The Dead Don't Bleed: Part 1, The Outbreak (7 page)

Several miles east of Medford, New Jersey along route 70 he came upon a hastily formed state police checkpoint. While the police manning the checkpoint were funneling vehicles through a single lane of traffic they did not appear to be restricting movement in either direction yet. As Carl waited ten car lengths back for his turn to pass through the checkpoint
, he watched as two large military transportation trucks pulled off to the side of the road by the police cars. Soldiers dressed from head to toe in chemical protective gear beginning jumping from the back of each truck and went immediately to work unloading supplies while a senior member of their group gathered the police officers off to the side for a conference. Carl could see that while there did not appear to be a sense of overall urgency in the efforts to unload and set up equipment, the state police officers appeared uneasy at the sudden appearance of a force of soldiers in protective gear while they had nothing more than surgical gloves and paper face masks for their own protection.

When it was his turn to pass through the checkpoint the state police officer manning the post saw the official looking emblem along the side of Carl's truck and waved him through without delay. As Carl maneuvered through the last few road cones at the end of the checkpoint he looked back in his rearview mirror to see
a handful of soldiers moving in to replace the lone police officer who had just waved him through. With the exception of the car directly behind him that had already passed through the checkpoint the soldiers pulled a barricade across the road and began directing westbound traffic to turn back around. The roads leading out of the affected zone were now being closed as a quarantine was put into effect, Carl had made it out with only moments to spare. He now had another hour and a half drive until he reached the hospital in Camden, he was sure that if he could get checked in and started on some antibiotics he would start feeling better in no time. He concentrated on his driving as he felt yet another rumbling in the depths of his stomach and he knew it was time to start looking for another place for a fiery bathroom break.

#

It had been thirty minutes since they had received permission to institute quarantine procedures. Dr. Woods had relayed orders to the appropriate field sites and was now awaiting confirmation that their net was cast tight over the entire area. Once they had received the preliminary report from their survey team in Browns Mills and forwarded that information along with a brief segment of the video the team had recorded along the way, President Maxwell and General Page had complied with his renewed request to begin lock-down procedures.

The survivor along with the body they had recovered and the air samples were still making their way to the field center just outside of Philadelphia. The mobile center had the highest possible level of containment in place along with an external incinerator. If containment at that site was breeched in the slightest
, their protocols called for the entire site, personnel and all, to be subjected to complete and total incineration.

Dr. Woods turned back to the computer monitor where the rest of their team was going through the video footage from inside the medical center in Brow
ns Mills in slow motion. The sheer volume of casualties just inside this single rural medical center was astounding. From what they saw of the parking lot and surrounding streets it was clear that victims had swarmed the center all in a short period of time. The doctors in that facility likely spent the last few minutes of their lives already knowing that they were facing a losing battle and probably did their best just to keep people as calm as possible as their loved ones dropped off one after the other. The crises center staff considered how the same scene repeated at a larger hospital inside a major city would lead to mass panic when roads became clogged with cars and pedestrians all desperately trying to reach help.

#

The field center was made up of eight large hard plastic tents connected by pressurized tubes and manned by a team of thirty five. The plastic material used to construct each tent had been specially designed to react to pressure from within. Once set up and pressurized it formed a hardened shell that was impenetrable from outside or in. As long as the interior pressure running through the walls of the fabric remained flowing it was airtight and practically indestructible. Once the pressure was released the fabric could be collapsed and stored for easy portability, making the perfect arrangement for mobility and rapid field deployment. The personnel compliment was made up of twenty scientist specializing in a range of fields, ten analysts, and five support personnel who also doubled as security. Each tent was completely self-contained from the outside environment with independent air supplies and segregated power sources. Three service trucks were connected to the tents via a series of wires, cables and hoses, these trucks provided the work areas with electricity, water and compressed air. The entrance to each tent was clearly marked and color coded to represent the containment capacity for the individual areas starting at level two and going to the highest of five. To enter or exit any tent, workers first had to proceed through an enclosed channel where they would dress or undress into their hazardous material suits, immediately upon entering their work areas they would plug into a central oxygen system that provided independent breathable air. The decontamination area was segregated from the main facilities by a long rubberized tunnel connected to six hoses a little thicker than garden hoses. When activated, these hoses would use compressed air to spray anything inside the tube with decontaminating agents as well as sterile water and soap. To leave the decontamination area, a person would have to stop between two doorways, only one of which could be open at a time. Before the outer door would open a series of sensors would collect air samples and run them through a computer to detect any suspicious substance before allowing the outer door to open. A separate incinerator was dedicated to this outer doorway, if someone inside that section managed to open the outer door before the sensors showed them to be clean of contaminant, the incinerator could either automatically or manually be activated to reduce that entire section and anyone in it to a pile of ash in seconds.

