The Plague Years (Book 1): Hell is Empty and All the Devils Are Here

by Rounds, Mark

  “Don’t touch him!” shouted Mary. “He has it. He has the Plague!”

  The police officer looked momentarily shocked and then became professional.

  “Yes, Ma’am, we have new procedures about that now. Let’s get you off the pavement. The EMT in our building will check you out.”

  May 19th, Tuesday, 1:04am PDT.

  Chad was sitting in the waiting room at the police station. He had been questioned six ways from Sunday about the two goons who were trying to kill them. He had said over and over that he didn’t know them, and no, there weren’t drugs involved, no they weren’t racing, and no, he couldn’t think of any enemies he might have that would want him dead. After checking his rather spotless driving record and finding nothing other than a couple of parking tickets, they let him go.

  He had called Mary for a ride. He was also able to call Vincent’s Garage to have them go pick up his Camaro. Vincent’s had been his garage of choice and when he started rebuilding the Camaro, it was where he took it when things were beyond his abilities. Pete was almost as proud of the result as he was. In the process of rebuilding the car, Pete Vincent had become a friend and fellow hotrod admirer. It was Pete told him not to worry when he called about the car. He would go out, even though it was well after his shop had closed, and pick up the damaged car after the police had released it.

  While he was ruminating on the day’s events, he heard a car horn go off followed by a resounding crash. Half a dozen police officers including his friend Chris Vaughn ran by and headed out the door. Chad’s father had told him that when there was a fire engine or a loud crash and you went to look, you forfeited your innocent bystander status so he stayed put.

  Moments later, a female police officer came through the door with a disheveled woman wrapped in a blanket. A second look confirmed that it was his wife.

  “Mary!” exclaimed Chad as he started to go to her.

  A protective female police officer interposed herself between Chad and Mary.

  “Sir, please step back …” said the police officer but Mary slipped by her and in a second was in Chad’s arms.

  “Honey, what happened?” said an alarmed Chad.

  “Some old man with the Plague tried to… I don’t know what, but he smashed the windshield with a crow bar and ….”

  “Sir, this is a rough situation,” began the policewoman, “but she does need medical attention and we would like to question her.”

  “She’s my wife and hasn’t done anything wrong!” said Chad. He was tired and grumpy from his ordeal and didn’t want his wife to go through the same thing.

  “She was just down here to pick me up!”

  “Chad, I’ll go with her,” said Chris in a calming voice. “No one wants to hurt her but we want to clear things up. The EMT is right down the hall. I’ll be right with her and as soon as they finish with her, I’ll come get you, promise.”

  Chad unwillingly released Mary.

  “Sweetheart, go get checked out, I’ll be right here. Chris will keep an eye on you.”

  “No, I don’t want ….”

  “Maam, did he ever actually touch you?” said a familiar voice. Chad turned to look and saw with a start that it was Lt. Miller, who had conducted the investigation for his son.

  “No, just poked me a little with that crow bar,” said Mary.

  “Any fluid exchange possible?” said Miller.

  “Ech! Absolutely not!” said Mary.

  “Folks,” said Lt. Miller load enough to be heard, “there is going to be a change in policy effective immediately. We have six assault cases in here tonight and they all are Plague related. More than half the on-duty officers are writing reports and questioning suspects. We don’t have the manpower to process them all and it will do little good anyway. Take the names of those in the incident who are not showing symptoms and who have not had fluid exchange and let them go. If they are showing symptoms, process them and get them sent to the high school. We need people patrolling, not filling out paperwork.

  “Ms. Strickland, if you need immediate medical care, our EMT can see you but if it isn’t urgent, could I ask you to see your own physician?”

  “Sure,” said a bewildered Mary.

  “Thanks for that,” said Chad to Lt. Miller.

  “It’s getting worse just like you said, Dr. Strickland,” said Lt. Miller ruefully. “Starting today, a lot of CYA procedures are going out the window. I am still going require our folks to do good police work but I don’t have the man power to cover all this.

  “In fact, Sergeant Vaughn, if I could have my two officers back from the high school, I could really use them.”

  “Sir, I wish I could help,” said Chris. “If they mobilize the National Guard, I should get some relief; maybe I can get back on the street too.”

  “Be careful what you wish for Sergeant.”

  May 19th, Tuesday, 10:00am PDT.

  Chad was still groggy from his late night with the police and then talking to Mary until the wee hours getting everything straight. Chris had given him a ride home on his way back to the high school, but he had also managed a quick call to Dave about what had happened. He was worried they would try again and he had his suspicions about what was going on.

  The misgivings Mary had about firearms evaporated after her run in with ‘old Archie’. Before she went to bed, she had loaded Chad’s .357 magnum revolver and put it beside the bed. When she got up in the morning, Mary put on the shoulder carry rig right after she got out of the shower and dressed. She was wearing it while she made breakfast.

  “Mom why are you wearing a gun?” asked Fiona while Chad made a serious effort to stir his coffee and not look up.

  “Sweetie, there are some people in town who are very sick,” said Mary choosing her words carefully. “Some of them don’t know what they are doing and they might hurt people; people I care about. I don’t want that to happen.”

