Jakarta Pandemic, The (12 page)

“Well, if it’s any consolation, I hope you have a relatively uneventful evening,” Alex said to him.

“Thanks, though I’m not very optimistic at this point,” the officer said and tipped his hat.

Alex raised the window and slowly turned onto Broadway Avenue, turned left at the next stop light, and headed toward Scarborough.

“That’s a little creepy,” he said.

“Do you think people are really going to sleep in their cars all night?” Kate asked.

“I guess, though I can’t imagine what it’ll be like in that parking lot at about 2:30 in the morning. It won’t take much to turn one of those parking lots into a mob, or a free-for-all, especially when the Hannigan trucks start rolling in. I think the police will have their hands full.”

“What’s happening, Dad?” Ryan asked groggily.

“I thought you guys were asleep,” Alex responded.

“Emily’s out,” Ryan answered.

“The police officer said that the parking lots at Shale’s and Hannigan’s were full of cars waiting for the stores to reopen in the morning. People have been waiting all day to get food, and they probably ran out at some point today. The police are directing everyone away from the area.”

“Why are they all trying to get more food? Don’t they have enough by now?”

“A lot of people are a little worried about the flu pandemic causing a long term food shortage, so they rushed to stock up on groceries, all at once, and the stores weren’t prepared for that many customers at one time. Most of the stores ran out of food items early in the day and had to close, which makes people even more nervous.”

“Where do the stores get their food?”

“Large distribution centers somewhere around here, I guess. The centers pack up those large Hannigan semis and send them out every day,” Kate said.

“Yeah,” Ryan said, and Alex sensed that he was fading away.

Far down the road, they could see the flashing blue lights of a police car approaching them from the opposite direction. He instinctively slowed the car, even though they were already within the speed limit. The police car approached them and sped by, heading in the direction of the shopping complex.

“Was that a Scarborough cop?” Kate asked.

“I don’t know, the car was going too fast. They all look the same.”

“Why would it be the Scarborough police? We aren’t in Scarborough yet,” Ryan asked from the back seat.

“Good point, though if it was a Scarborough cop, then it might indicate a real problem back at Mill Creek. I think that’s why your mom asked.”

Kate looked at him uneasily and nodded her agreement. For the remaining ten minutes of the trip home, they rode in silence.

Chapter Ten

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Alex sat alone in his office, surfing through several bookmarked websites. Sweat dripped off his face, and he wiped it onto his gray T-shirt with a sweep of his left arm. The gesture did little to help since his entire shirt was drenched with sweat. He opened the office windows and walked to the bathroom to grab a towel.

He’d awoken at 7:00 a.m. for a light run, but once again found the weather irresistible. As promised by local meteorologists, warm, humid air from Hurricane Terrence continued to pour into New England, bringing unseasonably warm temperatures. He had checked their thermometer and found that it was already sixty-two degrees in the shade on their deck. Stepping outside, moist, salty air filled his lungs, and he felt like their neighborhood had been transported to Florida. One hour later, he returned to their neighborhood, with the complete understanding that he would pay for it later. He hadn’t run more than forty minutes in several months, and adding twenty minutes nearly killed him.

He skimmed several stories and then jumped over to the ISPAC Pandemic Map, which he kept minimized for quick access. The map of China showed expanded red and violet areas, growing inward from the coast all the way east to Fuzhou. Shanghai and Qingdao, two major coastal cities, sat in areas shaded red. The greater Beijing area was colored orange, with several small red dots indicating medium cluster outbreaks within the area. Placing the cursor over the China icon, he read:

“China. Population 1,350,678,400. Massive outbreak. 820,000 reported cases. Concentrated WHO effort to contain outbreak unsuccessful. WHO teams status unknown due to communications blackout imposed by Chinese government. Uncontained.”

He went back to the news articles.
“Indonesia to allow full WHO and U.N. support…submits formal apology to U.N. for treatment of inspection teams…pleads for immediate assistance…deaths estimated at 73,000…over 2 million cases of Jakarta flu.”

