Plague

CHAPTER 31

Samantha waited outside the conference room at the Ritz as two MPs cleared her identification with someone on the other end of a radio. They eventually nodded her in and she saw a room packed with men. She looked over them and recognized only Duncan who was busy at work on an iPad.

“Hey,” she said, sitting down next to him.

“Hey. I tried calling you.”

“My phone died and there’s no power at the hotel anymore.”

“They have a generator here. I switched hotels yesterday.”

“So I’m being shipped out tonight.”

Duncan nodded, glancing at the document he had up on his iPad. “You leaving on the eleven or one o’clock?”

“One. You don’t seem too surprised.”

“I’m on the one too.”

“Duncan, what are you talking about? Ralph told me he chartered a military plane to get me out of here.”

He gave her a quizzical look, and then understanding lit up his eyes. “Oh my gosh, he didn’t tell you, did he?”

“Tell me what?”

Ralph walked into the room with the general behind him and several men in suits surrounding him. He took his place at the front of the room and waited until there was quiet before speaking.

“Thank you for being here, gentlemen. I don’t have much but I do have a few quick items of logistics to go over…”

Duncan leaned over to Samantha and whispered, “Sam, the data came back. Agent X is a T-6-they’re shipping out all non-essential personnel tonight. The United Nations and World Health Organization are sending down specialized units.”

Samantha comprehended the words but they didn’t sink in right away. T-6, T-6…it was something that had only been theoretically possible. Like absolute zero Kelvin or stopping time by traveling the speed of light. T-6 was a thought experiment; how long would it take to wipe out all species with an infectiousness rate of T-6? The answers were always interesting, a quick exercise to warm up the mind before getting down to real work.

“Are they sure?” was all she managed to say.

“I ran the data myself and sent it back to USAMRIID to have my biostats guys run it. It’s legit.”

Ralph continued speaking and then sat down as the general took to the front of the room. He began by answering questions and issuing orders. Ralph looked to her and had a bittersweet smile on his face, as if apologizing.

When the general had completed his Q and A the room began to clear out. Sam sat quietly until everybody but Ralph and Duncan had left. She noticed the FBI agent from earlier, Billy Donner, standing near the entrance. He smiled to her and she smiled back before he walked out.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Sam said.

Ralph rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. His eyes had black circles under them and were rimmed red. “Because you would’ve wanted to stay.”

“I do want to stay.”

“Out of the question. You both are on that plane at 1:00 a.m. Don’t miss it because there isn’t another one for three days.”

Ralph stood up without another word and walked out of the room. The door shut behind him and Sam and Duncan were left alone, the sound of vehicles outside as military officers were shuttled to the airport to prepare for the eleven o’clock flight off the island. The room was hot and Sam felt as if she were in an oven that was just beginning to warm. There was no air conditioning, as power was conserved wherever possible.

“I think he should’ve asked for volunteers,” Duncan said.

“T-6. I don’t even really know what that means, Duncan. We’ve never dealt with anything like this. He’s just taking every precaution. I don’t think it’s his fault. Besides, I think the military’s calling the shots now. I doubt Ralph could’ve stopped this if he wanted to.”

Duncan shrugged. “So where to for you when you get back?”

“A hot shower and a good meal with my mom. How about you?”

“There’s a restaurant in Baltimore called Faustina’s. They have a turkey burger that’s delicious and you get strawberry bread pudding after the meal. Then after that I’m going to the movies. I really miss going to the movies.

“I used to go every few days. I’d sneak out from work for lunch and just buy a hot dog at the theater. There’s something calming about watching movies in a dark theater by yourself. It erases you for a little bit. No one comes to talk to you or ask you questions. All your worries and fears and problems disappear for that little bit.” He waited a beat and then said, “Sam, I’d really like it if you came up to Maryland and we went to the movies together.”

She laughed.

“What?”

“No, it’s nothing. You’re just really cute when you don’t know what I’m going to say. There’s something really 1950s about you. I feel like this is how someone back then would’ve asked me on a date.”

“Would you prefer something more modern? I could send you a tweet.”

