to isolate him from his jailers. On the floor in the hallway was a ventilator that was fitted to the tent. The ventilator disinfected both the air being blown into the tent as well as recycled air being drawn out. All the sites in South America had indicated zero risk following a kill zone. The scientists were not as worried about this survivor spreading any disease as they were worried about contaminating their prize subject with the normal dirty environment of human habitation. They wanted him unadulterated until they could run their medical tests.
Harold Nakachia was sitting on a chair inside the plastic tent, his lunch untouched in front of him. The NBC suit he’d worn when he arrived was lying in a pile on the floor. McKafferty’s first thought was that the man was a big son of a bitch; then he recognized the vacant look in Harold’s eyes. McKafferty had first seen that look in Vietnam on the faces of recruits who’d lived through their first day of bloody combat.
“Hello, Harold. I’m James.”
“Hey, James. What’s the Army doing here?”
McKafferty realized this man was sharp. The vacant look was gone from his eyes. Harold stood up. Anger was radiating from his body. He was not going to be easy to control.
“The Army was called in because we have experience with things like this,” said McKafferty.
“And exactly what are things like this?”
“A chemical leak,” said McKafferty.
“That’s some hell of a leak. What happened? Some war toy blow a fuse and you’re the clean up crew?”
“No, son, I am not the clean up crew. Why don’t you tell me what happened.”
Harold went through his story beginning with birds acting oddly and ending with an NBC squad evacuating him. He went on in detail about how horrifying it was to see all his friends crumpling to the ground. McKafferty wondered what Harold would think if he could see the docks now. The shoreline was littered with dead fish, birds, and marine mammals. After his team had dumped toxin in the water to simulate a chemical weapons leak, everything living there was now dead except Harold. As far as the scientists could ascertain, Harold was the first person to be exposed at the epicenter of a kill zone and survive. He could end up becoming a walking antidote factory.
“Okay, you saw a vehicle run into a stack of crates,” said McKafferty. “Are you sure that happened after everyone started dying? Maybe it happened before? Maybe whatever killed everyone was in the crates?”
“You’re not listening, man!” yelled Harold. “First the fuckin’ birds were butting heads, then Toad and a lot of the other guys dropped like rag dolls. This wasn’t any dock accident. This was a goddamn rerun of the Twilight Zone. Rod fuckin’ Serling was standing down on the docks saying Consider this if you will ... Get it?”
“Harold, just take it easy.”
“Fuck you!”
“You’re in shock and you’ve got the sequence confused.”
“My story isn’t changing, James. I saw what I saw, and it’s just too bad if that doesn’t fit your official version of lies. What the hell happened here? One of your chemical weapons go off? Huh? You mother fuckers kill all my friends?”
McKafferty’s radio beeped. He turned his back on Harold and listened. The signal was from Lieutenant Rivers with more bad news. CNN had received footage broadcast from that private plane, and they were outside in the police parking lot right now with lights and a mini-cam broadcasting live.
“Shit!”
McKafferty walked out of the infirmary and cornered a deputy.
“You got a TV with cable in this place?’
“In the Captain’s office.”
McKafferty stood in front of the set. This was a disaster. A reporter dressed in an NBC suit was laying out carefully worded rumor and speculation as fact. Their need for “a scoop” was going to cause hysteria.
“ To Repeat: A major incident has occurred in Anchorage Alaska at two p.m. Alaska Standard Time – six p.m. Eastern
Harold Nakachia was sitting on a chair inside the plastic tent, his lunch untouched in front of him. The NBC suit he’d worn when he arrived was lying in a pile on the floor. McKafferty’s first thought was that the man was a big son of a bitch; then he recognized the vacant look in Harold’s eyes. McKafferty had first seen that look in Vietnam on the faces of recruits who’d lived through their first day of bloody combat.
“Hello, Harold. I’m James.”
“Hey, James. What’s the Army doing here?”
McKafferty realized this man was sharp. The vacant look was gone from his eyes. Harold stood up. Anger was radiating from his body. He was not going to be easy to control.
“The Army was called in because we have experience with things like this,” said McKafferty.
“And exactly what are things like this?”
“A chemical leak,” said McKafferty.
“That’s some hell of a leak. What happened? Some war toy blow a fuse and you’re the clean up crew?”
“No, son, I am not the clean up crew. Why don’t you tell me what happened.”
Harold went through his story beginning with birds acting oddly and ending with an NBC squad evacuating him. He went on in detail about how horrifying it was to see all his friends crumpling to the ground. McKafferty wondered what Harold would think if he could see the docks now. The shoreline was littered with dead fish, birds, and marine mammals. After his team had dumped toxin in the water to simulate a chemical weapons leak, everything living there was now dead except Harold. As far as the scientists could ascertain, Harold was the first person to be exposed at the epicenter of a kill zone and survive. He could end up becoming a walking antidote factory.
“Okay, you saw a vehicle run into a stack of crates,” said McKafferty. “Are you sure that happened after everyone started dying? Maybe it happened before? Maybe whatever killed everyone was in the crates?”
“You’re not listening, man!” yelled Harold. “First the fuckin’ birds were butting heads, then Toad and a lot of the other guys dropped like rag dolls. This wasn’t any dock accident. This was a goddamn rerun of the Twilight Zone. Rod fuckin’ Serling was standing down on the docks saying Consider this if you will ... Get it?”
“Harold, just take it easy.”
“Fuck you!”
“You’re in shock and you’ve got the sequence confused.”
“My story isn’t changing, James. I saw what I saw, and it’s just too bad if that doesn’t fit your official version of lies. What the hell happened here? One of your chemical weapons go off? Huh? You mother fuckers kill all my friends?”
McKafferty’s radio beeped. He turned his back on Harold and listened. The signal was from Lieutenant Rivers with more bad news. CNN had received footage broadcast from that private plane, and they were outside in the police parking lot right now with lights and a mini-cam broadcasting live.
“Shit!”
McKafferty walked out of the infirmary and cornered a deputy.
“You got a TV with cable in this place?’
“In the Captain’s office.”
McKafferty stood in front of the set. This was a disaster. A reporter dressed in an NBC suit was laying out carefully worded rumor and speculation as fact. Their need for “a scoop” was going to cause hysteria.
“ To Repeat: A major incident has occurred in Anchorage Alaska at two p.m. Alaska Standard Time – six p.m. Eastern