The Emerald Virus (19 page)

Tuesday:
The High Rockies

    
Jack met with his bunker team Tuesday afternoon, recapped the progress to date,
and led a brainstorming session where they established priorities for the next
couple of days. The team felt they were doing the right things and didn’t see a
need for major changes. They discussed the fact that they were running out of
things to do that would help survivors.

    
Next they would go into their response mode. They would be available to all the
survivors to help talk them through the days to come. They could help them make
decisions about how to bury their dead, where to pick up an RV, where to go
initially, how to work the communication gear, and similar things.

    
In the last few days Jack had half of his team try to make contact via phone or
email with the points of contact from the municipalities that would provide
RVs. The contact information was part of the registration process on the web
site. His team offered their help to those responsible for stocking the RVs.
They could offer alternatives if suggested supplies weren’t available, and
answer questions like which size or model of RV was best, how to find the
refrigerated compartments they would need, and such.

    
Not surprisingly, the team found that not many people had questions about
materials and supplies. They did have questions about the children and how to
make sure they made good matches. Unfortunately, there were no easy answers.
People would have to make their best judgments about the quality of matches,
and make them quickly.

     
Jack still talked to A.J., Harry and Jane each day, amongst others. It pained
Jack when A.J. told him that she was now symptomatic. She was matter of fact
when she told Jack about her symptoms, and she continued to act normally. Jack
guessed that most people by now realized this was going to happen and would
just deal with it.

    
Jack asked A.J. about her family and she told him that while she had awoken two
mornings ago with red blotches, Roger’s had materialized during the course of
the day. The rest of the family had all shown symptoms within the next
twenty-four hours.

    
Jack asked her how she felt and she explained that Harry was correct in his
description. She felt like she was coming down with a cold, but without any
severe symptoms. She said that mentally she thought she was doing okay,
although she did break down when she saw the first splotches on Roger’s face.

    
She had thought about trying to cover up the splotches with make-up but quickly
realized this would be a futile effort. Especially since everyone they knew was
either now symptomatic or soon would be.

    
Meanwhile, Harry and his team in Edinburgh continued to work with the
scientists from CDC in trying to find a vaccine. No one was having any luck,
but Harry told Jack he was thankful that he was so wrapped up in his work that
he did not have time to worry about dying.

    
He explained that while some of the team left to be with family, others had
continued to work, even though they were in their final week. The hope of
course was they would discover a vaccine that would save some people. One thing
everyone agreed with was that they would spend the last three days with family,
although Harry would stay at the lab until the end. Although he had received
multiple invitations to stay with families, he didn’t see that getting to know
a family at this late stage would be best for anyone.

    
Harry’s wife Jane was the hardest one for Jack to talk with. She wasn’t holding
up well since both of her parents and both of her children had started to show
symptoms this past Thursday. However, she was thankful that she would be the
last to go and could care for her family until the end. But Jack had promised
Harry he would take care of Jane and all he could do was talk with her a couple
of times a day. Both Harry and Jane were thankful for this, but to Jack, it
didn’t seem like enough. Moreover, it was looking like Jane might be a survivor
since she was not yet showing any signs of the virus.

    
Jack and his team were amazed at the number of municipalities that were
stocking RVs. In fact Jack didn’t know there were that many RVs available. He
did some quick internet research and found out there are over eight million
households in America with an RV, and the number is growing rapidly. When he
first came up with the idea he thought many RVs provided for survivors would be
used ones, he now knew that there were enough RVs on lots around the country
that everyone should have access to a new RV.

    
After a week of registering RVs they found that over four thousand were being
prepared, and that number was growing every day. This number was in the news
each day, which motivated even more communities to prepare RVs. Jack was as
pleased as he could be. While some of his team suggested they tell communities
they had enough RVs, Jack said no to this idea. He wanted spares all over the
country. More to the point, he wanted folks to feel like they were helping
others and he saw no reason to stop the process. No harm would come out of too
many RVs being prepared.

