Breaking the Seals: The Anomaly, #3

By Loyd Gardner

Gary's best friend is dead from an unknown disease of Gary's creation. Human antibodies do nothing against the alien virus and it spreads to an epdiemic within days. Thousands of people are infected. Death is quick, painful, and gruesome. Gary and Cherie share the guilt for bringing this into the world but, in an odd twist of fate, he is also the only one who can slow it. To stop it and save the human race, they have to finally confront The Anomaly.

 

Dragged into this along their own paths are a Cisco, a priest; Debbie, a church secretary; Bill, a defrocked pastor; Daniel, a hedge fund manager; Amy, an attorney; and Michaela, an FBI agent. They are not working toward the same goals or even on the same side. But they are forced together to work toward the common good--if they can figure out what that is. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Loyd Gardner
• Release date: Jan 16, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224648528

Loyd Gardner

Loyd Gardner has lived and worked throughout the world and uses that experience to create unusual stories with unusual characters in unusual situations. While he focuses on speculative fiction, his work includes aspects of psycholigical thrillers and the supernatural. The Anomaly Series, which starts with Invisible Threads is a series of four novels which are complete and will be published throughout 2023 and 2024. Loyd has also published a series of ten novella-length Scooby Doo fan fiction stories at www.fanfiction.net as glide10001. These stories approach the Scooby Doo Gang as they are now adults and dealing with real-world financial and relationship issues while still solving mysteries.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

Campus roads were blocked for emergency vehicles and Daniel Massey dropped Gary and Cherie off about two blocks from Gary’s lab. While sitting in the bumper-to-bumper traffic, he read Patty’s latest update on his phone. It would have been good to have this data about two hours earlier.

Additional information regarding the parties that were involved with the person of interest (POI)’s hospital visit on Monday, March 12th.

Five people were listed as being in the hotel room with the POI when the hotel’s night went to Richardson’s room just before the EMT’s arrived on the scene. Two were staying at the hotel and two were not.

The two hotel guests were William (Bill) and Emily Reynolds – husband and wife. The husband - Bill - was a pastor (Temple Denomination) until February 3rd of this year when he was suddenly terminated. No information yet as to why.

Emily is a housewife and they have one daughter named Ruth. They moved to Las Vegas shortly after his termination and are presently living at the home of Hayden Lang who is Emily’s father. Reynolds is working for the father-in-law at a local insurance office.

Of most interest is that Bill Reynolds also went to the emergency room on Saturday March 10th – two days before Richardson’s visit.  He apparently was in the audience and collapsed during Richardson’s performance that night.

That was concerning. It was Richardson’s reaction to that commotion that had caught Daniel’s interest in the first place. If they knew each other beforehand, it could all have been a set up.

The first of the non-guests is Deborah (Debbie) Giordano who is a local dancer. She moved to Las Vegas about three years ago from New York and worked steadily until a little over a year ago. She took a job as an administrative assistant with St James Catholic Church in Vegas and there is very little information available about her after that time.

The second non-guest is Francisco Cruz. Originally from New Mexico, he is a Roman Catholic priest at St. James. He’s been there a little over three years.

Two preachers? Daniel checked on what the Temple Denomination was. Wikipedia told him that it was basically Baptist. Not Catholic.

The fifth person in the room was the POI’s fiancé, Cherie Chandler. No updates are available on her from the previous reports.

There is no indication that any of the three pairs of people had met before that night.

Daniel stared out the window and spoke aloud as he digested the information. So, we have a defrocked pastor, a housewife, a dancer, a priest, a college student, and a physicist. That doesn’t sound like a wild congratulations party.

He read the last line of the report.

There is no indication that any of the three pairs had met prior to that night.

CHAPTER ONE

The lab was in chaos.

A woman rushed in to see what was going on only to stop and stare into Phang’s vacant and bright red eyes. She was caught in their lifeless stare until the right eyeball slid out of its socket in a stream of rust-colored blood where it dangled just above the floor. She didn’t make it from the crowded room before vomiting violently. This started a chain reaction of vomiting and dry heaves among the other aimless onlookers just as the EMTs arrived and tried to get to the body.

The emergency personnel were further hindered as the people who had first rushed in to provide assistance looked down at the ruined corpse and became terrified for themselves. They blocked the EMTs with their demands.

Was he contagious?!

Should we go to the hospital?!

What should we do?!

The lead EMT yelled, Go to the Emergency Room. Go right now! Just get out of the way. She would later receive a mild verbal reprimand for this direction and the tone in which it was given. But no one ever came up with anything better for her to have said.

