by Mark Donovan
The two men walked out of the Eberswalde bar and felt the bite of the chilly evening air. The high humidity levels from the nearby river also added to the raw cold feeling. They zipped up their coats and pulled the collars tight up around their necks even though they were wearing sweatshirts underneath them. Both men were not accustomed to the cold raw temperatures. The door to the bar suddenly burst open behind them and a man stumbled out, startling both of them for a moment. The man pushed passed them in a rush. He made it only five steps down the sidewalk ahead of them when he bent over abruptly and began vomiting. Both men stood and watched the man in a clinical way. They made no effort to approach him. After the initial release of contents from his stomach the man continued to retch with nothing more pouring forth from his mouth. The men then began to walk past him keeping their distance from both him and the contents of his stomach that lay spewed all around him on the concrete sidewalk. As they passed by him, they also smelled a foul odor, an odor that suggested that the man had soiled his pants as well.
The two men continued down the sidewalk to an intersection and then turned down a side road that led to their parked vehicle, a black E-class Mercedes four door sedan. As the two men approached the vehicle, the taller of the two men pushed the button on the FOB he was holding in his hand. The sound of the vehicle doors unlocking could be heard in the cold and silent night. One of the men immediately climbed into the front passenger side of the car. The other man, the taller of the two, looked briefly over at the shadowy image of the water-treatment facility before bending down and slipping behind the wheel of the vehicle.
The man behind the wheel pulled out a cellular phone from his side coat pocket and punched in a single number. It was the speed dial number for a residence in Tehran, Iran. The man raised the phone to his ear and heard the line ring. On the second ring a connection was made.
“You and Abdul have done very well Ahmad,” said the calm voice on the other end of the connection.
“Thank you sir,” responded Ahmad. “Alhamdulillah.” All praise and thanks to God.
“The international news agencies are all reporting the same thing. That an apparent spontaneous epidemic of some sort has broken out in Eberswalde, Germany. Most of the medical experts that the news networks have been putting up in front of their cameras are suggesting that this incident could not be a natural occurrence. Their other guests are even bolder in suggesting that this situation could only be caused from the efforts of a terrorist group.”
“It is the will of Allah,” responded Ahmad. “To rid the world of the non-believers and non-followers of Muhammad.”
“Exactly so my brother,” whispered Aref in vengeful triumph.
Both men paused for a moment to silently revel in the day’s victory.
Aref spoke again. “So what do you and Abdul have to report from your position?”
“Just as you have seen on the news reports, most of the people in the village are becoming sick. It only took a couple of hours from when we introduced the contents of the cylinders into the town’s water supply until we started hearing reports of people becoming ill. Abdul and I both saw many people in the establishment that we were in become suddenly ill. In all cases we had observed that they had consumed tap water before becoming ill.”
“Excellent,” responded Aref. “As we discussed before, I want you to stay in Eberswalde until tomorrow morning and film what you’re seeing in the streets, at the local hospitals, and in other public places. I want our video to show the entire western world what they can expect to see happening to them in the not so distant future.”
“We will. Abdul and I will spend the night in our vehicle and then start filming at first light. By mid-morning we will leave Eberswalde and drive to Munich where we will catch our flight to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. From there we will rent a vehicle and drive to Tehran. Insha'Allah, God willing, we will reunite with you in two days.”
“I look forward to seeing the both of you again,” responded Aref. “You will be rewarded when you return to me, as you are both true heroes to Allah’s cause.”
“Thank you,” replied Ahmad.
The phone connection went dead in Ahmad’s ear. He looked over at Abdul, who had been listening carefully to their conversation.
“We are almost done here,” said Ahmad. “We shall get some sleep for now and wrap up our work here in the morning.”
Before falling asleep the two men silently ate food and drank bottled water that they had brought in with them before entering the town of Eberswalde. They then said prayers to Allah before reclining their seats and closing their eyes for some much needed rest.
Chapter 17 (April 14, Friday 7:00am, Berlin, Germany)
After reserving a car Dana had returned to her room and fallen fast asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. However, she had been abruptly awoken at three o’clock in the morning by the sound of her cell phone ringing on the nightstand beside her bed. The call had been from Dave. He and Ron had been found by a second Border Patrol Special Ops Group recovery team that had been sent in to look for them. They were still enroute back from the downed aircraft in eastern Alaska, but he had just wanted to let her know that he was safe and healthy. He cryptically explained to her that their mission had been successful, but that a high price had been paid. He also told her that he had plans to fly to Washington as soon as possible to meet with John Bates, the Director of Homeland Security and the CDC Director. He also said that most likely he would be traveling on to the small village outside of Mocha, Yemen to conduct some tests on the village’s water supply and to meet with some of the survivors of the attack.
Dana had filled him in on the similar sickness outbreak that had occurred in Eberswalde, Germany and that she would be visiting the area in a few hours. Dave had warned her to take careful precautions while there, and to drink nothing but bottled water that she carried into the infected area.