    
One question that kept coming up was about driving the RVs. Municipalities were
concerned that survivors wouldn’t know how to drive one, or would feel that
they couldn’t drive something that large. All the team could do was ensure them
that anyone who could drive could handle an RV. No special training was needed and
no special license had been required. RVs were almost all automatic
transmission vehicles, and more importantly, there would be no traffic on the
road to deal with.

    
The only thing that Jack and his team worried about was roads that had been
blocked either intentionally or due to accidents that occurred after police and
other services had ceased. Even then, if the RVs kept to the Interstate
Highways, the worst case would be than an RV would have to go back to the last
exit and enter the Interstate on the traditional wrong side, and bypass the
blockage that way. Blockages on smaller roads would require rerouting.

    
However, the drivers should be in no hurry, would have no reason to drive after
dark, and could drive as slow or as fast as they wanted to. Backtracking should
not be a major problem.

    
In the new world anyone who could hold a steering wheel and reach the pedals
should be able to drive.

    
There was still no good news from the bunker in Atlanta. Jack talked to them
daily and they had made no progress at all. However, all of the scientists had
been in this field for years and they all knew how difficult this endeavor was.
They were nowhere near the frustration point yet and they would keep working
for as long as they were able.

      
The scientists knew they were safe from the virus unless they screwed up. The
seals on their bunker had been designed specifically for bio-safety level four
agents, such as filo viruses.

    
Jack called Harry again, and Harry answered the phone but sounded terrible.

    
Jack asked “Harry, how bad is it?”

    
“I think this will be our last phone call Jack. I think the end will come
either late today or early tomorrow. This thing works like clockwork so as bad
as I feel it won’t last long. Right now I feel like I have the worst case of
the flu I’ve ever had. Thankfully, the folks here have been as kind as they can
be.

    
“As we’ve discussed, the survivors here have been following your advice closely
and most have left for the Highlands by now. It’s a lightly populated area of
Scotland and will provide an opportunity for the Scottish survivors to
congregate for the next six months.

    
“We estimate there should be about 50 survivors in the country, although so far
we’ve only identified 37. I don’t know if there are more or not, but our
current group of survivors will continue to post messages telling others how to
contact them.

    
“Over 100 RV’s have been prepared across the country so no one is going to be
too far from an RV.”

    
“That’s great news Harry, but I’m worried about you. Are you alone now?”

    
“No I’m not. Everyone who worked here is now gone. But two of the survivors
will stay here with me until the end. Apparently I’m the last one. By the way,
one of the survivors staying with me is Anne Hamilton, the first survivor we
found. We never did get her to the CDC but she and I have become friends of a
sort. An impressive woman named Nancy Clark has accepted responsibility for
Anne and since Anne won’t leave me alone, Nancy is staying with her. I don’t think
they will have to wait too long.”

    
“I can’t tell you how sorry I am things turned out this way”

    
“I know Jack. And you know you don’t need to say anything. I’ve seen so much
death in recent days that I’m kind of immune at this point. I would guess you
feel much the same.

    
Harry continued, “To change the subject, I talked to Jane earlier today. We’ll
talk once more later today and that will be that, but her parents and the kids
have been symptomatic for five or six days now, and Jane is still not showing
signs of the virus. She might be one of the survivors.”

    
“I know. She is so disconsolate about losing you and the rest of her family
that she doesn’t want to survive, but I agree. It looks more and more like she
will. You know I’ll do everything in my power to make sure she is taken care
of. But I don’t think anyone can help with the grief. She’ll have to do that
mostly alone. I’ll talk to her as much as I can but there isn’t much else I can
do.”

    
“Jack, I know you’re right about that and I appreciate that you will still be
there for her. I’ve been telling her for the past two days how important it is
that she takes care of herself and prepares to carry on, but her heart isn’t in
it. I would guess that almost all of the survivors will feel that way. I know
that Nancy does, and that if it were not for Anne, I think she would be
depressed even more than she already is.

