November Seed

by David Nadas

she decided a chef knife would work instead.” Both Matt and Dan winced. “Five stitches in her thumb, but she was lucky, no tendon damage.”

  “Yikes.” Matt said. “Have you seen anything on the news about the contagion?”

  “President’s speaking at 9 o'clock.”

  “Can’t be good.” Dan said looking at his watch. “We have about 10 minutes before he comes on.”

  “OK, then. Let’s get this stuff into the garage.” Matt suggested, and once more, they clinked their bottle and drained their beers.

  “The President is about to come on.” Laurie said, as the three guys entered the family room, a warm glow in the fireplace inviting Dan to stretch out on the rug in front of the couch where Oscar, tail wagging, padded over to Dan for some love and attention.

  “Incoming!” Dan joked, covering his head with his arms, as Oscar’s tail batted Dan’s side and he jokingly groaned as if in the ring with Mike Tyson, taking his punches.

  “Come here, Oscar,” Asha offered in sympathy. “I’ll show you someone loves you.” Oscar, realizing he was not going to get any attention from Dan, padded over to Asha as she leaned down to rub his ears and head.

  Dan called out, "There's Andy, check it out! To the left of the screen."

  "No wonder we couldn't reach him." Matt added, and he sat on the end of the couch near Cindi. "How's the hand?"

  "Not as bad as I thought it would be," said Cindi, holding up the bandage for inspection. “Until I forget and try to use it."

  "Here he comes," said Ed, as they watched President Obama walk down the hall to the podium.

  “Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, my fellow Americans.” Then he stopped, looked down at the podium, both hands holding onto the sides for support. He shook his head slightly as if what was set before him, a script, was not going to work here. Not this night. Not ever again. More slowly this time, with his hands forming a steeple below his chin, he continued.

  "My fellow Americans. Citizens of the world.” He was off script and looking directly into the cameras. "Today, I bring you news. Unfathomable news." He placed his hand briefly over his mouth, searching his soul for the right words. "It was almost seventy-three years ago that Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his Day of Infamy speech. On that day, President Roosevelt announced that America would be forced to enter into war against another nation. But unlike that day, today— our nation and every nation on earth," his head moving from side to side in his classic style, "has entered into another war. A war against an invisible enemy." There was a gasp from the press corps.

  "Hold on now, hold on." He continued. "Early this morning, a discovery was made by two research field scientists in southern New Jersey."

  "Dude! That's us!" shouted Dan, turning back to Matt.

  The President continued, "A deadly and rapidly spreading bio-contagion has become airborne and is traveling among the seeds of native grasses common along the coasts throughout the world. These grasses are called Phragmites. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in conjunction with the World Health Organization have determined that this contagion appears to be extraterrestrial in nature," holding up his palm in advance to ward off questions. "I have been in contact with British Prime Minister Cameron and we are continuing to reach out to other world leaders. Our Military is standing by and we are working with leading medical research institutions around the world to combat this contagion." The camera flashes erupted once more with white house reporters screaming out questions and advancing toward the podium. The President could hardly be heard over the eruption as the Secret Service stepped forward to block the podium.

  "Are the Russians part of this?”, shouted a reporter.

  "No. It is true that the Chinese, North Koreans and some Middle Eastern nations believe the United States and Russia have co-developed a military grade virus and have released it,” The President continued. "They believe the International Space Station was involved in this release."

  Another shout came from the crowd. "With the increased frequency of military launches from Wallops Island lately, is there truth to that, Mr. President?”

  “We want the truth!" another voice shouted, causing a stir of rapid-fire questions and flashes.

  "Settle down. Settle down, now,” The President said, more swagger and command in his voice.

  "In answer to your question: no, there is no truth to that. We have reached out to President Putin and others who know the truth. For now, we advise you not to go outside. Shut your doors and tape any gaps in doors and windows to make them airtight. Wear masks if you have them, but do not," and he emphasized with his chin slightly raised and finger wagging, “do not rush out to buy masks if you do not already have them. By going outside, you risk the danger of exposure. If you are in your cars listening to this broadcast, put your windows up, shut off your vents and get to a safe place and stay there. Our National Guard and military will be front and center. Keep your TV and radios turned on and listen for emergency broadcast announcements. Do not panic. This great nation will not go down without a good fight, but to win, we must cooperate with each other. I will now turn this over to our Director of the Center for Disease Control, Washington bureau, Dr. Tom Frieden, who will provide greater detail. Thank you."

  The calls for 'Mr. President' were deafening and it took a minute to quiet everyone.

  "Thank you, Mr. President. Our Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, has identified the carrier of this contagion, but its origin is unknown at this time. However, theories that the contagion is being delivered by meteorite are realistic and are being looked into. We do not know how long the contagion has existed here on Earth, but at the rate of propagation and dispersal, we believe it has been present for several years and has been lying dormant.”

  "That is so not true!" Dan shouted. "I've been studying the propagation of Phragmites australis for over ten years and have never seen this until this past week. They are holding something back."

  "The initial vector of dispersal has been identified as Phragmites, a common, aggressively spreading reed-"

  "At least he got that part right." Dan muttered.

  “…which grows mostly along the concentrated marshlands in every state and country throughout the world. This species of reed releases its seed this time of year. It is a natural, timed event, with all seeds releasing in a matter of hours. Among field biologists who study this plant, the event is known as November Seed. It can appear like the first snow flurries of the season in colder climates. Our latest findings show that the contagion, carried by these seeds, is highly infectious and has a gestation period of less than 24 hours, where it travels through the blood system to the brain. Once there, it will replicate, and protrude through the back of the head, careful not to harm its host. There is a distinctive twig-like growth emanating from the back of the head of its victims. Internally, the contagion spreads into the brain, where it gains control of motor skills of the infected individual, setting them on a course which, as of yet, we do not understand. What we do know is that the infected individuals will seek out concentrations of metal, collectively, forming a distinctive cluster. At this point, the individuals remain alive, but in a zombie like state. There is nothing to fear from these individuals except the continued spread of infection in the form of a gray powder. If you see them, just stay clear. They will not harm you. We also know that all those infected face toward a certain declination in the sky, but again, we have yet to determine why. The infected have a high concentration of ferrous oxide and become magnetic in nature, setting off an electrical field concentrating toward the declination identified, for reasons unknown."

  The shouting started with one clear question rising above all others.

  "Have we been contacted by an alien race?" The room went silent. Dr. Frieden was speechless and turned to the panel behind him. From the ranks, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel stepped forward to the lectern, allo
wing Dr. Frieden to step aside to evade the question.

  "Thank you Dr. Frieden. Mr. President. No. We have not been contacted by extraterrestrials."

  The same reporter shouting, "But you expect to be! " more of a statement than a question, the stage before him was silent.

  "We do not want to jump to conclusions. Until we have additional, concrete information, we ask you to treat this as a terrestrial contagion. It has been the president’s wish to be frank, truthful, and when we know more about how this contagion spreads, where it came from and how to contain it, we will let the world know. We understand this is not a time to withhold information and for the first time, the government will leak information before even Mr. Snowden does," which drew nervous laughter from the gallery.

  Without announcement, the presidential address cut back to its regular program, mid scene of a Mike and Molly episode with canned laughter in the background. The situation and scene seemed surreal to everyone in the room.

  "What the fuck!" Dan injected. Cindi gave him a stern look as she placed her hands over her daughter's ears.

  "Dan! We have children here."

  "Oops, sorry." Dan said apologetically and could see Jen grinning with laughter from above her iPad.

  Jen spoke up. "Hey, on Twitter, New York has been cut off. No one can