A hysterical male voice came from the back of the room, What if we didn’t touch him?

The EMTs made it to the patient/body and the frustration lessened as they settled into their checklist. The lead replied to this last question loudly but without the previous edge. She looked at the body, Right now, we don’t know anything. I would recommend that anyone who came into this room should go to the Emergency Room just to be safe.

The room emptied quickly as its panic-stricken residents forced their way out the door and down the corridor for their parked cars. The words Can someone please give me a lift?! echoed back from the corridor but stopped after two repetitions. Apparently the owner of the voice had found a ride. That left the two EMT’s alone in the room with a campus security guard.

The EMT looked at the guard, You really should get yourself checked, too.

He was early twenties and looked scared, My job description says I have to stay.

Suit yourself. Do you know what happened?

Yeah, I took some statements when I got here. He pulled out his phone and started scrolling through some notes. The last person to see him before he got sick was passing by in the hallway a few minutes after 3:00. They said that he was talking to someone on the phone and seemed fine. They heard him scream right at 3:15. They came in and found him on the floor. They said he still looked... human at that point. They called both you and me at about 3:17. I got here around 3:20 and you got here about 3:23.

The medical tech nodded. So, he was talking on the phone and seemed normal about 20 minutes ago?

As far as I know.

She looked at the mess on the floor.

Holy Shit.

She grabbed her radio mic from her shoulder and called the hospital. Foxtrot7 to 504. She waited a few seconds and then repeated, Foxtrot7 to 504. 

The radio crackled. This is 504. Go Foxtrot7.

CF Base, we are Code 6. Status 100D. Signal 27, Signal 21, and Signal 18. With this short-hand, she had told the hospital ER that they were busy at the scene, there was a body that was already dead when they arrived, they needed police immediately, and to call by phone.

Roger, out.

Her phone rang immediately and she answered. Foxtrot7

A nurse that the EMT knew was on the line. The nurse spoke first, Hi Sarah. This is Lynn at the ER. What’s the situation?

We may have a quarantine situation here. I sent several people your way to get checked out since they were in the same room.

Are you secure?

Unknown. I’ve never seen anything like this. The 27 was fine and talking on the phone and within 20 minutes was 100D with massive hemorrhaging over what appears to be up to 100% of his body. And when I say massive, I mean that he does not look human anymore.

ETA?

It will take us about 10 minutes to clear the scene but I don’t want to leave this room until the cops have cleared a path and I do not want Eric, I, or the 27 to come within 20 feet of anyone until someone smarter than me has this figured out. I would recommend that you take a real close look at the people that I sent over.

The nurse paused at the other end. Hold on... something is going on out front. I’m switching to Police frequency to bring them in.

The first person from the site of Phang’s death had arrived at the ER. A woman in her early twenties collapsed just inside the electronic door, screaming and with her skin erupting in bleeding blisters. 

As this was happening, a young man sitting near the door of the ER jumped to his feet and stepped over to the heaving and screaming figure on the floor. He heard a nurse scream No! just as he took the flailing woman’s hand. There was a static electric shock when their hands touched. He then was grabbed from behind and the nurse pulled him away.

Please stay back. The nurse was wearing a face mask and protective glasses, latex gloves, and a long sleeve blouse. 

When the man saw the gloves, se looked at his own hand and saw the small red blister at the point where se had felt the static shock. It must be a coincidence. He tried unsuccessfully to restrain his panic.

A calm voice came over the intercom.

Code in ER

And more hospital personnel arrived on the scene. Another nurse who was also wearing the more extensive protective gear came up to him. Can you follow me, please?

His panic was now raging. Why? Is there a problem?!

Just a precaution. The nurse took the good samaritan back to a room where he died screaming 22 minutes later.

The rapidly-dying patient on the floor in the ER Lobby blocked the automatic door. Five people were standing outside trying to get in. A doctor, an intern, and two nurses were stooped next to the writhing form. The first two of those waiting, a man and woman both in their mid-twenties, were four feet from the situation, fixated on the screaming patient, and clearly terrified. The man was crying and the woman was going into shock.

One of the nurses stood and went over to them. Are you from the University?

The woman did not respond and the man nodded without speaking.

The nurse looked at the other three people on the sidewalk. Is anyone else here from the University?

All three shook their heads.

Then please clear the area. If you need medical assistance, please go to the main entrance.

Social media began to fill with inaccurate descriptions of what was happening as the three hurried away.

The nurse then turned back to the man and woman from the university and reflexively smiled to put them at ease. The smile was wasted behind the mask.

