The New Reality

by Stephen Martino

  Suzan grabbed Berk’s wrist. To her surprise it felt warm and clammy, almost as if she were holding a wet snake. She then realized how red her husband’s face appeared. It was as if he fell asleep in a tanning bed and forgot to wake up for a day.

  Berk looked down, not knowing what to say to his wife. They both had witnessed at least half their town come down with the same condition. Whenever someone developed these symptoms, they were immediately whisked away, never to be seen again. Over the past six months Yakakoy had slowly dwindled down to a fraction of its original population. Berk hoped that if he continued working no one would notice his declining health. Failure was not an option for him, and the last thing he ever wanted was to be forced to leave his dear wife and town.

  “They’re not going to take you away, honey!” Suzan blurted with authority. “They will have to get through me first. Now you go upstairs and get some rest. You probably just have a fever from working too hard. I’ll tell the factory that you sprained your ankle and will be there in the morning.”

  Berk knew excuses would not suffice. If anyone missed work or was late, the town police would immediately come to the house. With so many people in Yakakoy becoming mysteriously sick, the Turkish government had become adamant about removing anyone from the town with signs of The Disease.

  The Disease is what the people called it. Since its appearance almost a year ago, it first spread quickly through Greece and Turkey, afflicting more of its population than either government cared to divulge. Scientists could give it no other name. No pathological organism for this new scourge could be found. Neither bacteria, virus, protozoa nor other infectious agent was ever discovered. Even rare pathogens such as prions, similar to those causing mad cow disease, were investigated but without any success.

  Now as new victims began cropping up all over the world, humanity lay helpless at the mercy of The Disease. Without knowing the cause of this scourge or having any idea about the mode of its dissemination, humanity stood at the precipice of mass extinction. To prevent global chaos, there remained a total media blackout on the situation. All the general population of the world knew was that The Disease had been mostly confined to Turkey and Greece. Those that understood the truth were forced to secrecy.

  “You know they’ll come for me if they discover I’m sick,” Berk said. “I have a thermos full of cold water and I just took two Tylenol. That should at least get me through the day.”

  “I bet it’s just a simple fever,” Suzan sputtered with false hope. “You’ll probably be better tonight after work.”

  A deafening bullhorn from somewhere outside curtailed further conversation. Despite the volume, the rattle of helicopters flying overhead and what sounded like heavy machinery outside their door obscured its blaring noise.

  Berk immediately dropped his thermos and ran outside. It was as if war had broken out without anyone telling them. Down the street he could see a desert camouflaged Altay III tank slowly lumbering up the dirt road towards him. Atop of it and adjacent to its Rheinmetall 165 mm gun stood the large bullhorn causing all the commotion.

  Though recently commissioned by the Turkish government, the tank was unusually noisy for such a modern machine. Berk conjectured that by the time you could hear the Altay III it would probably be too late anyway. With that large gun and Kevlar reinforced armor, it certainly did not need to rely on stealth in the field of combat.

  Behind the tank marched at least a hundred soldiers. Each of the soldiers wore desert camouflaged contamination suits covering their entire body. It was a hybrid uniform, where science met military. Able to see through a yellow-tinged transparent square on their hoods, the soldiers marched in unison with guns at attention, waiting for any excuse to use them.

  “Get out of the street!” Suzan yelled. “Don’t just stand there. Get in here!”

  Suzan’s pleas were drown out by the bullhorn and a helicopter hovering two houses down from them. As the tank and soldiers approached, Berk began waving his arms in the air, expecting some answers.

  It was his town and he’d lived there all of his life. If there were any problems, someone needed to speak with him before parading any further through the streets. His arms began to wave more frantically the closer they came.

  Other neighbors also came to their doors. A few, like Berk, went into the streets, hoping to accost their uninvited visitors. Many congregated together, but the noise made conversation impossible.

  About ten of the soldiers, brandishing their weapons, immediately ran in front of the tank. Berk stood tall. Now he was going to get answers.