As soon as the helicopter landed at the field center a tanker truck full of NucleoClean decontamination spray moved into position alongside the landing pad and crews in full contamination gear started stretching hoses out to begin spraying off the helicopter and personnel. Once each team member and their passenger had been sprayed they were admitted one at a time into the decontamination section while technicians on the outside of the section monitored the process and measured the air samples being tested as they each went through the process. Everyone entering the decontamination area was required to strip totally naked after receiving an initial blast of decontamination spray, modesty was a small price to pay to ensure containment of any potentially dangerous microbes they may be carrying. One by one the team members were cleared to exit the area after air quality testing found nothing hazardous. When it came time for the teen girl to go through the process she started to panic as soon as she was helped inside the inner room of the tube. They finally had to give her a mild sedative and send a fully suited technician through the process with her to keep her under control long enough to determine that she was clean of any contaminant. After finishing the screening process she was covered in a robe and then bound to a gurney and wheeled into the nearby level three medical laboratory. She would be fully examined from head to toe for any obvious physical injuries while at the same time samples of her blood, hair, urine and saliva would be obtained and run through a complex battery of tests to locate and isolate any infectious agent
she may have been exposed to or might be carrying.

The air samples and corpse were moved directly into the level five containment center without undergoing any prior decontamination process so they could be analyzed in their natural state. The co
ntainers holding the air samples were plugged directly into a battery of machines that would start an automatic analysis of each sample under the watchful eyes of two scientists. While the air was being studied, the body was moved onto a bare metal examination table, there it would be examined in depth with careful notations made of observations over the external parts of the body before it was autopsied and internal samples obtained for study. All of the activities in the different labs were being streamed via live video to several different locations throughout the United States. The crisis center in Washington, DC was charged with coordinating the efforts between the field center and the different laboratories that were monitoring the activities there. As computerized data was obtained, it was instantly made available to the main CDC office in Atlanta, Georgia were even more laboratory technicians were ready to start studying the information and working on figuring out what they were dealing with and what might be their best alternative for a cure.

He was up at least fifteen minutes before the 6am alarm buzzed, a habit from military life that he doubted he would kick anytime soon. Even on days when he tried his hardest to sleep late, his body just wouldn't allow it, to many years of being up before the crack of dawn to get in at least an hour of physical training before even considering something for breakfast. His interview wasn't until 10am this morning giving him several hours to kill in the meantime. He hoped that the later interview meant that there were other applicants before him and not that this was one of those lazy offices were people just didn't like to do things first thing in the morning. Idle time was not a concept he was used to, if he didn't have something to work on or keep himself busy with he started to get jumpy thinking that there must be a task that he had forgotten about or let slide through the cracks. One thing he still needed to do today was to unload his camping gear and spread it out back for a good cleaning. This was another military habit he was going to have a hard time breaking, constantly cleaning and maintaining his gear after every use. When he grabbed a cup of coffee and walked out onto his small back patio he knew that any cleaning would have to wait, heavy storm clouds were on the horizon and the first drops of rain were already starting to fall. His tiny backyard had only a thin layer of grass so after a storm like the one that was coming, he knew it would be a mud pit until at least a full day of constant sunshine dried it up. There was little use laying out his gear only to have it get dirtier than it already was. If the heavy stuff would hold off for at least another hour he thought he could get in a good run to get his day started, a light drizzle actually felt nice during a hard run and it would ensure that he had the route he ran pretty much to himself.

