Viral Pandemic

Chapter 11 (Part II)

Harry was partially relieved that their worry was over. At the driveway, Smith was standing there with a pistol in his hands. Harry was delighted at the sight of him. The car stopped and Harry got out, walking towards his good old friend. They shook hands and hugged each other. Once they broke off, motioning towards the pistol in Smith’s hand, Harry said;

“What’s that for?” Harry asked.

“Oh. SOP. All personnel are required to bring a pistol around. Interpol gave us all the guns that we needed.” Smith answered. Finally seeing Hannah coming into view, Smith broke into a grin.

“My buddy Harry is married now, eh? You didn’t tell me you have a wife? Smith asked.

“That’s a friend, my man. Meet, Dr. Hannah Austin.” Harry answered. As he heard Dr. Austin, Smith’s grin disappeared and a gape came into view. He got into a fit while Hannah shook his hands.

“It is truly an honour to meet you, doctor. I’ve admired you all my life since I was a baby.” Smith said. This confession took to Hannah as strange because Smith was at least fifteen years older than her.

“Skip the formalities and tell us what we are supposed to do,” Harry said in a tense voice.

“Alright pals, this is what we are dealing with,” Smith said as soon as they reached a large display where the picture of a virus was shown.

“That, my friends, is the reason why you are here. It is the Zo-20 virus that is wreaking havoc all over the world right now. It turns infected into zombies! Simple. Now I believe that both of you have encountered them?” Smith explained. Hannah nodded and Harry shot him a look.

“Alright. Everything seems simple at a glance. But it gets complicated when you go into detail.” Smith said while grabbing a piece of paper that was lying on the table nearby and giving it to Harry. Harry read the first few lines, and he started to lose trust in his eyes. What he was seeing was mind-blowing. He had no idea that a virus could have such capabilities. Wanting to take his mind off the virus’s capabilities, he asked Smith about how team distribution is done.

“Good question, Harry. Look over there. See the people inside the lab? They are the Trackers. Their only job is to find out where the virus came from, how lethal it is, and to come up with an antidote or vaccine. The other team is not here because they don’t have any work now. They are the Extinguishers Squad. They have to spread the vaccine and battle with the zombies head-on.” Smith explained. Harry just nodded.

Smith then ushered them into a small meeting room. In there were three persons, two of which were women and looked very serious, and a middle-aged man, looking like he was the happiest man on Earth.

At the first sight of the congregation inside the meeting room, Harry and his g**g said their hellos and sat down. Smith walked straight towards the projector screen and stood there.

“Introductions first. Meet Dr. Terry.” Smith said while gesturing towards the happy guy. “Dr. Terry was the top doctor of England for several years. He is now partially retired with a happy family but we’ll talk about the family later. As he had a speciality in the world of virology, we have requested him to help us here. Dr. Terry, thanks for being here.” Smith said. Dr. Terry gave him a friendly smile as a reply.

“You guys obviously know who this is. She is Dr. Elise, Director of WHO. She also used to be the best doctor on the planet but soon she was taken over by Dr. Austin here.” Smith said. After noticing that Hannah was blushing slightly, he continued “And this is Ms. Jane, a woman of pure brain and brawn. She is also known as the 2nd Director of WHO because she gets most of the Director’s work done. Oh, she’s the assistant to Dr. Elise.” Smith explained. Harry and Hannah stood up and shook hands while introducing themselves.

 “So, for team distribution, Dr. Terry and Dr. Hannah will go to the Trackers. Me and Harry will be in the Extinguishers Squad. For your information, Dr. Elise is not handling WHO affairs anymore as she has to handle the country, so Ms. Jane has taken her place instead.” Smith explained.

 After that short briefing, they were dismissed. Ms. Jane and Smith showed their guests their own private rooms. After that both of them left, leaving the three guests in the middle of the podium.

“So, Dr. Terry, it is a pleasure to meet you. I hope our work can help eradicate this virus that’s spreading around the world.” Hannah said and offered her hand for a handshake.

