“I like your work,” Sam said.
“Oh, thanks.”
“Does it mean anything?”
“I was born in the year and the month of the dragon. It’s not finished yet. When it’s done it’s going to run over my whole body. Except my face of course.”
“So, how’d you meet Benjamin?”
“At a rally actually. My daughter has autism and we began talking about that and just stayed in touch. In a few months I was working at his non-profit.”
“So do you practice at all?”
“Here and there, but mostly at free clinics. I don’t charge for my services anymore.”
Cami put her headphones back on and they didn’t speak again until they had stopped and were exiting the cab. Benjamin ran up from the other vehicle and said, “All right, so we’ve got a twelve-hour layover in Florida and then we head straight into Lima and take a charter flight into Iquitos. So, you know, call any jobs you need to call.”
“How long are we planning on being gone?” Samantha asked, realizing she jumped into this without asking any details.
“As long as it takes I guess. Could just be four or five days.”
They headed back into the airport and Sam sat next to Duncan as they flipped through a National Geographic he had bought at the gift shop. Her cell phone buzzed and she recognized Ralph’s cell number.
“How are you, Ralph?”
“Just tell me what I heard isn’t true.”
“What did you hear?”
“That you’re throwing your career away by following a psychopath into the jungle.”
“What do you want me to do? Go back to Atlanta and do phone interviews of flu patients in Arkansas?”
“That’s exactly what I want you to do.”
“Ralph, you’ve abandoned those people. If Agent X doesn’t abate on its own, the entire population of the island could be wiped out.”
“You think I don’t know that? You think I’ve actually slept these past three days and haven’t been in the bathroom vomiting? I’m sick with myself, Sam. I hate this. I’ve seriously considered quitting, but in the end, I knew it wasn’t the best thing.”
“Why not? Quit and come with me.”
He laughed. “Impulsivity’s the kingdom of the young and I’m not young anymore. We have to be utilitarian in this; the greatest good for the greatest number.”
“Why were we allowed to leave? Any one of us could be infected?”
“No one that was allowed to leave showed any symptoms of infection for longer than the incubation period.” He hesitated a moment before speaking again. “Where are you right now?”
“Hopping onto a flight in LAX. Why?”
“Where are you heading after that?”
“Florida and then Peru. I should be back to work within a week. If there’s work waiting for me.”
He paused a moment. “It’ll be waiting for you. Just be careful out there.”
“I will, Ralph. Thanks.”
As she hung up, Benjamin noticed that she had been speaking on the phone and he walked over.
“Who was that?”
“Ralph. Why?”
“You didn’t tell him where we are, did you?”
“I told him we were boarding a plane.”
“What are you so interested in that for?” Duncan said.
Benjamin said, “So, the whole island was abandoned on the off chance one person might bring the disease onto the mainland, right? How do you think it is that they’ve just let us fly out without so much as a doctor looking us over?”
“No one on that plane showed any signs of infection,” Duncan said. “Why wouldn’t they let us leave?”
Sam said, “No, he’s right. They’re sentencing people to death and they just let us walk away.”
“I don’t understand the big deal.”
Benjamin said, “The big deal is that they shouldn’t have just let us walk away. By right, we should be in quarantine.” He looked to Sam. “Did you offer where you were or did he specifically ask?”
“He asked.”
“If they wanted us in quarantine,” Duncan said, “they’d just ask us to go. We’d all comply.”
“Not if it was indefinite,” Benjamin added.
“They wouldn’t do that. That’s not quarantine, that’s prison.”
“Let me ask you this, Dr. Adams: is there anything the government is forbidden from doing in the interest of national security? Dick Cheney, Bush, and then Obama and Holder made sure that the government has unlimited power as long as they say they’re doing it for the interest of the greater good.”
“Within reason. Anything else is just basement conspiracy theory.”
Sam said, “Why would they book us a flight on a military charter?”
“Maybe someone was supposed to meet us when we landed that didn’t show up?”
Sam stood. “Enough guesswork, let’s get to our flight.”
CHAPTER 35
Ralph Wilson raced through the Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Several military police surrounded him, their rifles held low. The airport was busy with summer travelers and they had grown infuriated at the cancellation, at least temporarily, of all incoming and outgoing flights. The military, FBI, Homeland Security, and Fort Lauderdale Police had commandeered the building and evacuated all the patrons. The airport was now only filled with men in uniforms; Ralph was the only one in a business suit.
In one sense, it sent a shiver down his spine. He had seen what occurs when people are granted too much power. But he had also seen what happens when Mother Nature gets out of control and her attacks are not contained. It was the greater danger, and had to be stopped. At any cost.
They finally came to terminal 3 and Ralph looked out the window to see a US Airways concord landing and running the course of the tarmac before turning and slowly making its way to the terminal. It was flight 1237: Samantha Bower’s flight.
The decision not to quarantine them on the island was one Ralph had to fight for. Now they would be quarantined in a house on the outskirts of LA County and all their needs would be provided for. But he knew Sam and to a lesser extent Duncan Adams. Not to mention the dozens of other military and federal government employees that had been ordered quarantined. They would object and put up a fight. It was much better to simply drive them from the airport to the quarantine zone rather than have someone pull a favor with a Colonel and have all of them released.
