Z1N1: The Zombie Pandemic: 2012 Was Just the Beginning

by Mitchell Layne Cook

  “Yes, go ahead please,” Operator-One replied.

  “Excellent. We’ve tried since last week to contact you, but our communication systems have been less than cooperative. We sent emails – did you receive them?” Colonel Chavez inquired.

  Operator-One checked the log records from the previous week. “No, Colonel – there are no records of any contact from Colombia.”

  “Damned technology…” Colonel Chavez said, slamming his fist down on his desk.

  “Sir, can I be of assistance today?”

  “Yes. Last week approximately forty of our soldiers became ill. The initial prognosis was food poisoning but that diagnosis proved incorrect. Those men should have been better after two days but none of them improved. Subsequent testing revealed they were all sick with the flu. They were quarantined Wednesday of last week. We tried to report this as we were required to do by our IPPC charter agreement, but as I mentioned, our communication backbone was overly stressed.”

  “What Health Status are you requesting upgrade to?” Operator-One asked.

  “Last week it would have been Orange, but now we must request Red Alert status. Twenty-six of the quarantined soldiers have died from complications.”

  “Red Alert status has been applied. All information will be summarily redirected to Deputy Director Pamela Bristow,” Operator-One said as she emailed all the data to Dr. Bristow.

  As protocol dictated, any reports of deaths related to possible epidemic or pandemic related causes were immediately routed to Deputy Director Dr. Pamela Bristow. Her team’s main duties involved root cause diagnosis and the coordination of supplies to compromised areas. Dr. Bristow was second in command of the Deployment and Logistics Division.

  Dr. Bristow had just returned to her office from a high-calorie BBQ lunch that was sweetly punctuated with a large portion of chocolate ice cream. Pamela Bristow was forty-one years old and morbidly obese. In her mid-thirties, she was diagnosed with a thyroid condition that she constantly blamed for her over eating. She wedged herself into her chair and began reading over her emails. The high-priority email from Operator-One caught her attention immediately. She phoned Karl Timmons after reviewing all three status changes.

  The phone rang loudly startling Karl, even though he was already awake. He stared at his phone’s caller id and recognized the first few digits of the international prefix and knew it was someone calling from the Deployment and Logistics Division of the IPPC. Flashbacks from his previous meeting during the end of summer caused him to hesitate. Was Donovan calling to berate him again? For the three months following the August meeting, Karl had done as instructed. While he was unable to get the full fifteen percent of the vaccine stored at the Florida facility, he felt that he had procured enough of the vaccine without raising suspicions. After seven rings, Karl reluctantly pressed the talk button on his Blackberry.

  “This is Karl.”

  “Karl – this is Dr. Pamela Bristow. Sorry for disturbing you, I know it’s early back there in the States.”

  “Oh, hey Pamela – don’t worry about it, I was already awake. Sorry I didn’t pick up sooner, the ringer volume must have been turned down for some reason.” Karl was relieved to be speaking to Pamela instead of Donovan. “How can I help you?”

  “I’m forwarding to you information regarding three new hot spots. Disburse one-thousand units to San Juan de Pasto, Colombia and five-hundred units to both Uzbekistan and New York. The location and contact information is in the last email I just sent to your Blackberry. Our teams in those areas have already been notified. They are expecting shipments ASAP. Priority one is the deaths in Colombia. We are sending a specialist team in from Sweden to assist there.”

  “I am approving those shipments now.” Karl opened a secure application on his Blackberry and entered his password. He began accessing the facilities of the New York office to begin transfer of supplies. “By the close of business tomorrow,” he continued, “those vaccines will be airborne and should arrive ready for distribution by the IPPC teams in those two distant locations. The New York shipment should only take a few hours tops.” Karl submitted the request and the automated process began.

  Advanced assembly line robots in the New York warehouse began pulling the required amounts of the 2011_10_20 vaccine and packing them into shipping containers. Within hours of the automation order, all shipments had been pulled and loaded for transport. Two C130 supply planes departed from the private Illumination Pharmaceutical’s airstrip outside of Rochester, New York for Russia and Colombia.

  Three hours after the initial request, two trucks filled with vaccines and additional supplies arrived at the local community college campus located just outside Syracuse. The health facility at the college was quickly overrun with the remaining students and faculty that had not already left for an early winter break. While the situation was peaceful, there were a few frantic individuals that had to be forcibly removed from the premises by campus security. After the commotion calmed down, the members of the college still on campus were vaccinated in an orderly fashion.

  IPPC officials arrived shortly after the majority of the vaccine had been distributed; they were delayed by almost two hours due to rush hour traffic. To their dismay, as they assessed the situation and spoke to the onsite clinic staff, the IPPC team was informed that many sick but treated individuals were already sent home to start an early winter break. While the officials would have preferred more time to interview the sick, they were at least somewhat pleased that enough supplies were available to treat everyone at the college. However, the IPPC specialists were concerned that the treated individuals had left the campus potentially spreading the flu-like symptoms elsewhere.

