Plague

CHAPTER 19

Honolulu International Airport was busy with tourists and conventions that were coming in to enjoy their hot summer months. Sam parked illegally at the curb and noticed only one police cruiser out front.

She raced inside, checking her watch: it was 11:47 a.m.

There were some shops and delis, a restaurant and a bar. She ran past them, sliding through crowds. It suddenly dawned on her that she had no idea what this woman looked like. She texted Wilson and asked for a photo. Thirty seconds later, he sent a photo to her along with the message, “Let the BH team handle this.” The fact that he’d sent the photo meant he knew she had no intention of doing that.

Sam came to the TSA checkpoints and saw that the lines were at least forty people deep. They snaked through the waiting areas out into the corridor and around the corner. She got in the back of a line and counted as the next person went through the detectors and was scanned by a handheld device. It took about a minute and a half, which meant she’d be in line for almost an hour.

Sam rushed to the front of the line, pushing past people that began to swear and yell. She got to one of the TSA officers and flashed her CDC credentials.

“I need to get into those terminals right now.”

“Ma’am, what you need is to get back to the end of the line.”

Sam saw two police officers with several men in slick, plastic smocks walk around the terminal and scan the faces in the crowd. “I need to be with them. Please tell that police officer to come here and they’ll verify that-”

“I’m not gonna ask you again, get to the back of the line.”

Samantha saw a young woman step out of the bathrooms. She had curly black hair and caramel skin. She was wiping her nose and popped a handful of pills, washing them down with a bottle of water. It was Yolanda. The officers and BH team were standing not twenty feet away from her and didn’t recognize her. They were laughing and joking.

“I need to get there, now. This isn’t a joke. If you don’t let me through, people could die.”

The officer shouted behind her and two TSA officers ran up as Sam tried to push past her. The other officers grabbed her by her arms and slammed her down against a table as Sam was shouting to get the attention of the BH team.

Yolanda Gonzalez stared at herself in the bathroom mirror at Honolulu International Airport. She appeared pale and had been coughing all morning. A rash was starting to appear on her chest and she buttoned the top button of her blouse to cover it up. She had a slight fever and had just vomited into the toilet.

“You doin’ okay, hon?” Melissa, another stewardess on her airline asked.

“I think I got the flu.”

“Maybe you should go home?”

“I can’t miss any more work.”

“Yeah,” Melissa said, washing her hands at the sink, “they used to pay us for sick time but not no more. Used to pay a lot more too. This whole industry’s gone to hell. Let me feel you.” She placed her hand on Yolanda’s forehead. “You’re burnin’ up, sweetie. You need to go home.”

“I’ll just do a half day if it gets worse.”

“Well, let me give you these. They’re Lortab so you gotta be careful. Just take one at a time, four hours apart. It’ll get you through the day.”

“Thanks, Melissa.”

“No problem. If you need someone to cover a flight call me. I’m off at three.”

“Thanks.”

As Melissa left, Yolanda turned back to the mirror. She took a deep breath, and walked outside into the corridor. She noticed some cops and a few guys dressed in what looked like rain slicks standing around, but they were only there a minute and then walked on. She wondered if there’d been a bomb threat. Since 9-11, they got at least one a week and the cops or FBI or military police would come and look around and then leave. It had become routine and she wondered what it was like before 9-11, when you weren’t thinking about terrorists all day.

As she was taking her Lortab, she heard some yelling near the metal detectors and looked over. A woman was shouting and trying to fight her way past TSA. Probably someone pissed that they patted down her kid or something. She watched as three TSA officers pinned the woman down on a table and put handcuffs on her.

Yolanda turned, and headed for her plane.