But Sam, Duncan, Benjamin Cornell, one of his assistants, and Special Agent Donner had made it through. Donner was the one Ralph was most interested in. He didn’t act like a federal agent and Ralph had known dozens of federal agents in his twenty-three years as a federal employee. Ralph still had friends at the bureau; many of his military buddies had joined the bureau after serving their stints in the Armed Forces. He called a special agent in charge out of Chicago and within minutes had Billy Donner’s file emailed to him. It was identical in content to what Billy Donner had told him, except for one thing: the photograph of Special Agent William Henry Donner was not a photograph of the man Ralph had interacted with in Hawaii.
The Army’s biohazard unit rounded the corner. With the space suits, thick Kevlar gloves, and plastic faceplates, they appeared like aliens casually strolling through some intergalactic spaceport. It would have made Ralph smile if they weren’t about to forcefully detain one of his most dedicated employees.
The plane would be stopped outside of the terminal and the biohazard unit would go in and explain the situation to the passengers. It certainly wasn’t the best way to maintain calm, but he couldn’t risk any of them stepping off the plane into the airport. If the media ever found out that a possibly infected patient ever came into the airport, there’d be a shit-storm of blame-game, everyone looking to find a scapegoat, and the fault would probably land on his shoulders.
The biohazard unit walked by, one of them turning and giving a thumbs up to Ralph. He nodded in response and watche
d as the plane slowed and stopped at the gate. It connected to the terminal and the unit went in.
He couldn’t hear anything and so his eyes were fixated on the cockpit’s windows. The two pilots were speaking to each other as someone from the unit came in and spoke to them. There was some nodding and hand gestures, but the pilots didn’t seem terribly surprised. After 9-11, Ralph guessed, nothing surprised them.
The bus had arrived and was pulling near the plane. It would take the passengers to the makeshift medical clinic that had been thrown together on the outskirts of town. They had built it in an abandoned factory and it would have minimal staff, but they would only spend double the incubation period sequestered. No more than twenty days. Sam, Duncan, and the rest would be heading off to the mansion Ralph had lined up for their quarantine: a six bedroom home complete with swimming pool. In time, she would forgive him and understand. Perhaps with age or a couple more promotions.
The bus came to a stop next to the plane and there were several MPs in full biohazard gear outside as the Army’s biohazard unit began helping the crew disconnect from the terminal so a set of stairs could be brought to get the passengers onto the tarmac.
The passengers eventually began filing out one by one. Ralph had his eyes glued to them. The MPs had photographs of the five men and women he wanted separated from the rest. They would stop each passenger before they boarded the bus and compare the photos with the person standing in front of them.
But Ralph didn’t see them yet. A man began arguing with one of the MPs and appeared to be refusing to get on the bus. He pushed one of the MPs and they froze, uncertain what to do. One of them spoke into a comm on his shoulder.
The comm on the shoulder of the sergeant standing next to Ralph crackled to life. “Sir, he’s refusing to get on the bus. Please advise.”
The Sergeant looked to Ralph. “What do you want me to tell him?”
“Tell him to put him in cuffs and get him on the bus, Commander. If he is infected, we have to get him quarantined as quickly as possible.”
The sergeant relayed the instructions. Two MPs grabbed the man on the tarmac and spun him around as a third slapped cuffs on him. The man was fighting and yelling and kicked one of them in the shin. They took out a long plastic cord and tied his legs. They lifted and carried him, hog-tied, onto the bus. The rest of the passengers were not as difficult.
A woman stepped off the plane and climbed gingerly down the stairs. No one followed behind her.
“Where’s everybody else?” Ralph said to the sergeant.
The sergeant said into his comm, “Anybody else on that plane, Griffith?”
“No, sir. That’s all of ‘em.”
Ralph’s face grew hot. He turned and began to pace. He looked back to the plane. “Sergeant, have your men go through that entire plane. Then send some men we have in LA through the airport. Notify the LAPD too and get them looking for the five people we have missing.”
“You got it.”
Ralph walked to the glass and watched the passengers on the bus. They appeared terrified and a woman near the front was holding a young girl that was crying. He felt a twinge of remorse in his gut, but he pushed it down and turned away from the window as he took out his cell phone, and placed a call to the FBI.
CHAPTER 36
Samantha Bower stepped off the plane onto the tarmac in the cool night air. With two layovers, the flight from Los Angeles to Florida had taken eleven hours. She looked back to the small charter plane that Agent Donner had found and paid for. It was a bucket with wings but Agent Donner had insisted they not fly commercially. Sam thought it odd. Even if Ralph meant to find and quarantine them, why would a special agent of the FBI be worried? She had seen agents stop entire airports and force all the passengers to wait until they arrived for their flight. They had power; Agent Donner had nothing to fear from a bureaucrat at the CDC.
“That was seriously cramped,” Duncan said as he stepped off. “I think my ass fell asleep.”
