“What? If what will spread?” Greg had a sinking feeling he knew what she was referring to, but wanted to hear her sister’s account.
“The virus…or bacteria, or infection. Or whatever you want to call it. I am not sure what to call it. I didn’t know it would be possible scientifically, or anyone would try…” she trailed off.
As Judy refocused herself, she realized Greg was staring at her with hard eyes.
“You have more medical background then me, but from what you’ve described this needs to be stopped before it can spread. I am sure it will be, but if not…” Gregory shuddered as he said it. Judy nodded solemnly at him.
Shaking his head Gregory continued. “I am going to go to the store to pick up a new phone to call Daniel, and to give us a separate line that is not as easily traced. Stay here. Don’t answer the door for anyone but me. And don’t call anyone. We don’t know how we could be being tracked. I’ll swing by the airport on my way in to town and see if I can arrange a night flight for us to get off this island.”
Daniel was Gregory’s son. His wife had left him for another man when Daniel was only nine months old, and the two had never heard from her again. Of course, Daniel was a grown man now, but still the most significant person in Greg’s life. Daniel was presently starting medical school at the University of Chicago, but Judy knew the two were in contact frequently. Even she talked to Daniel on the phone at least once a month.
“Thank you Ge-ge, I am so sorry. I never meant for this to happen.”
“It sounds like it would have happened no matter what, it just happens that my little sister had to be the one to lift the lid on Pandora’s box.”
Greg said this and let out a small hint of a smile towards his sister. She let out a short laugh in return.
Bending down, Gregory threw his arms around his sister and held her tightly. She felt stiff against his hug, since their Asian upbringing had made displays of affection like this rare. But she softened as he started talking, knowing it was the right way to behave in this moment of uncertainty.
“Mei, it will be OK. We’re going to get through this together, I promise.”
“Let’s just hope the world gets through it too,” she replied
Chapter 15
Less than twenty-four hours later Judy still couldn’t believe they were driving along highway 101 towards San Jose. Gregory had arranged for a perfect escape from the airport, where a friend of his had helped Judy bypass security and approach the plane directly on the runway via a baggage taxi. Their landing in Monterey had also been uneventful, and they were now traveling in a Jeep Greg had rented from one of the nearby local car rentals. Sunset was approaching and Judy was finding herself engulfed in the computer screen in front of her.
“Hydrogenophilus thermofrigorolus is really a fascinating organism. I don’t think I’ve ever see something like it before, and to splice in it with Herpes?!” she exclaimed.
“And you realize what you just said means nothing to me,” Greg retorted, keeping his eyes on the road.
“Sorry. It looks like what they were originally trying to do was splice an extremophile, which is a bacteria used to living in extreme cold or heat, with parts of the Herpes virus known to be neuroprotective,” Judy explained.
“So you are telling me Herpes is actually good for your brain? Maybe I didn’t have to have that awkward talk about protection with Daniel after all.” Gregory’s sarcasm was never really appreciated by Judy, and she certainly didn’t want to talk about anything indecent that dealt with her brother or nephew. Still, she was glad Greg could make himself chuckle.
Judy sighed before continuing. “Then there is the toxoplasmosis. There’s been a lot of research on that protozoa of late. But most of that hype is bad press, about how pregnant women get it from cats and it causes brain damage. Well, it’s the truth, but there are a lot of beneficial things about the toxoplasmosis organism as well.”
“Benefits that can outweigh the fact that it causes brain damage?” Greg asked.
“Potentially. And that is what I think they were using this for,” she answered.
“Can you explain to an layperson like me?”
“Let me try, though I still haven’t figured it all out. It looks like they combined parts of the Herpes virus, hydrogenophilus, and toxoplasma in order to augment the brain’s ability to become more pliable and tolerant of major body temperature fluctuations, with potentially enhanced sensations and lowered pain sensitivity. The hydrogenophilus allowed the brain to remain resistant to damage from temperature fluctuations. The toxoplasmosis provided the enhanced sensations and lower pain threshold. And all the while, the Herpes allowed for the hybrid to get to the brain undetected by the immune system and through the blood brain barrier. All of this with the goal of being further protection from TBI, and likely creating a more resilient soldier in the field,” she summarized with astonishment.
Greg knew what TBI stood for. His prior career with the navy kept him aware of that. TBI stood for traumatic brain injury, something he had sadly seen several buddies in the service suffer from.
“Splicing is really a hot topic in the media, but in reality it’s not very useful in the lab. Until now anything useable was science fiction. Most of the time we can only splice individual genes that we know have a certain function in to an organism. Like the glow in the dark gene that seems like a cool idea, but in reality is just a way for scientists to say Hey, look at what we did, aren’t we cool? Also, most of the time it’s easiest to splice parts of similar organisms to each other. Like virus to virus or protozoa to protozoa. But here they combined parts of the virus Herpes, the bacteria hydrogenophilus, and the protozoa toxoplasmosis. That means they first had to figure out what parts of the genome controlled the aspects they wanted, which in and of itself would be a technical feat that they should have published with major applause from the scientific community. The fact that they kept it secret means there were either big dollars funding them that wanted it kept secret, or there was some sort of alternative motive. And then they were able to splice those individual parts they wanted back together and still have a functional organism!”