    
“I can’t tell you how hard this is for those who survive. Nancy and Anne are
fighting as hard as they can to continue. But they have both suffered such
great loss, and there is so much death around us, that I’m not sure if they’ll
come out of this with any semblance of being normal. I know the human spirit is
hard to break, but these circumstances are as tough as they possibly could be.

    
“Before I forget I want to tell you that Nancy will call both you and Jane when
I’m gone, just for confirmation. Nancy will also stay in touch with you and
with other survivors in the U.S. She’s a take charge kind of person and she’ll
share her experiences with others, and ask for theirs as well.

    
“Jack, that’s all I have now. I’m not feeling well and I think I want to sleep
for a while so If you don’t mind let’s call it quits. There isn’t much either
of us can say, so I’ll settle for thanking you for being my friend and wishing
you well as you try to help others. God bless you my friend.”

    
Jack responded, “Harry, having known you was my gain. I’ll miss you and our
daily talks. I hope the end isn’t too hard for you and remember, I won’t be far
behind you, and when I go I’ll have you on my mind.”

    
Jack hung up the phone and sat in his chair thinking about the years he had
known Harry Skipperton and what a good friend he had been. Tears ran down his
face as he thought of the pain his friend was going through, and of the loss he
felt with Harry’s passing. He promised himself once again that he would do all
in his power to help Jane; especially if she was one of the survivors.

Wednesday:
Baltimore, Maryland

    
Jane Silverton had been in Baltimore with her parents and two children since late
October. She knew how lucky she had been to leave Edinburgh just before the
virus arrived but, she wondered if it was actually luck. Yes, she could be with
her parents for the end but she could not be with Harry. Jane had been crying
for days just knowing that Harry had entered the final stage of the disease.
The crying had become uncontrollable since this morning when Nancy Clark had
called from Scotland to tell her Harry had left them.

    
Her parents didn’t seem to be much affected by Harry’s death and Jane was
having a difficult time with that. On the other hand, she was trying to keep
herself together at some minimal level just so she could take care of the kids.
Her parents weren’t too much help with them either. The kids knew their dad was
dying and Jane had told them this morning that Harry had passed away. They were
old enough to understand what that meant.

    
Both her parents and her children had become symptomatic six days ago and Jane
was still symptom free. She knew from talking with Jack each day that she was
likely to be a survivor and she hated it. She wanted to be able to die at the
same time her children died, and she didn’t know what she had done to God that
he would have her watch everyone close to her die when she could not.

    
Worse, the kids were having a hard time understanding that they would be next.
Jane didn’t know what to do about that. She talked to the kids each day about
life after death, and although she had never been what she thought of as
devout, she read from the bible each day and shared the information with her
children. They were slowly coming to grips with their own pending deaths and
the prospect of a life after death.

    
Jane was thankful in a way that they had no friends in the area. She would be
the only one influencing her children during the end days. She knew they didn’t
need any other children saying things that would be even scarier than the virus
itself. Jane thought the one thing that made the thought of dying acceptable
for the kids was that they were convinced they would see their father again.
Jane felt grateful for that, although she felt guilty about telling the kids
that she would be right behind them in death. She hoped her parents would not
do or say something to contradict her as they grieved their own upcoming
deaths.

    
The phone rang and Jane knew it would be Jack Sweeney. He called at least once
a day and he was the only one who called.

    
She picked up the phone and said, “Hello Jack”.

    
“Hi Jane, how are the kids today?”

    
“I think they are a little better. They still can’t believe Harry died, but
they know they’ll see him shortly. That seems to be the only thing that they
have to hold on to.”

    
“How about your parents, any improvements?”

    
“No there aren’t. Jack, I hate to say this but I left the first time because
they were just too selfish for me. Why I thought that had changed I don’t know,
but it hasn’t. They really are selfish. They don’t care about Harry, and while
they seem to love their grandkids, they are much more worried about themselves
than about the kids. And of course they seem to resent the fact that I’m not
yet sick, and that it looks like I won’t be. It makes it really hard to be
here.”

    
“Jane, I’m sorry things worked out like this. I wish I could do something about
it. As I’ve said before my apartment is yours if you want it.”

