Killer Flu Hits the East Coast!
Scientists wandered the empty streets in spacesuits, carrying automatic weapons. If someone made a run for them, they were shot. If someone was dying on the sidewalk, they took their blood and then they shot them. These men and women of science were now terminators of life.
The scientists in the warehouses watched as their counterparts did hazardous duty and sweated with them. They knew it would be their turn in a few hours. They were glad is was Winter, for the temperature in the suits, though controlled somewhat, was claustrophobia producing.
January 13, 2050, the flu had struck with a vengeance unheard of in modern times. It was so virulent, Martial Law had been instituted within the first week to save the health care workers constantly being attacked and infected. It was the first time they would also carry weapons to protect themselves.
Hospitals were Petri dishes that were constantly emptied of the dead and the corpses transported right to incinerators. It was like a new kind of hell. Once a hospital was emptied it was sanitized from top to bottom with chemicals so potent, no one could reenter until it was aired and wiped down.
Medical care took place in tents and in the streets. The cold was making things harder, but the worst part is that, to date, only handfuls of people had survived the flu. They were under forced confinement due to the value of their blood in trying to make a vaccine. It was a tough time for all.
The scientists at the CDC and other level IV labs were working desperately with blood they had obtained from flu victims who had survived the flu. The antibodies were finally isolated so it was time to try to make the vaccine now.
They were out of monkeys, so they sought out volunteers from the prison populations that had just been exposed. If the inmate tool the vaccine and didn't become ill, they would be pardoned and released from prison, except to the worst offenders.
The inmates readily volunteered and were inoculated. They were observed for twenty four hours in the infirmary of the prison, due to the virulence of the flu and then released and checked hourly for symptoms. The prison population was quickly decimated by the flu, but the volunteers were still healthy at 24, 48 and 72 hours. They were released after blood specimens had been obtained from each of them. Vaccine production went into overtime and the first to be inoculated were those on the front lines.
No one suffered adverse reactions except one female scientist who developed Bell's Palsy. She would receive cortisone for it, should it not resolve.
The vaccines were spread throughout the USA. The country began to get back on its feet, but the damage had been done. The estimated population now was about three million as opposed the previous figure of three hundred million.
The same figures were worldwide. The populations had dwindled to ten percent of previous counts.
People were shuttled to farming communities while the cities were vigorously disinfected or burned. Hidden pockets of virus didn't need to reemerge in a few years.
The worldwide attitude was still extremely guarded. There were very few international flights and those never touched down anymore, but did drops using parachutes. The ship lines carried only supplies and the only people aboard never left the ship.
The cities were ghost worlds. The farming towns and villages bustled. The largest employers were now security firms to assist in the quarantine for new arrivals. Martial law was still in effect.
The Earth seemed to sigh. The animals stretched and roamed. The air was light and the water was clearing. It was a new world...
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