The Culling by Robert Johnson

Author:Robert Johnson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781579623760
Publisher: The Permanent Press
Published: 2013-11-21T05:00:00+00:00

SAO PAULO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

Ten hours after willingly inhaling those two snorts of the lethal, thriving flu virus, Dr. Fernando Perez steps into line at the Brasilia Air check-in window. He had thought about roaming the vast Sao Paulo open market first, or even paying a scalper whatever sum necessary in order to catch this afternoon’s Brazilian National Soccer team’s exhibition match against Argentina, but even though he’d be amongst 80,000 screaming, sweating, rubbing-together fans, that wasn’t an effective way to spread the contagion. They already had run the computer models, so they knew this. It wasn’t a bad way to spread it, of course; as long as his cells were erupting with the virus—as, indeed, they were by now—there was a good chance everyone present in the stadium would take at least one strand of the virus into their lungs during their two hours there. The problem was, it just wasn’t likely they would take in enough. Although a single, complete virus strand is enough to pass along the infection from one human to another, ideally it would require some 30,000 individual strands of the virus to ensure transmission; 30,000—that’s the approximate dosage one might expect to receive if, say, riding for 10 minutes or so in a bus in which an infected passenger has coughed or sneezed. That would ensure transmission best. That would be pretty much ideal. Thus, it was determined, the most feasibly effective way to infect the greatest number of strangers was through prolonged contact in closed quarters—the kind one experiences in airport shuttle buses, passenger trains and commercial airplanes, or, via modestly sized indoor concerts, lectures, plays or films, though to a lesser degree of efficacy. Infect the passengers and audience members, and allow them to do the dirty numbers work for you. Let them bring it home and infect their kids, the kids then carrying it to the Petri dish-like environment of school where the virus is very effectively conveyed via snotty noses and drinking fountains and keyboards and, yes, doorknobs. Workplaces, school buses, churches, elevators, doctor/dentist waiting rooms, etcetera—small batches of prolonged, intimate contact, that’s how it’s done best.

Dr. Perez sneezes across the check-in counter, deliberately missing his handkerchief. There are plenty of germs on the counter now. He knows this for a fact. He practically can see them. The check-in employee—“Maria” by her name tag—makes a reasonable attempt to smile despite the face-full of sneeze germs she just received. She was, after all, hired because of her bubbly, genial nature. That characteristic, together with her good looks, will make her an ideal “carrier.” Women will want to associate with her, babies will trust her, men will tend to lean in over the counter in order to flirt, and, with any luck at all, she is sexually active. If there are, say, a million other check-in employees like her scattered across the globe—not to mention the requisite waitresses, receptionists, baristas, strippers, real estate agents, teachers, masseuses, librarians, nurses, dental assistants, baby sitters, prostitutes, bartenders and, say, strippers—then this problem is solved; humanity is saved.

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