Chapter 8

Over Maryland
 
Erica watched the never-ending metropolitan area pass below the helicopter as they flew towards Fort Detrick. She was lucky enough to get an outboard seat in the passenger packed helicopter. The helo banked sharp to the left and she gripped her seat tightly fearing that she would fall out of the open helicopter door.

Looking straight down to the earth below, she could see a cluster of large medical research buildings nestled into a seemingly normal suburban area of subdivision housing, strip malls, and decaying fast-food restaurants. Erica always wondered, why Bio Level 4 labs, that housed earths deadliest diseases, were located so close to population centers.

The helo circled once, then aimed for a parking lot that had cars neatly pushed to the edges, making a landing zone big enough for several helicopters. The birds landed and the passengers debarked, being greeted by several USAMRIID staff. A ground crew darted towards the rear helicopters and began offloading supplies while Erica and the other passengers were being ushered towards an entry control station.

Inside a small security building she recognized Dr. Diane Blackburne and Dr. Russell Barnaby waiting for her.
“Welcome. We are extremely glad to have you on board.” Dr. Diane Blackburne greeted her. “We’re going to get you badged here at the security desk, then Dr. Barnaby will give you the grand tour.”

The trio stepped up to a counter and spoke with a uniformed soldier through a security window.

“Visitor or permanent personnel?” The soldier asked.

“Permanent. I’m her sponsor.” Dr. Blackburne said sliding her own badge into the tray for the soldier to inspect.

The soldier sat up a little straighter, realizing he was speaking to the head of USAMRIID. “Yes ma’am, is this the new hire Erica? We have her credentials ready.” He said standing up, sliding both their badges back through the slot.

Dr. Blackburne nodded to the soldier then turned handing Erica her access badge. “You report to Dr. Barnaby. He’ll get you situated. If you need anything while you are here, let us know. Just a warning, we are running on a skeleton crew and with less than ideal equipment. With the help of your crew from Lake City and military resources, hopefully the General can start procuring what we need to make real progress.”

Dr. Blackburne shook Erica’s hand and walked away.

“Well, let’s give you the grand tour.” Dr. Barnaby said, opening a door into the main building. As they walked down a dimly lit hallway, he began briefing Erica. “She was not exaggerating; we are on a skeleton crew here. Those with families as yourself, do weekly rotations here and back at the island. Those without families have elected to live here permanently, but the isolation is starting to wear on us.”

Erica nodded, understanding the need for social contact and mental breaks from work projects to clear and refresh the creative problem-solving process. As they continued, the lights in the hallway flickered.

“We are powered by large diesel generators, but the fuel supply is becoming a concern.” Dr. Barnaby stated.

“Really? I would think that ample amounts of fuel could be found anywhere. I mean, there was fuel production for an entire population that suddenly no longer consumed it when cars became undrivable.” Erica asked.

“Fuel yes. But there are two problems. One is transportation on the clogged highways. And the second is shelf life storage. Diesel fuel, if not stored and treated properly will start breaking down after about six months. We could find an entire tanker full of fuel, but it probably wouldn’t do any good if the petrol has begun to separate.” He said sadly.

Erica stopped walking. “This would affect the entire military operation, not just this lab.” She stated with a hint of nervousness. If there was some sort of assignment to secure pieces of infrastructure, she knew Victor would be involved and ultimately, in danger.

“You are correct. But for now, we focus on our own tasks.” He said, gesturing down a new corridor. “It’ll take a couple days to find your way around, but this section is our living quarters. Nothing fancy.” He said opening a door with a handwritten sign that read Erica.

The room had been an executive office at one time furnished with a hardwood desk, single bulb reading lamp, cot with sleeping bag, and a private restroom. Could be worse, she thought.

Dr. Barnaby took the key out of the office door and handed it to her and motioned her to follow him further down the hallway. “As with any government instillation, security procedures remain in place. Keep your badge visible. Work material is considered top secret and doesn’t leave the lab, verbally nor physically. Do not even bring notes back to your room to study.”

“Understood. Important question though,” she said glancing over to him. “Where do we eat?”

He chuckled, “Ah of course, the most important part of the facility is at the end of this hallway. The cafeteria. I’m going to disappoint you, in saying that your all organic non preservative diet is over. Other than some fresh cooked beans and rice, we’re fed military rations. Your intestines are going to hurt while you adjust.”

“Great…” she mumbled her disappointment, but still grateful for not having to forage the forest floor for nuts and mushrooms or through abandoned houses in search for cans of Smeat.

A short distance from the cafeteria was a double set of steel doors. Dr. Barnaby used a key that hung from a lanyard around his neck to unlock the door instead of using the keypad. Erica looked at him oddly.

“This building wasn’t completely hardened.” He answered her questioning look. “Some of the equipment, electronics and systems were damaged in the EMP attack.” He said, motioning to the lifeless keypad.

Manually pulling open the double doors, they entered a secured administrative workstation. They stepped into a large conference area, “This is our War Room. We meet here everyday at 0800 and 1700 to report progress and to strategize. We’ll come back around later so you can meet our team.” He said, opening the door to leave.

Next to a set of elevators, sat another uniformed soldier who eyed their badges. “Going to the dungeon sir?” the guard asked.

