Chapter 19

MCLEAN, VIRGINIA

Infection Date 24, 2200 GMT (6:00 p.m. Local)

Noah was opening Amazon boxes when Natalie called out to him. He put the water purification tablets and Israeli quick-clot battle dressings on his study desk beside blue latex gloves and bluer N95 masks. Cardboard boxes full of stuff were piled to eye level.

His family huddled in front of the TV. Natalie removed her hand from her mouth and pointed at the screen. “The unrest erupted in Beijing upon outbreak of the disease. Camps on the city’s outskirts, swollen with refugees from the north, stormed through government lines. We go now to our correspondent on the phone from Beijing. Jennifer?”

The kids were transfixed by live pictures of big explosions in dark streets. The crawl along the bottom said large numbers of rioters had been killed by the PLA.

“I’m able to confirm,” the breathless reporter said, “that the Chinese military is firing indiscriminately at rioters.” She coughed. “One man told a harrowing tale,” she coughed again, “of escape from Harbin. Barely coherent, he said soldiers in chemical warfare gear were, and I’m only repeating what I was told, going door-to-door killing everyone inside crowded apartments. . .” She barely choked out the last before her fit resumed. “He was feverish but said he’d seen thousands of dead on his way to the capital.”

Concern creased the anchorwoman’s face when all heard the unmistakable sounds of vomiting. “Jennifer, please get somewhere safe.” The anchorwoman pressed her earpiece. “I understand that authorities are using tear gas.” But Jennifer wasn’t gassed. She was ill. “I’m also being told that cell service has just been lost in Beijing. CNN is covering this real time, so I apologize, but to repeat . . .” The TV fell silent.

Natalie held the remote. The kids looked up at Noah. “Is this . . . ?” Natalie asked.

Noah nodded.

“Is this what?” demanded Chloe.

Noah sat in front of the kids. A disease broke out in Russia. Both kids had heard something about it. It’s really, really bad, Noah explained, and it’s spreading. It kills half the people who get it, and if you survive, you’re . . . changed. Maybe violent.

“So that’s why we took that gun course,” Jacob correctly surmised.

Noah shot a wary glance at Natalie. But she stared, in a daze, at scenes from earlier that day. Long lines of Chinese refugees plodded past machine guns mounted on trucks.

Noah described for the kids, but also Natalie, the brain damage, bland personality, and emotional deficits of Infecteds. “And their pupils are black.”

“Oh-my-God,” said Natalie as if blown pupils were anywhere near the worst part.

The doorbell rang, and both kids flinched. “The UPS guy,” Noah said, peering out.

“Is this what all those packages are?” Chloe asked. “Supplies and stuff?”

Noah led his stunned family to the study and unlocked the door. Despite Noah having made numerous runs to the Old Place hauling supplies, boxes full of gear filled the room. Camouflaged clothing in each of their and the twins’ sizes, backpacks, ponchos, tents, tarps, and air mattresses were interspersed with stray packing material and shipping bills. Noah opened the closet. The weapons and ammo drew a gasp from Natalie.

“So how come you know this,” Chloe asked, “but CNN doesn’t?”

Noah told them about Aunt Emma.

“And this disease,” Natalie said, hugging herself, “is definitely coming here?”

Noah said, “Maybe. Probably. Soon.”

“Dad!” Chloe said in a high pitch. He put his arm around her.

“What’s your plan?” Natalie asked, suddenly interested. Noah tried to put his other arm around her, but she pulled free.

“To survive,” he said looking from face to stricken face. “To avoid infection and the violence that comes with it by isolating ourselves far away from everyone else.”

Natalie sank into the desk chair. “Mom?” Chloe said, wrapping her arms around her mother and ultimately curling up in her lap.

“This is really happening,” Natalie said, rocking Chloe. “How can that be? How?”

Noah dropped to his knees and hugged them both. Jake clicked on the TV. Two men in lab coats at a podium ignored rudely shouted questions. “We will release the WHO report when we get it. But there are no cases yet of anyone infected with the disease in North America.”

“Liars!” Natalie snapped. “Emma is here. They’re lying right to our faces!”

Noah had to give them hope. He told them about the renovations to the Old Place down in Virginia. “That’s why I sold all our stocks, bonds, IRAs, 401Ks, college funds.”

“What?” Chloe asked. “No college?” It was sinking in.

“You remember how far up there the house is? It’s totally isolated. We’ll be safe.”

“The windows were broken,” Chloe said. “And there were spiders everywhere.”

“They’re fixing it up,” Noah replied. Generators, electric fences, shipping containers to grow food. His family was starting to understand, and rather than help them cope with their anxiety, it deepened their shock.

“We have complete confidence,” the head of the CDC said on TV, “that the Chinese will halt the spread of the disease. They’re making great strides . . .”

“They’re just going to lie to everybody,” Natalie said angrily, “until it’s too late!”

“So we got a head start,” Noah said. “But we have to move quickly now.” The kids’ attention was rapt. They wanted to live. Just explain to them how. But Natalie seemed incapable of focusing. Her mind reeled from too many fears. She drew Jacob into her embrace, but her eyes were oddly dry. She needed something to do. “Sweetheart?” Noah said. The kids pulled free and Natalie looked around until she found her husband. “I want you to take the kids to the orthodontist and have their braces removed.”

Chloe objected. “I need a few months to close up the gap. And Jake just got his!”

“We’re taking them off,” Noah explained, “in case there’s nobody who can fix a broken wire or whatever. It’s only for the time being. Later, hopefully . . .”

“I want to make an appointment,” Natalie said into her phone. “Miller, Jacob and Chloe. I want their braces removed. Yes, completely taken off. Both. Yes, I know it’s all paid for!” She hung up, then said, too calmly, “Tomorrow morning at nine.”

Jake said, “I’ve got a history test . . .” but let it drop on seeing his parents’ faces.

The silence seemed unnatural. Noah said, “Why don’t we go for a family jog?”

“What’s that?” Chloe asked, but got no answer. “This is the end of the world, isn’t it? Learning to shoot. Getting in shape. Buying baggy, ugly camouflage clothes. Renovating the spider kingdom. We’re all gonna die!”

“No!” Noah looked her straight in the face. “Not this family. We’ll be ready. We’ll make ourselves ready. We’ll do what we have to do. Now go put your running shoes on. Everybody meet back here in ten. Go!”

To his surprise, they all filed out without objection. Wow. That worked?