Red sky at night. Whoever coined that never lived here.
He heard the door seal scrape. He turned to see a nurse enter. She wore a light sterile coverall, gloves and the ubiquitous filter over her mouth and nose.
It’s been four hours since I last saw someone’s lips. How long will this go on?
The nurse lay a plastic tray at the foot of his bed.
“There’s your things. Your cell-phone is there, but this is a hospital. Please don’t use it. There’s a phone by the bed.”
Not like I have anyone to call. He thought before thinking about who he would call if he could as he looked through the various items that he’d had in his pockets.
The evidence bag.
He had put it in his pocket and promptly forgotten about it. The chain was now largely useless to his investigation – was it even an investigation anymore? To his mind it was a foregone conclusion now that Moira Chan Jeremy Meyers
Doesn’t mean I’m not concerned. Christ . I practically sat in her blood keeping Shale alive. Mind you, her husband’s body didn’t seem to infect anyone before it… evaporated. At least not that we know of.
He found the call-button and a minute later the same nurse who had brought him his personal effects was back in the room?
“Yes, Lieutenant Edmond
“Does anyone else have this?”
“You mean…?”
“I mean have there been any other infections reported?”
“I don’t think so. You three are the only others on this ward.”
“Can you check and see if any of the other hospitals have anyone?”
“This is CDC’s main office. All suspect cases in the region come here.”
“One last thing. Can I get a copy of Tanya Meyers
“I’ll see what I can do.”
He thanked her again and when she left he picked up the phone and got a number from 411. He dialed again. The phone rang four times before it was answered by a female voice.
“People deserve to know. And contrary to your fears, I don’t see people panicking in the streets.”
“Who exactly did you expect to be calling you, Bev ?”
“Who is this?”
“Scott Edmond
“Scott ? The Call ID says Centre for Disease Control. I pushed a few buttons this afternoon.”
“Yeah. I saw.”
“So, umm, you know I really didn’t expect a call from you this soon. I didn’t expect that you’d call until you really needed my help. Wait a second. Do you really need my help?”
“I’m in quarantine.”
“Quarantine?”
“Yeah. I may have been exposed to… what’s your virus called?”
“They haven’t identified it. It doesn’t have a name.”
“That’s not exactly what I want to hear.”
“What can I do for you Scott ?”
“I just need to know what’s going on. If you’re following this story, I want to know everything you know.”
“I’m going to want your story.”
“Done.”
“I don’t know much myself.”
“If I might have this thing, I want to know everything. And from what I’ve seen, people are going to want to protect themselves.”
“Okay. Well, it seems CDC knows almost nothing. They haven’t been able to identify the virus, and to the best of my knowledge – you are their first live patient.”
“There’s three of us.”
“Okay, they haven’t been able to confirm more than two cases in North America before this morning.”
“Well, I’ve seen two in the past week. One living, one dead.”
“Let me get my pen.”
“Jesus, Scott .”
“I know.”
“So, people get sick and turn into mindless zombie cannibals?”
“Yep.”
“You are feeding me complete bullshit.”
“I swear to God, Bev .”
“You know I can’t report this. I’d look ridiculous. It would never get to air.”
“Why do you think I was such a push over? Thanks for the info though.”
“Fuck you.”
Chapter 16
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