Plague (18 page)

“I know that in times of uncertainty there is fear. You are all worried about your families and friends, as am I. But I can assure
you
that everything is being done to
guarantee
that this episode in our history is like every other:
evanescent
. In the meantime, we mu
st be cautious. As o
f
this moment
, all transportation to and from the island of Oahu is halted. Employers on the island have been notified that all businesses are to be closed
by tomorrow morning
along with public facilities such as schools
and other government buildings
, parks, and beaches
. I know this will be hard. Many of you live
in our great state for the sole purpose
of
being out in wondrous nature. However, we must keep our fellow citizens in mind at this time of need and I ask that you remain home with your families, only traveling out if absolutely necessary.

“All the physicians and biologists and public health experts have assured us that the quickest way for this illness to pass is to
end
daily public life for a while.
We must be vigilant and accept the fact that, for at least the foreseeable future, our lives will
be altered. But I have no doubt
that we will soon be out on our fine beaches, eating at our wonderful restaurants, and enjoying the natural beauty of our largest island.

“I thank you for you
r
time, for your patience, and for your efforts in helping your fellow citizens. God bless Hawaii, and God bless the United States of America. Thank you.”

Samantha looked to Duncan who whistled through
h
is teeth. “All transportation?” he said. “That’s pretty crazy.”

“There’s no other way to keep it from the mainland.”

“It’s going to get there anyway.”

“I think we’ve done a pretty good job of keeping it out.”

“Doesn’t matter. This is nature we’re talking about. It’s fluid, constantly adapting. Viruses are nature in its purest form. They have one purpose, one
burning desire and they will d
o anything to achieve that desire
. Nature’s ends tend to get accomplished. The virus wants to spread. It’ll spread until it can’t anymore.”

“I think you give
viruses
too much credit.”

He shrugged. “I don’t have a girlfriend so I think about viruses all day.” She smiled and he grinned. “We never got to have dinner. Have it with me tonight.”

“I don’t think tonight’s a good time.”

“It’s the perfect time. You heard the gov, they’re closing all the businesses
tomorrow
so I’m assuming they mean restaurants too. Come on, we’ll go to the best restaurant on the island and then tomorrow you can start eating Army food and Top Ramen.”

She closed her mac and sat down. “All right. Dinner. But it’ll have to be a little later
.
I have a meeting with Ralph.”

“No sweat,” he said, standing up. “I’ll swing by and pick you up from Queen’s Medical.”

“They meet at the Ritz-Carlton
now. Pick me up from there in a couple of
hour
s
.”

“You got it. I’m gonna go hit the showers.”

“Okay. And Duncan? Maybe we sh
ouldn’t go anywhere too crowded?
”

CHAPTER 23

The Ritz-Carlton sat on three acres of beachfront property and looked like a photo out of a tourist magazine.
Normally
,
crowds swamped the hotel
’
s two pools and half a dozen tennis courts. A restauran
t
there
named Ice
served
lush Hawaiian inspired cuisine on a large veranda that was open year round.

But that’s not what it appeared like now. As Samantha pulled up on her Ducati and parked, she thought it looked like a crime scene. News crews had set up on every inch of property they were legally entitled to
and the rest of the space was taken up with military
and police vehicles. Sam’s parking spot was across the street in a paid lot and she jogged over to the hotel. The concierge informed her that they were not allowed to take any more guests.

“No,” she said, “I’m with the CDC; the government. Please call Ralph Wilson and let him know I’m here.”

“Certainly. One moment.”

Samantha stepped back from reception and watched as a man spoke to another concierge, asking him if there was any way off the island. The concierge said there wasn’t and the man began to grow upset and swear at him. The concierge glanced to a group of police officers that were standing by the door and
Sam
could see
him
suddenly fill with courage.

“Sir,” he told the man, “I really don’t give a damn what you think. You can take your attitude and blow it out your ass for all I care. Now either get out of my face or leave my fucking hotel.”

Nerves were frazzled, Sam thought. This situation was frustrating enough but throw on top of that a looming food shortage and the closure of all businesses and you had a populace on the verge of violence. Attempting to be a courteous customer service rep for your company at that point was nearly impossible.

“Ma’am?” the concierge said to Sam. She turned and walked back to reception.

“Yes?”

“Dr. Wilson stated that he would like you to meet him at his table inside Ice. It is the restaurant at the end of that hallway and to the right.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Samantha made her way down the hallway and to the plush restaurant decorated in gold and black. The hostess pointed her right to Wilson’s table. He was seated indoors
though the veranda looked much more pleasant
. Th
e table he was sitting at had
views
of the parking lot out
the windows and his back was agains
t a wall as he ate pasta out of
an ornately decorated bowl.

“This place looks nice,” she said, sitting down across from him.

“Expensive as all hell. But I figured I wouldn’t be getting a decent meal after tomorrow. How’s everything at the recreation center?”

“A little over two
hundred patients. We seem to
average one new admittee per hour.”

“I looked over the list. Have
you
noticed how many were police officers?”

