowly, Kong looked at him, blinking his eyes lazily. “Okay, I’ll bring out some food when I’m dressed,” Arthur offered, thinking he needed to start bringing his pistol outside when he worked out.
Walking in, he saw Mickey and Minnie at the dog’s bowls. “Hey, get your ass out of there!” he shouted as the dogs charged their bowls. “I should let Kong in, to whoop your asses,” Arthur mumbled as the cats just strolled off and he fixed a quick breakfast, then dressed.
Grabbing his 1911 and shoving it into his clip-on holster, Arthur stopped in the kitchen and grabbed a large sausage patty. Opening the back door, he saw Kong sitting on the patio, waiting on him. “Here,” Arthur said, tossing the patty to the far side of the patio as the dogs came out. “Just keep away from me.”
As Kong got up
and slowly walked over to the patty, daring the dogs to run for it, Arthur closed the door. “Hey, the dogs aren’t stupid,” Arthur told Kong as he pulled his phone out to make sure it was charged.
Putting his phone away, Arthur looked over to see Kong lying down with the patty right in front of him. “Pussy, eat the sausage,” he said, walking off the patio. Climbing on the electric cart he’d just built, Arthur unplugged it and hung the cord off the outdoor grill.
Turning the switch on, Arthur backed up and saw Kong watching the four dogs make a wide path around him. “Something’s not right when Don and Daisy will attack a person but avoid that cat,” Arthur noted, driving over to the shop.
Grabbing his tool belt and the camera for the gate, Arthur headed down the rise on a small path he had cut into the side of the rise with Jack’s excavator. The cows were waiting for him at the door. He let them in as they walked into the stalls.
They had four cows and a bull, but were only milking two cows. At one time, they were selling raw whole milk, but the government had passed a law that said you had to have an expensive food license, pay for inspections, and had to follow a list of expensive regulations. To combat that, he and Wendy just stopped selling milk.
Pulling his gloves off, Arthur moved over and turned on the water hose. Washing the udders off and hooking up the automatic milking machine, Arthur turned them on and then poured a scoop of feed into each trough. That’s why the cows wanted in. The two cows he wasn’t milking had calves now and he would rotate them out, letting the other two rest and get pregnant.
Checking the milk tank, Arthur headed out after grabbing the egg basket and then headed to the chicken coop. They had over thirty chickens and they were all in the mobile coop, now that winter was over and the raccoons were leaving them alone. After gathering the eggs, Arthur put the basket on the buggy and then headed back in, turning off the milking machine.
After the cows headed back out to the field, he moved over to the other side of the barn and fed the horses and sheep. He laughed at the super fluffy sheep until he got to the two rams. Their large spiral horns jutted out from their heads as they looked at him with their demonic eyes. “I’m not scared of sheep and the last time a ram butted me, he got ate,” Arthur informed them, moving among the sheep.
Viral Misery (Book 1) Page 6