Family Reunion J Read online

  A Novel by P. Mark DeBryan

  Copyright © 2016 P. Mark DeBryan

  ISBN: 978-0-9977371-0-3

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in review, without permission in writing from the author. You may contact the author at [email protected]

  Cover by: Justin McCormick

  Cover Photo by: Kellie Brown

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  For Finn, I hope you read this someday and think you had a cool Grandpa.

  Contents

  Author’s Note

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Author’s Note

  Thank you for reading my work. If you haven’t read Family Reunion, the first book in this series, I recommend it. This book stands on its own, however, and contains no plot spoilers for Family Reunion. In fact, this book goes into more detail about how the vaccine was created and parallels the time frame of Family Reunion.

  That brings me to another point I need to make. Originally, Family Reunion was to have been a companion book to John O’Brien’s A New World series. However, at the time, John had so many other projects going on that he was unable to fit it into his schedule, and he allowed me to self-publish my story. I changed some things: the name of the flu pandemic, the name of the creatures, and as you will discover in this story, how the vaccine came into being.

  I want to be clear that the story lines will not be the same from here on out. My explanation of how the vaccine was developed does not apply to John’s series. The way my story unfolds isn’t better, just different.

  I owe John more than I can express for his mentorship and his friendship. His series will always be my favorite, and I hope that if you haven’t already, you will go read all of his books. He is a great storyteller.

  Prologue

  Dr. Julian Ruegg’s phone vibrated on the counter next to the screen of the electron microscope. Intent on the image before him, he didn’t even consider the phone. As it buzzed, it worked its way closer to the edge, stopping only when the call went to voicemail.

  The same phone had awakened him at 3 a.m. earlier that morning, a call from the Secretary of Health and Human Services. At first he thought Eddie, his lab tech, had gotten drunk and was pranking him, until he recognized the voice. The secretary said the director of the CDC recommended that the president press Dr. Ruegg into service immediately. The South African flu had broken containment and was now showing up in the U.S. as well as other countries around the world. The government was putting up a brave face for the public but the situation was dire. Julian was already working on some ideas, but he hadn’t had access to any of the raw data coming from overseas so he’d only been able to attack the problem theoretically. The secretary informed him that the CDC was hand-delivering a sample to his lab. It should arrive by the time he could get up, get showered, and get there.

  The image that captivated his attention now was that of the nanites he had introduced into a specimen for observation. He’d been given the task because of his recent breakthrough in drug delivery through what is known as the blood brain barrier. In nonmedical terms, the blood brain barrier is like a computer firewall for the brain.

  The barrier wraps around the outside of the capillaries, the small blood vessels in the brain, its purpose being to isolate the brain from harmful toxic compounds or pathogens. Certain retroviruses could cross the barrier by altering an allowed molecule such as an amino acid or glucose in a way that allows the virus to lurk inside—as if using a Trojan horse, so to speak. For years, a majority in the medical sciences thought it impossible for influenza to cross this barrier because it could not change the DNA of a cell. Doctors questioned this belief in 2009 when they found that the avian flu interrupted neurological function in Canadian geese.

  The big pharmaceutical companies had successfully created enzymes that could carry drugs across the blood brain barrier. However, the use of enzymes in previous flu vaccines in Canada was suspected to have caused inflammation, which is deadly to the brain. The vaccines were also feared to contribute to degenerative brain diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. The flu vaccines distributed in Canada were quickly recalled when multiple teenage girls suffered severe brain damage.

  Dr. Ruegg’s new nanite delivery system reduced the danger of collateral damage to the brain because the tiny machines only affected those cells specifically programmed into their instructions. This was the theory he was trying to prove with the current set of experiments. A rather significant deviation from the normal protocols was in place and he’d been pressured to produce results immediately. The normal path to FDA approval took years and they wanted this yesterday. The extreme mortality rate of the virus and the fact that it was airborne had prompted President Sanders to sign an executive order circumnavigating the usual process.

  Julian’s employer, Miann Pharmaceuticals, was privately held and, until they recruited him from the University of Zurich, had been relatively obscure. Not being one of the Big Pharma insiders was a point of pride within the company. But landing one of Switzerland’s leading virologists, who also headed the university’s neurobiology department, put them on the map.

  Miann was associated with a research hospital in West Virginia. They would patent a drug and then license it to a bigger pharmaceutical company to manufacture and distribute. Dr. Ruegg’s successful recruitment to the company had been a coup. On top of a completely outrageous salary, the owners gave him a promised percentage of the profits on any drugs he patented. This was unheard of in an industry controlled by boards of directors and stockholders.

