AB (The Blake Reynolds Chronicles Book 1) (4 page)

“We saw an immense
fire in the sky then heard a loud explosion that shook the ground. Many people
were terribly frightened. Some said that it was a terrible omen. Others fell to
their knees and began to pray. After the initial shock of the explosion, people
slowly began returning to their normal routines. Then the dust started to fall,”
Afu said. His eyes were darting around wildly.

”Then what
happened?” Captain Nellis asked.

“About an hour
later, a few of the people in our village began to feel extremely sick and had
a high fever. After a while, those who had gotten sick became unconscious. As
we tried to help them with their high fevers, we noticed their eyes started to
turn yellow and red. About thirty minutes later they started to become violent
and attack us. At first, we were able to contain them. But by the end of the
hour, half of the island had changed.”

Afu reached for
a glass of water and drank it swiftly. He looked at the others with a terrified
but sad look and continued. “Later, it was all about surviving. I ran and
grabbed my brother, sister-in-law, wife, and children. We just started running!
We managed to avoid the monsters until we came to our grandparents’ house. When
we got there, we found our cousin hacking them to pieces with a machete. When he
saw us, he charged, and I had no choice but to shoot him.” His eyes filled with
tears. “I-I shot him… What is happening here?”

Captain Nellis stared
back at Afu then the others. “I don’t know, but we intend to find out.”

When he
finished speaking, the chief medical officer entered the room with a lab
technician. “I would like to draw some blood from all of you to see why you
have not been infected while the others have.” The children hid behind their
parents nervously, and the adults nodded.

John left the
room and went back on deck. He walked over to two Marines and a lab technician
standing on the railing.

“I want you to go
to the end of the dock where the attackers were brought down and bring their
bodies back to the ship for examination.”

“Yes sir.”

Without any
hesitation, the three men scrambled down the stairs in their HAZMAT suits while
the other Marines covered them from behind with the scope of their guns in case
any infected attackers came.

The lab technician drew blood from
all three of the infected corpses. The two Marines grabbed the most intact body,
and then all three men hurried back to the ship. Once on board, they took the
body down to the morgue for a full autopsy. The chief medical officer met them
there and ordered a lab technician to take the blood samples he had drawn and
run every test they had.

Captain Nellis decided to radio Pacific
Command to let them know what was happening on the island. He was immediately transferred
to Admiral Galloway.

“Captain, is what my aide reported to
me true?” the admiral asked.

John shifted his weight and adjusted
the headpiece on his HAZMAT suit. “Yes it is, sir. We know almost nothing about
what is happening here, other than some locals are infected while others
aren’t. I have ordered all personnel to remain in their HAZMAT suits until
further notice. But as you know, we can only remain in them for twelve hours
before all the oxygen filters we have on board are used up.”

The admiral ran his hands through
his hair and stared at the floor silently. He looked back at the screen and
said, “OK, Captain. I will contact Washington and let them know what is
happening. I suppose they will want a better update soon. You are our eyes and
ears at ground zero. Someone will get back to you in sixty minutes.”

After the call ended, Captain Nellis
ordered all of his senior staff members to the conference room.

“It appears that we have some kind
of full-blown epidemic spreading on the island, somehow connected to the
meteor. I want all the resources on this ship to aid in the discovery of what
the cause is. I have been ordered to update Washington in thirty minutes. Get
to work.”

The senior staff members ran off to
do their assignments and to get their departments to work.

John walked into the conference
room; the medical staff was already assembled.

“As you know I have a call with
Washington in a few minutes. What is our status?”

The chief medical officer stood and spoke
for the group. “We still know extremely little about what has happened here.
All of the uninfected islanders appear to be in perfect health with no signs of
psychosis, abnormal behavior, or abnormal blood work. On the other hand, the
infected all had abnormal levels of adrenalin and dopamine in their blood. They
also had some unusual neural pathways in their brains. Oh, and one other thing…
all the uninfected survivors had type O blood. The three infected samples that
we took were all type A or B. At this point, we don’t know if these correlate,
but it is all we have to go on.”

“Good work, people. Keep pushing – the
islanders’ lives are depending on us.” John then turned to the chief medical
officer. “Dr. Fuller, I will need you on the call with me to Washington.”

Within minutes, John, Dr. Stacy Fuller,
and Admiral Galloway were patched into the Global Council’s conference call. Most
of the primary leaders of the free world were on the video call.

The president stood and addressed the
council. “Gentlemen, several days ago we discussed the possibility that the Earth
might be hit by a meteor. We were relieved yesterday when we learned that it
had exploded in the high atmosphere with no seemingly detrimental effects on
the planet. However, it appears that our relief was premature. It has been
brought to my attention that the meteor has caused an infection on the island near
where it exploded. We had a medical ship in the vicinity, and they have been
investigating the effects of the meteor on the islanders.”

After the president made some brief
introductions, he directed the captain and the chief medical officer to address
the council.

John stood and gave a brief summary
of events. Dr. Fuller then updated the council on what they had discovered
about the infection.

