H7N9: The Complete Series [Books 1-3]

by Campbell, Mark

  “I guess I better hurry up too,” Teddy said as he neared the elevators.

  The silver doors slid open and an officer escorted two coughing researchers out into the lobby.

  The officer wasn’t wearing a helmet. He laughed as he passed Teddy, reached over, and knocked his knuckles on his helmet. “Relax, man, there aren’t any roaches in here—just eggheads! You don’t need to march around like you’re ready for war.”

  Teddy gave him an uncomfortable laugh and quickly stepped into the elevator. He reached over, tapped the pass card against the reader, and repeatedly pressed the close button. “Can never be too careful, I reckon.”

  Just as the officer had begun to turn around at the sound of his unfamiliar voice, the doors slid shut and the lift made its descent.

  Teddy let out a sigh of relief and leaned back against the wall.

  Attention—priority alert, a voice said over the intercom, an emergency has occurred. All staff are required to evacuate the facility immediately.

  The elevator reached the bottom and the doors slid open. The ceiling of the concrete corridor was thick with black smoke and shredded paper covered the floor like confetti. All of the lights were on a dimmed, reduced setting as the back-up generators supplied power. The insistent wail of the fire alarm became almost deafening as it reverberated off of the walls down the passageway.

  Teddy hurried forward. Breathing became harder and his eyes began to water. He knew how dangerous smoke inhalation was and thought it’d be a damn shame to come so far just to die a few yards short of his goal.

  He passed long windows that looked into office areas and saw officers wearing gasmasks hurriedly running entire stacks of documents through industrial shredders. While one group was busy handling documents, another was smashing computer terminals to bits with sledgehammers and fire axes.

  As he passed another set of windows, he saw two people wearing silver flame retardant suits and hooded respirators standing in the middle of a laboratory. They had chemical flamethrowers attached to their back and swept the room in a steady stream of flames. Glass beakers bubbled over and shattered, the sealed bio-freezer ruptured, and racks of test-tubes popped like firecrackers. In just a few sweeps of their flames, months’ worth of research and experimentation was reduced to molten glass and charred ashes.

  Their dirty little secrets were all being scrubbed away.

  Nothing to see here, folks—keep moving, pass go and collect $200.

  Teddy shook his head and kept moving. He passed three other sets of laboratories, all of which had been blackened and destroyed by flames, before turning a corner and passing through a set of double-doors that led to the observation bay.

  Ahead of him, three white-suits carrying submachine guns were headed towards the bay’s sluice door.

  Doctor Gatsby stood at the far end of the hall with his hands extended towards the white-suits. His lab coat was stained with soot. “Please, don’t! I implore you! You’re ruining everything!”

  The white-suits kept walking forward. One spoke. “We have our orders, doc.”

  “At least allow me to take some of their blood for research before you do what you’re about to do!” Gatsby shouted. “You owe me that much!”

  “Orders are orders—just stand back!” a white-suit commanded.

  Teddy started walking down the hall, weapon ready.

  One of the white-suits turned as he approached. “What are you doing down here, soldier?” he asked. “If you’re here to help with the test subjects, then you should know that you can’t enter the room without the proper PPE.”

  Teddy kept moving forward, faster.

  The other two white-suits stopped and turned. One of them raised a hand and shooed him away. “You can’t go in with us! They’re infectious!”

  Teddy raised his riffle and pulled the trigger repeatedly as he swept the weapon side-to-side.

  The white-suits shuddered violently as the bullets ripped through them and formed red splotches across their protective fabric.

  Gatsby ducked and covered his head.

  Teddy stopped pulling the trigger and watched as the white-suits collapsed to the floor. He focused his attention towards the doctor and started walking forward again.

  Gatsby paled as he raised his hands above his head in a sign of surrender. “Have you gone crazy?”

  “Crazy?” Teddy asked. He reached up and pulled the balaclava down from the lower portion of his face. “That’s rich coming from you.”

