Viral Misery (Book 1)

by Watson, Thomas A

  Closing the fridge, Wendy leaned over the cart panting and felt the fluid rattling in her chest. “Hold on, girls. I need to catch my breath.”

  The girls nodded with smiles as Ryan laid his head on Sally’s shoulder, closing his eyes. “We didn’t know this was here,” Jo Ann said, looking around.

  “Passengers aren’t allowed in these passageways. I was shown them, so I could help out,” Wendy explained, reaching down and pulling a bottle of sports drink out. She drank several gulps, then put the top back on. “That elevator there moves between all levels and that’s where we are headed.”

  As Wendy pushed the cart over, the girls followed still looking around. Swiping her card, Wendy pressed the button and heard the elevator moving. Seeing a table next to the elevator with utensils, plates, and napkins, Wendy put some on the cart.

  When the elevator opened, they saw a body sprawled out on the floor and none of them jumped. “Jo Ann, hold the door,” Wendy told her as she grabbed the dead woman by the legs and pulled her out so the cart would fit.

  Pushing the cart in, Wendy waited for the girls and swiped the card and punched her level. “Girls, we are stopping at my level. I have to get something from my room and then we will go to the spot I was talking about,” Wendy told them. “Let the door close and flip this switch,” she pointed at the control panel. “It will make the elevator stay there. Only someone with a card can open the door and I won’t be long.”

  As the elevator stopped, the twins nodded and Wendy stood at the door as they parted. Poking her head out, she looked up and down the hallway, seeing only the bodies that had been there before. Stepping out, she heard Jo Ann flip the switch as she moved down the hallway to her door.

  Almost tripping on a body, Wendy grabbed the handrail as the elevator door closed. Holding the rail, she moved to her door and swiped the card to go back inside. Leaving the door open, she moved over to Gloria’s suitcase and opened it up.

  Digging through it, Wendy pulled out a spear gun and smiled, remembering Gloria tell her that she was going spearfishing. Gloria never went spear fishing, but Wendy needed it. Digging out a holster that held three metal arrows, Wendy doubled over coughing. When the fit passed, Wendy stood up panting and cradling the spear gun to her chest.

  Moving back to the door, she closed it and hurried back down the hall as fast as she could to the elevator. Swiping the card, she gave a sigh to see the girls smiling as the door opened up. Stepping in, she flipped the switch to unlock the elevator, swiped her card, and punched two floors up.

  When the doors opened, Wendy pushed the cart out and let the girls out. Leaning back inside, she swiped the card and pressed the bottom floor. Pulling back as the doors closed, Wendy grabbed the cart to steer around a body and headed down the passageway.

  “Why did you send the elevator away?” Jo Ann whispered.

  “You can hear it on the floors and if Anthony’s here, I want him looking somewhere else,” Wendy whispered back, stopping at a door marked ‘Suite’. Swiping her card, she pushed the door open and stepped into the large room that was untouched.

  The people who had paid for this suite hadn’t made the boarding call; she had found out when she was checking passengers. When she’d first seen the room, she didn’t even want to know how much it had cost.

  When they were inside, Wendy closed the door as Jo Ann put Ryan down on the bed and they moved over to a sliding door. Opening it, they stepped out onto the balcony and looked at the coastline. “Our room only had a round window,” Sally said.

  Moving over to the bed, Wendy grabbed the pillows and surrounded Ryan with them as he slept. Picking up her bottle of sports drink, Wendy took the backpack off and then sat down on the couch. When the twins came back inside, they smiled at her as Wendy finished the bottle off.

  “Can we see your binoculars?” Sally asked and Wendy took the massive binoculars off and handed them over.

  “Be careful with them, they are heavy and we will need them to watch for someone coming to rescue us,” Wendy told them.

  Wendy watched them head back over to the balcony to use the binoculars. Turning to Ryan, Wendy gave a sigh looking at the baby sleeping peacefully. Then, she saw his diaper. “Girls, when was the last time you changed Ryan?”

  “Yesterday, he ran out of diapers,” Sally said, coming back inside.