  He was under no illusions that he was the only one the secretary had called to work on the problem. He was sure that she had contacted every drug company with any standing, or any individual who had a chance to solve this dilemma.

  He depressed the button that activated the communication link to the technician in the biohazard level three containment area. The tech was Julian’s hands for these tests. “You should see this, Eddie—the ‘A team’ nanites are annihilating the virus and zipping around the uninfected cells like the Sandworms of Dune eating Harkonens. Now let us see if the ‘B team’ does their job as well.”

  The “B team” was
a second set of nanites designed to modify the immune system response. While the “A team” nanites were busy destroying the virus, the “B team” followed in their path, modulating the results. When the immune system becomes overactive, the body attacks and damages its own tissues. When there is an immune deficiency, the body’s ability to fight invaders diminishes, which causes vulnerability to infections. The “B team” nanites were programmed to monitor both and react accordingly.

  He followed the progress of the second set of nanites. “We will have to examine this data closely, but dammit Eddie, I think it is going to work.” Dr. Ruegg was having a hard time keeping his excitement in check. Eddie needed every bit of reassurance he could get—one mistake and he would become the first human subject, and only human trial, of the vaccine.

  “Okay Dr. R, if you’re through with me in here, I’m sealing the specimen and coming out,” Eddie replied.

  “Yes, we are good, come on out. We have much more work to do tonight.”

  Julian finally looked at his phone. His wife had called. He pulled up the voicemail to listen to it. “Hey Jules, I was just wondering if I was ever going to see you again. The kids are missing you too. Give me a call when you get a break.” He called her and broke the news that he wouldn’t be home anytime soon.

  The next day, after thirty-plus hours of work, they shipped the vaccine off to the CDC, who would send it to the labs equipped to mass-produce the nanites, which would then be distributed around the world.

  Eddie and Julian stood in the parking lot. “Well, Dr. R, you may have just saved the world. What are you going to do now?” It was part of the post-work-binge banter.

  “I am going to Disney World!” He laughed and clapped Eddie on the back. “Seriously though, go home, get some sleep, and be back here at 6 a.m. We have much more to do. I want to replicate all of our tests and data as many times as we can over the next few days to ensure that we have gotten it right.”

  “Boss, there are thousands of labs that will be re-creating our tests.”

  “Nonetheless, we will be starting at 6 a.m. Be glad that I am letting you go home at all.”

  *****

  Two weeks later:

  Dr. Ruegg looked at his daughter; his eyes were red-rimmed from lack of sleep and the tears. Angelina was strapped down to the bed in the ICU. She was having some kind of reaction to the vaccine. After running the tests numerous times and being convinced that the vaccine was safe, he had inoculated his entire family. His heart was breaking.

  The test results in his hand showed him what was happening to his Angelina. The nanites were supposed to go into a null state, effectively dormant, after their jobs had been completed, but they hadn’t. They had somehow reprogrammed themselves. Impossible, but it was happening.

  They first noticed the symptoms yesterday. Angelina became incredibly moody. She was happy one minute, then lashing out angrily at her mother the next. She seemed to be ravenous—they were unable to satiate her hunger. “Mommy, I’m hungry,” she’d complained, minutes after eating what should have been enough food to satisfy an adult.

  Then the seizure started later that morning. She began to shake like someone suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Her skin was turning gray, almost translucent. When she came out of the seizure, she did not recognize anyone, she did not respond to her own name. She became violent, trying to bite them.

  The test results showed an extreme fluctuation in her level of catecholamine, specifically dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine. Somehow, the nanites were effectively blocking the neurotransmitter transporters that were supposed to recycle the catecholamine. The effect was that the limbic system went completely haywire. The limbic system controls rage, fear, hunger, and the making of long-term memory.

  His baby was becoming a base animal before his eyes, and he didn’t know how to stop it. He heard Eddie’s voice in his head: “You’ve just saved the world Dr. R, now what are you going to do?” He shook his head sadly. I am sorry my friend, I am afraid I have just killed the world.

  He placed the phone call that he didn’t want to make. The Secretary of Health and Human Resources did not believe him at first. “You must be mistaken. I took the vaccine, and I feel perfectly fine. It must just be a genetic abnormality. I’m not recalling this vaccine because one person has had an adverse reaction to it.” He explained that his daughter was one of the first to receive the vaccine, and that she hadn’t shown any symptoms until yesterday. He proffered that in his estimation she would be getting many more calls before the end of the day.

  His wife and Eddie started showing the symptoms an hour later. For some reason, he and his son never did. The event had begun. They did eventually recall the vaccine, but the damage was already done. Millions—no, billions—had already received the vaccine.