  November 16, 2012: Friday, mid-afternoon Pacific Standard Time – distribution centers in Russia and Colombia …

  In Russia, the vaccines arrived earlier in the day at the Nukus Airport and were transported to two major distribution centers, one in the eastern and one in the southern part of the town. Teams of doctors, nurses and volunteers staffed the local clinics to distribute the medication to those in need. The first rounds of medication were given only to those already exhibiting flu-like symptoms. Preventive shots would come at a later date. The directive was clear – treat those in need first. Russian Special Forces and the police kept order while working directly with the IPPC officials on scene.

  The vaccine shipment bound for Colombia was sent directly to the National Defense headquarters in San Juan de Pasto. The specialist team from Sweden, led by Dr. Christina Finch, arrived a few hours after the medication. Colonel Chavez briefed the team on the deaths of the soldiers. After the short meeting, Colonel Chavez had to attend to other pressing matters, but the specialist team was escorted to the restricted zone by a military entourage. About two-hundred yards from where the soldiers died, Dr. Finch motioned for the driver to stop the vehicle. The area was poorly quarantined. Four soldiers moved throughout the contaminated area without proper hazmat gear.

  “Get those stupid fools out of here!” Dr. Finch yelled. “This area should have been quarantined with absolutely no access without prior authorization from me!”

  The driver of the jeep abruptly stopped the vehicle and the communications officer in the backseat contacted the base. The call was quickly routed to Colonel Chavez’s personal cell phone. The driver handed the cell phone to Dr. Finch. “The Colonel, he would talk at you, doctor,” the driver said in broken English.

  Dr. Finch took the phone. “Yes?”

  “Dr. Finch – sorry for the confusion,” Colonel Chavez said. “Instructions are being relayed as we speak. No one was supposed to enter the area directly. They were instructed to only seal off the area. Apparently their curiosity got the better of them, no?”

  “With all due respect sir, those four men are now most likely infected with whatever killed your other soldiers. They will not be able to leave the area. My men are now suiting up and we will make a proper safe zone around the area and seal off the danger
zone.”

  “That is fine, good doctor,” the Colonel said. “My second lieutenant has been instructed to follow your orders. My men will follow his. Keep this phone. You have a direct line to me…assuming the communication satellites continue to cooperate.”

  “Thank you, Colonel. By the way, as my team works to contain this area, will the vaccines be distributed?”

  “Yes, Dr. Finch. My soldiers have already split the supplies and delivered them to three nearby clinics. The staff there is already treating our people. Soldiers are posted there to maintain order. No need for panic, right?”

  “I wish I could honestly answer that, sir,” Dr. Finch said as she surveyed the site in front of her. “I’m just not sure right now.”

  Dr. Finch had seen this situation before and was well trained at her job. Her crew was top-of-the line professionals. Within four hours, the experienced bio-hazard team had the offending two-hundred square yard area completely quarantined. Military guards were positioned about fifty feet from the perimeter of the danger zone, each guard about thirty feet apart from one another.

  “Dr. Finch?” Eduardo Castillo, the second lieutenant, stood at attention as he waited for the doctor to acknowledge him.

  “Yes, Eduardo?”

  “Everything and everyone has been positioned as you requested. The zone is secure and all four soldiers have been moved to the low-risk location. The sick soldiers from the initial platoon have been moved to the designated high-risk area.”

  “Very good, Eduardo,” Dr. Finch said. “Now the real work can begin.”

  November 19, 2012: Monday, 9:18 AM – Illumination Pharmaceuticals, a conference call taking place in the office of Karl Timmons…

  “Excellent work, Karl,” Dr. Bristow said. “All shipments arrived as anticipated.”

  “Karl, with the increase in H1N1 activity,” Donovan Bryant began, “we feel it necessary that within the next two to three weeks, you should have your employees vaccinated. Keeping them healthy will ensure an uninterrupted workforce to continue producing the vaccine. We’ve set aside a small amount of the product to distribute to your people.”

  “Thank you,” Karl responded. “I will get that taken care of as quickly as possible.”

  “We will contact you later if we need your services.” Donovan shut off the phone, abruptly ending the meeting.

  Julie and Theo sat in the large leather chairs; Craig and Michael were comfortably reclined on the leather couch. All four employees had been involved with various stages of coordinating resources. Their main objective had been to find ways to increase production rates and decrease the time to market. The research tasks were in addition to their normal daily activities.

  “Craig, you and Julie will lead the effort to get the Idaho employees vaccinated within two weeks,” Karl stated. “I will make sure the New York office is handled.”

  “Sure,” Craig responded. “We’ll add that to the rest of the work on our plates…”

  Julie glanced sidewise at her partner in an effort to reel in his smart mouth.

  “Excellent. I like your enthusiasm.” Karl stood up and walked to his favorite window. “Julie, you and Craig may go. Theo and Michael, please stay behind, we need to discuss the logistics and storage issues that were brought to my attention last week.”

  Julie and Craig left the conference room.

  December 13, 2012: Thursday, 11:18 AM – Illumination Phar-maceuticals, the fourth floor lab…

  During the past few weeks, Craig and Julie had organized the vaccinations of the Idaho facility employees as Karl had requested. They were both tired and frustrated by the increased workload but were very happy to see the last person standing in line. As the final shot was delivered, Craig crossed off the last name on his list; they were done! They cleaned up the meeting room that had been used as a makeshift clinic returning it to its original layout then went upstairs to their lab on the fourth floor.

