Day Zero
Chapter 12

Day 46:

“Rough day” Riley asked with a chuckle when Abigail fell violently on the sofa, her leg pressed against his. “We have been testing and retesting all the viruses that and cure hasn’t been found yet” she explained.

“I know. Benjamin and I have been working with Fabiana trying to figure out a cure for this thing. Meanwhile James, Hunter, Henry, and Dr. Kennedy have been trying every form of cancer” Riley explained.

“And Yumi had been talking to centers all around the world. She told them about the rabies finding and they are trying everything as well, including the spread of something biochemical. I mean some third world countries have certain chemicals in the air” Abigail replied.

“The CDC has finally released an epidemic call. I guess it takes over 10,000 people dying world-wide in a month and a half to make it sound like something serious.”

Abigail scoffed “Took them long enough”

“What is the media saying?” Riley asked.

“They are saying that it is World War Z and have called in all types of people who claim to be zombieologist. Even Max Brooks came in, so did the CEO of the Zombie Squad. A majority of them don’t know what is happening. Brooks said that this really was something from his imagination; he didn’t think that it would actually happen. The Zombie Squad is a natural disaster response team based around the outbreak of zombies, but they are the same everything that they know doesn’t help too much. Everything that they teach revolves more about planning and preparation more than anything else. Biologists are saying that this is probably the only supernatural disease that could actually happen.” Abigail summarized.

“Bloody hell” Riley said more to himself then to her.

Abigail chuckled bitterly “Do you remember that idea about voodoo?” she asked

“You can’t be serious” Riley said.

“Obviously I don’t believe in the magic of it. But what if we watched someone do it…and see if we can replicate it” she explained.

“Where the hell would we find a voodoo doctor?” he demanded.

“Haiti” Abigail replied simply with a smile.

∆∆∆

That evening Abigail and the rest of the team piled into the break room to watch CNN in order to learn more about the disease that was spreading throughout the world. Abigail found herself squished next to Riley, her leg pressed tightly against his because she was between him and Fabiana.

Riley blushed at their proximity but other than that didn’t say or do anything.

The words “World War Z?” appeared in the news bar beneath the news report. “The military has been distributed all over the world. However, due to the fact that a majority of the military bases have been infected by the virus…the number of military personnel has diminished greatly, leading many members of the White House and the Pentagon to believe that this is some form of biological weapon. With me is C.D.C member and microbiologist Helen Mason” Wolf Blitzer introduced.

“Hello and thank you Mr. Blitzer. Around the world, medical centers have been trying to figure out the origins of this disease and of course a cure. This disease spreads at a ridiculously fast rate; however it seems to be transmitted through biting”

“Like zombies?” Blitzer inquired.

Helen rolled her eyes at the comment. “A majority of scientist do not think that this fictional monster could be the cause of this disease. In fact most of us believe that it is a microscopic organism.”

“What about the Zombie Apocalypse Plan that the CDC published in January 2011?” Blitzer asked.

“We made it obvious in the article that this was a fictional disease. The article was originally written to use pop culture as a way to make the public aware of preparedness of natural disasters…similar to the Zombie Squad who is an emergency response team that uses pop culture as their basis” Helen stated making it very clear that she didn’t believe in zombies.

“You believe that it is a microorganism?”

“Well, there are thousands of bacteria that could be infecting the population, even some micro-organisms. At the North American Center for Disease Control we have recently been testing for the presence of a creature called toxoplasmosa gondii, a tiny bug that will bite a rat causing it to go into an almost trance where it will seek out a cat because this microscopic bug can only reproduce in the intestines of a cat. This is very similar to the black plague with the fleas biting the rats and spreading this disease.” Helen explained.

“We haven’t tested for that yet” Benjamin pointed out.

“What?” Abigail asked, already dreading the idea of looking at more and more viruses and trying to find their origins.

“Toxoplasmosa gondii” Benjamin replied.

“It’s on the list, we just haven’t gotten around to it yet” Abigail answered.

“Fabiana, looks like we need a cat” Hunter said regretfully.

The girl looked at the men with large eyes and Abigail lightly rubbed the girl’s arm. “Okay” she said just above a whisper.

Marian looked back at the television before suddenly saying “Looks like the Department of Defense sent a spokesperson in as well.”

The team focused once again on the television.

“Up next we have George Little, assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs, to explain the influence that this new virus has on the active military personnel” Blitzer reported before the station switched to a commercial.

