The Beginning of the End (5 page)

The ramp descended
revealing a green camouflage Humvee parked a few yards behind the
plane. A tall figure wearing a yellow, puffy biohazard suit was
leaning against the Humvee’s door.

As Bob, Major Besson
and the Doctors began down the ramp the man in the yellow suit raised
a welcoming hand.

“Hi! I’m Dr.
Grace…. Ted! I’m part of Miranda’s DART Team.” He said with
an extended hand.

Dr. Grace shook Bob’s
hand and swung his arm towards the Humvee motioning for the group to
hop in the vehicle, “We’re so glad you’re here. We sure are
having a tough time with this thing. We’re pretty much at our wits
end. Please tell us you have some good news.” Ted exclaimed.

Bob, who had taken the
honor of hopping in the front seat next to the driver, turned to the
back, looking at Ted, “Dr. Grace, I might just have the good news
you’re looking for loaded in that plane. I’d like to see Dr.
Frost first, if possible.”

Ted grabbed the head
rest of the driver’s seat and pulled himself forward, “Private,
take us to Stanford Health Care Center please!”

A muffled, “Yes,
Sir!” came from behind the clear mask of the private’s suit,
“We’ll be there in five, Sir!”

As the Humvee pulled
into Stanford Health Care Center (SHCC), Bob could see that the
parking lot was full of Humvees. To the east was an Apache helicopter
sitting on a mobile landing zone, that two days earlier had been a
small walking path abutting a pond. The walking path was created for
long term patients to be able to stroll the hospital grounds while
visiting with family members. Because of recent events, there had
been no one on the path in days. Those who were sick, were now dead
and those who would have come to visit, were now dying. For this once
thriving community, hope was lost.

Ted led the guests to
the front main doors of the lobby, where four soldiers were standing
with military weapons. Two more were sitting behind an eight-foot
folding table that had been set up as a make-shift desk. One of the
soldiers sitting at the desk had Sergeant stripes. He looked up at
Ted, “Hello Dr. Grace.”

Ted snapped off a
salute at the Sergeant, “Hello Sergeant. This is Colonel Aiken,
Major Besson, and Doctors Marcil and Simone from McGill University.
They’re here to help us with this situation.”

“I’m sorry Dr.
Grace, but they’re not on my list. I'm afraid their access is
denied.”

“Sergeant, I don’t
think you understand who these people are-.” Ted was interrupted by
Bob stepping forward, “Sergeant! First of all! You stand at
attention when you’re addressing me! Now I don’t give a god damn
who is on your list! I am here on direct orders from General Strong!
Now you stow your shit and get out of our way, or I’ll have you
emptying shit filled latrines in the Philippines for the rest of your
career! Understand?” The Sergeant looked back at Dr. Grace and then
back at Bob in a state of confusion.

“What are you looking
at, son?” Bob was now against the table on his tip toes, forcing
the Sergeant back on his heels.

“Sir! Nothing! Sir!”
the Sergeant stuttered, his attention turning to the now petrified
looking soldier closest to the door, “What are you doing? Open the
door for the Colonel and his staff!” Bob stepped back clearing a
path in front of the open door. Dr. Grace led the team inside the
lobby and down the hall to the main elevators. As they stepped inside
the elevator, Bob caught Sophie staring at him.

“Yes, Dr. Simone?”

A smile stretched
across Sophie’s face, “Hmm… very impressive Colonel.”

When the elevator doors
opened, the sight was almost unbearable. Bodies were wrapped in white
sheets and stacked on gurneys just outside the elevator doors. Major
Besson lost his composure for the first time and stepped back against
the back wall of the elevator clawing at his hood. Sophie grabbed
Jean-Luc’s hand through the protective suit. “Jean-Luc close your
eyes, take a breath and concentrate on my voice. Have you ever seen
the deceased body of an Ebola patient?”

Jean-Luc’s eyes were
still forced closed, and his breathing was beginning to steady,
“They’re still bleeding from their faces.”

“Jean-Luc, keep
listening to my voice. You have to understand, during the last stage
of Ebola, the body releases all of its natural anti-coagulants
causing the eyes, nose, mouth and ears to bleed. Don’t think of
them as people any longer but rather, a shell.”

Jean-Luc slowly opened
his eyes and looked at the stacks of bodies and back at Sophie again,
“but how can they bleed? They're dead.”

Dr. Marcil stepped into
the hallway examining the bodies, “Major Besson, don’t look at it
as bleeding, think of it as more of a draining effect. Fluid from a
bag.”

