Endemic Rise of the Plague (23 page)

Mattie watched as the infected drew nearer. There were about twenty of them
, now coming out from all directions. He glanced over at Randy and Rhino, who were working fast at retrieving the man from the wrong-side-up vehicle. Lynn had already removed Boots from the SUV, examining his leg.

“
Matt, can they ride with you?” Randy called out.

“
Yep. Get 'em in the back of the truck,” Mattie said, popping off a round at an oncoming infected woman.

Lynn and Rhino had Boots draped over their
shoulders, his right leg was lifted, while he hopped on his left.

Junior
sat on the ground, near the passenger window holding his rib cage, breathing shallowly. Randy assisted him to his feet and guided him toward the truck.

“
Let’s get goin’ guys,” Mattie called out.

Mattie watched attentively as an infected man and woman that were closing in—suddenly broke into a sprint toward him.
He took aim and fired off the first round, striking the man in the face just below the eye. As he inhaled, Mattie took aim again before firing once more. The bullet cut through the dry summer air before finding its place on the right side of the woman’s forehead.

More and more infected were emerging on the scene, the gunfire attracting them as they began surrounding the wreckage. Most of them had been far enough away, that they didn’t notice where the people were, but after the gunshots, they were closing in fast.

Randy hustled to Mattie's truck with Junior and helped him slide into the back through the rear camper shell hatch.

Soon
Randy joined Mattie, handgun drawn, “Matt, get in the truck and go. We'll be right behind you. As soon as it clears up we'll pass you, and you can follow us to the lab.”

Mattie nodded, jogging back to his truck—the engine
steadily idling. He took a quick survey of the passengers to make sure they were all inside. Lynn rubbed her hands nervously over her denim shorts in the passenger seat. Junior and Boots could be seen through the back window. Mattie pressed in the clutch and shifted to first gear, and with a rev of the engine—he took off.

Mattie sped past
Randy and Rhino, making their way to the vehicle containing Roxy and Dave. He watched in his rearview mirror, as the men climbed into the SUV and sped away, dodging several infected during the speedy getaway.

Hank cautiously studied the man before him inside the General Store. While he definitely looked legit and sounded as though he knew a few things, Hank felt a level of suspicion toward the stranger. He had grown a bit of a bond with Joe and Kate, and wanted to make sure that this man was who he said he was. After the man finished explaining about how he used some technology, that Hank couldn’t quite understand, to track down the Harpers using a GPS in Kate’s iPod, Hank began to let his guard down, slightly.

“Now what did you say your name was?” Hank asked.

“
Shane Adams, Angora security. But everyone calls me Shotgun,” he replied.

C
arefully reaching in his vest pocket, Shotgun handed his security badge to Hank.

“
So, you are sure Roxy’s okay?” Kate smiled, excitedly chewing on her index fingernail.

“
Yes, ma'am, she is going to help our doctors to find a cure for this infection,” he said happily.

“
I don't understand. Roxy is not a doctor or a scientist. She is a nineteen year old, SCUBA instructor down on the cape. So how is she helping to find a cure?” Joe asked.

“
I do not know all the particulars. My team radioed that she is on her way to Angora and will likely be there for a while. Angora is a stronghold. Concrete walls and only one entrance point makes it very easy to manage. There is no way those things are going to be able to penetrate her,” he said with conviction.

“
Can we talk to Roxy? Can you call her and let me talk to her?” Joe asked desperately.

“
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to reach my team for the last fifteen minutes. As soon as I can get a line through to them, I will let you talk to her,” Shotgun responded.

“Oh, no, has something happened to her? Can we use your phone to call her cell?” Kate questioned frantically.

“It won’t work. The phones haven't been working for hours,” Shotgun responded.

“
Such a high tech company, I would think that you could fix a little problem like the phones being out,” Hank said with doubt in his voice.

“
You misunderstand me sir. It's not our phones that are out. It is all the phones, at least in this area. Cell phones just aren’t getting reception, maybe a tower or two has gone down. I’m not sure. The land lines are all out. The cell phones issued by Angora are top of the line satellite phones, they still work. I am sure that my team is fine. You don’t need to worry about them, they may be handling a situation or something,” Shotgun said diplomatically.

“
We saw some military vehicles pass by just before you. Do you know anything about that?” Hank asked.

“
No, I don't. But I’m not surprised. It's about time that they’re doing something. Listen, I really need to get you to Angora as soon as possible. All three of you should come with me, you will be safe there. I give you my word. But we really do need to get moving, it's getting pretty bad out there,” Shotgun pleaded.