What are your names?

The man spoke first, I’m Scott Willingham.

When the woman didn’t speak, he continued, And she is Molly Tarkasian.

The nurse wasted another smile. Okay, Scott and Molly, if you will please follow me, we’ll get you in to see the doctors. They followed him in through a side door and he took them down a back hallway where they were seated in separate rooms and left alone waiting for the next available doctors to arrive.

Orderlies cordoned off the lobby entrance area and brought a gurney as the young woman screamed, writhed, gasped, gurgled and finally went still. While working to save the woman’s life, the doctor who was on her knees next to the supine form, reached across the patient to investigate a newly forming lesion. Her sleeve rode up and a sliver of exposed skin brushed the patient’s right arm. The doctor felt a static electric shock.

Looking down at her wrist, she processed what had happened and turned to the nurse. Call another doctor. I may be infected. She stayed working on the patient until relief arrived and she felt the first pain beginning in her arm. Rising to her feet and walking as steadily as possible to avoid distracting the team working on the patient, she walked to the desk, leaned over it and told the nurse/receptionist, I’ll be in A-4. Please call a doctor as soon as possible.

The nurse receptionist saw past the calm, professional tone into the fear in the doctor’s eyes. She smiled in return and said, I’ll get someone right in. Do you need assistance, Doctor?

No, I can make it.

The doctor made it to A-4 as the pain ratcheted up and began to fill her entire body. The next doctor was with her within two minutes. She had made no noise to that point but was beginning to phase in and out of consciousness. When next she came to, the screaming began. It lasted another 17 minutes.

Scott heard the screaming as he waited. He had both liked and disliked Phang. Phang was annoying and could be incredibly insulting but he managed to do it with a complete lack of animosity. Everyone just sort of accepted that was who he was. Gary was just weird. 

When Phang had started screaming, Scott had rushed in trying to remember the CPR class he had taken in high school. As the red blooms had appeared on Phang’s skin like a fireworks display, Scott had been terrified and wanted to step back. But by then others had crowded around and were watching.

He said, Phang, this is Scott, I am trained in CPR and am going to assist you unless you tell me otherwise. Not exactly what he had been taught to say but pretty close. Phang’s pulse was very rapid so there was no need for CPR. The only part of the FAST stroke regimen that applied was to note the time. So, he did.

Some coughing interrupted Phang’s screams so he had rolled him over on his side. When he touched the bare skin of Phang’s arm, he had felt a static electric shock. Two other people were now on the floor around him. One (Molly) held his hand and the other (Nancy) started taking Phang’s vitals and writing them down in her phone.

The three of them had ridden to the hospital together in Molly’s car. Nancy had complained of pain and, as they parked in the ER lot, she had jumped out and started running for the door. By the time he and Molly had reached the door, Nancy was collapsed in the doorway and her skin was blossoming red. Then, the nurse had escorted him back to this little room and he and Molly had been separated. He didn’t know Molly well. She was married and had two small children. Their pictures were all over her desk as well as being the desktop wallpaper on her computer. 

When the screaming started nearby, he jumped up and felt his knees go limp. Grabbing the edge of the examination table kept him from going down but he collapsed against it and felt immediately nauseous. This is it. He thought to himself. The screaming was female but sounded lower than Molly’s voice. It was someone else. That frightened him even more.

He tried to come to grips with the fact that he was going to die and decided he was going to at least pretend to face it bravely. This devolved into a daydream about everyone being so impressed with his valor after he survived. His mind would not embrace the fact that he would be dead before the day was over.

The door opened and a doctor and nurse stepped in. They were both wearing what looked like hazmat suits from the lab which dented his resolve. He choked out his rehearsed brave speech.

Doctor, please take care of Molly first. She has kids.

The doctor’s eyes were blue behind the glasses, She has her own team and is being taken care of. So, all we have to worry about is you.

Is she okay?

Neither of you are showing symptoms. The nurse glanced quickly at the doctor. Telling one patient about another was against ALL of the rules. She then saw how this news relaxed the patient. That one would stay their little secret.

***

The street in front of the Physics Building was cordoned off by Campus and Champaign PD officers and cars. An ambulance was being let out of the cordon as Gary and Cherie approached the building. They were stopped by a campus security guard.

Before the guard could speak, Professor Lecki strode up and addressed her. Excuse me. I’m Dr. Malcolm Lecki and my office is in that building. May I pass?

No sir. I’m sorry but we’re not allowed to let anyone in.

Lecki took this calmly and noticed as Gary and Cherie appeared at his right side. Thank you. Can you please tell me what’s going on? I have students in there.

