The Emerald Virus Read online

  “Doc, believe me when I say that the pleasure derived from our relationship has been mostly mine. We were a great team and I’m really sorry that it has to end this way. I would much prefer to stay here and go through the end times with the people I know. But that isn’t in the cards for me, so I’ll do this one last thing for you and for me and for my countrymen. But when I’ve done everything I think I can for the survivors I’ll leave that bunker die in the sunshine, on my terms.” Jack then smiled and said, “I won’t be far behind you all in all so don’t get too comfortable without me.”

  Jack turned and started to leave A.J.’s office; he stopped in the doorway and looked back at A.J. who was standing by her desk with tears running down her face. Jack smiled at her and without saying anything he walked back to his office. He knew he would always remember A.J. as he had last seen her.

  He joined his team, and they left together for Andrews AFB.

  When Jack arrived plane side he approached the Army Colonel who seemed to be in charge and said, “Hi, I’m Jack Sweeney from Homeland Security, I’m here with twelve others ready to evacuate to a bunker in the Southwest. Are you the right person to be talking to?”

  “I sure am. I’m Colonel Ron Allenway. I’m the senior military official on the plane and I command a team of twenty-two. I understand that you out-rank me, but I’m in charge of the military evacuation mission. If you don’t mind we can talk about rank and responsibilities once we reach our new home.”

  Jack responded, “Ron, I’m strictly concerned with my mission and my team. As far as I know we have no overlap in missions and I have no intention of using my time trying to run life in the bunker. I hope you’re prepared to continue to accept that responsibility.”

  Ron looked relieved and said, “Of course I am, that’s what I’ve been trained for. I just didn’t want to step on your toes. This has happened so quickly that the only thing I was told was that a senior Homeland Security official and his team would join me, and that you would outrank me. I don’t even know if you’re familiar with military protocol. ”

  As he smiled Jack said, “I served during the Afghan war and deployed there four times, so yes, I’m familiar with the military. But, I have a very specific mission and me and my team will appreciate anything you can do to allow us to focus only on that mission. As far as any other decisions go, I’ll rely on your expertise. Anytime you want to discuss something I’ll be there, and I’ll give you my honest opinion if I have one, but I’ll not interfere with your command responsibilities.”

  “Great, I appreciate that. If you will, please introduce me to your team and then I’ll do the same. The teams will get to know each other on the flight and after we reach the Cathedral.”

  “The Cathedral?”

  “Yeah, my deputy and I made a trip out there on Friday so we could take a look at what we were getting into. The rock outcropping surrounding the opening to the bunker looks like nature’s idea of a cathedral, so we gave it that nickname. My team has been listening to us call it that for a couple of days now and I think the name has stuck.”

  Jack said, “Sounds good to me. Let’s do introductions now.”

  The plane went wheels up an hour later with both teams and all of their gear. The plane was a huge military jet with the front section containing passenger seats and the back full of cargo, mostly in metal containers, with jump seats along both bulkheads. Ron and Jack sat together in the front row of seats.

  Jack asked, “What kind of cargo are we carrying?”

  “A good chunk of it is communication and electronic gear my team will use. A smaller portion is the computer gear you requested. The rest is what we’ll need to survive for at least a year underground, although we had a lot of things delivered to the bunker yesterday. My biggest concern is fresh water. The bunker is equipped with a superb water recycling system, but if the system fails it will mean an early and painful death for all of us. As a back-up the Air Force used a cargo plane like this one full of canned water to stock the bunker with enough fresh water for all of us for more than a year.”

  “I’m surprised you could get access to those types of resources that quickly.”

  “Actually I was too. But they told me to ask for anything I needed so I did. I found out that your mission was personally endorsed by the President and he said we were to get anything we needed so no one balked about anything I requested.”

  “You say that as if there is more than just food and water involved.”

  Ron grinned sheepishly and said “There are one or two surprises stocked for us at the bunker. I’ll give you a tour once we arrive.”

  “Okay. For now are you ready to tell me where we’re going?”

  “Ron looked surprised and said, “You mean you don’t know?”

  “No I don’t. I was told that the location of the bunker was classified and we wouldn’t be told until we were in the air.”

  “You know, I should have thought of that. The location is secret, but given that this crisis is not military in nature, and the location of the bunker doesn’t need to be kept secret any longer, we’ve been pretty open in our talks. Anyway, the bunker is located southwest of Chama, New Mexico, buried in a ridgeline that runs near Heron Lake. We’ll land later this afternoon in Santa Fe where we have helicopters waiting to take us to the bunker entrance.”

  “Won’t this attract a lot of attention?”

  “Well, you have to remember this is the high desert in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. It sits right on the Colorado border and while it is some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, it is desolate. The helicopters will fly low, and they’ll bypass any towns or villages. We will pass over a couple of ranches but I don’t think anyone will be able to track our progress. If this was a military mission we would operate a little differently and take no risks at all. But I think we’ll be just fine. Once we enter the bunker the helicopters will fly away and there will be no trace of our existence. We have some pretty neat tricks for covering up the few tracks we’ll leave, and there are no roads leading to the bunker entrance.”