“I think I understand what you are explaining, but not completely sure,” Greg said.
“If I am reading this date, right they started with the Herpes organism since that is the one we know the most about and can manipulate the most. Then they added in components from toxoplasma and the extremophile bacteria, effectively augmenting it, hoping that it would have the effects they wanted,” Judy scrunched her eyebrows as she continued reading.
Judy continued. “But from what I can tell on the most recent isolates, something shifted inside the test subjects that they hadn’t anticipated. The actual isolate coming from them has more genetic material in it than what was planned for in their designs. It’s as if some other genetic material has somehow gotten mixed in, or significantly mutated once in the subject. I just have no idea where it’s from, or if they planned it from this data.”
“Test subjects. Are those animals or humans? What were they thinking?” Greg asked, scared to get the answer to either.
“Both. They started with pigs and moved on to people. Looks like they were trying to create some sort of super soldier.”
“That’s messed up. And I’ve seen a lot of messed up things in my time with the army. But that’s like certifiably messed up.”
“Messed up, unethical, illegal. There are a lot of words for it, it makes me even more ashamed that I worked for a company like this,” Judy said.
“It’s not your fault. There is no way you could have known. You can’t beat yourself up over it,” Greg told her, his words teaming with brotherly affection and concern for his little sister. Still, she replied with silence.
“Seriously Mei, you did nothing wrong, and you are doing everything right by trying to fix this. You are going to be the whistle blower. And we’ll be able to put a stop to this. You’ll figure it out, I know you will.”
&
nbsp; “Well I guess I better start figuring it out,” Judy said, trying to muster all the determination her body contained.
“It’s just neither of these partial organisms, even when combined, should have been able to spread between people. They specifically had left out parts of the genome involved in transmission. But it seems like that is what is happening. Lin must have been infected by some of the subjects he was working on.”
“They’re victims, not subjects,” Greg corrected her.
“Yes, you’re right. But unless these new isolates from some of the subj-I mean victims, has new genetic material in it that allowed for transfer and disease transmission, it just doesn’t make sense. I just can’t identify the sequences. As far as I can tell, it’s not from any of the viruses or bacteria Viratech regularly works with.”
“How do you figure out where it’s from?” Greg asked.
“I’m not sure, but if you still have that untraceable phone you got in Hawaii I might try to call Michelle.” Judy replied.
“Are you sure you want to risk being found?”
“No, but I am one hundred percent sure I can trust Michelle. And I want to keep her as in the loop as I can.”
Greg raised an eyebrow towards her.
“OK ninety-five percent sure, but it’s enough that I am willing to risk my life to get her involved.”
Chapter 16
An hour had passed when Judy finally closed her laptop. Greg had parked the Jeep three blocks from their mother’s house. Greg had decided to set out on foot from there to indagate the situation. While Judy was tempted to continue her data analysis, she felt better staying in tune with what was going on outside of the car.
The sun had set, but there was still the occasional jogger or teenager on a bicycle that happened by on the sidewalk.
Judy could also smell the faint aroma of marijuana coming from the local college campus around the corner. She had never smoked herself, but growing up in California the scent was as recognizable as the fennel growing along the local trails.
Greg had just disappeared from sight around the corner at the end of the road, so Judy stopped looking forward and started checking out the surrounding area.
Across the street she found herself watching a family still celebrating some get together in their backyard. A man was serving fresh burgers off the grill, and the pool was illuminated, full of people of various ages. The younger children seemed to be having a “cannon-ball” competition, and a catchy Spanish tune was playing over the radio.
She saw a group of kids stalking out of the wooded path from the city college and wondered if they were the source of cannibas musk she smelt earlier. Judy rarely regretted that she did not participate in drug or drinking during her youth, and seeing these three inebriated youngsters reinforced her contentment that she had not behaved in this manner.
The three wore oversized pants that barely clung to their hips, and sweatshirts or track jackets that had seen quite a few altercations. Each seemed to be in their late teens, and one even had a neck tattoo that made Judy shiver despite not being able to see the details of the design.
A sudden movement out of the rearview mirror caught her attention and Judy turned to look and see what it was. A homeless man whom appeared to be intoxicated was stumbling up the opposite side of the road. Just like any person who grew up in Silicon Valley, Judy was accustomed to the homeless population frequenting the warm neighborhoods of San Jose. The area was a haven for those without friends, family, or access to mental healthcare. She also knew that the majority of those found homeless on the streets here were mentally ill or addicted to drugs, alcohol, or both.
This man was a typical bearded and scruffy example of the homeless, wearing a large green military style jacket over his beaten up clothing. The skin on his exposed face and hands appeared tanned, leathery, and grubby. Judy glanced towards his feet and noticed one of his shoes had fallen off and that he was dragging the unprotected foot along behind him.