He changed into his running clothes and had just plopped down on his couch to tie his shoes when something on the television caught his attention. He usually turned the set on first thing in the morning as he was waiting for his coffee to finish brewing. He enjoyed catching up on the news and was always on the lookout for any special reports from the
Middle East where his former unit was even now in the middle of a deployment back to the badlands of Afghanistan. With embedded journalism these days once in a while he would catch a segment from a reporter in an area he had spent time at or even catch a glimpse of personnel from his old unit during the report. This time the special report on CNN had nothing at all to do with action in the Middle East. The reporter was standing on a highway over ramp looking down on a swath of interstate below him. As the cameraman panned from one side of the bridge to the other, viewers were able to see traffic backed up for miles leading up to a cluster of military trucks and a handful of state police cars parked across the east bound lanes. As the line of cars approached the roadblock they were being directed to turn around over the grass median and turn back down the west bound lanes which were eerily devoid of any traffic coming from beyond the checkpoint. What really caught Garrett's attention to this particular story was that the soldiers manning this checkpoint were decked out in complete chemical warfare gear. Not only were they in complete protective gear but each one of them was also carrying a rifle, something unusual for civilian traffic duty. To round out the entire scene the cameraman panned across to show a grassy rise just off the side of the road from the checkpoint, parked on top of that rise was a pair of armored Bradley fighting vehicles, one of which was oriented in each direction down the highway. The imposing 25mm main gun of each armored vehicle was aimed down the lanes of traffic in both directions sending a clear signal that whatever their purpose was along this stretch of road, they meant business. Garrett could not recall any other time he had ever heard of chemical warfare equipped soldiers backed up by armored vehicles manning checkpoints on a roadway inside the United States. While scenes like this were everyday occurrences in war torn places like Iraq, it was not what you wanted to see back here at home. Garrett forgot about his run for the moment and instead grabbed for the remote control and turned the volume up to follow the narrative of the reporter.

"National Guard elements as well as New Jersey State Police officials will only tell us that yesterday's earthquake in the south central region of New Jersey may have uncovered an underground pocket of methane gas which is being vented into the atmosphere. As a precaution against possible methane exposure
, the area immediately surrounding the epicenter of the earthquake is being cordoned off while authorities assess the potential dangers of this event. Residents caught inside the zone..." at this point the view cut away to a computer animated map of southern New Jersey with a red circle drawn over an area several miles in diameter, "are asked to remain in their homes for the time being to limit their exposure to methane fumes. Anyone within the highlighted area suffering from sudden flu like symptoms, dizziness or nausea is asked to call the 1-800 number being displayed on your screen at this time. Doctors and health experts will offer advice on over the counter medications as well as home remedy treatments to help with your symptoms. Health officials are asking that residents avoid going to hospitals and local health clinics except in dire medical emergencies, those facilities throughout the area have experienced large crowds of symptomatic patients that are stretching their resources and making it difficult to treat those with more urgent medical needs. Health experts are telling us that exposure to the gas will only result in a temporary period of flu like symptoms that is easily treatable with over the counter medications, rest and by limiting further exposure to the methane."

The report continued on and explained that as a precautionary measure, roadblocks have been set up on major thoroughfares leading into the area and traffic is being diverted around the impacted zones. The camera once again panned across the soldiers and state police officers manning the roadblock on the western edge of the zone. Garrett remembered the news segment from the day before about a minor earthquake in that same region and how unusual it was for that area of New Jersey. What he found really interesting about this particular report was that it occurred to him that it was pretty much utter bullshit. A methane gas leak could not possibly impact an area so many square miles in diameter. Plus, the use of armed troops in full chemical warfare gear backed up with armored vehicles pointed to something much more significant. The first thing that came to his mind was some kind of biological or chemical attack by terrorists. He had serious doubts that methane gas would be responsible for the type of symptoms the news just reported. First of all he knew that the gas was not toxic, while it could cause respiratory problems when in a situation where the amount of methane displaced the majority of available oxygen such as in underground mine shafts. Out in the open environment the worst he thought that could happen was danger from an open flame causing a flash fire or explosion. While he was no doctor or scientist he thought that the symptoms being described by the reporter were a little extreme and unlikely. Garrett flipped the channels and saw that at least three other networks were carrying the same story. Two of the other networks were showing video from roadblocks along different stretches of road leading into the area, in each case a similar deployment of soldiers and state police w
as visible. Garrett thought that at least an entire mechanized brigade was being used to support this effort. The patches on their uniforms identified them as National Guard troops and Garrett was pretty sure that it took a minimum of a presidential order to activate such forces on American soil. Whatever was really going on inside that sealed off section of New Jersey was something that must have the highest levels of leadership worried and that thought alone made him shiver.