Sophie placed her hand
on the side of Jean-Luc’s hood and turned his head toward hers. For
a moment, they stared at each other through clear plastic, “Jean-Luc,
they’ve passed on. We need to focus on the living. There are people
in there who need our help. Your help.” Jean-Luc took an
exaggerated deep breath and collected himself for a moment, “Okay,
Sophie. I'm ready. Let’s go.”

Sophie walked into what
must have been the entire floor of the hospital. There were hundreds
of patients. Most were on gurneys and cots while some were just lying
on the floor, wrapped in sheets. They were all covered in their own
vomit and feces. Sophie was sure that if it were not for her suit,
the smell of this room would be unbearable.

The first patient
Sophie saw was a little blonde girl. Sophie guessed she was about
seven years old. “Hi honey. Is there anything I can do for you?”
The girl had a single drip of blood that ran from the corner of her
mouth, down her face and dried leaving a grotesque trail of death.
The girl continued to stare blankly, looking at Sophie without
blinking, “Where are your parents, honey?” The girl’s bottom
lip quivered as she tried to get out the words. A dry breath uttered
a single word, “dead,” as a tear of blood ran down the girl’s
cheek.

Sophie felt the
pressure building behind her own eyes as she wiped away the girl’s
bloody tear. Sophie scanned the room, “How is this possible?” The
pressure had released and now her tears were flowing.

Bob shuffled between
the gurneys and patients on the floor, making his way to the only
other yellow suit in the room who had their back to him. The suit was
pulling a white sheet over a gray-haired man's face, “Miranda!”
The suit turned, Bob was embraced with a hug.

“Bob, thank god
you’re here. There’s nothing more I can do for these people.”
Miranda released Bob and he grabbed onto her shoulders, “Miranda,
you look exhausted. When was the last time you slept?”

Miranda looked up at
the clock on the wall, “I don’t remember. Hell, I don’t even
know what day it is anymore. I don’t need rest right now. I need
you to tell me you have a plan.”

Bob scanned the room
and stopped when he was back on Miranda, “I’ve brought Dr. Marcil
and Dr. Simone with me. Miranda, they’ve found a cure! ZMapp! We’ve
brought enough for everyone in the city.” Miranda embraced Bob with
another hug, “Thank you!” she mouthed.

The elevator doors
opened and two soldiers emerged in their protective suits pushing
carts, each loaded with two crates of the brown ZMapp boxes.

“Men, over here!”
Bob waved.

The soldiers slalomed
their carts through the sick, making their way to Bob.

Bob removed the top box
off the cart, and set is on the floor. He broke the tape seal and
pulled the cardboard flaps open. He reached in and pulled out a clear
plastic IV bag. The bag had ZMapp stamped across the top in black
lettering. As Bob held up the bag, the setting sunlight coming
through the hospital shone over the bag, giving the fluid inside an
almost yellowish tint. Bob’s second thought was apple juice, but he
knew there was something much more powerful within the bag's plastic
shell. Bob glanced up at the five curious suits that had gathered
around him, “Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the future of
mankind.” Bob held up the oversized yellow juice bag, in the back
of his mind, he was secretly thinking…. “I hope.”

October 11th 7:55pm

“Dude, I’ve gotta
pause this. I'm starving, and my eyes are starting to burn.” Chevy
tossed his controller on the coffee table and leaned back, stretching
his arms over his head.

“Mine too buddy!
Let’s take a food break. What do we have?” Chevy looked over at
me, like I was going to make us some dinner.

“I don’t know. Quit
being so lazy and go look yourself.”

Over the next five
minutes, Chevy hounded me, goading me into making dinner. Finally, I
gave in because of my own hunger, “I’ll take a look in the
kitchen.” As I stood up, I remembered my mom had texted me last
week, while Chevy and I were out. She said she picked up a few things
for us, and they were in the freezer and on the floor of the mud
room.

Off from our kitchen,
we have a mud room. The old lady who owns our apartment, said she
thought having a chest freezer was a great place to keep food, and
everyone should have one in their home. Chevy and I barely ever used
the mud room, and we used the freezer even less. Occasionally, we
would throw in some ice cream or frozen popsicles in the summertime.

When I got to my feet, I gave Chevy
a smiling stare. He gave me a quizzical look as those magical words
flowed from my lips, “Mom went shopping for us! The loot is in the
freezer.” Chevy jumped to his feet, and we raced through the
kitchen and froze outside the mud room door. We turned looking at
each other and then we both drew our attention to the door handle. I
reached out, twisted the handle, and gave the door a light push. As
it swung open, I heard angels singing in the background, Ahhhhhhhh!
The kitchen light shone through us and cast just enough light in the
mud room to reveal four cases of Mountain Dew cans sitting on top of
the freezer with a note resting on top,

You were in luck boys. There were some great sales this week!

