“Harlan can be in the air in ten minutes,” Christina announced.
With a nod, he walked over to Kenji.
“The vaccine will be there in a few minutes,” Kenji said.
“Thanks,” Matt told him. “If something comes up, tell me right away, and we’ll redirect the plane the moment we can.”
“Nothing in our coverage area here yet, but we have identified four more groups.”
“Where?” Matt asked, anxious for some good news.
Kenji led him to the computer station a woman named Terri Wright was manning. “Can you bring up the map?” he asked her.
“Two seconds,” she said.
With a few clicks of the keys, a map of North America appeared, zooming in on a small town along the coast of Baja California.
Kenji glanced at Matt. “Santa Blanca. A little fishing village. Only ways in and out are by water and a twenty-mile dirt road. We picked up a call for help fifteen minutes ago.”
“How many?” Matt asked.
“The guy we talked to said there are fifty-seven.”
“Vaccine en route?”
Kenji nodded. “Out of San Diego. Should be there within ninety minutes.” He touched Terri on the shoulder. “Next one.”
The map shifted to a farm in Louisiana, where a family of twelve had gathered for Christmas and barricaded themselves in an old farmhouse. The closest vaccine to them was with the Resistance’s contingent in Atlanta, and would take three hours to get there.
The third location was across the Atlantic in the town of Luleå in northern Sweden. A group of students and teachers who’d been involved in a research project during the winter break had taken refuge in one of the science buildings and been able to keep all others out. Their problem now was not only trying to avoid the flu, but it had been over twenty-four hours since they’d eaten the last of their food. Unfortunately, the closest vaccine to them was outside Amsterdam, and the nearest plane that could fly it up was currently on a mission in Macedonia. The survivors were told to hang tight and someone would get to them by tomorrow.
“And the fourth?” Matt asked.
“Bring it up,” Kenji said.
When the final map location appeared, the image was all white — no roads, no town name, no anything.
“Where the hell is this?” Matt asked.
“Pull back,” Kenji said.
The view zoomed out. It was an island, just off the coast of…
“Antarctica,” Matt said.
“Uh-huh. King Sejong Station. It’s Korean.” He looked at Matt. “They have seventy-five people there.”
“What about other facilities? There are dozens down there. Have we reached any of them?”
“Not yet. Sejong, however, says they’d talked to several other bases a couple days ago, and at least four had reported outbreaks.”
“But they’re okay?”
“Apparently. The station is closest to South America. I can send one of the teams but the problem is, that’ll tie our people up for nearly twenty-four hours.”
Which would leave a hole in their coverage. “I assume supplies aren’t a problem for them,” Matt said.
“They could go six months if they needed to without a new shipment.”
Their isolation was a big plus, too, Matt knew. “Tell them…” He paused, hoping he was making the right decision. “Tell them we’ll get to them as soon as possible. When you feel confident you can free up a team, send it.”
It would have to do for now.
“Anything else?” Matt asked.
“We’ve picked up a few other faint signals that we’ve been trying to home in on, but no real info yet.”
“Okay, let me know the moment that changes.”
16
Jack Cutroy’s head was beginning to pound. And no wonder — it had been almost three days since he’d had any real sleep. Such was the life of an EMT in a world that was falling apart.
He and his partner Allen Descantes had spent the first few days decked out in biohazard suits, trying to save lives. That hadn’t worked out so well. While they were still wearing the suits every day, their mission had changed.
Allen’s phone rang again as they pulled up to the next address on their list. He checked the display and sent the call to voicemail.
“Sheila again?” Jack asked.
A nod.
“Dude, go home. I can handle this.”
“That’s not the job.”
“Screw the job.”
Allen’s situation made Jack’s headache seem trivial. Allen’s wife Sheila had taken to calling him nearly every thirty minutes to plead with him to come home to her and their two kids. That was one problem Jack didn’t have. He hadn’t been in a relationship in nearly four months, and had never been married.
Jack knew his partner was being pulled by his conscience in both directions — a duty to a job he swore to undertake no matter what, and a duty to his family that he’d vowed to protect at all costs.
Allen stared at the floor, then looked out the window. “Which house is it?”
Jack looked at the list. “Uh, 4324. That brown one there.”
As they climbed out of the truck and headed to the house, Jack said, “I’m serious. Go home. If I can’t handle this on my own, then I’m useless.”
A frown from Allen. “I don’t know. I can’t just leave you alone.”
“Yeah, you can. And you can do it without feeling guilty. All we’re doing now is a glorified body check. It’s not what we were trained to do.” He paused. “Be with your family.”
More silence. “You sure?”
“Absolutely.”
They turned down the path that led to the front door.
“All right,” Allen said, looking relieved. “After we drop off this one.”
“Good. Then let’s get this over with, huh?” Jack knocked on the door. “Boulder Fire Department!”
Dead silence from the other side.
He knocked again. “Boulder Fire Department. We’re responding to your call.”
Nothing.
He glanced at the list and read through the details of this particular stop. “All right,” he said. “Let’s try around back.”
There was no lock on the gate, so they were able to get into the backyard without climbing the fence.
It was a nice place. Not a huge yard, but not too small. No pool, but there was a Jacuzzi, though there was no water in it at the moment. A pair of French doors along the back opened into what looked like a family room. Jack tried both handles. They were locked, so he peered through the window, but detected no movement.
Like pretty much everywhere else they’d been in the last day, they were probably too late.
He tapped on the glass. “Boulder Fire Department!”
Was that a noise? He cocked his head and listened, but decided it must have come from outside somewhere.
“You want this one?” he asked Allen.
“Sure.”
Once Jack was out of the way, Allen picked up a small potted plant from the patio, and struck it against the glass of the French door near the handle. Cracks rippled, but the window stayed intact. He hit harder on his second try, and this time the window shattered. After he knocked out the pieces stuck in the frame, he reached in and unlocked the door.
“Hello?” he called as they moved inside. “Hello. Anyone here? Boulder Fire Department.”
There was a Christmas tree all lit up in the living room, surrounded by wrapping paper and ribbons and boxes and toys.
“I don’t think I’m going to like this,” Allen said.
They checked the kitchen and dining room. Both were clear. With a sense of foreboding, Jack led them to the hallway entrance and flipped on the light. Before heading down it, he checked the seals around his wrists and neck, making sure everything was secured. The first room they came to was dark. He reached inside and turned on the light. Bathroom. Empty.