Dead Love - By Wells, Linda Page 0,47

said. She gave him her cell phone number and her mother’s number.

“Good, you just sit tight there. Okay?”

“Yes, sir. Just tell Marty I called, please, and to call me when he can,” she requested.

“Will do, Mrs. Caruso.” Officer Lewis hung up.

He thought he had handled that the best way he could. What he had not told her was that Marty and several of the other maintenance guys had gotten sick, as well, plus his partner, Jack. There were only a few left in the subway station office, including several passengers who happened to be on the platform at the time of the quarantine. They were all waiting for answers. Right now, no one knew what was going on or why. All Lewis knew was that he was scared shitless. Who would be next?

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50

Dr. Ambrose was getting regular updates about the virus and the measures being taken to halt its spread. He was deep in thought, analyzing all available information. Numerous medical facilities in New York and several in New Jersey were beginning to report patients’ arrivals, all with similar symptoms as those who had been in direct contact with the deadly viral release in the New York City subway station.

An advisory was received from Chicago regarding a dozen possible cases of the “flu” in question. Tests were being conducted to confirm if they were in fact the avian flu.

Miami University Medical Center had informed the CDC that they had received, in addition to the flight attendant, several other patients with the same symptoms, all of whom had been on Flight 227. They were quarantined.

The reports continued to trickle in, and now that the avian virus had been identified, time required for diagnosis confirmation was shortened. Dr. Ambrose’s concerns were growing as each report came in, showing the steady rise in the number of cases and a broadened geographic spread of the pandemic. He had studied the avian flu virus, and from all indications, it is rare and only transmitted from wild birds to domesticated birds, like turkey, chicken, and ducks, and then to humans, if eaten. Then pandemic risk can follow. When bird flu affects humans, it is often deadly. The mutated weaponized version of avian flu could continue mutating. The kill potential was vast and out of his range of expertise.

With advanced technology and a fast news cycle, he was hopeful that there might be the greater likelihood of containment of this apparent mutating virus. Keeping people at home, informed, for an as yet undetermined time frame, might save some lives, but many would still die or become severely ill, especially the very young, the elderly, or others at high risk. Outbreaks were unpredictable.

The CDC and the World Health Organization had experience tracking pandemics, going back to the 1918 worldwide flu outbreak, which was severe and deadly. Ambrose was well read on the Spanish flu, as it was called. Its duration had been approximately two years, and it killed between fifty and one hundred million people worldwide. Three percent of the entire world population had died, though 27 percent had been infected.

Dr. Ambrose also knew that some pandemics were more severe than others. This one, he was certain, would be one of the more severe. By definition, influenza pandemics occurred when a new variant of the influenza virus was transmitted to humans from another animal species, like the most recent 2009 flu pandemic. That one seemed to affect only young people.

All Dr. Ambrose could do was keep the Health Alert Network, Homeland Security, and FEMA alerted to the extent of this ongoing crisis and pray that it could be contained. The CDC was tracking the evolving pandemic and would start the process of developing a vaccine. Time was critical. It would take a minimum of three months to produce the needed vaccine. By then, he feared it might be too late.

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51

Max felt close to Suzy throughout the entire weekend, though he had been observing her, trying to note any deviation from her normal behavior. At times she seemed distracted, but this wasn’t necessarily unusual. Her work could be intrusive, and she often had to answer e-mails and take a few hours on a Saturday to finish up required reports or do some reading. Sometimes she mentioned non-classified work issues she was dealing with, but not often.

Only once had Suzy had complained to Max about the lab director, Dr. Adams. He was a demanding, egotistical personality type. Even though she was assistant director of Edgewood Labs, there had been difficulties.