Ground Zero 2
December 23rd
Hartworth, Montana
Edward had been in town only a few hours but already felt as if he had been there for days. Not that he had done all that much work, but he kept thinking about it all.
While he prepared the lab to test the first sample, his team was out and about. They were to count bodies, canvas for survivors, and then collect bodies.
The location of town worked in their favor; they could hold the news of the town"s demise from the media. But for how long? Surely the people in Hartworth knew others outside. It was Christmas, and that told Edward he had two days before he had to release something about Hartworth.
Family and friends would wonder what became of their loved ones on the holiday.
He would have to provide answers.
It saddened and scared him.
The cold front that had moved in caused snow and isolation. A combination of wind mixed with the continuous Christmas music caused it to be just too scary. It very well could be a glimpse of the extinction of mankind if they didn"t discover what had wiped out Hartworth, Montana.
Everything was so gray.
A text message from his wife made him think of his children and how in two days they would scurry about the house jumping for joy over Santa"s recent visit. And then he thought of the children of Hartworth who wouldn"t get to see Christmas, whose presents were probably tucked away and hidden, while their parents anxiously awaited putting them out.
A Christmas that would never happen.
In the midst of prepping the lab to search for answers and a.n.a.lyze samples, his phone rang.
Edward took the call and accepted the information. Little did he know how vital that information would end up being.
The Centers for Disease Control were calling to tell him that the last phone call was placed three days earlier, and it was one call. Before that it was two whole days. One call to a small town forty miles away called Lincoln.
Edward wrote down the caller"s name and address. He would seek the person, dead or alive, and hopefully find answers. He didn"t want to send a team to Lincoln, not yet, but he would have to soon. They needed to find out if someone from Lincoln had been in Hartworth or knew of the virus.
The phone call was brief, but while he was on the phone, he heard two a.s.sistants enter in the back. He knew why they had returned.
They were bringing Edward a body. One to examine to get a sample, to start learning the virus.
After ending the call, Edward was ready to suit up again. A gla.s.s wall separated him from the lab and another window from the autopsy room. He signaled that he would be right there. One of his a.s.sistants, Harold Daily, waved his arm and indicated to Edward to lift the interoffice phone.
"What"s up, Harold?" he asked.
Harold spoke through the radio system in his suit. "We saw some weird s.h.i.t out there."
"So weird that you couldn"t wait until I came in there?" Edward asked.
"Actually yeah. Megan and I have to prep the body. While she starts, I"m gonna upload the photos I took. The body needs to warm up some."
Edward nodded. "Upload them." He hung up the phone, walked to the coffee pot, poured a cup of coffee, then made his way to the computer.
He lifted the phone once more. "They uploaded?"
"Yeah," Harold answered.
Edward clicked on the folder. The first picture was of the young man in the pickup truck holding the shotgun. "What am I looking at?"
"The first house."
Edward clicked the picture. "Ok. What about it."
"Empty." Harold said. "Next house, empty. We hit about fifteen houses in the main portion of town. All empty. Population 843 and the first batches of houses were empty."
"Did they leave? Oh, G.o.d. .."
"Wait. Click the fire station."
Edward stared at a picture of the building"s exterior. "What about it."
"The sign on the door." Harold explained. "It reads ..."
The next photo zoomed in.
"Stay out. Infected!" Harold recited. "And then we went inside."
Edward"s stomach dropped when he looked at the first picture. Inside the fire station were hundred of bodies. People were lying on blankets and sleeping bags. It appeared they tried to set up a medical area.
"And this is one of three we found so far," Harold stated. "We"re going to keep checking houses, but my guess is we"ll find more spots like this. Dead men in pickup trucks with guns were placed on all access roads in and out of this town."
Edward sat back, took a deep breath, and rubbed his chin. "So basically they shut the town down and quarantined themselves."
"Yes," Harold said. "Looks that way. Something horrific ravished this town quickly, but not so quick that they couldn"t take time to set up medical aid stations."
"They knew it was coming," Edward stated.
"That"s my guess."
"Wow." Although not a medical word, it was the best Edward could muster. "Wow. They knew it was coming. Locked down tight to keep it in. Yet they didn"t tell a soul..." Edward"s eyes shifted to the information he received from the CDC regarding the last phone call. "Or did they?"
Chapter Four.
Lincoln, Montana
November 28th
His father was an idiot.
That was what Richie thought as he kicked back on the couch replying to his father via text message. He didn"t mean to disrespect the man who was a vital part of his creation, but his father was clueless. How he acquired any kind of fame was beyond Richie. He played guitar well and sang even better, but somewhere people had to notice he wasn"t bright.
He sent the word, "sure" in reply to the question, "Can we text?"
The texting question wasn"t about communicating on a regular basis, it was a request for when his father stopped by. Del stated he didn"t know the sign language thing.
It cracked Richie up to think his father was so nave that he could stumble into town nearly a decade later and all would be fine. Richie wouldn"t be mean, not at all, but he certainly didn"t hold a candle for his father. Heather did, for some odd reason.
"Daddy is famous," she"d say.
Yeah, well, Dad"s been on the cover of every tabloid for cheating on his last two wives.
Heather didn"t notice.
Richie didn"t want to text anymore. He wanted to get back to his word game, so he sent his father a message that he"d see him when he got there and returned to his game. No sooner had he done that, his mother laid her hand upon his shoulder, and when she drew his attention, she signed, "Can you get the door? My hair isn"t done."
"Ok," Richie signed. "Who is it?"
"Andy."
Richie nodded and got off the couch while his mother scurried away and up the stairs. He opened the door.
Andy smiled as Richie opened the door wider.
"Come in," Richie signed. "My mother is doing her hair. She"ll be right down."
A nod and Andy closed the door.
"So you guys are hanging tonight?" Richie asked.
That was when Andy returned the signing and did so smoothly. "Actually, we have a date."
"No way."
"Yes, your mother asked me out."
"Cool. It"s about time."
"I agree." Andy raised his eyes when he heard footsteps on the stairs, and Emma raced into the room.
"I"m ready," she said and signed.
Andy spoke, "D ... did ... y ... you ... hungry?"
"Oh, yeah, I can eat. I"m starved. I"m in the mood for ribs. They have the rib special at Bronco"s tonight. Unless you don"t like ribs."
Andy shook his head. "No that ... s ... sow ...s."
"Salmon, you want salmon? Hmm." Emma scratched her head. "We may have to go outside the county for good salmon, but I"ll put it in your hands. Surprise me."
Andy chuckled. "K ... K ... ok. Hey ..." He reached out. "Pur ... pur ..."
"My purse. Thank you." Emma spun and hurried away.
Richie who had witnessed it and was pretty good at reading lips, tapped Andy"s arm for attention. "Does she interrupt everything you say?"
"She always does," Andy signed. "She tries to guess what I am saying so I don"t have to struggle. She guessed wrong."
Richie laughed. "Oh my G.o.d, that"s so funny yet so wrong."
Andy shrugged.
"You should just sign."
"No, she doesn"t know I sign, and it"s more entertaining this way."
"Ready," Emma announced, entering the room. "Oh, look, you were signing. I didn"t know you signed."
Andy held his fingers an inch apart.
"A little is better than none," Emma said. "I"ll teach you. Especially if we make this a regular thing, this dating. Wait. Too forward?"
Andy shook his head.
"Good." Emma leaned over and kissed Richie. "Feel free to lock the door, not answer, or even call the cops when your dad shows up."