  Before he could extend his hand in welcome, Berk was repelled to the ground by a barrage of bullets to the chest. Looks of horror filled the faces of the townspeople, and his wife let out a scream of grief that could be heard over the surrounding noise.

  Their alarm was short lived as the soldiers summarily disposed of the townspeople with an endless volley of gunfire. Those who were not shot burned to death as each house was set to the torch by flame-throwers. Others who tried to run into the woods were gunned down by the helicopter roaming above them.

  In a mere thirty minutes the town of Yakakoy was completely razed to the ground and its entire population decimated.

  Modern science had failed them and all those afflicted with The Disease. There was no cure and more concerning there was no source. When science becomes God and science fails, fear and cruelty rush in to fill the void. Destroying this town and others like it would solve nothing. The Disease had affected them all, even those not afflicted by it.

  Chapter 2

  The decibel is a measurement unit used to quantify the intensity of sound. A normal conversation usually registers at 60dB while a subway car can reach up to 100dB. Pain usually sets in at 125dB. The scale, however, does not calculate the annoyance of the sound, nor in the case of a conversation, its irritability.

  Thus, the decibel by no means could accurately quantify the ear-splitting sound of Samantha Mancini’s voice. With its high- pitched shrill and intensity it could be heard clearly through a roaring jet engine.

  Despite her voice, Samantha was an extremely attractive professional in her late forties with flowing brown hair, cut to shoulder length. Her petite size and gentle face caused many to underestimate both her mental and physical fortitude.

  Samantha wore a red, high-cut skirt and matching tight blouse. High-heeled black boots completed the outfit, giving her an extra five inches of height in the process.

  “I see you’re exquisitely dressed again, Samantha,” Alex Pella jested. “Just don’t stand on the street corner outside Neurono-Tek when you begin working.”

  “Work!” Samantha screeched. “You should try it sometime instead of dating a new bimbo each week or racing around on one of your aero-bikes.”

  Samantha was correct. Alex did enjoy racing and had a propensity for women. It wasn’t that he preferred perpetual dating, but his work at Neurono-Tek had become all-encompassing. And he had convinced himself that he didn’t have the proper time to commit to a long-term relationship.

  “What does twenty dollars get me?” Alex continued to jest with an uncanny smirk that Samantha always found amusing.

  “A punch in the nose,” she rebutted, trying to hold back a smile. “You know I’m going to be very rich once that sexual harassment suit comes in.”

  Alex laughed aloud, knowing he might just get that punch in the nose if he continued teasing.

  Despite the bickering, Samantha and Alex were very close and enjoyed the occasional banter between them.

  Alex was impeccably dressed in his black pinstripe suit. Also in his forties, he looked no more than thirty years of age. With short jet-black, curly hair, vibrant olive skin and broad shoulders, he was a perpetual favorite among women.

  His dark brown eyes complimented his suntan, and he had a smile that could turn any heated argument his way.

  “What’s with the stiff,” Alex asked. “Did he arrive yet?”

  “Yes
, while you were doing God-knows-what in your office, security quarantined him in the level five Biohazard room in the basement. Now, he just awaits the illustrious and famous Dr. Alex Pella to examine him and save the planet from The Disease.”

  Samantha pointed to the elevators. “If you want to see the body right now, go right ahead. Humanity awaits.”

  Alex followed Samantha’s finger, but when he turned towards the elevator there was a different body that piqued his interest. She was about five foot eight, just like him, and was staring straight at them. It was as if nothing else existed for that brief moment in the vast Neurono-Tek lobby.

  Her long brown hair, angelic face, fair skin and big, vibrant green eyes lit up the room. Alex was momentarily at a loss for words. He became only more dumbfounded when she walked his way. Her thin, yet muscular legs, long torso and compact figure tucked away in a tight brown dress made her appear as if she were a beautiful gazelle effortlessly striding through the brush.

