Dawn of a New Day (6 page)
Authors: Nick Mariano
At 8:00 P.M. that night the President addressed the nation and for the first time officially acknowledged that the Super Virus previously used by ISIS terrorists in New York had resurfaced in North Carolina. He said that DHS and the CDC were actively working on containing the virus and on finding a cure or inoculation for its prevention. The City of Wilmington, Ground Zero, was now off limits to the public and no one was allowed to enter or leave the area. The public was advised that initial signs of the virus were a sore throat, excessive coughing and discoloration of the skin over parts of the body. Persons were advised that if they displayed any of these symptoms they should proceed immediately to the nearest hospital for treatment. What the President didn’t tell the public was that currently there was no treatment and that persons believed to be infected would be relocated to interment camps until a decision could be made about how to deal with the infectees. The President also encouraged people to stay indoors for the next week unless it was necessary to do otherwise. The U.S. Government had also enacted a curfew at all the towns surrounding the Wilmington area. Persons were required to be indoors during the hours of 8:00 P.M. and 8:00 A.M. National Guard troops were patrolling these areas and persons disobeying the curfew would be arrested and detained. The FAA had curtailed all flights originating or with connections from Asia for the next seven days. No planes would be allowed to land or depart to or from any Asian country. The President advised that the rationale for this move was the fact that the virus had jumped across the ocean and that major outbreaks had been reported in Korea and Malaysia. CDC Global Rapid Response Teams had been dispatched to several countries to help stop the spread of the virus. The President also informed the public that the virus could produce zombie like characteristics in some of the infected and that contact with these people could be fatal if they are encountered and not avoided. The speech concluded by the President saying that the United States was working around the clock to stabilize the situation both here and abroad and that daily news updates would be posted on all major networks.
Following the news conference the President met with his National Security Council, Homeland Security, the CDC and the Department of Defense. After a very heated discussion, it was agreed that troops and police officers, encountering infectees who had progressed to the zombie stage, were now allowed to exercise deadly force. They were not required to try to detain these people since they were beyond help or cure. Authorities were advised that head shots were recommended since a number of infectees who were shot otherwise had reanimated a short time later. Interment camps were being established at a number of stadiums and armories, however, CDC doctors stressed that once a person became infected there was little or no hope that he could be cured at this time.
So far only two cases had been reported outside the Wilmington area although it appeared that as many as one hundred federal employees could have been infected at the Federal Building in Wilmington. It appeared that the canisters that were retrieved from a sunken U-boat may have been brought back there by an unsuspecting FBI Agent and that one of the canisters may have discharged and then circulated through the AC ducts further infecting people. Police authorities were now tracking down all employees from that Federal Building to ascertain the condition of their health. With some luck the U.S. might be able to contain the spread of the virus if the general public listened to announced instructions. The fact still remained that Asia was a mess and how the spread of the virus could be contained there was not certain. Thousands were already infected and passengers from the Passenger Zero flight to Korea and Malaysia had dispersed and traveled to numerous other countries further complicating the situation.
The United Nations was holding a special session later that day and doctors from the CDC were scheduled to address the delegations and bring everyone up to date on the Super Virus and it’s projected spread. The world was at risk of suffering a major pandemic of epic proportions, the likes of which had never been seen in modern times.
Harold Mathews from the CDC decided to travel down to Myrtle Beach and talk to Gary and Reed, the two divers who had found the mystery box while diving the U-756. He was interested in learning more about the Wilmington incident and also wanted to take a break from the hectic schedule he was keeping in Wilmington. He met the divers at a local restaurant and they had some small talk before discussing their find. They had found the box a short distance from the sunken U-boat and it appeared to them that the sub may have blown up from the inside based on how the metal of the hull appeared to be blown outward from the super structure. They used an air bag to bring the box up and decided they would contact a local expert on World War II and U-boats in order for him to examine their find. When they opened the steel box and ascertained that it contained some sort of canisters, they decided the box and it’s contents should be handed over to the authorities. Strauss said he would call the FBI and have someone retrieve the box and it’s contents for further examination and it was at that point that the boat Captain, Gary and Reed, departed and left Strauss to handle matters further. What transpired after they left was not known. Mathews asked if the canisters appeared to be leaking when they opened the box and both Gary and Reed replied “No.” Mathews also inquired if they were sure that the box had been on the U-boat prior to its sinking. Both replied, “As far as they could determine, as there was no other wreckage near the U-boat.” Mathews and the divers finished their lunch and they asked Mathews if he could fill them in on what had happened since they last saw Strauss. Mathews said a lot of the information was classified, however, he could tell them that it appeared that Strauss had been exposed to the contents from one of the canisters and that he became infected by what they believe was a Super Virus that had been developed by the Nazis toward the end of World War II. Since neither of the divers was experiencing any ill effects, the exposure must have been after they left Strauss at his office.
