Before the Dead Walked, page 14
Many people swarmed to honey for its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Holistic practitioners considered it one of nature’s best all-around remedies.
Bee venom was given as a shot for rheumatoid arthritis, neuralgia, multiple sclerosis, reducing the reaction to bee stings in people who are allergic, tendonitis, and muscle conditions such as fibro myositis and enteritis.
Most people feared bees, because they didn’t want to get stung, but, despite the discomfort felt, bee stings actually promoted health. Dr. Norse soon discovered that when a bee stinger was activated, it released more than just venom. An estimated 18 to 20 naturally occurring antibiotics and antivirals were found in the ensuing concoction, along with anti-inflammatory and pain reduction substances. Bee stings also triggered reactions in the human body that generated healing properties that would otherwise remain dormant.
Additionally, with Dr. Norse directing several additional research projects, she discovered that consuming honey promoted general wellbeing and was thought to be effective against insomnia, anorexia, stomach and intestinal ulcers, constipation, osteoporosis, and laryngitis.
Thousands of years ago the Egyptians used bee products to address arthritis. More recently, doctors turned to bees to treat multiple sclerosis and immune system disorders that attacked the skin or nerves.
Of course, Dr. Norse realized that not everyone can get stung by a bee. Some people will have harsh allergic reactions. However, at a time when fears of antibiotic resistant super bugs were on the rise, this hidden trove of medicine could help doctors discover new treatments.
She had proven that bees already provided humans with copious benefits, mostly by pollinating 30% of the world’s crops and 90% of the world’s flowers. So by protecting them and restoring their ecosystems, Dr. Norse really didn’t need any further justification for her unusual covert actions.
Jupiter, king of the Roman gods, was said to have given the honeybee her stinger, to protect her honey. His wife, Juno, however, insisted there must be payment for this gift of a weapon, so Jupiter gave the stinger with the condition that the bee died should she use it.
Honey played an important role in guiding the ancient Egyptians in the afterlife. Bees, beehives and bee relics, along with honey, were considered funerary gifts for the dead. The Egyptians weren’t the only culture to include honey as a gift or rites of passage for the deceased. The Romans, Hindus and Chinese all had rituals connecting honeybees, honey, and death. It was because of her fascination with bees and death that Dr. Angela Norse began bizarre experiments into altering the properties of venom in certain species of bees. She was convinced that honey bees could one day inoculate humans against all diseases naturally.
Of course, recently bees were dying in massive numbers. Termed Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), the die-off counted among its causes a parasite aptly named Varroa Destructor. A flat, button-shaped, eight-legged critter no more than 2 millimeters long, varroa mites invaded honeybee hives around the world in droves, latched onto their inhabitants, and fed on their tissues, transmitting devastating RNA viruses in the process.
The worst of these diseases was Deformed Wing Virus, believed to be one of the largest contributors to the devastation of honeybees worldwide. Named for the shrunken and misshapen wings that developed in affected bees, DWV robbed its hosts of flight, undermined their immune system, and halved their lifespan. The sicker a bee was, and the more useless its wings, the fewer plants it pollinated. What’s more, what flora an infected bee did manage to visit, became tainted by the virus, transmitting the infection to future pollinators. As if a bee-debilitating virus transmitted by itty-bitty parasites wasn’t terrifying enough, beekeepers possessed no effective means of battling the virus.
Angela Norse spent her life researching bees and realized that the only truly effective way to combat these nasty little parasites was with a natural solution. She despised the US solution to every problem, which was spray more pesticides, create Bioengineering solutions, or play Dr. Frankenstein. After observing honey bees land on certain mushrooms, they seemed to regenerate their wings. Was this a fluke, or did the mushrooms actually contain some enzyme that healed damaged wings?