“More cases of Jakarta flu appearing in major European cities…London confirms several hundred cases…”

Now it’s the Jakarta flu.

“That’s it for me,” Alex announced, rising from the chair to check on the rest of his family. He really didn’t need to check on Ryan. He’d be shocked to find him awake. He never expected to see him before 10 a.m. on weekends anymore, but Emily was a different story. She usually got up at the same time on weekends as she did during the week, sometimes earlier. He peeked into both of their rooms to see if they were still asleep. Ryan was buried in his covers, his dark hair barely poking out of the top of the blankets. He pushed open Emily’s door and walked a few feet into her room, then peeked around the corner at her. She had tossed all of her covers off, but still looked solidly asleep. Both rooms were dark, with the shades pulled tight.

Alex walked down the hallway to the master suite and looked over at his wife. Like Ryan, Kate was buried in covers, her long black hair spilling out from the top of the blankets onto her pillow. He could hear her breathing deeply. Unlike the kids’ rooms, the master bedroom was bathed in light. Kate liked to rise naturally with the sun, or at least she claimed to like it, but he couldn’t remember the last time she’d woken up within three hours of dawn, especially during the summer months, when the sun began to rise at four-thirty.

Looks like I have the house to myself.

He backtracked to the master bathroom and started the shower.

**

As Alex poured pancake batter onto a non-stick frying pan, he heard someone walking down the stairs. By the creak of the stairs, he could tell immediately that it was Kate.

“Good morning, my love. You’re right on time,” he said without turning around.

She took the final step down onto the hardwood floor in front of the stairs before responding.

“How did you know it wasn’t Ryan?”

Alex sensed a trap. “I can just tell,” he said, not taking the bait.

“All right…just as long as you’re not implying anything about my weight,” she said.

“Nope. Everyone has their own unique signature coming down the stairs. Ryan sounds like he’s stumbling down after being shot. Emily takes three years to descend. I fly down the stairs, and you glide gracefully with a purpose,” he said, smugly.

“Don’t push it,” she said, moving directly for the coffee maker. “Pancakes. Yummy. And the coffee is made. You’re my hero. How many times a week can we have pancakes?” she asked.

He flipped the pancakes over and stepped away from the stove to give her a hug and a kiss. “Do you mean if we go into quarantine, or in general? Because in general, I could eat them every morning, but in quarantine, we’re probably looking at no more than once a week,” he said, still holding her.

“Maybe one of us should stand in line at the store and just buy pancake ingredients,” she replied, and he couldn’t tell if she was serious or joking.

He let go of her and returned to the stove to take the pancakes off the pan, placing them under tin foil on a large plate on the counter to the left of the stove.

“Actually, after today, I think we’re done visiting public spaces, or interacting with other people. Did you check the ISPAC map?” he asked, while pouring another batch of pancakes onto the frying pan. The oil around the edges of the pancakes sizzled when the batter hit the pan.

“No, I just came straight down when I smelled the pancakes.”

“They’ve named it the Jakarta flu, so I guess they’re fairly certain that the epicenter is in Jakarta. The Navy rescued the missing ISPAC team from Indonesian waters. Based on the flu casualty predictions I saw in one of the articles, I can understand why the Mullahs didn’t want them snooping around. The estimate I saw was two million cases.”

“Are you kidding me?” Kate asked incredulously.

“No. That’s why I think today is our last day out and about. The numbers are rising very rapidly here and abroad. It’s already out of control.”

“Hey, I’m good with starting our quarantine right now,” she said, taking a coffee mug down from the cabinet.

“I think we should let them hang out with their friends today and call it good. That way we can start the quarantine on a better note. Emily has a play date set up with Jessica, and I think Ryan is planning to invite Connor and Daniel over today. That should be fine.”