After watching the news reports continue until they pretty much started repeating the same information along with a video loop of the same images he had already seen multiple times
, he switched the television off and finished getting ready for his run. He was now pushing his available time to the limit but was still determined to get at least a three mile run completed before getting ready for his interview. A good hard run would get his energy levels up and clear his head so he would be as ready as possible for any off the wall questions they may hit him with during the interview.

#

Dr. Woods studied the readings on his computer screen and made notes on a nearby scratchpad. The results of the air analysis samples had come through just over an hour earlier and his team had been pouring over them ever since.

"It’s the same every time we look at it, the RNA segments point to H2N2," he muttered to the face looking back at him from a nearby video monitor.

The interactive video station had allowed him to maintain constant contact with the field teams so they could share information in real time as it developed. A second smaller window on the screen showed their connect
ion with the main CDC office and the laboratory technicians working on the same problem there.

"I concur, that is what we are seeing as well on this end Dr. Woods. But there is one small exception that makes me hesitate in conclusively identifying it as H2N2 just yet."

Dr. Woods knew what the man was about to say, it was the same thing that his own analysis had identified, "Yes, I see it as well, that last protein is much different than our archival data is showing. What do you make of it? A mutation?"

The H2N2 flu virus also known as the Asian flu had been
eradicated since the last known outbreak in Chine back in the mid 1950's after claiming close to two million victims across the globe. The factors that set each variation of flu apart came from their 'H' or hemagglutinin factor. Hemagglutinin was a protein that caused red blood cells to clump together in the presence of an antibody, the manner in which this clumping occurs and the antibodies which cause it are the differentiating factors between each strain of flu. What they were seeing in this particular sample had all the same characteristics of the Asian flu with one small variation, the antibody that would cause the red blood cells to clump together was one that was carried by the virus itself and not already present in the body. This meant that the body’s own attempts to fight off the infection would actually result in further replication of the virus within the bloodstream. Each replication would force the body to produce more antibodies to protect itself and thereby spread the virus further and faster through the body. In effect the virus turned the host into a greenhouse, growing more and more of the virus in its attempts to protect the host. This definitely explained the rapid advance of the virus, the body’s own defense mechanisms were being used against it.

The scientist on the screen at the field hospital shook his head as he pondered the question, "quite frankly doctor, I have no idea. This is something I have never seen before. Our first batch of tests were kicked back by the computer as possibly contaminated because of that single protein. But what are the odds of each sample having a contamina
nt that yields these same specific results? I think that we are looking at a completely new strain of virus here."

Dr. Woods had to concur with that assessment, this was something new. While the overall symptoms were similar to a flu variation, the rate of infection and the speed at which this virus progress
ed was unmatched by any known outbreak before. By their calculations the average person would succumb to this virus within twelve to fourteen hours of their initial infection. As with any pathogen based outbreak there would be those who immune systems were able to successfully overcome the process but these individuals would be far and few between and only identified following exposure. In this case they were fortunate that their field team had located that girl who appeared to fall into the small percentage of those immune to this particularly nasty bug. Now it was imperative that they figure out just what about this young lady gave her that immunity.

"What about the girl? Have you had any luck sequencing her RNA to find the
outliers that are defeating the virus in her system?" Dr. Woods asked.

"No luck yet, all of her samples except hair have run through our system multiple times and there is just nothing obvious that is
contributing to her immunity. With the virus itself being so damn subtle in its appearance from other flu strains, her immunity could come from the same type of subtle variation in her genes, it could take us months to isolate the correct combination and that’s with full computer support from the CDC lab."

Dr. Woods understood all
too well how complicated and drawn out the process of finding the exact nature of this girl’s immunity. They would assign several members of the field team as well as personnel at the CDC lab to continue working on that angle while everyone else pressed forward with analyzing the virus itself.

"Keep feeding all your data to Atlanta on the girl, in the meantime, where are you with the autopsy on the body?" Dr. Woods asked, referring to the corpse their field team had recovered
from the medical center in Browns Mills where they also found the girl.

"We're ready to get started, just waiting on you to give us the word. We have gone about as far as we can with external samples so far, I personally would like to get some deep lung and tissue samples under the microscope. The path this virus follows in the respiratory system may give us a clue on how to combat infection."

Dr. Woods gave him clearance to proceed with the autopsy after reminding him to switch the video feed to the two cameras covering the autopsy suite. Dr. Woods wanted to follow along with each step of the process, the more eyes they had on the procedure the better chance of spotting any anomalies that could be missed by the surgical team.