The mushrooms in question belonged to the genera Fomes and Ganoderma, better known to fungus experts as Amadou and Reishi. The former commonly grow on trees, in the shape of a horse hoof. The latter have long been prized in traditional medicine circles and were a common sight at Asian markets and health food stores. Both belong to an order of fungi known as polypores, extracts of which were shown in numerous studies to possess potent antiviral properties against dangerous infections like swine flu, pox viruses, and HIV.
Norse noticed the bees from her personal hive flying back and forth to a pile of fungus-coated wood chips. The bees were sipping droplets of liquid that had oozed from the mushroom’s mycelium, the fuzzy white network of cobwebby filaments through which fungi absorb nutrients. At first the doctor figured the droplets contained sugar, because fungi break down wood into glucose. However, after further observation Dr. Norse wondered if the bees were getting more than a shot of sugar?
She began to wonder if the bees were in fact self-medicating. Almost immediately the scientist began dosing sugar-water feeders with extracts from the mycelium of various species of mushrooms and analyzing the effect on infected bees. It wasn’t clear how these extracts reduced the virus-carrying mites in infected bees. They could be boosting the bees’ immune systems, or inhibiting the virus directly, or affecting the way it replicated inside the bees.
Or it could be something else altogether.
Whatever the mechanism, it would be useful to understand it more fully before deploying the extracts on a wider scale. After all, there were also unforeseen consequences to consider.
Of the known viral pathogens affecting the bees, Dr. Norse appreciated the potential benefits of powerful virus-neutralizing agents. She was also aware that applying medication on a large scale, might lead to resistance evolution in the thing it targeted.
However, as the zombie plague news continued to get worse and the remaining humanity lost touch with most of the civilized world, Dr. Norse gathered her staff together.
“The one hope for anyone surviving is to release all our medicated bees,” she said. “If they can sting humans, there is a possibility that some of the victims will be inoculated against this terrible zombie virus.”
The beehive protective domes were opened, setting free thousands of honey bees strengthened with the mushroom mycelium extract. If, in the natural course of events, these bees stung humans, the hope was that the new compound would alter DNA to such a degree as to prevent the zombie virus from taking hold.
It was a calculated risk.
However, Professor Norse never accounted for what the effect of the goat virus might be on her bees. Within 30 minutes after departure, the bees went silent. As the human population plummeted, the air cooled and the insects stopped flying, and the buzzing noise they make during flight ceased. The bees had been active, but suddenly became inactive, as if drugged.
Unbeknownst to Dr. Norse, her bees had reacted to the zombie apocalypse as they would to nightfall. So much death, on such a grand scale, coupled with the almost total cessation of human activity, brought the bees to a standstill. On normal days, bees begin flying more slowly at dusk. As night approached, the insects returned to their colonies to sleep. To the bees, this cataclysm was as if something had turned out the lights across the entire planet.
Chapter 14
The CDC Goes Dark
In the heart of downtown Atlanta sat the monstrous complex known as the CDC, or Center for Disease Control. Over 15,000 people worked in this city within a city, dedicated to saving lives and protecting the health of Americans around the globe. There were 24 buildings, which housed more than 1,800 scientists, working in 200+ laboratories. Center for Disease Control Building 24 was the focal point of the facility, which stood 12 stories tall and reflected intense light from the blue bullet-proof glass panels. In fact, blue and grey were the CDC’s official colors and almost every structure had captured those shades when constructed. As the campus centerpiece, the facility was designed and constructed to be architecturally significant, with extensive use of innovative materials.
Recently, the CDC had come under a lot of budgetary pressure and the Federal government had even prohibited eight words from use. The forbidden words were vulnerable, entitlement, diversity, transgender, fetus, evidence-based, science-based, and undead, or zombie.
Most Americans were unaware that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had created an extensive plan to combat a zombie plague, if ever such a disaster took place. Most of the CDC complex went deep underground, with certain levels requiring top secret security clearance to even enter.
