Pandemia

by Nick Lancaster

  He was about to knock the door again when the door opened. His father stood before him, but he looked very different.

  “Mike, why did you come here? I told you....” His father sighed.

  “I came to see if you’re OK. You can be a stubborn bastard sometimes but dad, I want you to come with me.”

  Mike started to walk toward his father but his dad stepped back and held up his hand.

  “Mike stop!”

  “Dad? What the hell. Come on, let me in, we’ll get you packed and then we’ll hit the road. You’ll be pulling fish out the river for our dinner tomorrow.”

  “Mike. I’m infected.”

  Mike was stunned. The words his father had spoken still registering, still being processed as he looked at the man before him.

  His father continued “The whole goddamn town is infected. Swept through here like a fire. Most of the others got taken away, I managed to stay out of sight.”

  “How do you know you’re infected? You look fine, you sound fine.” Mike could feel emotion building inside him, a deep vulnerability swelling in his chest, overwhelming him.

  “Son. I’m so sorry. I’m sick. I can’t come with you. You need to look after your wife, look after yourself. You’re a strong man Mike, you’ve got your Mom’s smarts too. Look, I put that .22 outside for you, there’s a couple thousand rounds of ammo for it there too. I wrapped it pretty good when I picked it up but promise me you’ll disinfect or something OK?”

  Mike didn’t know what to say. There was nothing he could say. His father was sick and he couldn’t do a damn thing to help him.

  “I love you son, now go on now, go on back to the cabin. I love you.”

  The door closed. Mike fell back to the ground and sobbed. There was nothing he could do. He wanted to hold his father, take him back to the cabin, but he knew that touching him wouldn’t help his father, it would only spread the virus to Mike.

  It took a few minutes to compose himself. Mike stood and picked up the rifle and ammo, then walked back to the Jeep. He took out his cell phone and dialed 911.

  “911 please state the nature of your emergency.” A female voice spoke calmly to Mike.

  He paused, thinking about his dad.

  “It’s my dad, he’s sick, I think he’s infected.”

  “Where is your dad now?” Mike heard a beep on the line, he recognized it as a third caller being conferenced in.

  “He’s at home, 1843 Arnold Drive, Grayling.”

  A male voice spoke now “What’s your name? Where are you calling from?”

  “This is Mike Landis, I’m outside my dads house. Who’s this?”

  The male voice ignored the question. “We’re sending paramedics now Mike. Please stay where you are and avoid contact with anyone else ok? Are you able to get in a car or a structure where you can isolate yourself?”

  “Um, sure, I have my car here, I’ll wait in there.” Mike was beginning to feel nervous about having called for help.

  “Stay put Mike, help is on the way ok? We’ll stay on the line with you until they get there.”

  Mike thought back to the quarantine checkpoint the previous night. He disconnected the call and got in the Jeep. He started the vehicle and drove down the street, turning into a side road before turning round and parking so he could see his father’s house but not be immediately visible.

  In just few minutes Mike heard sirens and then an ambulance and fire truck arrived. Two figures got out of the ambulance, Mike couldn’t tell if they were male or female because they were both dressed in bright blue biohazard suits.

  Mike watched as the figures approached the house and banged on the door. There was no answer. One of the figures signaled back to the fire truck and then another figure came over, this one dressed in a similar biohazard suit but carrying a short and apparently heavy pipe with a couple of handles attached to it.

  The third figure reached the door. He swung the pipe object back and then slammed it into the door. The door instantly opened, part of the frame splintering away. The first two figures immediately went inside and Mike waited to see what would happen. It wasn’t long before Mike saw his father being jostled out of the house by the two figures.

  His father was clearly resisting but his hands were bound, Mike couldn’t tell by what from the distance. He felt sick to his stomach, this wasn’t what he wanted. They weren’t treating his father like a patient, they were treating him like a prisoner.

  His father was placed in the back of the ambulance and restrained to a gurney. One of the figures stayed in the back while the other returned to the cab, then the ambulance drove away. Mike wasn’t sure what to do next. There was nothing for him at the house and besides, Mike could see that a Humvee was pulling up and a soldier was moving to the house, presumably to secure it.

  Mike decided to follow the ambulance. He started the Jeep and was soon driving behind the vehicle, wherever it was heading there was apparently no emergency as the lights and siren were not in operation. He realized that instead of heading east towards the hospital, the ambulance appeared to be heading towards the airbase that dominated the town of Grayling. Mike decided to drop back a little so as not to be noticed by the driver.

  After just a few minutes they were driving past the cemetery, the massive base on their left. The ambulance slowed and then turned into the base. Mike knew he couldn’t follow and so he drove past, slowing just slightly and craning his neck to see through the guard post and into the base, but he couldn’t see much. He continued to drive north before pulling over where the road curved east.