  For the last thirty minutes, Craig had indulged in what he called “relaxation time” - flipping through infomercials and various midday news events. He unconsciously stopped channel surfing on one station interviewing “experts” on the upcoming Mayan Event set to occur next week.

  Julie stood up quickly throwing her hands up in the air and thrusting her chair backwards into the wall behind her desk. “Turn that crap off, Craig!” She walked over to the window and opened it slightly – she needed some fresh air.

  “What do you mean? This stuff is hilarious,” Craig said, referring to the program on the TV.

  “I can’t take anymore of this doomsday shit. I’m so tired of hearing about the Mayan shit, so tired of hearing about death cults and new religions that have sprung up…some of which have declared Nostradamus their own personal savior…this shit is driving me bonkers.” Julie paced back and forth in front of the window. Both she and Craig had been under tremendous stress with the extra work.

  Craig muted the TV. He knew Julie was a bit frazzled. He also knew that she was seriously angry about all the news coverage and events focusing on the Mayan Doomsday prophecies. Craig had rarely heard Julie swear so much.

  “I’m sorry, J-”

  “It’s not you, just please promise me not to watch anymore of that crap for the rest of the week,” Julie pleaded.

  “It’s a deal,” Craig said as he turned off the TV. “Let’s go get some lunch, then we can come back and finish up these reports for Karl. I think he’ll be impressed that we’ve come up with a way to decrease production time by eight percent.”

  “I highly doubt it,” Julie said shaking her head. “That man is impossible to please.”

  December 21, 2012: Friday, 12:18 PM the beginning of the Winter Solstice…

  The mighty Sun rotated angrily in his ancient orbit burning tremendous reserves of hydrogen and helium that had built up in his unimaginably dense core over the past one-hundred thousand years; this magnificent combustion emitted increased levels of gamma radiation in an epic temper tantrum. Solar flares and storms danced across the face of the Sun. Mercury and Venus were punished like disobedient children, absorbing tremendous levels of radiation. The Sky King would punish all of his children in the Milky Way galaxy, but first – he fixated his glare on his favorite offspring…the Earth.

  The Sun stood still as if deep in thought, he surveyed his Earthly kingdom below knowing there was very little time to act this day – the shortest day of the year. The clouds dispersed seemingly in fear as the winds cowered and ceased their whispering – it was as if the world was holding its breath waiting for a sign from the magnificent yellowish-orange sphere as to what would happen next.

  Cults from every nation around the world stood outside; their leaders espousing “New Age Prophecies” regarding the end of days. Men and women around the world cowered in bunkers, surrounded by supplies of canned goods, bottled water and short-wave radios. Sporadic reports of riots and mass suicides began to clog the news outlets.

  The scientists of Earth watched as the Sun soared to its highest position in the sky. Most astronomers and scientists tended to focus on facts; they recorded the massive energy levels emanating from the Sun and reported their findings to their superiors. These men of science had no faith in the antics of the mainstream population. They cared only for data, not for the hysteria that seemed to grip popular culture. The majority of these intellectuals frowned on the lay men and women that hid in their bunkers. The world would not end, at least not this day.

  Government agencies monitored their power grids and precious communication infrastructures. Some nations had been able to protect a small percentage of their highest security facilities at the urging of scientists. Armed forces prepared for any eventualities.

  The majority of the world went about their everyday routines. Most felt that the world would not end. Of course, many of the more tech-savvy folks constantly monitored their Face Book pages, blogged on their Twitter accounts and watched their favorite 24-hour news stations…just in case a real-time update
came across informing the world of its own demise…

  The Earth seemed to collectively sigh in unison as it awakened on the following Saturday morning. The end of days did not happen. There was no cataclysmic earthquakes, no reversal of the magnetic poles and the Earth was not sucked into a black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Nostradamus and the Mayans must have miscalculated. The world was still here, minus of course a few thousand idiots that died in riots and mass suicides. Governments, businesses and citizens spent the last two weeks of the year cleaning up human-caused messes. Life would go on; many folks prepared to watch the giant crystal ball drop in Times Square – signaling the start of a new year.

  During January of 2013, the world continued about its way as it had done prior to the supposed end of time. Doomsday predictors and Armageddon experts were chastised in all forms of media. New Age Religious zealots began to focus on other doomsday timelines such as the 2060 date that Isaac Newton purportedly predicted in some of his lost papers. Rioters were prosecuted and jailed. Governments dispatched repair teams to reinforce and repair non-protected infrastructures. The Sun continued to emit massive levels of radiation and solar flares wreaking havoc on power grids and satellites. A few countries experienced short, sporadic nationwide brownouts.

  All-in-all, the general consensus around the world was that everything was going to be OK. The people of Earth had just survived the most documented end-of-time periods ever foretold or predicted. Besides the relatively small amount of collateral damage and loss of life from the recent events, life quickly began to return to normal.

  People joked often that they would be able to look back on this event ten years from now and laugh at how silly they had been…