  Gatsby’s eyes widened and he trembled with fear as recognition struck him. “You…” He swallowed hard and took a few cautious steps back. His eyes danced anxiously between Teddy and the patients in the observation bays. “What are you going to do?”

  “The right thing,” Teddy said. He took his pass card and pressed it against the sluice’s reader. A light above the door flashed green and a hydraulic locking mechanism unlatched.

  “You can’t!” Gatsby shouted. “They’re all carriers! Just one of those individuals has enough viral load to take down an entire settlement!” He furrowed his brows in frustration. “I’ve already explained this to you, goddammit!”

  “And I’ve already explained that I think you’re full of shit,” Teddy said. He pulled on the sluice door and cracked it open. The sealed room gave a loud hiss as it sucked in air.

  “No!” Gatsby screamed. “Don’t!” His gaze darted down towards one of the submachine guns that the white-suits had dropped and sprinted towards it.

  Teddy hurried pointed his weapon at him and fired.

  Gatsby’s body convulsed as bullets struck him. He landed hard against the tile and left a bloody smear as he slid to a stop in the middle of the corridor. He gave one last raspy breath, twitched, and then lay still.

  Teddy frowned and pulled the sluice door all the way open. A second alarm started blaring and a robotic voice announced: attention – biohazard warning – containment door has been opened without proper pressurization protocols – environment has been comprised.

  He ignored the recording and stepped inside of the observation bay. The people inside were cowered against the wall and stared at Teddy’s rifle uneasily.

  Ein stood in the middle of the crowd with an elated, disbelieving expression. “You actually came…”

  Teddy smiled at Ein, nodded, and then turned his attention towards the others. “Listen, I’m not here to hurt any of you, but the people I just shot most certainly were here to do you harm… You need to leave this place. There are more of them waiting outside and a few are armed… It’s risky, but this is your only moment to get out of here – take your chance and give them hell.”

  People in the group looked at each other doubtfully.

  “Go!” Teddy bellowed.

  They ran past him and funneled through the sluice and out into the corridor. They picked up the weapons that the white-suits had dropped and scattered off in every direction.

  Ein stepped forward.

  “I’m glad to see that you’re in one piece,” Teddy said. He looked down at the tattooed datamatrix code on Ein’s hand. Poor kid. He couldn’t even imagine what sort of hell he had been subjected to in the name of science. When he looked up at his face, he noticed that Ein was staring at him with a bewildered grin. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

  Ein simply shook his head. “I just… can’t believe it… How did you manage to get down here and why are you dressed like a cop?”

  “It’s a long fucking story… It went to hell up there, kid,” Teddy said. “I’m just happy to see that you’re–”

  Ein stepped forward and gave him a hug. He closed his eyes as tears ran down his cheeks. “Thank you…”

  Teddy was taken aback by the hug. He gave an awkward hug back and patted his back. “It’s nothing, really… I promised you, didn’t I?” He broke away from the hug and grinned. “Now how about we get the hell out of here?”

  Ein nodded and wiped his tears away with the back of his hand. He looked around and
frowned. “How are we going to do that exactly?”

  Teddy looked over at Gatsby’s corpse as it lay in a growing pool of blood and stared at the man’s clothes. “What size pants do you wear?”

  Ein thought for a moment and then shook his head. “I have no clue anymore.”

  “Well… I guess it doesn’t matter since we don’t have many options,” Teddy said. “Do you mind a little blood?”

  “Can’t stand it.”

  “Then you’re really going to hate this next part.”

  CHAPTER 21

  Teddy stood in the elevator with Ein as it ascended. He had his face obscured by the balaclava once more and kept his eyes hooded by the helmet’s visor. He had his rifle slung over his shoulder and kept one arm wrapped around Ein to help him stand.

  Ein wore Gatsby’s bloody lab coat and the man’s slacks which it him like clown pants. His face was dabbed with bits of blood and his long, scraggily hair was slicked back with it – the only purple dye that remained was at the tips. He slouched forward, grimaced, and pressed his tattooed hand against the elevator wall.