So far there had been six deaths in Wilmington. Strauss, the two people at the hospital that he attacked and two additional hospital aids that were exposed to the virus somewhere along the way. The CDC Rapid Response Team was still trying to locate all the people who had been in the Federal Building where Agent Taylor had left the box with the canisters. Mathews theorized that one canister had exposed at least Strauss, if not Taylor too; one may have exposed only Taylor and one was believed to have exposed the Federal Building. How the last canister was discharged was not known although examination revealed that all canisters had been discharged at some point. Fortunately there were still remnants of the virus present in two of the canisters and so scientists at the CDC were able to extract samples and begin work on analyzing the contents.
A Command Post had been set up at the Police Department and police officers and National Guard were patrolling the area, on the lookout for possible infectees. The quarantine appeared to be holding and although there were hundreds of news people now at the perimeter, access and exit was strictly controlled. The biggest worry of infectees still appeared to be the Federal Building in Wilmington. Fifty of the one hundred people who had reported in as sick had been tracked down. Twenty-five had normal illnesses not related to the virus, however, the other twenty-five were infected and relocated to detention centers. Without a cure for the virus the main question was “What do we do when these people begin to turn?” They were separated into small groups but it was just a matter of time before they began to turn on each other. The matter was brought up with the President and his National Security Council, in consultation with the CDC, and it was finally agreed that the most humane thing to do was euthanize the people as soon as it was confirmed that they were turning. No one had even come back to normal after they reached stage three of the infection, eruption of the skin with sores and oozing fluids. The next stage was the zombie stage and controlling the detainees at that point would be a problem.
Mathews also stayed in close contact with the CDC Teams in Korea and Malaysia. It now appeared that the degree of infection in Korea was minimal as most people on the Taylor flight had merely transited the Airport and were not fully infected at this point. Malaysia was another story however; the number of confirmed cases had climbed to almost 4,000, double the number from the preceding day. Reports of zombie attacks were also on the rise and the city of Kuala Lumpur was on lock down. All stores and businesses had been ordered to close for at least the next week and military troops had been moved into the city to assist the national police. One of the most serious attacks so far took place at the trendy Pavillion Kuala Lumpur Shopping Mall in the Bukit Bintang District of the city. The mall entails over 1.37 million square feet and on an average day several thousand people shop there and use the massive food court on its lower level. Ten infectees had somehow gained entry into the mall and went on an attack spree, which lasted over fifteen minutes before mall security, and police neutralized the threat. Over 75 people were attacked and bitten in this period and 10 had fled the mall before police could detain them. Another attack took place at the Petronas Twin Towers where two employees of that building suddenly went wild and started to attack fellow co-workers on the thirtieth floor. Over thirty people were infected before police and security could reach the floor of the disturbance. CDC teams were actively inoculating people although no one knew how effective the X554 vaccine was. The fact that the virus had mutated in Malaysia because of the smog and air pollution meant that the CDC and Malaysian health authorities were dealing with something quite different from the U.S. version of the virus. Blood samples had been flown back to Atlanta and Fort Detrick in Maryland for scientists and doctors to analyze. It was still confirmed that the Nazi virus was a strain of the flu, plague and rabies, however, that fact that several people had lung infections from the air pollution tended to add another element to the equation, one that the scientists still couldn’t figure out.
Finally a few days later someone figured things out. There was actually a simple answer. Many of the people infected in the Asian countries were already affected by the fires in Indonesia and had developed respiratory problems or even pneumonia as a result. A large percentage of these would develop pneumococcal pneumonia, a bacterial strain of pneumonia that affected the lungs and could spread to other parts of the body, including the blood. Many of the cases could also result in Bacteremia, an infection of the blood that lead to low blood pressure and damage to vital organs like the kidneys and the heart. Some infected people would also become infected with meningitis, which affected the brain and spinal cord. When the doctors and scientists analyzed all these factors they quickly realized that they could be dealing with as many as five or six different diseases in some infectees instead of the original three from the actual Nazi Super Virus. This made analysis and the cure and prevention almost impossible. Many doubted that a singular vaccine could tackle all the infections with any degree of effectiveness. Mathews thanked his lucky stars that he only had to worry about the original virus in the U.S., although some sort of mutation had occurred in a number of the infectees. During the New York infections, once an infected person was killed, he stayed dead. No so in many of the Wilmington and Malaysia cases. The fact that many people in Asia were already ill with respiratory infections also made it easier for the super virus to take hold quicker than normal and some infectees started showing the zombie stage in as little as one to two days after infection. Since this group was already in a weaken stage to start with, death or the zombie stage came more rapidly after exposure. The Global Rapid Response Teams in Asia had also determined that once someone who was infected, the incubation period for the disease to take hold was only about one to two days. Many of the symptoms of a normal infection by air never materialized in a bitten person. They just suddenly felt sick and looked pale and would die, only to become reanimated a short time later. It was becoming harder and harder for health officials to determine who was dying of natural causes versus who had been a victim of a zombie bite.