“Where’d you find that plane?” Benjamin said to Agent Donner.
“Called in a favor to a friend. It’s for the best.” He stretched his neck and his back and twisted his hips in a side-to-side motion. “Well, we’ve got an eight-hour layover. I was thinking I would go for a run and rent a hotel room for a few hours to sleep and shower if anyone would like to join me.”
Cami said, “I would sell my body to anyone that could get me a shower right now.”
Samantha glanced around the small, private airport and realized there were no cabs waiting here for passengers. She googled the local cab company and asked for a large van or two cabs.
“I could use a Diet Coke,” she said to Duncan. “Want to come with?”
“Sure.”
They left the others on the tarmac and went inside. The building was circular with windows that appeared unwashed. It was empty and the humidity and heat from outside filled the building as if the walls didn’t exist.
“Do you think anything’s weird about Agent Donner?” Sam said.
“Like what?”
“Why does he care if Ralph tries to quarantine him? He could get out of it.”
“You don’t know that. We all work for somebody. Maybe Ralph has deeper connections than we think.”
They found the vending machines and Sam checked her pocket for change. She had eighty-eight cents and the bottled drinks were a dollar.
“Do you have any change?” she asked.
“What is this, 1995? Who carries around cash anymore?”
Sam sighed. She sat down on one of the seats that was bolted to the walls and put her face in her hands, rubbing her eyes before leaning back and staring at the ceiling.
“You doing okay?” Duncan asked.
“What am I doing here, Duncan? My mother’s in Atlanta with Alzheimer’s. I don’t know how long she has left and I’m running off to the jungle with some crazy hippie.”
“Hey, I’m not a hippie.”
“Not you,” she said with a grin. “Benjamin. I agree with you: he’s clearly nuts but I really want to go down to Peru. I can’t tell if it’s out of altruism or just curiosity. I mean this thing came out of nowhere and nearly destroyed an entire state. Aren’t you dying to find out what it is?”
“No,” Duncan said, sitting in the seat next to her. “Nature’s a forest of horrors. I don’t need to know what new way it devised to kill me.”
Benjamin and Cami came inside and collapsed onto a sofa in the corridor. They began giggling about something and Benjamin tickled her; only then did Sam realize they were in a relationship, or at least sleeping together.
“You ever been to South America?” Duncan asked.
“No, you?”
“Sort of. I went down to Mexico for a couple of years on my mission. It’s like a Mormon proselytizing campaign. You go on it when you’re nineteen.”
“That must’ve been a wake-up call.”
“Yeah, I didn’t even know how to do my laundry and now I was pretty much on my own with just a few weeks’ Spanish lessons. It was interesting, but it wasn’t like here. There’s no law there, not really. We saw someone flick a cigarette onto the street once and it bounced and hit the tire of this car that was parked at the curb. The driver of the car got out and he was on his cell phone. He stayed on his cell phone the whole time, even when he got the shotgun out of his trunk and shot the other guy in the chest. Never saw anybody die until then.”
Samantha wanted to tell him about the first time she saw someone die, but hesitated. It was when she was seven years old. A friend of hers had been hit by a car when they were playing near the street. The body of the little boy flew up at least twenty feet and landed with a dull thud, a twisted mesh of bones and sinews and organs. Sam had been sprayed with blood and she stood frozen in the street, staring at the body.
“Ladies and gents,” Agent Donner said, “our cabs are here.”
They loaded up into two separate cabs, Sam riding with Duncan as the other three
rode together in a separate vehicle. The cabs hopped onto a long stretch of highway. They were surrounded by everglade forest: thick vegetation with swampy land surrounding it. It looked like the kind of place someone could easily get lost in.
There were few other cars on the road as they sped down the highway and turned off an exit that appeared to just lead into the forest. But they veered left and saw a small motel tucked away in a small clearing.
“Wow,” Duncan said, “I’ve seen less creepy motels in horror movies.”
“We won’t be here long.”
They parked and got out of the cabs as Agent Donner paid and then went to the front desk. Sam and Cami were put into one room and Cami said something about taking a piss and ran into the bathroom, stripping down before she was even there. Samantha collapsed on the bed, and closed her eyes.
It was four hours later that Sam was woken by the sensation of her cell phone buzzing in her pocket. She clicked it off without looking at who it was. Turning to the bed next to her, she saw Cami fast asleep, nude with a blanket loosely thrown on her.
Samantha rose and headed for the shower. She was in there so long that the water began to grow cool and she turned it off and stepped out, changing into a fresh pair of jeans and a zip-up Calvin Klein hoodie. When she got out of the shower, Benjamin was in the room and Cami was dressing in shorts and sandals.
“So Billy’s got someone flying us into Mexico and then we’re heading down to Peru with no stops,” Benjamin said, hopping on the bed and maniacally tapping his hand against the nightstand. “Should be a blast.”
“Why don’t we just take a commercial flight straight to Lima?” Sam asked.
“Billy thinks Ralph’s trying to quarantine us and I agree with him.”
Agent Donner poked his head in. “Let’s go, guys. Our ride’s here.”
Plague Page 17