Enjoy,
Love,
Mom

“Yes!” Chevy and I
both sang as I pulled a can from the case, tossing it to him.

“Dude, your mom
rocks!” Chevy warbled. The floor was scattered with bags upon bags,
each overflowing with glorious food.

Chevy and I emptied one
bag at a time, taking inventory of our precious food. As I emptied
them, Chevy put everything away on the mud room shelves.

“Would you look at
this, Ty? We’ve got soup, stew, bread, chili, beans, cookies,
crackers, potatoes, and tons of other stuff. You better tell your
mom, I love her when you see her again!” I looked up from the bag I
was going through, “Don’t worry I plan on it!”

Once the food was put
away, Chevy and I stacked the soda on the floor, so we could check
out the inside of the freezer. The door opened to reveal two frozen
lasagnas, five pizzas and about two dozen TV dinners “Wow! Dude!
We’re set for life!”

Chevy and I threw a
frozen pizza in the oven and made fast work of the bag of
chocolate-chip cookies. I washed down the cookie in my mouth with a
slug of soda and leaned back patting my belly, “Wow! I didn’t
realize how hungry I was.”

“Me too!” Chevy
agreed, I could barely understand him with his full mouth and cookie
crumbs flying from his lips. “Man, you better call your mom and
thank her for all this stuff. Call her now and put her on the speaker
phone, so I can thank her too.” I picked up my phone off the table
and held down the home button waiting for the beep, asked for its
assistance, “Call, Mom!”

The phone snapped to
life “Calling, Tom!”

“Cancel! Cancel!
Cancel!”

“I didn’t say,
Tom!” I cursed.

Out of the corner of my
eye, I could see Chevy shaking his head laughing at me.

“Call, Mom!” The
phone snapped to life a second time, “Hello Ty, here’s what I
found on Columns for you.” Chevy was in a full roar laughing and
spitting cookie crumbs everywhere trying to gain his composure. When
he finally did he said, “Ty, wouldn’t be easier to just touch
your contacts app, then Mom?”

I tossed the phone on
the table, “When I pay for something, I expect it to work!” Chevy
burst out laughing again, now rocking back and forth in his chair
putting his hand over his mouth to prevent any more pieces of cookie
from hitting me. He tried to give me a serious look and said,
“Doesn’t your mom pay for your phone? Maybe it only works for
her.” Then he burst out laughing again, rocking in his chair, and
spitting cookies everywhere.

“Oh yeah!” Is all I
could come up with? Not one of my finer moments.

After my phone failed
me twice, I went through the agony of using the touch screen to hit
Contacts, and then Mom, as Chevy had earlier suggested.

After four rings, the
phone went to voicemail, “Hi this is Jen. I’m not able to take
your call right now. Leave a message and I’ll call you back.”
Beep!

“Hey Mom, it’s
Chevy and me, give me a call back when you get this. Love you. Bye!”

I ended the call not
really thinking anything about it, “She didn’t pick up.” I said
to Chevy.” I could see another grin forming on Chevy’s face, “Oh.
You were just trying to call your mom? Dude! Check my bed! Ha! Ha!”

I shot Chevy a pissy
look, “Come on man! That’s my mom.”

Chevy stood up and
opened the oven door, salivating over the pizza, then he turned back
at me, “I’m sorry, Ty. Your mom’s not really in my bed.”
Chevy turned back towards the steaming pizza, “She snuck out when
you went to the store this morning!” Chevy practically dropped to
his knees laughing. I have to admit as much as I wanted to kill him,
it was pretty funny, and I had to laugh. As Chevy was pulling the
pizza out of the oven, I thought to myself that I hadn’t spoken to
my mom or dad since she texted me about the food last week. It
certainly wasn’t like my dad not to call me back. He always called
back the same day, and if he didn’t call, for some reason, he would
stop in with his partner while he was out on patrol. Which is also
the reason why Chevy and I always tried to keep the living room
presentable. I definitely didn’t want an unannounced visitor
stumbling across something they shouldn’t be seeing. Chevy and I
didn’t have any really bad habits, but a few of our friends liked
to hit the Ganga now and then. We were both pretty loose about people
smoking in our house, but at the same time it wasn’t something I
wanted my dad walking in on. Especially in uniform.