He took his spot at the head of the table, then looked around at his daughters and the young man he'd brought home. Closest on his right, Ashley sat there, nervously sliding the zipper on her cheer jacket up and down. Next to her, Brenna played with the strings of her hoodie, focused on the table. He waited until they looked up so he could try to quietly reassure them. When they did, he saw fear, uncertainty, and most importantly, a willingness to listen to him. The world was changing in a way their young minds couldn’t process and they had no idea how to proceed without the guidance he and Serafina would provide.
He took a sip of the scotch, set the glass down, and then clasped his hands together before placing them on the table. “Okay, we’re going to have to get out of town until this whole mess blows over.” He knew Serafina was aware of this plan, so he focused on the girls. He looked at Ashley and Brenna, reading their faces, looking for signs of protest. Finding none, he shifted his gaze to Paul.
“Paul, I think it’s in your best interest to come with us, but I can’t force you to do so. The offer is still on the table for us to drop you off, although I strongly advise against it. Things are crazy, and unless you have a way to defend yourself from those ‘things’, you’re safest course of action is to stay with us. When everything is over, I promise to bring you back.”
Serafina and the girls turned to look at the teenager sitting at the opposite end of the table. Nervously, the boy looked down at the table. After several long seconds, he lifted his head. He swallowed audibly before he spoke, his voice wavering. “I would like to come with you, if it’s okay.”
Daniel nodded. “Of course it is. Things will be hard, and we’ll all have to work together, but we will make it. You’ll have to borrow some of my clothes, but they’ll probably be okay, even if they’re not your style.”
Taking a deep breath, Daniel looked around the table, making eye contact with each of them before speaking. “Alright. We’re going to start packing. Here’s the deal: The stuff we brought home from the store is still in bags. Keep it that way, but repack it to maximize space. We’re taking all of it. Every bit of canned or dried food is coming with us, so Brenna, you’re in charge of packing all that up.
“Ashley, you’re in charge of gathering all the medical supplies and toiletries we have. Put them into the backpack we normally use for the beach.
“Once you girls are done with that, pack your clothes. Now listen to me:” he looked at them, waiting until he had their full attention. “Your clothes must cover you. No jeans with holes. No short sleeve shirts. I know it’s hot, but we must be covered as much as possible. For each item, it will work best if you roll it up and then put a hair tie around it to keep it tightly rolled.
“We are not taking ANY special items, other than one or two pieces of jewelry. No books, no photo albums, none of that. You each get two backpacks worth of stuff, and a heavy jacket, that’s it. The Jeep will be fully loaded with the necessities, trust me.”
He turned to Serafina. “Honey, if you can download maps for the entire way to Big Bear, and then the state, that would be helpful. The Internet and mobile data may not be around for much longer.”
He looked at the group again. “That reminds me, everyone should bring their phone chargers, and charge your mobile battery packs tonight. We will likely lose phone service if this gets worse, but the phones still have utility as long as they’re available.
“Sera, if you can also prep things to take the cats. We can’t fit three separate carriers if we have everything else, so I need you to figure out how to make it work. Bring their leashes, since we’ll probably have to walk them to let them use the bathroom.” Taking a breath, he shrugged. “We won’t be able to bring the litter boxes. Between those and the litter, it would take up too much space. We’ll figure something out when we get there.”
Daniel paused, thinking of the next steps. “I’m going to move your car out and onto the street, if that’s OK.”
Serafina nodded. “Sure.”
“That will allow us space to stage everything in the garage before we load it into the Jeep. Water will take up a lot of space. We’ll work other things around it as we can. I’ll put the rack on the jeep, but we won’t be able to strap stuff on top until I move it into the driveway.
“Let’s grab all the candles we have, plus I’ll grab the lantern and camping stove, with the propane canisters. We won’t take the tents - we need actual shelter - but we will take the sleeping bags for warmth.”
“When we load everything into the Jeep, EVERY little space must be taken advantage of. I don’t want much weight on top, it’ll raise the center of gravity, making us less stable.”
“Does everyone understand their jobs?” Serafina, Ashley, and Brenna all nodded. Paul raised his hand slightly, barely bringing it above the edge of the table.
Daniel looked at him. “Yeah?”
“What can I help with?”
“You’re coming with me. We’re making a run to get a few more supplies.”
“WHAT?!” Serafina rose from her chair, fire shining in her eyes.
Daniel put his hands out, trying to calm her down. “Honey, I just want to get a few things.”
“What things?”
He looked at the girls. “Why don’t you girls go get started?”
Ashley and Brenna shook their heads.
“Nope.” Ashley stared at him, unyielding.
“No way.” Brenna added, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Serafina reached over and grabbed his forearm, her eyes locked onto his, pleading. “See? They think it’s a bad idea, too! We need to stick together!”
Daniel rose from his chair, determination in his eyes. “Look! We need to be able to protect ourselves. What are we going to use to do that? We have one handgun, and then what? Kitchen knives?” His eyes met Serafina’s. “You saw how effective that was. We need something better and this is the time to get it. Now, before the roads are closed, before those things are everywhere, before we drive through areas where there is no active law enforcement, and before we start heading up into the mountains.”
