I had to
guess, I’d be along the same lines as you,” Doctor Efron said. “And the
timeline for infection was nearly the same across the globe. Once this virus started
it spread quickly and devastated every major metropolitan area around the
world. The only place to escape large-scale devastation was South and Central
Africa but most of those countries were isolated to begin with.”
“Any intel on point of origin?” said
Carlie.
“All we know is that the Department of
Homeland Security discovered some of the first undead creatures on board a
freighter in Louisiana. That is Ground Zero. Unfortunately only a brief amount
of information came out of their field office before the pathogen wiped out the
region.”
“And what about the virus itself—what
are we dealing with exactly?” said Matias.
“That’s the scary part—this is like
doomsday virology models that we used to produce in think-tank meetings with
the DOD guys. Nobody I know of in my field of research could have created this
virus in this particular fashion. There’s only one experimental pathogen on
record that comes close to fitting the profile of this one—KAD97.” Efron leaned
back and tapped his laptop keyboard to begin an audio track. “This recording is
from a NATO weapons inspector a few years ago who was discussing the old Soviet
biological warfare program.”
The voice of a scientist came over the
speaker as he spoke first in Russian and then in English. “To briefly recap,
the KAD97 strain and others like it were originally developed in the former
Soviet Republic at their bioweapons facility north of Kiev. Regrettably, no one
knows for certain what became of this particular pathogen as the scientists who
invented it died long ago and documentation on such projects is hard to come
by, as you might imagine. The virus had strains of encephalitis leading to
neurological breakdown coupled with a synthetic pathogen similar to plague. We
can only hope, for our sake and the future of humanity, that such a virus no
longer exists.”
When the audio ran out, Efron pulled up
a rolling chair and sat down, resting his arms on his spread-out legs while
clasping his fingers together.
“The Soviet scientists were so terrified
of this combined virus that after the USSR was dissolved, the remaining
stockpiles of the pathogen were destroyed so it wouldn’t end up in the wrong
hands. It would’ve taken an entire team of scientists working for years in a major
facility like they had to even come up with something like this again.”
“Clearly one of the former Russian
scientists must have held on to some, selling out to a rogue nation perhaps,”
said Shane.
“Or someone discovered a cache of hidden
vials and reanimated the virus,” said Efron. “During the Cold War, Russian
operatives were known to have crude bioweapon devices stowed in various locations
around the world, probably just as we did.”
“Yeah and I’m sure those devices were
eagerly dug up and sold on the black market after things fell apart with the
Russkies,” said Jared.
“If this was a terrorist effort, they
had deep pockets and an enviable infrastructure,” said Shane. “To run an op on
this scale takes a worldwide network and logistical capabilities beyond what a
small outfit could muster. But what puzzles me are the ports of entry you
mentioned—those are not targets I would choose for such a strike, plus the fact
that each area of outbreak didn’t occur at exactly the same time. That’s very
odd.”
“So this terrorist group or rogue
country decides to unravel the world by creating an army of undead,” said
Carlie. “Then what—they are going to sit back until the dust settles and become
overlords?”
“Or sell the antidote to the highest
bidder,” grumbled Boyd.
“I can’t answer the latter,” said Efron.
“So far no group or individual has taken credit for this attack. Typically,
there’s some kind of demand or affirmation from the culprits after
guess, I’d be along the same lines as you,” Doctor Efron said. “And the
timeline for infection was nearly the same across the globe. Once this virus started
it spread quickly and devastated every major metropolitan area around the
world. The only place to escape large-scale devastation was South and Central
Africa but most of those countries were isolated to begin with.”
“Any intel on point of origin?” said
Carlie.
“All we know is that the Department of
Homeland Security discovered some of the first undead creatures on board a
freighter in Louisiana. That is Ground Zero. Unfortunately only a brief amount
of information came out of their field office before the pathogen wiped out the
region.”
“And what about the virus itself—what
are we dealing with exactly?” said Matias.
“That’s the scary part—this is like
doomsday virology models that we used to produce in think-tank meetings with
the DOD guys. Nobody I know of in my field of research could have created this
virus in this particular fashion. There’s only one experimental pathogen on
record that comes close to fitting the profile of this one—KAD97.” Efron leaned
back and tapped his laptop keyboard to begin an audio track. “This recording is
from a NATO weapons inspector a few years ago who was discussing the old Soviet
biological warfare program.”
The voice of a scientist came over the
speaker as he spoke first in Russian and then in English. “To briefly recap,
the KAD97 strain and others like it were originally developed in the former
Soviet Republic at their bioweapons facility north of Kiev. Regrettably, no one
knows for certain what became of this particular pathogen as the scientists who
invented it died long ago and documentation on such projects is hard to come
by, as you might imagine. The virus had strains of encephalitis leading to
neurological breakdown coupled with a synthetic pathogen similar to plague. We
can only hope, for our sake and the future of humanity, that such a virus no
longer exists.”
When the audio ran out, Efron pulled up
a rolling chair and sat down, resting his arms on his spread-out legs while
clasping his fingers together.
“The Soviet scientists were so terrified
of this combined virus that after the USSR was dissolved, the remaining
stockpiles of the pathogen were destroyed so it wouldn’t end up in the wrong
hands. It would’ve taken an entire team of scientists working for years in a major
facility like they had to even come up with something like this again.”
“Clearly one of the former Russian
scientists must have held on to some, selling out to a rogue nation perhaps,”
said Shane.
“Or someone discovered a cache of hidden
vials and reanimated the virus,” said Efron. “During the Cold War, Russian
operatives were known to have crude bioweapon devices stowed in various locations
around the world, probably just as we did.”
“Yeah and I’m sure those devices were
eagerly dug up and sold on the black market after things fell apart with the
Russkies,” said Jared.
“If this was a terrorist effort, they
had deep pockets and an enviable infrastructure,” said Shane. “To run an op on
this scale takes a worldwide network and logistical capabilities beyond what a
small outfit could muster. But what puzzles me are the ports of entry you
mentioned—those are not targets I would choose for such a strike, plus the fact
that each area of outbreak didn’t occur at exactly the same time. That’s very
odd.”
“So this terrorist group or rogue
country decides to unravel the world by creating an army of undead,” said
Carlie. “Then what—they are going to sit back until the dust settles and become
overlords?”
“Or sell the antidote to the highest
bidder,” grumbled Boyd.
“I can’t answer the latter,” said Efron.
“So far no group or individual has taken credit for this attack. Typically,
there’s some kind of demand or affirmation from the culprits after
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