Sam and Denzel came walking through the lobby. Sam still looked bleary eyed, but Denzel appeared fresh and ready to go.
“It looks like you got a decent night sleep Denzel, but you Sam, look like you just got home from a bar.”
“That’s the problem with doing red eyes and having the clocks jump ahead six hours,” said Sam with exhaustion dripping from his voice. I fell asleep as soon as I laid down on the bed, but by two o’clock in the morning I was wide awake looking up at the red flashing light on the smoke alarm.”
“A similar story for me,” responded Dana. “However, I wasn’t looking up at little red lights. Dave called me a few hours ago to let me know a rescue party had gotten to them and that they were headed back to their base camp in Alaska.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” said Sam with a genuinely relieved look on his face. “I hated to see you worrying last night.”
“I wasn’t worried,” responded Dana in a weak denial.
“Well at least now we can all focus on the situation in Eberswalde without having to worry about our loved ones,” chimed in Denzel. “My wife and daughter had a great day on my daughter’s field trip and they are both doing fine.”
“Agreed. I have a rental car waiting out front for us,” replied Dana. “I already started it up so that we wouldn’t have to get into a chilly car. The temperature outside is only around ten degrees Celsius.”
The three walked out of the lobby and to the waiting vehicle, with Sam and Denzel dragging a couple of heavy duty plastic shipping boxes that contained their camera and sound equipment.
Less than one hour later they drove into the village center of Eberswalde, Germany. It was a quaint little place, but actually larger than Dana had imagined from looking at the town on Google Maps. The town proper represented an area of nearly thirty-six square miles, surrounded by thick forest, and had a population of nearly forty-three thousand residents. The buildings in the village center, with obvious Bavarian influence, looked like they came out of an eighteenth century story book.
As Sam drove into the village center they p
assed the Forstbotanischer Garten Eberswalde, a famous historic botanical garden and arboretum complex. Normally the area would have been inundated with residents and tourists alike walking through the gardens, however, today the gardens were a ghost town. Dana, Sam and Denzel saw no one near the garden complex. It was, conversely, a different story in the village center and near the hospital. There was a constant cacophony of ambulances, police cars, and other emergency vehicle sirens filling the air. Residents of the town were out and about walking in the streets. But the most disturbing sight of all was the number of people walking, or more like staggering in the streets. There were also many people literally lying or sitting near the street edges. It looked as if nearly everyone in the community had become ill.
When they got to the village center Dana had Sam pull over and park. The three got out of the car. While Sam and Denzel unloaded their camera and recording equipment, Dana did a three hundred and sixty degree scan of the area. The hospital was only a block away, and based upon the direction of all the emergency vehicles and the people walking in the street, it seemed like all roads led to it that morning.
“There, let’s go in that direction,” said Dana, as she pointed with her finger to the town’s hospital.
“Based on the flow of traffic it looks like a good place to start,” responded Sam.
The three quickly made their way to the hospital and attempted to go in. However, police guarding the entrance to it refused to let them enter.
Seeing the camera and large microphone that Sam and Denzel were carrying, one of the police offers said in a combination of German and English, “The hospital staff does not have time for any interviews right now. The hospital administrator will hold a press conference at ten o’clock this morning out here on the steps of the hospital entrance. Please wait until then for your questions.”
Being a seasoned investigative journalist Dana pressed the police officer to allow them in to at least film and record what was happening in the hospital, but the officer stood his ground. They were not getting into the hospital.
Dejected, but undeterred to get a story, Dana had the guys approach an incoming ambulance. Possibly they could get a report from one of the EMT workers that drove or rode in the ambulance. The ambulance came to a screeching halt outside the hospital emergency entrance. As soon as it did, the back doors of the ambulance opened up and three people jumped out of the back of it. Two were EMTs, but the other was one of the men that Dana had briefly met while talking with Dr. Baumann the night before. It was the tall thin and suave looking gentleman, though he now looked fatigued and disheveled from obviously being up all night helping the people in the village. His sports coat was missing and he was spattered with stains all over his outer clothing. Dana was shocked in that he no longer looked anything like the pompous man she had met the night before. From her initial assessment of him, she had gotten the impression that he had never rolled up his shirt sleeves and gotten dirty. She was wrong.
Dana ran over to him and hailed him down, “Doctor, doctor can we speak to you for a moment?”
The man turned and looked in her direction. It took him an extra second to recognize her and Sam.
“You’re the woman who was at the cocktail party last night,” said the doctor as his tired brain kicked in.
“Yes, yes, I am Dana Cogswell. I am a journalist for the American Broadcast Corporation. I was attending the conference cocktail party last night when this catastrophe was announced.”
“Yes, I remember the two of you,” said the doctor as he approached Dana, Sam and Denzel.
Dana extended her hand out to officially introduce herself to the man for the first time. The man hesitated for a second to look back at the ambulance. The two critically ill looking patients in it were being pulled out of the ambulance by the EMTs, and a couple of hospital support staff were helping to rush them into the hospital. The doctor turned back to her with a stern look on his face. He gestured for her to put her hand down.