Thinking about how much that would hurt when he regained his sobriety, Judy looked closer and realized that the foot was being dragged behind him not because of it’s shoeless state, but because it had been fractured off at the level of the ankle. It was only attached to his leg by some strands of muscle. Somehow the man was managing the pain of limping along on the other foot while the open and shattered bone of the opposite was dragging along the surface of the pavement.
Judy swallowed back some vomitus and changed her gaze back towards the man’s face, fearing what she would see. While the man’s gaze was focused on the group of three teens who had just crossed the road to approach him, she recognized those lifeless and resolved eyes. She had seen them before, and was getting way to skilled at identifying them.
Chapter 17
Judy jumped in to action, shoving her computer aside and hopping out of the Jeep. She screamed towards the boys, who were still completely unaware that they were walking towards a very ugly demise.
“Hey! HEY!!!”
The boys turned, now only ten feet from the man.
“Get away, run away from that man!” Judy screamed at the top of her lungs as she pointed at the man behind them.
A loud and irregular moan came from the mouth of the monster as it continued to try to move more quickly, eagerness of the impending feast likely fueling his quickening movements. The teens quickly turned back to face him and yelled as they saw he was stumbling on a piece of open bone towards them. One of the boys only narrowly escaped a bite, instead a hand grabbing a piece of his jacket. The boy shimmied out of the jacket, and the man fell to the ground, crawling and grasping the ground as it tried to move onwards.
Not knowing what else to do the teens, ran across the street and headed towards Judy.
“What the fuck was that about? My phone is in that jacket. Do you know that guy?” asked the youngest boy as their panic-stricken faces came level with Judy.
“Dude, we both know what that is. It’s a fucking zombie,” said one of his companions, lilting his words with the unavoidable awe-filled accent of one both stoned out of his mind and trying to shake the drugs out of their system all at once.
They were all watching the man across the street as he tried to stand up but seemed unable to pull the motion off, his broken foot preventing the achievement of balance. His face remained fixed towards their direction and he was magnificently dragging himself towards their group even though he was still unable to walk.
The teens gasped and swore under their breath.
“No, I don’t know him, but call the cops and get away from him. Forget your phone. And tell the police whatever they do, don’t touch him!”
She heard the boys shouting for her to come back while concurrently swearing other expletives as she turned her back on them and ran away, trying to follow the same path that she assumed Gregory had taken.
During her sprint the word she just heard bounced around her mind: zombie. Is that what this was? A science fiction apocalyptic scenario? If so, she desperately wanted to wake up from the nightmare unfolding around her.
By the time Judy had winded through the route to her childhood home, she was almost breathless from overexertion. At the last turn she stared down the street she grew up on, and saw Greg walking up the pathway to their mother’s front door.
“Greg!” she shouted, though it came in with a wheeze.
Greg turned to face her, looking bewildered.
Judy slowed and leaned against a street lamppost, panting and waving for Greg to come join her. He easily jogged over to her, his expression a mixture of confusion and anger.
“What the hell are you doing?” he asked exasperatedly.
“I saw one of the infected back by the Jeep. They’re already here. I think this is a trap.” Judy was worried she spoke too quickly for him to understand, but the look of terror on his face reassured her he had. And while she had used the term infected, she still heard that other label echoing through her thoughts.
“Are
you kidding me? How do you know? What happened?”
“I think the fact that the infected I saw was walking on the stump of an openly fractured leg bone without a care in the world as he moaned towards some teenage victims was enough to convince me,” she replied, still panting after spitting out that mouthful.
“My god, how? How did it beat us here? And mom!” Greg exclaimed as he turned back towards their childhood home, though Judy grabbed his arm before he could try running back to the house.
There were a number of possibilities that might explain how an infected individual ended up in California, but to have it end up in Judy’s hometown? They had gotten to California in rapid time, and no matter how short the incubation period this disease had, it was unlikely any people from the Philippines had made it to this very city before they had. Deep down Judy’s biggest fear was that the threats Mr. Dickinson had made to her were true: that individuals from the company had been sent here to watch their mother. And what if one of those individuals had been harboring an infection?
There were more terrifying possibilities, as hard as that was to believe. Like the infection was airborne...
Gregory turned back towards Judy and they looked at each other, both faces full of worry.
“Do you have your gun with you?” Judy asked her brother matter-of-factly.
He stared at his sister for a moment before continuing.
“I can’t get over some of the things you have said and asked in the last two days, with you being my little sister. My little passive, awkward, and nerdy sister. Damn Judy, I can’t believe the stuff I’ve said. What has happened to us?”
“Do you have your gun?” Judy avoided the inquiry.
“With everything that’s happened, what do you think?” Greg replied, pulling aside his jacket to show her his holstered pistol.
“We’re going in there together,” Judy said.
Gregory nodded back at her.
The two of them set off simultaneously, ready to face whatever might be behind the front door together just as they had decades ago.
Eves of the Outbreak Page 9