“No, Duncan. It’s very sweet that you asked. But I’ve been away far too long as it is. I don’t think I can take any trips for a while.”

“Oh.”

“But, why don’t you come down to Atlanta? We have movie theaters too.”

“Sure, why not?”

They rose and Duncan gathered a few papers. They walked out of the room together and down the hall. The linoleum floors were filthy with black boot prints and dirt that had been brought inside. There was no cleaning crew anymore.

They got outside and past the MPs when a man walked toward them from an awaiting car. Sam recognized him as Ben Cornell. She noticed that Duncan folded his arms and gave him a disapproving look.

“Doctors,” Benjamin said, “how we doing tonight?”

“Better once we leave our present company.”

“See, that’s what I’m talking about. Dr. Adams, you don’t know anything about me. We haven’t really even been introduced. And for some reason you hate me. And because you hate me, you won’t hear anything I have to say, even if I’m right.”

“You’re not right. Your campaigns against vaccinations kill children. How do you possibly sleep at night?”

“We all have to do what we think is right. I don’t know if vaccinations do or don’t harm us. But what I do know is that they won’t fund any major studies to see if they do. My son has autism, Dr. Adams. He began displaying symptoms right after his vaccinations. Do you know what autism is like? He can’t form social bonds. It feels like he doesn’t love or care about me or his mother. It’s a pain I can’t even describe. Some days…some days I think it would be better if he would’ve just passed away. Or that, maybe, I should be the one to pass away.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“No, you didn’t. You just made a judgment without any evidence. Hardly seems fitting a scientist, doesn’t it?”

Sam noticed that Duncan was full-on blushing. She considered Benjamin Cornell. He appeared wiry and was shifting his weight from foot to foot. He was clearly anxious about something and it made her worry. But there was also kindness in his eyes. She could see it sparkling through the passion he had for his cause.

“I have no quarrel with you two,” Benjamin said. “You both do good work. But you work for monsters. Still, we all have to work for somebody I guess, so I don’t blame you for it. But I think what you’re doing here is wrong. It’s just plain wrong, even evil. I don’t know how you, Dr. Adams, can sleep at night doing what you’re doing.”

“What exactly do you think I’m doing?”

“Government evasion is cowardly, Doctor. Let’s at least be honest with each other, even in the lies.”

“Ben, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Benjamin stared at him quizzically a moment and then recognition dawned on him and his face lit up as a grin came over his lips. “They haven’t told you, have they?” he said in almost a whisper.

“Told us what?”

“You’re leaving the island.”

“We knew that.”

“No, not just you. Everyone. The military, the CDC, everyone. This island will be quarantined and the people on it will not be allowed to leave. They didn’t tell you that?”

Sam and Duncan looked to each other and Sam said, “He’s lying.”

“Call Ralph and ask yourself if you don’t believe me. They’re pulling everybody out and cutting the supplies. These people are supposed to survive on their own.”

Sam turned around and went back into the building, Duncan following behind her. She rode the elevator up to the top floor and found Ralph’s suite. She knocked but he wasn’t in. They went back down to the restaurant near the lobby and saw Ralph sitting by himself, sipping a beer. They sat across from him.

“Tell me it isn’t true,” Sam said.

“You’re leaving, Sam. That’s all there is to it.”

“Not that.”

He glared at her a moment. “Then I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Ralph, we’ve known each other a long time. I can tell when you’re bullshitting me.”

He nodded, looking down to his beer and absently peeling off the label. “Who told you?”

“Benjamin Cornell.”

“Little prick. If I find out who leaked it to him I’ll have their asses.”

“I don’t believe this is happening. And you’re so calm about it. Like it just happens every day.”

“How would you like me to be, Sam? We’re talking about the deadliest virus in history coming out of the jungle and infecting this island. Thank God it was an island and not Los Angeles or Seattle. This is an extinction event. Agent X is the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs. We can’t risk its release no matter the cost.”

“This is…I can’t believe we’re even talking about this. Ralph there are hundreds of thousands of people on this island that aren’t infected.”