“My name is Doctor Kevin Walters. What can I do for you?”
“Doctor Walters. Thank you for giving us a minute. Like you, we came to Germany to attend and report on the World Health Organization Conference on European Health Policy. Unfortunately this situation has usurped the conference, and like yourself, we felt compelled to be here in Eberswalde for professional and humanitarian purposes.”
The doctor looked at her questioningly and somewhat crazily.
“Are you mad woman? This place is undergoing an infections epidemic catastrophe on a scale and rate that I have never witnessed before. You and your crew need to get out of here quickly. You touch the wrong thing, including me, and you may find yourselves deadly sick.”
“We understand the risk,” responded Dana. “However we need to report on what is happening in this town and I would appreciate it if you could just give us five minutes of your time to tell us what is going on.”
The doctor hesitated for a second and then said. “I will give you five minutes and then I need to get back into that hospital and help these people.”
“Thank you doctor,” said Dana.
“And as soon as I finish talking with you I highly recommend you get in your car and head back to Berlin before you and your colleagues get infected.”
Dana, Sam and Denzel nodded their heads in agreement, as another ambulance raced up near them, parked and began off-loading more sick patients.
Dana looked back at the doctor after stealing a quick glance at the ambulance. “Doctor, please tell us what you can about what is happening in this town,” asked Dana urgently. Sam turned on the video camera he was holding and pointed it in the direction of the doctor while Denzel positioned a sound boom microphone over the doctor and Dana to record their voices.
The doctor looked at the camera and the large fury microphone for a second before answering.
“What we appear to have happening in Eberswalde is a spontaneous outbreak of cholera. Nearly everyone in the town has suddenly become ill with symptoms consistent with the disease; diarrhea, vomiting, and severe leg and torso cramping. Right now we are trying to provide hospital care for those who are the sickest and most dehydrated. For the other victims who have not made it to the hospital or who we have had to turn away, we have been providing them with bottled water and Doxycycline tablets. We have also instructed them to not drink any water from the town’s water supply nor eat any raw foods.”
“Do you have any idea how many people have died from the epidemic already?”
Doctor Walters looked at her for a moment without speaking. “Initial reports from the hospital administration are that there have been several hundred deaths already since the outbreak occurred yesterday. The deaths appear to be mainly children and elderly people.”
“Hundreds of people?” questioned Dana.
“Yes, and that number is only reflective of what the hospital has seen for incoming patients. There could be thousands of other victims in the town by the time we get this situation under control.”
Doctor Walters went silent as his eyes shifted from them to the streets and buildings that surrounded them, in an effort to give a full sense of the enormity of the catastrophe at hand. Sam panned the video camera in the same direction that the doctor was looking.
“How could this have happened?” asked Sam, more in venting frustration than in a real question, as he continued to film Dana and Doctor Walters. Dana looked back at Sam with a frown.
“Do you have any idea how this epidemic could have happened Doctor Walters?” asked Dana.
Denzel moved the microphone boom closer to the doctor to make sure he got a clear recording of his response.
Dr. Walters looked beyond Dana, and instead at Sam and directly into the lens of the camera and said, “The question is more precisely, what inhumane mind could have caused this to happen?”
“Are you suggesting Doctor Walters that this was a purposeful act,” questioned Dana.
“I have no doubt. There is no wa
y this is a natural occurring situation or a common form of cholera. Cholera is a highly infectious disease, but most people catch it from coming in direct contact with waste from other humans, rather than from direct contact with water containing cholera bacteria. In this situation it is obvious that everyone is coming down ill at virtually the same time, thus indicating a common source and a different strain or type of cholera. Only the town’s drinking water would make sense as the common denominator. So far only the people who have not consumed or have come in contact with the town’s drinking water have remained symptom free. So it is highly unlikely that it is an airborne infectious disease. Otherwise everyone in the town, including ourselves, would already be ill with the disease. However, this crisis is even more suspicious in the fact that municipal water treatment systems are designed to specifically kill bacteria like cholera so outbreaks like this do not happen.”
“Do you have any thoughts on how long or far this cholera-like outbreak could extend?” asked Dana.
“I have no idea. As I said, I’ve never seen anything like this in all my years of epidemiology medicine. All I can say for now is that we need to focus on treating the patients in Eberswalde who have become infected with the disease, and educate the rest of the public on how to prevent from coming down with it.”
“And how do you suggest preventing others from becoming infected with the disease?”
“First, avoid drinking anything but bottled water. Do not rely on boiling the local tap water, as it is unclear if boiling will kill this strain of cholera bacteria. Second, do not eat any raw foods. Third, avoid any contact with any human waste and use bottled water to clean hands and face regularly. And lastly, stay away from the town of Eberswalde for now.” The doctor looked directly into the camera with his last instruction.
Two ambulances came racing up the hospital driveway and stopped beside the group. Immediately EMTs jumped out of the back of the ambulances. Doctor Walters glanced over at them and then quickly back to Dana.