“I don’t know…what if Jessica’s uncle visited them last night, after shopping at the Shale’s in Falmouth, right behind the wife of the guy, or the sister of the guy who’s in the hospital…”

“I understand what you’re saying,” he assured Kate, “but I feel confident we’ll be fine letting her go over there. She can wash her hands a lot. It’ll be fine. Let both of them enjoy the day. It’s beautiful out,” he said, pointing out of the windows over the kitchen sink.

“All right. I’ll talk to Elaine and make sure they wash their hands a lot. Maybe she’ll cancel the play date,” she suggested.

“Maybe, but don’t count on it. Even if she does, Emily will find another. At least Jessica’s parents seem pretty responsible,” he said.

“Yeah, I guess. Are some of the pancakes ready? I don’t feel like waiting another hour for the kids.”

“Almost. If you set the table, I’ll pour a few more.”

“Deal. Hey, did you see any cars in front of the Perrys’ this morning?” she asked, having just spotted the Sunday paper.

“No, I checked on my way out for a run at about seven, then again an hour later. I walked out about ten minutes ago, pretending to check the mailbox and still nothing.”

“What the hell are they thinking?”

“I don’t know, maybe they all went out shopping together,” he suggested weakly.

“With four kids? I doubt it.”

“Loose cannon alert?”

“More like idiot alert,” Kate responded.

Quarantine

Chapter Eleven

Monday, November 4, 2013

Alex finished the last four pull-ups of his pyramid exercise routine and stared out at the sunrise through the northeastern window of their finished attic. The low horizon sky held a scattered pattern of wispy clouds that reflected a deep burnt orange color from the still hidden sun. A deep blue and violet sky towered over the clouds, still holding on to the brightest stars in the eastern sky.

He stretched for about five minutes and then headed downstairs to see if Kate was back from her morning walk. He detected no activity in the bathroom, which was usually her first stop after returning.

He walked back down the main hallway of the second floor and headed toward their office to check some of the internet news sites before cleaning up. He looked out of the double window and saw Kate slowly walking down the street. She stopped in front of the Carters’ house and walked up the driveway to pet their chocolate lab, Kelso. Kelso enjoyed the full range of the half-acre lot, cut off from the rest of the world by an electric fence.

Occasionally, Kelso managed to escape his electric prison, and inevitably wound up in the Fletchers’ backyard, lavished with Milk Bones and other treats.

I’m pretty sure we are his first and only stop during an escape.

Sometimes, the kids just let him in the house to hang out, and he was convinced that Kate and the kids just might steal a dog if they didn’t get one of their own soon.

We’ll get another when everyone is truly ready.

Just over a year before, the Fletchers had lost their yellow lab to a tragic accident at a local dog park. Alex stared out at a patch of grass across the street.

When his mind drifted back into his office, he noticed Kate standing in their front yard, waving up at him and looking frustrated. He wondered how long she had been trying to get his attention.
Drifted out again.
He shifted his stance and met her eyes, returning the wave. She still stared at him strangely. He opened the window and felt the warm air envelop him.

Another beautiful day.

“Hey, honey. Nice out, huh?” he yelled through the screen.

“Very nice. Another gift before the winter buries us. What were you staring at up there?”

“Nothing, just thinking about something,” he said.

“You must have been thinking really hard, you’ve been staring out of the window for over five minutes.”

“Nothing much. I’m just tired.”
She won’t buy that one.

“All right,” she said.

Definitely didn’t buy it. I’ll get a PTSD lecture within the next twenty-four hours. Guaranteed.

Kate started walking toward the mudroom, and he kept watching her. He loved her more than anything. Seeing her shattered and in tears at the dog park was the worst moment of his life. He realized that he was squeezing the windowsill, both of his forearm muscles flexed, and eased his grip as Kate drifted from his view.

Alex turned around and walked across the office to the closet. He opened the door and pulled open the top drawer of a file cabinet, locating a brown hanging file marked “Checklists” and removing the folder inside. The folder held a few different checklists, specifically created for different emergencies or contingencies. He thumbed through them, seeing one for “Nor’easter” and another for “Coastal Flooding.” He finally found the “Pandemic” checklist.