“Not today Corporal. Just showing Erica around the building.” Dr. Barnaby said smiling to her. “Elevators don’t work either, so we have to take the stairs down to the sub levels. Our lab is two flights down, but we would need to gown up and sterilize before going in. We’ll show you the lab in the morning.”

“Okay.” Erica said, disappointed again. She had hoped to inspect her workstation and get right to work.

Dr. Barnaby picked up on her shoulders slouching and chuckled. “Eager to begin working, are you? Don’t worry, you will grow tired of this place soon enough. There is nothing to do here but work, most of us are putting in sixteen-hour days, breaking only to eat, shower and rest.”

Walking towards an exit door, he continued. “The lab is also skeletonized. We stripped out all the EMP damaged equipment, which left us with not much. Our work here is slow as a result. Some of the sequencing and analyzing equipment is fine, but the processing super computers were located on the upper levels and took EMP damage. The General is aware and has added it to his exceptionally long list of high priority action items. For now, we just need to make do.”

Bright sunlight greeted them as they stepped through the exit door and into an overgrown grassy lawn area. She had to squint her eyes briefly to adjust to the brightness change. The door shut behind them, and noticed that there wasn’t a door handle to get back in.

“Exit only.” Dr. Barnaby confirmed, we’ll walk around to the entry control point. Over there was the base commissary. It has been stripped of food, but there are still usable supplies in there like toiletry items, clothing, shoes, etc. Help yourself, first come first loot.” He smiled awkwardly.

“Over there is the community recreation center. Basketball and tennis courts if you need to get out to clear your mind. Feel free to go for walks or jogs inside the perimeter but remain vigilant of infected. As you have seen, we have Army Rangers as security who are constantly improving the fences, but you never know these days. With the generators, vehicles, and helicopters, we make a lot of noise that draws Hemocytes, or Grays as you call them.”

A pair of rabbits darted across the sidewalk as they walked slowly around the building, Erica felt that Dr. Barnaby was stalling going back inside and enjoying the sunshine. She had to admit, even though she wasn’t in the actual lab, she felt at home here with an important purpose.

On the far side of a large grassy field was another towering building. Erica could see several vehicles parked nearby and people working. She pointed and asked, “What’s that?”

“Battelle National Biodefense. No one is home and the building is completely locked down. Army engineers have been attempting to breech it for a week so we can test their computers and lab equipment.”

“It might be locked down on purpose?” She warned, thinking back to the Dark Day. Her colleague, Anny had firmly warned about the possibilities of a contagion leak. Yet the facilities management instead of quarantining, let workers leave freely, sending infected people back to their families and friends. Ironically, Anny proved her point by also unknowingly being infected, then attacking Erica and her new traveling companions as symptoms worsened.

“I appreciate the way you think, and we are taking all precautions in case you are correct.” Dr. Barnaby said.
A pair of soldiers came into view across the street as they rounded a corner of the building. At first, she thought that they were taking a break and also enjoying the sunshine, but then she noticed that they were guarding the front door of the US Army Medical Research Institute, that Dr. Barnaby was guiding her towards.

“Some workers find this compartment disturbing and you do not have to enter if you are not comfortable.” He said. “This closed compartment houses our live specimens. We try to operate humanly, but in the end, the Hemocyte are test subjects for our research, do you understand?”

Erica nodded. “We also held live samples in holding cells in the Lake City county jail. How many do you have? Any of the second-generation Grays in there?” She asked enthusiastically.

Dr. Barnaby showed his badge to the guard, which he inspected then opened the door for them. Inside, was a clean room where they each slowly and systematically donned white Level A hazmat suits as they have each done thousands of times before.

Departing the clean room with a gust of fresh air, then stepped into an ICU hospital ward with dozens of patient rooms lining the hallway. Armed soldiers, who wore their own camouflage MOPP level 4 hazmat suits, stood guard at each end of a well-lit hallway that echoed with snarls and growls.

Erica walked slowly in the cumbersome HAZMAT suit having to over exaggerate body movements. Turning her entire shoulders to rotate her face screen, she noticed the nursing observation windows had a hazy film, then realized that a reflective tint had been adhered to the interior of each patient room.  The film created a two-way mirror preventing the Grays from seeing into the hallway, helping them to remain calm.

Beds, chairs, rolling tray tables, uncomfortable vinyl couches; all the normal hospital furniture as well as I.V., heart monitors, and other patient care instruments had all been stripped from each room making space for an oversized dog kennel made of chain linked fence. Inside each room housed a single caged full-size Gray. A couple dozen in total. Various stages of infection. All males. No females. And sadly, no second generation.

Another task that Victor would complete for them, immersing himself into danger again. But Victor would secure her second-generation Grays. Gen 2’s was the unknown threat. The threat that needed to be studied and analyzed. Tactical knowledge of the Grays was lifesaving and a force multiplier in the field that humans needed quickly.

“Are you ready to meet our team?” Dr. Barnaby asked through his hazmat suit voice box speaker, braking Erica’s prolonged thought process.

Realizing that she had been breathlessly staring at a late stage Gray, she blinked her eyes rapidly clearing a memory when she had been trapped inside an abandon armored truck surrounded by hundreds of infected. That was the first time she had seen a massive spore pod formed on the neck and shoulders of a Gray.

​Erica nodded her head and turned for the decontamination room while inhaling slowly trying to lower her pulse rate.