“What are the odds of them telling the whole truth?” Strader asked.

Marian sighed “About seventy percent”

“That’s it?” Benjamin asked.

“The military tends to keep a lot of things secret to the general public” Abigail explained as she noticed Marian nod her head.

“That’s absurd” Riley exclaimed.

“Welcome to America” James said bitterly.

Riley turned towards Abigail the same moment that she turned towards him. He immediately blushed at their proximity and turned back to the television. Abigail felt her own cheeks begin to heat up.This kid is a bit awkward. And I thought Fabiana was shy Abigail thought to herself as she smiled.

“Why so many secrets?” he asked her.

Abigail shrugged her slender shoulders “Who knows.”

The Blitzer returned to the screen the words World War Z still visible on the bottom of the screen. “With me is George Little, assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs. Now the Pentagon has reason to believe that this is a form of biological warfare from the Middle East.”

“That’s right, Wolf. We have reason to believe that this infection that so many of our men and women in the military have been diagnosed with has come from our enemies in Pakistan and Afghanistan. We believe that through neurogenesis the terrorist will infect themselves with a fatal disease that is spread through bites. Very similar to that of the suicide bomber, the sick will be taken aboard hospital ships and through a toxic bite, will infect the crew of the ship.”

“The USS Salvation was one of these ships?” Wolf inquired.

Abigail looked at both Strader and Marian, both tensed and exchanged glances. The two had been civil around one another, but still avoided contact as much as they could. Strader knew that there was a possibility that his son would be killed. He never thought that he would meet the woman who took the order to have him killed she thought to herself.

“Yes the tragic sinking of the USS Salvation that was stationed off the Gulf of Oman.”

“How many survivors were there?”

“Five life boats…bringing it to a total of 100 out of the 450 personal and civilians”

“How did those men and women manage to get off the ship when so many others could not?”

“That information has yet to be disclosed. However once those sailors went home the virus began to spread throughout military bases and cities all over the nation. We have reason to believe that the United States military has been targeted in order to keep the United States from having a powerful military”

“What about the rest of the world who have reported attacks. This includes Bahrain, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and other naval bases abroad?”

“I wish that I had an answer, all I can say is that the United States military was the target, predominately the Navy. The Pentagon has reason to believe that this is an act terrorism that has come from the Middle East.” Little said

“Thank you for your time”

The interview ended and the members of the room remained silent. “What are the odds of this being a military weapon?” Hunter asked looking from Strader to Marian.

“High” Marian said.

“Very high, with all the military research out there…as well as the ability of neurogenesis enemies of the United States could easily make something like this happen” Strader replied.

Abigail noticed Dr. Kennedy looking deep in thought and focused her attention on him. “What is it?” she asked him.

“I just don’t see how a third world nation could have the technology to create something that advanced” he muttered.

“Libya has the technology to create nuclear weapons…what makes you think that Pakistan, Nigeria, and Afghanistan do not. Not to mention their allegiance with Russia. Especially with Putin preparing to start a war against Ukraine” Marian said.

“Too much like science fiction” Dr. Kennedy explained.

“The zombie is the most likely horror movie or science fiction event that could happen. If it is biological, there are certainly advances in science as well as mutations in viruses or bacteria that could lead to something like this. I mean the Rage virus from 28 days later or something from Contagion that could just be a mixture of animals…I mean even The Walking Dead brought up the idea of every person already having some type of Zombie protein or something along those lines…spoiler alert by the way” Abigail said as she finished her rant.

“What are you a zombie freak? James stated asked.

Abigail threw a disgusted look at James.

“You really are a jerk” Hunter said to the man

Yumi entered the room then a look of frustration on her face. “Looks like Helen Mason will be joining us within the next 48 hours” she stated crossing her arms.

“I’m guessing you two aren’t friends?” Henry inquired.

“You could say that” Yumi replied.

“She is one o-of the b-best micro-b-biologist in the field” Fabiana said.

“This is true” Yumi sighed.

“This just in” Wolf Belitzer’s voice interrupted the conversation.

The entire group turned to listen to the new anchor.

“The island of Haiti has enforced a self-quarantine. I repeat the island of Haiti has enforced a self-quarantine after 200,000 people have been killed either by the outbreak or after they changed into what the natives have claimed are not-zombie as they call them.”

“Are you serious?” Abigail asked.

“Looks like your crazy theory won’t happen after all” Riley whispered to her.

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