Reset: A Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Fantasy (Contaminant Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

letting the sound of rushing air loll him to sleep.
     

Chapter Five
    At the university, it was just before 5:30pm when a cell phone in a zip-locked bag sounded off.  After four rings, it was answered by a pair of gloves, a suit, and a low, muffled and feminine, “Hello?”
    Peter’s voice was on the other end, “I’ve got good news and bad news.”
    The suit exited the lab and locked the door, “Good news.”
    “We got the go-ahead from the president himself.” He sounded exhausted.
    The suit gave a deep sigh and made a smacking sound, “And, the bad news.” With a sharp, quick walk, it headed down a corridor a short ways, till it reached the stairwell.
    “The White House fell.  Locals overran it.  We barely got out.” There was a long pause wrapped in silence before Peter said, “You still there?”
    Anna could be heard in the background of Peter’s voice, “What did she say?”
    The muffled voice sighed, “I’m here.  Hang on. I’ve got to get somewhere more secure.”
    One flight of stairs down and through the attached garage, the suit ended up standing in a makeshift decontamination room that was more like a thick plastic tent.  With the hit of a button, the spout in the middle of this tent shot out liquid and vapor and with open arms, the suit immersed itself and even spun around for good measure.
    The liquid ceased spewing and the suit walked out of the tent and removed the head covering that had been muffling her voice.  The woman finished shedding her wet, plastic suit and hung it up to dry, clipping the head piece to the hook.  She even took the cellphone out of the wet baggie and secured it by the head piece so that it may dry as well.  Cellphone in hand, the woman reentered the university through a second door and made her way up two flights of stairs to a small classroom that had been turned into living quarters.
     “I’m back.  Let me talk to Anna.”
    Two seconds later, Anna’s voice came through, “Were you able to get a better look at that component?”
    The next sentence was spoken apprehensively, “Yeah.  It’s not at all what we initially thought.  Contrary to what we thought we knew, the contaminant appears to be… engineered…”
    Anna rushed to interrupt, “Wait a minute, Jenna.  Engineered?  So, no more virus theory?”
    Jenna’s voice was strained, “Not quite.  Anna, I can show you the research when you get here.  What I’ve found is enough to cause World War III, okay.  It is…”
    Jenna’s voice hushed to barely audible, “Nano-tech-nology.  And it’s not anything like what we’re used to.”
    “Nanotechnology? Yeah, okay.  But, I need to see the research on this” Anna was all but dismissive.
     Jenna hissed “I mean it.  This stays between you, me, and Peter.”
    Anna spoke slowly, “And… Michael.”
    “Who the hell is Michael?”
    “White House Aide.  He got us out.”  Anna sounded as though she might say more but, she didn’t.
    Jenna paused just a second or two, before nodding to herself, “I’ll see you when you get here.”
    ***
    The blackboard in Jenna’s quarters was filled with pictures, theories, timelines, findings, and calculations.  She scanned the blackboard, stopping at the virus theory... and erased it.  In its place she wrote ‘ nanotechnology’ , circling it, and drawing several lines extending from the circle.  On each of the extending lines, she wrote, ‘ (1) camouflages as a cell, (2) deactivates growth, (3) high contamination rate, (4) potential for autoimmune response, (5)30% active.
    Jenna didn’t want to know what the other 70 percent did but knew that she would have to find out.  She looked at the chalkboard.  No… Jenna stared it down as she did every night, refusing to sleep until a breakthrough, a revelation, an epiphany or something brought her one step closer to finding a solution.  She never went outside anymore.  She had already watched the grass die and the people turn gaunt and hollow