CHIMERA

by Marshall Huffman

  “I’m not sure. He was going to go to the doctor’s office yesterday. Maybe he is really sick. He sure didn’t look too good when he left.”

  “He can’t call?” Barney replied.

  “I don’t know Barney. I have a headache and just do not give a rat’s ass right at this moment. I have fired Doctor Townson for the little stunt he pulled. I also called for the police to get everyone off our property. I don’t want a bunch of cameras shoved in my face every time I walk outside.”

  “They are obnoxious,” Ann agreed.

  “So who are we going to get to confirm the depth?” Barney asked.

  “I’m not sure. Why don’t you take care of that for now,” Peter said, rubbing his temples.

  “That should be Mac’s job,” Barney retorted.

  “Well Barney, he isn’t here is he? I’m assigning that to you. Do you think you can handle that or is it too difficult?” Paul said, becoming fed up with Barney.

  What the hell did he do around here? Everything was someone else’s job according to him.

  “I’ll handle it.”

  “And make damn sure they keep their mouths shut. I don’t want another scene like we had this morning. Ann, I know you have a financial report but to tell the truth, I feel like crap. I think I’m going to go to the doctor myself. I must be coming down with what Mac has,” Paul said standing up.

  He felt lightheaded and had to grab the table to support himself.

  “Are you okay?” Ann asked.

  “I just need to go have the doc look me over,” he said.

  **

  When Paul reached the doctor’s office he was shown in immediately. He thought it was strange that there were no other patients in the waiting room. Even the nurse had on a face mask. She didn’t take his blood pressure or temperature. What the heck was going on he wondered?

  Doctor Lang came in the room with a mask and gloves on and sat down across from Paul.

  “I’m glad you came in. I was going to call you. Paul, I have had Mac sent to the hospital. He has some very worrisome symptoms. I sent him there for testing. From what you told me on the phone, you could well have the same thing. Let me ask you some questions and I need straight answers, Okay?”

  Paul looked at him for a second before saying, “Okay Doctor.”

  “On a scale of 1 to 10 how bad is your headache?”

  “Eight, going on nine.”

  “Is your throat sore?”

  “Uh, sort of. Not real bad but yeah I can tell something is going on.”

  “Tired.”

  “Beat.”

  “Diarrhea.”

  “Just started this morning.”

  “Disorientated?”

  “A little. Why? What is all this about?” Paul asked.

  “Hold on. Let me look in your mouth,” he said.

  Paul opened and the doctor looked inside. He immediately saw his throat was red as was the roof of his mouth. He sat back down.

  “Paul. I need you to go to the hospital right away. I don’t want you to drive. I will have an ambulance come and take you there.”

  “Doc. What’s going on? What the hell do I have?”

  “I’m not 100 percent sure yet. Let me have some tests run first. It is extremely contagious, I will tell you that. I am going to call CDC and have them send a team here. It’s that serious.”

  “Smallpox? You think I have smallpox?”

  “Paul, you have known me for how long? Ten years or more. Have I ever given you a diagnosis without having all the facts?”

  “No.”

  “And I’m not about to start now. Get the tests done and then we will talk.”

  “I gotta tell you doc. I don’t like the sound of this much. You’re kind of freaking me out, you know?”

  “That is not my intent but this time it is necessary to err on the side of caution. While you are at the hospital having the tests, start thinking of everyone you have come into contact with in the past week. CDC will want to know.”

  “Holy smokes. I can’t remember everyone I talked to.”

  “Just sit down and think back. Try to go through what you did, where you went, who you met with. It is critical information,” Doctor Lang told him.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  “What?”

  “I’m not kidding you. That is what it is. I checked three times. There can be no doubt.”

  “Ebola? Here? Right here? At this hospital?”

  “That’s what I’m saying. Both patients have the exact same symptoms and now the lab verifies it.

  “How is that possible?”

  “That’s not the real question. How many people have they infected?”

  “Man, this is crazy.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  **

  Doctor Conroy was the lead doctor on the CDC team sent to investigate the reported Ebola virus.

  “And the labs show Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Lord. Have they been outside of the country?”

  “No. Neither has left the country in the past ten years.”

  “Not good. How in the world did they contact it? Something had to have infected them. Do they have any exotic pets?”

  “Neither of them even owns a dog.”

  “This is major. We need to get this contained before it spreads through the entire population. I need to have access to your labs, and office and space for the other teams I’m going to call in. You are going to be very unhappy with the amount of inconvenience we are going to cause so I’ll apologize in advance, but that is the way it has to be. I applaud the way you have handled both men. Very good thinking to keep them isolated from the rest of the hospital.”

  “Thank you but it was Doctor Lang who alerted us and told us what he thought we might be up against.”

  “Good man. Sharp doctor,” Conroy said and hurried off to start calling in the full containment team.

  **

  Three men and two women in full biological suits were crammed into the room with Paul, the center of their attention.

