Dead in Love

by Colby Van Wagoner

  “The CDC does not undertake any quantitative estimation of the risks and consequences of secondary infections that may occur subsequent to index cases. The primary reason for this appears to be that human-to-human transmission of most agents under study is rare. It is further noted that rapid detection of a bio-safety failure and the quick diagnosis of index cases will minimize further risk to the general public.”

  Cody replied, “This sounds serious Chris. Turn it up.”

  The broadcast continued, “Impacts from secondary infections, following an initial infection, will not vary among the three alternatives under consideration, as they're spread in the community will not depend on the construction of the facility. However, secondary transmission risks are important components in the totaling of the consequences of individual bio-safety failures.”

  “The CDC Hazard Assessment addresses the risks posed by laboratory rodents, rabbits, and primates to the public. The CDC summarizes design features and practices that make the escape of a laboratory rodent or rabbit very unlikely. A similar summary indicates that primate escapes are also highly unlikely under best practices. If a small mammal infected with a biological agent did escape from the laboratory, the CDC states that there is only a small chance the agent would be transmitted to a compatible human host or animal reservoir.”

  “The CDC does not provide scenarios describing potential exposure risks involving pathogens directly to the public, but does cite a brief history of laboratory-acquired infections between 1989 and 2002. Review of these cases illustrates both means of transmission and procedures in place to address the identification and treatment of affected individuals.”

  “Common risks to the non-infected are needles, or sharps-stick accidents, and the inadvertent aerosol generation that leads to inhalation or ocular/mucosal exposure and contact with infected humans or animals. In the latter case, animal caretakers and owners may be exposed to the agents, from contact with animals; infectious aerosols shed in urine, blood, and other body secretions; or pathogens from bites and scratches, either from caged or escaped animals. When assessing the risks, reasonable scenarios can be developed using two simple and direct methodologies. One is to consider case studies of past events.”

  “The other methodology would be to consider the most credible exposure routes from the infected. These should include needle sticks and aerosol events. Standard operating procedures are key to understanding, assessing and mitigating the risks from credible events. Stay inside your homes or a shelter and do not attempt to leave the quarantined area. The military and CDC is currently working on an entry and evacuation scenario, stay tuned for more information.”

  Cody closed the CD case and placed a disc into the CD player, the car windows had become iced over and there was a light snow beginning to fall and blanket the ground. Most of the employees had left or not shown up for the day. Chris and Cody had finished securing the doors and made sure the building was powered down, until after the quarantine.

  The call center was located outside the main part of town and the inner perimeter, located in a secluded business park section in a rural section of Tooele. Cody turned up the radio and began selecting through the tracks, finally reaching the song he wanted, “Track 6, Opiate that fits the present situation right? Jesus Christ why don’t you come save my life now? Most of the town members are probably saying that to themselves. If this gets out of control, we should look into some zombie survival tactics.”

  Chris was looking through the window and into the distance, but the windows were frozen over, making it harder to see. “This kind-of creeps me out, but what is your favorite Dead movie?” Cody paused and then blurted out, “Dawn of the Dead, shot for just $500,000 and earning over $55 million worldwide and was named one of the top cult films, the third entry in his “Dead Series” with Day of the Dead. I don’t know, I can’t really decide, they are all classics and unique in their own way.”

  “Diary of the Dead, following a group of college students making a horror movie in the woods, who stumble on a real zombie uprising, we should make our own zombie movie and call it Call Center of the Dead. Like in Diary of the Dead, when the onslaught begins, we seize the moment, as any good film students would, and capture the undead in a cinema verite style that causes more than the usual production headaches.”

  “I mean Diary of the Dead was independently financed, making it the first indie zombie film Romero has done in years, why not us? After a limited theatrical release, Diary of the Dead was released on DVD by Dimension Extreme on May 20, 2008, and later to Blu-ray Disc on October 21, 2008, the simplest films usually make the most money. Look at the Paranormal Activity series.”

  “What do you think will be after Survival of the Dead; the sequels to Diary of the Dead? But the film will probably feature a new cast of characters and won’t retain the first-person camerawork of Diary of the Dead. Romero says he has plans for two more Dead movies which will be connected to Diary of the Dead and they will be made, depending on how successful Survival of the Dead was. Romero said that his next project would not involve zombies and he's going for the scare factor but wouldn't mention anything else about his next film. Isn’t that a bummer? No zombies!” Chris and Cody sat in the car listening to the CD and continuing their discussions covering their love of zombie flicks and Tool music. In the distance, a man was walking from the call center.

  “Look it’s Harry, the IT guy. What is he doing here?” Harry shut his truck door and wandered up to the front of the building and stopped short of a larger tree. “He must have seen something. Look at him he is not even moving, that is so strange. He’s like a deer in the headlights, but without the headlights.”

  Seconds later, six shadowy figures ran from the side of the building. Harry rushed to the tree and began frantically trying to climb, but was only halfway up when the group of shadows came into the light. They were infected and stumbling towards the tree, “Are those people infected?”