  “Gee you sound like Uncle Dave,” said Fiona. “He said I could have his Browning. It’s a really cool pistol!”

  “Uncle Dave should have spoken to me first,” said Mary with her Mom voice. “Honey, I can’t say there won’t be a time when you will have to carry a gun, but right now, leave it to the adults.”

  “I have to agree with your mom, sport,” said Chad happy for not having to field that one. “If you shot somebody, think of the mess you would have to clean up.”

  “Awww.”

  “This isn’t a game young lady,” said Mary, “but speaking of messes, I recall that someone’s room looks like the paper monster went in there and puked. I suggest that you go clean it up pronto.”

  “Double Awww!”

  But she got up and headed down the hall to her room.

  “Paper monster?”

  “Chad Strickland you are not the only one who can use creative imagery when needed.”

  “No Ma’am,” said Chad with a smile. Things were going to be alright he thought.

  May 18th, Tuesday, 11:50am PDT.

  After breakfast, Chad went in to work. There was a big all staff meeting for which no one had an agenda at noon. Chad had some paperwork to finish up but there was little new data this morning and so he was cooling his heels in the conference room ten minutes early. Clinton Taylor walked up and offered Chad a cup of coffee.

  “Things have changed,” said Clinton. “A month ago, if management had had the audacity to call an all hands, mandatory lunch time meeting, there would have been pizza or subs. Today we have weak coffee and day old muffins.”

  “Duly noted counsellor,” said Chad accepting the cup.

  “Look, I know you didn’t sleep much last night and the upcoming meeting won’t make you happy but I have been looking for a moment to chat with you without arousing suspicion. While I was helping you out last night, I used a favor with my friend Lieutenant Davis and got a look at the two that attacked you.”

  “Six will get you ten that they are the same goons who attacked you,” said Chad without missing a be
at.

  “And just what led you to that conclusion?”

  “I am a car buff, remember? You described that rusty red Mustang with a leaky muffler to a tee. I know there are a lot of red Mustangs rolling around but there were too many coincidences.”

  “OK, then I’ll come to the point. You are making Macklin look bad. He resents it. He is after me because I am covering for you and he wants you dead too. Mr. Macklin isn’t all he seems. I made some calls this morning. He isn’t just Special Agent Macklin. He is Special Agent in Charge Macklin who heads up a small group that focuses on domestic counter terrorism.”

  “So what the fuck is he doing here?”

  “My very question, apparently, he is on special assignment, doing what, my contacts haven’t a clue. But all the same, he has pull in high places and apparently doesn’t think twice about killing people. You watch out and have your family watch out too. Given what we saw last night, we won’t be able to get much help from police or the FBI. They are looking at this as plague related and other than collecting evidence and getting the bad guys off the street, they are focusing on keeping the peace and not panicking the population.”

  “Aside from that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play.”

  “Funny, but this isn’t a laughing matter.”

  “I know, look, I have a favor or two to call in. Let me start there. As to my family, my wife and kids are home and she is packing. I have a good friend and neighbor who is a retired Marine major and special ops guy. One call and he goes into hyper vigilant mode.”

  ‘Make that call, now. Don’t wait. I can’t tell you about the meeting but it will piss Macklin off royal.”

  Clinton wandered off and Chad pulled out his cell phone and hit the speed dial for Dave Tippet.

  “Hey Chad, business or social?” said Dave’s normally jovial voice.

  “Business,” said Chad quietly hoping no one would notice.

  “Let me guess, it’s Macklin,” said Dave, his voice now somber.

  “Yes.”

  “Offense or defense?”

  “Defense for now,” said Chad. People were starting to file in. “Look, I have to make this short.”

  “Right, I think Heather and I will go visit your wife. If I don’t hear from you in an hour, I go offense.”

  “Understood, text me before you do.”

  “Affirmative, tell me more tonight.”

  The line went dead before he could speak.

  Chad didn’t have any time to wait because there was a rush of people into the room and then Dr. Riley came in with an arm load of folders that he started passing around to the thirty or some investigators and technicians in the room.

  “There is a folder for each of you in that stack,” said Dr. Riley. “The names are on the outside. Please do not open them yet.”

  There were two colors of folders making their way around the room. Some were standard manila envelopes while others were blue and looked very official. All were sealed. Also in the room was Macklin from Homeland Security. He was sporting a black eye and a couple of band aids. Chad didn’t know what had happened but he hoped it hurt. It also meant, since he was here, he likely wasn’t trying to harm his family.

  “We have been in contact with the local authorities,” said Dr. Riley. “They are overwhelmed with cases of the ‘Plague’ as it is being called now. Apparently our projections were, if anything, a bit optimistic. Two of our own staff members, Dr. Strickland and Counsellor Taylor, have already been assaulted.

  “The CDC and County Health officials are asking that people stay home. The less travel and contact that is going on, the slower this will spread and the less likely it will be for any one individual to become infected. Effective immediately, all of you who can work from home are directed to do so. Those in that category have plain manila envelopes which you can now open. Once you sign off on the documents therein, you are free to leave. Your instructions and work assignments are in those envelopes.