  Mike grabbed a pair of binoculars from the Jeep and climbed up the side of the vehicle. In the distance he could see the outskirts of the base, then further inside the facility were two chain link fences. He guessed about the fences were about ten feet apart. Inside the inner fence were khaki tents, perhaps a hundred. These were big tents, the kind a person could stand up in and walk around, it reminded Mike of the tents he’d seen on MASH as a kid.

  There were people there too, some walking around, some sitting, some lying down. They all looked like civilians. On the outside of the external fence Mike could see soldiers and a large sign with FEMA written on it. This must be one of the camps the President had talked about in his address and Mike realized this was where they had taken his father.

  He scanned the faces, trying to make out his father, but they were too far away to be identifiable. These were people that couldn’t be fixed, the government knew it and this was the best they could do, provide some comfort for them in what were their last days.

  Mike knew he couldn’t stay here. He couldn’t help his dad now. Mike had to get out of Grayling and get back to the cabin. He got in the Jeep and drove.

  Mike had been driving an hour before he hit the first checkpoint. It was beginning to seem normal to him now. How quickly people adapted he thought. Just like the other checkpoints Mike had to get out of the car and wait for a medic to swab his mouth.

  “How soon after someone is infected does that test work?” Mike asked the medic.

  The medic looked surprised, Mike supposed he’d been giving these tests all day and was used to people keeping their eyes down and wanting to get away.

  “That’s a good question.” The medic looked at Mike, he was probably no older than twenty Mike realized.

  “These tests, we get them out of a big crate.” He nodded to a Humvee parked on the median before continuing. “Each test is in a silver sterile pack, that pack has the directions on, so easy a grunt like me can use it without fucking up.” The young soldier smiled.

  “You’re not a medic then?” Mike asked

  “Shit no, those guys are in short supply. I’m just a grunt. Anyway, it says on that sterile pack that the test is effective thirty minutes after infection. I don’t know how it works, just how to work it. Open wide.”

  The soldier swabbed Mike’s cheek, then snapped the swab into the test tube and shook it. The liquid turned green.

&nb
sp; “You’re good to go.”

  Mike nodded and got back in the truck. It had been much longer than thirty minutes since he’d interacted with his father, at least he knew he wasn’t infected. As he drove away from the checkpoint Mike grabbed his cell phone but the display read ‘no signal’. It had been showing that same message for a few hours now and Mike knew the area he was in had plenty of cell towers. He had a feeling the government was controlling how much information was able to be communicated.

  Mike finally got back to the cabin around 5pm, Liz practically ran out to the Jeep to meet him.

  “Why didn’t you call?” She hit Mike on the chest with her fist.

  “No signal. You have signal here?”

  “Sure.” Liz grabbed her phone “Well, I did. Jesus, is this part of it too?”

  “I think so.”

  They walked into the cabin.

  “Where’s your dad?”

  “He’s gone Liz. He’s all gone. I tried to get him help but they took him. There’s a camp Liz, a fucking FEMA camp right outside Grayling. I saw people there and that’s where they took Dad.”

  “Oh Mike, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Liz embraced Mike, pulling him into her arms. Mike began to cry.

  Chapter Nine

  “Colonel Moriarty?” the query came from a young female Marine dressed in fatigues, she saluted as Moriarty turned to face her.

  Moriarty nodded and the Marine dropped the salute. “Colonel Moriarty, I’m Lieutenant Cosgrove. I’ve been assigned as your adjutant here at MOB Haven. If you’ll follow me Ma’am I will take you to your quarters. Can I take your bags?”

  Moriarty looked at the Marine. She had no doubt she could manage the weight of the two bags, but she was more comfortable carrying them herself. “As you were Marine, please lead the way.”

  Moriarty followed the Marine down several corridors. Main Operating Base Haven was a relatively new facility, constructed in the years after 9/11. The base had been constructed in secrecy and it was miles from the nearest town, tucked away neatly in the Northeastern corner of Montana. The Pentagon had determined that a strategic retreat was needed, a place that would be utilized for the Continuation of Government in the event of what had been perceived as the biggest terrorist threat, a bioweapon, was used on American soil.

  The base consisted of an airfield on which she’d just landed along with barracks and facilities for five thousand troops. The main structure of the base was the subterranean facility that extended several hundred feet below ground. The facility was capable of maintaining life support for thirty six months if it had to be sealed.

  Officially it was a US Marines facility, but there were other branches here as well as a civilian contingent. These were mostly scientists but there were also doctors, teachers and various knowledge experts that had been pressed into action once the President had issued the state of emergency.

  Moriarty was very familiar with the base specifications, yet being here on base she was still impressed. There were four passenger elevators, two heavy freight elevators and even two vehicle elevators. Level one of the base stored helicopters, planes and ground vehicles that could be raised topside much like an aircraft carrier.

