The Z Contingency

Chapter 11

Natalie stared at the image in front of her on the computer screen. Jack had called, looking very different than when she spoke to him only days earlier. She could see that he was not calling from his office, but from the hospital.

“Tell Gary... it’s much more contagious than I thought.” Jack sounded tired. “Tell him... he was right. I should have listened to him.”

Natalie looked at Jack’s image on the screen in shocked disbelief. In the background she could see that all the beds in that ward of the hospital were filled with patients. Patients, who a week earlier had been the doctors, nurses, and technicians who worked at that hospital. They were all exhibiting the early stage symptoms of the disease brought into their midst by Patient Zero, but something was different. Several of them were restrained. Now why would these patients need to be restrained? she wondered.

“But this is a Marburg virus. How could the entire hospital staff have gotten it? It can’t be that contagious. They would have all had to come into contact with her, or her body fluids. Or did everybody somehow mishandle her cell cultures?”

“She suddenly started to spasm and cough days ago. It’s possible that every time she coughed, she spread the virus through droplets of aerosolized blood. Then it was picked up by the air conditioning system and dispersed throughout the hospital.”

“Surely the HEPA system there is working? Plus the patient ward is under negative pressure. Any airborne virus should have been isolated to just the room she’s in.” My God, was Gary right again? Did it mutate to cause its host to spread it further?

“This isn’t the U.S.” Jack managed with a weak smile. “But it is more likely that one of the technicians who was in close contact with the patient may not have followed proper procedures and started infecting the others without realizing it,” Jack continued.

“My God. What about you? Did you get exposed?” Natalie asked,

“When her doctors alerted me to the change, I came to collect a new sample of her blood, and to observe these new developments for myself. Apparently one of the doctors I met with had already contracted it. This was only a few days ago, and I’m already starting to exhibit symptoms. When I realized what may have happened, I shipped the sample off to Atlanta immediately rather than trying to isolate a virus specimen first. Have you received it yet?”

“Yes, yes. It came in yesterday. Look Jack, you’ve got to get your fluids and electrolytes balanced fast! Can you do a plasma transfusion on yourself? What about the clotting factors? Have you tried heparin therapy?”

“I’m familiar with the protocol, Natalie” Jack wheezed, “and I’m not sure I subscribe to the theory that clotting factor consumption is part of the disease process.”

“I know, I know. It’s just that it’s you, Jack, and I’m scared.” Suddenly an even more worrisome thought struck her. “If she was able to infect all of you... who found her in the preserve? Where are they now? Have they been checked for symptoms? Are they out in the general public?”

“We alerted the tour group operator, but we haven’t been able to contact any of the tourists.” Jack replied. “The tour operator says they’ve all returned to China. They didn’t seem to be taking it very seriously.

“Jack, please take care of yourself. Look, I’ve got to check on something, and I expect you to be in better shape the next time I call you.” Natalie terminated the call before Jack could respond, for fear that he would see the fear in her eyes. She had to examine the sequence of the virus’ RNA.

Grabbing the output from the rapid genome sequencer, she pored over the results. It was as she feared. The genome of the first sample they received from Jack differed from the Marburg virus in only a very small number of sequences. But what a huge impact it had on the disease. The genome of this new sample differed from that of the first one again only in a very small number of sequences. Was Gary’s prediction coming true?

Natalie walked down the hall, the gravity of what she was about to agree to do, weighing on each step she took towards the lab of the Viral Special Pathogens Branch. Gary would be there, conducting further research on one of the world’s most deadly, airborne contagions. Natalie trusted Gary. That was not the issue. If anyone even got wind of what they were going to attempt to do, getting fired was the least of their worries. They would lose credibility as scientists. Everything I’ve worked for up to this point would be worthless, forgotten, overshadowed by this one act. Why am I even considering this? This is crazy. I could lose my job... or worse.

Natalie approached the glass window of the maximum containment lab where she could see Gary at the bench under the hood. She hated the PPPS, the personal positive pressure suits; they made her look like a giant over ripe blueberry, and they made her feel a bit too confined. She always felt a tiny bit of admiration for her friend who was able to overcome his claustrophobia in order to work with these dangerous agents. Natalie shook her head and smiled as she watched her friend carefully preparing samples for storage. Gary was intently putting the last label on one of the vials. As he turned towards the cryo-storage unit, he noticed Natalie staring at him through the window.

When Natalie noticed Gary was looking at her, her expression changed, alerting Gary that something was on her mind. Natalie drew in a slow breath and let it out as she reached toward the intercom switch. Long seconds passed as she considered the next words that would set her on a path where there would be no turning back. But it was Gary who spoke first.

“I know,” he said quietly, understanding how difficult this was for her.

Natalie held Gary’s gaze and sighed deeply again. Was it only four days ago she was sitting in her office knowing full well she would never condone this very thing?

“You were right.” Natalie said quietly.

Gary knew this couldn’t be easy for her. “Look Natalie, I’ve been thinking. You don’t have to be involved. I shouldn’t have come to your office and asked for your help. It wasn’t fair of me....”

“No Gary, I’m glad you felt you were able to come to me.” Natalie managed a weak smile at her friend as she struggled internally to squash the last shred of doubt that if she let take hold, would cause her to lose it. “So, we’re going to save the world, right?”

Gary smiled back and placed his hand up against the glass. Natalie returned the gesture.