Eves of the Outbreak

by Lilith Assisi

  Chapter 26

  Judy was filling up the Jeep’s tank while Greg was inside a Seven Eleven stocking up on supplies the following morning. Judy was glancing around the lot as the pump ticked along.

  Most people had anxious looks on their faces. A couple of people were on their phones rushing in and out of the store. A 40-ish year old man was coming out of the store with two large palates of bottled water. He told the woman he passed on the way to his car “The grocery store is sold out!”

  Judy could hear what sounded like fire alarms and sirens in the distance. The scene was not total chaos, but the air felt full of panic and foreboding.

  Once Greg had loaded up the back of the Jeep and she was done filling up they pulled over to a parking spot to talk.

  “I just don’t understand how the infection was here already. It just broke out on the island when you arrived. And they were doing a good job containing it. Did they send an infected soldier to our home on purpose?” Judy pondered out loud while Greg listened.

  “Please don’t call them soldiers. That guy at our house was a mercenary, a traitor, a nobody. Calling him a soldier is an insult to me and my friends that served,” Greg said. Judy muttered a brief apology.

  Greg continued. “But it is odd. It sounds like all the infected were the patients they were abducting back at the lab. They should have been contained. And even if a local native had contracted it, it’s not like local natives travel internationally regularly. What if it was infecting more people than we knew back on the island?”

  “Maybe this is spreading in ways we haven’t discovered. I don’t think it’s airborne, otherwise you and I would have been affected already. I guess one of the sol-, I mean one of the hired hands from the lab could have brought it off the island with him, but it seems so deliberate. So intentional. Those men were already here in the states when Mr. Dickinson sent them as far as I could tell. How did they contract it?”

  “Guess we have a lot of brain storming to do. I’m going to try to get some money out of the ATM. If it doesn’t work, I’ll chuck the card. It might be one way they can track us. But hopefully it works, we’re going to need money on this trip,” Greg told her.

  Gregory went back inside the store and Judy decided to turn on the radio while she waited.

  “--highly contagious rabies like encephalitis affecting several people in major urban areas of California. The FAA has closed all flights in and out of all California airports until a better understanding of the transmission of this disease is understood. There are isolated reports of possible infected people in Miami, Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia as well. Authorities are recommending people stay inside and avoid areas of high people traffic like grocery stores or public events. Meanwhile, if you or anyone you know is experiencing feelings of disorientation, dizziness, or hallucinations please contact the CDC at 1-800-CDC-INFO, that’s 1-800-232-4636 and press 8 to report this. If someone you know is showing signs of abnormal aggression please try to isolate them from others to avoid them accidentally hurting people and call 911 immediately.”

  Judy continued listening as the wheels in her head started to turn. They had escaped from the Philippines a little over forty-eight hours ago. The fact that California residents were showing signs already meant that the incubation period was much less than that time frame, if it had come from her work place in the first place.

  In all reality there were probably some infected people in the incubation period that had boarded planes to elsewhere in the country or world at this point. But there seemed to be no way that the infection left the island and got here unless someone purposefully sent it here. She continued listening with interest to the next part of the broadcast.

  “—with all two hundred and forty passengers, as well as the flight crew in quarantine. Anxious family members are being housed near the Detroit Airport for word of their release. At least three passengers and one flight attendant are reported dead, though the authorities plan to release the names of those affected later tonight after their families have been informed. Other flights in and out of Detroit and surrounding airports are reporting a minimum of an hour long delay, with several flights being cancelled. Many incoming flights have been diverted to smaller private airstrips. And now we have meteorologist John Carpenter from local News 11—“

  Judy did not take any consolation in having been right in her recent thoughts about spread via the flyways. She hoped those in Detroit on the scene were taking things seriously, and that there were increased security measures being undertaken at other airports. But she doubted that was the case.

  How was this virus spreading? she wondered to herself.

  She opened her laptop and returned to the files she had been reviewing the night before. She focused on the part of the genetic sequence that was not accounted for, but without internet access she had no way to compare it to strains in other databases, only the ones on her computer. She had already done that three times, but continued trying to find some clue as to this virus’ origins with the information she had access to.

  Judy was startled back to the present as Gregory got back in the Jeep.

  “I need to get to Boston,” Judy told him.

  “I know, we’re heading that way, but it’s gonna be a long trip. My card didn’t work, we’re going to travel off the grid and with limited resources,” he said.

  “I think the key to why this is spreading as fast as it is can be found in the section of the genome that I can’t identify right now, but my friend’s lab in Boston will be able to identify it. I am sure of it,” she replied as if she hadn’t heard anything Greg had just said.

  “Well from what I saw on the news they were watching in the store, we’re going to have to drive the long way. It will take several days of course. And we have to stop in Chicago to get Daniel. They were still flashing your face all over the news outlets as well.”

