Alternate Purpose by Christopher Coates

Author:Christopher Coates [Coates, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Next Chapter

Chapter Twenty-Four

Lisa Kramer rolled over in the bed. Her husband, Doug, had just silenced the virtual attendant, which had awakened them, as scheduled. Usually she’d have been up extra early, excited to leave on her trip to Bermuda. But today she just wanted to roll over and go back to sleep. Her head pounded and she thought she might even have a mild fever.

She waited until she heard Doug get out of the shower, and then forced herself to get up. She felt dizzy at first, but that cleared almost right away. The new bride swallowed some cold and fever medication with a handful of water she scooped from the bathroom sink. Then to make sure she didn’t forget, Lisa put the rest of the pills into her carry-on bag before getting in the shower.

After drying off, she removed and disposed the wet bandage covering the slice she’d gotten on her finger the previous day. She decided that maybe she felt a little better, and forced herself to get moving. There was no way she’d let a minor illness ruin her honeymoon plans. She dressed in a casual outfit that would be comfortable for traveling, and found that Doug already had her luggage by the door and held a cup of coffee for her as she came downstairs.

“Honey, are you feeling all right?” he said. “You’re looking a little rough.”

“I think I’m coming down with something. I took some meds. Don’t worry. This won’t interfere with our trip.”

“Okay, let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

“I’ll try to get some sleep on the plane, and then hopefully I’ll be feeling better.”

At 7:00 a.m., a car pulled up to the curb in front of their modest house located in a middle-class subdivision. The couple exited their home and approached the open rear door of the vehicle, which had opened for them.

A computerized voice from inside the car said, “I’m here for Lisa and Doug Kramer.”

“That is us,” Doug said. “Please open the trunk.”

As the trunk opened, Lisa got in the car, and Doug loaded the luggage before getting in. As they entered, the vehicle scanned them, and their identities were confirmed, and payment information received.

“Has your destination changed, Mr. Kramer?”

“No. Airport.”

Doug put his arm around his new wife and held and comforted the sick woman. As he did so, he repeatedly inhaled some of the air she exhaled. He never suspected that within four days, he would be dead. Ironically, Lisa Kramer, who would eventually be known as patient zero, the first person infected, would be one of the 16 percent of the infected that would survive.

Lisa slept for the forty-minute drive to the airport. When they arrived, she felt worse but forced herself to move on. All the ticketing and boarding pass information was scanned directly from their biochips. There was a small electronic tag in each piece of their luggage which linked the baggage directly to the owner. The airline would scan each bag and the owner’s intended destination, contact information, address, and current location would be made available.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.