Chapter
6
As I looked at Steve’s body, Lawrence spoke. “Connor,” he said hesitantly, “how many bullets do you have left?”
I knew exactly what he was thinking because I had been pondering the same problem for the past thirty seconds. I started with three magazines holding fifteen bullets each and one more bullet in the chamber. In two attacks I had used seven bullets, bringing the total down to thirty-nine. I didn’t have enough bullets even if I only shot each person one time and so far that hadn’t been anywhere near enough. If I had to deal with more than one at a time, there was virtually no hope of coming out on top.
The question that was assaulting my mind and conscience was: should I even give them the chance to get back up once they “died”? Just because two had gotten back up didn’t mean the rest would. If they did get back up, it didn’t mean that they would be violent like the first two. I was struggling with the moral dilemma of shooting corpses that weren’t actually dead. Whether I put a bullet in the head of the corpses around me or not, I definitely needed more bullets.
“I need you to go to my car and get the shotgun.” As I handed Lawrence the keys to the front door and the keys to the patrol car, I explained where to find the button that released the shot gun lock. “I have a green bag in the back seat that has extra ammo. Bring it, too.”
Lawrence nodded his understanding as I was explaining. Once he had the keys, he started toward the door. With my eyes still on the unconscious and dead bodies on the floor before me, I heard the deadbolt on the door snap unlocked and then heard the bells jingling as the door opened and was then closed by the hydraulic assist.
As I was surveying the room, my left shirt pocket began ringing. Telephone technology had leaped and bounded forward in the past twenty years. Everything was digital now. Electronic trills, warbles and tweets didn’t work for me; I was born ten years too early to appreciate them. When they came out with a ring tone that sounded like the mechanical phone bell I grew up with, I gladly parted with a dollar ninety-nine and purchased it.
I pulled the phone from my pocket and looked at the screen. It was a local number, but I didn’t recognize it. I started to decline the call, but for some reason slid my finger across the screen to answer and placed it to my ear.
“Hello.”
“Connor.” The familiar voice of Doc Baker greeted me on the other end. “We have a problem. I just got off the phone with my roommate from medical school. He works for the CDC as one of their lead researchers. What he told me is classified, but at this point, I think you need to know.”
“I’m listening,” I encouraged, my interest piqued.
“Two weeks ago his Chinese equivalent, Dr Chen, defected to America. Since then, he has been working with my friend at the CDC. Dr. Chen had been in charge of a secret Chinese biological weapons program. He had been told that it would be used as a deterrent to any country that may threaten to attack China. After fifteen years of research, he was brought in on a casualty study to predict the spread of the disease when released in the United States.
“He found out that, unbeknownst to him, the virus had been purposed for a surprise attack in America since the inception of the program. That didn’t sit well with him. He had no problem with his weapon being used as a deterrent, but he had serious problems with it being used for an unprovoked attack. He was smart enough to keep his thoughts to himself, though.
“A month prior, he had been invited to the United States Embassy in Beijing to receive an award for his work in combating measles in China. The meeting was scheduled to take place the day after the casualty study ended. He met with the American Ambassador prior to the ceremony and during that time, showed proof of the weapons program and its purpose. Five minutes later he was on a Marine helicopter and shortly thereafter, was leaving the country on a State Department Citation X. The Citation was met over the East China Sea by a flight of F-16’s which were sent to escort the plane to Osan Air Base in South Korea.
“When the Chinese realized that Dr. Chen had defected and was on the plane, they sent two Chengdu J-10 fighters to intercept it. They launched a PL-12 radar guided missile from about 50 miles away. The electronic countermeasure pod on one of the F-16s interfered with the Chinese missile’s radar and the missile missed. The American F-16’s shot down the Chinese fighters. Both sides kept quiet about the incident.
“Since they debriefed Dr. Chen two weeks ago, the CDC has been a mad house. The weapons program was extremely successful. They began with the measles virus which is one of the most contagious viruses around. They changed some of the genes in the virus so it would not be recognized by antibodies in people who had been vaccinated for it. They spliced in DNA from a heavily modified strain of the Ebola virus to increase the lethality. From what Dr. Chen said, they reached this point about ten years ago, but the leaders in the government weren’t satisfied. They wanted more. They felt that war with America was unavoidable. The military gap was ominous and they were all too familiar with the outcome of the cold war with Russia. Even with their improved brand of communism, they knew they could not compete with the American economy which would crush them in a war of attrition. They wanted to level the field and this virus was going to be the means by which to accomplish their goal.
“As their research and experimentation continued, they did what scientists have been unable to do for years. They found the gene responsible for Classic
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
,
the human equivalent of Mad Cow Disease. It attacks neural tissue and is typically fatal in less than a year. The Chinese experimented with the disease and, through genetic engineering, were able speed up the rate that the disease progresses. They were also able to modify how it presented itself. Some of the symptoms were done away with and new symptoms were created. A lot of what they ended up with was accidental, but it suited their purposes perfectly.
“The disease is caused by a prion, which is an aberrant protein. Unlike viruses and bacteria, there is no way to prevent or treat prion diseases. Once you get a prion disease, there is no hope of curing it. An enzyme was created that catalyzed the creation of the prions in affected brain cells in the host’s body. It increased the rate of prion production exponentially. The gene for this enzyme was spliced into the virus’ genetic code. The effects are now manifested in hours rather than months.