  If she were the gazelle, Alex would be all too happy to play the role of the ravenous lion.

  Samantha succinctly snapped him out of his daze.

  “Get your head out of the gutter and go over there and meet Marissa Ambrosia,” she chastised. “She came with the body.”

  “She sure did!”

  Samantha gave Alex that punch she promised him. Sparing the face, she got in a quick jab to his ribs.

  “Dr. Pella,” Marissa greeted, “thank you so much for letting us bring one of The Disease victims here.”

  As the two shook hands, there was an instant connection. It was almost as if he were welcoming an old friend. Alex did not want to release her soft, delicate hand and did his best not to seem overzealous by holding on too long.

  “Call me Alex,” he gasped, still out of breath from that blow to the ribs.

  Samantha stepped between the two. “Now that formalities are over, why don’t we move to the lounge area. My legs are getting tired standing in these boots.”

  Samantha led them over to the large arrangement of black leather couches and chairs in the middle of the lobby. No expense had been spared with the construction of the building, particularly this area. White marble floors speckled with green streaks, Victorian chandeliers hanging overhead, expensive works of art on the walls, and a priceless display of antique medical devices made the lobby the showpiece for all of Neurono-Tek. A woman dressed in a long, flowing white dress stroking a golden harp added to the room’s ambience.

  “So Marissa,” Samantha asked, “tell me about the present you brought us in the Level Five Biohazard room.”

  “I’d like to thank you both again on behalf of The National Institutes of Health for accepting the body.”

  Alex kept his comments to himself this time.

  “We at the NIH,” she said, “are at a complete loss.”

  A waiter came to their sides and placed a napkin on a granite-topped end table next to each of them. He then poured them each a complimentary glass of champagne in a long fluted glass. This luxury was not theirs exclusively. All were welcomed with the champagne along with the open bar and complimentary café in the lobby.

  “Would you like anything else to drink?” the waiter politely asked. “Or may I interest you with a menu?”

  Each was satisfied with the champagne. The waiter went off to another couple sitting nearby and took their order.

  Marissa turned to Alex. “We were able to obtain the body from Turkey. It seems that country has been the hardest hit thus far and is desperate to find answers. With The Disease continuing to decimate their population, they gave the NIH full access to all their medical information and victims’ bodies.”

  “But why Neurono-Tek?” Alex asked. “Can’t the NIH take care of this by themselves?”

  “Unfortunately,” Marissa responded, “the answer is no.” She went on to explain how The Disease had stumped them all at the NIH. Located in Bethesda, Maryland, the world-renowned biomedical research center’s months of research had failed to reveal any useful information thus far. The only definitive fact discovered was that each victim died of multiple organ failure. The question still remained: What was the cause?

  Alex felt flattered but still did not understand why other research hospitals that treated general medical and infectious conditions were not approached first. It seemed only natural that they would prove a more suitable institute for such forensic matters.

  “You are not only our best hope,” Marissa went on to explain, “but you are our only hope.”

  “There you go Alex,” Samantha chimed in. “You won by default.”

  “But I still won,” Alex jested back, “and that’s all that matters.”

  However, Alex did understand that although Neurono-Tek was mostly a neuroscience institution, it was equipped with the latest scientific and medical equipment. Plus, as the CEO and founder of the company, he was a world-renowned scientist. With a Ph.D. in both neuroscience and bioengineering, he had already discovered or created treatments for many of the most complicated neurological diseases. Other than his business partner Dr. Samantha Mancini, there was no one else as qualified to tackle such a difficult task.

  Marissa continued, “Unfortunately, as you know, most of our greatest research hospitals are going bankrupt and are unable to treat even the most menial of medical or surgical conditions.”

  “See,” Samantha interrupted, “I told you this is what would happen if the government became the country’s only healthcare provider. Failure was inevitable!”

  Always looking at the big picture, Alex cautioned, “But you do remember what got our country into the mess we are in right now?”