Reports were now coming in from a few European countries reporting isolated incidents of the virus, however, authorities had been quick to respond and the infectees were quickly detained or killed. Asia still appeared to be the hot spot at the moment and Malaysia and the city of Kuala Lumpur had the most activity. The city continued to be on lockdown and after several days people began to venture outside despite warnings from the local authorities. Groups of the infected were spotted at some of the shopping malls around the city and at the moment China Town seemed to be overrun by them. Police and military responded almost by the minute to attacks around the city and the authorities had no place left to relocate infectees as most detention centers were either filled or had turned into areas of mass carnage. Police had been instructed to shoot confirmed infectees, with shots to the head appearing to be the only reliable way to ensure that once they went down, they stayed down. The CDC Global Rapid Response Teams continued inoculating citizens, however, no one knew if the vaccine was having any positive effect. Air traffic had come to a standstill. Almost every country had placed Malaysia on the no fly list and even ground transportation was now limited. Bordering countries had set up checkpoints at their borders and all vehicle traffic from Malaysia was being turned around and back to that country.
A waiter returned to Room 326 at the JW Marriott Hotel to retrieve dishes from a breakfast service he had served earlier in the day. The room was registered to an Alex Pogue from the United States and when he served her breakfast she appeared to be under weather and ill looking. He knocked several times before entering the room and was shocked to find Ms. Pogue passed out in bed and her face appeared to be covered by large black and blue sores. He thought of trying to wake her but had heard of some strange virus spreading throughout the city, so decided to call the front desk and request medical assistance. He waited for the EMS personnel to arrive when all of a sudden Ms. Pogue appeared to stir and start to get out of the bed. The waiter stared in disbelieve as he approached the sick looking woman. She suddenly lunged toward him and bit hard on his back. He tried to shake her off, however, despite her size she seemed to have super strength. She continued to bite him and eventually he passed out from the shock of the event and loss of blood. When the EMS team finally arrived they found Ms. Pogue sitting quietly on the floor and lunching on the now dead waiter.
The American Embassy had been monitoring the events throughout town and working with authorities in an effort to contain the spread of the virus. A Warden Notice was issued to all registered Americans in the country advising them that travel to the downtown areas was no longer safe and they should stay indoors and await further instructions. Only essential personnel were required to be at the embassy, however, most employees opted to stay there as it might be one of the only safe places in the city. The embassy had high walls and a detachment of U.S. Marines and three Diplomatic Security Special Agents provided an armed response to any threats. Emergency food and water was also on hand and so the Ambassador and his staff could stay in place for a number of weeks if necessary. Meanwhile reports of roaming infectees and attacks came in from throughout the city. The smog conditions also had not improved and people continued to become sick with respiratory illnesses making it difficult to differentiate between just sick people and those who had been infected. With everyone on edge, it was believed that many of the people now being killed by security forces might not actually be infectees from the super virus.
Meanwhile back at Fort Detrick, at the U.S. Army’s Medical Command, work continued trying to solve the question of how to battle the mutated super virus. Many of the doctors and the scientists had previously worked on battling the Nazi virus during the ISIS attacks in New York State. At the time, doctors and scientists at Fort Detrick and the CDC finally realized that it might be impossible to cure those who had already become infected either by inhaling the virus or after being bitten by an infected zombie. One group of scientists then decided to try to develop a vaccine to prevent people from becoming infected in the first place. Working with various vaccines that were developed during the Cold War to combat possible biological attacks by the Soviets, one group finally made a major breakthrough. A number of lab animals were inoculated with a vaccine labeled X554 and then exposed to the virus by using tissue from infected bodies. After five days the animals showed no signs of the infection and the scientists decided to rapidly move the experiment to the human stage. A volunteer came forward to act as a test subject and the vaccine was administered. The subject was then exposed to some newly infected patients for several hours and then put in isolation. After five days the subject reported no ill effects from the exposure and blood tests confirmed that the virus had not taken hold in his body. Although the scientists weren’t 100% sure that they had a totally effective vaccine, they also knew it was the only thing they had so far. An initial supply of the X554 vaccine was stored at Fort Detrick and medical teams were dispatched to outlying areas in NY where the virus had not yet spread. People were administered the vaccine and the scientists and doctors sat and waited to see if any new cases would be reported in these areas. Meanwhile a number of pharmaceutical companies were pressed into service by the federal government and started to manufacture the vaccine. Gradually all the Eastern states were brought under control and only a handful of new cases were reported. By this point in time, however, over 15,000 had been infected and 13,000 had already died. The government mandated that all persons in certain areas of the United States, where infections were previously reported, must be vaccinated. The program continued for several weeks and it appeared that things had finally slowed down and the virus had run its course.
