Free The Dead Don't Bleed: Part 1, The Outbreak by S. Ganley Page B

completed before getting ready for his interview. A good hard run would get his energy levels up and clear his head so he would be as ready as possible for any off the wall questions they may hit him with during the interview.
     
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    Dr. Woods studied the readings on his computer screen and made notes on a nearby scratchpad. The results of the air analysis samples had come through just over an hour earlier and his team had been pouring over them ever since.
    "It’s the same every time we look at it, the RNA segments point to H2N2," he muttered to the face looking back at him from a nearby video monitor.
    The interactive video station had allowed him to maintain constant contact with the field teams so they could share information in real time as it developed. A second smaller window on the screen showed their connect ion with the main CDC office and the laboratory technicians working on the same problem there.
    "I concur, that is what we are seeing as well on this end Dr. Woods. But there is one small exception that makes me hesitate in conclusively identifying it as H2N2 just yet."
    Dr. Woods knew what the man was about to say, it was the same thing that his own analysis had identified, "Yes, I see it as well, that last protein is much different than our archival data is showing. What do you make of it? A mutation?"
    The H2N2 flu virus also known as the Asian flu had been eradicated since the last known outbreak in Chine back in the mid 1950's after claiming close to two million victims across the globe. The factors that set each variation of flu apart came from their 'H' or hemagglutinin factor. Hemagglutinin was a protein that caused red blood cells to clump together in the presence of an antibody, the manner in which this clumping occurs and the antibodies which cause it are the differentiating factors between each strain of flu. What they were seeing in this particular sample had all the same characteristics of the Asian flu with one small variation, the antibody that would cause the red blood cells to clump together was one that was carried by the virus itself and not already present in the body. This meant that the body’s own attempts to fight off the infection would actually result in further replication of the virus within the bloodstream. Each replication would force the body to produce more antibodies to protect itself and thereby spread the virus further and faster through the body. In effect the virus turned the host into a greenhouse, growing more and more of the virus in its attempts to protect the host. This definitely explained the rapid advance of the virus, the body’s own defense mechanisms were being used against it.
    The scientist on the screen at the field hospital shook his head as he pondered the question, "quite frankly doctor, I have no idea. This is something I have never seen before. Our first batch of tests were kicked back by the computer as possibly contaminated because of that single protein. But what are the odds of each sample having a contamina nt that yields these same specific results? I think that we are looking at a completely new strain of virus here."
    Dr. Woods had to concur with that assessment, this was something new. While the overall symptoms were similar to a flu variation, the rate of infection and the speed at which this virus progress ed was unmatched by any known outbreak before. By their calculations the average person would succumb to this virus within twelve to fourteen hours of their initial infection. As with any pathogen based outbreak there would be those who immune systems were able to successfully overcome the process but these individuals would be far and few between and only identified following exposure. In this case they were fortunate that their field team had located that girl who appeared to fall into the small percentage of those immune to this particularly nasty bug. Now it was imperative that they figure out just what about this young lady gave her