The Fall: Victim Zero Read Online Free PDF Page A

and started to dial Karen, but stopped. Instead he walked down the street to a deli where he ate lunch regularly, often bringing sandwiches back for David, and asked to use their phone. He dialed his wife's direct line and she picked up on the first ring.
    “Karen McDonald,” she said.
    Mouth dry, it took him a moment to speak. “Karen, you need to go home. Right now.”
    “Kelvin, what's wrong? Is it Jennifer?” she asked with panic in her voice.
    “ No, the baby is fine. Listen, don't ask questions. Go home now, pack up food and clothes. Pick up the baby. Call my parents first, have them pack up what they need, and you take all of them out of town. Go somewhere north, get a hotel room, and wait for me to call your cell. I'm probably just overreacting, but I can't take the chance.”
    “ Oh, god,” she said. “This has something to do with your work, doesn't it?”
    “ Karen, you know I can't tell you anything about that. Just do what I'm asking. I'll call you in a few hours. But you need to go now .”
    “ I'll be on my way in ten minutes. Just call me as soon as you can. I love you, baby.”
    Kell choked down the lump in his throat enough to say, “I love you too.”
    He hung up, thanked the man behind the counter, and began the short walk back to his office. He dialed the number Agent Jones had left for an emergency, and was surprised to reach the man directly.
    “ Jones,”
    “ This is Kell McDonald, from--”
    “ I remember you, Doctor McDonald. You're calling my direct line, so I assume there's a problem. Best not to talk about it over an open line. Are you in your office?”
    Kell said he wasn't, but would be in a few minutes.
    “That's fine. I'll be calling in ten minutes. Is there anyone else I should bring in on the call?”
    Kell thought about the possibilities for a moment, and knew he couldn't give specifics without a secure line. But Jones had to understand the potential for disaster.
    “I can think of a few,” Kell said. “You'll want to find the best epidemiologist you can. Then the director of the CDC. You also might want to get in touch with the president.”
    There was a long silence on the other end of the line. “Of the United States?”
    Kell nodded, though the other man couldn't see it. “Yeah, that's the guy.”
     

The conference call began with a simple statement from Agent Jones, introducing Kell to the listeners. Then Kell got introductions in turn.
    “ Doctor McDonald, on this call you'll be speaking to Rick Jacoby, the director of the CDC, Miguel Pena, the head of epidemiological study with the World Health Organization, and The President of the United States. You have ten minutes.”
    Kell took a drink of water before he began. He couldn't let his voice give out on him, nervous or not.
    “Gentlemen, I won't need ten minutes. It isn't enough time to explain the science behind what I'm going to tell you. Jones and his people working with our lab can do that. What I need you to understand are the consequences of our work here.
    “ Early this morning, I confirmed at least one case of an experimental organism known as Chimera having undergone a mutation. This organism has an inordinately high mutation rate and can become fatally pathogenic in a single generation. In the small scale this is uncommon; however, Chimera is now airborne and every host represents the potential for a new instance of mutation. The literature we've collated regarding Chimera over the time we've been studying implies strongly that the organism can and will assume control of the host in some higher-order life forms. I believe this isn't as much a worry for the present. Recent observations of a human test subject suggest Chimera cannot override the consciousness of a human host.
    “ That being said, every person infected with the organism now acts as a closed environment in which it can multiply and evolve, cut off from outside factors. The chances of any one person being the catalyst for such a