The White Death (26 page)

Chapter 49

“Mr. President, we have a situation,” said Defense Secretary Jacqui Kilmoran.

“That phrase has lost all gravitas with me now. Go ahead,” said Thomas. He’d just finished a meeting with the Secret Service, who wanted to relocate him to an aircraft carrier group in the Atlantic Ocean. It had been a heated discussion, with Thomas downright refusing to leave the capital. That would send the worst message possible to the American public. He took his glasses off, badly wanting to lift his feet up onto the desk. His country was crumbling around him, and as each minute went by, he could feel the pressure build inside him.

“New York, Mr. President. Sixty-five percent of their power grid has been disabled. We suspect riot damage. We need to send the Army in. The NYPD has lost all control.” She flicked on a news channel, which had a helicopter in the air showing rioting across New York in numbers no police force could handle. Buildings burned, and families fled for safety. The cameraman zoomed in on an elderly couple being pulled out from their car and thrown to the ground so others could speed away from the frenzy.

“Mob rule,” agreed Thomas. “The mayor?”

“We can’t get through to anyone in authority. Not the mayor. Not the NYPD commissioner. No one, Mr. President.”

“Then we have no choice,” said Thomas. “Send the Army in. I want New York back under control immediately. We don’t need this spreading to other cities. Gail.” He shouted for her to come in.

“Yes, sir?”

“Send a message to all state governors advising them the Army stands by to take control of any city or state that looks like it is falling under mob rule. If any of them protest this, tell them I’ll issue so many executive orders there’ll be enough to shove down their throats, as well.”

“Yes, Mr. President.” She rushed out the door.

“Also, get me General Richards.”

“Right away.”

If he lost control of New York, America’s iconic city, then every remaining country would doubt America’s ability and resolve to lead. He didn’t want the Army walking through American cities any more than the next person, but the alternative was not acceptable.

“General, New York is falling to pieces. I’ve authorized a full military intervention. I want back control of that city.”

“No, Mr. President,” shouted Richards, on a helicopter. “I was just about to contact you. Sir, we may have an infection outbreak in New York. Sending the Army in will only cause more problems.”

“What? How?”

“Ambassador Kilroy, sir. It seems he made it back to his office and then…” He took a breath, anxious to find the appropriate way to explain the preposterous series of events that had taken place. “It appears he jumped from his office window on the thirty-third floor. He didn’t survive the fall, but if he was infected, then he would have acted … well, like a kind of bomb, sir.”

Thomas froze. The general was still talking, but he wasn’t listening anymore. Those around him in the Oval Office continued to work and chatter, but he didn’t hear them. They had strived, and he had prayed, to keep the virus away from their shores. The Air Force and Navy were working around the clock to ensure no unauthorized person entered the landmass. They had abandoned millions to protect their own country. Now, all of that was in vain.

“Gail,” he shouted, but it was only a whisper. He cleared his throat and shouted for her again. “General, what do we do?”

“We need to move to contain New York. I’m on a helicopter now to the suspected point of infection. I’ll contact you in about fifteen minutes.” Richards was talking loudly and slowly.

“What’s it look like?”

“A war zone,” said Richards. The line cut out.

“What?” shouted Gail, running in.

“New York might be infected. Call Jacqui back.”

“Oh Jesus Christ!” She ran off again.

“General. Find out for me right away. I’ll coordinate from the Situation Room. And General, be careful.”

“Understood, Mr. President.” Richards ended the call as he felt the helicopter beginning a slight descent.

“Is it?” said Gail, coming back in.

“We don’t know yet,” said Thomas. “But my gut tells me yes.”

Chapter 50

Barrington maintained a laser-sharp focus on her work. Time was running out, and with each check of her watch, she knew infection of the remaining populations came closer. The woman in white had not visibly changed, although her body was engaged in an all-out war with the virus. In Ursula’s mind, she could envision the battle taking place. Millions of white blood cells, along with other more specialist cells, would be fighting it out with the deadly Eugenics Virus. Neither side was winning, but the body itself was being ravaged as a result of the battle. Her body was the battlefield.

Across the room, Nelson was pacing, terrified by the most recent news from home. A team had been sent into New York City to try to recover Ambassador Kilroy’s body, but if they couldn’t find him, or if the virus had already spread … it would be too late.

“What if they can’t find the ambassador?” asked Nelson, across the room.

“That’s something I can’t afford to think about,” said Barrington.

“But if he is back on American soil and is a carrier?”

“Then the American government will have to deal with that.” She understood Nelson was concerned—so was she—but there was nothing they could do at this end. Even Peter had returned to his desk, recognizing the need to get a vaccine as quickly as possible.

“I wish I had your mental fortitude,” said Nelson.

“Don’t we all?” said Peter, across the screen.

“How many more?” she asked, referring to the viral diagrams.

“Eight more,” said Nelson.

“Good. Peter, how is CIM processing the data?”

“Slowly, but we’ll get there. Once I have all of them, I’ll divert processing power to the search over here. Progress at your end?”

Ursula tutted, scoring out another formula on her pad.

“Slowly,” she said. “My mind is spinning with formulas and possibilities.” The sheer number of equations she had written out across four computer screens would frazzle the mind of most scientists. For her, though, this was where she excelled. When under the greatest pressure, she always believed, the mind could also be at its greatest.

“All done,” said Nelson, with clear joy in his statement.

“I wish that remark was mine,” she replied. “Peter, get cracking on that.”

“Already on it, boss.” he said.