  “Fat cat bureaucrats and a bloated IRS system,” Samantha quipped.

  “No,” Alex rebutted. “Rising healthcare costs, decreased patient benefits, and private insurance companies that became too greedy.”

  “But look where most of the country is now. We went from bad to worse.”

  “And since Neurono-Tek is one of the only privately run hospitals and research centers left,” Marissa interjected, “the world is relying on you.”

  Unfortunately, Alex knew she spoke the truth. He had watched the country’s medical system rapidly decline and witnessed the substandard care most Americans had to endure. What was once advertised by the government as the solution to all healthcare problems became the greatest healthcare problem ever created.

  Neurono-Tek, unlike other hospitals, was a fee-for-service institution. Unbound by oppressive governmental regulations, it thus flourished in the free market, maintaining the highest standards in medical care.

  “How long has our Turkish guest been dead?” Samantha asked.

  “Oh, no,” Marissa corrected. “He’s not exactly dead. While still in Turkey, I cryopreserved the entire body just before nature took its course. Though technically still living, he only has about a week before the body will start to decompose, making further analysis impossible.”

  Marissa looked over Alex’s shoulder and noticed the driver of the medical transport team who brought her here walking out of the elevator.

  “Excuse me,” she interrupted. “It seems like my driver has gotten himself lost. I think—”

  Just as Marissa began to stand, a deafening explosion rocked the building and it began to shake with such vigor it seemed like the entire research facility was going to collapse.

  Cement slabs from the ceiling crumbled down to the floor. Accompanying the debris, two of the huge chandeliers crashed down, instantly killing a few people in the lobby. The entire area became complete pandemonium. People were screaming, injured were pleading for help, and others just ran around in a frenzy, looking for an exit amidst the growing dust cloud.

  Marissa was knocked to the ground and staggered to regain her footing. Still dazed, she did not notice the chandelier hanging precariously overhead. As a few aftershocks began to strike the building, the beautiful lighting fixture fell.

  Almost out of pure instinct Alex jumped fr
om his seat, grabbed both Marissa and Samantha and secured them under a long granite-top table, saving them both.

  As some of the dust began to clear, the true damage from the explosion became apparent. What was once a beautiful lobby was now in complete ruin. Moans of agony pierced their ears and pulled at their hearts.

  Alex wanted answers immediately. Focusing on the videre contact lens in his right eye, he brought up a schematic of the entire Neurono-Tek complex of buildings. No structure other than this one was affected, and it appeared that the explosion came directly from the Level Five Biohazard room containing the body. All the research facilities were destroyed in the basement. However, the subbasement containing the morgue and a bunker-like research facility were still preserved.

  By focusing on different parts of his specialized contact lens, Alex immediately activated Neurono-Tek’s security system and alerted the police, fire station, and governor’s office of the apparent terrorist attack. He also alerted the security detail to detain Marissa and her driver for further questioning.

  “Speaking of the driver,” Alex said aloud.

  Amidst the dust cloud, Alex noticed the man fleeing through the main entrance. Alex leapt to his feet in quick pursuit. Throwing down his sports jacket and removing his tie, he bolted towards the potential perpetrator.

  Chapter 3

  It was a day later and Yakakoy’s buildings were still smoldering. Fresh tank tracks could be seen littering the dirt streets. Bullet riddled or burned bodies lay unburied throughout the town. The only signs of life now were the scavenging birds making a meal out of the carnage. Humanity had forsaken the town.

  Despite all the bloodshed, one man had the courage to reenter Yakakoy. He was not a native of the town nor did he even possess a Turkish citizenship.

  The man appeared unassuming and humble in nature. He was thin but not too skinny. Age had marked his fair-skinned face with wrinkles and matching age spots. His full head of gray hair was parted to the right side. Despite early signs of arthritis, the man walked with a zip in his step and seemed not to be slowed by his malady.