Victor Methos - Plague

“Mrs. Greaton.”

She turned to see a young girl with a long black ponytail and pink sandals standing beside her.

“What is it, Annie?”

“Jacob puked all over the desk.”

She looked over to see a young boy who had begun to cry near the back of the room. She rose and walked over to him to make sure he was all right, but stopped when she noticed the color of the vomit: it was black, with what looked like bits of meat or coffee grounds mixed in. She hurried to her desk and grabbed her cell phone, dialing the number to the school nurse.

Dale Baer sat latched to a telephone pole thirty-five feet in the air. He was splicing a wire that had been damaged during last night’s rainstorm and he leaned back, letting his lower legs take the brunt of his weight, and pulled out a bottle of water. He mixed in two Alka-Seltzers and drank down a few sips. He had been feeling hot today and a migraine pounded in his head like a drum. But no one else could provide for his family. His wife stayed home and they had six children under the age of ten. Sugar Cane Electric, the company he worked for, which had received a private contract from the utility company for the repair of damaged power lines, allowed only a few days of paid sick time and he had used them already when he had broken a rib playing football with his brothers.

Dale looked down to the street and watched the passing cars. He had a difficult time focusing on the ground and it suddenly dawned on him that he was experiencing something he had never experienced in nineteen years of work: vertigo. For the first time in his life, heights were unmanageable.

He began his slow descent back to the sidewalk, and as he did so, he acutely felt the fatigue that had been nagging him the past few days. It made his limbs feel heavy, like he was moving through water, and his thoughts were muddled and clouded. He would have to go home; he wasn’t about to risk a fall. He would just have to figure out a way to work a double some time down the line to make up for it. He got to the ground and unhooked himself from the safety belt.

A few people on the sidewalk were waiting for a bus. Dale smiled at a woman that was listening to an iPod and noticed that she had dropped what looked like a credit card on the ground.

“Excuse me,” he said, “I think you dropped this.”

He bent down to retrieve it and felt pressure in his head, like it was too heavy to keep up anymore and his neck had lost strength. It was so sudden that it flung him forward onto his stomach on the pavement. He heard someone yell for help.

How odd, he thought. He’d clearly just lost his balance. As he lifted his face from the pavement, he felt the warm slick of blood and saw that it was spewing out of his mouth and nose and pooling in a large puddle around him.

The paramedics did not arrive until eleven minutes later. By that time, Dale Baer had bled to death.

Samantha Bower stood at the entrance to the gymnasium and looked over the patients that were huddled onto cheap gray cots. There were over two hundred with only ten staff to look after them but it was impressive how much that small number of staff could really do.

She glanced over toward the other entrance and saw Duncan Adams interviewing one of the patients. He was wearing a full smock with mask and gloves as all the staff were. But he was still joking around and making the patients laugh. He noticed her looking and waved. She waved back.

The governor was expected to take to the airwaves in about five minutes and a mac had been set up on a desk in one of the other rooms of the rec center. Duncan walked over a few minutes later having already thrown his mask and latex gloves in the trash. He sat down on a stool near the desk.

“We’re starting to see a lot of kids.”

Samantha was a quiet a moment. “I know.”

“When’s the trip to Peru?”

“I have it booked for five days from now.”

“Who else is going?”

“A lot of people it seems. Ralph is coming. He never comes on field assignments like this so I’m guessing he thinks it’s either going to be an adventure he can tell stories about at parties or he thinks he can write a book about it. Then some people from the CDC and one guy from the FBI. They seem to think this is a matter of national security.”

“It’s not totally far fetched. Smallpox could’ve been sold to the North Koreans or any number of countries. I wouldn’t put it past the Russians at this point. They’ve become a criminal state.”

“I really hope you’re wrong.”

“Why? Because you don’t want to believe humanity can be so inhuman? I’ll give you a tip: never underestimate how cruel people can be to each other.”

There was commotion on the mac’s screen and they saw the governor come to the podium among flashes of photography.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “thank you for being here. I would first like to thank the efforts of Police Chief Talona, and our friends from the Army Medical Unit and the Centers for Disease Control. I know each and every one of them is working tirelessly to ensure that our citizens remain protected and that this crisis will soon be a memory.

“As it has been made public, we are facing a public health scare unlike any our state has faced before. I know many of you have been praying and sending contributions or even volunteering on the island to lend a hand to your fellow Hawaiians and I want you to know that I am eternally grateful. None of us should stand alone, and as Darwin once remarked, ‘a weakened animal is never alone.’ Together, I know we can overcome any tragedy that befalls us.

“We have faced war, we have faced famine, invasion, pestilence, and deadly storms throughout our history. They have been painful episodes, but episodes nonetheless. They, like all things, have passed and we have moved on. Perhaps a little stronger and a little wiser for the wear.

“I know that in times of uncertainty there is fear. You are all worried about your families and friends, as am I. But I can assure you that everything is being done to guarantee that this episode in our history is like every other: evanescent. In the meantime, we must be cautious. As of this moment, all transportation to and from the island of Oahu is halted. Employers on the island have been notified that all businesses are to be closed by tomorrow morning along with public facilities such as schools and other government buildings, parks, and beaches. I know this will be hard. Many of you live in our great state for the sole purpose of being out in wondrous nature. However, we must keep our fellow citizens in mind at this time of need and I ask that you remain home with your families, only traveling out if absolutely necessary.

“All the physicians and biologists and public health experts have assured us that the quickest way for this illness to pass is to end daily public life for a while. We must be vigilant and accept the fact that, for at least the foreseeable future, our lives will be altered. But I have no doubt that we will soon be out on our fine beaches, eating at our wonderful restaurants, and enjoying the natural beauty of our largest island.

“I thank you for your time, for your patience, and for your efforts in helping your fellow citizens. God bless Hawaii, and God bless the United States of America. Thank you.”

Samantha looked to Duncan who whistled through his teeth. “All transportation?” he said. “That’s pretty crazy.”

“There’s no other way to keep it from the mainland.”

“It’s going to get there anyway.”

“I think we’ve done a pretty good job of keeping it out.”

“Doesn’t matter. This is nature we’re talking about. It’s fluid, constantly adapting. Viruses are nature in its purest form. They have one purpose, one burning desire and they will do anything to achieve that desire. Nature’s ends tend to get accomplished. The virus wants to spread. It’ll spread until it can’t anymore.”