  “It sounds to me like you have everything under control. I’ll let my team know where we’re going and what to expect regarding the helicopters.

  Jack looked at the bunker entrance with amazement. It did look like a Cathedral opening cut into a solid rock face. There were even rocks that looked like twin spires on either side of the entrance, although the rock spires were huge and the entrance rather small, just large enough to drive a large truck through. Ron showed Jack how the outside of the entrance blast doors were covered with rock and explained that when the door closed it would look like it was part of the rock face.

  Jack was pleasantly surprised to find that they had a flatbed truck and a forklift available to take the cargo into the facility. The bunker turned out to be much roomier than Jack had imagined. Ron told him it had been built as a communication facility and could hold a hundred people comfortably. Since their combined teams totaled only thirty-four people, space would not be a problem.

  Each team member was provided with a one page map of the interior so nobody had to worry about getting lost.

  The bunker was built on three levels that were connected by three different staircases. One was located near the front entrance, one at the rear of the facility and one in the center next to the two large elevators that could be used for moving equipment or gear. The elevators were large enough to hold the small forklift with a full pallet.

  All of the communication gear and work stations were located on level one, the upper level; where the entrance was located. The first level down, referred to as level two, house the work area for Jack and his team, as well as the cafeteria. This meant that Jack’s team would be totally separated from the military team, which was okay since they had different missions. The lower or third level housed the living quarters.

  Ron and Jack decided that their teams would split the living quarters evenly since there was so much space available. The be
drooms were small. Each bedroom had a single bed, a desk and chair, and a large easy chair. The rooms had ample lighting and they were carpeted; the walls were painted different colors, albeit the colors were industrial plain. Each room had a single doorway going to the hallway, and each had a bathroom that connected to the room next door. The bath was intended to be shared by the occupants of each adjoining room. Since their numbers were small each person was assigned to the two rooms with the connecting bath so nobody needed to share a bathroom. The extra room could be converted into a sitting room if the occupant wanted to do so. Each room was also equipped with a radio and a small T.V., both of which accessed satellite signals.

  After all of the gear had been stored and the room assignments had been handed out Ron and Jack asked all of the team members to meet them in the cafeteria for a meeting of all hands. Ron and Jack briefed the teams on the arrangement they had come to. Ron would be in charge of all things military, the cafeteria and half of the living quarters. Jack would be responsible for the working half of the second level and half of the living quarters.

  Each quadrant on the living level had a decent workout room. Ron explained that two were for both military and civilian women, and two for both military and civilian men. Ron also told the civilians that one of his sergeant’s was trained as a physical therapist and anyone who wanted to use her to build a personal training plan was welcome to do so.

  One of the young military men asked about a section of the map that did not have a label and seemed to be off the cafeteria, but beyond the visible floor plan.

  Ron smiled and said, “This is one of the nice things about this facility. That area is through the double doors behind you and is about twice the size of one of the levels. It’s an area set aside to grow fresh fruits and vegetables. In permanent storage in this bunker the Army has kept enough bagged dirt to cover that entire area with eighteen inches of some of the best soil available. Part of the bunker activation plan included bringing in plants in various stages of growth so that we can harvest different plants at different times. Two members of my team are specialists in this area and will be responsible for the care and harvesting of our natural products. However, if any other member of either team wants to participate in growing anything at all you’re welcome to do so. We have enough room so that if you want to start a flower or vegetable garden you can. We have an assortment of seeds available so you can even pick your favorite plants to work with. The ceiling is covered with gro-lights so the plants won’t miss the sunlight. Growing flowers and vegetables is a great hobby and I plan to start my own garden.

  “The only thing I ask is that you always make sure the doors seal shut behind you when you come and go. The environment in the growing room is strictly controlled and leaving the door ajar will be harmful. By the way the garden will be watered through our water recycling plant. The only water we will actually lose is that absorbed by the plants themselves.”

  Jack asked Ron if he had any more nice surprises for the group. Ron said, “I do have one or two more surprises; one I’ll tell you about now and the others we’ll save for another time. As you know alcohol is generally not allowed in military facilities. However, we have managed to bring enough wine with us so that we can serve wine with dinner each evening. There is enough wine for two glasses per person per night, and the choices are pretty generic, but I hope this will help make things a little more comfortable for us. By the way, if you don’t drink, please don’t give your share to anyone else. We can’t afford for this to become a problem for anyone and I don’t want any hangovers because someone over indulged. If having the wine creates any problems we’ll have to stop, so please be responsible.

  It was late and Jack told his team it was time to call it a night. Breakfast would be served by the Army cooks between six and seven o’clock. He told them that he expected to see all of them at breakfast since there would be no other chance to eat until lunch. He wanted all of them to stay healthy and eating three meals a day would help.