    
“I know but I can’t imagine how guilty I’d feel if I abandoned them now. They’re
going to need my help through the last couple of days, even if they don’t
deserve it.”

    
“I didn’t think you would take the offer, but I wanted to remind you. Have you
made contact with any other survivors yet?”

    
“No I haven’t. There will be time for that after everyone’s gone.”

    
“You’re probably right about that but one thing you need to do now is make
arrangements for an RV. I’ve talked to some people about that and the nearest
place to you is only about two miles away. I emailed you the name of the person
to call, the address, and directions. I promised them you would call today.”

    
“Okay Jack, I’ll do that as soon as you and I finish. I appreciate your doing
this for me, although to be truthful I really don’t care too much about what
happens with the RV.”

    
“I know you don’t, but please do this for me. I need you to be a survivor so I
can use your experiences to help other survivors. Please don’t give up on me.”

    
“I won’t. I don’t actually think I have the courage to do anything but go on
living. Are you going to be able to help me with where I’ll need to go and who
other survivors in my area are and how I’ll find them? I don’t want to be with
other people but I’m afraid to go through this alone.”

    
“Yes, you can count on me for all of that. I won’t desert you now. The most
important thing is for you to be ready to leave at the right time. We haven’t
talked about that yet but I think it’s a conversation we need to have.”

    
“Jack, I agree with you and I know what you’re trying to say, but I’m just not
ready for that yet. Please let’s wait a couple of more days before we have that
discussion, I just can’t stand thinking about losing the kids.”

    
“That’s okay Jane. We still have a little time. Do you have any thoughts about
a place you would like to see? Did you and Harry have a country place you liked
to visit or anything like that?”

    
“No, none that I’d like to go back to. I’m going to rely on you to tell me what
to do and where to go, I just don’t have any ideas at all. I don’t even care to
tell you the truth.”

    
“Okay, I just thought I’d ask. I’ll take care of all of that for you, but you
have to keep reminding yourself that in another week you will have to be ready
to drive.”

    
“Alright Jack, I’ll do what you say. Can you think of anything I can do to help
my kids? I want to do whatever I can to help them but I can’t think of anything
else to do.”

    
“Jane, I’ve been thinking as hard as I can since you first asked me but I can’t
think of anything. As you know I get a lot of email traffic with a lot of
suggestions about all kinds of things and I’ve looked for things that might
help you and the kids, but honestly there isn’t anything new.”

    
Jane sounded despondent when she said, “Okay, thanks anyway. You’ll call me if
you think of something?”

    
“Of course I will. And I’ll call you again later today, whether I’ve thought of
something new or not. And you can call me whenever you feel the need.”

    
“Thanks Jack. I’m glad I have you as a friend. I have to go and fix lunch for
the kids now. I’ll talk to you later”. Jane turned the phone off without
waiting for Jack to say anything. She didn’t even realize she had done so.

    
She went in the kitchen and started making soup and sandwiches for the kids.
She yelled into the living room and asked her folks if she could make lunch for
them. Her mother yelled back that they had a late breakfast and weren’t hungry
and she wished that Jane had waited a little longer for lunch.

    
Jane didn’t say anything. There wasn’t much she had been able to do to make her
folks happy lately, and she had given up trying. It was evident that they were
not going to be nice to her during this trauma and she could accept that. She
would protect her kids from her parents; she wasn’t worried about anything more
than that.

    
She wondered if other families were going through the same thing. The news
reports were full of stories of death and catastrophe, but had little to say about
the actual lives of people. Even the reporters failed to talk about what they
were going through. They did continue to cover all of the bad things that were
happening. Fires that burned out of control, riots in the cities, people being
shot by snipers, crime that was rampant in the inner cities and that was
spreading quickly to the suburbs, and even to small towns and cities.

    
What they weren’t doing was offering any helpful advice about how to get
through to the end. The only thing that was repeated over and over was to stay
off the streets.  She grimaced at the irony of being a survivor and having to
go out at least once to get the RV. She wondered where in the world she was
supposed to put it once she got it. She decided to worry about that later in
the week; besides, Jack would tell her all of that.