“And I feel for them, I really do. But there’s nothing that can be done.” He leaned back, taking a sip of his beer. “Besides, I couldn’t stop it if I wanted to. The military’s taken over. They think it’s a national security threat, which it is. This is the official decision.”

Sam shook her head. “We’re the monsters Cornell thinks we are.”

Ralph laughed. “Don’t be so dramatic. What did you think this job was, Dr. Bower? As a physician you make life and death calls. What does it matter if it’s over one person in an ER or on the scale of an island?”

“Ralph, please, don’t do this.”

Duncan jumped in, “There are alternatives. We can request volunteers, not just from here, from all over.”

“And what happens if one of those volunteers gets infected and we don’t catch it when they decide to come home? Do you have any idea what a virus like this could do in a major city? Pushkin’s run the numbers. Within ten days, fourteen percent of the population of the United States would be infected. Within twenty-five days, it would be sixty percent. Within a month, ninety-eight percent would be infected. We’re not talking H1N1, we’re talking Armageddon.”

Samantha rose. “There are some things you don’t do, even at the risk of your own life. You’re giving these people a death sentence. And I can’t be a part of it.”

“You want to quit? Quit. It won’t change anything. You’re still on that plane.”

“I’m going to stop this.”

“Feel free. I think it’s probably time for you to learn that there are things beyond your influence.”

Duncan gently put his hand on her arm. “Let’s go, Sam. There’s nothing we can do here.”

As they walked out of the restaurant, Sam kicked over the trashcan outside and began to pace.

“Feel better?” Duncan said.

“What can we do, Duncan? These people are all going to die. They asked for help from their government and we’re going to abandon them.”

“Sometimes there is nothing you can do. You just have to do the best you can and hope it works out.”

She shook her head, her thumbnail in her mouth as she paced back and forth across the hotel’s entrance. “There’s got to be something…we’re not helpless in this.”

Benjamin Cornell was waiting on the hood of a car and he hopped off and came over to them. “So?”

They didn’t respond and he grinned. It wasn’t a happy grin; it was filled with melancholy. As if he were sad he had been proved right.

“I thought so,” Benjamin said.

Duncan was about to grab Sam and leave when Benjamin heard her say, “There has to be something we can do.”

“There is,” Benjamin said.

“Sam, we’re ending this conversation. We’re not helping him do anything.”

Sam ignored Duncan. “What?” she said to Benjamin.

“Iquitos, Peru,” he said. “The woman that survived. They’ve cancelled the expedition to find her. Only one known survivor of this thing and they’re going to completely ignore her.” He glanced around and saw Ralph Wilson leaving the building, surrounded with men in suits, discussing something. Ralph saw them and shook his head before entering a Jeep. “I’m not going to ignore her,” Benjamin said. “Why don’t you come with me and meet some of our people to talk this over?”

“No,” Duncan said. “Sam, this guy is a borderline terrorist.”

“Why, because I don’t accept everything my government tells me? My father fought in Vietnam, young kid of seventeen. He was so patriotic he lied about his age to fight. He got sprayed with Agent Orange by his own government and died of cancer nine years later. That’s the government you work for, Dr. Adams. So don’t you dare tell me I’m the terrorist.”

“Stop it, you two,” Sam said. “Duncan, I’m going to go with him. Are you coming with me or not?”

“Sam-”

“No, I’m not sitting by and watching these people die. I have to do something.”

“Why? You don’t even believe in a God; what does it matter to you if these people die?”

“It matters to me because I’ve devoted my life to helping people. God or not, I couldn’t live with myself if I just went back to Atlanta and pretended like these people didn’t exist.” She turned to Benjamin. “Be honest with me: why do you want me to come?”

“An honest question, and I have an honest answer: This woman may not come back with us. She may not even want to talk to us. But I think I can convince her to give us some blood and tissue samples, or maybe the hospital still has some. But I need a laboratory, a very advanced laboratory in a BSL 4 environment to analyze them.”

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do. Let’s go.”

As Sam was climbing into Benjamin’s car, Duncan ran over and got into the backseat. “I’m coming, but I’d like to make it official that I think this is a mistake.”

“Duly noted,” Benjamin said, starting the car and pulling away.