Free Omega Pathogen: Despair by J. G. Hicks Jr, Scarlett Algee Page B

group and determined that eleven out of the twenty in the new group had the flu. As a precaution the group was asked to stay together in a designated area on the north side of the farm. They were reassured they weren’t prisoners and could leave, but if they stayed would need to remain there until the doctor cleared them. The group happily agreed to the terms and was relieved to be somewhere safe. Food and water and medicine would be brought to them, along with any other needed items. Except for the newcomers, the residents on the farm had nearly gotten back up to full health.
    The past three days had been very pleasant with regards to temperature; the nights had been cool but the days had been in the mid-seventies to eighties, not at all unusual for Florida winters. The Matthews gathered for lunch at their small area near the barn. “We’re about to get pissed on pretty bad,” Jim said, as he gazed at the sky. From the northern horizon, dark clouds were closed in. The wind was picking up and they could smell rain in the air.
    “Jim, language. Please help get this stuff inside,” Arzu said as she and the rest of the family quickly started to pick up food and utensils to move them inside the addition built off of the barn. Other residents throughout the farm had taken notice of the oncoming storm as well, and had begun to cover and store items to protect things they needed against the wind and rain.
    The inside of the barn was full of hay and feed for the animals; it also held other dried goods for human consumption. No one lived in the barn anymore; the Matthews had been the last as it slowly filled with supplies. They’d finished construction on their living area only this week. Jim had made sure the MRAP was always kept stocked with their supplies. And unlike before the outbreak of the SCAR virus, Arzu didn’t tease him about his paranoia.
    The Matthews group had just got inside when the first large drops began to fall. At the same time, the rumbling of thunder had come. The thunder started in the distance and grew closer as the winds pushed the front to the south. Jim got up from the table and ran back out to close the MRAP rear doors. “It’s a nasty looking storm. I’m no weather man, but I bet there’s a cold front behind it,” Jim said as he re-entered.
    Dr. Shultz had visited the new arrivals twice daily since they had arrived to check up on those with the flu. The doctor conducted the visits mainly for comforting those that had recently arrived. He had issued an ample supply of what used to be over-the-counter medicines to treat their symptoms.
    Since they were being quarantined to prevent another outbreak of the flu on the farm, he wanted to try and make them feel welcome. Dr. Shultz took any requests they had and made sure that if they wanted something that was available they received it.
    Dr. Shultz had been a little surprised by the high fevers many in the new group had presented with the flu. The residents of the farm had fevers while the flu virus was running its course, but not to the extent he was seeing with this group.
    He thought perhaps it might have been due to their lack of proper nutrition since the outbreak of the SCAR virus. It seemed everyone, including him, had shed extra pounds, but these people had been on the verge of significant malnutrition. Nevertheless, most seemed to be stabilized and improving in the short time since they had been there.
    Dr. Shultz had been shocked to hear their stories of survival. He’d been hearing both fact and rumor for a while, but to hear firsthand the accounts of individuals that had lived close to a largely populated area like Jacksonville was disconcerting. He’d heard the same type of recounts from Jim Matthews and his wife about their experience in Texas near Houston and their travels all the way to Florida.
    He just didn’t want to believe things had actually gotten so bad. He didn’t want to believe that a large and modern country like the