  “Dude, we should try and do something.” Chris started his car and turned on the lights, revealing the faces of the infected group. Their teeth were exposed, some were covered in blood, others were dressed in uniforms and running towards the tree. Chris drove the car over the curb, across the grass and straight at the tree, slamming into one of the infected. The force of the car threw the body into the air and onto the sidewalk. The zombie got back up and began walking back towards the tree.

  Two of the infected grabbed at Harry’s legs, pulled him from the tree and began pulling his limbs to the side. They had him stretched out, while one of the other infected zombies jumped onto his chest, reaching up to his neck and biting into his pectoral muscle. “No!” Harry cried out, “Help me!”

  Chris backed the car up, put it back in drive, pressing down on the pedal and smashing into two other bodies. The car stopped, Cody and Chris both looked out the front windshield as the infected, pulling at Harry’s arms, rip them out of the socket and chewed on them like wild animals. Another group of infected, came from behind the car, there were soon another twelve zombies to the rear of Chris’s car.

  The group smashed through the side windows, Chris and Cody both screamed and was swinging their arms at the infected, trying to get in through the window. Another zombie smashed his hand through the front windshield, leaving an opening in the shatterproof glass. Chris was pulled from the driver’s side window and torn apart by a group of infected. They pulled at his clothes, ripped into his stomach, pushing their hands deep inside and pulling the intestines from his stomach. They pulled all his insides out and were chewing on the various internal organs.

  Cody was left alone in the car, surrounded by infected. Two zombies climbed onto the hood, pulling at the front windshield and reaching into the car. They grabbed Cody’s wrist and began pulling his arms through the small hole in the windshield. “Let me go” Cody called out. The two zombies continued pulling his arms through the hole, the glass pealing away the skin on his arms, revealing the muscles below the s
kin.

  Blood poured from the wounds and down Cody’s arms, the two infected zombies began chewing on his fingers and biting them off his hands. Once they finished chewing off his fingers, they continued pulling him and forcing him through the small opening. The hole in the windshield was still too small, but they continued using their strength to force him through.

  His head came through the opening peeling the skin off his face and forcing him further through the glass. The force of the zombies pulling continued and Cody was ripped from the small opening in the windshield. The glass, tearing most of the flesh from Cody’s body, skinned him alive. His body was pulled onto the hood of the car and held down as the remaining infected pulled his limbs from his body and ripped out his internal organs. They ripped the flesh from the bones and chewed on it as Chris, Cody and Harry were eaten, directly in front of the headlights on Chris’s car. Eventually, the infected finished, dropped the bones and walked into the darkness. The car’s headlights were shining on the half eaten bodies and bones of the three men.

  Chapter Twenty

  Over the next few hours, the military prepared to begin conducting secret operations within the town, under strict bio-containment circumstances. General Raymond began instructing the group, after it had finished pre-training routines and instructions. The management team leaders assembled in the main hangar, as the general and Director Sumpter sat listening to the first team leader beginning to speak.

  The team leader paced just in front of the selected black-op members, “We are going to roll out some of our latest technology against this outbreak. We will use new equipment, vehicles, structures and communication systems that are designed for use in warfare. It comprises the kinds of technology that are distinctly military in nature and not civilian in application, usually because they are impractical in civilian application or dangerous to use without appropriate military training. It is common for this technology to have been researched and developed by scientists and engineers, specifically for use by the armed forces. Many new technologies came as a result of the military funding of science.”

  “Weapons engineering is the design, development, testing and lifecycle management of military weapons and systems. It draws on the knowledge of several traditional engineering disciplines, including mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, mechatronics, electro-optics, aerospace engineering, materials engineering, and chemical engineering. There are a significant number of military inventions that are technologies originally developed and designed for military purposes and which are now used by civilians with sometimes minor or no modifications at all.”

  “You will be using automatic firearms that load another round mechanically after the first round has been fired, semi-automatic firearms, which fire one shot per single pull of the trigger like the .45 automatic, or fully automatic firearms, which will continue to load and fire ammunition until the trigger is released, the ammunition is exhausted, or the firearm is jammed.”

  The team leader began to raise various weapons from a table and identifying each particular firearm, “Other similar weapons not usually called automatic firearms are: The autocannon, which are 15mm or greater in bore diameter or larger and thus considered cannons, not small arms. There are Gatling guns and multi-barreled bolt-action designs that are often used with external power supplies, to generate rates of fire higher than automatic firearms. Assault rifles with selective fire, selectable between semi-auto and fully automatic rifle and capable of being fired from the shoulder that use an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine.”

  “As you all know, assault rifles are the standard infantry weapons in most modern armies. Assault rifles are categorized in between light machine guns, which are intended more for sustained automatic fire in a light support role, and submachine guns, which fire a pistol cartridge rather than a rifle cartridge.”

  “Rifles that meet most of these criteria, but not all, are technically not assault rifles despite frequently being considered as such. For example, semi-automatic-only rifles like the AR-15, which the M16 rifle is based on that share designs with assault rifles are not assault rifles, as they are not capable of switching to automatic fire and thus are not selective fire capable. Belt-fed weapons or rifles with fixed magazines are likewise not assault rifles because they do not have detachable box magazines. However, in this case, the M249 SAW has the ability for both being fed by a belt or detachable box magazine.”

