“You don’t have a style. You’re a terrorist.”
“I’m a patriot. What I do is no different than what the Founding Fathers did. I stand up to tyranny and arbitrary rules thrown at us from the government. You’re too deep in it now to see it, Ralph, but I protect people like you too.”
“Protect me from medicine? I don’t need your protection. And neither do these people. As far as proof goes, if I had any you’d be sitting in jail right now instead of in my office.”
“I don’t think there’s enough people manning the jails as it is,” he said with a grin. “Ralph, we’re getting off on the wrong foot. We’re really on the same side, you and I. You want to see people healthy and disease free and I want to see them healthy and disease free. Does it really matter that much that our methods of how to achieve those goals are different?”
Ralph stuck a finger near Benjamin’s face. “Keep the fuck away from my vaccines or you’re gonna be sorry. We’re now under martial law. I won’t be so inclined to follow procedure if another one of my shipments is attacked. I’ll just send some MPs down to arrest you and hold you in a brig until we get back to the mainland.”
“Don’t you mean if we get back to the mainland?”
Ralph was silent a while. “Who the hell told you?”
“Just an educated guess.”
Duncan looked from one man to the other. “What’re you two talking about?”
“You haven’t told him?” Benjamin said. He chuckled. “I think you should maybe tell the people who’ve risked their lives coming out here what you plan to do.”
“I don’t give a damn about what you think. And the only reason I asked you here is to give you one more chance. I have another shipment of vaccines tonight, which I’m sure you know about. They get touched, and you’re done.”
Benjamin smiled to himself and rose. “Pleasure as always, Ralph. Dr. Adams, nice seeing you as well.”
Duncan nodded and waited until he had left before speaking. “What was he talking about, Ralph?”
Ralph exhaled loudly and leaned back in his chair. Exhaustion permeated every muscle, bone, and sinew in his body. Even his skin felt numb and tired. He hadn’t slept for thirty-six hours and looked forward to the time when he could be back at his own home and in his own bed.
“Ralph, what was he talking about?”
“What I’m about to tell you doesn’t leave this room. Not yet. Understood?”
“Sure.”
“You better shut the door then and sit down.”
CHAPTER 29
Samantha arrived at the hospital a few hours later. It had taken the MPs nearly two and a half hours to arrive and verify her identity before they allowed her into the Jeep and drove her back to the hospital in silence.
She walked down the main corridor and saw Jerry Amoy sitting in the waiting area. There was an empty plate on the seat next to him and he was sipping a Diet Coke as he watched a DVD of Friends on the television that was hooked to the wall. Samantha came and sat down next to him.
“I haven’t seen you in a few days,” Amoy said.
“I’ve been setting up the aid stations.”
Amoy nodded. “I’ve heard they’ve been running out of food.”
“I just heard that myself. I don’t know how that’s possible. They’re supposed to be resupplied every night and we have shipments scheduled to come in every week.”
“Don’t rely too much on the government, Dr. Bower. The government’s just people, and unless people have a strong interest, they do just enough to get by.”
She nodded, though she didn’t agree with him, and they watched television a couple of minutes.
“How are things here?” she asked.
“Same as always. Patients show up at our doors for help and we have no help to offer them. This isn’t why I became a doctor: to choose who gets a bed and who doesn’t.”
“Sometimes we don’t get to choose our circumstances. We just have to deal with them the best we can.”
“I’m leaving the island.”
“When?”
“Day after tomorrow. I can’t…it infected a day care for young…” She saw tears well in his eyes and he wiped them with the back of his hand. “It’s amazing how evil nature can be. Man’s got nothing on it.”
“It’s not evil, Jerry. It just is.” She watched the screen a few moments and then said, “Where are you gonna go?”
“California. I have relatives there. I’ll take the licensing exams. This island was a paradise for me, but even when this is all over, it’ll be ruined for me. There’s nothing left for me here but memories of people dying.”
Samantha rose. “You’ve done good work, Jerry. I wouldn’t give up just yet.”
As she walked down the corridor, she glanced back to see his face buried in his hands.
Ralph was sitting at his desk when she walked into the administrative offices of the hospital. Other than a few military personnel and the handful of staff volunteers that had stayed to care for the sick, the hospital was empty.
It reminded her of some of the old hospitals from the fifties she’d been given tours of as a medical student. They still had equipment, and many of the rooms were unbearably creepy, as they still had clothing from old patients that had long since passed away. At least here there isn’t a thick coating of dust on everything, she thought.
She waited by the door until Ralph looked up from what he was doing and motioned for her to sit down.
“I’m sorry about what happened today. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. A little shaken up, but I’m grateful someone was in that mall.”
He tapped his pen against the desk. “You’re going home. Tonight. I’ve booked a flight for you on a military charter that’s dropping off another shipment of vaccines.”
“What? Ralph, you need everyone you can get out here.”
“I’m leaving too.”
“What’s going on?”
“Martial law is being declared. The military is fully taking over operations and the World Health Organization is sending infectious disease bio teams to handle the patients. Our work is through.”
“What are you talking about? Hundreds of people a day are getting infected. How is our work through?”
“We’re containment people, Sam. We deal with the initial stages of a crisis and make sure it doesn’t spread. Once it’s contained, our job is done and we bring in the disaster handlers. That’s the military. It’s their show now. Anyway, your flight’s at one in the morning. Enjoy your last day in paradise.”
“I don’t think I should leave.”
“Sam, I know we’re friends, but I’m also your boss and you need to treat me as such. You’re leaving, end of story. There’ll be other epidemics and other curious agents. Don’t get too hung up on any one.”
CHAPTER 30
Robert Greyjoy drove through a quiet suburb near Honolulu in a stolen Range Rover. Well, stolen wasn’t the correct word; most cars had been abandoned on the side of the road and he happened to find one that had a half tank of gas left.
The neighborhood was clearly middle to upper class. You could always tell based on the cars parked in the driveway. Some people put themselves in massive lifetime debt over their homes and then had nothing left over for the cars. Cars were much more useful for predicting the socio-economic climate of a neighborhood than any other factor except for the maintenance of the lawns.
A group of men were walking by on the street and they eyed him. One had his shirt off and he had a large tattoo of a shark on his back. He threw up some sort of gang sign and Robert laughed despite himself. He kept driving.
There was a young girl on the corner, perhaps no more than twelve. Another shirtless man with tattoos held her by the arm and was clearly scolding her. He looked over and saw Robert’s car and said something to the girl before disappearing into a house.
The girl casually walked in front of Robert’s car and he had to slam on his brakes to avoid a collision. She came up to the window. She was lovely, Robert thought. Dark hair with emerald eyes rimmed red from crying. She was wearing a sundress with high-heels that she clearly was not accustomed to.