Journal Entry - June 19
I tried to visit Baines to lodge my formal complaints first thing this morning. I knocked for several minutes but no response was forthcoming.
Lonely. I’ve been thinking back to the old days on the Cheshire estate. My mind’s not on work today. Taking the rest of the day off.
Journal Entry - June 20
Today I feel reinvigorated. The atmosphere in that small lab has become toxic but it’s incredible what a day catching up on the great works of literature can do for you. There is nothing quite like a few hours in the company of Leo Tolstoy followed by a saunter around by the quarantine block.
Still no volunteers have been forthcoming, but it’s of no consequence since I have already taken the decision that it’s no longer necessary to have any willing volunteers. Willing being the word indeed. It may be unethical what I’m contemplating however, desperate times call for desperate measures. I find it rather interesting that Hippocrates also coined the phrase for extreme diseases, extreme methods of cure, as to restriction, are most suitable. So I shall remember as my new motto extremis malis extrema remedia as I go about a vaccine for this ungodly malis. Should any harm come to these poor souls during the process, well they’ll have given their lives for the good of mankind.
Journal Entry - June 21
An interesting development, not how I intended but I can’t see how anything but good can come following this morning’s events.
I brought my morning croissant up to the lab and laced it with Jasper 1, intending to offer it up to Doctor Toombs as a peace offering. It turns out Toombs is wheat gluten intolerant, hence his rotten bowels. He then proceeded to offer the pastry to Spook who took it and ate it right before my eyes whilst talking about his family. I shall have to monitor Spook for the next couple of days for any side-effects.
It turns out Spook is here to audit Baines and to act as liaison between science departments and our beloved bureaucrats who pretend to run this place. His real name’s Ben and is actually quite a nice guy so I really hope he doesn’t catch the plague or worse from digesting the croissant. I actually feel a little silly now because it seems the whole reason for starting this journal was a huge overreaction on my part. However I’m actually enjoying the experience, so I think I’ll carry on regardless.
There’s still bad tension between Toombs and myself. I really do find the man irritating and his loud breathing is an awful distraction. I welcome those moments he’s out the lab so I can play my beloved Giuseppe Tartini.
In light of the new clarity around here, I expect my mind will be more focused on my work. This now also renders my complaint irrelevant. In a world that’s literally been turned upside down, I can’t help but wonder if I’m developing paranoia in my old age.
Journal Entry - June 23
We were on lock down all yesterday. We spent the entire duration of the day and night in the security lock. It turns out one of the soldiers was bitten during the battle of six days ago and thought best not to tell his superiors. When he failed to arrive at his post for three days straight, his officer entered his quarters only to have his face torn off by the zombie waiting within. The infected soldier then apparently spent several hours wandering the soldier’s quarters looking for fresh victims before finally being discovered helping himself to the entrails from one of his comrades. Today we mourn the loss of another three from within New London.
I now feel even more pressure on myself to develop a working vaccine. If this soldier had come to me, perhaps I could have used Jasper 1 on him. I realise thinking about could haves will not do any good but I can’t help it.
I may have done something stupid but I don’t care. It was at lunch and I saw Professor Maynard eating at the other side of the mess, so I offered him my crumble and custard. I don’t need it and he really looks as though the reduced rations are affecting him. Even though we never speak, I feel a strange kind of kinship with him. We are both scientists working towards finding a vaccine under extremely tense circumstances. We are the only people in all of New London with this burden and are therefore the only people who know what each other is going through emotionally. I sat back down and pretended to be working on a formula while I watched him eat the pudding. He seemed to enjoy it.
Post Script:
Upon returning to the lab I found Spook and Toombs conversing. I sat and observed them both while pretending to work through my papers. Spook apparently has no ill side-effects resulting from ingesting Jasper 1. I was expecting at least some pain and vomiting, but no. There are no sores, no patches, no slurry speech and no evidential delirium consistent with expectations. Of course, there’s no way of knowing quite what lies beneath his suit. My covert actions require that I cannot now enquire as to his health on the chance I raise suspicions. My theory is entirely dependent on raising ones immune system to such an extent whereas H3N17 is able to be combatted naturally by the body. One must always suffer the effects of a disease in order to become immune to it and other, more powerful and deadly diseases. Take the immunity that comes from polio from being given a small dose of it as a child. Take the immunity that comes from small pox by the lesser suffering of cowpox. I’d like to ponder over this some more, however Toombs’ breathing is reminiscent of the old jumbo jets of yesteryear. Time to lie down in my quarters.
Journal Entry - June 24
I was called to a meeting with Baines along with Professor Maynard. He was making enquiries as to our progress with a working vaccination. Under duress I relayed my new theory to them both although I was very careful as to what exactly I told them. Obviously I did not mention anything with regards to injecting the population with leprosy et al, I simply relayed my thoughts as to building up the populations immunity. Baines seemed happy about the progress I was making (I did exaggerate a little) however I found it difficult gaging any reaction from Maynard who sat to my side and a little out of my line of site. He gave away no thoughts or opinions as to my theories even though I was concentrating on his reactions albeit without turning my head.
