What Remains (Book 3): Epidemic

by Barrett, Tyler

  “So be it. I’ll make him pay then. You need to grow stronger Evans; there will be harder trials ahead.”

  Evans felt those words leave her mouth, words not of her own.

  The man screamed in fear and agony as Evans watched herself bite into the man's arm. She could feel the warmth of the man's blood pouring into her mouth, the meatiness of the muscle, her teeth scraping against his bone.

  “Hahaha! This is our world, and these…filth are nothing more than a hindrance. We alone will decide the fate of the world!”

  Evans blacked out, the emotions and senses of what just happened exploding in her mind.

  Chapter 35

  Dr. Victoria had stored the blood samples, making sure the new scientists she had hired were at work running tests. The guards she had posted inside the lab were present, ready if anything happened. With everything currently handled, Dr. Victoria wanted to begin her dive into the terabytes of data stored on the hard drives procured from Japan. It had taken them months to decrypt much of the data on them, and some of it was still uncrackable. She hoped that there was something on the already decrypted files that would give her some credence to her conspiracy theory.

  Returning to her office, she made sure the first thing she did was brew a full pot of coffee, expecting it to be another long night. Dr. Victoria closed her office door before sitting down at her desk, setting two external hard drives next to her computer tower. She plugged in the first one, giving her computer a moment to register the device. A window appeared on the screen, asking for a password to access the drive, which she entered her personal password. Replacing the login in window, a new one appeared, a file directory, listing multitudes of folders.

  The folders were sorted by name alphabetically, starting with the letter A, listing Appearance first. Dr. Victoria had sorted many of the files on this drive already, moving them by relevance. Appearance was for locations the Virus had surfaced before, which didn’t contain many files. She found it hard to believe that a virus as deadly as the Demon Virus just happened to materialize out of nothing one day. Opening the folder, she began her deep dive in hopes of finding something.

  Clicking on the first file, it opened, showing a report that was almost completely redacted, only citing the location of Tokyo, Japan, dated before the outbreak. Dr. Victoria had surmised that the Japanese government was the source of the virus but had yet to fully understand the implementation of why. She knew somehow the man on the phone had to be connected to the whole ordeal since he had sent virus samples dated before the initial outbreak.

  Finding nothing of value from the file, Dr. Victoria closed it, moving down the list. The second file opened and was mostly readable, a simple receipt for lab equipment, with no sender listed, but the receiving location was. Opening a new instance of her web browser, she typed the address listed into the search bar, hoping it would pull something. The page refreshed, giving several listings for her query, the first one listed as a hospital in Tokyo, Tokyo Saiseikai Central Hospital.

  Why does that name sound so familiar? I know I’ve heard that name before, but where?

  Dr. Victoria leaned back in her chair, rubbing her chin, letting out a sigh.

  It snapped into place. That’s the hospital the soldiers were sent to on the failed US mission. You know, I guess I never really did question the validity of the mission besides assuming it was one to find answers. Muller’s team was sent to collect the surviving members of the Japanese government, but they were already dead. Another team was sent to a nearby hospital, to collect research, supposedly, they never made it back. What were they sent to that hospital for?

  Minimizing the web browser, Dr. Victoria went back to the files, opening the next few, with no information helpful in attempting to grasp the reasoning for sending special forces to retrieve something from a hospital. She skipped several folders, scrolling down to the one she knew held the most files, titled Reports.

  She had attempted once before to sift through the mountain of files but was dragged away by other pressing matters and had never returned to the task. Skipping the ten files she had already viewed; Dr. Victoria opened a new one. This file was report sent by the Japanese military to the Prime Minister about the first wave of infected appearing far north of Tokyo, in the Chubu region.

  Okay, now I know where the virus first made its appearance. Chubu Region. Now, I just need to figure out if I can find a more specific location.

