“Hardcore gaming, Avs,” he said with a grin, cupping her face to lean in for a kiss when a knock sounded at their door.
“Yeah?” Ava called as she zipped her bag shut.
Kyle strode in a moment later. “You ready?”
“No, Alex is dragging his feet because he hates germs,” Ava answered. “So, he’s still packing.”
“Better get on it. Shadow got us some new toys so we can get all the information we need.” Kyle grinned.
“New toys?” Ava asked.
Kyle bobbed his head, offering Ava a black wallet. He wiggled his eyebrows. “Open it.”
She flipped open the wallet, finding a badge from the Department of Homeland Security. “Ohh, it’s so shiny. Remind me to thank Shadow when I see him.”
“Hey…don’t thank him too much. I could have gotten that,” Alex said. “Where’s mine?”
“Oh, uh, sorry, he thought Ava was the best option for that. I am a doctor with the CDC. Alex, you’re just…with us.”
Alex clicked his tongue. “Of course, I am. Let me guess, he’s Ava’s partner at the DHS.”
Ava shot him an amused glance. “Yeah, but you’re the one at DHS that I’m married to.”
“She’s right. Anyway, I think these will do the trick for getting us into that hospital and making sure we have some control over this situation.”
“How bad do you think it is, Doc?” Ava asked as Alex finished his packing and lifted both of their bags onto his shoulder.
“It can’t be good. I took a closer look at all of those documents. It looks like they leaked it at the local diner. I don’t know exactly how many people frequent that diner, but I’d say it’s probably a lot. And with the way they’ve modified this, it’s really contagious. From what I’ve pieced together, the virus is spreading faster than anything I’ve seen. It looks like it’s transmitted through close contact, and within days, half the town could be sick.”
Ava frowned, her stomach twisting. “How long before it spreads beyond the town?”
“If we don’t contain it, we’re looking at a full outbreak in less than a week,” Kyle said. “The symptoms are flu-like at first, but it turns lethal fast. High fevers, respiratory failure… no one’s surviving it past the third day once the symptoms show.”
“So we’ve got to act fast,” Alex said, his voice tightening. “If this spreads to other towns, we’re dealing with a pandemic. Which is why I ordered the hazmat suits,” Alex said. “I really think we should consider wearing them.”
“Honestly, it may not be a bad idea, but we can’t start out that way,” Kyle said with a shake of his head. “We do not need a panic on our hands. So, for now, masks and gloves at least.”
“Is it airborne?” Ava asked.
“No,” Kyle answered as they crossed the bedroom to the hall. “Turning it airborne would weaken it, and they wanted it strong enough to have a pretty lethal kill rate. So we got a little lucky on that.”
Alex barked out a laugh. “Kind of weird to call that lucky, Doc.”
“I know. This is not going to be fun at all.”
Ava tilted her head as they gathered in the foyer. “Why are you smiling like that then?”
“Well, itiskind of exciting as a doctor.” He changed his expression to a frown. “But very, very awful and terrible.”
Ava shook her head at him, a playful smile on her lips. “All right, Doc. Let’s go let you save the day.”
“Also, I am super excited that this is in my wheelhouse, and I can be the hero.” He grabbed a duffel bag from the floor and lifted it onto his shoulder.
Sebastian strode into the foyer, his own bag in hand. “We ready?”
Ava nodded. “As ready as we’ll ever be.”
“Then let’s go see if we can stop this issue before it turns into a global pandemic,” Kyle said.
