Chapter 16
16
After their blood was taken, Dr. Christianson gave them a hotel voucher and told them they’d get a call as soon as the results were available. “Our temporary lab is at the base in Fairbanks,” she explained. “But we should have the results for you by tonight.”
Gil didn’t know why he distrusted her, but he did. Maybe it was because he didn’t like being airlifted out of the wilderness with no explanation.
Still, he accepted the voucher for the Wagon Wheel Inn, which was only a few blocks away. After checking in with Ani, he declined the offer of a ride. If he was going to be locked in a damn hotel room, he wanted to stretch his legs first.
They had no choice in whether or not a guard followed them to the Wagon Wheel Inn.
“Someone will be posted outside your room as well. Until we have the perpetrators who fired that missile in custody, you could both be in danger,” she explained.
“You must have done a rundown on me. You know I’ve worked all over the world doing diplomatic security. I can handle a little town in Alaska.”
“But you don’t have your service weapon with you, do you?”
Good point. He didn’t have any weapon with him except his training, his common sense, and his experience.
If it was just him, that would be enough. But he wasn’t going to take a chance with Ani’s safety.
“One more question,” he asked the doctor as he was rolling down his sleeve. “How contagious is this virus? I assume it’s not airborne since none of you are wearing masks.”
“We’re still learning about it, but we’ve ruled out airborne transmission.”
He was no scientist, but why were they so worried about a virus that wasn’t airborne? He reminded himself to ask Ani about that detail.
After all their intense experiences, from the forest to the airport, the town of Blackbear looked reassuringly ordinary. Suddenly they were surrounded by civilization in the form of wide paved roads, cars and semi-trucks, discount mattress stores and McDonald’s. Blackbear mostly served as a stopover point for truckers coming from Canada, although it was also home to a hospital—the biggest in this region.
He wondered if they’d seen any zombie virus cases so far. Correction, omegavirus. No need to add on an extra layer of fear to this whole situation.
Blinking in the morning daylight, he pointed to a squat building with a sign in the shape of a wagon wheel. “There’s the inn. Are you still okay walking that far?” he asked Ani.
“It’s only about a half mile. And I bet they have coffee. That’s all the motivation I need.” She ran her hands through her thick hair, finding snags and snarls. “A shower would be nice too. Do you think they have room service?”
“If they want us to stay in our room until they give us test results, they’d better have room service. That one can of creamed corn last night didn’t do much.”
“At least it didn’t give us botulism. I call that a win.”
As they walked down the road toward the Wagon Wheel, he glanced down at her. An explosion, an escape, a sleepless night, a surprise airlift, an interrogation…and yet she still held her head high, undaunted. “You’re tougher than you look, aren’t you?”
“Don’t I look tough?”
“You look…radiant.” Ugh, what a stupid word to use. It had nothing to do with her toughness, and yet it had slipped out. “Especially considering everything we’ve been through.”
He must have caught her by surprise, because she stumbled on a crack in the pavement, and he caught her arm. “We should call an Uber.”
“No, I’m fine. I just…I don’t feel radiant. I feel grungy and sweaty. But I am pretty tough. I’m not even supposed to be walking right now. Did you know there was a sixty percent chance I never would? But here I am.” She mimed a tap dance right there on the side of the road. “Never count out a girl who wants to dance at her junior high prom.”
Interesting incentive, but whatever worked. “How did you injure your leg? Car crash, skiing accident?”
“Neither.” She didn’t say any more. Fair enough. It wasn’t his business in any case. “Listen, I learned something while I was in the restroom at the airport. The pilot who flew Victor from Firelight Ridge is dead.”
He frowned, all other thoughts besides their current situation fleeing his mind. “I don’t like the sound of that. Was he sick from this virus? Do you think the CDC knows?”
“I couldn’t say. The girl who told me said she didn’t know how he died. She was sick too, but her symptoms weren’t what Dr. Christianson described.”
He paused, wondering if they should go back and inform the CDC. “They probably know about that already, right?”
“Probably. They have all those soldiers going around interviewing people, and I’m sure he’d be at the top of the list.”
That made sense. Besides, he wasn’t eager for any more interaction with all those grim-faced military folks. Was that how he came across to the people he dealt with when he was on the job? He probably did.
He glanced over his shoulder at the guard following them to the hotel. Sergeant Thomson had volunteered for that role. Surprising; he would have thought she’d be sick of them by now. But out of all of them, he trusted her the most, since he’d seen her in action at Smoky Lake.
Ani continued. “We should see if we can find out more about the pilot. It’s a small community, the pilots who fly to Firelight Ridge. I’m sure Sam Coburn knows him. I’m going to call Sam as soon as we get some privacy.”
His phone . Gil had practically forgotten about it in the midst of all this drama. He pulled it from his pocket and turned it on. Texts populated his screen, many of them from the head of the Smoky Lake Institute or other research scientists who had already gotten the word about what had happened. His heart sank. What a disaster for the Institute and everyone connected to it.
Lachlan had texted too. His message was short and simple and mind-blowing.
911.