Joe looked at Kate and then back at Shotgun,
“Fine, let’s go. Kate, grab your sweater. We should grab a few supplies and get going Hank.”

“
Nah, take what you need Joe. I’ll stay behind,” Hank nodded stubbornly, pulling out his pocket watch and rubbing his thumb across the backside.

“
No way. We should all go together,” Joe said.

“I'll be just fine right here. I can’t leave this place. It
is mine and Mary's, and she's buried out back now. It just feels wrong to leave. I’m glad that you and Kate will be reunited with your daughter. But my place is here,” Hank said, gripping the watch tightly.

Mara heard the key card access panel beep at the entrance to her lab. She rose from her desk to greet her visitors. Her heart fluttered with anticipation to meet Roxanne Harper. From what Randy had said over the radio—when they arrived at the lab, Roxanne had some sort of immunity to the virus. Not only had she been injected with the serum, but suffered a bite as well, and had not experienced any of the symptoms. Mara
could hardly control her eagerness to meet this woman and run a battery of blood tests.

Walking quickly toward the steel doors of her lab, Mara watched as two women, two men and two large dogs entered alongside Randy. She
felt slightly alarmed at the sight of the dogs but had been expecting them. Randy had radioed her that two dogs would be with Roxy, as he checked the newcomers into the building at the security desk. She imagined the dogs to be Chihuahuas or Poodles or something small, she didn’t expect two dogs of this size.

“
Hello, I am Dr. Mara Brandenburg,” Mara extended her hand to shake Roxy's.

“
Dr. Brandenburg, can you tell me why I’m here?” Roxy asked as she apprehensively shook the doctor’s hand.

“I need to take care of some things upstairs,” Randy said, as he made his way back to the steel doors.

“Thank you Randy,” Mara shook hands with each of the guests and offered a brief introduction, then ushered the group into her office while Lex and Angie continued their work in the lab.

“Let's go into the conference room. You can leave your dogs out here with your friends,
” Mara said assertively, waiving her hand to a small table with four chairs, while opening the door to her conference room on the far wall, next to the credenza.

“
Dr. Brandenburg, I’ll join you in the conference room. But first, where ever I go, my dogs go. That’s all there is to that. Second, I want my friends to come in that room with me. Besides, whatever you tell me alone in there, I’ll just end up telling them anyway, so we might as well get it all over with in one shot,” Roxy said in exhaustion.

Mara cleared her throat and smiled,
“Ms. Harper, I don't think you understand.”

“
Understand? No… I don't think you understand. Do you have any idea what's going on out there? Have you been outside? People are dying. Understand, you say, I completely understand. I want answers. No one will tell me what’s going on. I just want someone to be straight with me. Why am I here?”

Mara
hadn’t rehearsed what she would say to the lone survivor of the serum injections when she arrived at Angora. Her hopes had been rebuilt at the news of a survivor, leading her to think that this woman may hold the key to a vaccine or even a cure. But now, reality came crashing down on Mara. This was no rat in her lab, this was a person. And this person was pissed off. Roxanne was very young, barely legal by society’s standards, but this young woman looked and seemed as if she had grown up very quickly, no doubt having been through a lot in her brief nineteen years.

“
If you'll
all
please join me in the conference room,” Mara surrendered, nodding her head.

She stood off to the side, motioning for all to go in the room. There are at least three conference rooms on each floor of Angora
, except for Mara's floor and the top floor. The exploratory floor has just one. Other than her two lab assistants, it’s just Mara down there.

Mara
followed the group into the room and closed the door. She had only actually used this conference room maybe three times over the last two years.

After all the guests had been seated, Mara could see that the two dogs were surprisingly well behaved. They both appeared to be settling in for a nap as they lay on the floor at Roxanne's feet. Mara stood at the end of a long, rectangular, glass-top table. As she looked at the guests sitting before her, the four of them looked ravaged. She hadn't quite noticed as they arrived how tired and dirty they appeared. She knew to some degree
, what had been happening outside the large walls of Angora, but seeing them now, she realized that maybe Roxanne was right.
I don't understand.

“
The shot you received yesterday afternoon was not a flu shot. The clinic had run out of flu vaccine and thought that they had discovered more. I am not going to bore you with the details, but it was something else entirely. You and a few other remaining patients at the clinic received an experimental serum injection. Unfortunately, it seems that all of the other patients have died. What I’m saying, is that I believe that three patients may have started all this trouble in The Port. You are the only survivor who received the inoculation. With your permission, I would like to take samples of your blood. These samples can help my team and I discover why you did not have the same reaction as the others, and possibly come up with a vaccine, or dare I say… a cure to the infection that is spreading throughout Port Steward.”

