Dead Corona 1

by Eric Gene

  The man retaliated by pushing back at the soldier really hard. In return, he was tackled by two other soldiers which sparked outrage. In unison, the protesters stormed the soldiers restraining. It was a shit show as none survived being overrun by hundreds.

  While the soldiers were on strict orders to hurt no one, the protesters had forgotten their mantra of peace. They served the soldiers heavy beating that left most unconscious, and marched forward.

  Milling into the makeshift hospitals in their thousands, they ransacked every room for patients and demanded explanations from doctors they could lay their hands on.

  As it turned out, the main patients with advanced symptoms had been taken to an underground medical facility while those who had been in contact with them, were quarantined in the makeshift hospitals earlier used for the corona virus patients.

  None of the doctors could tell the location of the facility, and the reason wasn't farfetched. They were always blindfolded before being transported to the facility.

  Realizing that they'd been played by their government, the army of protesters marched on to their Prime Minister's residence where they were met with superior military resistance. Before they could get to their destination, they'd been sprayed with tear gas from helicopters flying above.

  That, coupled with the gunshots into the air, was enough to scatter their protest. Out of the thousands that had marched out for protest, a few hundreds were injured.

  While some needed bed rest, some needed the attention of a doctor as there were cases of dislocation and broken arms and legs.

  But that was soon to be the least of their worries.

  Their singular act of storming a quarantine facility had exposed them to the virus in the air, and it was a matter of four weeks before they began to show symptoms.