Fort Detrick had a long history as being one of the key locations for working with various pathogens. In its early days the Army’s Chemical Warfare Service was based there and had responsibility and oversight of research and development. The projects were cloaked in secrecy and perhaps only the country’s Manhattan Project would be more secret and out of the public’s knowledge. During the days leading up to World War II the facility would produce offensive biological weapons to be used if necessary. Over 5,000 bombs containing anthrax spores were produced at the base, however, files never reflected if any of the bombs were ever used during the war or post war times. The base would eventually be nicknamed “Fort Doom” and local residents in Maryland would always wonder exactly what was taking place at the facility.
Following the war from the 1940’s to mid 1950’s, the U.S. Government would employ over 1,600 German and Austrian scientists and engineers, who had done research for the Nazis and who had expertise in aircraft, rocket technology and biological warfare. After the war the base would become the nation’s permanent facility for peacetime biological research and development, although it was never publicized exactly what research was being conducted there. Finally in 1956 the facility’s name was changed from Camp Detrick to Fort Detrick and its mission was to continue biomedical research and work with biological agents that required specialty containment. The facility continued to conduct its research and development until 1969 when the United States ratified the Geneva protocol prohibiting the use of chemical and biological weapons. Offensive biological research was then outlawed and the facility moved to research only on a defensive level. Fort Detrick would now focus only on diagnostics, preventive measures and treatments for biological infections. It would work hand in hand with the CDC and other government agencies engaged in similar research. Several medical research teams would make Fort Detrick their home, including, the U.S.Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, the Naval Medical Logistics Command and the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center. The Fort would grow in area and size until over 7,800 military, federal and contractor employees would work there, including The Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense.
There was no better facility to tackle the mutated virus, however, even with the expertise available, everyone had hit a stonewall. Even though they now knew that the Asian version of the infection was much more complicated than the U.S. strain, scientists and doctors still couldn’t figure a way to combat the infection.
Finally several scientists decided to look into the basis for the original virus that was engineered by Mengele in the 1940’s. Research done by the Germans employed at the Fort during the 1940’s and 1950’s was scoured for clues. A CDC Global Rapid Response Team was sent back to Germany to research its archived war files in hopes that some of the records from Auschwitz could be located and examined. Previous research following the New York State outbreak failed to turn up anything of substance but scientists hoped that they had missed something the first time around.
Knowing that the end was near and watching Germany begin to fall on both the Western and Eastern Fronts, Mengele decided that it was time to destroy many of the files concerning his experiments at Auschwitz and so he ordered the SS guards to gather all the files and destroy them. He decided, however, to save the files regarding the super virus that he and his doctors had perfected in the event that it might become useful to him later on. He altered some of the data and inserted the files into some of the routine files that were held at the camp. When it finally became inevitable that Germany would fall, Mengele decided that it was time to depart his beloved Auschwitz and move west away from the advancing Allied and Russian armies. He had heard about the Fuhrer’s suicide and that his boss Himmler had also taken his life. He had no desire to join them anytime soon. He dressed himself as a lowly German infantry soldier and headed westward. He traveled alone and worked along the way at some of the camps. He was eventually captured near Munich but quickly released as the Allies had better things to do than arrest a common German infantryman. So far his disguise seemed to be working very well. He kept a low profile and avoided further arrest while he moved through Germany. He took up residence at one city after another, but never for long. As the years passed he knew that he was on borrowed time and that the Allies and the Jews were actively hunting for him and other war criminals. Finally, in 1949, using false identification that he had managed to obtain, he received travel papers through the International Red Cross and relocated to Argentina. Once he arrived in South America he took up residence in one country and then another to avoid being captured as the war crimes hunters were actively pursuing Nazis throughout South America. He still had many of his experiment papers with him and much of the research done by him and his doctors was still hidden away in some of the routine files left behind at Auschwitz.
The CDC Global Rapid Response Team arrived at the Headquarters of the German Federal Intelligence Service, Bundesnachrichtendienst, located in Pullach, near Munich and Berlin. The BND had 300 locations in Germany and foreign countries and employed over 6,000 people. The Team explained that they were looking for notes and research papers from Mengele’s experiments at Auschwitz and that they realized teams had previously scoured these files following the ISIS attacks in New York State early that year. They said they hoped the first teams had missed something and that they would start from the beginning and see if anything was missed the first time around. The Germans provided 100 people to help the Americans in their search.