room.
“I can’t say this with any degree of certainty,” Gabe continued, “but I think that the government might have a hand in this. I think either they created it, or they know how it was created. Maybe they were doing medical research on tissue regeneration and it went horribly wrong, maybe it’s some kind of biological weapon they were developing, maybe it came from fucking outer space and the Department of Defense just wanted to see what it could do. I don’t know. Wherever it came from, it looks like the lab rats at the CDC didn’t keep a tight enough leash on it, and it managed to get out. If this thing spreads as fast as I think it can, the government may not be able to stop it.”
As I entered the living room, I sidestepped the wide puddle of vomit behind my couch. The news was still showing footage of the outbreak unfolding in different parts of Atlanta. I watched it on mute as Gabriel and I spoke. There were shots from a helicopter that showed smoke rising from several buildings in downtown Atlanta. People were running panicked through the streets, trying to get away from the hordes of undead headed toward them. Massive vehicle pileups halted traffic on most of the streets and highways immediately around the downtown area. Everyone was trying to get out of the city on the same few roads, and no one was able to get anywhere.Cars sat immobile in long lines at every intersection and on every highway. Frustrated, frightened, and angry drivers honked horns, yelled at each other, got into fights, and did every stupid thing that a person can possibly do to make a bad situation worse. The graphic on the bottom of the screen read that looting and vandalism had broken out all over the city, and that hospitals were quickly filling up with casualties of the spreading chaos.
“What’s going to happen if the government can’t stop this thing from spreading?” I asked. “Is there a vaccine or something to keep people from getting infected? If the government created this shit, then they should know how to stop it, right?”
“I don’t think so.” Gabriel replied. “I think they might have bitten off more than they can chew with this one. If they can’t stop this outbreak, then within a few months, maybe even less, there won’t be much left of civilization in this part of the world. That’s assuming it doesn’t somehow manage to spread outside of North and South America.”
“So what are you telling me Gabe? Is this like, the end of the fucking world or something?”
“It might be Eric, it might be. God, I hope I’m wrong, but I have a really bad feeling about this.”
I couldn’t think of anything to say. The line stayed silent for a long, brooding moment before Gabriel spoke up.
“Listen, my brain is pretty fried right now. I need to go soon, and start getting ready. I need to get you some information. Years ago, back when I first left Aegis, I wrote down everything I knew about Red Plague and how to fight it. Do you have enough ink and paper in your printer for a large document?” He asked.
“Yeah, I do. Are you going to email it to me?” I replied.
“Yes. It’s a fairly long document so make sure you load up the paper tray. Reading it is secondary to you getting your bunker ready, if you haven’t done that already. I don’t know how much time we have until the outbreak makes its way to Charlotte. It may be a few weeks, it may only be a few days, but it will reach you, and if you are not prepared then you may not survive. If you have anyone other than Vanessa that you want to get into the bunker with you, then you need to call them as soon as you get off the phone with me. Your house is a pretty good distance away from the most populated part of the city, so if there is any reason that you can think of for which you need to go into town, do it now. In a few days the roads probably won’t be safe to travel on.”
“Okay, I’ll do that.
“I can’t say this with any degree of certainty,” Gabe continued, “but I think that the government might have a hand in this. I think either they created it, or they know how it was created. Maybe they were doing medical research on tissue regeneration and it went horribly wrong, maybe it’s some kind of biological weapon they were developing, maybe it came from fucking outer space and the Department of Defense just wanted to see what it could do. I don’t know. Wherever it came from, it looks like the lab rats at the CDC didn’t keep a tight enough leash on it, and it managed to get out. If this thing spreads as fast as I think it can, the government may not be able to stop it.”
As I entered the living room, I sidestepped the wide puddle of vomit behind my couch. The news was still showing footage of the outbreak unfolding in different parts of Atlanta. I watched it on mute as Gabriel and I spoke. There were shots from a helicopter that showed smoke rising from several buildings in downtown Atlanta. People were running panicked through the streets, trying to get away from the hordes of undead headed toward them. Massive vehicle pileups halted traffic on most of the streets and highways immediately around the downtown area. Everyone was trying to get out of the city on the same few roads, and no one was able to get anywhere.Cars sat immobile in long lines at every intersection and on every highway. Frustrated, frightened, and angry drivers honked horns, yelled at each other, got into fights, and did every stupid thing that a person can possibly do to make a bad situation worse. The graphic on the bottom of the screen read that looting and vandalism had broken out all over the city, and that hospitals were quickly filling up with casualties of the spreading chaos.
“What’s going to happen if the government can’t stop this thing from spreading?” I asked. “Is there a vaccine or something to keep people from getting infected? If the government created this shit, then they should know how to stop it, right?”
“I don’t think so.” Gabriel replied. “I think they might have bitten off more than they can chew with this one. If they can’t stop this outbreak, then within a few months, maybe even less, there won’t be much left of civilization in this part of the world. That’s assuming it doesn’t somehow manage to spread outside of North and South America.”
“So what are you telling me Gabe? Is this like, the end of the fucking world or something?”
“It might be Eric, it might be. God, I hope I’m wrong, but I have a really bad feeling about this.”
I couldn’t think of anything to say. The line stayed silent for a long, brooding moment before Gabriel spoke up.
“Listen, my brain is pretty fried right now. I need to go soon, and start getting ready. I need to get you some information. Years ago, back when I first left Aegis, I wrote down everything I knew about Red Plague and how to fight it. Do you have enough ink and paper in your printer for a large document?” He asked.
“Yeah, I do. Are you going to email it to me?” I replied.
“Yes. It’s a fairly long document so make sure you load up the paper tray. Reading it is secondary to you getting your bunker ready, if you haven’t done that already. I don’t know how much time we have until the outbreak makes its way to Charlotte. It may be a few weeks, it may only be a few days, but it will reach you, and if you are not prepared then you may not survive. If you have anyone other than Vanessa that you want to get into the bunker with you, then you need to call them as soon as you get off the phone with me. Your house is a pretty good distance away from the most populated part of the city, so if there is any reason that you can think of for which you need to go into town, do it now. In a few days the roads probably won’t be safe to travel on.”
“Okay, I’ll do that.
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