“Good luck.”
“I hope your friends and colleagues are returned safely, Millen.”
“Me too.”
A few minutes later, the plane lifted off. Millen gazed out the window at the deserted airport. It had been bustling when he arrived last week. Now it was dead—like the charred remnants of a bomb test in the desert. He wondered what he’d find in America. If the news was any indication, a lot of people were infected, and their fate might be the same as that of the residents of Mandera. He couldn’t let that happen. He hoped he was bringing home the key to finding a treatment.
Chapter 56
On Sunday morning in Atlanta, Elliott waited for the event he believed would change America forever. The news gave no clues of it. The people he called had heard nothing.
The first hints had leaked the day before across social media. All military personnel, including the National Guard, were called in to their nearest base or a designated rally point. Staff at hospitals, as well as police, fire, and EMT workers, were also called in.
Those without symptoms of the respiratory virus known as X1 were instructed to report first. Those who were sick were to arrive three hours later.
The first responders called and texted their family and friends to say that they were being deployed for an emergency preparedness drill and wouldn’t be home for several days. Some noted that they wouldn’t have phone or internet access during the drill.
Elliott had expected his phone to ring. He was not only a physician and an epidemiologist, but a rear admiral in the Public Health Service’s Commissioned Corps. He was also a CDC employee; or he had been. His employment situation since he had leaked information about Peyton’s abduction to the news hadn’t been made clear. He was certain that he should be on the critical personnel list; perhaps multiple lists. But the call never came. His name had been deleted.
He didn’t have to guess who had done it; he knew. And he had never been so angry in his entire life. For someone to play politics at a time like this, to pursue a vendetta against him when he could save lives, was unthinkable. But there was nothing he could do about it, and that bothered him even more.
The remainder of Saturday had passed without event. In the family room, Elliott sat in the recliner, Rose in a pull-up chair beside him. Her symptoms were worse today. The cough was nearly incessant, though she suppressed it, and she left the room when it wouldn’t relent. Ryan and Sam were upstairs in the bonus room playing with their son, Adam. To all outward appearances it was the perfect Saturday after Thanksgiving: college football on TV (Elliott’s alma mater, Michigan, was playing Ohio State), their grandson playing, the entire family together under one roof.
Elliott wondered how long the five-year-old’s childhood would last. Would it be measured in days, weeks? He knew what was coming. He feared it—for himself and for Rose, but most of all for his son, his daughter-in-law, and his grandson.
Elliott watched the TV, wincing whenever news reports came on. Retailers were reporting record traffic at brick and mortar stores on Black Friday. Their stocks had taken a beating during the market’s short session on Friday, and they were no doubt hoping to prop up investor confidence for the market opening on Monday.
Up and down Elliott’s street, parcels sat on nearly every doorstep, thanks to Saturday and now Sunday delivery. Neighbors shuffled outside in pajamas, coughing as they carried the boxes inside.
The event Elliott had been waiting for happened at noon on Sunday.
Cell phones began issuing a shrill alarm, similar to an Amber Alert or Severe Weather Bulletin. But this message was neither of those. It instructed the phone’s owner to click a link or turn on their TV.
A minute later, Elliott and his family sat in front of their TV, listening as the president spoke from his desk in the Oval Office.
“My fellow Americans, today our nation faces a new kind of threat. First, I want you to know that we are prepared for this threat. We have a plan, and we are executing that plan. I’m speaking to you now because that plan will impact you and your loved ones. We will also need your help. Your fellow Americans will need your help.
“Departments at the state and federal level have been closely monitoring X1, the low-intensity flu-like virus currently affecting millions of Americans. We have decided that X1 cases have grown to the point that they represent a danger to our nation. Therefore, I have activated a program called BioShield. BioShield is meant to do one thing: protect you and your family during this time.
“Before I outline the steps we’re taking, I want to first assure you that these measures are temporary. They are also born out of an abundance of caution, and a desire to ensure that every American receives adequate care.”
Elliott listened as the president detailed the BioShield program. As he’d expected, a state of emergency was declared, including martial law and a nationwide curfew beginning daily at six p.m. Every American was instructed to go home and stay there immediately following the announcement. Homeless individuals were required to report to the nearest shelter or subway, where transportation would be arranged for them.
A combination of National Guard, military, and FEMA personnel cordoned off every major city. Checkpoints were established on every interstate and major road. Air, rail, and bus traffic ceased. Anyone outside a cordon zone would be directed to a series of shelters set up in rural areas at schools, sports arenas, and courthouses.
The federal government also temporarily nationalized every company in key industries: telecommunications, internet hosting, shipping and logistics, power and energy, and health care.