The Cure

IT HAD BEEN ALMOST A WEEK since his lasting meeting with Ms. Black. Their previous exchange had been brief, but a very beneficial to his cause. She had handed him over something that would turn the nation over on its head, and cause mass hysteria and a panic throughout the world. His actions would perpetrate an attack that would make the anthrax incidents look like child’s play. The old man who was their target lived alone and in a rural part of town. Except for paramedics, hospital staff and other patients, no one else would be infected by the virus unless the hospital staff was too slow to discover what horrors were unfolding before them. Ms. Black had made it quite clear that if they didn’t find out what was going on within an hour, he was to make a call to the hospital and claim credit for poisoning the old man and thus causing the outbreak. Basically, he would be confessing to domestic terrorism, but that would be better than letting a small outbreak turn into a full-blown pandemic. He was hoping this wasn’t going to be necessary, but in the meantime patient zero was sleeping in his bed when he and his men broke into his residence. As they searched his place, one thing became quite clear; they were going to kill this man. He would likely die before a suitable treatment could be found. It didn’t matter, patient zero was going to be the collateral damage necessary to wake the nation up and make them safer for future attacks. In his opinion, the nation had become subdued, oblivious to the lack of security that was present. He was sure that after this attack and the horrific deaths that will come from it, the people will be willing to write a blank cheque and part with a few civil rights to secure their safety. It will be glorious.

A few moments later, someone approached him from the kitchen. “Boss, I think the best place to store this is in the kitchen.”

The Boss turned to his underling.

“Explain.” He ordered.

“Well, we have to keep it refrigerated until consumed so I’m guessing we put it in the coffee creamer.” The underling replied. “Guessing by all the tins in the back room, this man consumes a lot of coffee. We are going to toss out the other container to make sure he uses the one we contaminate. By waiting until he has his morning coffee, it will give us enough time to get out of here before the outbreak starts.”

The Boss nodded his approval. Finding time to escape ground zero was something he had been thinking about for a while.

“I like it,” The boss admitted. “Make sure there is more than enough to infect him without him noticing until it’s too late.”

“Will do, boss,” The underling said as he went back into the kitchen.

As he watched his man go back into the kitchen, the Boss picked up his cell phone and quickly dialed a number from the phone’s memory. After a few rings the line picked up. Turns out the person he was calling was asleep when he rang.

“I didn’t think people like you slept, Ms. Black.” The boss said with a grin.

“This had better be good.” Ms. Black replied.

“I’m at the house of patient zero,” The Boss informed her. “The virus has been planted. We’re guessing outbreak should occur within six to twelve hours. If you are having any second thoughts about doing this, now would be the time to express them.”

“Why would I have any?” she asked.

“After this, we become terrorists.” The boss replied. “After we do this there is no turning back.”

“Are you having second thoughts?” She asked.

“I am not,” the boss answered, “I just wanted to let you know that it’s going down today. Your point of no return was a week ago when you handed over the virus.”

“Then why are you calling me now?” Ms. Black asked.

“To let you know it’s happening and to prepare yourself for it.” he answered.

“Alright, thank you for letting me know,” Ms. Black replied, “Now grow a pair and just do it.”

“It’s already done,” The boss informed her.

The Boss grinned as he disconnected the line. He loved it when Ms. Black showed her cold heart to him. She was an evil bitch and that was one reason why he liked working with her. She didn’t care how many people got hurt or died from the virus she had given him as long as her objective was met. He had no idea what her objective was, nor did he really care. His objective was to start an outbreak that would shake the country back into a defensive mode that would make him and his people safer for decades to come. He walked over to his underling as he noticed him leaving the kitchen.

“Are we set?” he asked.

“We are.” His underling answered. “Once his takes his morning coffee with the creamer, he will be infected, and the outbreak will begin.”

“Alright, let’s get out of here.” The Boss said as he walked to the back door. “Get everyone out and let’s put as much distance from here as we can.”

He didn’t have to ask his men twice as they all filed out and made it back to the truck without waking up patient zero, who was still soundly sleeping in his bed. Patient zero’s ability to sleep through a stampede was another reason why he was chosen, as was his ability to panic when becoming sick. He won’t wait to seek medical attention and the sooner he infects the nearest hospital, the quicker the shit will hit the fan. The boss smiled to himself through his mask as he got onboard the truck and watched from his window as they left the same town that was going to be on every news channel the next day. This was going to be ground zero and the place that no one will ever forget for decades to come, the place where history will be made.