  Chapter 1

  Day 1

  Elkview, West Virginia

  Ryan & Jay’s home

  The empty feeling in her chest was unusual. Normally she would be a bit depressed when Ryan left for a trip somewhere, but this was different somehow. She’d miss his light caress as he lay next to her in bed, but she would survive—she always did. Jay stayed behind because she was uncomfortable around large groups of people, afraid that she would do, or say, something stupid. She didn’t enjoy being like this, she had tried to overcome the anxiety, but in the end it just wasn’t worth all the mental anguish it caused her. So, whenever Ryan went off to visit his family, she remained behind. Better to be thought of as distant than to have that gut-wrenching terror eat at her soul for days on end while she tried to pretend she was enjoying herself.

  Like anyone struck with an emotionally draining condition, she had no idea why the feeling came over her, it just did. For the first part of their marriage, Ryan had tried to “break her out of her shell,” but eventually over the years he came to understand how it affected her. He’d faced his own demons and knew sometimes it was better to step away than to bull through. It was that realization that probably saved their relationship. She didn’t like it when he left, but she’d also come to understand him and what he needed as well. He would only be gone for a week. She could survive.

  Jay was an only child. Well, she’d become an only child when her little sister died as an infant. Her parents became so protective of her that she grew up isolated from many of the social situations that are common for kids. She was a loner.

  Her dad was her best friend growing up. They hung out working on his motorcycles until his juvenile diabetes took his eyesight. Then the doctors became part of her life. Constantly in and out of the hospital as the disease ate away at the life of her best friend. Her aversion to doctors, needles, and anything to do with the medical field was understandable. She’d only acquiesced three times in her life. Once to give her dad a kidney and twice more for the birth of her children. Other than that, doctors could go screw themselves.

  Packing for her trip to Martinsburg was a welcome distraction as she was having a hard time getting past Ryan’s absence. God this house seems empty without him here. Damn, why am I feeling this way? She shook off the feeling and went into the bathroom. Jay turned on the blow-dryer and began drying her long, straight, blond hair. She had to touch it up more often now that she was coming up on the big five-oh. How did this happen? How did I get this old? She smiled to herself thinking of what Ryan would say: “It beats the alternative!”

  She returned to the bedroom and continued packing. What should she take? It would only be an overnight, so there was no need for anything fancy. She retrieved a nice sweater and a pair of black jeans that flattered her long legs and still-shapely bottom. She was five foot nine, and worked hard to fight off the effects of Father Time. She would not grow old without a fight! The hour-long workouts that she and her son Mark went through daily were tough, but it was cool that he liked spending the time with her and the payoff was worth it. She might be pushing fifty, but you would never have guessed it by her athletic frame and well-toned muscles. She stil
l turned heads, which she pretended not to notice, but truthfully, it made her day when the young produce guy at the grocery store checked her out.

  She had the TV on the news channel just for noise. They were talking about the South African flu again. Breaking news, it’s always breaking news. Breaking news, I don’t care, she thought. Jay had become jaded over the years. The news media exaggerated unimportant things and totally disregarded what she considered important. She switched the channel to reruns of Friends.

  Everything packed up, she went back into the bathroom one more time to check her makeup and put in her contacts. She went through the ritual of sliding the clear lenses over her sky-blue eyes, blinking several times to make sure they were good. Now with her vision at one hundred percent, she examined her face a final time. A few wrinkles around her eyes, but nothing she couldn’t live with. She grabbed her purse and headed out the door. Almost as an afterthought, she reversed course and took the pepper spray and stun gun off the desk where Ryan had pointed at them with the stern admonition, “Damn it honey, these aren’t going to do you any good sitting on the desk!”

  As she locked the door to the house, her phone chimed. It was a text from Auddy. Her daughter lived in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, which had been an adjustment for both of them. The four hundred miles that separated them felt like a million. They talked just about every day and texted each other all the time. This morning Auddy was complaining about the “damn tourists” making her drive to work a nightmare. Poor kid didn’t stand a chance when it came to cussing out other drivers from the safety of her car; both her mom and dad hadn’t been the best examples. Jay texted “deep breaths” and a smiley face back, and headed for her car.

  She started the new Ford Focus that the company provided for her trips to the four corners of West Virginia. It was a basic model that had replaced the basic model she had worn out with her frequent trips to fingerprint prospective employees for several different state agencies and private companies. Power windows and door locks were how the company showed its appreciation for her loyalty and professionalism. Ha! Still hadn’t gotten her one with cruise control. The fat cats at the top of the food chain drove around in stylish SUVs while the peons that did all the work got stuck with these little gas misers. Oh well, someday we’ll move down to Surfside and live out our days on the beach, she mused as she pulled away from the house.