  “Keep that hand in your pocket or they spot you right away,” Teddy said.

  “Sorry, but I think I’m going to hurl,” Ein said queasily as he stuffed his tattooed hand back inside of his coat pocket. “These clothes smell like blood and piss.”

  Teddy chuckled. “You look green about the gills alright, but that only adds to the disguise.”

  “Was all of this necessary?”

  “Since they didn’t have a closet full of fresh lab coats, I’d say that beggars can’t be choosers.”

  Ein sighed. “It’s not even very convincing.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short,” Teddy said. “You look pretty fucked up.”

  “That’s what I’m talking about.” Ein looked down at the bloody clothes. “I have all of these theatrics going on, but not a single wound… Looks fake.”

  “I could knock a few of your teeth out if you’re going for an authentic look,” Teddy teased.

  “Hardy-har-har.”

  “Seriously – relax, kid. Everything will be fine. People aren’t going to do much scrutinizing. They’ll see the blood and that’ll be enough for them… Besides, with all those people from the observation rooms running around, those cops are going to have other things to worry about soon enough.”

  Ein looked skeptical. “Are you sure about that? They seemed to be headed in different directions.”

  “There’s nowhere for them to run, really.” Teddy shrugged. “They’ll cross paths soon enough – it’s probably a good thing we got off of that floor before they did.”

  As if to illustrate Teddy’s point, gunshots echoed from the floor below.

  A voice shouted over the Motorola: Alpha-Ten to Command! We’re under civilian fire!

  Lieutenant Hock responded: Alpha Command to Alpha-Ten – what civilians? We’re monitoring your perimeter and nobody came in.

  Feedback warbled. Negative Command – hostiles came from inside the facility! They’re wearing hospital gowns!

  Alpha-Ten – those are the test subjects! Neutralize them, goddammit!

  The gunfire continued.

  Command, our security contingent got ambushed – we need backup!

  Copy, Alpha-Ten. I’ll send what I have from the train – hold them off and do not let them escape or it will be your ass!

  “See?” Teddy said. “Problems of their own.”

  The lift came to a stop and the doors slid open.

  Teddy kept an arm around Ein and led him through the empty lobby. A squadron of breathless officers came barreling through the front doors with their rifles ready.

  “What in the hell is going on down there?” one of them asked Teddy.

  “Damn roaches,” Teddy said. “Some white-suit fucked up royally – they let them out somehow and now the roaches are killing everyone!” He pointed a hand at Ein. “This one is lucky that I got him out in one piece.”

  “Take him to the train with the others.”

  “Already on it,” Teddy said.

  The squadron brushed past them and gathered around the elevator as they tried to cram inside.

  “Roaches?” Ein whispered once there was a respectable distance between themselves and the officers.

  Teddy shrugged. “Long story.”

  They walked out the front doors and onto the snowy footpath. The biting cold struck both of them immediately.

  “Christ man… I’m freezing my ass off over here!” Ein exclaimed, teeth chattering.

  “Welcome to winter in the Midwest,” Teddy said.

  “Midwest?” Ein asked as he looked around.

  “Yeah… Kansas.”

  Ein stared at him, puzzled. “How do you know so–”

  “Long story,” Teddy said.

  As they trudged through the snow towards the Amtrak, Ein looked around at the battered camp with awe. “This place looks so different than it did the night we arrived… What happened? How did things go sideways?”

  Teddy sighed. “Again, that’s part of that long story I keep telling you about. Kid, once we’re away from this place, I’ll tell you every boring detail – I promise. Right now let’s focus on putting some miles between us and FEMA, yeah?”

  Ein nodded.

  At the bottom of the hill they stopped in the clearing between the administration building and the train platform. There was a large section of flattened chain-link, but not a single drivable vehicle in sight.

  “Shit… So much for the motor pool idea,” Teddy muttered. He glanced around once more before setting his sights on the portion of flattened fence. “It looks like we’ll have to start walking...”

