Dad got this pinned on. He went from being a marine to being special forces. He spent hours polishing his uniform’s buttons and pressing the creases exactly right. He was so proud.
I handed it back to Rab. “It’s okay. Whatever it takes for us to get through this, right?” I slid the player out of its holder so I could reach underneath, where I’d tucked Bean’s folded letter. I’d read it so often that I had it memorized. With only the slightest hesitation I handed it to Rabbit.
Dearest Nadia
,
If you’re reading this, then the worst is happening. The shot I gave you, your brother, and your mother is an experimentalinjection that I’ve worked on for the past ten years. If your mother is still alive she’ll want to know it’s based on research started during the Cold War. I work in biological weapons programs so highly classified that the marines don’t claim me as one of their own, and deny any knowledge of this laboratory. I report directly to the Commandant and no one else. My unit has focused on developing a shot for the president of the United States and other government officials in case of a viral attack. The idea was to manufacture a rapid response in the body, to seek out and change the replicating DNA in the virus cells—stopping it in its tracks and giving the injected person a superhuman ability to withstand biological weapons of the most virulent types. Basically, we’ve been trying to put thousands of years of evolution into an injectable
.
Understand there are very few people who know this. Even your father didn’t have the level of clearance to be told. I was brought in because of my research and experiments with genetic code and the immune response. We have had several breakthroughs, but at the same time there was a coalition of nations continuing to work on weaponizing viruses with no known cure, and an unrelenting kill rate. An accident at a facility in China six months ago started a chain reaction that will wipe out an estimated ninety-eight percent of the human population. I have no data to know if it will affect other species or not. You did not hear about this accident on the news. No one will be told about the kill rate. The plan will be to keep panic low and tell the populace anything needed to keep them from rioting. In the weeks to come you’ll see evacuations, miracle medications, government relocations—ignore all of these. Stay at the house. I repeat: do not go with anyone, anywhere. Hide if you have to
.
By day forty-five the virus should have run its course across the globe. It should have burned out. If you are all healthy enough to travel, start then. If not, wait until you can
.
I promised your father I would take care of you, your mom, and your brother if anything happened to him. He promised me nothing would happen to him. We both know your mother hates me for being the one who signed us up. At some point you’ll need to tell her what’s going on. I leave exactly when up to you. Get her to take the shot at any cost—even if you have to stab her with the needle in her sleep
.
Pappi’s mine is outfitted to survive and thrive in many worst-case scenarios. His time in the wars messed with his mind and made him paranoid, which means he’s completely self-sufficient and prepared to live for decades without help. You do not need to be afraid of him. He is the one who taught your dad and me how to be the cockroach
.
Finally, if evolutionary biology has taught me anything, it’s that there will be people on this planet with a natural immunity to this new virus cocktail. So you may meet people along the way. They will be from all walks of life, all ages, and all sorts of personalities. Tell no one where you are going. You may bring up to six people with you, but they cannot know what your ultimate destination is. This is for your own safety. Be cautious of everyone. I have the utmost confidence you and your brother will be able to survive in this new world and I will
I handed it back to Rab. “It’s okay. Whatever it takes for us to get through this, right?” I slid the player out of its holder so I could reach underneath, where I’d tucked Bean’s folded letter. I’d read it so often that I had it memorized. With only the slightest hesitation I handed it to Rabbit.
Dearest Nadia
,
If you’re reading this, then the worst is happening. The shot I gave you, your brother, and your mother is an experimentalinjection that I’ve worked on for the past ten years. If your mother is still alive she’ll want to know it’s based on research started during the Cold War. I work in biological weapons programs so highly classified that the marines don’t claim me as one of their own, and deny any knowledge of this laboratory. I report directly to the Commandant and no one else. My unit has focused on developing a shot for the president of the United States and other government officials in case of a viral attack. The idea was to manufacture a rapid response in the body, to seek out and change the replicating DNA in the virus cells—stopping it in its tracks and giving the injected person a superhuman ability to withstand biological weapons of the most virulent types. Basically, we’ve been trying to put thousands of years of evolution into an injectable
.
Understand there are very few people who know this. Even your father didn’t have the level of clearance to be told. I was brought in because of my research and experiments with genetic code and the immune response. We have had several breakthroughs, but at the same time there was a coalition of nations continuing to work on weaponizing viruses with no known cure, and an unrelenting kill rate. An accident at a facility in China six months ago started a chain reaction that will wipe out an estimated ninety-eight percent of the human population. I have no data to know if it will affect other species or not. You did not hear about this accident on the news. No one will be told about the kill rate. The plan will be to keep panic low and tell the populace anything needed to keep them from rioting. In the weeks to come you’ll see evacuations, miracle medications, government relocations—ignore all of these. Stay at the house. I repeat: do not go with anyone, anywhere. Hide if you have to
.
By day forty-five the virus should have run its course across the globe. It should have burned out. If you are all healthy enough to travel, start then. If not, wait until you can
.
I promised your father I would take care of you, your mom, and your brother if anything happened to him. He promised me nothing would happen to him. We both know your mother hates me for being the one who signed us up. At some point you’ll need to tell her what’s going on. I leave exactly when up to you. Get her to take the shot at any cost—even if you have to stab her with the needle in her sleep
.
Pappi’s mine is outfitted to survive and thrive in many worst-case scenarios. His time in the wars messed with his mind and made him paranoid, which means he’s completely self-sufficient and prepared to live for decades without help. You do not need to be afraid of him. He is the one who taught your dad and me how to be the cockroach
.
Finally, if evolutionary biology has taught me anything, it’s that there will be people on this planet with a natural immunity to this new virus cocktail. So you may meet people along the way. They will be from all walks of life, all ages, and all sorts of personalities. Tell no one where you are going. You may bring up to six people with you, but they cannot know what your ultimate destination is. This is for your own safety. Be cautious of everyone. I have the utmost confidence you and your brother will be able to survive in this new world and I will
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