  If there was any who was alarmed by the possibility of another outbreak, those in shadows of the government who knew what had just happened, were very much alarmed. Their people had just given the virus all it needed to spread further.

  ~~~

  "You haven't really been honest with us from the start Mr. Jason Harris" Commander Blair said in a closed meeting between her, Jason, and Captain Nathan. She had noticed his the look on his face as they fought off the horde the night before. That wasn't the look of a common survivor.

  "I don't understand what you mean..."

  "Do you have a military background or not Mr. Jason?" She asked again, a little more intense.

  "All who have come to face those birdies out there are bound to have some sort of training. Field experience if you like" Jason replied coolly.

  "But you had more than just field experience.. You're not just a soldier of necessity, are you?"

  "I don't understand..."

  "Mr. Jason Harris, I want you to be honest with me right now, your stay in this haven depends on it. Are you a soldier or not?!" Commander Blair thundered, slamming her palms together.

  "Hmmm, what makes you say so?" He replied unfazed. His calm demeanor ticked the commander.

  "Err let me take it from here Blair..." Captain Nathan piped in, placing a hand over Blair's shoulder.

  "Mr. Jason, I want to believe I'm a good judge at picking up on what some persons might not want to reveal. Although I hardly paid attention to your friend, I could tell he was not fit for the strike team. Am I correct?" he asked Jason, to which he nodded.

  "Thanks for that... The truth is we're all on the same side here, and I'd understand if you don't want to reveal some things. Call it a soldiers nightmare or whatever."

  "Anyway, when I looked at you outside the outpost, just before I offered half the team to you, I could tell you had lots of experience with these birdies. You seemed too ready to take them on, buy I could hardly say the same for the rest of the team" Nathan added.

  "So tell us, why do we feel you're hiding something? Why do we think you're a soldier, and one hell of a fighter at that too?"

  Jason maintained his silence for a while, staring at the duo before him. The commander looked ready to explode, and Nathan had a quizzical look on his face; his arched brow revealed as much.

  "I am Jason Harris of the 12th Haven, and I have long maintained my status as a regular survivor."

  "But..." he added just as the commander's mouth opened. She had a retort stuck in her throat.

  "I happen to have worked hand in hand with Captain Scott O'Neal of Haven 12. He was my closest friend in the haven."

  "I was a private security expert in training before the fall, and I have the birdies to thank for my field experience" he added and kept mute. Both leaders who stood before him nudged him on wit their head, but he was done talking.

  "Hmmm, a silent one huh? Summarily, you're a soldier, but you're not exactly loyal to anyone, are you?"

  "My loyalties are to the survival of the human race, but we've done a pretty good job of sealing our fate" he replied tersely.

  "And your friend?" Commander Blair asked, breaking the silence that had taken over.

  "He's a young blood, not exactly a fighter, but he's been with me since the infestation"

  "Sounds more like you're stuck with him, and can't wait to get him off your hands" Blair mocked at his tone.

  "Well, you don't seem keen on letting me stay, do you? You may as well be of help in getting him off my hands" he replied coolly. His reply sparked a smirk from Nathan.

  "Why are you leaving?" Peter asked once Jason had given him the news of his plan. The commander had agreed to letting Peter stay on the condition that Jason answered her questions.

  Unknown to everyone, Jason Harris had been a solo hunter since the second pandemic broke out. He had lost his wife and his new born baby boy to the pandemic.

  How she got infected was still a mystery to him, she showed literally no sign of being infected until it was too late.

  But how she got infected was the least of his worries. The memory of him taking her out in the early hours of global chaos, haunted him.

  He had woken up to the sound of their baby crying, and lazily he'd felt around the bed to nudge her into attending to the baby.

  But when he couldn't feel her body, he stood up to go check on the baby himself. Perhaps she had gone into the toilet.

  If only he'd not woken up. If only the fatigue that had forced him into a much needed sleep, had pulled him deeper, he never would have had to witness the horror. He never would have had to endure what followed after.

  Right before his eyes, his wife laid crouched atop the lifeless body of their baby, munching. The young lad laid in a pool of his own blood, while his mother munched on his entrails.

  Unable to believe his eyes, he had called out to her with tears falling freely from his eyes. He choked at the sound of his own voice as he called her name.

  She responded like a predator whose meal had been interrupted. Whoever it was, posed a threat to her finishing her meal, and like all predators, she wasn't going to take any risk.

  Lurching at him, her bloodied hands found her neck, and she pushed him backwards through the door to the baby's room, straight to the floor.

  Roaring at him, she tried sinking her teeth into his neck. Instincts had taken over him, and he kept evading her bites until he had an opening. One punch to the side of her head, had sent her flying.

  Both of them had staggered back to their feet, sizing up one another.

  Although Jason Harris couldn't bring himself to understand how he'd done it, his gut churned each time his mind replayed the image of him snapping her neck. His nights were never peaceful.

  Whilst he faced the chaos in his own home in the early hours of the day, the world was just waking up to the chaos.

  Many had been infected without even knowing, and they'd all gone berserk at the same time. It was as though someone flipped the switch on them.

  ~~~

  "How long till we're ready?" queried a man draped in a hazmat safety suit. The person to whom he directed his question, had his back to him and his face bent over a
notepad.

  Both men stood in a glass encasement overlooking a big laboratory with a handful of workers all draped in hazmat suits. Different glass capsules were stacked above each other into a hundred stories and more. In them were patients kept in stasis.

  "Well Mr. Mao, we're very much on track. I'd say wait till the spread in complete. That should take about thirty to forty days, and then we'll have to wait for thirty more days before the mutation is complete."

  "Are you sure it will work this time? I'm not exactly thrilled by the losses incurred from the last one" Mr. Mao queried his companion who was still scribbling on his notepad.

  At his query, the man stopped his scribbling and turned to address Mr. Mao directly.

  "The SARS-CoV 2.0 did what it was meant to do, and that is to give us practical data we could work with for the new one. Whilst the result wasn't total, I'd reckon 70% is still a pass mark in basic examination."

  "You know..."

  "The SARS-CoV 2.1 will deliver the required result!" he replied, cutting Mr. Mao short.

  "Thanks to the 'vaccines' we've sent out, the whole sanitizing of streets and what have you, the SARS-CoV 2.1 will thrive in its host without detection until... Well, until it's too late" he added with a shrug.