  Getting up, Wendy grabbed the pack and unloaded it. “How did you two get stuck taking care of Ryan?” she asked, carefully changing the baby’s diaper.

  “Timmy’s mom told him to, but he heard a man yelling for help and gave us Ryan. Timmy ran down the hall and then later, he yelled out for us to run and hide,” Sally explained with a sad face.

  Coming back inside, Jo Ann put the binoculars on the table. “We heard Anthony calling out for us last night,” Jo Ann said with a quivering lip.

  Finished changing Ryan, Wendy smiled at herself for doing it without waking him up. “Girls, let his ass show up, I’ll take care of it,” Wendy said, grabbing the spear gun. Sitting down on the couch, she put her feet in the loops and pulled back one band, locking it in the housing. Pulling back the second band, Wendy found more difficult.

  Pulling out one of the spears, the girls gave a shiver while looking at the wicked-looking tip. “You will shoot him?” Sally asked hopefully.

  “He tries anything, you bet I will,” Wendy told her.

  Chapter Sixteen

  The destroyer comes inside

  May 9

  Sutton walked out of the airlock and smiled at Sarah waiting on him. “I came out as soon as you said.”

  Giving a laugh, “I know, and that means we’ll be early,” Sarah told him.

  “How do they expect me to make progress if they keep pulling me into meetings?” Sutton asked, pulling the suit off and hanging it up.

  “Dr. Sutton, I’ve gotten you out of three meetings,” Sarah reminded him. “They are basing their decisions on what you tell them.”

  Sitting down on the bench, Sutton kicked his crocs off and put his shoes on. “Really?” he asked, not looking up.

  “No,” Sarah said in a low voice as she moved over and sat down beside him. “We lost another government facility to the virus.”

  Jerking his head up, “How? They are supposed to be locked down.” Sutton asked.

  Shaking her head, “Just like the last one, they don’t know,” Sarah told him. “What we do know is everyone inside is infected. The screening test proved it.”

  “They’re scared,” Sutton mumbled and Sarah nodded.

  “Aren’t you?” she asked.

  “Sarah, I’ve worked with the most lethal viruses we’ve ever discovered. And before you ask, this isn’t the most deadly. That title belongs to a virus from the Philippines. It just has a number. When you catch it, you are dead three days later. All our tests show it’s one hundred percent fatal. But that virus moves too fast, so it would be very hard for it to become a pandemic,” Sutton told her with a smile. “Because of you, I can say we are very close here. You have become indispensable to this team.”

  “Please,” Sarah scoffed, getting up. “I’m just the mother hen and typist.”

  Getting up, Sutton shook his head, “Nope, even Skannish agrees. We are making more progress because you are making sure we aren’t tired. That we eat. That all our research is in the system and all links with Atlanta are downloaded. For someone who doesn’t know viruses, when one of the team asks for something, you know where to find the answer or who to ask.”

  Taking a deep breath, “Thank you,” Sarah beamed.

  Glancing at his watch, “Let’s do the dog and pony show,” Sutton said, heading for the door and stopped.

  “I have your laptop, notes, and the latest report from Homeland,” Sarah said, walking past him. “You can read on the way over.”

  “Like I said,” Sutton chuckled, following her outside. “Indispensable.”

  When Sarah pulled up to the presidential area, Sutton was finished with the report. He follow
ed Sarah through the doors. Walking into the room, he saw everyone was just taking their seats. “Damn, even early,” he mumbled and Sarah stifled a laugh.

  “Sutton, what do you have for us today?” the President asked, sitting down.

  Pouring a cup of coffee, Sutton walked over to the table and put his coffee down but didn’t sit. Turning to the president, Sutton pointed at him with his hand. “Mr. President, you are a genius,” Sutton sang out, then dropped his hand as the President gave a startle.

  “How so?” the President asked hesitantly.

