The Dead War Series (Book 1): Good Intentions (6 page)

“One minute.” Felicia looked at the cab driver. “Excuse me. How far are we from Mercy Hospital?”

“With all this traffic, about ten minutes, maybe less,” the cab driver answered.

“Thank you.” Felicia put the cell back to her ear. “We're about ten minutes out. We'll meet up with you once we get there. I was told a Sgt. Peter Kominsky of the CPD was in charge at the scene.”

“He was, no one has heard from him since he went into the hospital. At least that's the latest report I have.”

“What do you have so far?”

“Apparently, there's a very hostile virus that is causing rabid and psychotic behavior in those infected. I've got reports of people biting and killing each other with their bare hands. From these reports, it would seem that in their uncontrolled state, the infected are stronger physically and highly irrational, almost like a dog infected with rabies, or a person on PCP.”

“Those are similar to the reports the CDC received,” Felicia said.

As they got closer to their destination, they began to hear the sound of rapid gunfire and see the signs of sheer panic. The driver stopped his cab, unable to go any further due to the traffic jam. People were abandoning their cars and running in the opposite direction.

“What the hell?” Felicia murmured as she looked out the window at the panicked people running by.

“Um, I think this is as far as I'm taking you. Are you sure that's where you want to go?” the driver asked. His voice wavered, showing signs of the fear and uncertainty he was feeling.

“We have to. This will be fine,” Felicia said as she paid him the amount on his mileage meter. The three scientists climbed out of the cab and immediately started making their way toward the hospital. They passed more people running in the opposite direction—some of them in hospital gowns and nothing else.

“What the fuck?” William watched a man in a wheelchair roll himself away as fast as he could. He was still in his hospital gown with his oxygen mask on his face and an oxygen tank on his lap.

“Dr. Bloomberg, how far are you?” Felicia asked as she tried to remain unperturbed by all of the chaos surrounding her.

“I'm pulling up right now. I can't get close to the hospital because of all these cars. I'm about three blocks away.”

“We're about five blocks and we're on foot,” Felicia said. “Do you have any protective gear?”

“Yes, we have a mobile unit with us.”

              “Excellent, we'll need to borrow some of you resources.”

“Of course.”

“We'll see you soon.” Felicia ended her call, slipping her cell back into her blazer pocket.

“I don't like the way this shit looks at all,” William said as he kept up his fast pace.

“You and me both,” Felicia agreed. “I think that's them.”

The trio ran towards the team of people who were suiting up in white bio-suits complete with helmets.

“Is there a Dr. Bloomberg here?” Felicia asked as she approached them.

“I'm Dr. Bloomberg. Dr. Anderson, I presume.”

“Yes.” Felicia flashed him her badge. Her colleagues did the same.

“Good.” Dr. Bloomberg said after giving each badge a quick inspection. “The suits are in the truck. I think we have just enough for the three of you.”

“Perfect.” Felicia said.

“Maybe one of you should stay behind. Here,” Dr. Bloomberg handed William his truck keys. “Just in case.”

“Are you sure?” William took the keys apprehensively. He cast a glance at Felicia then back to Dr. Bloomberg.

“Keep an eye out. It's just a precaution.” Dr. Bloomberg turned toward Felicia and Samantha. “All right, my team and I are going in now. We have walkie-talkies and once we're in, we can give you an update.”

“All right.” Felicia nodded as she stepped into the bio-suit.

“You should wait to hear back from me before you go in,” Dr. Bloomberg advised.

“We're coming in there soon, you just stay safe---Jesus!” Felicia gasped as the sound of gunfire echoed throughout the area.

“Yeah, we've been hearing a lot of that.” Dr. Bloomberg looked toward the hospital entrance as more police officers rushed in. “Please, wait until you hear back from me,” he pleaded.

Felicia looked at him. She saw how sincere he was and nodded. “All right. We'll wait until we hear back from you. But if I don't hear back from you soon, I'm going in.”

“Fair enough.” Dr. Bloomberg turned and walked toward the hospital with his team.

Felicia and her team zipped up their bio-suits as they watched his team enter the hospital. “Be safe.” she gave them a silent prayer.

***

              Vincent was relived to finally get a stroke of luck. After making numerous attempts at several different businesses lining the street whose front desk employees took one look at his attire and then promptly asked him to leave, he eventually found a hotel where the receptionist allowed him to use the telephone. He contacted the CDC and when he got a hold of someone, after he confirmed who he was, he told them about SciTech Labs. They patched him through to one of the administrative personnel who was more than eager to speak with someone from SciTech Labs.

“My name is Dr. Bryant Washington,
Assistant Surgeon General and Director, Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response,
and your name?”

“I'm Doctor Vincent Masterson, a head-researcher at SciTech Labs. My director was Dr. Steve Morris. Look, I know you have no reason to believe I am who I say I am, but I swear I'm not lying. We have an emergency outbreak in Chicago and we need to contain it as soon as possible,” Vincent said in a rush of words he hoped were coherent enough.

“We were just made aware of the situation, Doctor Masterson. We've received several telephone calls from other employees of SciTech Labs, hospitals, as well as our contacts from the Illinois Department of Public Health.” Dr. Bryant Washington informed.  “We received a call from a Dr. Richard Benton, who informed us about your possible involvement. He mentioned that you and your team were working on a secret military project and that your lab received a distress call this morning, one of your doctors was injured?”

Vincent gave a silent prayer; thanking God that Richard was still alive. At least he hoped he was still alive. He had to bring himself back to the present to focus on the doctor's questions.

“That's true. I am directly involved with what's going on,” Vincent replied. “One of my doctors was seriously injured and was rushed to Mercy Hospital. The other was killed by one of our infected test subjects.”