Maynard then proceeded to protest about the new rationing within New London before enlightening us with his work, finally. Maynard’s theory is based on destroying a protein which synthesises another protein which latches onto the H3N17 virus and transports it to the brain. It is essentially a carrier protein he wants to prevent from being synthesised in the body. However, this same protein is also responsible for transporting beta-endorphin from the hypothalamus to the brain. Beta-endorphin is released as a response to and then in order to dull pain. Maynard hypothesises that by preventing the synthesis of this carrier protein, he can prevent the transportation of H3N17 to the brain, thus retarding zombie mutation. The only price we’ll have to pay from such a vaccine would be a decreased tolerance to pain. Put simply, Professor Maynard is brilliant. His theory is so simple, yet beautiful. I watched him speak while trying to remain composed at all times, yet I could feel my knees trembling and my foot tapping against the floor involuntarily.
When Baines enquired as to how long he would need to create the vaccines, Maynard responded that he required a particular type of fish oil.
Baines promised he would get one of his officers onto it with haste to locate said fish. He then gave me a look as if to suggest I was a waste of space and resources before sipping on his Hacienda La Esmeralda.
The thing is; I feel like a waste of space and resources. My one duty has been to find a working vaccine and I’ll be beaten to it by a greater scientist. Maynard could now have the zombie cure within weeks at the most. I can now also assume I’ve forfeited my Nobel prize.
I should be ecstatic, yet the truth is I’ve not felt this down and deflated since the time I returned home to find my wife eating Jasper’s kidney.
I’m taking the rest of the day off.
Journal Entry - June 25
I had a long think overnight with regards to Maynard’s progress. I thought about admitting defeat and giving up, letting the better scienti
st win. There are after all other things around New London I could dedicate my time to. The hydroponic facility is in a constant need of grow chemicals and I could certainly use my expertise to manufacture whatever they need.
But I’ve never given up on anything in my life and certainly not on anything quite so important as finding a vaccine for H3N17. I owe it to my wife to at least carry on to the end, even if it will not be myself who will discover the cure first. Deep down I know I will find the combination that will kill this thing eventually, I just need more time.
This morning I watched as a squad of troops departed on a search and discover mission for that damn fish. Not only does this temporarily weaken our defences but it also grants me only a very short space of time in which to “one up” Maynard.
Time!
As I sit here in my lab, struggling to concentrate due to that useless abomination Toombs’ heavy breathing, I can’t help but think about all the time wasted during these last few weeks. Even now, while he works on his crossword puzzle, his mere presence is a disturbance to me. There has to be some way to make use of him?
Post Script:
I’ve decided to use Toombs as my next test subject. I must remember not to lace any wheat products this time.
Post Script 2:
Now that I think about it, where has Spook been recently?
Journal Entry - June 26
I’ve taken the time to incubate and nurture a few beauties into a single inoculation. I’ve decided to stick with my old friends small pox, leprosy and bubonic plague. After much deliberation, I’ve decided to add typhus into the bargain. The rickettsia bacterium that causes typhus will provide Toombs with only a ten percent chance of death, giving him extremely good odds. Many of the symptoms are similar to the early onset of “zombie fever” which includes delirium, chills, coughing and a temperature. These factors make typhus a wonderful candidate for our antidote. In addition, and just for my friend Toombs, I’m also giving him a dose of syphilis.
I thought about all the diseases I could give him and AIDS did sprout up into my thoughts, however due to the nature of the AIDS virus attacking the body’s immune system, I felt it ran counter to my theory of building the immune system up. I must be very careful with the selection of disease I dish out willy-nilly.
It’s my hope that Toombs will develop some sort of acute effects which will really provide his immune system with that much needed kick. Once it’s operating on “full throttle” it is my hope he’ll naturally be able to fight the H3N17 virus. If he dies in the process - Well then at least he will have been made useful for once. In an era where we face extinction, one must think about the overall picture and not about the value of a single human life.
It’s funny; while at Oxford I used to muse to myself about how society might treat a scientist who had cured cancer if he then killed somebody. How would society treat a man who had saved millions of lives if he then premeditated a murder? Would he be looked on favourably? Would he be shunned? Would he go to prison? I was always sure the law would treat him in a similar way it treated any murderer. I would ask my fellow students about their opinions and I was never surprised to hear they had also wondered the same thing. Throughout all of time, the medical profession has always utilised live subjects for research and you really don’t have to go all that far back to find subjects who’ve died for this very cause. One only has to look up the origin of the word vivisection to realise humanity as a whole places more importance on the greater good than on any single life. And this is a good thing! If things were the other way round we would almost certainly still be living in caves, scratching around the dirt for scraps of food left by superior predators. Besides, we don’t have any law now. Only a few thousand of us who’ve clubbed together in order to survive, so this only further empowers my beliefs and sense of right.