  Judy knew Greg’s biggest fears since everything that had taken place in the last two days were about Daniel and his safety. Daniel seemed to think his dad was off his rocker when he called to tell him about what was happening, but he promised to be safe and stay put.

  “How long will it take?” she asked.

  “If we alternate driving and sleeping, two days max to get to Chicago. Then another two days to Boston,” he replied.

  “Well, traffic isn’t getting any lighter,” Judy said as she glanced at the road behind them.

  Despite the advice to stay indoors on the news broadcast, the road was packed with traffic worse than typical rush hour for the Bay Area. Since the area was known for the worst traffic in the country, that was saying something.

  There were a number of police cars that had passed earlier. This made Gregory think that an accident might be the cause for the current traffic, which would mean it would clear soon.

  “I’ll call Daniel now and then we’ll be on our way,” Greg said as he took out his disposable phone.

  But before he could finish dialing sirens could be heard again. Judy hunkered down in her seat.

  “Don’t worry, they’re probably just responding…to an…accident,” Greg’s voice trailed off as two police vehicles came rushing in to the parking lot around their Jeep.

  Several cops jumped out of their vehicles with their guns pointed at them. Judy didn’t really know what they were shouting, it was all happening so fast, but she figured from all the law enforcement shows she had seen it was something along the lines of “Get out of the car with your hands up.”

  Chapter 27

  They had been in the police station for three hours now. Judy was not sure where they had taken Greg. The officer sitting nearest her holding cell had told her there was a different holding cell for men, one that was much more occupied. Judy just hoped her brother was safe.

  She was not quite sure how they had been apprehended, but from what she overheard some of the cops talking about it probably had been Greg’s attempt at using his ATM card that had flagged their whereab
outs. If they hadn’t just been pulling out of a cleared traffic accident site less than half a mile ahead on the highway, they never would have caught them in time.

  Judy’s possessions were in a large bin on top of the officer’s desk. Since this was a matter of national security that she was being held on, the police had not done anything aside from taken all her possessions and placed her in a cell. She tried for a phone call and was denied that. The local law enforcement was just waiting for the FBI to come and rid them of her. She didn’t have anyone in mind that she would have called, with Greg being the only one that could have gotten her out of this stuck in a cell of his own for being in cohorts with her.

  Surprisingly her lack of chit-chat and interaction with the officers in the room seemed to irk the officer near her more than if she had been asking questions. The woman seemed to want to inform her of what was happening, and had just told her a couple minutes before that the FBI transport vehicle was twenty minutes away.

  The female officer’s name was Linda. She had curly brown hair and looked to be in her late thirties. She had way too much eye shadow on, and a tan that left her skin leathery, probably adding a couple of years to her look.

  Meanwhile Judy had been watching the TV in the corner of the room that was playing CNN. The volume was low but she could get the gist of what was going on. More infected were popping up, and the news was actually starting to use the word “zombie” to describe these people. It seemed like the major problem right now was preventing panic and injuries from those not infected that were trying to prepare for the coming national disaster.

  Judy had been watching Anderson Cooper with intent, saying there was breaking news coming in the next hour regarding the suspected terrorist involved in this from the start. It still shocked Judy to see her name on the news, especially in this fashion.

  Anderson Cooper had turned the broadcast over to his colleague Sanjay Gupta for a medical briefing when the TV went dark. Judy looked around the office in front of her as several cops let out exclamations of shock and surprise.

  It appeared the power in the entire room was out. Sadly this did not help Judy at all. Her cell used the old fashion lock and key system. Not that she would have tried to escape she thought.

  Then again, she had managed to escape from the lab, but those circumstances had been radically different. Her main hope now was that she would be able to explain everything to the FBI, the accusations that she was the start of all his would be dropped, and they would allow her to help in fighting this outbreak. Yes, she had stolen information from Viratech. But she had stolen that information with the plan of helping stop the experiments they had started. Now she could help fight this outbreak on the front lines.

  Judy pictured herself allying with the government and getting taken to the CDC to help stop the outbreak, trying not to think about how this already stifling room was about to get a lot hotter if they couldn’t get the AC back on.

  The cops had huddled together chatting towards the front of the room. Many of them were on their smart phones. That was, until they heard the shots.

  It had not been what Judy had expected either. Two gunshots and several shouts rang out from somewhere else in the building. The cops in the front of the room instinctively reached for their holsters, and several of them rushed out of the room.

  Two officers remained in the room. The one that had been chatting with Judy earlier, and an older, overweight male officer with a balding head. They too had pulled their guns out to be ready but stayed half a dozen feet from the entrance of the room.

  A strange stillness filled the room. Specks of dust floated through the sunlight of the stagnant air. Judy could see that the woman’s gun and hands had a slight tremor to them.

  More shots and shouting drew all of heir attention back to the small windows in the door approaching the hallway. Muffled conversation could be heard somewhere outside those doors, followed by even more shouts further away.