“Of course! Together, we will rock the world. And Mr. Jones here will make sure every nook and cranny of this planet gets a taste of the antidote, right?” Dr. Terry said and offered a handshake to Harry. Harry took the offer and shook his hand.

“Just call me Harry, doctor. After all, we are friends now, not formal colleagues.” Harry replied. With a few more words together, they all parted, saying that they needed to change while Hannah’s excuse was that she needs a long bath.

Harry turned around and walked to his room. Once he arrived, he unlocked the door with the key that Smith gave him earlier. The room was pretty large, with the atmosphere of a five-star hotel room. There was a large bathroom, a walk-in closet, a seating area, a huge bed in a separate room, and a lot more. Harry even wondered whether he was still in the WHO HQ or not. He felt like he just stepped into a hotel room.

Harry walked around, exploring the room. This was something he always loved to do, whether he is on vacation or on a very important mission. Exploring the room helped him get comfortable with it.

On the bedside table, he found a piece of paper that looked like a brief letter. Harry picked it up and read it. It delivered a warm welcome, that room services are available and that updates on schedules or emergency information will be done via e-mail.

Just then, a notification came into Harry’s phone. It was an e-mail from WHO. Harry assumed it was important and he opened the e-mail right away. Inside, it said that there will be a team introduction session in ten minutes.

Upon realizing that he had a session in ten minutes, Harry threw his phone onto the bed and bolted towards the bathroom while undressing simultaneously. He needed a shower badly, and this is going to be his shortest shower.

Fifteen minutes later, Harry was greeted by Smith at a small conference room where all the members of the Extinguishers Squad were gathered. After a little bit of small talk, only three people including Harry stayed in the room while the others filed out. These three people were the leaders of the

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Smith said as soon as the last person to go out of the room left. “Welcome to the first Extinguisher meeting. For today, we will only introduce ourselves and be clear about what we are supposed to do. I am Dr. Naismith, but you can call me Smith. I am the Chief of both the Trackers Team and the Extinguishers Squad.” Smith said and gestured to a man beside him to introduce himself.

“Hello. I’m Keaton Boot. I'm actually Dr. Terry’s brother. I used to serve in the U.S Navy SEALS. I will be leading the intel team” Keaton said. Everyone in the room gives him a round of applause. A woman beside him started her introduction.

“Hi folks, my name is Farisha Khalid. I used to serve in SWAT as a sniper. I am always at ready to help. I will be leading the sniper team.” She said in a sweet voice. She also received a round of applause. Then came Harry’s turn.

“Well, guys. I'm pretty sure you all know me.” Harry said, in a somewhat awkward voice. Both Farisha and Smith nodded curtly while Keaton muttered the words ‘always been your huge fan’.

“My name is Harry Jones. I used to work here in WHO but I retired early. I have some experience with military activity but I think you guys need to teach me a few tricks. I will be leading the Assault Team of the Extinguishers Squad.” Harry continued. Everyone gave him a round of applause too.

After a little bit more short talks and discussions, the session was dismissed and everyone was allowed to go back to their respective rooms. On the way back, Harry stumbled upon Farisha, who was talking to a member of her sniper team.

Harry walked on. Suddenly, Farisha turned around and nearly bumped into him. Harry apologized and continued to walk on. Suddenly, Farisha called her. Harry stopped in his tracks and turned around. He saw Farisha approaching him in a fast-paced walk.

“I just wanted to say Mr. Jones, that I am a huge fan of yours. I’ve been admiring you since I was a little kid.” She said with a smile.

“You don’t have to call me Mr. Jones. I’m comfortable with Harry but I wonder how you’ve been able to admire me since you were a little kid, because we are almost the same age.” Harry replied. Farisha shot him a look of shock.

“That actually makes sense. Okay, I’ve admired you since I was in college.” Farisha said with a smile. Harry chuckled upon hearing this.

“Well, I must go get some sleep right now. It hasn’t been an easy day, what with that journey and killing zombies. I’ve to go now. See you tomorrow.” Harry said.

“Well then nice to meet you, Harry. Good night!” Farisha said to which Harry also wished her a splendid night. As he walked away, he had a strange feeling as though as someone was staring at him.