Dr. Roman Bradley was one of the world’s foremost scientists involved with studying dangerous and infectious diseases throughout history. He was a member of the advisory team consulted in battling the Ebola scare in 2014. Dr. Bradley was considered an expert in isolating and phylogenetic characterization of Ebola. He had also conducted extensive studies of smallpox, Spanish flu, the black plague, tuberculosis, malaria, and cholera.
When word first reached the CDC that it appeared a zombie virus had been unleased, there was no ridiculing laughter. While employees and researchers considered the possibility slight, their initiatives in raising public awareness had been an enormous success. Any steps the common citizen applied to surviving a zombie apocalypse could be directly useful responding to any cataclysm.
However, because of the severity of the warnings, the facility went into an immediate lockdown protocol. Cautionary and warning lights were activated, primary access doors were sealed shut, no entrance or exit was allowed, and ready response teams gathered for the first round of meetings and discussions.
Dr. Bradley chaired one of those meetings. “We are getting conflicting reports from practically every sector of the US Government and hospitals around the nation. It appears that ground zero is Fort Benning, right here in our own state. Based on preliminary communications, which have now gone dark, the virus was carried by goats, which had been sent to Fort Benning from Afghanistan.”
Another series of alarms sounded and lights flashed in a syncopated rhythm of impending doom. None of the CDC employees or scientists ever thought they would see the light of day again.
It was an accurate appraisal of the situation, for no one in the CDC ever emerged.
****
Over Kazakhstan, just before reaching the Russian border, Colonel Hatch knew he had run out of terrain. The flatlands of southern Russian stretched out before him. On a new course and heading, he was racing against the clock. With the maximum airspeed he could attain, the colonel pushed that C-130 D to the limit.
Ensign Alvarez spoke calmly, but seriously. “Colonel Hatch, we have been painted and we are now being tracked. You will receive the official warning in about 30 seconds.”
When it came, the alert was computerized and was delivered in ten different languages, English first.
“You’ll now have 30 seconds to comply, Colonel,” she said. “They will either scramble jets or fire missiles. Missiles are more likely.”
“Attention crew, we are about to be fired upon,” Hatch announced to everyone onboard. “These are desperate times, so the Russians won’t hesitate to shoot us down. I will try to evade and we do have some countermeasures.”
“They have launched, sir!” Lupita cried out. “SAM Missiles have been launched.”
Hatch was already so low he could almost reach out and touch the treetops. The C-130 was much more difficult to handle at such altitude so the colonel really had to concentrate.
“Lead missile has locked on!” the ensign called out.
Hatch held up his hand. “Not yet, Jenkins, be patient. I will pull up hard and fast, and then fire the Angel Decoy.”
Lupita watched her screen intently. “The SAM is closing. Missile is closing fast, almost on us.” She closed her eyes and said, “Now!”
Hatch pulled back on the stick and the C-130 went straight up. “Engage!”
Jenkins hit the firing button.
Angel Decoy was aptly named. The system fired an intense flare pattern that looked like angel wings and emitted intense bright white lights as they burst into an extreme-temperature chemical burn, causing the missile to detonate.
Kaboom!
It worked.
The first missile disintegrated.
“How close now?” Hatch asked as he leveled off.
“We’re still over one hundred miles out, sir,” the captain replied.
“Second missile locked on,” Alvarez informed them. “Damn.”
“What?” Hatch demanded.
“A second pattern of missiles have been launched, sir,” she reported.
The colonel didn’t respond right away. “Okay, well, let’s take one problem at a time. Same drill as before.”
The C-130 flew on, racing ahead. The cargo plane dropped down to the deck yet again. Hatch had the airspeed at 170 knots and was no more than 500 feet off the ground.
Lupita followed the flight pattern of the second missile, coming fast.
With pinpoint timing, Captain Jenkins once again fired off the Angel Decoy and once again, the pattern of flares detonated the SAM.
“That’s it, Colonel,” Jenkins reluctantly reported. “The Angel system is empty.”
There was nothing left to do, but fly.