“Mercy Hospital is the second location we've been receiving calls from. I've just sent a team there and we’re sending more units as fast as we can to St. Noel Hospital as well as SciTech Labs and several other locations where outbreaks have been reported.”

“What?” Vincent gasped as he struggled to comprehend how quickly the epidemic was spreading. If an epidemic was what it was—he didn’t even know how to define it.

“What can you tell us about the situation since you're directly involved?” Dr. Washington asked.

Vincent had to gather his thoughts before he could answer him. He was still reeling from the fact that several locations were already under attack in so little time. He shook his head to clear his mind when he heard Dr. Washington repeat his name. “I’m sorry. How many places have the outbreak now?”

“SciTech, Mercy General Hospital, St. Noel Hospital, a McDonalds, and several other locations,” Dr. Washington informed.

“Dr. Washington, I can't understand what is actually happening with this outbreak. For me to fully explain everything or even how we can come up with some sort of vaccine, I need to get back into SciTech Labs. Unfortunately, at this point, it's impossible. I barely escaped with my life. I need to get to a safe location and people need to evacuate the city as fast as possible.”

There was a slight pause as Dr. Washington reflected on the new threat. “Where are you at now?”

“I'm standing in the lobby of the Regency Hotel, but I can't stay here. I need to get back to my condo and gather whatever research I have on my hard drives and then my fiancée and I have to get the hell out of the city,” Vincent said. His voice rose an octave as he struggled to keep calm.

“We don't need you creating a panic among the residents of the city—”

“There's already a panic, Doctor. It's been less than an hour and already several places have been attacked and more of those things are rising up and killing,” Vincent pointed out.

“Let me connect you with our team of doctors who are already in Chicago. Perhaps you can meet up with them,” Dr. Washington suggested, not really certain what the right move should be.

This wasn't like any other outbreak he'd ever heard of. It wasn't like anything he'd ever experienced. He wasn't sure if normal protocols were going to help. Already, he had received a telephone call from Dr. Michael Bloomberg, one of the head researchers at the IDPH regarding the state of affairs in Chicago and from what he had described, it seemed like the End of Days was just beginning. He put Vincent on hold while he connected the call to Felicia's cell phone. He made the introductions quickly before demanding an update.

“I’m preparing to go into Mercy Hospital with my team,” Dr. Felicia Anderson said, bringing
her boss
up to date. “Dr. Masterson,” she began, addressing the other man, “the more you can tell us about this highly unusual outbreak, the faster we can contain it.”

“Dr. Anderson, as I've told Dr. Washington, I really don’t know what it is. I can’t explain it. All of my research is located on the sixth floor of SciTech Labs, room 608. Even with all of my research, I can’t explain how the dead are walking.”

“Did you just say the dead are walking?” Felicia asked, hoping she misheard him.

“That's exactly what's happening. We need to evacuate the city as soon as possible. The people infected with this—whatever it is—are extremely strong and fast.” Vincent did his best to give them the information he’d gathered just by his own observations.

“We haven't heard any reports of dead people walking again, Dr. Masterson--”

“--Listen to me, it's obvious the reports you've been getting are seriously lacking in information. I've seen with my own eyes, people who've been killed get back up and start attacking anyone in sight,” Vincent said.

“Fine, I won't argue. Can you tell us anything? Like what happened? How did this start?” Felicia asked.

“One of our test subjects died as a direct result of a failed experiment. Before it died, we tried several vaccines—new vaccines to restore its health—but none of them worked. Shortly after the test subject 12-19 died, it came back to life. No heartbeat, no pulse and very little brain activity. The only parts of the brain that seemed to be working were the primary motor cortex and the hypothalamus,” Vincent said, remembering the brain activity he saw on the monitor before the ape escaped.

“That would explain why—” Felicia was cut off by someone screaming in the background. “What’s going on? Talk to me, what’s going on?!” She was yelling at someone through a two-way receiver.

All three of them could hear the static over the screams through the telephone line.

“Get out of there, pull back. Get back to the truck,” Felicia said, giving her best instructions.

There were more screams and crying over the static, then the unmistakable sound of the walkie-talkie hitting the floor. Felicia knew that the doctor from the IDPH who’d been trying to give her updates had dropped the radio. Over the telephone both men could hear the shrill, panicked screams from what sounded like hundreds of people in the background. They waited impatiently for Felicia to return to their conversation and update them.

“Dr. Anderson, what's going on?” Dr. Washington asked, his tone concerned and urgent. 

“I... I don't know. A team of doctors from IDPH went into the hospital to help control the situation, but I've lost contact with them. One minute.” Felicia tried to contact the doctor again. “Dr. Bloomberg, are you there? Are you all right?”

There was no response. Both Vincent and Dr. Washington listened very carefully, hoping to gain some understanding about her current predicament.

“Listen, if you can hear me, just get the hell out of there,” Felicia urged.

Vincent listened to the background chaos. There was no mistaking the sounds of people screaming in fear and confusion and running for their lives. Whatever was happening was going to be heading his way and soon. He needed to get back to his condo. He needed to get to his fiancée. More importantly, he needed to get the hell out of Chicago.

Several painfully terror-driven moments passed before the two men on the telephone heard Felicia scream Dr. Bloomberg's name.

“Felicia, I think you need to worry about yourself and your team, get the hell out of that area, it doesn't sound safe,” Dr. Washington stated.

“One minute, someone's coming out...” she paused.  “Oh my God! Let’s get out of here!”

Vincent jumped when he heard the urgency in her terror-stricken voice. He could only imagine what she was seeing. If it was anything like what he'd witnessed at SciTech, then he knew that the situation was not under control—far from it actually.