The Deadliest Strain

Chapter Thirty-One

Just as Josh raised the Strep-Tester to his tongue, his new friend Dan burst into the cabin breathlessly.

"Mr. Link, my dad says he wants you to come up right away. It's an emergency. There's something wrong with Philip."

The strep test completely forgotten, David and Josh followed the other boy up on deck. Most of the students were standing around the small television. The crew and the parents were bending over the railing, some manually helping haul in the thick rope and others watching and waiting to help.

"What's going on?" David asked one of the crew who was reeling in the cable for the camera cage.

"There's something wrong with Philip. He seems to be in a lot of pain. He isn't able to come to the surface on his own. Kirk is motioning to have him pulled up with the ropes."

Josh moved to the front of the television and stood beside Dan. David took a look that way. The water was murky, as it was expected to be; this was an ocean disposal site. Beyond a few shadowy shapes, there wasn't much anyone could see.

"Just now, Philip ripped his mouthpiece off and tried to yell. He swallowed a lot of water," one of the girls was telling Josh. She was crying. "He looked like he was drowning."

David moved to the railing, to where Dan's father was waiting. "Craig, what's going on?"

"There's something wrong with Philip."

"How come they're not up yet?" David asked.

"I guess they were at the bottom. I don't know their depth, but Philip was in trouble. We couldn't see Kirk on the monitor when it all happened. I guess he was collecting samples."

"Shouldn't someone go in there and help bring Philip up?"

"One of the crew members just went in with an extra air tank," Craig said. "She's down there now. That's what we're waiting for. We're hoping they're coming up."

David tried to think of what kind of injury Philip could have sustained. He was no diver himself, but after a few days on this boat, he was learning the basics. "Did he bang his head going over?"

"No," one of the mothers standing near them said. "He was motioning to the kids when he reached the ocean floor. He seemed fine, and then something just… happened."

David was just about to go and get the emergency kit, but one of the mothers who was an RN was already coming back with Harmony's skipper, who was carrying it.

Something broke the surface. Two of the crew members bent over and fetched the net. It was the divers' tools and flags and camera.

Everyone else continued to wait.

"The TV was disconnected," one of the kids called from the monitor.

"They're coming up," the crew member who was reeling in the cable announced.

Someone else arrived at the railing carrying an armful of towels. The air was cold. David was impressed that no one was panicking. He wondered if anyone had contacted the coast guard, but realized that until they knew what was wrong with Philip, there was no point in jumping the gun.

Three heads surfaced together some twenty feet from the vessel. Two still had their tanks on. The third one was being held up by the other two and had a rope connected to him.

"He isn't breathing," Kirk yelled as he tore his mouthpiece out.

The two started swimming toward the side of the boat, and Philip's body turned around. The two divers pulled him behind them and the crew members hauled in the rope looped around Philip's chest.

Hands reached over the side to help. David and Craig took hold of the line to pull up Philip. The divers brought Philip to the very edge of the vessel. The two fathers reached down and grabbed the scientist by the arms, dragging him up over the railing.

The RN took charge. "Lay him flat here," she said. The part of his face that was visible was purple "He isn't breathing. I'll give him CPR."

"Call the coast guard," Kirk told the skipper as soon as he climbed aboard. He turned to the woman crouched over Philip. "I think he took in a lot of water before we got to him."

Everyone wanted to help. At the same time, they knew enough to give the woman space to do her job.

The nurse put her hand under Philip's neck and lifted, gently pulling off the hood of the wet suit. She drew back suddenly.

"What's that?" she asked.

Crouched on the other side of the diver, David had a clear view of what she was talking about. There was an open wound on Philip's chin that spread across his cheek and down his neck and disappeared under the wet suit. It looked deep and, despite the fact that Philip had been in salt water, it was already oozing.

Kirk had pulled off one of the diver's gloves and was checking Philip's pulse.

"There's no pulse," he said.

Everyone was trying to get closer and see what the nurse was talking about.

"Stay back," David shouted forcefully, feeling panic course through him. "Take a step away from one another. Back up! We need to have everyone who had any contact with Philip separate yourself from everyone else."

"We all had contact with Philip," someone responded.

"I mean since he came up," David said, pointing to Craig, the two divers and the nurse.

"Yes. I agree," the RN said, her voice cracking. "He thinks… he thinks Philip might have the flesh-eating disease."

"Back up," David ordered again. His gaze rested on Josh's terrified face.

The nurse crawled backward a few feet from the body.

"He has it," she whispered. "We might all have it now."