“Yes it does. I had time to ponder that on the way up. They would be able to vaccinate the military personnel to keep them safe if chemical warfare was ever used or we used it on another country. At some point they continued to work on the weapons and created the vaccines to go with them,” Mark told them.
A loud roar filled the space, a thick cloud of smoke came shooting out of the side wall along with intense heat. The three men were knocked to the ground by the shock wave. Dust and debris rained down on them.
“I guess he did it,” Buck said, getting to his hands and knees.
“It would seem so,” Mark replied.
CHAPTER FIFTY
CTV NEWS — CTV News has learned that a vaccine has been developed by the CDC in conjunction with the Dangerous Virus Containment Team that will help stop the spread of the Chimera virus. Batches are currently in production and the usual FDA trials are being suspended by a directive of President Toll. It will be several weeks before the vaccine will be available in sufficient quantities to disperse across the nation.
Director Mark Riser of the CDC and Doctor Randal Peel of the Dangerous Virus Containment Team told CTV News that the vaccine is being produced as quickly as possible. It is being produced in five different facilities, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
The formula has been shared with every nation in hopes of stopping the spread. Currently forty-one countries have reported cases of the Chimera virus resulting in two hundred and ninety-three million dead. Another two hundred and sixty-one million are believed to be infected worldwide.
President Toll expressed her relief that the vaccine had been discovered and praised the tireless efforts of both the CDC and the DVCT to stop the spread before any more people of the world die.
President Toll was drinking hot tea and talking to Mark and Randal about the events of the last few days.
“You are saying that this storage facility was being stocked as recently as 2005, is that correct?”
“The last date we saw was 09-04-2005. I don’t think there is room for much doubt Madam President,” Mark said.
“And now the facility is destroyed and there is no longer any physical proof?”
“Madam President, not only did I see them with my own eyes but I read off the type of agent, date of production and the batch number. Someplace there is an identical inventory sheet with that same information on it.”
“Were there any markings to indicate where they came from?”
“I’m sorry, I’m not following you.”
“Did it say CIA or Army or anything like that?”
“No ma’am. Nothing like that.
“No laboratory mentioned?”
“None.”
“I see. That certainly makes it difficult to pin down,” she said.
“Someone knows.”
“Sit tight just a minute,” she said and picked up the phone. She spoke softly and after she hung up a broad shouldered Army General with short gray hair came into the room. He was dressed in his full military dress uniform with all of his ribbons. It was quite impressive.
“General Ashford reporting Madam President.”
“General, relax. Have a seat.”
“Thank you ma’am,” he said, sitting in one of the side chairs.
She introduced Randal and Mark to the general before coming to the point of the meeting.
“General, I have learned some disturbing news and would like for you to address it.”
“I’ll do what I can,” the General replied, forcing an insincere smile.
“It seems that we have gone ahead with our biochemical warfare even those we signed off on with the Biological Toxin Weapons Convention in 1972. That treaty came about as a directive from President Nixon. It seems we are not living up to that treaty. What can you tell me about all of that?”
“Well Madam President we should probably discuss this in private.”
“I think it would be better to do it right now. Mark Riser from the CDC actually saw the agents and wrote down the dates and batch numbers. Some as recent as 2005. How can that be General?”
“I don’t mean to be impertinent but does Mr. Riser have any proof of such a thing?”
“Actually General, it’s Doctor Riser and maybe you can tell me about this,” Mark said passing him a bottle of vaccine, “It is a vaccine for Anthrax. The batch matches the number on the weapons grade anthrax I found.”
The General was rolling it in his hands like it was hot. He was stalling to come up with an answer.
“I’m sorry doctor but I know nothing about this. Perhaps a private company or some secret government agency could answer that question better.”
“General Ashford, I don’t want to get into a knock down drag out here and now. I have just one question for you and I want the truth. Are there anymore facilities in the United States like the one that caused all these deaths?”
The General pulled at his tie slightly before answering, “Madam President, to the best of my knowledge, there are no biochemical facilities located in the US.”
“Alright General. You are dismissed,” she said.
The General looked like he was ready to say something else but instead, stood and departed.
“He is lying,” Randal said after the door had closed.
“Probably,” the President acknowledged.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
By the time the vaccine was ready and injections finally distributed, the United States had sixty-nine million three hundred thousand deaths.
The worldwide epidemic had claimed the lives of four-hundred million six-hundred thousand lives. There were probably others that were misdiagnosed or simply not counted in some third and fourth world nations. The exact count will never be known.
Governor McClain was accused of murder and illegal detention by many of the survivors but was pardoned of any wrongdoing due to extenuating circumstances. General Ashford clandestinely met with the head of the CIA special warfare division and made plans to ensure that the two other facilities were never discovered.
President Toll suspected that more storage facilities existed but the economic recovery was now the focus of her attention. She served out her term but was not re-elected to office.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marshall W. Huffman did not begin writing until after he retired from teaching. He decided to start with a trilogy based on a cataclysmic event. Marshall’s first trilogy is THE EVENT and consists of THE END, THE BEGINNING, and THE REVELATION. With THE EVENTS success he decided to write a second trilogy that is a frightening look at the events that could lead to THE SECOND CIVIL WAR. It is made up of: Book I — A NATION DIVIDED; BOOK II — A NATION AT WAR; BOOK III — A NATION HEALING.
He has also published a series of books entitled: the ANGIE BARTONI CASE FILES with a central cast of characters. In addition, he has two another series entitled: THE NORRIS FILES with its own set of central characters and THE LOGAN FILES. He enjoys writing mysteries, techno-thrillers, and Sci-Fi. His other Sci-Fi books THE BRINK — DEEP FLIGHT and CLOSE PROXIMITY are intense techno-thrillers with Sci-Fi intertwined. He finished BLACKSTAR and it just went on sale. His latest addition CHIMERA is a look at what could well happen if we don’t stop twisting science in perverted way.