What Remains (Book 2): Quarantine Read online

  What Remains

  Quarantine

  Tyler Barrett

  Copyright © 2018 Tyler Barrett All Rights Reserved

  Cover Art Design by José Bethencourt Suárez

  For the continued support from my wife, family, and friends. They give me the strength and will to write and push towards my dreams. For my son, the person who made our family complete.

  CONTENTS

  The Reporter

  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

  The soldier/ the bus driver

  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

  The Virologist

  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

  The Reporter

  The leak

  Chapter 1

  The phone rang, interrupting her sleep that she had been desperately hoping wouldn't be disturbed. However, like so many times before, it was. The incessant ringing filled her barely awake mind with one thought, to answer the phone. Minori’s body, on the other hand, told another story, playing dead to the world.

  Eventually, her mind was stronger than her body, forcing her to answer the phone on the third ring, “Hello?”

  A voice answered, “Rise and shine, I got a story that needs reporting, and you're the first person I thought of.”

  Anger slowly rose inside her, but she calmly replied back, “It had better be good. Today was supposed to be my day off remember? Besides, that last story you gave me wasn’t exactly riveting journalism. No one cares about the upcoming Tsunami season…”

  The voice cut her off, not letting her give any more excuses, “That's fine. I suppose I could easily hand this report off to one of the newer recruits; you know how eager they are. I'm just saying, it’s a big story. You know like one of those big career-defining stories, the ones you're always begging me for...”

  This time, it was her turn to interrupt, “You say that about every story. Like the time you had me cover a story about a truck carrying fish crashing, spilling two tons of fish on the highway. It took weeks to get the smell of fish out of my hair!”

  The voice laughed, “Small price to pay for getting some stories under your belt! But seriously now, this story is big, big time major. I've got reports of people going crazy and attacking other people in the Chubu region. Now, the government is trying to cover it up, but we have a small field office out that way for the local news. They think it’s about the recent tax increase that was passed last week. Interested?”

  “When do I leave? Where am I heading?” Minori replied, fully awake now and alert.

  “I have a driver picking you up; you will be meeting up with your cameraman at the airport. We have a jet waiting there to take you to the field office.”

  “Alright, I'll have the report ready as soon as I can, but when will I need the segment ready?”

  The voice chuckled, “That’s the one thing I forgot to tell you, the segment will be live, three nights from now. National. We want to see what you can dig up in that time; give us something to reel in our viewers.”

  Her stomach tightened from excitement and nerves. She had never had the opportunity to do a live segment before; usually, the senior field reporters got that privilege. “I'll give you a hard hitting story. I'll cover all the angles. I won't disappoint you.”

  Minori went to hang up the phone; the voice on the other end was telling her something, but she had already hit the button, ending the call. Digging into her closet she grabbed her best outfits she could, after all, if she was going to be live on national TV, she had to look her best.

  Chapter 2

  As promised, there was a car outside her apartment building, driver waiting beside the back door. The driver opened the door, closing it behind her; she got on her phone sending out a text to her best friend while the driver loaded her luggage into the trunk. The excitement still raced through her body, fully awake and ready to do her job. The sooner she was on the ground chasing leads the better. The driver, done with his task of loading the luggage into the trunk, entered the car and started the engine. The car took off down the street, which was devoid of people since it was three AM.

  Soon after the car took off, she called her cameraman, “Nobou, are you on your way to the airport?”

  Nobou answered sleepily, “I wish I weren't, but yes, I am,” he yawned loudly then continued, “What about you?”

  “I'm in a car about twenty minutes away. The editor gave you the details, right? He told me the preliminary details; a town in the Chubu region has riots occuring, supposedly about the new tax increase. It's going to be a live feed, so we need to scout around for me and find information quickly.”

  “Do you know if we are getting paid overtime for this?” Nobou asked, “Wait, did you say live? I get to use the transmitting equipment they gave us finally?” he asked, catching up to what she was saying.

  “I'll see you there, Nobou,” she said laughing.

  Minori hung up her phone, continuing her daydreams of scoring her big story, becoming a big-time national reporter during the evening news, rather than the nighttime news. She imagined herself getting book deals, being a guest on morning talk shows about how she got her stories, how good of a reporter she was...

  A small shake woke her up, “Miss, we are here.”

  “Ughhhh...Here already?” She asked.

  “Yes, we are at the airport miss,” the driver replied.

  “I guess I fell asleep, sorry. I'll get my bag,” Minori said groggily.

  She scooted out of the back seat of the car, into the terminal. At the trunk, she lifted out her bag, thinking she packed too much judging by the weight of it. Minori thanked the driver and walked towards the door of the terminal.