  The President was scheduled to arrive here in the next few days. It was Moriarty’s job to assume command of Haven and ensure the facility was completely operational and secure.

  They reached a passenger elevator and the Lieutenant swiped a badge against a panel next to the call button. The elevator arrived and they stepped inside. They were on the first floor and so the buttons were in reverse order to a traditional elevator. Starting at level one and ending at level fifteen. Her escort swiped the card against a panel inside the elevator and hit the button for level four.

  “Senior staff are on level four Colonel. You’ll need this to move around the facility.” She handed Moriarty a white plastic card, it displayed her photo along with military identification. “Just swipe the card on the panels to get access, your card will access all areas Ma’am.”

  Moriarty nodded and took the card. The doors opened and they stepped out, the corridor looked unremarkable and aside from the absence of any external windows they could have been in an office building. Two Marines stood guard outside the elevator and upon seeing Moriarty they both saluted. Moriarty nodded in return and continued to follow Lieutenant Cosgrove.

  “Here we are Ma’am”. Cosgrove swiped her card by the door and Moriarty heard a beep, then Cosgrove opened the door. It was dark in the room but as she walked inside the lights automatically came on.

  Moriarty walked inside and dropped her bags on the bed. The room was anything but standard Marine quarters, more like a hotel but again without any external windows.

  “I trust your room is ok Ma’am?”

  “It’s fine. Glad to see the Pentagon putting our tax dollars to work.” Moriarty didn’t approve of unnecessary trimmings and furnishings of her quarters, she was a career Marine.

  “Would you like to see the facility now Ma’am?”

  “Yes, first I want to see the COC.”

  “The Command Center is on level ten Ma’am. If you’ll follow me?” Cosgrove turned sharply on her heel and marched back into the corridor. Moriarty liked this Marine already; she carried herself with pride and professionalism.

  Moriarty and Cosgrove took the elevator ride to level ten and stepped outside. Cosgrove noticed the color of the walls here was different, level four had been white, but level ten was red.

  “What’s with the color of the walls?”

  “Red indicates a high security area Ma’am. Only the highest level security clearance can access those areas. Floors ten through fifteen are red; these levels contain the Command Center, the Presidential quarters, Secret Service and the power generators.”

  “I understand this facility is nuclear powered?”

  “Yes Ma’am. Similar to the technology used in the submarine fleet, except on a much larger scale. Using nuclear power is how we are able to maintain a sterile sealed environment for extended durations. The power plant is on level fifteen, would you like to see it?”

  “That’s not necessary, thank-you Marine.”

  They reached a steel doorway, two more Marines stood on guard. Moriarty noticed that either side of the doorway had dark ballistic glass and rifle slots, giving the Marines inside the ability to fire upon attackers with little risk of return fire injuring them.

  The two Marines on guard snapped to attention and saluted Moriarty. She returned the salute and then presented her ID to one of them. The guard checked the card and then used his own card to open the steel door. The door slowly slid to one side and then Moriarty and Cosgrove entered.

  Suddenly Moriarty heard a voice yell “Attention on deck!” and the room became silent as the personnel all stood and faced Moriarty. “As you were.” Moriarty said and the room returned to it’s state of busyness.

  The COC was a massive room filled with uniformed personnel and computer equipment. Every branch of the military was here and each had it’s own set of workstations in the room.

  The far wall was covered in 70” display units, each display showing different information. One screen showed telemetry data for Air Force satellites, another showed what appeared to be real time video footage of MOB Haven, presumably being transmitted from a Predator drone high above. Moriarty could see CNN on another screen, if there was data that needed to be monitored it was on display here.

  “Impressive isn’t it Ma’am?” Cosgrove smiled at Moriarty

  “Yes Lieutenant, it certainly is impressive. I want to address the base, is that possible from here?”

  “Yes Ma’am.” Cosgrove led Moriarty to a nearby workstation. She picked up a telephone handset and dialed five digits, then extended the phone to Moriarty. “You’re live across the base Ma’am.”

  Moriarty took the handset and spoke.

  “Can I have your attention please? This is Colonel Moriarty. I am assuming control of MOB Haven under Exec
utive Order of the President of the United States of America. Our country, our world, is facing an enemy none of us were trained to fight.

  In the coming weeks and months everyone on this base will experience loss. You all have families who cannot be here. Every one of you was selected to work at Haven based on your military record and your unique abilities. Some will say we are the fortunate ones, for we will all survive this terrible plague that is spreading across our planet. I know though that many of you would prefer to be with your families.

  I will not ask more from you than I will ask from myself. We must follow our orders and work to ensure the continuity of government of our country, to ensure the survival of the human race. Haven is more than a military base, it is an ark, a second chance for humanity. Very soon the President will be joining us at Haven and the seat of our government will be this facility. Do your duty, follow your orders and I promise you that we will come through this a stronger nation, a people united by adversity. That is all.”