“Basically, what happens is a person is infected with the virus which enters his body’s cells. It inserts its DNA into the cell’s nucleus. The infected cell is tricked into thinking the virus DNA is its own. The cellular machinery in the infected cells begins cranking out viruses, thinking it is making something the cell needs. Eventually the cell is filled with the viruses that have been produced and it bursts. The viruses are released into the body and spread to other cells where their cellular machinery is hijacked and produces more viruses. The virus runs its course very rapidly, spreading throughout the body in this manner.
“Eventually, the virus reaches the brain where it causes neuron cells to begin producing the prions. When prions reach critical mass in the brain, the infected individual goes into a coma. Shortly afterwards, the body’s aerobic metabolism shuts off for about thirty minutes and the heart and lungs go dormant. Unless you run an EEG to detect brain activity, you wouldn’t know that the body is still alive. Somehow, prior to the coma, the virus creates a new, highly efficient pathway for metabolism without oxygen in the infected person’s cells. This results in the infected individual being able to survive indefinitely without oxygen. The body still needs the heart to pump to bring fresh nutrients to the cells and take away the metabolic waste, but as long as the body is not moving, it can go a long time without the heart beating. The new metabolic pathway still isn’t as efficient as aerobic metabolism which resumes once the individual comes out of the coma.
“The Chinese discovered that even if the heart and lungs are destroyed, an infected body can perform between six or seven minutes of intensive movement before the cells exhaust their fuel stores.
“The prions wreak havoc in the brain. They kill large clusters of cells, leaving empty pits throughout the brain. It almost looks like a sponge after the prions have done their work. Obviously, brain damage ensues. The damage seems to be consistent from person to person. The capacity for higher thinking is lost as is the ability to speak. An infected person seems to operate on an instinctual level very similar to an animal.
“The infected individuals crave protein, assumedly because prion production robs the body of amino acids. New amino acids are obtained by the digestion of protein. The infected have an insatiable appetite for meat and immediately resort to cannibalism. They will eat other sources of meat, too. For unknown reasons, they seem to prefer human flesh. According to the Chinese, the infected have never been observed to eat other infected.
“China has a large population of political dissidents and other undesirable people whom they used as test subjects. In the course of their testing, over twenty thousand people were exposed to the disease. Roughly five percent of the population was immune to the virus. The other ninety-five percent who were exposed to the virus became infected.
“In one test, a town was built in a remote location and surrounded by a fence with guard towers to ensure no one escaped. Five thousand people were brought into the town to live. At some point, they were exposed to the virus. In one neighborhood, everyone became infected except for a single family. It turned out that the immunity is genetic. If both parents have immunity, then their kids will also be immune. If only one parent was immune, the kids were not. In the end, immunity didn’t matter. The five percent who were not infected were killed by those who were. In that particular test, immunity was a moot point.
“With no outside source of food, the infected had all died off in about six weeks. If a source of food was available, test subjects were still alive after a year. It isn’t known how long it will take for the disease to prove fatal to the infected. No experiments have lasted longer than a year.
“Initially, damage to the brain occurs very rapidly thanks to the genetic manipulation of the disease. After the individual is “resurrected,” brain damage slows to a near halt. Further damage does occur, but very slowly from that point on.
“According to the information Dr. Chen has provided us, the Chinese leaders are counting on near complete elimination of the America population. After the infection has wiped out the population, they are going to send in their military to mop up the infected and anyone who is still alive. Once that’s done, they are going start moving their citizens to America and colonize the country. The entire infrastructure will be intact. They will come in and pick up where we left off.”
I stood in stunned silence. It took several seconds to collect my thoughts as I processed the information I had just heard. Slowly, the full impact of the revelation began to register.
“Are you being serious? This is a disease that was intentionally created for release in America?” I asked incredulously. “It doesn’t make sense that the Chinese would want to release a disease like this in our country. We obviously don’t agree on a lot of things, but without America, who would buy their stuff? Whether or not they like us, they need us. Their economy is tied to our continued prosperity,” I stated as the possible ramifications of the current situation ran though my head.
“Unfortunately, I am being completely serious. That brings us to an important question. Was the release of the disease intentional or accidental? Right now, you are the most likely candidate to start that investigation. The FBI and a dozen other agencies will be swarming all over town in a few hours. In the mean time, you are here and if you still have some conscious victims, you have limited time access to first hand witnesses as to how this started. The implications of what you may discover are enormous. We’re talking about a possible act of war.”
I paused. The initial investigation was up to me. By the time the feds arrived, there wouldn’t be any original exposures still alive. I had been pacing back and forth in a subconscious attempt to release the tension that was building from the story Doc Baker had been relaying to me. I suddenly stopped pacing as a new train of thought burst into the forefront of my mind.
“Before I get started with the interviews, fill me in on how the disease is passed from person to person.” I said, still reeling from what I had heard.
“Unfortunately, it is an airborne virus. It thrives in moist environments such as the inside of the nose and throat. If an infected person coughs or sneezes, the saliva and mucous that come out are full of viruses. The virus is very small and can remain airborne in the atomized discharge for a long time. If a person were to touch a surface contaminated with the virus and then rub his eye, scratch the inside of his nose or touch his mouth with his hand, he would become infected. Breathing the atomized saliva from a cough or sneeze would also result in infection. The good news is that it can’t live on a dry surface. Once the moisture in which the virus was dispersed evaporates, the virus becomes harmless within about two hours…”
As he continued to explain how the disease was transmitted, I stopped hearing what he was saying. The realization that we were all exposed attacked my mind and emotions relentlessly. We would share their fate.