Ed reluctantly agreed that Sam might have a point. So they kept walking. Two more blocks until they crossed Adams and found all the benches empty. They had been sitting there for over an hour before they heard the rattle of the shopping cart.
“You seen Old Henry?” Qween appeared in the dim glow of the streetlights.
“Earlier,” Ed said. “We need to talk to you.”
“Damn right you do,” Qween said, leaning on the handles to her cart. “’Bout time you figured that out. Where’d you see Henry?”
“Down by the river.”
“When was this?”
“This morning sometime. Why?”
“He gone. We ain’t talked all day. Ain’t like him.”
“I don’t know about that. But this,” Sam said, pointing at the hospital. “This is a problem.” He stood and paced. “The government has taken over in that place. We stick our heads inside, we ain’t gonna make it five feet. You say the rats are sick. The news is now saying the rats are carrying some kinda disease. And meanwhile, people are going bug-fuck crazy.” Sam spread his hands. “So. Let’s start with the rats. What’s wrong with ’em?”
Qween worked her mouth, chewing on something for a while. Sam and Ed weren’t sure if it was gum or something left over from dinner. She finally said, “I don’t know if it’s the rats or not. But if you wanna know about the rats, then go talk to the people that see ’em, day after day.”
“Streets and Sans, they’re not exactly cooperating.”
“No, not them. You need to talk to some folks that are out on the streets, day in, day out.” She looked from Ed to Sam. They didn’t get it. “Folks like me.”
“Foul-mouthed and cranky?” Sam asked.
The Man himself stared into the camera. “Doctor . . . Reischtal, is it?”
Dr. Reischtal said, “Yes, sir.” He sat alone in the conference room on the top floor. He had pulled back the hood of his hazmat suit and taken off the faceplate and twin filtration bulbs. It rested on the table within arm’s reach.
The Man got tired of waiting for Dr. Reischtal to say something else. “Understand the situation is critical. I’ve seen the news footage. Looks like things are going to hell in a handbasket.” He was the placid eye in a hurricane of activity. Aides rushed around him, and high-ranking officials like the secretary of defense flanked him. Everybody else had a cell phone glued to his or her ear, but the Man ignored all of this, and barely moved as he watched Dr. Reischtal’s video image.
Dr. Reischtal nodded. “The infection is reaching pandemic levels, yes. We are collecting and isolating individuals exhibiting any of the symptomology, as well as anyone else that may have been exposed. They are currently being treated at this hospital. However, we are running out of room.” He clasped his long skeletal fingers and stared back at the Man. “If we do not destroy the root cause, the origin of the virus, we have no chance of containing it.”
“Worst case?”
“Entire world. Within four or five months.”
“Best case?”
“Isolate it and destroy it. Downtown is already lost, I firmly believe this.”
“That’s not what we’re hearing from this end,” the Man said.
“Your end is not here. I am here. I know what is coming. I know how the virus is spreading.” Dr. Reischtal smiled. It did not contain warmth. “This is a species-ending virus, something that will latch on to anything you have in the way of a brain, and will live with the short-sighted goal to simply procreate and survive, even if it burns out an entire planet and ultimately kills itself.” He struggled not to say the word “God” or especially “wrath.”
The Man was silent for a moment. “Are you serious?” He turned to the secretary of the interior. “Is there any way what he’s talking about is even close to the truth?” He looked back at Dr. Reischtal. “You people are supposed to be the best in the business. How did it get this far?”
“Until recently, we were unable to determine the exact transmission method. Now we know. Therefore, I need authorization to begin an evacuation of downtown Chicago in response to the virus outbreak. “
“Is that really necessary? I mean, extreme measures have already been taken, have they not? I understood that downtown was already restricted.”
“I don’t think you understand the ramifications of not taking decisive action immediately. The situation has escalated, and it makes no matter whether we want it to stop when convenient. We are about to engage in a war here, make no mistake, where we are fighting for our lives, our very souls.”
Dr. Reischtal stood up and raised his voice. “It. Will. Spread. Of that I have no doubt. Have your people described, in detail, exactly what happens when one is infected with this particular virus? Have they explained that after a brief coma, anywhere from twelve hours to one or two, the victim awakes to some of the most intense skin irritation I have ever witnessed? An irritation so severe it invariably leads to the victim clawing his or her own skin off? I have personally witnessed a victim take a corkscrew to their thighs and chest in an attempt to satiate the irritation.” He did not mention that the corkscrew was, in fact, a scalpel, and the blade had been provided to the patient for the sole purpose of observing the reaction. “And then”—he spread his fingers flat on the table—“the victim becomes hypersensitive to any kind of sound, and reacts violently. You do understand that these infected patients will not stop. They will attack and kill anyone in their paths, using anything at their disposal. Do you not see the possible consequences if this particular virus spreads beyond Chicago?”
“You said that you now know how the virus is transmitted. Can you . . . enlighten us?”
Dr. Reischtal paused a moment. When the arm of his hazmat suit rubbed against his torso, it squeaked like a children’s bath toy. “Very well. But I believe this information should be kept from the public. It will only serve to hinder our primary focus, which is isolating the virus, studying it, and ultimately finding a vaccine.” He took a deep breath. It was time to reveal the truth. “The virus is being transmitted by parasitic insects, commonly known as bedbugs.”
The Man raised his eyebrows.
“Again, I must urge you to keep this information as quiet as possible. If you were to tell the general population what is really happening here, that death is crawling up through the cracks in the walls and hiding in their beds and couches, biting them when they sleep, feeding on them while they are hypnotized by their televisions, you would witness an unprecedented panic that will rip this country apart.”
Dr. Reischtal wasn’t the least surprised that the Old One had surfaced in a parasite, hiding in a bug that had once fed on the blood of mankind’s ancestors as they slept in caves and trees. He faced the camera and tried not to let anything into his voice or escape through his face as he fought to control what he said out loud. It was so obvious. Why could they not see it? The Ancient One, the End Foretold, No Rebirth without Death. “You asked if an evacuation was really necessary to stop this, this abomination. It is. In fact, it is the only way to burn this virus out with all the fury of our Lord.”
The Man shook his head. “I don’t know if you can comprehend what factors are involved in such a decision. The consequences can be far-reaching and quite unpleasant to contemplate. I do not need to remind you that an election is imminent. This is unacceptable.”
“And watching an entire city, then the entire country, fall victim to this virus, that would be acceptable?”
“Stop right there. I—”
“Listen to me!” Dr. Reischtal shouted, and if he felt any trepidation about interrupting the most powerful man in the free world, none of it showed on his face. He looked positively possessed. “This is what will be necessary.”