“Tell CIM I expect her total commitment as well.”

“Understood,” said Peter, rushing off screen.

“Look at that—her eyes follow my flashlight,” said Nelson.

“Mm-hmm,” she replied, uninterested. Why he was still so fascinated with her she wouldn’t know.

“It shows there’s someone in there.”

“I just got an updated report on New York,” said Peter, coming back on screen.

“Well?” they asked together, turning around.

“Complete devastation.” Peter’s words were heavy, and Ursula could feel her face fall. She had hoped for some kind of miracle, no matter how foolish it was. The moment infection occurred in a population, the battle was over.

“What about the country?”

“The White House is in emergency mode. I don’t think any option is off the table now,” he said.

Barrington and Nelson looked at each other; they knew what that meant.

“Same effects as in other cities?” she asked.

“The same primal carnage as shown everywhere else,” said Peter. “Mindless animals, all at once and so abruptly. The government is preparing to enact full quarantine protocols.”

“The government will need to take swift action if there is to be any hope of containing this.” She had returned to work again, running a computer simulation projecting how the body responded to a weakened version of layer two.

“Well, we three know there are certain … protocols … in government vaults for dealing with situations like this.”

“Oh, I know that,” said Ursula, agreeing with her colleague. She had written some for the British government, and they were one of the few documents the government only kept paper copies of, for fear of cyber espionage.

“Nothing would surprise me with government,” said Nelson.

Ursula listened, knowing the three of them had all operated at the upper echelons of government, and would find it hard to be surprised by anything.

“Quiet,” shouted Nelson.

“I beg your pardon?” said Barrington, getting off her chair. The lights began to flicker.

“What’s going on?” asked Peter.

“Oh, hell,” said Barrington. She grabbed onto a desk for support as the ground began to rumble and shake. They felt a deep explosion in the distance. Some of the thick white floor tiles below them cracked.

“This bunker is reinforced,” said Nelson. “Or we’d be dead already.”

“Lovely,” she replied.

He got down on his hands and knees, feeling the vibrations continue.

“A good few miles away, but very powerful. I’d say if it wasn’t a bomb, then a power plant explosion.”

“I’m pulling up our scanners for the region,” said Peter. Taking control of the closest satellite the U.S. government had in the region, he directed it toward Beijing.

“Commander, you’re right. Looks like a power planet explosion—their nuclear one, actually.”

“I thought we were going to be shutting down power plants,” said Ursula.

“We’re planning to,” said Peter. “Specialist teams are being prepped, but every time they prepare to launch, something else comes up.”

“Stretched to capacity,” said Ursula. “I know that feeling. Try and prioritize Beijing.”

“Do you hear that?” asked Nelson.

Ursula turned to look at the able commander, his keen ears and eyes on full alert as he headed out into the corridor.

“Commander?”

“Stay here,” he whispered. She watched as he withdrew his pistol, ready to fire.

“Ursula?” said Peter.

She didn’t reply to him, instead watching Nelson walk softly down the corridor toward the destroyed elevator shaft. It was full of tangled metal and concrete, the doors barely keeping the debris contained.

Nelson leaned in, placing his ear on the elevator door.

“Fuck,” he said, jumping back.

“Commander,” shouted Ursula.

“Infected in the elevator shaft.”

“Oh, Christ. The explosion must have sent them into a panic, and some fell down the shaft.” He fired.

He shot her a grave look, and she knew right away.

“Get back from that elevator!” She sealed her own laboratory door, leaving Nelson in the corridor alone.

“What?” he asked.

“Those elevator doors are damaged and not sealed. Infection molecules could have gotten through. You might be infected.” She watched him carefully, looking for any signs.

“What should I do?” he asked, a rare look of fright on his face.

“Seal yourself in one of the labs.” Barrington was glad all the rooms in this floor had clear glass walls so she could monitor him. Flying to her computer desk, she released stimulant 43B into the atmosphere, praying it would buy him some time.

“What’s going on?” asked Peter.

“Nelson may be infected.”

“Have you secured him?”

“He’s secured himself in an airtight room, and I’ve given him a shot to boost his immune system.” She tried to keep her cool and not let her body trick itself into feeling any kind of weird symptoms. The doors to her lab had been shut in time. She knew that.

“Put on your earpiece,” ordered Peter.

“What is it?” she said.

“Ursula, if he becomes infected … you will have to kill him.”

“Don’t you think I know that?” she barked. “I’m here, not you. Concentrate on finding out what kind of virus that is for me.”

“Ursula, I’m serious.” Peter was worried for her safety. “Are you armed?”

“Yes.” She placed a hand on the pistol attached to her right leg, reassuring herself. “But if I shoot the glass with bullets, I become infected, as well.”

“Damn.”

“Helpful, Peter. Nelson’s a proud man. He won’t let himself succumb to that existence.”

“You think so?” said Peter.

“Doctor,” said Nelson over the intercom. “I feel strange.”

“Take slow, deep breaths,” she ordered. “Remember, if you are infected, there is an internal battle taking place inside your body. I’ve released a stimulant into the air, and it should help give your immune system a significant boost in fighting the virus.”

“If I feel myself going, you know what I’m going to do.”

“I know.” Ursula kept watching. She knew the virus would already have penetrated his body’s defenses, which would now be overwhelmed and confused. Nelson kept a firm grip on his gun, ready to pummel a few hard slugs.

“Doctor, you need to find that vaccine.”

Ursula stared back at him from across the room. She got back to work.