“No, I haven’t had time to go through it.”

“Honolulu Police have small numbers, around nineteen hundred officers. Over a hundred of them are in your rec center. And those are only the ones that have actually sought medical attention. I’m betting a fair number have stayed home.”

“It’s something to keep an eye on I suppose.”

“It’s more than that,” Wilson said, taking a sip of the red wine that was on his table. “There are certain professions that a society cannot survive without. The first
is
maintenance crews. Our infrastructures require constant maintenance. Projections have show
n
that
,
without maintenance crews
,
the city would not be able to function within one month. Within three months, nature will have taken back what we took from it. The city would
be
in
ruins
,
just
like
what
you’d find i
n Rome or Constantinople. Just w
ith taller buildings.

“The second profession a society cannot survive without
is
police officers.
If the police force is disabled it’
ll mean chaos for this island.”

“It’s just a small percentage now. I’ll call the chief and make sure he switches up the crews and has them protected for their shifts.”

“That won’t be enough. He needs to run on a skeleton crew of volunteers. As the outbreak spreads the police will be more fearful of contact. They’ll be as good as on vacation anyway.”

“I thought you
wanted to maintain order
?”

Wilson took a large bite of pasta and finished chewing before speaking again. “There was a fascinating study conducted at UCLA. It was done by graduate students in the sociology department. They wanted
to test enticement of crime in minority populations, but that’s not what the study became famous for.

“They would park luxury cars in high foot traffic areas and leave the doors ajar. Not wide open, but far enough that anyone walking by would notice. They left
Cadillacs
and BMW
s and Lexus
es
on this abandoned strip of land
next to an empty retail shop
with no one around, so that the pedestrians
felt that they wouldn’t be caught if they felt like rummaging through the cars
or
taking them. For days, nothing happened. Not a single person even opened the car door to see what was inside. One day some kids were playing outside and they hit a baseball through a window of the retail shop that was about twenty feet away from the car. Within three hours, seven people had rummaged through the car and
one tried to steal it. The next day, they had to abandon the experiment because too many people were attempting to steal the car.

“It was perception
,
Sam
;
that was the point of the study’s findings. Society itself is a perception. When the people saw the broken window they perceived the car as abandoned rather than simply stopped there.
They saw chaos and responded appropriately.
If the police presence is strong, the perception will be that
there are
a lot of police officer
s
.
If the presence isn’t strong and the perception is that there isn’t enough police, people will revert to the state of nature and turn
in
to animals.

“
What the chief needs to do is have a minimum number of officers driving around the cities, parking in high crime areas. They don’t have to do anything, just park there. It will be enough to create the perception we’re looking for.”

The waiter came by and asked if Sam wanted anything. She asked for a Perrier and fiddled with the fork and napkin that was laid out in front of her. “I can’t believe we’re even discussing this.”

“I know. Lack of order is a difficult thing to grasp when you’re accustomed to having order, but that’s the way it is. By the way, the governor’s orders don’t apply to us. You can freely leave the island if you need to but you have to travel by military plane.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

He smiled. “The first time we met, you had stayed up for two days straight preparing a report on the contamination of a well in a small town in Oklahoma. Do you remember th
at? I was so impressed with you
that I knew you would be the type of person that would rise in the CDC, if you wanted to. I think one day, Sam, you’ll be handed my job. When that day comes, I want you to ask yourself one question: can you handle not having anyone in your life? I have no wife, no children. I’m away from home over two hundred days out of the year. It’s not a life everyone can handle. You need to decide if this is the path you want to take. Don’t take that decision lightly.”

He suddenly appeared melancholy and Samantha didn’t follow up with any questions. She figured it was something he would discuss when he felt the urge, although he had once mentioned in an offhanded comment that not having children was the biggest regret of his life.

“Anyway,” he said, taking in a large breath, “why don’t you stay and have dinner with me?
Then decide if you want to stay or leave the island.
”

“I have plans.”

“Oh, that Duncan fellow, correct?”

“How could you tell?”

“His face lights up when you enter a room. I’ve dealt with him a few times; he’s a decent man.
”

The waiter brought her Perrier and she opened it as Wilson sipped more of his wine. They sat in silence a while, enjoying the calm atmosphere of the restaurant. She couldn’t tell if it was really calm or if it was just comparatively calm to the chaos and tension that were building outside of these walls, but it was relaxing nonetheless.

“I better go,” she said
.
“
Thanks
for the drink.”

“Samantha, in a few days, when the data’s compiled and digested, I’ll have a much better picture of what’s going on here. If it turns out to be what I think it is, I’ll be having you sent back to Atlanta.”

“What? Ralph, I’m fine. I can take care of myself.”

“This isn’t about that. You don’t know what can be unleashed here. This will become
a
fully military
-run
operation and there’ll be no need for us anyway. But we’re not to that point yet. I
was hoping you’d go back voluntarily but I had a hunch you wouldn’t. I
just wanted to tell you so
there are
no surprises.
Now go have fun before they close everything.
”