  Inside the terminal, she quickly spotted her cameraman, who was buying a drink from a vending machine. She crossed the terminal’s lobby, which was smaller and mainly for businesses that had private hangers they rented. She had been here many times before, waiting for her flight after being told by her boss where to go.

  “Hey, glad to see you're here already,” she said getting excited again, “I suggest we find our pilot and head out as soon as possible. Don't want to miss any of the action!”

  Nobou replied without looking away from the vending machine, “Yeah I need my drink, and I'll be ready. Glad you're excited about this at least. I was hoping for more sleep.”

  She approached the desk, which was big enough for two people to help customers check in for their flights. Currently, someone was talking to one of the desk clerks, so she opted for the second pe
rson, whom warmly greeted her, “Hello, who are you checking in for?”

  She told the lady at the desk the company's name; which is who the flight would be listed under. After a few moments of the desk clerk typing on her computer, she seemed to find the information she was looking for, nodding.

  “I have both of you checked in for flight, your pilot should be in to greet you momentarily. Feel free to enjoy our lounging area while you wait,” said the desk clerk politely.

  Thanking her, she rejoined her cameraman, who didn't wait for the desk clerk’s permission to take up one of the chairs placed in the corner. He was sitting down sipping the soda that he had bought, staring out the window to the drive outside. She began walking towards the seats nearby, but before she could say anything to Nobou, or sit down herself, the door to her left opened up; the lobby filled with the sounds of a plane taking off. The door closed, silencing the sounds from the tarmac. She turned to look at who opened the door and saw their pilot, a man in his late twenties, medium height, stout build, and broad smile, beaming at her.

  “I would have been in sooner if I had known l was flying a beautiful young news reporter,” said the pilot sweetly.

  She smiled at his charm, “I bet you say that to all the women you fly!”

  With a faux hurt face, he replied, “I thought we had something special.”

  She had met the pilot before on her trip to several different cities along the coast. They had been grounded after a nasty storm rolled in, leaving them unable to take off. They had both talked while they waited for the storm to pass. They started talking about work since they worked for the same company. It quickly became more personal as they asked questions about themselves.

  She smirked, “It’s good to see you!”

  “As it is you, however, we had better head out, I got a tip that they might be putting the airfield we are landing at under Martial Law with the rest of the province. Any flight scheduled after the next two hours are canceled,” he replied with a somber tone.

  “That sounds pretty serious. I didn’t know things had gotten that bad,” Minori said.

  “It’s not necessarily that bad, but no one has any idea what is going on. The military just showed up and started warning people about civil unrest. It just seems like it’s getting crazier and crazier by the hour. We had better hurry, though, if we want to get you there on time,” said the pilot.

  Nobou picked up his heavy camera gear bag, “You heard the man, better hurry if you want this big story.”

  Chapter 3

  Fifteen minutes later, they were cleared by the flight tower and started to take off. The jet propulsion was felt as they took off into the early morning sky. The greater metropolitan area of Tokyo was lit up like a Christmas tree. Soon the lights of the massive city started to fade away, and only small towns were beacons amongst the vast dark land.

  She was still exhausted and decided to let herself sink into the plush leather chair her company was so graciously paying for. Nobou was already fast asleep, snoring loudly. Not even Nobou's snoring or the jet engines were enough to keep her awake. She drifted off before she even had time to think about how long it would take her to drift off.

  She was awoken by the pilot, yelling back at them that they were going to be landing soon. Rays of the morning sunlight streamed through the small circular windows. She did indeed feel better and more rested, but her mind still begged for more sleep. As her eyes started to feel heavy again, the pilot yelled back again to put on their seatbelts.

  They both complied, securing themselves in using the seat buckles. The nose of the plane started to dive downwards, and the pilot began the descent to land. It wasn't long before they felt the lurch as the plane touched down. The men on the ground directed the pilot to a hanger where they powered down the engines and waited for a shuttle to arrive.

  Two men arrived in the shuttle; one man was wearing a suit, wasting no time approaching the pilot.

  “Excuse us, we need to talk privately,” the man in the suit said with a smile, looking at her and Nobou, “Please feel free to take the shuttle without us.”

  The pilot and the man walked away into the corner where they talked in hushed tones. She didn't wait for them and loaded her luggage onto the shuttle. It took them to the front of the small airport, where they found a news van waiting for them. A man in fine clothing had a windbreaker with the company's station ID on it.

  The man waved them over, “Welcome! My name is Hisashi. I hope your flight wasn't too bad.”

