Alex nodded, shifting in his seat as he brought up a new window, quickly writing some preliminary code to search the system for the first case, then determine how quickly the virus was spreading.
“So, uh, how long have you and the missus been a thing?” the guard asked as Alex worked.
“Almost twenty years.”
“Wooo, that’s a long time. And she still rubs your shoulders?”
Alex raised his eyebrows, lifting his eyes from the screen. “Yeah?”
He didn’t want to mention that they were sort of newlyweds since they were only married almost two decades ago for other reasons. But would Ava not act like this after a few years of marriage? Would their relationship lose its luster? He was determined to make certain it didn’t.
“Yeah, my lady did that for two months, then I was on my own.”
“Sorry to hear that. Av–Becky is pretty awesome, though.”
The man puckered his lips and nodded. “Seems like it. I can’t believe Homeland Security is involved in this.”
“Yeah, well, this could become the next pandemic, so the department really wants to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“Right,” the guard answered as he turned back toward the screen. “Ohh, we have incoming. Looks like an entire family coming in.”
Alex glanced at the cameras on his screen, his nose wrinkling as more sick people poured into the tiny hospital. With a heavy sigh, he continued laying the groundwork for his program when Ava popped back into the room.
“Doc says this is being tagged as code nine, general influenza.”
“Got it,” Alex answered with a nod as he made the appropriate change to his program to pull records for anyone who had been received that diagnosis, search for the first case, then generate the number of cases by the hour.
He then programmed in the necessary code to extrapolate that into future times so they could determine how the spread may progress along with the casualties.
As he waited for his program to run through the patient charts, he drummed his fingers on his laptop.
“Easy, Ace,” Ava said. “Doc said he won’t be too much longer, then we can head to the hotel.”
“Good,” Alex answered. “I can’t wait to wipe down that room and sit in solitude.”
Ava chuckled at him as he shuddered again. By the time Kyle had finished his initial assessment of the patients in Hemlock Falls, Alex’s program had finished.
The numbers showed a fast and horrific progression through a wide swath of the community, leaving the majority of dead. The grim picture did not get any better when Kyle indicated that none of the patients were responding to any treatments.
They left the hospital behind in relative silence, the news bleak.
As they pushed into their room at the Pelican Inn, Alex heaved a heavy sigh. “Ugh, is it just me or are you wiped out?”
Ava rubbed his back as he dug the bacteria-killing wipes from his bag and tore them open. “It’s the worry, babe. You’re stressed about getting this virus.”
“Yeah, well, you saw the numbers, Avs. I’m stressed about any of us getting this virus.”
“Even Shadow?” she said with a teasing grin.
“Yeah, even him. Although, you more, then Doc. So…he’s last on the list, but he’s still on it.”
“Well, maybe tomorrow, you should stay here,” Ava said.
Alex wiped down the television remote before he moved on to the nightstand surfaces. “And you, too. Sparky, this looks dangerous. I don’t want you anywhere near it. Plus, if you get sick, what if it triggers another blackout?”
She eased onto the edge of the bed with a heavy sigh. “I have already thought of this. But I have to trust Doc’s treatment.”
“It’s not Doc’s treatment I’m worried about, Ava. It’s this modified virus from The Board. For all we know, this stuff could be laced with something designed to trigger your blackouts.”
