When she realized the cell phone was ringing, she looked at the passenger seat and reached for it. She tried to look at the display screen to see who was calling, but something on the road caught her attention. There was a car parked in the middle of the highway. She dropped the phone and grabbed the steering wheel with both hands. She released the gas pedal and hit the brakes and her car zig-zagged to the right. She was able to avoid a head-on collision but the driver side hit the parked car, sending her straight to the safety rail. She knew it was too late to avoid the rail so she braced for the worse, closed her eyes, and apologized to her mom and dad. She was about to die, and she’d never had the time to say she was sorry for everything she had done. Emma opened her eyes and everything slowed down, but she still couldn’t do anything to stop what it was coming to her. She couldn’t believe how big of a bitch she had been to her family, and even that douche bag Jason. But now that she was facing death, she didn’t have any other option than to tell them that she was sorry.
She knew nobody was going to hear her apologies, and nobody was going to tell her not to worry about it. She wanted to die with a clean conscious, after all, she wouldn’t have to worry about her family any more, and whatever was happening out there with her dad and everyone else was no longer her problem. Finally she was free, a way out of the madness in her family and this world. The impact of the car sent Emma’s forehead straight to the steering wheel, knocking her out in an instant, the car continued to spin until it came to a halt at the bottom of the ditch.
CHAPTER FOUR
Dr. Moore
Outside the room, Dr. Moore came across small crowd of co-workers waiting for some answers. Dr. Moore didn’t hesitate. He got everyone up to speed, and informed them how crucial it was to collect everyone’s blood samples and analyze them. He was able to gather enough personnel to split them into two groups, those that drew blood and those that would take care of the lab work.
A few hours had passed and all the employees had been tested. About 90 percent of them were gathered in the lobby, the rest were in the lower levels of the building helping Dr. Meacham and Dr. Moore with all the lab work.
“All of them, all of us, are infected, how is this even possible?” Meacham said, striking the metal desk where all the blood samples sat with his fist. He looked across the desk toward Dr. Moore. Before he could say another word, Dr. Moore interrupted him with another question
“What you want us to do?”
“I don’t know, I really don’t know. What happens if we are the only ones infected? What if the disease originated from within these walls? If that is the case, I don’t want to expose my family to THAT!!!” He gestured to Dr. Whitney.
“We are going to remain in lock down while we keep conducting more tests,” Dr. Meacham said. It really didn’t bother Dr. Moore since lock downs were not that rare. After all, they worked in the CDC, where the most deadly viruses were stored. Though, this time was for real, this time it could affect the rest of human kind.
“The main focus now is to figure out how the disease works, and how it affects the human body. We need to work together and find what triggered it. Chris, can you tell everyone that quarantine procedures will remain in effect until further notice, and nobody is allowed to call home? Please tell security to collect all cell phones. Thanks,” Dr. Meacham said.
Dr. Meacham thought a moment about his ex-wife, and then of his son. He felt like a terrible father. He knew it was his fault that his marriage had gone down the drain. He spent most of his time working, and didn’t spend time with his wife or kid. He remembered his wife telling him about his son trying to show him a cool article about zombies, but he was too involved with his work, and had paid no attention to his son. Dr. Meacham had spent so much time putting work first and family second, it had taken a toll on his marriage, and father/son relationship.
That’s why his wife left him a year ago. He felt betrayed by her, but the feeling didn’t last long, because he went right back to work. She kept custody of their son during the week, and he only saw him on the weekends. Even after the divorce and custody arrangement, he didn’t comply with his paternal duties since he had to work during the weekends. He was so inside of his own thoughts, he didn’t notice how vulnerable he looked in front of his fellow employees. Everyone in the room shifted their attention from Dr. Whitney to him, they were all trying to figure out what was going through his mind.
“Did he figure it out?” someone whispered from the group.
All his subordinates, including Dr. Moore, were staring at him, but he was lost inside his mind. Dr. Meacham couldn’t figure out what caused it. The problem was he was not sure how long the incubation period would last. He didn’t even knew how long Dr. Whitney was infected before she started showing symptoms earlier that morning.
According to all the video footage and records his subordinates had gathered, there was no evidence Dr. Whitney was infected last week. And since nobody else had shown symptoms, it was safe to assume that everyone who was infected, got infected today. Maybe he could stop the progression and symptoms, but he needed to act fast. He knew that according to the surveillance videos, Dr. Whitney started having seizures, convulsing, bleeding, and looking like the exorcist within minutes from her first seizure. Dr. Meacham ignored all the eyes on him and walked toward the glass window, silence filled the room. The inhale and exhale of everyone in the room was the only sound, patient “zero” had died an hour ago. He couldn’t stop staring at her hollow eyes, now with dried blood running down her face. He couldn’t save her like he couldn’t save his marriage. He’d been so involved in his thoughts, that he didn’t hear the phone ringing behind him.
Dr. Moore picked up the phone, and tried to get Dr. Meacham’s attention. “Dr. Meacham is for you. Dr. Meacham, you have a phone call.”
Dr. Meacham turned around, still inside his own mind, and walked toward the desk where the phone was located. Dr. Moore handed over the phone. All eyes in the room were glued to him, and he tried to avoid them, focusing his attention to the phone mic.
“Hello, this is Dr. Meacham.” He raised his head and glanced at Dr. Moore, at that moment he knew the world would never be the same, and no one was going to be able to stop the madness that was coming.
Dr. Moore was dying to know who was on the phone, and why they didn’t want to talk to him or anyone else, they only asked for Dr. Meacham. Who could it be? He knew that whatever they told him was not good news.
“I understand, thank you for calling.”
Dr. Meacham hung up the phone, not even bothering to put it down the right way. He pushed his way out of the crowded office, opened the door and stepped into the hallway. Dr. Moore followed him, closing the door behind him.
“What happened, who was that on the phone?” Dr. Moore asked, grabbing him by the shoulder and pulling him back. Dr. Meacham turned around with watery eyes. “Terminate the lock down and go home, send everyone home,” Dr. Meacham told him. “What are you talking about? Tell me,” Dr. Moore asked with a firm voice.
All Dr. Meacham could do was to keep walking toward the elevator. “I am going to see my family and play with my son, you should do the same,” Dr. Meacham said, waving his hand and saying goodbye. He got into the elevator and disappeared behind the metal doors.
Dr. Moore stared at the elevator doors for a second, then turned around and went back into the office. He pointed at Dr. Barkley, “I need to know who called, who was on the phone?”