  "I do not doubt your expertise Dr. Hans, I only need results to give to the others" Mr. Mao replied tersely. Turning to leave, he walked up to the elevator that was to lift him up to the surface.

  "And they shall have results Mr. Mao. Results that shall shake the world!" the doctor replied as he watched elevator doors close in on Mr. Mao.

  Chapter 4

  Loyalties

  "You should know that going solo is never the best idea when it comes to fighting these things"

  "Well, I haven't had to be saved just yet" Jason replied Commander Blair when she'd dropped by a tent he'd stashed his bag in. He was almost done packing.

  "But you stand a greater chance of survival with us than staying out there all by yourself"

  "Well, I'll take my chances ma'am. I wouldn't want to be a burden nor be tossed around like a dog" he quipped, dusting up the bag before swinging it to his shoulders. So far, he had been forced to revealed his intent to Commander Blair as a condition for Peter's continued residence in the haven. Both the commander and the captain had tried to shake him off his quest of vengeance. Surely, one man could not bring down the billions of infected all over the world.

  "Listen, we've all lost person very close to our heart, but this one man crusade you're on, would not help us go far. You know the whole talk about brooms sticking together" she said, trying to convince him.

  "Let's do this, I'll kill off as many as I can, and probably gather intel. Then I'll return here or to any other Haven, and have them relay the information. What do you think ma'am?"

  "Hmmm, I hate to lose a good soldier, even if his loyalties are beyond the safety of this Haven" she replied with a sigh. Standing at attention, she stretched her hand to him for a handshake and said "I'll not stand in the way of fulfilling your mission. Thanks for delivering Scott O'Neal's message, I hope to get word from you later on."

  Jason nodded, receiving her handshake. Giving her a curt bow he turned to step out of the tent, only to run into Peter who stood breathless.

  "Why are you leaving?" he asked, panting.

  "Well, my journey goes beyond this Haven. I've got business to take care of"

  "What business is that that would have you walking out of a haven? I mean, it's not like you're a scout or anything"

  "Yeah well, I actually had to get you to this haven before I continued my journey. Relax though, I'll be back some day, and I'll be expecting you to have made better kills" he told Peter, patting him on the back. For what it was worth, their journey had been a welcomed distraction from his nightmare. But he wasn't one to confess.

  "Err sure..." Peter grinned. He knew he still hadn't gotten the hang of aiming. He hardly had any military experience until Jason taught him in their travels.

  "I'll be expecting your stories when you return!" he called out to Jason who'd already sauntered off.