Prime Minister Stokes of Australia next
addressed the council. “Gentlemen, only moments ago I received a report that
thousands of our citizens on our east coast and in New Zealand have started
becoming ill. It appears that in a matter of thirty minutes, our hospitals in
those areas became filled to capacity.” After a moment’s pause, he addressed Captain
Nellis and Dr. Fuller. “At this point, do you know if there is anything we can
do for our infected citizens?”

Dr. Fuller stared at the floor and
replied, “No, sir. At this point, we don’t know what is causing the infection.”

“Well, then God help us all,” Prime
Minister Stokes said with melancholy in his voice.

President Fisher stood and addressed
the council. “With the news from Prime Minister Stokes, I think we need to
prepare for the possibility of a global pandemic. Until we have further details,
I recommend that we try to keep this as quiet as possible. However, I leave it
up to each nation to decide what is best for their country.”

Each leader started whispering to
their aides in their rooms; a few stood and left the rooms they were in.

The president then turned to John.
“Any final words?”

“If this hits your country, it
appears there is nothing that you can do about it. So prepare to take drastic
action against the infected.”

With John’s final comments, the
meeting ended.

After the meeting the president spoke
with his officers. “I need an update in sixty minutes. Please have more details
for me.”

All three men saluted in unison and
said, “Yes sir!” All the screens then went blank.

After the meeting, John and Dr. Fuller
returned to the ship’s lab to see if any progress had been made. As they walked
down the steps, Dr. Fuller got an idea. After they entered the room, she turned
to one of the other doctors in the lab. “What is it in A and B blood that is
different from O blood?”

The other doctor replied, “If I
remember correctly, it is that type A and B have alleluias receptors on the
blood cell, and O blood type doesn’t.”

Dr. Fuller nodded. “Correct. Now what
if the meteor had something inside of it? Say, a spore or bacteria that enters
the bloodstream through the lungs and attaches itself to the blood cells. Once in
the bloodstream the foreign invaders could hitch a ride until it reaches the
host brain. It could then somehow rewire the brain, making the person become
psychotic and forget who they are.”

The other doctor’s helmet bobbled as
he nodded in understanding. She grinned because she knew that they now had a
hypothesis they could work with.

At the end of the hour, Dr. Fuller and
John reported their findings to the council. The world now had something to
work on, if there was still time.

John stood next to Dr. Fuller in
front of the video screen as she reported her findings to the council.

John was surprised when Prime
Minister Stokes interrupted. He had a clenched jaw, and his breathing was raspy.
“This is all very interesting, but half of my country is now showing signs of the
infection, and the first infected are becoming psychotic! Most of our country
is in a state of panic. The chaos has already gotten to a level that the police
and military can’t handle it. Please, can anyone help?”

On the screen John could see the
sweat running down the prime minister’s face as no one had any suggestions.
“For God’s sake, somebody must have an idea!” the prime minister pleaded.

One by one, the other countries on
the western side of the Pacific Rim reported there was nothing that they could
do, as they were also starting to get reports of people becoming ill in their
countries.

John noticed President Fisher, who
was on a portion of the screen, stand. He was rubbing the back of his neck with
his hands. “Listen, we need all the countries that the infection has not
reached yet to put all their resources to coming up with a solution!” His voice
started to strain. “Don’t fool yourself; what is happening in Australia will
happen to each and every one of your countries. I know that some of you are
doing everything that you can, and some of you are in denial and are refusing
to let your scientists help.” Fisher’s nostrils started flaring, and his eyes
got wide as he looked at the screen that showed the Russian representative.
“But if this planet is to survive, we will need everybody’s help. We will
reconvene in two hours to report any progress.”

After the meeting ended, John turned
to Dr. Fuller. “From what I just saw, it looks like we are the world’s best
hope.”

Under orders
from the Pentagon, Captain Nellis had remained anchored off the coast of Niue. The
entire crew was working furiously the entire time trying to discover everything
they could about the infection. After eighteen hours, all of the bio-filters on
the HAZMAT suits were beginning to clog up with CO
₂
. With everyone
on board in their HAZMAT suits full-time, all the filters on the ship were used
up. After twenty-four hours, the situation was becoming critical.

Captain Nellis
convened a quick meeting with his senior staff.

“We have a serious
situation here. We believe from our investigation and initial reports around
the world that only people of non-O blood type are threatened.” Captain Nellis’s
eyes quickly darted around the small room with a pained stare. He suddenly
surprised everyone by removing the hood off his HAZMAT suit. “I don’t recommend
that everyone does the same thing just yet. I know that I am type O, but I
couldn’t let anyone in my command do the same until I did it first. In the long
run, it probably doesn’t matter much because our filters are almost used up. So
we need to make the hard decision of what to do next. I know that many of you
in this room will have to make the hardest decision of your lives. You all know
what is at stake. The world is counting on us to continue our work on
understanding the infection. We are probably further along than anyone else in
the world. We have the expertise to get the job done.”

The men and
women in the room looked around at one another, some with panic in their eyes
and others with bold courage, knowing that the time to decide was soon.