He took a deep breath, calming himself. Lowering his voice, he went on. “The sporting goods store down by the Sports Arena is only seven miles from here. If the freeway is bad, I can easily take the surface streets. I’ll take the Prius and run down there and get the things we need. Paul will help me to make it quicker. We’ll be back in no time.”
Serafina dropped down in her chair and crossed her arms. “I should go with you.” As if on cue, Tommy jumped up on her lap, purring. Petting him, she felt slightly better.
“I need you here. You’re QA for the packing, and I’ll need you to pack my clothes, too. That way I get back, we load, and go.”
“Are you sure you’ll be safe, Dad?” Fear showed on Brenna’s face. The young girls eyes were moist, tears barely held back.
“I’ll be safe.”
“I should go with you.” Ashley said, looking over at Paul. “No offense, but we don’t even know you.” She looked back at her father. “You need someone you can trust to watch your back.”
Paul put his hands up defensively. When he spoke, he stuttered slightly. “I’m - I’m not trying to get in between you all. I just want to help. I’ll do whatever you all need me to, but I don’t know where anything is here. If I go with your Dad, he can just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”
Daniel put up his hand. “Ash, I know you want to help, and I appreciate that, but the three of you make a good team here, and I need you to work fast. Like Paul said, he doesn’t know where anything is, and he’ll just slow everyone down if he has to keep asking questions.”
Ashley turned away and looked out the window. “Fine.”
“Alright, first, let’s eat some lunch. We’ve got a lot of work to do, and we’ll need the energy.”
Daniel headed to the kitchen, where he made a big stack of grilled cheese sandwiches. He put two each on five separate plates, which Paul helpe
d him move to the dining table while Serfafina grabbed a big bag of tortilla chips from the cabinet and a tupperware container full of homemade salsa from the refrigerator. Brenna followed them into the dining room, carrying a pitcher of hibiscus tea, which she used to fill five glasses.
The family ate quietly, distracted by both what lay ahead of them in the upcoming days and weeks and the prospect of Daniel and Paul leaving the safety of their home to go out for supplies. Daniel and Serafina spoke confidently, trying to keep everyone upbeat, but they were met with half-smiles and non-committal responses.
Drinking the last of his tea, Daniel set his glass down and looked at his wife. “Well, I guess it’s now or never.” He pushed his chair back and looked over at Paul. “Quick head call, then we’ll head out.” He looked back at Serafina and the girls. “I’ll move the BMW out of the garage first so there’s more space. Then I’m going to center the Jeep in the garage so it can be loaded from both sides.”
He stood up and went to the bathroom. When he came back, he grabbed the keys to Serafina’s car from the tray they kept keys in. “Alright. Hugs?” The girls and Serafina came over and joined him in a group hug.
When they broke, he looked back at Paul. “Let me get you a jacket to cover your upper body better. Sera, can you get him a mask and some disposable gloves?” His wife nodded and headed down the hall towards the master bedroom and adjoining bath. Daniel grabbed his leather gloves from where he’d left them on the entry table and handed them to the teenager. “Put these on over the latex gloves. I’ve got Mechanix gloves in the garage that I’ll wear.” He found a jacket that would fit and passed to him as well. The teenager put it on, then crouched down on one knee to re-tie first his right shoe, then switched his position so he could re-tie the left as well.
Serafina returned, mask and gloves in hand. She handed them to the young man, who thanked her. Wordlessly, she came over and hugged Daniel again.
“Be careful.”
“I will.”
“If you get hurt, I’ll kill you.”
“I know.” Daniel reached up and gently lifted her chin so he could look in her eyes. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
They kissed softly. Then rested their foreheads against each other's, closing their eyes.
Daniel realized Paul was still standing there, waiting. He kissed his wife’s forehead, then pulled back from her. “I’d better get going.”
“OK.”
He turned towards the garage as she started walking towards the kitchen. “Sera?”
She stopped and looked back at him. “Yeah?”
“Don’t forget the scotch.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center, Virginia
After the briefing and the President’s personal plea, Doctors Chang, Bowman, and Reed returned to the lab, determined to learn something about the virus that had seemingly come out of nowhere and was quickly turning into a pandemic.
The team worked to gather the details of each reported instance of hyper aggression, documenting the date and time of each next to the name of the infected person. Persons infected by that person were disregarded. The team was focused on finding the genesis of the virus.
“Okay,” Doctor Chang directed, “let’s narrow down the reported instances to those that occurred within the week leading up to Memorial Day, from the 24th until the 31st.”
Using a computer database query, they narrowed down the cases to those that occurred during the dates Doctor Chang had outlined.
Doctor Bowman read from the screen. “It looks like there were thirty-three reported instances during that week.”
“Okay, so that’s where we start.” Andrew began looking for similarities between the cases.
“Wait.” Doctor Reed pointed at the screen, using his forefinger and pinky to indicate two lines. “Look.”