  Chapter Nine: The South Shall Rise Again

  Tuesday, Atlanta Georgia

  Charlotte White sat on the sofa with her Mother and watched reports of the spread of the Emerald Virus. She had been at her Mom’s house for about an hour and she knew she would have to start for home soon. She wanted to be there by dark and the light failed early in November, even in Atlanta.

  Like her Mom, Charlotte was of diminutive build and of neither light nor dark complexion. She had large and expressive hazel eyes and her boys always swore she had more insight than a person needed. She always laughed at that. She did have a good feel for people, and her husband James used her talent to help him since he had no insight at all. But with the boys she didn’t need insight. As a mother she could read both of them like a book.

  Charlotte and her Mom had talked a little about their family history. Both of them were proud of the fact that they could trace their history back to Africa. Her Mom had always told her that there was power in knowing your heritage, and Charlotte had always believed that truth.

  They had talked of Noqui, the small village in present day Angola that sits on the Congo River. Noqui was the home of Charlotte’s Great Grandfather, who came to be known as Homer Wells. He had been captured by the Chief of the neighboring village of Matadi, and sold to the captain of the slave ship the “Wanderer” for $50.00. He had then sailed on the “Wanderer” to America and had been sold on Jekyll Island, Georgia to a local farmer for $650.00.

  The Wanderer had been built by Thomas Hawkins in Setauket, New York. The ship had been built as a luxury yacht and sold in 1857 for the unbelievable price of $25,000. The following year it was purchased by William Corrie who outfitted the ship as a fast slaver. The Wanderer then sailed to the Atlantic coast of Africa and up the Congo River where it stopped at various villages randomly and purchased slaves.

  The Wanderer left Africa with 487 slaves and arrived six weeks later on Jekyll Island with 409 slaves still alive. The death rate had been slightly higher than the typical twelve percent. The slaves were sold quickly and quietly since importing slaves had become illegal in both Britain and the United States in 1808. Unfortunately only Britain enforced the law with enthusiasm. The British Government not only patrolled the Oceans in search of slavers, they also tried to convince the rulers of other European, Caribbean, and South American countries to outlaw slaving; lastly they tried to convince African tribal leaders to get out of the slave business. The U.S. was split; the North had stopped importing slaves while the South continued to import slaves to the extent they could get away with it. By 1858 it was getting difficult to get away with slaving.

  For a while the Wanderer was thought to have been the last slave ship to complete the Middle Passage. However the following year the schooner “Clotilde”, carrying about 140 slaves reached Mobile Bay. The slaves were taken off the Clotilde to an off shore island and the ship was set on fire and sunk by the owner in order to avoid conflict with Federal authorities.

  Charlotte and her Mother were always thankful that Homer Wells had come so late to America. Consequently he was a slave only from October 1858 until the end of the Civil War in April 1865. He never forgot his home village and always hoped one day to return. He never did. He did however manage to make a living following the Civil War, to marry, and to have five children. The youngest was Charlotte’s Grandmother.

  As a child Charlotte was enthralled with the stories her Grandmother would tell her about Homer Wells. Charlotte smiled at the thought. The family always referred to her Great Grandfather as Homer Wells; never as Homer, or Father, or Grandfather, but always as Homer Wells. Her Grandmother had once told her that her Father had always referred to himself as Homer Wells, and so the family continued the tradition.

  Charlotte had once asked her Grandmother to tell her what Homer Wells said about his years as a slave. Her Grandmother surprised her by saying that while Homer detested being a slave he was thankful to have been brought to America. Her Grandmother expl
ained that Homer Wells had been captured by the residents of a village in Africa, and that typically he would have been sold to another distant tribe and would have remained a slave for the rest of his life. He also knew from his experience in his own tribe that slaves tended to die young in Africa, so the rest of his life would have probably been much shorter than it turned out to be.

  Homer Wells also knew fate had smiled on him when he became associated with a land lord who was actually fair. It was this that allowed Homer Wells to save enough money over time to purchase his own small plot of land and ultimately move away from share-cropping and begin farming.

  Homer Wells had moved to the Atlanta area after the end of Civil War hostilities. He became the rare ex-slave who came to own his own small farm. He passed the farm on to his children who took it a step farther when they changed from growing tobacco and cotton to growing vegetables, and selling them locally.

  Following World War One the roadside produce stand became a small store, and as the city of Atlanta expanded and surrounded their rural setting, the store and the family became if not wealthy at least prosperous for the times.

  Following World War Two the family business continued to expand. The original store had doubled in size and a second and then a third store had been added in neighboring towns. The family had expanded the size of the farm and they now not only sold fresh produce at their own stores, but to other retailers as well. They enjoyed a great reputation locally and anyone who bought their produce knew they could count on a quality product.

  The family never considered making the migration to one of the northern cities as so many of their friends and acquaintances had done. Charlotte still remembered her Uncles having a heated debate with her younger brother on this issue one evening.