Affliction Z: Abandoned Hope (Post Apocalyptic Thriller) by L.T. Ryan

eliminating any chance that the virus would remain
isolated.
    He pulled up a couple of survivalist and prepper forums he
knew about. He didn’t frequent the sites, but he knew that the tight-knit
communities found there would have information. Perusing the posts told him
that those who had the resources to build a bunker had gone underground. Others
who had secured secluded land had gathered their families and close friends and
headed for the hills, or wherever their compounds were located.
    The common theme on every site he visited, whether news,
someone’s blog, or a community forum, was fear. People were afraid of what was
happening. And rightly so. There were plenty of theories being bandied about.
Some, like the one that said aliens were behind it, were far-fetched. But there
were others, likely derived in the minds of conspiracy theorists, that were
pretty close to spot on.
    Sean wondered how many people knew the truth behind the
virus. Had information leaked to any segment of the public? How high up the
government chain did the knowledge go? How much higher had it traveled today,
now that the virus was no longer contained to poor villages in Africa?
    He pulled up a secure shell client and connected to Turk’s
server. No one else was connected. Turk had told him that there were a dozen
people who had access, but Sean had yet to encounter anyone, least of all Turk.
    Where was he?
    “Dad?”
    He swiveled around in his chair. Emma sat on the couch, as
she had for the past four hours, watching movies.
    “Your phone just beeped,” she said, pointing at his cell,
which rested on the kitchen counter.
    He rose and walked over to where his phone sat. The message
indicator said he had one message. Why hadn’t it rung? By all appearances, the
antennae extender functioned correctly. Perhaps there had been an issue outside
of his control. He knew that the service would be permanently interrupted, and
probably sooner rather than later.
    He dialed into his voicemail and waited for the generic
voice to read off the date and time and number the call came from. His heart
sped up when he heard his wife’s cell phone number. The knot in his stomach
eased when he heard her voice. She sounded calm and collected. Her message said
that she had managed to secure a flight to Charleston, South Carolina. If
anything were to change, she wanted him to call her. He didn’t need a reason to
do that, though. He hung up and accessed his shortcut for her number. The phone
rang six times, then the call disconnected. He tried again and received the
same result. Sean cursed under his breath as he sat down at his computer.
    Cycling through the browser tabs, he noticed that all of the
news sites had a report stating all air travel had been suspended. Scanning the
articles provided him with no additional information. He had no idea when the
ban went into effect or how it affected those in the air. They’d have to land,
he knew that. But where? Closest airport available or original destination?
    He dialed into his voicemail again and listened to Kathy’s
message one more time. She’d failed to mention times associated with her
flights. All he could do was wait for her next call.
    He alt-tabbed until he reached Turk’s secure server. He
typed a message. “Hello?” No one responded. Sean tapped on his keyboard.
    “Everything okay, Dad?”
    “Huh?” he looked back over his shoulder. “Everything’s
fine.”
    “All right,” she said. “You’re breathing really heavy,
though.”
    He hadn’t noticed. The stress of not knowing where his wife
was at that time left him in a state of anxiety. He closed his eyes while
clenching and releasing his major muscle groups. As he relaxed the muscles, the
tension lifted. He followed it up with several deep breaths. Upon opening his
eyes, he found that someone had replied.
    “Ryder? That you?” the message on the screen said.
    “Ten-four.”
    “It’s Turk.”
    Sean’s moment of relief was fractured by