  Opening the next file, provided nothing useful, as did the one after that as well. Dr. Victoria started a new folder to put the files that didn’t have anything useful to her hunt into. After adding six more files, she opened a new one, discovering her next thread to follow. It was a report with no sender but described in detail the procurement of not just one lab, but four, citing their costs.

  Four labs…how many people knew about this virus before it escaped? This could have been easily avoided if there wasn’t so much involvement…Bureaucracy at its finest.

  Continuing to read the report, she came across her next clue as it cited another report listing the specific report, 1-4. Dr. Victoria quickly went back to the folder, searching for the report, finding it only a short distance down the list. After reading the report, she quickly found her answer to why the US had sent soldiers to the hospital in Tokyo. Detailing the potential locations for lab sites, over twenty were listed but were easily able to find the hospital listed as one of the locations.

  Well, I know for sure of at least one of the locations, but not of the other three labs. Okay, so the US government knew of the location of one of the labs; was that information shared by the Japanese government before they were lost, or did they already know the location?

  Every answer she found left Dr. Victoria with only more questions, and no closer to narrowing the scope at all. Looking up all the locations, she was able to narrow down the list to two possible locations for the origin of the outbreak, Nagaoka or Shibata. Both were located in the Chubu region, specifically in the northernmost prefecture.

  Checking the next twenty files, nothing gave her any help, and she could feel the need for another cup of coffee set in. Stretching, Dr. Victoria poured herself another cup, gulping the now cold coffee, topping off her mug, before returning to her desk.

  Beginning her search once more, she read the next report, which was the first time she had seen someone’s name on one of the reports. Dr. Fumio. He was mentioned as accepting the job offer and was relocated to the Tokyo lab.

  Dr. Fumio, I know that name, I met him once at a conference, he was one of the top Virologists in Japan. No wonder why I hadn’t heard anything about him, it looks like he went underground after accepting a job for whoever orchestrated this.

  The next report gave the operational cost of the Tokyo lab; Dr. Victoria’s eyes grew wide at the sight, knowing that if she had spent that much on a lab, her phone would be blowing up. Her current lab building had cost an arm and leg, but it was dwarfed by the amount listed.

  Where is all this money coming from? It must be from someone with a lot of influence…a high-ranking government official. I wonder if I can find a paper trail, there’s no way this money just appeared, someone would notice millions of dollars missing.

  Closing the file, Dr. Victoria scanned the list of files hoping to find something titled financial information. Deciding there were too many files to look through, she used the search bar to help find anything, and after a few moments, the screen refreshed to show the results. Three documents were listed.

  Three chances to make this easy. Please, let this be it.

  The first document listed the overall cost expenditures for the first year of operation, totaling just under a billion dollars. A projection for the following year’s cost would be just under that, citing a reduction in cost for the purchase of lab equipment.

  Okay, this is useful, at least I know the amount of money spent on this operation.

  The second file opened to a spreadsheet of various lab equipment costs
but wasn’t helpful since she already knew the overall expenditures. Her final chance to get anything useful was the last document. Praying it was her thread that unraveled everything, she opened it. It was a bank statement for the funds received by the Government of Japan.

  Inspecting the file slowly, Dr. Victoria scanned for any clues, praying for anything. Spotting the seal of the Department of the Treasury, she had her clue. The signed name of the Secretary of the Treasury in clear view upon the check, giving the full notion of were hence the money came from, the United States government.

  This is huge! A cabinet member had their hands involved in this. There’s no way this money would be sent for no reason, it’s too large of a sum. This would have been required to receive approval from the man who signed it.

  I wonder if he was an accomplice or blackmailed like I am? This is probably only the beginning of something larger going on. Imagine, corrupt government leaders, secretly funding virus research on something as deadly as the Demon Virus. It was probably for some sort of military research, hoping to make a bioweapon out of it.

  Clearing out the search bar, the enormous list of files loaded back on screen. Dr. Victoria minimized the picture of the check, wanting to save it for later.

