The Pandemic Sequence (Book 1): The Tilian Virus Read Online Free PDF Page A

Virus. As far they could tell every country across the globe had been exposed. There was still no clear consensus as to how the virus had spread so quickly. The talking heads on the news speculated on everything from global warming to solar flares and, of course, terrorism. These speculations were always followed with: There is no reason to suspect a terrorist plot .
    Then why say it ? Mike thought angrily. He could see how just the mention of terrorism had magnified the fear in the room. Mike knew that throughout history fear-mongers could topple a government just as easily as a war. It was only when cooler heads prevailed that stability was maintained. All too often, though, those cooler heads were shouted down, or in more severe cases removed from the rest of the body. As he was about to get up to turn the television off, the anchor interrupted the pundits and turned the broadcast over to a reporter at the hospital.
    With umbrella in hand, the reporter was talking about some type of disturbance at the hospital. In all the chaos of the day, Mike had failed to notice the rain outside his classroom windows. As he peered out a wet window, he saw the tell-tale flashing blue lights of the sheriff’s patrol car parked in front of the building. Upon closer inspection, Mike counted two additional patrol cars. Before the question even formed in his head, there was a knock on the classroom door. As he approached, Mike could see through the small window that Valerie Mulligan, the assistant principal, waited on the other side.
    Closing the door behind him, Mike found that she was not alone—the sheriff and one of his deputies were with her as well.
    “Hey, Mike,” her soft voice cracked. Only in her third year as AP, she had already won over the students with her dry wit and enthusiasm, neither of which she expressed now.
    Anxiously looking from her to the officers, he said, “Val, what’s wrong?”
    Bo Cartwright, the sheriff of the county for the past thirty-five years, answered for her.
    “We just received word from the governor that he has issued a lockdown. We’re gonna have to ask that you and your students stay in the school until it has been lifted.”
    “A lockdown? I don’t und–I mean, for what? What’s happened?”
    “We’re not quite sure, son. Details are pretty sketchy right now. Apparently, some of the people that are sick…well, they’re actin’ strangely,” the graying man replied.
    “Strangely?” repeated Mike. “What does that mean?”
    Fumbling with the broad-brimmed sheriff’s hat he held in both hands, Bo Cartwright was struggling for words. Mike had only known the man two years, but he was a community favorite. Seeming to know the names of each citizen in the small rural county, Sheriff Cartwright was famous for greeting everyone and making time to talk. Now, incredibly, it seemed words failed him.
    “Sheriff, what do you mean, strangely?” Mike asked again, the frayed nerves sharpening his tone more than he intended.
    “Violently.”
    Mike’s head pulled back slightly at the utterance. It was then that his eyes were drawn down to the white shirt the sheriff wore. The left sleeve, pristinely clean down to the elbow was splattered with blood from elbow to wrist.
    The sheriff, seeing the understanding in Mike’s face, continued. “We got a call about a domestic disturbance down at the Lafkin place. When we got there…it was like something out of a movie. I mean there was blood everywhere. We found Jerry Lafkin in one of the back rooms. He was standing over his mother’s body, and he was covered in...” he paused. “It looked like she’d been torn apart by an animal. When he saw us, he lunged at me and my deputy. He wasn’t himself. His eyes were…they were like a wolf going in for the kill. It took five shots to bring him down. We’ve gotten almost a dozen other calls since then.”
    The sheriff was clearly rattled as he concluded. His tone made him sound as if he were in a