  “When you assigned Sarah to the team, I had to admit, I was against it. I’m not going to tell you what the others said, but I’m here now saying we were wrong,” Sutton admitted and then looked around at those seated, then back up to the President. “She leads that team like a general. Never in my life would I have ever believed someone forcing people to nap and eat would make such a difference, but holy shit are we making progress.”

  The president sat up straighter with a big grin as Sutton continued. “Then, she types up all our dictation and when a question is asked, she knows which one of us can answer it. Even in Atlanta, Sarah has made a difference. I want to make her the director, but that would take her out of the trenches. But when the time comes, Mr. President, I’m begging you to make her Senior Executive Director of the CDC,” Sutton said, sitting down.

  “She made that big of a difference?” the President cried out.

  Standing back up, “Last dictation, please,” Sutton said, holding his hand out and Sarah passed him a stack of papers. Turning to the president, “If you have someone who understands viruses, let them read that,” Sutton said, tossing the stack on the table and sliding it toward the president.

  “Mr. President,” Sutton said, jerking his thumb back at Sarah. “Because of her, we will be starting cultures of the first batches of vaccines in two days.”

  The room erupted in cheers as everyone jumped up, clasping their neighbors’ hands and shaking them. When everyone stopped, the president yelled at the person sitting next to Sutton. “Get your ass up and let the Senior Executive Director sit down,” the President bellowed.

  Sarah was looking around in shock as the man got out of the chair and moved to the chairs along the wall. Moving over timidly, Sarah sat down. “We’ll work on your credentials soon, Sarah,” the President smiled. “You need any help?”

  “No, sir,” Sarah said quickly. “I hate to say it, but the scientists talk to themselves a lot as they work. Even asking questions out loud, and since I’m always near them or the lab radio, I know who to direct them to.”

  “You keep up the good work,” the President said and everyone around the table smiled at her.

  “Mr. President, I can tell you this. If you want the vaccine this fast, let’s move these update meetings with us to once a week,” Sarah said. “Dr. Sutton was talking to himself in the airlock about the culture slots…” she paused, looking around. “Sorry, he was trying to remind himself, so he could pick up the same train of thought when he gets back. I’ve learned their little telltale signs and know when not to talk to them or let anyone else talk to them.”

  “Sarah, you tell us what day the weekly meeting is to be,” the President said with a nod. “Sutton, from half a year to days, that’s incredible.”

  “Sir, she takes care of the team and it seems we needed it because everyone is performing at top level,” Sutton laughed. “Like I said, the first batch will be out no later than three days, but that doesn’t mean it will work. But we will put out batches every day with alterations, checking for results.”

  “Outstanding,” the President sighed.

  “I read about losing the bunker in Ohio. Do we have any idea how?” Sutton asked, turning to Paterson.

  “None, but it didn’t come in through the vents or water,” Paterson told him.

  “They either let someone or a bird inside,” Sutton said.

  “I have a team going over all the security footage,” Paterson said.

  “Dr. Sutton,” Kenner, Secretary of Defense called out. “I had a company go through a small town of ten thousand and they didn’t find anyone alive. I thought this virus only killed nine out of ten, not all of the ten.”

  “Kenner,” Sutton said, picking up his coffee. “It’s the roll of the genetic dice. The virus chooses the one in ten at random, not us. You could pick ten and all ten survive or none. I’ve got reports of spouses surviving, but none of their offspring. Some offspring survive and everyone else dies. It’s a crap shoot depending on your DNA. Now, after we get this vaccine, I will devote some time to it and get some better answers.”

  “Did you read the findings of sick people moving to water?” Patterson asked.

  Nodding, “Yeah, they are delirious with fever and water is a driving human need,” Sutton explained. “That will be a problem later because those bodies are going to contaminate the water supply.”

  “Anyone else?” the President asked, looking around. He turned to Sutton and Sarah. “Sarah, keep me up to date and no one will bother you.”

  “Thank you, Mr. President,” Sarah said, standing up. As Sutton stood up, she reached over and grabbed his stuff.

  “You are over me now, so I should carry that,” Sutton told her and tried to take it.