‘They didn’t give me any details, sir. A medical emergency is all I know."

Thank you.

A small knot of students was standing around under a tree. Gary recognized Nathan Robbins, a fellow physics masters candidate.

Robbins! Lecki moved with the same purposeful stride. Gary and Cherie followed.

Robbins stepped away from the group and headed Lecki off a few feet away.

Nathan, Lecki almost never addressed students or candidates by their first names, do you know what’s going on?

"It’s Phang, sir. I didn’t see anything but I’m pretty sure that something happened to him.

Gary stepped in. Is he okay?

I don’t think so. When they took him to the ambulance, I think he was in a black bag. They kept us a long way away so I can’t be sure.

Gary processed this information. He felt Cherie’s arm go around his waist. This startled him for a moment and then he thought that she was supporting him. He didn’t need support and was not about to fall down. Possibly it was a show of emotional support. Maybe she was in character in case anyone from the show ever found out about this incident and saw video. That was unlikely, things were happening too fast. More likely, it was an honest show of emotional support.

By any reasonable analysis, Phang was Gary’s best, and possibly only, friend. He probably should be feeling some emotions right now.

If Phang was, indeed, dead, what had killed him? He had appeared fine when they left. Gary remembered the terror he had felt weeks before in the lab when the anomaly had moved toward Phang. The sense of threat. Did the anomaly have something to do with this?

Lecki continued questioning Nathan, Do you know what hospital they took him to?

The grad student shook his head, I don’t know.

Lecki returned to the campus security guard. Excuse me. Do you know the hospital to which they took my student?

My best guess would be Carle.

Thank you. He turned back to Gary and Cherie. I assume that you two will want to head over with me.

Yes sir. Gary nodded.

Let’s go.

As they walked, Gary noticed that Cherie took his hand. He glanced down at her and saw tears streaming down her cheeks. She had not said a word and stared straight ahead as she walked. He feared words at times like these so he remained quiet and just held on.

CHAPTER TWO

Father Mike? Cisco Cruz poked his head through the senior pastor’s office door.

Coming to tell me that you won’t be around through Lent?

The young priest answered, Um, that’s right. Are you okay with my taking some time off? The last time that they had discussed this, Father Mike had been adamantly opposed.

Is Debbie still planning on going with you?

It appears so.

Then I am not okay with it. Not even close. What is the purpose of this trip, anyway?

I’ve been doing some research and it appears that Meghan and Sister Allison’s deaths may be related to other deaths around the world. It all seems tied to Gary Richardson, the man I wrote the report about.

The requested exorcism? Are you thinking of performing an exorcism?

No. Of course not. But he has created a list of names of everyone that died inexplicably on the same night as Meghan and Sister Allison. The total number of names was 144,000.

Father Mike sighed. It’s a prank of some kind.

No. The people actually died. Even the FBI confirmed that the unusually high number of deaths was consequential although not in their jurisdiction.

You called the FBI?!

From my personal phone.

But they knew you were a priest?

Cisco thought back to the conversation with the FBI agent. Yes. She referred to me as Father Cruz.

I’ll have to report that to the bishop.

Sorry. I probably should have let you know before I did it.

Probably?!

I’m sorry.

And now, you and Debbie are going to travel alone to meet with this young man and do what, exactly?

Talk to him. Try to figure out what is going on.

We sent your report to the Diocese.

You know how long that’s going to take and I just have a feeling that it can’t wait.

A feeling?

A leading of the Holy Spirit.

And the Holy Spirit is leading you to travel alone with an attractive young woman toward whom you have inappropriate feelings?

The word ‘inappropriate’ was accurate but made Cisco bristle. He hoped he hid it from Father Mike. That has just sort of happened. Hopefully, spending some time together will enable us to get our relationship back on the right track.

Do you realize how irresponsible that sounds?

Yes. Yes, I do.

But you’re going to do it anyway?

I feel like I have to.

For your and Debbie’s sake, I hope that feeling is coming from the Holy Spirit and not from your libido.

I... hope so, too. Cisco wished he could be more certain.

"I am strongly recommending that you wait for a response from your report about this magician before you taking any actions. Further, I am strongly recommending that you and Ms. Giordano spend less time together rather than more and that you work out your feelings in godly prayer. In other words, I am strongly opposed to this trip.

"The fact that this person has a list with 144,000 names on it means very little to me. The Catholic Church does not panic with every End Times prediction that comes down the pike. If we did, we would be in a constant state of uproar. Leave that to the Protestants.