  “The term "assault rifle" is often more loosely used for commercial or political reasons to include other types of arms, particularly arms that fall under a strict definition of the battle rifle, or semi-automatic variant of military rifles such as AR-15s. The US Army defines assault rifles as "short, compact, selective-fire weapons that fire a cartridge intermediate in power between sub-machine gun and rifle cartridges."

  “Most of you will be using the standard M4 carbine tracing its lineage back to earlier carbine versions of the M16, all based on the original AR-15 designed by Eugene Stoner and made by ArmaLite. It is a shorter and lighter version of the M16A2 assault rifle, with 80% parts commonality. It is a gas-operated, air-cooled, magazine-fed, selective fire, shoulder-fired weapon with a telescoping stock.”

  “A shortened variant of the M16A2 rifle, the M4 has a 14.5 in barrel, allowing the individual soldier to better operate in close quarters. The M4 has selective fire options including semi-automatic and three-round burst, while the M4A1 has the capability to fire fully automatic instead of three-round burst. The carbine is also capable of mounting an M203 grenade launcher, the M203A1 with a 9-inch barrel as opposed to the standard 12-inch barrel of the M203 used on the M16 series.”

  “As with many carbines, the M4 is handy and more convenient to carry than a full-length rifle. The price is slightly inferior ballistic performance compared to the full-size M16, with its nearly 6” longer barrel. This becomes most apparent at ranges of 300 yards and beyond. Statistically, however, most small-arms engagements occur within 100 yards. This means that the M4 is very much an adequate weapon for the majority of troops. The marginal sacrifice in terminal ballistics and range, in exchange for greatly improved handling characteristics, is usually thought to be a worthwhile compromise.

  While the M4’s maneuverability makes it a candidate for non-infantry troops, it also makes it ideal for close quarter’s battle.”

  The general stood, “Thank you Red Team Leader Fredricks. Now all of you will be assigned an individual weapon aside from your M4 carbine. Packing an additional weapon, specifically designed for various situations, will enable the teams to be protected should large groups of infected become engaged. Constant radio communication will be required in order to organize effective strikes. We will be moving from house to house and building to building, so there will be many possible close range contacts with infected individuals.”

  “This should be a quick in and out, helicopter drop and raid situation and then a pick-up and retraction. Watch your team members and report any injuries, fatalities, or situations that require additional back-up and support. These specialized bio-suits are equipped with a protective lining that will protect you from aerosol infections, bites, scratches and various wounds. Never remove your bio-suit, because we still don’t fully know how this infection can be transferred. Now, move out!”

  The soldiers climbed into each of the individual black hawk helicopters and lifted off, heading towards the town. Director Sumpter and General Raymond headed to the situation room to monitor the radio and video feeds of the black ops operations. Doctor Weiss burst through the hanger doors, frantically yelling, “A scientist is one engaging in systematic activities to acquire knowledge and better society, this operation was not what I intended.” The general stepped in front of the doctor, signaling two MPs to step in as well. The MPs rushed to the general and director’s sides.

  Dr, Weiss continued mumbling as he paced in front of the director and general, “A scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method, an exp
ert in one or more areas of science. Scientists perform research toward a more comprehensive understanding of nature, including physical, mathematical and social realms. We are distinct from philosophers, those who use logic toward a more comprehensive understanding of intangible aspects of reality that lack a direct connection to nature, focusing on the realm of thought itself.” The doctor stopped in front of the general and gripped his uniform; the MP’s taking the doctor’s arms and pulling him back.

  He fell to the ground and was holding his hands together, tightly gripping his discolored fingers, “Scientists are also distinct from engineers, those who develop devices that serve practical purposes. When science is done with a goal toward practical utility, it is called ‘applied science’ short of the creation of new devices that fall into the realm of engineering. When science is done with an inclusion of intangible aspects of reality it is called 'natural philosophy’.”

  “Social roles that correspond with the modern scientist can be identified going back at least until 17th century natural philosophy, but the term scientist is much more recent. Until the late 19th or early 20th century, those who pursued science were called "natural philosophers" or "men of science", I am a man of science and so is my team.”

  “Doctor Weiss your skin is discolored and your eyes are bloodshot, you need to be escorted to the infirmary and relieved of your responsibilities. This is the second time this week.” The general motioned to the MPs to take him into custody. The doctor pulled out a pistol and pointed it at his head. The MPs stepped back, the general and the director moved behind the MP’s who had drawn their weapons as well. “Doctor put the gun down, please.”

  Dr. Weiss began spouting frantic quotes he had remembered from his college years, holding the gun to his temple “We need very much a name to describe a cultivator of science in general. I should incline to call him a scientist. Thus, we might say that as an Artist is a Musician, Painter, or Poet, a Scientist is a Mathematician, Physicist, or Naturalist.” The doctor stood and began twitching and snarling, foaming at the mouth. “I infected myself with the CU1 compound.” He jerked and twitched a few more times, dropping the gun to the ground and rushing at the general and director.