  “You probably wonder why I called you all here today,” he joked and immediately went into coughing spasms.

  “Easy Mr. Miller. You need to take it easy. My colleagues and I have finished our tests and I’m afraid I have some disturbing news. There is no easy way to say this so I’ll just come right out and say it. It is our conclusion that you have Ebola.”

  Paul looked at him, puzzled. What are they talking about? Ebola? You get that in some third world nation.

  “How is that possible?” he finally asked.

  “That is what we would like to know. This is highly contagious and can spread very quickly. You say you have never been out of the country but have you been in contact with anyone that has?”

  “Not to my knowledge. I mean, I pretty much go to work and back home. I really haven’t been anyplace...I was just up in Michigan. I came back after the accident at the mine.”

  “What accident? This is the first we have heard of an accident,” Doctor Conroy said.

  “Not an accident, accident. Our BARD went out of control and fell into a hole. A very deep hole.”

  “I’m sorry Mr. Miller but I’m not following you. What is a BART?”

  “BARD. It’s a piece of mining equipment that we operate with remote control.”

  “And there was an accident?”

  “Unfortunately the bugs were not worked out of it yet. It went off course and dug into the side of the coal vein. It dug right into an opening and disappeared down a five mile shaft.”

  “Five mile? You mean the shaft goes down five miles?”

  “Yeah. Talk about a shock.”

  “And what happened after that?”

  “Nothing much. We went to investigate and it was gone.”

  “Nothing else.”

  “Not really. I mean there was some kind of fog but nothing else.”

  “When you say fog, what do you mean exactly?”

&
nbsp; “Dense. You could hardly see your hand in front of your face. We pumped it out of the mine the next day so we could assess the damage.”

  “How did you pump it out?”

  “Ventilator fans. Big ones.”

  “Where did it vent to?”

  “I’m not sure what you mean. To the outlet of the mine.”

  “Into the air?”

  “Well yeah. Where else would we put it?”

  The five people went into a brief huddle. Paul wondered what they were discussing.

  “Mr. Miller. Do you have any objection to us sending a team out to the mine and having someone show us where the shaft is?”

  “Not if it will help. Look, I hate to change the subject but I’m a little more concerned about what happens to me,” Paul said.

  “Honestly Mr. Miller, the truth is you only have about a ten to fifteen percent chance of survival. I wish I could tell you something more positive but, well, there it is.”

  “You can’t be for real. You mean I’m going to die from something and I have no way of knowing how I caught it?”

  “It’s not a certainty. We have caught it in its very early stages. That certainly improves your survival chances,” Conroy told him.

  He sat there stunned. This couldn’t be happening. How? Why? This didn’t make any sense to him.

  “What is the treatment?” he finally asked.

  “Truthfully, there is no real treatment. We will keep you as comfortable as we can, watch your progress, and may have to give you transfusions. The virus comes from the Filovridae family. We know of five different types of Ebola. All can be fatal to humans.”

  “Which one do I have?”

  “Well, actually we don’t know. It appears to be a new strain at this point but we are still doing tests.”

  “So maybe mine isn’t as deadly.”

  “There is always that chance.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  The alarms started going off in the nurse's station. The head nurse immediately notified the contamination team. They quickly suited up and rushed into the room. They knew almost immediately upon entering the room that the patient was not going to make it. He looked at them wide eyed, convulsed once and fell back, unmoving.

  There was nothing they could do. One of the doctors silenced the machines, closed the man’s eyes and pronounced him dead. Daren McDillon was just the first.

  **

  “We need more resources and we need them now. It is getting out of hand. We already have twenty-one confirmed cases and it is growing exponentially.”

  “They are on their way. What are your recommendations?”

  “Sir, I don’t know what to think. Because of the incubation time too many may have already been exposed. How many have left the city or were just passing through, who knows.”

  “Are you saying we need to shut off ingress and egress to the town?”

  “Well it couldn’t hurt but the real problem is knowing how many have already made outside contact with others. There is only a regional airport and that helps some but where did they go after that?”

  “I need to let the President know about this. You are certain that it is not one of the five known Ebola strains?”

  “I'm certain. Worse yet, it has started to mutate since we first discovered it.”

  “What? What are you saying? The Ebola is mutating into something else.”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “What?”

  “We don’t know yet. We are leaning toward Marburg.”

  “Are you sure? Marburg?”

  “No sir, we are not sure. As you know they are closely related and both are from the hemorrhagic filo virus. Our first victim literally bled out and his organs turned to mush.”

  “I’ve got to get to the President with this immediately. Hang in there. Everyone is on their way. I’ll be there as quickly as I can,” the Director of the CDC, Doctor Mark Riser said.

  “It won’t be soon enough,” Conroy said as he hung up.

  **

  “Slow down Doctor Riser. I know you are in a hurry to tell me all about what is happening but I won’t be able to follow you at the rate you are talking.”

  “Mr. President, sir. I have been trying to get an appointment to see you for two days. So much is happening you must take the time to hear me out.”