As it appears that I cannot stop you from making this ill-advised trip, all I can do is ask you to try and stay focused on finding God’s Will for your life. And for hers.

Yes sir.

When are you leaving?

I think tomorrow. It should just be a few days and hopefully it will turn out to be nothing, as you say.

The older priest did not respond and Cisco knew the meeting was over. But he asked one more question. Does the Holy Spirit ever lead us by backing us into a corner and putting on so much pressure that we feel bullied into following a certain path?

Father Mike looked up from his desk. Yes.

Yes? That’s it?

You are about to learn more about that than I could ever tell you with words. So why waste our time with them?

CHAPTER THREE

After the infection of a doctor, the hospital administrators began implementing procedures which had never before been put into effect except in drills. They started the processes which they remembered (the last drill had been 5 months previously) and pulled the three-ring binders from their shelves and turned to the checklist pages for those they did not. The binders were in their proper location and all of the checklists were in them and updated with lessons learned in the Covid pandemic. The hated policy auditors and document controllers were loved today.

The police were called to man the doors.

A brief narrative description of the early symptoms was created and sent to every duty station and all other area hospitals and doctor’s offices. Hundreds of copies were printed out.

Doctors were called at their offices and every patient in the hospital that could be released early was released.

All ambulances were called in except for those on Code 1 calls. These were used to ferry non-ambulatory patients to other hospitals.

All ambulance calls not related to the present symptoms were diverted to other hospitals.

A wing was cleared and marked for quarantine.

The corridor from the Emergency Room to the Quarantine Wing was cordoned off as a quarantine route.

Another quarantine route was set up from the quarantine wing to a designated quarantine lab.

A final quarantine route was put into place from the Quarantine Wing to the hospital morgue. Bio-Hazard protocols were relatively commonplace in the morgue and they were in place quickly. 

In the Quarantine Wing, a large room was designated as the trauma center/surgery room. Every inch of available wall and floor space was filled with medical equipment that had been commandeered from other parts of the hospital. The perioperative and infection prevention team came in and scrubbed the room down. All of the equipment was plugged in and checked. Calibration dates were checked.

All lab techs from all shifts were called in with the exception of those that had just finished an extended shift. Blood samples, skin samples, hair samples were collected from all of the symptomatic patients, both living and dead. As Patient Zero, Phang’s remains were kept in the quarantine lab inside a negative-pressure HEPA-filtered enclosure.

Bio-containment personal protective equipment (PPE) was issued to all quarantine-trained hospital personnel. PPE was also issued to the specially trained policemen that were stationed at the quarantine area doors. 

The hospital was a madhouse but the plan was being followed. Although it took several hours to get all of the non-quarantine patients situated, transferred, or released, the Quarantine Wrea and the designated clear routes from it were in place within 30 minutes. 

By this time, 8 people from the University that had been proximate to Patient Zero had shown up and were placed within it under close observation. 

The two people that had been in the ER waiting room and been sent away were called and tracked down from the forms they had filled out. They were asked to come back in at no cost to be screened for any potential issues. They both returned voluntarily and were placed in the Quarantine Wing.

The two EMT’s that answered the original call and the Campus Security guard were brought in. Two nurses from the ER followed.

That put the total of patients in the wing at 14. It held up to 16 in eight double rooms. The hospital repeated the procedure and created a second Quarantine wing for reserve.

***

Lecki, Gary, and Cherie were stopped as their car tried to turn into the hospital driveway. A Champaign Police Officer approached Lecki’s window as another blocked the entrance behind a row of orange cones. 

Excuse me, sir. Are you coming to pick up a patient?

Lecki was not expecting to be questioned We were coming to check on a student of mine..

Were you called by the hospital to come and pick up a patient?

No. My student was brought here by ambulance within the last hour.

I’m sorry, sir but the hospital has directed that only people that they have called be allowed past this point.

How do I find out about my student?

Please call the hospital operator. Again, I’m sorry, sir.

I understand officer.

The police officer stepped into the street and stopped traffic to allow Lecki to back out and start away. Gary was already dialing the hospital operator. A recording answered and he was told that if it was an emergency to hang up and dial 9-1-1. Otherwise, please hold and his call would be answered in the order in which it was received.

Lecki pulled off into a convenience store parking lot and they waited for someone to answer. Gary put his phone on speaker. They listened to piano music.

The piano music changed to silence and then, Carle Foundation Hospital. How can I help you? The noise in the background was filled with the sounds of voices taking other calls.

Gary spoke first, "Yes ma’am. I would like to know the condition of a