  She replied warmly, “Thank you, Hisashi, I'm Minori, and this is Nobou. The flight was fine. I'm just glad to be here!”

  He was an older man, but quickly grabbed their bags and loaded them into the van, “Is this one of your first, big news coverage?”

  “How did you know?” She asked surprised.

  He stopped loading their bags for a moment, “I can always tell who the newer news anchors are, plus they are normally nicer. I've been in the business for a long time; I know my way around here very well.”

  “Are you here to help us get our story then?” She asked.

  “Yes, ma'am. I am your local liaison; you call me for anything, and I'll be there to help,” replied Hisashi.

  “We are glad to have you here with us. It will help us show the local’s view on what's happening,” Minori said sincerely, “But, do you know any information about what is going on?”

  Hisashi shook his head, “No. Most of it is being kept quiet. What little information we have was directed from one of our sources at the local police station.”

  They climbed into the news van together, continuing their conversation.

  “What did the source say?” She asked quizzically.

  He started the van before continuing, “Not much else sadly. He mentioned the army being sent out to contain a 'civilian riot.' He gave us a call right after they got the news, and we haven't been able to get a hold of him since.”

  Nobou poked his head from the back, “Sounds pretty ominous. Have you guys seen or heard of any riots occurring?”

  They were on the highway now, heading towards the town.

  “That's the strange thing about it all. Everything has been quiet around here except for two incidents, neither one involving riots. The first one was a man attacked his family after becoming ill, police were called, but they apprehended the man, and brought him to the hospital. The second, a man attacked several people at a park; everyone thought he was drunk and trying to fight people until he bit another man.”

  “Wait... he bit someone?” Chuckled Nobou, “You mean everyone is worked up over a drunken man biting someone?”

  Hisashi didn't find it funny at all, and ignored Nobou, “No, I don't mean normal bite. I mean this man took a chunk out of this other guy. He was rushed to the hospital for his injuries. That's when the military showed up; they quarantined the entire park, took everyone there to the hospital for observation, and no one has seen them since. Everything happened in the past twelve hours.”

  Nobou stopped laughing once he realized that Hisashi wasn't kidding. No one spoke for a few moments; their friendly introduction had turned from happy and pleasant to solemn and dark.

  She broke the silence, “Where do you suggest we start? I want to make sure we get all our facts before we air anything.”

  Hisashi pulled off the highway, “We can start at the hospital if you want, that's where the military has set up.”

  “To the hospital it is,” she said.

  Chapter 4

  They arrived at the hospital twenty minutes later, greeted by a heavy military presence. Checkpoints on the road with fully geared and armed soldiers; they even had a few armored personnel carriers present too. The military was playing it safe. It deeply disturbed her; the military rarely showed its full force.

  They waited for their turn to approach the checkpoint set up on the road. It was a slow-moving line, as the soldiers seemed to ask each driver several questions, looked at their vehicle, and
then checked all their identification. They stopped the car in front of them, and the driver and the soldier who had approached the driver started to argue. The arguing got heated before the driver turned their vehicle around, they all watched as they noticed the driver, dressed in nurse's attire, an employee of the hospital, had been turned away.

  Before they could even get to the checkpoint, two soldiers left their command post and headed directly towards the van. One soldier stopped in front of the van, blocking it from moving forward. The other soldier came up to the Hisashi's window, motioning him to roll his window down.

  Hisashi obliged, “Is there something we can help you with?”

  The soldier stared into the van, “The Major General would like you to pull into the parking lot and accompany him to his command tent.”

  She leaned over to talk to the soldier, “What does the Major General want with us?”

  The soldier looked at her with a deadpan look, “Please, follow the road to the parking lot, you will be escorted to the command tent. The Major General will meet you there.”

  Before any of them could get a word out the soldier moved to the other side of the van and directed them to the parking lot. Hisashi turned the van into the parking lot, as the soldiers held up the traffic flow to allow them through. The parking lot was not solely a parking lot anymore but was now a fully active base for the central army of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force. It was apparent the military was using the hospital as its operations; any information she needed she would find here.

  Hisashi drove the van carefully through the base, parking near the entrance. Two soldiers waited for them to exit the van, before leading them deeper into the base. Minori looked in wonderment at the display of military might. It didn't take them long to reach the tent they were looking for, a stern older man stood in front of a tent, hands behind his back. Two bodyguards stood behind him tense and hands on their rifles. They had made it to the Major General.

  He was tall, and seemed to be standing over her, looking down upon by his posture. He watched them with hawk-like eyes, weighing them out.