  “Well, here I am and here you are. So, tell me what’s on your mind.”

  “Mr. President, we have an outbreak of Ebola virus.”

  The words just hung there for several seconds while the President processed what the doctor had just said.

  “Ebola? Here in the United States?”

  “Yes sir. We are approaching critical mass and it’s spread is happening rapidly.”

  “You’re telling me that we have a life threatening outbreak unchecked in America. Am I hearing you right?”

  “Sir. We have been on site since the first case was diagnosed. The problem is that Ebola has a six to seven day incubation period. By the time we learned of it, nine days had passed. By the time we confirmed it, another day had gone by. Each day meant others were coming into contact with infected carriers.”

  The President sat with his mouth open.

  “Did terrorists do this?” he finally asked.

  “We don’t know and that isn’t really the CDC area. What we are concerned about is its spread. As of two hours ago we have ninety-seven cases confirmed. So far, seventeen people have succumbed. The others will too. As bad as it sounds, that is nothing unless we get this under control and I mean now.”

  “What do we need to do?”

  “We need to get the word out to everyone to start wearing masks. Stay as much as possible away from public areas. Limit travel as much as humanly possible. Sir, if we don’t do these things now, millions will die. Maybe more.”

  “My God. How did this happen?”

  “There is another problem,” Doctor Riser said.

  “Bigger than this?”

  “Potentially.”

  “What in God’s name could be worse than this?”

  “It is mutating. There are five known strains of the Ebola virus. This has mutated into a sixth strain and according to Doctor Conroy, our onsite team leader, it appears to be mutating again.”

  The President was speechless. Millions could be dead? Maybe more?

  “What do you need right this moment?”

  “We must get the word out about the mask and travel. That is imperative. We need to stop people from leaving and entering Breckenfield, Kentucky where the outbreak has originated. Unfortunately we have a report of a possible case in Morgantown, ten miles away. We must isolate that entire area.”

  “You need military.”

  “Sir not just any military, but ones that understand biological protocol. They need to be suited up and know what to do.”

  “I would like you to stay here, I’m going to get some people in here and let you explain the situation so we can brainstorm.”

  “Can we at least let the public know right now?”

  “I need to think about that. People are funny. You yell ‘fire’ and everyone stampedes. Yell ‘smoke’ and they hardly pay attention. I don’t want a stampede.”

  “Sir the longer we wait the larger the area of containment.”

  “I understand your concern but I am not going off halfcocked doctor.”

  **

  President Jimmy Thornburg was about as effective at the last President named Jimmy. He could hardly go to the bathroom without a committee decision. Maybe that was a little harsh but few on his staff had much respect for the man. In fact most wondered how he ever got elected but, nevertheless, there he was, the most powerful man in America. At least on paper.

  After the CDC director finished the briefing he turned it back over to the President. What he wanted to do most was get on an airplane and get to Kentucky.

  “The floor is open. Suggestions Gentlemen,” President Thornburg said.

  “Sir, we need to clos
e down the entire state. We have to stop all flights in and out. Stop travel dead in its tracks. If it reaches other states who knows where it will stop,” offered Secretary of Transportation, Calvin Murphy.

  “Sir do you know what that would do to interstate transportation? That would mean no planes, trains or automobiles,” Betty Jarvis, Secretary of Interior said.

  “That sounds like the title of a movie I saw once,” the President quipped but no one laughed.

  “To answer your question Betty, I am aware of the problems but we simply cannot let this spread. The real question is how do we stop it dead in its tracks.”

  “Mr. President, if we do that, we are basically telling everyone in the state of Kentucky that they are as good as dead. It will spread throughout the entire state. That doesn’t sound like a very viable solution,” said Andria Toll, the first African-American woman Vice-President.

  “So we just let them go wherever they want and spread it across the entire country,” Bob Dawson, Secretary of Defense said.

  “Well Mr. Secretary of Defense, do you have any family in Kentucky?” Andria asked.

  “No.”

  “That certainly makes an easier decision for you. I have quite a bit of family in Kentucky and I can hardly support condemning them to death for happening to live in the wrong state,” she said, looking him directly in the eye.

  “Then what do we do?” the President asked.

  “Sir, if I may,” Doctor Riser said.

  “Go on doctor.”

  “CDC, with the help of the biological containment military people could set up a twenty-five mile radius around the two cities. No one would be allowed in or out without a complete checkup. No one would be allowed in for any reason. Those that are tested positive would be contained and placed in quarantine,” Riser said.

  “That is still a big risk. Some people would still get out,” the President replied.

  “No disrespect Mr. President but two things. Trying to keep people contained in the state would be a thousand times harder. We would not have the man power to enforce it and secondly, the longer we sit here talking the more people are being exposed,” Riser said.

  It was quiet in the room. Everyone else in the room knew how to gently push the President into a decision. Poor Doctor Riser did not have that same knowledge.