Doctor Bowman looked at where his finger was pointed. The individual on the line indicated by his forefinger had been attacked by the individual on the line near where his pinky touched the screen.
“Direct contact.” She said, nodding. “The second one isn’t part of the original cluster.”
Andrew nodded. “Great catch, Jonathan. Let’s see, it looks like we can eliminate….” his finger traced the screen as he counted off the numbers “...seventeen of these.” He stood, thinking for a second.
“So we’re left with sixteen possible patient zeroes.” Bowman shook her head. Even with the reduction, they had long hours of critical analysis ahead of them, and time was not a luxury.
Nodding, Doctor Chang drew a circle on the dry erase board, inside of which he wrote, ‘Genesis’. He drew a line above the circle, to a small bubble that read ‘16 people’.
Chang stepped away from the board. “Alright. So now we have to determine what these people have in common.” Moving over to a second dry erase board, he began writing names down, referring to the screen periodically to make sure he captured the names correctly. When he was done, there were two groups of five and one group of six names. “I’ll take the first group. Either of you have a preference for the other groups?”
Reed considered his assignment. “You know, Doctor - I mean, Andrew, this effort, while very important, doesn’t need to be performed by a doctor.”
Andrew nodded. “You’re right. It’s just gathering data at this point.” Smiling, he grabbed the government issued cell phone he’d been given. “I finally get to use this.” As instructed, he dialed *1. He set the phone down and looked back as his colleagues. “Alright, while we wait for Sergeant Mason to arrive - ”
The door opened and Sergeant Mason stepped in. “Andrew? What can I help you with?”
“That was fast, A.J.” Were you right outside?”
The sergeant chuckled. “No, I was actually on my way here with this.” He held up a reusable shopping bag. “The Skittles and Snickers bars are running low.”
“Ah, I see. Well that is appreciated.”
Without looking up from the notes in front of her, Lisa Bowman spoke. “You might as well put a couple of Snickers bars over here.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Now she did look up, raising an eyebrow.
“Sorry, I mean Lisa.”
She smiled slightly before returning her attention to her work. “Thank you.”
A.J. Mason turned his attention back to Doctor Chang. “So, what can I do for you?”
Doctor Chang described what they needed, suggesting the work be divided amongst Mason and the two Corporals: Sheila Richards, the young woman, and Deandre Johnson, the young man. Sergeant Mason understood the assignment and left to get the permissions and access to accomplish the task. He’d been granted direct access to Secretary Donnelly for any requests from Doctor Chang or his team.
With that work delegated, the team began reviewing the autopsy reports, examining the results from the tests done on the urine, blood, vitreous gel from the eyes, and bile from the gallbladder. Doctor Reed wrote furiously as he reviewed the reports, on occasion underlining things on his large yellow legal pad.
Doctor Bowman focused on the results from the brain autopsies, looking for neurodegenerative disorders. To her frustration, only seven of the sixteen patients had the examination of the brain performed as part of the autopsy.
Brain autopsies were expensive and not covered by insurance, so they weren’t part of a normal procedure. It wasn’t until the CDC had sent a nationwide notification that there was a potential epidemic that the brain examinations became a required part of the procedure for any death related to the Rage Virus.
Even with the somewhat limited test results, noticing the abnormalities was remarkably simple. In each case, large sections in the front section of the brain had been found to be dead, and throughout the rear sections of the brain there were signs of inflammation. It was no mystery that the frontal lobes controlled emotion and reasoning.
Why would it be dead?
She pondered this,
as well as the reasons behind the inflammation in the rear sections as she made notes on her legal pad as well. It was clear that the doctors preferred written notes using pen and paper over newer technology.
After about an hour, Mason, Richards and Johnson came back, each with a laptop bag in hand. “We have clearance and access. We just need to set up accounts and we’ll be up and running.” They set their computers up at a table on the far side of the room, set out pens and notepads, and prepared to get to work.
Doctor Chang walked over to the dry erase board near their table and wrote the names in three columns.
Raylene Harris Brandon Elliot Geoff Scanlan
Reggie Jordan Carol Matthews Bethany Simon
William Moore Benjamin Getty Jeffrey Daul
Steven Allen Victor Green Mitchell Hamilton
Bertha Liguria Tony Nguyen Jessica Epstein
Michael Lee
Progress was essentially nonexistent in their eyes. They found no correlation that made any sense. The victims hadn’t been in a common location. There were no racial or ethnic similarities. Frustrated, they shared their lack of progress with Doctor Chang.
“I understand. It’s a tough task, sometimes finding the relationship is one of the toughest.” He looked at this watch. He raised his voice to capture everyone’s attention. “I’ll tell you what, everyone. It’s 6 p.m. Let’s get some dinner, then get back at it. Maybe the break will help us recharge and reorient.”
The group couldn’t deny that they needed a break.They’d skipped lunch, consuming candy, soda, coffee, or tea in its place. A hot meal and a comfortable seat outside of the lab would do all of them good.
Surviving Rage | Book 1 Page 12
