don’t catch the virus, your body won’t produce the prions. Once prion production has begun, there is no treatment. Some might be able to survive the virus alone, but the human immune system cannot combat the prion part of the disease.”
“Well,” I said, already hardening myself to the fact that I would be dead in four or five hours. “I guess I have a lot to do in the mean time. And Doc, thanks for shooting straight with me.”
“I know that’s what you would do if the roles were reversed. I am truly sorry, Connor.” And I knew he meant it .
Chapter 7
I looked across the street at the Knick Knack Shack and saw that Matt’s patrol car was not there yet. I dialed Matt’s number on my cell phone, the same instrument Doc Baker had just used to deliver a wheelbarrow full of bad news. I didn’t want what I was about to tell Matt to go out over the radio. There isn’t a lot of excitement in our town so scanners are popular. If something happens, people want to know about it right away. I didn’t wanted to start a panic.
Matt answered on the third ring. “Are you okay?” he asked with genuine concern in his voice.
We had worked together for four years. He came to the department a year after I did and we immediately hit it off. His wife and my wife were inseparable. Our sons were two months apart and were best friends. We had been through a lot together and I knew how he was feeling after hearing my radio call of shots fired.
Two years ago, I had been on the other end of the radio when Matt put out an emergency shots fired call on a traffic stop gone bad. He was pinned down and had been hit. I remember the helpless feeling of not being close enough to do anything. At my car’s top speed of one hundred-thirty miles per hour, I knew it would take close to ten minutes to reach him. Good or bad, I knew the outcome would be decided long before I got there. Those were probably the worst ten minutes of my life. I knew exactly what was going through Matt’s mind. I knew the most important thing I could do for Matt was to assure him I was okay.
“I’m fine, but the situation here is bad.” I quickly filled him in on what had transpired, leaving out what Doc Baker had said about my exposure. That information would only hinder him at this point.
There was a pause while Matt digested what I had said. “I’m passing Black Rock now. I will be there in fifteen minutes,” he answered. Black Rock was a twenty foot tall mound of lava rock twenty-nine miles out of town. The road was straight and lightly traveled. Traversing twenty-nine miles in fifteen minutes wasn’t a big deal. The area we patrolled was huge, over six thousand square miles. We regularly responded to emergency calls at over one hundred twenty miles per hour. It was the only way to get anywhere in time to be of any use.
Now it was my turn to pause as I considered the best deployment for Matt. “I think the best place for you is outside the Knick Knack Shack. Set up there and make sure no one goes in, or more importantly, no one leaves. Stay outside and don’t get exposed. When you come into town, stop by the station and get me another couple boxes of .40 bullets out of the armory. I’m going to need them.”
“Copy that. I’ll be there soon.” And then we were disconnected as Matt ended the call.
Steve hadn’t been what I would consider a friend, but he was someone I had contact with on a regular basis and he was a good person. He had died a senseless death. I wasn’t going to let it happen to anyone else if I could prevent it. My goal was to contain this Chinese act of aggression for however long I had left.
I was back to the decision I had been avoiding before: what to do about the tourists. After talking with Doc Baker, the answer was obvious. They needed to be put down before one of them escaped and spread the disease. Like leaves in the wind,
“Well,” I said, already hardening myself to the fact that I would be dead in four or five hours. “I guess I have a lot to do in the mean time. And Doc, thanks for shooting straight with me.”
“I know that’s what you would do if the roles were reversed. I am truly sorry, Connor.” And I knew he meant it .
Chapter 7
I looked across the street at the Knick Knack Shack and saw that Matt’s patrol car was not there yet. I dialed Matt’s number on my cell phone, the same instrument Doc Baker had just used to deliver a wheelbarrow full of bad news. I didn’t want what I was about to tell Matt to go out over the radio. There isn’t a lot of excitement in our town so scanners are popular. If something happens, people want to know about it right away. I didn’t wanted to start a panic.
Matt answered on the third ring. “Are you okay?” he asked with genuine concern in his voice.
We had worked together for four years. He came to the department a year after I did and we immediately hit it off. His wife and my wife were inseparable. Our sons were two months apart and were best friends. We had been through a lot together and I knew how he was feeling after hearing my radio call of shots fired.
Two years ago, I had been on the other end of the radio when Matt put out an emergency shots fired call on a traffic stop gone bad. He was pinned down and had been hit. I remember the helpless feeling of not being close enough to do anything. At my car’s top speed of one hundred-thirty miles per hour, I knew it would take close to ten minutes to reach him. Good or bad, I knew the outcome would be decided long before I got there. Those were probably the worst ten minutes of my life. I knew exactly what was going through Matt’s mind. I knew the most important thing I could do for Matt was to assure him I was okay.
“I’m fine, but the situation here is bad.” I quickly filled him in on what had transpired, leaving out what Doc Baker had said about my exposure. That information would only hinder him at this point.
There was a pause while Matt digested what I had said. “I’m passing Black Rock now. I will be there in fifteen minutes,” he answered. Black Rock was a twenty foot tall mound of lava rock twenty-nine miles out of town. The road was straight and lightly traveled. Traversing twenty-nine miles in fifteen minutes wasn’t a big deal. The area we patrolled was huge, over six thousand square miles. We regularly responded to emergency calls at over one hundred twenty miles per hour. It was the only way to get anywhere in time to be of any use.
Now it was my turn to pause as I considered the best deployment for Matt. “I think the best place for you is outside the Knick Knack Shack. Set up there and make sure no one goes in, or more importantly, no one leaves. Stay outside and don’t get exposed. When you come into town, stop by the station and get me another couple boxes of .40 bullets out of the armory. I’m going to need them.”
“Copy that. I’ll be there soon.” And then we were disconnected as Matt ended the call.
Steve hadn’t been what I would consider a friend, but he was someone I had contact with on a regular basis and he was a good person. He had died a senseless death. I wasn’t going to let it happen to anyone else if I could prevent it. My goal was to contain this Chinese act of aggression for however long I had left.
I was back to the decision I had been avoiding before: what to do about the tourists. After talking with Doc Baker, the answer was obvious. They needed to be put down before one of them escaped and spread the disease. Like leaves in the wind,
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