Where did the keyboard go?
Rob looked over the piles of wrappers and empty coffee cups in a panic. He’d gotten a new message and he couldn’t respond because he couldn’t find the keyboard. “Shit, shit, shit!” he shouted as he used his arm to sweep the debris to the ground. The rattle of plastic bottles still echoed in the room as he found the mouse, the red LED glow giving it away, and he used it to click open the message.
Carter,
It’s not looking good. California has been classified a total loss and we have been ordered out of the state. The National Guard are pulling back and using mountains and desert to help contain the contagion.
While the desert’s extreme weather conditions show signs of working, the northern advance shows no evidence of slowing and has quickly spread through Oregon, Idaho, and northern Nevada. Washington still has no reported cases and has not declared martial law, as you know.
Unconfirmed reports are starting to filter in from New York hospitals. This could be hysteria caused by news coming from the West Coast. If these reports are confirmed then operation Ark will need to be modified to cover a Mid-West scenario.
All flights, shipping, and borders have been closed. Heads of government have been secured per Ark protocol. US Navy deployed abroad in non-military zones has been recalled.
BCCDC Canada has been briefed and is standing by to lend support.
The Mexican government has been non-responsive; there are concerns they may have been compromised already.
Viral research updates:
Bodies from California have been examined. They show no signs of reanimating. Proving that the San Diego Virus can only be passed to a living human. Testing with birds has shown no effect. Further testing has been restricted by the US Army, we are still waiting for clearance to continue testing.
He looked over the report and scratched at the stubble on his cheek like he was trying to pull the skin right off. This wasn’t a contamination cleanup, this was trying to stop a bee hive with a fly swatter. They knew close to nothing about the contagion and their efforts to understand more had been slowed by the military.
Truthfully, the military had stepped in quicker than he’d expected. Ever since 9/11 the government’s response had been faster and heavier handed than in the past. But this was… too fast. He smelled a rat.
He was sure that the military was trying to cover up a failure, some kind of terror weapon gone rogue. Obviously, it was now out of their control, and if they didn’t fess up soon and tell them what they were up against US was going to be lost, and soon after, humanity.
He pulled the folder from under a pile of burrito wrappers; it had been delivered yesterday to him and the other CDC satellite offices.
“Ark” was written across the front in bold lettering.
It was a joke program that had been started during the Cold War, in case the Russians had decided to attack with viral weapons instead of nuclear. It was a program that the Reagan administration started. Reagan might have acted the dolt, but he did one thing right: protected Americans at all costs.
But that was also the problem; it was at all costs. Such an expensive military program couldn’t keep its funding in the shrinking budget. At a million dollars a smart missile, relic departments were dismantled. Ark wasn’t revisited with the closures; instead the responsibilities that once belonged to the Army and Air Force were shifted to state government and its departments… like the CDC. Unlike the military with its perfect order of command, some departments didn’t have to listen to the CDC… like one damn Governor of Washington that, if he could have acquisitioned a jet, he’d fly in and throttle personally!
He tried the LAN lines and wasn’t able to get through; Rob winced. Things were already starting to break down. Rolling his eyes he pulled out his cellphone…