  I think I’ve just stumbled across something huge. A conspiracy, that’s for sure. How deep does this go? I’m going to have to keep digging, there must be more to this.

  Two hours later, Dr. Victoria had dredged through countless files, with nothing fruitful. Yawning, she soldiered through, knowing that she needed more proof, something completely damning, and hopefully someone to pin it to.

  C’mon, this can’t be the end of the trail…File 0?

  Double-clicking the document title File 0, an incident report filled the screen, Top Clearance Top Secret printed across the top.

  This looks promising.

  Incident Zero

  04/17/13

  Severnaya Zemlya Islands, Siberia

  12:30 A team of scientific researchers was sent out on an expedition to collect ice samples. 13:00 Discovery of a body frozen in the ice; Scientific research team brought it back to their research station. 14:00 Research team radioed for a medical team to examine the body. 19:00 Medical team arrived to examine the body. 20:00 US Military escort with medical team attacked by unknown assailant 21:00 Distress signal received by USSR Naval class [REDACTED] and US Navy [REDACTED] class. 22:00 United States Marine detachment sent to investigate. 22:15 Marine Captain [REDACTED] radioed engagement with an unknown force. 22:25 Russian soldiers arrived, also engaging with an unknown force. 22:40 Engagement ends with four confirmed kills. 23:15 Site quarantined, then cleansed of viral containment.

  After action report: Sample was taken of an unknown virus, returned to ship without incident. USSR acquired samples as well (will monitor situation, possible bioweapon threat).

  Scrolling down, Dr. Victoria discovered more notes had been added on three separate occasions. The first was only a month after the action report, while the next was two months after that. The last note was added six months later.

  Report Notes: Received word from Russian intelligence that the virus had escaped and was subsequently quarantined. Site eradicated. Program abandoned; all data destroyed. (CIA monitoring claim, pending open investigation)

  Closing Notes: Project abandoned per request of CDC Director, in conjunction with Congressional Committee. Samples destroyed, research archived, in secure [REDACTED] facility.

  New User: Plans to reopen Project Phoenix began. The government of Japan accepted the bid to begin research in four separate facilities. Funds acquired, pending labs, and equipment greenlit status.

  Wow, I’ve hit the mother lode. So, the virus originated from a body frozen in the ice. Then once thawed, it attacked the research team, killing them. The military cleaned it up and tried to research the virus but couldn’t find anything useful, so they abandoned the project. The CDC was involved with this, and I didn’t even know of its existence…The question is if the government formally shut down the project, then who is in charge of reviving it? Where did they get all this money? Someone has to know. Project Phoenix.

  Dr. Victoria had just found her rabbit hole to jump down. Knowing it was going to be a long night, she grabbed another cup of coffee, her body buzzing.

  Chapter 36

  Knock Knock.

  “Ugh,” Dr. Victoria Groaned.

  Knock Knock.

  “Coming!” Dr. Victoria pulled herself off her desk, wiping away some drool on her arm.

  What time is it? Jesus! It’s already 8:30 am?! The congressmen will be here in just over an hour. I need to hurry and get everything together!

  Hurriedly answering her door, knowing she looked disheveled, “Yes?”

  Muller stood at her door, with a look of surprise, “Did you sleep in your office?”

  “Yes, I had…something to take care of. I still do, it’s very important. What do you need?”

  “Sorry, I was just checking to see where you were at, and if you were ready for their arrival.”

  “I will be shortly.”

  “Okay, I’ll leave you to it then.”

  “Muller, before you go…”

  “Hm?”

  “Nothing. Never mind. Don’t worry about it,” Dr. Victoria said quickly, nervously looking away.

  “Is everything okay?” Muller asked, folding his arms across his chest.

  “Well, I know I can trust you. It’s just…well, I don’t want to needlessly get you involved.”

  “Are you in some sort of trouble?”

  Dr. Victoria didn’t respond, not knowing how to explain the phone in her desk or the man on the other end.

