The Death Trilogy (Book 1): The Death: Quarantine (31 page)

Tess followed Daryl’s example and drove without headlights. The vibrant green glow of the night vision goggles was something she’d have to get use to. The moon’s radiant light helped to illuminate the road ahead, but for as far as she could see, there was ten times that much road that was hidden from her. This represented the unknown in front of them. With only the lessons of what had come before and the brief experience of what was right now, they disappeared into the night, headed for a place that had once been home but would now be as foreign and alien a place as any.

For Devin, Tess, Brianna and Brando, the only thing that provided certainty was each other. Many challenges existed in front of them, and no guarantees existed as to the outcome of their journey. If a blessing could be found out of the death, misery, hate and horror that now possessed the world, it was that love and friendship could still blossom under the most extreme conditions.

October 3, 2020

Methodist Hospital, Indianapolis, Indiana

Chancellor Horton exited the elevator and walked pensively down the hall till he reached the two massive doors marked ‘Quarantine Area’.

A guard stood on post and nodded upon seeing him.

“Open up,” he ordered.

The guard obeyed and opened the locked doors.

Horton walked in and headed straight until the hallway dead-ended. There on the right was a set of two large double doors. He pushed through and entered a large room. The beeping and humming of monitors hit his ears; an intense bleach smell filled his nostrils and slightly tinged his eyes. Out of his pocket he pulled a surgical mask and put it on. This wasn’t done for his protection; it was so he could tolerate the smells of what was on the other side of the thick white drapes.

He stepped up to them and looked in. There he spied a woman lying on a bed; tubes, wires and sensors sprang from her body like roots from the bottom of a plant.

A man dressed in a long white overcoat came up beside him.

“Chancellor, good to see you.”

“Oh, Doctor Mueller, great to see you.”

“I didn’t imagine you’d come so quickly, with phase one just underway and all.”

“I only came because you said it was urgent. What’s going on, Doctor?”

“We’re not sure, but something has come up that we never encountered in our testing.”

“So this is Patient Zero?”

“Yes, sir.”

“So tell me, what’s the emergency?”

“Patient Zero worked perfectly. We gave her the shots, and just like in testing, she became symptomatic within the twelve-hour window and progressed rapidly. We fully expected her to expire last night or this morning, but she didn’t.”

“That’s it? She hasn’t died, so you call me in?”

“We did some more tests, and it appears her body is producing antibodies at an extremely rapid rate.”

Horton looked at his watch and barked, “Stop boring me. So what? She’s immune; we have other patients.”

“No, sir, it’s not that. She is clearly not immune, but her body has created, completely on its own, the antibodies that kill the virus. She’s not immune, she’s curing herself.”

Hearing this raised Horton’s interest. He again peered into the small enclosure she was housed in.

“What does this mean, and why should the Order be concerned?”

“People that are immune don’t show very many symptoms, we know this. For her, she has cycled through the virus; it was about to kill her when her body fought back and won. You see, with her a vaccine can be manufactured, not a temporary one, but one that is permanent, similar to other vaccines. You see our Patient Zero can put a stop to Phase One quickly.”

“Let’s not have her do that. Get her out of here ASAP.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Ship her to the DIA.”

“We’ll get right on that.”

“Is that everything?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good, make sure she arrives safely; we need to keep her safe and secure.”

Horton turned around and began to exit but stopped just short of the doors. He spun around and asked, “What’s Patient Zero’s name?”

Doctor Mueller flipped to the front of the chart in his hand and answered, “Her name is Cassidy Lange.”

John W. Vance is a former Marine and retired Intelligence Analyst with the CIA. When not writing he spends as much time as he can either with his family or in the water. 

He lives in complete bliss somewhere where the waves meet the shore.

For more information on

John W. Vance

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www.jwvance.com

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Thank you, John W. Vance

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Get the exciting sequel

THE DEATH: ERADICATE

It’s been seven months since ninety percent of the world’s population died, ravaged by a pandemic called THE DEATH. The world that remains is a hostile one. Chaos has replaced the rule of law, savagery has replaced civility and the one rule that everyone follows is: kill or be killed. 
Immune, Devin, Tess and Brianna survived the pandemic but can they survive the world that remains? Each new day presents challenges and threats but they are persistent and do what needs to be done. Their goal is Tess’ old house in North Carolina; there they hope to discover a note left by her fiancé, a note they hope will guide them to a safe place, a place they can call home. 
After narrowly escaping the clutches of Chancellor Horton; Lori and Travis have taken refuge in an old ranch house in northern Colorado. Once safe, her mind has turned to her unborn baby. Without a cure, the baby could die within days of birth. A cure exists but is locked inside the very place she just escaped from. 
There are many questions left but the greatest one for them all. Will they survive long enough to find the answers?
 
  

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Look for John W. Vance's New Apocalyptic Series 

THE DEFIANT

Coming January 27, 2015 & Available for Pre-order Below

THE DEFIANT: GRID DOWN

When the lights go out, could you survive?

For years a few have warned that a day of reckoning was coming, but those warnings went unheeded and even mocked. Then that day came… 

When Nicholas McNeil, a father and dedicated husband, turned out the lights in his suburban home Sunday night, they would never turn on again. During the early Monday morning hours, a spectacular and well coordinated attack destroys the grid and brings the United States to its knees.

Nicholas was a man who had heeded the warnings to a degree, but most did not. With a society unprepared and a government overwhelmed, panic turns to chaos and soon violence.  

Fighting for what resources are still available, Nicholas and his family also find themselves fighting to survive as society turns on itself.