    
Her kids were upstairs playing and she called them to lunch. When they came in
the kitchen she could tell they had both been crying. Her heart felt like it
was going to break every time she saw her kids like this. She sat down and ate
lunch with them and she talked again about God’s greater plan and how they had
to have faith in him. They both assured her that they did have faith, but that
didn’t make this any easier.

    
She knew how true that was from her own experiences. But she had always had
faith, and she and Harry had passed their faith on to their children. She was
glad they had because right now that was all she could offer the kids, and it
was all they had to hold on to.

    
After lunch the kids went to the family room to read, her parents went to their
bedroom to rest and Jane went to the backyard to sit in the late fall sun. She
thought she would be alone but she saw that the neighbor was also outside
walking around her backyard.

    
When she saw Jane she walked over the fence and said “Hi, my name is Sarah.
I’ve seen you around lately but I don’t think we’ve met.”

    
Jane said, “Hi, I’m Jane, I’m here visiting my parents, and no we haven’t met
before.”

    
Sarah’s face was covered with pink splotches and she was obviously in phase two
of the disease. She asked Jane, “I can’t tell what stage of the virus you’re
in, have you found make-up that covers it that well?”

    
“No, I don’t use makeup. I just haven’t had the symptoms yet. Both of my
parents and both of my kids have been showing symptoms since last week but not
me. I wish it would hurry up. I want to be here with my family thru the end but
I don’t want to live without them.”

    
Sarah said, “You poor thing. Up until now I’ve wondered what it would be like
to be one of the lucky survivors. Maybe I’ve been wrong about the lucky part.
You don’t sound like you’re anxious to survive this thing.”

    
“You’re right about that. I hate the thought that I might survive when everyone
else is lost. I don’t have a clue what I’ll do.”

    
Both ladies were crying by now and Sarah said, “I wish I could help you but I
don’t know what to do. If you want to talk I’m right next door. It’s just my
husband and I and I don’t think he’s said two words since he started showing
symptoms.

    
“He seems to be in shock and I can’t get him to do anything. Once in a while he
gets up and fixes something to eat, or he gets a beer from the fridge, but
other than that he just sits in the living room and stares at the T.V. It
doesn’t even matter if the T.V. is on or off.

    
“So anyway, if you just want to talk let me know, I’d like to have a
conversation with another adult.”

    
“Thanks Sarah. I may do that but I think right now I need to be alone for a
while. I’m going to go back inside.”

    
Jane turned and walked back in the house. She had not been able to tell Sarah
about the loss of Harry and she didn’t know why. She just wanted to grieve
privately with her kids. But, the talk with Sarah did remind her that she had
promised Jack she would call about the RV, so she printed Jack’s email message
and dialed the phone number he had sent to her.

    
The gruff voice on the other end answered, “This is Guy Olliphant.”

    
Jane said, “Hello Mr. Olliphant, my name is Jane Silverton.  I promised Jack
Sweeney I would call you today to talk about an RV”

    
“Hi, Jane, I’ve been expecting your call. Please call me Guy. Jack told me you
aren’t showing symptoms and he thinks you are going to be a survivor. You’ll be
the first one I’ve talked to and I’m not quite sure what to say. Jack explained
that you are about to lose your husband and I want to say I’m sorry for that.

    
“I think it’s probably a little too early to give you the RV, but we have put
together a number of RVs and based on Jack’s word I will reserve one for you. I
would like you to call me again in a couple of days to confirm that you haven’t
started showing symptoms.”

    
“Thank you Mr. Olliphant, you’re very kind. I’ll call you at the end of the
week.” Jane was trying to act business like but she found she couldn’t and she
started sniffling again. She hoped she could hold off crying until after the
call.

    
“That’s good. Are there any questions you have or do you have any preference
for what type of RV will work best for you?”

    
“No I don’t. I don’t know anything about RVs or how to work them or drive them.
I wouldn’t know what to ask for. I don’t even know where to put it once I bring
it back to the house.”