  “Dr. Victoria? Is everything okay, you have me worried, is it about Evans?”

  She quickly shook her head, “I need to show you something…When I do, I need you to act normal, though. I can explain later.”

  “Okay…” Muller replied, following Dr. Victoria into her office, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

  “Have a seat,” She motioned to her chair.

  Muller sat down, confused, waiting for her to give an indication of what was going on. Dr. Victoria grabbed a piece of paper on her desk and began writing a message.

  “I’m going to go shower and change clothes before the congressman arrives. I need you to inspect the request forms and approve them. When I get back, we can go wait for their arrival,” She said, sliding the note across her desk.

  Muller grabbed the note, reading it carefully, “Sounds good, I’ll get started right away.”

  Read the files I left open on my computer, I discovered something important. I want to discuss my next move with this information. Meet me in twenty minutes at the hangar.

  Dr. Victoria headed to the bathroom, carrying her emergency hygiene bag, making herself ready for the day ahead of her. Setting the bag near her office, she made her way across the room to the elevator. Entering the lobby, she was met with Rodger, hoping he wasn’t in a talking mood.

  “Dr. Victoria! How are you doing this morning, late night of work? I didn’t see you come in this morning,” The man beamed at her.

  “Yep, sorry Rodger, I don’t have time to talk right now. I’ll catch you later, okay?”

  “No problem. I always enjoy chatting with you, any time you’re free, come find me,” Rodger said excitedly, standing up to talk to her.

  Sometimes…he’s nice, but he just never stops talking…

  Crossing the courtyard, she enjoyed the gentle morning breeze, knowing that it would warm up later in the day and become hot. Dr. Victoria hated the openness of the airfield beyond the headquarter buildings; it always made her feel small, and as if she was being watched. Not entirely sure she wasn’t actually being watched since the man on the other line seemed to know her every move.

  Reaching the hangar, she leaned against the cold steel, rubbing her arms together for warmth. The shade didn’t help, and she hoped Muller would be along shortly. A couple of minu
tes later, she spotted him moving toward her from the courtyard.

  “Why do we have to meet out here?” Muller called out as he got closer.

  Waiting for him to close the gap to her, she replied, looking around nervously, “I know this is going to sound stupid. Someone has been blackmailing me since the first day we started this operation. He calls me on a secret phone in my desk; he knows everything, sometimes before I even do. He threatened the lives of my parents to make sure I didn’t reveal him or his secrets.”

  “Well,” Muller began, rubbing his neck, “I’m not surprised after reading the documents you found. I always thought there was something fishy about the whole thing. There’s always been something off, you know. Like something was missing from the puzzle.”

  Pacing back and forth, Muller started to try to figure things out, “To think, the government knew about the virus, hell they even did research on it. No wonder they knew we didn’t need hazmat gear when they sent us on the mission. So, someone in the White House is behind all this? That’s where the money leads, right?”

  “It would seem that way. But I have a bigger problem. Whoever calls me on the phone, they run everything. They call and tell me what to do. Whoever this person is, they sent me virus samples from before Japan…BEFORE, Muller.”

  Muller stopped pacing, “What? How is that possible?”

  “I don’t know. That’s only a start to the disturbing things. He wants me to research a cure or vaccine for the virus…using human trials right away…”

  “Jesus Christ. Human trials? That’s…” Muller began running his hands through his hair, “Who else have you told any of this too?”

  “Just you. I didn’t know who I could trust, and I wanted to find proof of all this before I brought someone else into this madness.”

  “Okay, okay, listen to me, don’t tell anyone else. This is something someone would kill over. I would take that man’s threats seriously.”

  “I have a plan, probably not a good one, but I have to do something before whoever is running all this gets more brazen,” Dr. Victoria stated shrilly, taking a moment to catch her breath, “I planned on giving all the evidence to the congressman after I gauge him out.”