The lieutenant
in charge of the Marine contingent on board walked up next to the captain and was
the first to speak. “I think it is clear that we only have two choices. We
can’t have any infected on board, so we either need to detain and then dispose
of the ones that will be infected or move us to the shore of the island. I
don’t say this lightly… I am AB negative and know that I will be infected. But
being a soldier, I know that this is bigger than me.” He then removed his hood.
“I speak for myself and all my Marines. We know our duty. I have given orders
to my soldiers that are of type O blood to confine the rest of us in the brig.
As soon as we start turning, we are to be shot and our bodies thrown overboard.
None of us want to turn into one of the beasts we saw when we first docked.”

Captain Nellis
stepped forward and put his hand on the lieutenant’s shoulder. “Thanks you,
Lieutenant. I respect your courage.”

“Now I need
each of you department heads to return and break the news to your direct
reports. Let them know what the two options are. We will ferry any non-O personnel
to the island if that is their choice. Have everyone report on the deck in
fifteen minutes.”

John returned
to the bridge and gathered its staff. As he entered the room many of the men
and women had shock on their faces to see him without the hood to his HAZMAT
suit.

“Listen up. I
have just talked with the senior staff on what our options are regarding the
infection and the situation with the air filters.”

As John looked
around the room he could see terror in some of their eyes.

“We can’t stay
in our suits much longer, so we only have two options. The non-O blood type personnel
can either be placed in the brig or be ferried over to the shore of the island.
We will be meeting on the deck in ten minutes with all of the ship’s personnel
for everyone to declare their blood type and to make their decisions.

John walked out
of the bridge onto the command deck and paced back and forth, looking down on
the deck of the ship while the entire crew assembled.

The majority of
the personnel had removed their HAZMAT suits, but not all. John could only
assume they were non-O and had not been resigned to their fate.

John looked
down on his crew; sadness filled every part of his body and his legs began to weaken.
He had to hold onto the railing to steady himself. Every few minutes he could
hear one of his crew cough. He knew that the change was starting for some of
them.

John looked
down to the small group of Marines and nodded to them, which was the signal to
begin. Each took up different positions on the deck.

Captain Nellis
raised his arms, and the entire crew looked in his direction.

“It has been an
honor to serve as your captain. You are some of the best and brightest that our
great nation has to offer. For many of you this will be the last time we will
see each other in this life. But if God is willing, we will have a great
reunion in the next. The dead will be remembered by the living, and your
sacrifices this day will not be in vain.”

As John paused
to catch his breath, more coughs broke the silence.

“I need each of
you to step up to the Marines one by one and show them your dog tags. You will
then be divided into three groups. Os will return to you stations. The non-Os
who wish to be placed into the brig until the end will go to the starboard
side. The non-Os who wish to be taken to the island will move to the port side.
God bless you all.”

John stood on
the command deck, looking down on the deck as each of the crew stepped forward
and presented their dog tags.

As each of the
O personnel slowly returned to the posts, John could see survivor’s guilt on
their faces.

Most others
chose to be placed in the brig and await their fate. Only a handful chose to go
to the island.

The whole
process had taken less than fifteen minutes. The fate of half his crew had been
sealed.

John fought
back the tears as the last crewmember made his choice.

It only took
the Marines ten minutes to ferry the handful of infected crew to the island. When
they returned they quickly took up positions to help guard the rest of the
infected crew in the brig.

John was
meeting with what was left of his senior staff when one of the Marines came
running into the room.

“Sir, you had
better get down to the brig. They are starting to change.”

John turned to Dr.
Fuller. “You should come also.”

All three ran
out of the room, down the hall and down the stairs to where brig was.

As the three
entered the large room, behind the bars, what stared back at them filled them
with terror. Many of their friends and shipmates stared back at them with red
and yellow eyes. They were reaching through the bars trying to grab them. Their
clicking and hissing sounds did not even sound human.

John scanned
the cell. Some had changed; others were lying on the ground unconscious. One
young Marine was doing his best moving from person to person to comfort or help
the ones lying on the ground.

In the corner
John could see the lieutenant sitting on the ground, very pale and with sweat
running down his face.

“Captain, it is
time. I don’t want to turn into one of those things.” He then turned to the sergeant
who was now in charge of what was left of the Marines on board. “You have your
orders.”

The sergeant
then turned to the captain. John just nodded his head.

The two then
stood back, and the sergeant turned to the other five Marines who were standing
guard. “You heard the lieutenant’s orders. Fire.”

One by one the
infected in the cage fell to the ground. Blood covered the floor and started to
flow out of the cage.

Dr. Fuller
screamed in horror as the bodies fell.

John wanted to
turn his head but knew that he needed to watch.

It was over in
seconds.

“Dr. Fuller how
many of the bodies would you like to keep on board to run your test on?”
Captain Nellis said quietly.

Stacy had
trouble forming a reply on her lips. “Umm… five should do.”

“Sergeant, with
this many bodies we can’t have a proper funeral for them, so just put them
overboard and we will consign their souls to the sea. We will have time to mourn
them later.”