“That’s okay, Richard,” the pilot replied. “You’re a damn fine copilot, my friend. When we get back to the States, I’ll recommend you for promotion.”
Jenkins grinned and said, “Why thank you, sir.”
“New SAM closing, sir,” Alvarez reported. “It’s closing fast.”
Without any air defense measures remaining, Colonel Robert Hatch had only one option remaining. He had to fly evasive maneuvers that verged on miraculous.
He was good. Hatch was one of the best, actually, but not that good.
The SAM gave chase.
Kaboom!
The explosion ripped open the rear section of the C-130, killing Airman Dawson instantly. The impact shredded the fuselage, also killing the other two passengers with pieces hurled inside the cargo bay.
Both engines on the port side feathered and conked out.
Hatch had his hands full.
The C-130 was a resilient aircraft, engineered to last, built to take a pounding. But really, how much could one expect?
With two engines remaining on the starboard side, the colonel had to compensate for drag and too much power. On the other hand, he needed the power to control his descent.
“I need a place to land, people,” he shouted.
Hatch looked over at Jenkins, but his copilot was dead. Captain Richard Jenkins had been killed by a piece of shrapnel imbedded in his back.
In desperation, Robert shouted into his voice mike, “Lupita!”
“I’m right here,” she replied.
“Thank god,” he uttered. “My copilot is dead. Get up here to help me with the controls, please.”
It was the fact that he said please that spurred her to immediate action. Unbuckling from her navigator position, Ensign Alvarez respectfully pulled Captain Jenkins from his chair. There was blood everywhere, but she scooted into the copilot’s position and buckled up tight.
With tears streaming down her face, she looked over at Colonel Hatch. He tried to smile, but right then he looked vulnerable.
“Hang on, sweetheart,” he croaked. “This is going to be a rough landing.”
Down the C-130 went, smoke billowing out her tail.
The ground came up awfully fast.
Chapter 15
The Trans-Siberian Express
In the massive railroad marshalling yards in southeastern Moscow, the process of putting together or making up the train designated on the departure timetable as Number 1116 had begun. It could not yet properly be called a train because the passenger cars and engines were still not joined together.
However, in the gigantic service barns, crews labored to make ready the diesel-electric engines. Six of these powerful monsters were required to pull the multiple cars on its lengthy journey across the continent; four A engines and two B engines. The A units were larger, nearly seventy feet in length and weighing over 300,000 pounds apiece, with cab sections to house the engineers and firemen. The B units were sandwiched in between the huge A units, but had no cabs and weighed eight tons less. Each unit was equipped with two V-type twelve-cylinder diesel engines. These turned the generators which supplied the power of two thousand horses to the eight steel driving wheels via traction motors.
While one crew checked the mechanical systems from the engines to the brakes, a second team scrubbed the dirt and grime from the exteriors. A third crew filled the tanks with fuel and lubricating oil. Train #1116 would travel at almost 100 miles per hour. Any mechanical failure at that speed could prove disastrous.
In another section of the yard, the sleeping cars, lounge cars, observation cars, along with the 2nd class and 3rd class cars, were all being readied for the long journey across Russia. Vacuum cleaners sucked the dirt of last week’s trip from the carpets and upholstery, the soiled linens and towels were replaced, while toilets and washbasins were washed and disinfected. Chatter was at a minimum for the gloomy news from the Western world was frightening. It appeared, at least for the moment, that their government had acted quickly to destroy every goat within Russia and her neighbors. The armed forces were on maximum alert and all seemed calm. Door handles were polished and windows washed while workers focused on their jobs.
After six continuous hours of preparations, the train was ready to be coupled together. The switcher engine arrived to maneuver the engines in place, coupling one section and then another until this long snakelike train was ready to depart. Number 1116 headed off to the boarding platform, where hundreds of passengers queued up in orderly lines. Tickets were checked and clipped, hand baggage stowed, refreshment orders taken, and many people impatiently took to their seats. It was time to get going, to escape to the east, get away from the zombie threat.
