Plague

CHAPTER 9

Duncan Adams went home directly after work and took a long, hot shower. He let the water run over him until his skin grew water-logged and then he quickly soaped himself, shampooed, and conditioned, and then began his routine of lotions and body creams. His father had died of skin cancer so he had developed a detailed skin-care routine.

After he had finished, he dressed in jeans, a T-shirt, and a sports coat and headed out the door.

He checked his watch as he drove down the interstate and noted that he was twenty minutes late. It would take him ten minutes to get to Circle Lounge Bar and that, he figured, was perfect. A date would be waiting for him there. His friend Hank had set him up in the past to no success but assured him he would fall in love with the woman he was going to meet tonight. However, it was a double date and there wasn’t a doubt in Duncan’s mind that he was just posing as wingman so Hank could date her friend. But still, a date was a date and he’d had a long dry spell in the romantic arena.

Circle Lounge was located on a busy street near a tattoo shop and a dive restaurant. Surprisingly, the best Indian food in all of Maryland was also located on that same block. When he got to the block he looked at Circle Lounge and saw there wasn’t a line out front or even a bouncer and it gave him the impression that is was more of a restaurant than a bar. In fact, the west half of the building was a sushi restaurant that operated until five in the morning.

He parked across the street in paid parking and checked his watch again. He was half an hour late. Most women would tolerate a man that was ten or fifteen minutes late, but half an hour was too much for most. They would complain or make snide comments the entire night. One girl had even thrown her drink in his face.

But it was a trick he had been taught by his father. He had told Duncan that any woman that had the patience and grace not to mention your being half an hour late or let it bother her was one he needed to keep.

Duncan got inside and stood by the entryway to let his eyes adjust to the dim lighting. The restaurant smelled of strong perfume and he guessed trace amounts of scented air were being circulated through the vents to cover the smell of vomit or urine. No matter how classy the bar, over time, they would all stink like bodily fluids from drunks that were unable to make it all the way to the bathroom.

He saw Hank seated at a table on the restaurant side. He had two women with him, one on either side. Hank waved, irritation on his face though he tried to cover it with a smile. Duncan made his way over.

“How are you guys?” Duncan said. He held out his hand to the attractive blonde seated to Hank’s right. “You must be Rebecca,” he said. Rebecca was whom Hank had said he would bring. Duncan then turned to the other woman.

She was also attractive and wearing a revealing black dress with white stockings. She was dipping a toothpick into her martini, trying to get the second olive.

“And you must be Heather.”

She acknowledged him with a quick hello and then went back to the olive in the glass. Duncan sat down next to her.

“Hank’s told me a lot about you.”

“Oh yeah?” Heather said, not turning to him. “Like what?”

“Like he said you were at Georgetown right now getting your masters. In environmental studies, right?”

“Yup.”

Duncan could almost feel her irritation coming off her like an electrical charge. He turned to the menu. Hank sent him a quick glance and then said to Heather, “So, Duncan’s a microbiologist.”

“Hm,” Heather said, nibbling on the olive. “What made you want to do that?” She asked it in a way that let him know she wasn’t curious, more disgusted by the ridiculous career choice.

“The Congo,” Duncan said.

“What do you mean?”

“I was in the Congo as an intern for the United Nations when I was an undergrad. I was there during the Ebola outbreak in Tuwintu.”

“I haven’t heard about it.”

“No? Few people have. There’s so much horror there, an outbreak usually doesn’t catch people’s attention. But this one was particularly savage.”

Duncan glanced to Hank who gave him a look that said, Please don’t tell some gross story and ruin this. Duncan smiled at him.

“See,” Duncan continued, “it infected an entire hospital. The staff, the doctors, the administrators, all the patients…the military was there and not allowing anyone to leave. Anybody that tried was gunned down in front of the exits. The bodies eventually piled so high you couldn’t open the doors.”

The waitress interrupted them to take Duncan’s order and he got a plate of sushi with a sparkling water.

“So,” he continued, “you have about two hundred people stuck in the same building, all of them except five shooting blood out of every orifice in their body. Ebola itself doesn’t kill you; it causes you to bleed to death. But the blood that comes out of people doesn’t look the same as what you see when you get a cut. It’s black and it has the consistency of coffee grounds.”

“Duncan,” Hank interrupted with a grin, “I’m sure the ladies don’t want to hear about that while we’re about to-”

“The blood doesn’t stop,” Duncan said, ignoring him as he took an edamame and peeled it. “It comes out of the eyes, the ears, the mouth. But the worst places are the genitals and anus. When you have a bowel movement the blood comes pouring out and doesn’t clot. It can actually take pieces of organ with it. The patients were finding long strands of a thick, gelatin substance when they went. I didn’t realize until later it was part of their colons and intestines.”

Heather had stopped playing with her olive and had a look on her face like someone had just vomited in her purse.

“I have to use the restroom,” she said, standing.

“Me too,” Rebecca said as she followed her.

When the girls were gone, Hank threw his napkin and hit Duncan in the face. “What the hell are you doing? They’re in there right now talking about how to get out of this.”

“I never had a shot. The blonde’s still going to finish the date with you, though. I wouldn’t worry.”

“Well, now you really don’t have a shot-”

“She’s awful, Hank. She’s pretentious and feels life owes her something just for existing. Those are some of the most unpleasant people to be around.”

“And you can tell all that from five minutes of conversation?”

“I could tell as soon as I said hello and she didn’t even look up from her drink.”

A couple walked by and the male did a double-take of Hank. He came over and said hello and asked if Hank remembered him from some engineering conference last year. He did, or at least said he did, and they began speaking about people from the conference and what they’d been up to. Duncan could tell Hank didn’t know who any of the people were, but was keeping a grin on his face.

When the man left, Hank said, “I have no idea who that was or what conference he was talking about.”

“I don’t think he picked up on it.” Duncan sighed and put his elbows on the table. “I think I’m just gonna go.”

“What? No you’re not. Rebecca is Heather’s ride. If she leaves, Rebecca does too.”

“What’re you gonna do for me if I stay?”

“What do you want?”

“A new Xbox game.”

“You’re kidding.”

“We all have our weaknesses.”

“Fine, if you stay so I can score with Rebecca, I will buy you an Xbox game.”

Duncan smiled as the sushi was brought out. The waitress placed it down and asked if they needed anything else. It was another few minutes until the girls came back. Heather seemed in a much better mood and Duncan wondered what they had been doing in there. She was asking about his time in the Congo and Duncan glanced over to Hank who tapped one side of his nose with his finger and nodded.

Duncan was about to say something when his phone buzzed. It was a private number from the USAMRIID dispatch. Duncan had only received a call from that number once before, when he was still an intern in grad school, on September 11, 2001.

“This is Duncan…yes…yes…”

The phone nearly dropped out of his hand. He felt weak and his stomach was queasy. He looked down to the sushi and it suddenly made him feel sick.

“You okay?” Hank said. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I need to go,” Duncan said, standing up and nearly falling over his chair.

“What? Where you going?” Hank yelled as Duncan made a beeline for the front door.

“To Hawaii.”