“
Are you saying that the disease that is making people die, then wake up—is because of the shots that were given to us yesterday? And that I could have turned into one of those things?” Roxy asked with a mystified expression.

“
Yes, I believe that to be true. That’s why it is important that I take samples from you. You likely have a natural immunity to the virus.”

“
What is this serum, exactly?” Roxy asked, looking almost fearful of the answer.

“
Well,” Mara hesitated, “It’s an experimental serum, definitely not ready for human patients.”

“
Can you tell me anymore about it?” Roxy leaned forward, her fingernails tapping the table in frustration.

“
It was originally an experimental performance enhancer. It is still in the trial stages and not ready for human trials. Before yesterday, it had only been tested on rats and chimps, yielding… unfavorable results,” Mara said.

“Unfavorable, ya think?” Mattie mumbled under his breath. Lynn nudged his shoulder offering a glare of contempt.

“Okay, it’s a performance enhancer…like protein powder or an energy drink?” Roxy asked, ignoring Mattie’s comment.

“
Not quite," Mara smiled. “The favorable results would have been faster, stronger soldiers. It’s designed amplify the immune system’s regenerative qualities, increasing muscle mass and endurance—to only scratch the surface. The serum is comprised of a double-stranded DNA virus. Once inserted in the body the genetic material replicates—”

“Whoa
, there doctor. Back it on up,” Mattie interrupted. “Am I alone in this, or is all this fancy, doctor-speak turning all our brains to mush?”

“Sorry. B
asically, it’s made to help our soldiers heal faster, increase their strength and speed and to enhance all senses,” Mara paused, allowing time for questions.

Roxy thought back to the scene of the accident, where she had shown unbelievable strength. It
had been hard for her to process that it had truly happened. Mara’s comment made her feel as though a veil that had just been lifted, revealing answers to a few anomalies that had occurred over the last day. The increased sight, hearing, smell, and of course, strength were all because of that shot. The same shot that has caused the destruction of her town.

“
And so the side effects being, the disaster that is going on outside?” Roxy sighed.

“
No, in the autopsies we’ve done on four patients, we’re finding that the serum is binding with the body, in different ways, in different subjects. So, if I had the virus, it would mutate my cells. But if I infected Lynn, then the virus would mutate her cells in a different way, and so on. That is what makes this such a difficult disease to cure.

“
In the initial trials, performed by a colleague, only one subject was found to be naturally immune. There were also a few subjects that yielded the desired results—meaning that the serum worked. In these subjects, the blood samples had shown that the serum was accepted by their bodies. Whereas the remaining subjects exhibited much of the same signs as the people outside, their bodies rejected the serum. The estimates of the serum binding perfectly with a subject, in its current formulation are very rare. For someone to be immune, the odds are far more uncommon. We ran a preliminary testing of our own only a few hours ago, all of our subjects rejected the serum and transformed into cannibalistic monsters.

“
It seems that, in the subjects that reject the serum, the virus invades the liver and multiplies before invading the blood stream, which causes a massive infection that eventually leads to the death of the subject. It is at this point that any formed antibodies die off, but the virus continues to spread throughout the body. Stay with me here. Because the subjects have died, they have lost nearly all brain function. The virus reactivates a small portion of the brain, only the basic survival functions remain. This leads to the subjects being reanimated after death—or waking back up. At this point, their bodies are no longer producing the nutrients needed, so they seek them out. It just so happens that other humans contain those vital nutrients that the infected bodies need. That’s why they are biting the uninfected,” Mara explained.

Roxy looked down at her reflection in the glass tabletop, while soaking in Mara’s claims. She noticed that her eyes were continuing to change color. They weren’t hazel as Dave had mentioned at Lynn's house, but entirely green.
How could that be? My eyes are changing color...This must have something to do with the injection.

“
So what you're saying is that Roxy is the best chance you've got for helping those people out there,” Mattie said winking at Roxy. “I imagine you'd pay her a lot of money for lettin’ you take samples of her blood. I know, I would.”

Roxy smiled slyly.
“I'll let you take your samples—for free, under one condition.”

“
What's that?” Mara asked wearily.

“
My dogs come in with me. If they can’t go, then I won't go,” Roxy said.

Mara could tell by Roxy's demeanor that she wasn't kidding.
“Deal.”