As usual, Toombs is taking his toilet break. I don’t expect him back any time soon. I just need to find something I can lace. I can see he’s brought an apple contained within a transparent bag. It’s big, green and juicy and soon it will contain Jasper 2.
Post Script:
I’ve injected Jasper 2 through the transparent bag and into the apple. Shame…That’s a waste of a damn good apple.
Post Script 2:
A little under an hour later and Toombs has finally returned. I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll be putting him out of his misery, if he dies that is. He’s by the water fountain right now, taking a large quantity of fluid.
Post Script 3:
Toombs is eating his lunch and has some kind of pre-prepared salad containing rice and lots of green vegetables. He’s just completed his crossword puzzle. He seems happy.
Post Script 4:
Ok, he’s finally tucking into the apple. He’s enjoying it! He leans back on his chair with feet on desk. He takes small bites and chews for a long time, almost like his mind is on other matters. He has now thrown the core into the waste paper basket. He doesn’t seem to realise that in New London, we keep our perishables separated from recyclables.
Post Script 5:
Due to our proximity, I’ll be able to monitor him closely.
Post Script 6:
Does the Nobel committee still exist?
Journal Entry - June 27
Would you believe it, more refugees arrived having taken advantage of our temporarily reduced security. Are these aliens even being checked for infections? Before long New London will be the same as the old London we left behind and nothing like the new one we risked everything to create. While we were founding this place, the only way anybody could find out about us was by invitation. We only invited those with valuable skills or experience that could be of benefit to our new city. Everything worked perfectly and within the shortest possible time, we were fully functional as a brand new and thriving community against all the odds. Everybody had their part to play and there was no surplus or wastage. Then the floodgates opened and unwelcome outsiders poured in ad libitum. Our weak leaders allowed it, going against our founding principles and now it’s inevitable we’ll eventually become like the old world of excess, pathetic liberal mindedness, weak leadership and mindless people following the crowd much like their zombie counterparts. We should be striving for excellence and perfection, but it’s already too late since the slippery slope has long begun. Are these parasites so pathetic they can’t create their own society? I envisage another ration cut shortly, mark my words.
Doctor Toombs doesn’t look too great. His complexion is grey and patchy. He’s sniffing a lot and his usual loud breathing has been replaced by an even louder and inhibited breathing of the rasping sort. He seems to be struggling. This is exactly what I was hoping for. I shall soon initiate a conversation with him in order to gather more data.
Post Script:
I asked Toombs if he’d had any luck finding any volunteers. He gave a very short and unsatisfactory answer in the negative which gave me chance to study him more closely. His voice is faint and required much energy to give an answer. He’s suffering from shortage of breath. His tongue is covered in a medium layer of some kind of green furry substance. I wonder exactly what he is a doctor of - Perhaps I should ask him?
Post Script 2:
I asked Toombs what he is a doctor of. He seemed to be losing his patience with my sudden interest in him and after a long pause he told me he was a doctor of psychology. Quite how he ended up in my lab is beyond me. He’s sitting down now with his head buried in his hands, it really is quite pathetic to watch. I wonder which constituent disease of Jasper 2 is responsible for his present bearing. Now might be a good time to ask why he thinks Baines thought best to put a psychologist in the role of epidemiologist.
Post Script 3:
Revolting!
I approached Toombs and he sneezed blood all over my lab coat and neck. Now I must take a shower.
I sent Toombs back to his quarters and told him to take tomorrow off.
Journal Entry - June 28
As hoped Toombs has not turned in for work today. This is great news! He’s been exhibiting symptoms from Jasper 2. While I write this, his body will be fighting against it and will be building up an incredibly strong immune system in the process. Once Toombs recovers from Jasper 2, assuming that he does, I hypothesise that he’ll have immunity to H3N17, the zombie infection.
I write this in the department mess after ordering my usual Wednesday lunch of pasta and green vegetables, only to discover they’ve once again reduced portion sizes, only this time without informing anyone about it. Who do they think they’re fooling? I’m a scientist and can therefore count the number of green beans allocated to my plate. I estimate we are now on 1500 kcals per day. This equates to about sixty percent of the bodies overall dietary requirements. How are we supposed to function, build, grow, fight and discover cures on this paltry nutrition? Even now Maynard is throwing a hissy-fit at the cafeteria staff, only this time I can sympathise with him because this is now getting beyond a joke. Why should we go without adequate nutrition just because they’re too spineless to send our resident parasites on their way? There are too many takers here and not enough producers.
Zombie Revolution Page 7