  “Pay is beginning to be an issue. Much of the clerical and support staff has been given furloughs as many of our grants are not being renewed or are being rescinded. The one exception is the work being done on the spread of the Plague. Those of you who can be of assistance to that work are being transferred to it. Other projects are going into caretaker status. Many of the rest of you will be involved in that work so we anticipate no more layoffs at this time despite certain rumors to the contrary.

  “Those of you with plain envelopes may leave. Please go to your offices and clean out any personal effects as it may be some time before we can let you back in the building. Those of you with the blue envelopes please remain seated and do not open them.”

  People began filing out. There was some conversation but most were just shocked. Chad looked around the room and saw that there were maybe ten people with blue envelopes. That group included himself, Clinton Taylor, Herb Burnside, Terry Grieb, Dr. Jurgen and a few other folks from his immediate work group.

  Macklin made no move to leave. After all those with manila envelopes had left, Dr. Riley looked at Macklin.

  “Special Agent Macklin, this doesn’t concern you,” said Dr. Riley with an icy tone to his voice. “You may leave now.”

  “I have orders from …” began Macklin with a self-important tone to his voice.

  Before he could get started, Dr. Riley shut him down.

  “I have been in contact with your Director Erikson and General Buckley,” said Dr. Riley over Macklin’s objections. “I have been assured that for certain matters, I am to answer directly to them, specifically General Buckley.

  Your stock is much lower in certain quarters than it was when you first came here. You are still in the picture for liaison and support purposes but the next briefing is for purely personnel issues so your attendance is not needed and frankly violates our employee contracts when dealing with things like employment records. You may leave now or I will ask Mr. Burnside to escort you out of the room.”

  “You can’t …”

  “Herb, please help the gentleman leave.”

  Herb stood up. He was in his late forties and his hair was thinning but all other resemblance to the Little League coach that everyone knew and liked ended. He measured 6’2” in his stocking feet with wide shoulders and a bit of a paunch. His grin was absolutely feral and powerful shoulder muscles bunched under his shirt.

  “Special Agent Macklin, I would advise you to leave under your own power before I have to help you out of the door again.”

  Macklin looked uncertain for a moment that then headed for the exit with Herb following behind to close the door.

  “Now as that unpleasantness is behind us,” continued Dr. Riley, “please open your envelope. Each of you has been deemed, frankly by me, to be essential to the work that remains. You will still be asked to come into work as best you can. Fuel will be made available to you starting today; only essential personnel will be able to buy gasoline.

  The Federal Government has declared a state of emergency to be in effect until the Plague has passed. You are all now no longer employees of our foundation but of the Federal Government. Those of you that are prior service military are, as of this moment, recalled to active duty.”

  Chad noted morbidly that had this meeting occurred three weeks ago, there would have been complaints and protests. Today people sat silence, waiting for the next shoe to drop.

  “Your packets also contain your work assignments along with various other papers. Those of you who are now recently recalled to the Armed Forces also have orders and IDs. This might appear alarming but you will be working here for me for the foreseeable future. The military rank is primarily for protection from Mr. Macklin and government agencies who might want to take you away from here.

  “Colonel Taylor,” said Dr. Riley, as senior military officer, could you please swear in those so designated?”

  Clinton stood up.

  “Everyone stand up, raise your right hand, and repeat after me. I, State your Full Name
, do solemnly swear...” Chad parroted the words in shock. It was finally sinking in that he was back in the Air Force after all these years.

  “I also have some specialized assignments,” said Dr. Riley wearily once the oath of office was complete..

  “For Mr. Burnside, your primary function will be to keep these folks as safe as you can. That will be tough as your staff is much reduced but all of our functions will now be limited to this one building.

  “Clinton, your major focus from now on will be to ride herd on Macklin. Director Erickson, who nominally supervises that man, would recall him in a minute if he could, but apparently, Macklin has powerful friends. He can attend general meetings where we present findings and coordination meetings and that is all. The less his nose is stuck in our business the better off we will be.”

  “I wondered what my role would be,” said Clinton ruefully. “I don’t relish dealing with him more than I have to, but I will find some pleasure in thwarting him.”

  “Chad,” said Dr. Riley as he turned to face the rest of the researchers. “You, Dr. Grieb, and I will be on a plane in about an hour headed for the Joint Base Lewis McChord. It seems your friends, General Buckley and Colonel Antonopoulos would like a specialized ‘threat briefing,’ whatever that is. Colonel Antonopoulos said you would know. A police car will be come around in thirty minutes to take us to the airport. What the heck is a C-20 anyway? We are supposed to be flying in it.”

  “A C-20 is a militarized Gulfstream executive jet,” said Chad without thinking. “We are getting a ride in the general’s plane. This is kind of a big deal.”

  “Well, I suppose it is. You have twenty-eight minutes,” said Dr. Riley checking his watch, “before they are here. I suggested you gather whatever briefing materials you may need and meet me in the lobby as soon as you can. Please don’t even think about bringing your Grateful Dead T shirt but do pack for at least an overnight stay.”