  “I have it. Now get in the buggy, so we can get back to work,” Sarah snapped and Sutton headed for the door.

  “See what I mean?” Sutton laughed as he walked out.

  When they were gone, the President looked around the table. “That’s why I wasn’t sad about letting her go. Sarah can be a bitch,” he grinned. “A real bitch.”

  On the other side of the base, Greg Lunston walked up a narrow flight of metal stairs in a very poor mood. He was part of the crew that manned this facility. For the last three years, he had spent half of every month in this mammoth complex.

  For the first few months it was cool, seeing where the president would go if something happened, but that faded very fast. Of course, he couldn’t tell anyone what he did working for the Park Service and the two-week tours made it very hard to have a relationship.

  Even the Secret Service had a full-time detachment of four agents assigned here all the time. If his job was bad, then theirs sucked. The agents had to pull one month shifts. But even for a facility built to house five thousand people, it only took twenty-five to maintain it. There were only two teams of twenty-five, red and blue.

  Greg was three days into his blue shift when the call went out to lock down the mountain. Thinking it was an exercise, Greg tried his hardest to impress anyone, so he could get out of this tomb. Then the choppers started landing with the scientists. A few days later, convoys of limos and heavily tinted SUVs started dumping off members of Congress.

  Two days before the president arrived, two thousand troops had shown up and manned the top floor. It was then Greg knew, this was real. He’d wanted to call his family and tell them to run, but couldn’t because all phone lines were turned off and routed through a switchboard now that you had to have approval to call out on.

  All cellphones were of no use because the towers around them had been shut down.

  It took three days after the president’s arrival for him to even find out what was going on. By then, he knew his mom and dad who lived in New York City were screwed.

  Reaching the top of the stairs, Greg looked at the ship-style hatchway door. Flipping the lock open, he started turning the steering wheel handle. When the door moved away from the frame, Greg swung it open. He stepped out into the sunshine and took a deep breath, then pulled a pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket.

  “I’m not a mole,” he mumbled, shaking a cigarette out. He and several others had been warned not to smoke anymore in a storage area. “I know every inch of this place and you think you can stop me?” he snorted, pulling out his lighter.

  Taking a long drag when his cigarette was lit, Greg gave a sigh filled with smoke. Putting his lighter back in his pocket,
Greg looked down and saw a dead pigeon. He turned back to the small ledge over the hatchway where the pigeons roosted.

  “Frankie better start getting rid of the birds he kills,” Greg mumbled, turning around and kicking the pigeon’s corpse out of the recessed doorway. Unless he stepped out on the grass where a camera could spot him, nobody would ever know about the new smoking area that was now used.

  This maintenance tunnel had no alarm on the hatchway. The door that led to the maintenance tunnel did, but it was part of his job to patrol that area and check the hatchway.

  When his cigarette was finished, Greg ducked back in the door and closed it. Spinning the handle like a wheel of fortune until it stopped, Greg flipped the lockdown. “Maintenance entrance seven secured,” he grinned, then started down the long metal staircase.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Learning is hard for everyone

  May 10

  As Nicole finished her bottle, Arthur took the bottle away while grinning at her heavy eyelids. Moving her up to his shoulder, Arthur patted her back as he rocked in his recliner. A very loud burp sounded from her tiny body making him chuckle as her body shook with the burp. “I think you do that to make me laugh,” he said softly, rubbing her back.

  Glancing at the clock and seeing it was almost five, Arthur continued to rock Nicole and thought about the boys. After they had gone to sleep that first day, Arthur hadn’t had the heart to wake them up so he’d just let them sleep in his bed.

  It had been forever since Arthur had slept with a kid and memories came flooding back of Joseph beating him and Wendy to death in the bed. The three boys had flipped and flopped throughout the night. After getting a bruise on his thigh, Arthur had moved to his recliner when it was time for Nicole’s four o’clock bottle.

  He’d made up one of the guest rooms upstairs for the boys that had a queen-sized bed. When he had put the boys in the bed last night, Arthur had been ready for some good sleep in his bed alone with Nicole on his chest.