  “In this weather?” Ein asked. “Are you crazy?! We’ll be dead by sunrise!”

  Teddy looked at him with annoyance. “Do you have a better idea?”

  “Yeah, actually, I do.” Ein nodded towards the waiting train.

  Teddy scoffed. “So we should saddle up with a bunch of cops and ride off where – another camp?”

  “All I know is that it’s a better idea than walking.” Ein jabbed a thumb up towards the administration building. “Besides, it looked to me like all of the cops went up the hill…”

  Teddy considered it and then conceded with a nod. “You actually have a good point. If there’s nothing but a bunch of doctors and nurses on that train, then there isn’t much of a threat inside.” He looked at the train and then shrugged. “Fuck it – let’s go.”

  They made their way across the icy terrain and climbed up the wooden steps onto the train’s loading platform. The train was once a regular Amtrak passenger liner, but it had since been retrofitted with tinted windows that were covered with a protective steel mesh. Bullet holes and graffiti ran along the expanse of every car.

  Ein grinned. “Reminds me of the trains I used to see when I visited my buddy up in Newark.”

  “Yeah, this thing looks like it’s been through hell and back a few times,” Teddy remarked. “It must’ve been taken through some rough areas, but that doesn’t surprise me.”

  “Whys that?”

  “Because I know firsthand that things aren’t much better outside of these little FEMA camps.”

  Ein raised a brow and looked over at him. “How would you know? Have you been?”

  Teddy simply stared back.

  Ein rolled his eyes. “Let me guess… It’s a long story, right?”

  “Right.” Teddy led him towards one of the passenger car’s open doors. “Now be quiet and act injured… Keep that tattoo in your pocket and try to keep your head down – chances are that one of these scientists will remember the one test subjects with purple tips.”

  “Got it.”

  “What’s the deal with that anyway?”

  “The deal with what?”

  “That hair,” Teddy said. “What made you dye it purple in the first place?”

  Ein gave him a wily grin. “It’s a long story.”

  Inside of the
passenger car, most of the seats were occupied by boxes of documents and office trinkets that had been hastily tossed inside of trash bags. Weary researchers and medical staff sat scattered throughout the carriage with a downcast gaze – there wasn’t a single officer in sight.

  Teddy leaned closer to Ein’s ear. “Let’s make our way towards the locomotive.”

  “Why?” Ein whispered back.

  “We’re hijacking it.”

  They walked through the enclosed gangway connections and passed though the carriages on their way to the front of the train. They encountered only a handful of medical staff and they all looked half-asleep. Nobody paid them any mind as they passed by. Given the fact that nobody seemed to notice that they were even there, Teddy let go of Ein and the two men walked normally. The last two passenger carriages that they passed through were completely empty.

  Teddy grinned. “This is almost too easy,” he said as they entered the gangway that led into the dining car. “We’re near the front.”

  “What are we going to do about them?” Ein asked.

  “Who’s them?”

  “Them,” Ein emphasized as he pointed back the way that they came from. “We’re just going to take them with us?”

  “No – if the coupler isn’t under too much tension, they’re staying and we’re leaving,” Teddy said.

  Ein looked puzzled. “What does that supposed to mean?”

  Teddy opened the gangway doors and peeked inside of the dining car. All of the seats around the tables were empty, but boxes of ammunition and military equipment were stacked in the middle of the main aisle. Just like the last few carriages they passed through, there wasn’t a single person in sight. “Perfect.”

  Ein stared at him with bemusement. “What are you going on about, old man?”

  “Watch and see, kid.” Teddy closed the doors and retrieved the knife out of his pocket, flicked open the blade, and drove it into the gangway’s rubber accordion-style seal. He brought the blade down and tore a large hole in the membrane – cold air whistled through the gap.

  Ein shivered and wrapped his arms around his chest. “What in the hell man!?” He stepped back and watched as Teddy pulled apart the rubber and lifted the padded steel walkway panels. “Are you nuts?”