  Stepping out of the outpost, Jason walked past the pile of dead bodies with his map in hand. Glancing at it for a while, he raised his head and stared into the distance. His journey was going to take three weeks before he got to the next haven.

  ~~~

  In a bid to ease the tension in the country, the Chinese government disbanded the makeshift hospitals that had been overrun by the protesters. A fake documentary of discovering a new vaccine and curing the remaining patients had been aired live, and those held in quarantine had been permitted to return to their normal life.

  Although they felt better after the vaccination, the real masterminds of the virus had only pushed that out as a means of calming fraying nerves. The vaccine was to inhibit the virus for a little more time until it had been spread all over the world.

  The sinister plan was to cause global chaos, and tout themselves as saviors. Different simulations had been run in secret, and the corona virus had just been a test run. The world had reacted as expected, and medical supplies had been reduced to zero. It was the perfect time to unleash another virus that would be unstoppable.

  "From the data Dr. Hans gave me, I'd say we're nearing the endgame. This might be a good to time to go underground as the last phase is kicked into motion" Mr. Mao told an audience of men and women who owned ninety percent of the world's wealth. There were no secretaries in this meeting; only the players were in attendance.

  Behind him, a large screen had just finished running a simulation of their plot. It was the only source of light in the dimly lit room filled with calmly seated moneybags around a long glossy table that was black in color.

  "Is there a vaccine for this, in case things go wrong?" asked a Caucasian male dressed in deep blue suit. He had a tear shaped goatee which complemented his moustache. His face couldn't be clearly seen thanks to the dim lighting.

  "Well Mr. Reagan, that's the reason for creating the virus, is it not? We wouldn't be earning anything if there was no cure to sell now, would we?"

  "I don't think you understood what he meant Mr. Mao" piped in another man sitting a little opposite Mr. Reagan. His voice sounded much like that of a Russian.

  "Enlighten me Mr. Dimitri"

  "What he's asking, is a vaccine for us in here. Something that would grant us immunity" the man added, reclining forward in his seat.

  "Oh yes, that's the next agenda on tonight's meeting. Let's listen to Dr. Hans as regards that" Mr. Mao said and promptly pressed a button on the remote controlling the screen. The simulation window was replaced by a live video call to Dr. Hans. He was still in his glass encasement overlooking the rest of the laboratory.

  "Gentlemen and women, I was expecting your call" he said quickly once the connection had been made.

  "I must say that I am deeply honored to have you all funding this project. I'm sure the data I sent, would allay any fear nursed by any of you"

  "Dr. Hans, you do a very fine work, and we're glad we could sponsor you" Mr. Mao spoke up once the doctor was done with his pleasantries.

  "But as you know, we're not the expert, you are. So we would like to ask a few questions directly. Just so we're on the same page" he added. He had already taken his seat.

  "Let the questions roll in then" Dr. Hans replied.

  There was a moment's silence before Mr. Reagan threw in his question about a vaccine for immunity.

  "Well thank you for your question sir, I'm sure Mr. Mao must have told you about the fact that if we hope to get results, and that includes profit, we would need a vaccine for the virus."

  "But I'm sure that's not what your question plans on addressing, is it sir?" Dr. Hans asked, to which Mr. Reagan grumbled a "no".

  "Just to allay your fears, I have developed a vaccine that would improve your immune system against the virus. You and your family, if you choose, will be inoculated against the virus right here in this laboratory"
<
br />   "You just have to pick a convenient date, and that would be all" he said at length. Silence followed his statement as his sponsored ruminated over his proposition.

  If they were to agree to it, they would be going against their initial agreement which placed Mr. Mao as the middleman connecting them to him. He hardly knew any of them, but he knew what they were capable of; they controlled money, and that was all he needed to know, and all they were offering.

  "Dr. Hans, you're well aware that this goes against the terms of our contract right?" a feminine voice spoke up. There were four women out of the twelve who were in the meeting.

  "I'm sorry ma'am, I know this seems to be in breach of the confidentiality clause of the contract. But, I don't think there's any cause for alarm. After all, I myself am a stakeholder in this plan of ours." Dr. Hand replied coolly. Silence followed once more.

  "What I am offering is to give each one of you the vaccine personally, rather than entrusting it to your private doctors who have no idea what the vaccine is for. I would say, the clause is very much intact. That is, except you decide I deliver the vaccine to Mr. Mao so he can do the delivery to each stakeholder, who will determine whom to give the vaccine for administration"

  "That's too complicated a process, don't you think?" he asked his silent audience. Although he couldn't see them, he could tell they were seriously thinking about his proposition.

  Seeing as the silence wasn't keen on being broken, Mr. Mao coughed for attention and promptly dismissed Dr. Hans saying "I would relay the decision of the house to you later".

  "Alright then, do have a nice day" had been Dr. Hans incomplete response before the connection was closed.

  "So then, any suggestion?" Mr. Mao asked the men and women seated before him.

  ~~~

  A tree branch creaked eerily in the darkness. Although large, it seemed to quiver at the slightest shaking of the load resting atop it. Underneath, a band of zombies walked around aimlessly looking for something to sink their teeth into.

  Jason who was oblivious of his surrounding, snuggled further in his dreamless sleep. No sooner had he done that, the tree branch caved in, and down he went crashing into two unlucky zombies. The others had heard the crash and turned swiftly to attack.