Chapter One #2
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Miller 5 was all the way on the other side of the campus. Chase threw her backpack over her shoulder, not bothering with her coat again, and raced out the door.
By the time she made it to the fifth floor of the Miller building, she was winded and holding her left side, which was knotted up into a sharp stitch. She took a couple of deep breaths to try to steady her heart rate, then quietly cracked open the conference room door.
“Dr. Durgin. Thanks for joining us. Have a seat, will you?” Dr. Justin Pitman, known to many as Justin, but very much still Dr. Pitman to Chase, stood broad-shouldered and untouchable at the front of the room filled with Chase’s colleagues.
Aside from being a mountain of a man, Dr. Pitman was also one of the smartest, and most arrogant, men Chase had ever known, therefore making him one of the most intimidating.
He had yet to seem to take a liking to Chase, and she wondered if a little contained homophobia lurked in there somewhere.
Her short hair and men’s suits didn’t always work in her favor when it came to small-town Southern boys with a giant chip on their shoulders.
And Chase’s late showing was definitely not going to help her case.
Without a word, Chase sat in the back next to Tom, who was scolding her with his perfected side-eye. She glanced at her watch—only five minutes late. Not all that bad, considering. She made a mental note to go buy a new phone after work.
“As I was saying…” Dr. Pitman made a point to pause and look directly back at Chase.
“The latest information we’re getting on H7J1 is a little more, let’s say, concerning than previously thought.
Reports right now are showing a mortality rate closer to sixty-five percent, with an R0 of 3, maybe more. ”
The room erupted into a worried rumble, and Chase’s mouth went dry. Maybe Gupta wasn’t exaggerating. In fact, if what Pitman was saying was true, the facts were worse. Much worse.
One of the virologists who Chase didn’t know well raised her hand from the front of the room but didn’t bother to wait to be called on. “But it’s contained, right?”
“Yes. For now. The last thing we want to do is ignite a panic with the public. We saw how well that went with H1N1 and SARS. But from what we’re seeing, H7J1 has the potential to spread, and quickly.”
“Sixty-five percent mortality rate?” one of the others shouted. “That’s nearly as high as Ebola. What are we doing about this, Justin?”
“The military is deploying troops today to set up a quarantine. No one in, no one out. Right now, if we can keep it to Abita Springs, we’ll be fine.”
“Oh, come on. We all know how effective quarantining a town is,” the same man, who’d since loosened his tie and was dabbing sweat from around his thick neck, snapped back. “Am I the only one here who’s seen the movie Outbreak?”
The room fell silent for a minute, and then a slow, steady geyser of laughter evolved into a cacophony of nervous mumbles.
“All right, enough. Very funny, Michael. And yes, I have seen Outbreak. There will be no blowing up of towns. At least not yet.” Pitman stopped, seemingly trying to read the once-again silent room.
“Relax. That was a joke, people. Christ. Lighten up. It’s under control.
But we will be sending a small group of personnel to Louisiana to help.
Mainly virologists for research. But I will be including a couple of MDs to study symptomology and potentially help investigate a vaccine with the virologists.
In the meantime, no talking to the press.
Understood? When the time comes, I’ll sit down with MSNBC and FOX. ”
Of course you will.
“We can tell our families though, right? I have a brother and sister-in-law in New Orleans. If they need to get out of there, they should know now.” Dr. John Grimm, one of the other infectious-disease physicians, stood up from his seat in the middle of the room.
Chase liked John. He was much older, in his early seventies, but still sharp, and he brought with him about four-and-a-half decades of infectious-disease experience.
This guy had seen everything from malaria to hanta.
Chase was sure he was one of the docs who would be deployed.
“No. You can’t tell your family, John.” Pitman sighed.
“You’ve been doing this long enough to know that.
Even if you inform just your brother, he’ll tell three neighbors, and they’ll share the news with their landscaper and their yoga instructor, and next thing you know the highways are jammed with idiots trying to flee from the South.
Hysteria. Chaos. These are exactly the things we’re trying to avoid.
No one says a word. This is my unit—virology and the medical aspect.
About 15,000 other CDC employees will get some version of this memo later today.
But you’re the twenty-two I’m responsible for.
So please, for the love of God, keep your mouths shut. ”
Chase guessed that even time and experience didn’t change some things—like the need to save those you love first.
Pitman turned and left abruptly, the remaining tenants of the conference room briefly looking to each other for answers, and then when it became very clear the meeting was over, they scattered.
Chase was one of the last to leave, still frazzled from some combination of being late and hearing the content of the briefing.
“Chase. Wait a minute.” Pitman had sneaked up on her so quietly, Chase questioned if she’d actually seen him leave at all. Her heart, which was already going at a decent clip, picked up its pace.
“Yes?”
“Sit.”
God damn it. Why is this guy always telling me to sit down?
Chase did as she was told, sitting in one of the leather conference chairs, picking at the skin under her thumbnail like she usually did when she was uncomfortable.
She had no question what this was about.
Pitman was about to chastise her for her late entrance.
“I’m sending you down South.”
Chase’s mouth opened wide, her fists still clenched in tight balls at the anticipation of a scolding. After a long silence, she finally answered. “Like, permanently?”
Pitman laughed. “No. Not permanently. I’m sending you with the H7J1 team.
Listen, I know you’re relatively new here, but you’re good.
You have a lot of drive, and you’re a damn good ID doctor.
Besides, I think it’ll be helpful for John to have someone who’s a little…
fresher than he is down there with him.”
“Are you… Is this for real?” Chase shook her head, the dread that had been following her all morning shifting quickly to sheer exhilaration.
“It’s for real. Can you tell me you’re up for it?” Pitman narrowed his heavy silver brow at her, his eyes serious and questioning.
“Yes, sir. I’m very much up for it. When do I leave?” Chase realized she probably sounded a little too eager, but she couldn’t help herself. Fieldwork was all she’d ever wanted to do. And now was her chance.
“Tomorrow morning. You and John have a six a.m. flight to New Orleans. We’ll send a car to get you. And remember, this isn’t school anymore, Chase. People are sick and dying out there. A lot of them too. Real people. I need to know I can count on you to not freak out.”
“I won’t freak out. I promise. I’m ready for this. I’ve been ready for this.” Chase was nearly bouncing out of her chair.
“Good. Then finish your work here and get some rest. You’re going to need it.”