The Zombie Virus (Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

detected the movements of your arms and hands which
fed their movements to the precision motors of the robotic arms in
the interior lab.
    We stored all of the pathogen samples in the
robotics room in large liquid nitrogen storage units or glass
fronted coolers.
    Several banks of high definition color
monitors linked my BSL-4 lab with the other BSL-4 labs on this
floor, complete with manual panning cameras and sound.
    I stepped into my lab and grabbed one of the
overhanging umbilical hoses and connected it to my spacesuit. Once
I was sure it was providing a cool flow of pressurized and filtered
air, I turned off the suit’s backpack supply and removed it.
    I was used to having two to three techs plus
two other scientists working in the lab for me. They took care of
many of the day to day and repetitive tasks that this level of lab
required. Working by myself would be difficult and time
consuming.
    We also kept several varieties of animal
species for testing in the animal isolation ward. They would have
to be cared for by me, Sung and LTC Hanson since our regular animal
husbandry techs would not be showing up today.
    I went to work immediately preparing for the
samples that LTC Hanson would draw from our three patients. Several
pieces of equipment took considerable time to warm up and
stabilize, and I went through the start-up procedures for these
before preparing for the assays. The sounds of my own breathing in
the confines of my helmet, along with the roar of the vent fans
that removed and filtered the air once every five minutes, filled
my ears while I methodically completed the tasks I had assigned to
myself.
    I had set one of the monitors to display the
human isolation ward. Within the hour LTC Hanson and Sung had the
two patients ensconced comfortably on hospital beds wearing
rear-entry gowns and covered with a thin cotton sheet. Both Sung
and LTC Hanson were suited up in spacesuits and tethered to
umbilicals mounted on the ceiling.

    The isolation ward could hold four patients
in curtain-partitioned sections, each with their own set of
monitoring equipment. This was the first time I had ever seen this
room used.
    The two patients were both enlisted Army
personnel. They were young female techs, a pretty black girl and a
timid looking white girl, who worked up on Level 2. Neither had
been cleared to work in any of the higher level biocontainment
labs, although they were well aware of their existence and the kind
of critters that we kept down here. You could tell that they were
clearly frightened about their conditions, and who could blame
them?
    LTC Hanson’s hooded face filled the
monitor.
    “Dr. Rafik is in here with me. We are getting
him prepped as a patient.” She looked over her shoulder at
something, then back at the monitor. “He’s downgrading quickly with
a high fever. It looks like you will be on your own.”
    She backed away from the monitor and I could
see Sung lead Anwar to a bed and lay him down onto the white
sheets. A sheen of sweat covering his face from the fever, Anwar
looked up at the monitor, seemingly directly at me, and I saw the
fear reflected in his eyes. He threw me a pained smile and two
thumbs up. I forced a smile back, although I was unsure if he could
see it through my Plexiglas faceplate.
    “Hang in there, my friend, you’re going to
get the best care possible,” I said with a strained voice. He
nodded slightly and then turned his head to stare at the
ceiling.
    After Sung delivered the first samples
collected from the patients by LTC Hanson, I set about the work of
isolating any pathogens and fixing them for electron
microscopy.
    I was able to take a few breaks during the
day to check the cable news channels. I began to suspect the worst
as the day dragged on and the number of news channels ceased
transmitting. I felt like we were starting to fight a war that was
already lost.
    LTC Hanson kept me updated on our patients’
conditions throughout the morning. She informed me that they