  The minutes that passed felt like hours. And then Judy heard what she feared most: an almost melodic, low chorus of moans rose up above the shouting. Something that certainly could not be human, something that she was becoming all too familiar with.

  She knew what it was, but even though the two in the room with her looked terrified, she couldn’t be certain they understood the gravity of the situation before them.

  “Hey! You have to let me out of here,” Judy said urgently, breaking the silence. The female officer turned towards her, a look of fear on her face.

  The male officer was also looking at his partner. “No way. Linda, you call the state barracks and ask for back up. I will stand guard at this door for now,” he ordered.

  Linda ran back to her desk and seemed to be consulting a laminated sheet of paper for a phone number. As Linda finished dialing she looked up at Judy through the bars.

  “Please let me out. There are infected in your building. They’ll kill me in here, or I’ll be trapped,” Judy pleaded.

  Linda lowered her phone and looked away. “Rick, it’s busy!” she told the officer at the front of the room.

  “Well keep trying!” he replied.

  Linda turned back to her phone and continued trying as instructed. More shots rang out, this time more frantically.

  Judy felt an all too familiar cold sweat passing over her. And that was when a loud thud hit the door at the front of the room.

  “Put the weapon down and your han-“ Rick started.

  Judy squeezed her eyes shut, fearing the image that would be before her when she opened them. She expected to hear moaning and screams over Rick’s voice. But instead, a familiar voice caused her to jolt them open.

  “Judy! Are you ok?”

  Gregory was standing in the front of the room with a gun in his hands. Two officers were flanking him, but Rick was still standing with his gun pointed at Greg’s chest.

  “Stannish? What is going on?” Rick exclaimed.

  “Rick, put your gun down!” replied a younger officer. He had already lowered his weapon and was walking towards Rick while pushing the weapon in Greg’s hands down as well. Greg was still staring towards Judy.

  Judy could still hear some gunshots in the background, though they were much less frequent, almost like the popping of your popcorn bag just before it would get burnt.

  Rick had lowered his weapon when the officer that must have been Stannish addressed him.

  “Rick, this man is the reason the rest of us in the station are alive. There was some sort of ambush. The FBI truck had pulled up to the prisoner transfer area, but it wasn’t an empty truck. Loads of infected people came pouring in to our building, catching all of us like a kid with his pants around his ankles when his mom walked in,” he said, making Judy blush.

  “Linda, let that woman out!” Stannish told her from the front of the room. H turned back to Rick to continue his explanation.

  “We were dealing with the back door assault when another group of infected entered through the front doors in to the main lobby. This man helped us take them down right, and even took care of one through the bars of his cell without a weapon. He’s had some first hand experience dealing with these in the field, and he’s a veteran.”

  It was like that last part was the final aspect that would seal the deal in trusting this man whom they had taken in as a criminal earlier that day.

  More officers were coming through the door to join them. Another insanely tall and young man walked up to Stannish. “We’ve taken care of the downed ones with head shots as Mr. Gau said to.”

  “Good job,” Stannish said.

  “Infected? Head shots?!?! What the hell is wrong with you kids? Too many god damned video games and you turn in to a bunch of trigger happy nut jobs the moment you have an excuse to!” Rick exclaimed.

  Stannish looked at him with tired eyes.

  Meanwhile Linda was letting Judy out of her cell and Greg was patiently waiting behind her, his new gun still in his hand. They exchanged a brief hug. As
Judy pulled away she realized she had probably hugged Greg more in the last couple days than she had in the ten years prior. She guessed an apocalypse would do that to you, even if you weren’t a touchy-feely person.

  “The word that seems to have escaped you is zombie, Rick. People infected with some sort of virus that makes them immune to pain and pretty much want to eat you or bite you to make you infected. Sounds like zombies to me, but infected seems like a politically correct term if that makes you feel better. What can I say? I always was one for being P.C. Maybe it’s why I’ve moved up in the ranks so quickly,” Stannish joked while Greg and Judy joined the group. Rick was staring at them all incredulously.

  “Now remember you have to get all of those that were bitten in to a holding cell for now. Or to a hospital with an isolation unit,” Greg told the officers.

  “There were people bitten? Greg, you weren’t!?” Judy questioned in a panic.

  “No Mei mei, I’m fine,” Greg told her, trying to keep her calm while Stannish continued.

  “Yes. There were over two dozen infected that came at us from the front lobby after the power went out. Unfortunately with all the recent chaos and crimes, there were a lot of civilians there, and several have been injured. The delivery from the FBI truck was easier to deal with, only about a half dozen there, and they were disoriented.” Stannish explained.

  Judy shook her head. “I’m sorry. If they were bitten they will be infected too, and will probably turn sometime in the next twelve to twenty-four hours. The little I have studied of this infection shows that it is pretty good at hiding from the immune system, so it’s unlikely anyone bitten at this point will be immune. And who knows how far a cure is off, or even if one is possible.”