Welcome back to the story! I apologize for the hiatus I took between volumes. I had some health issues and had to take a break from writing. It will take a bit longer between chapters than the previous ones and this one isn't that long so more apologies. I will try to get my dead ass busy on the story.
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Geran and Nicole β Chapter 16
Volume Two: Building an Apocalypse
Center for Disease Control β Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Office of Infectious Diseases.
"New one is confirmed. We're designating it as Ebola-152310-A. Very communicable and deadly. The incubation period is eight days."
"Confirmed and added to the database. Containment protocols are in place and it is currently controlled."
"Got it. Good job. Incidentally, who got this one?"
"Who the hell do you think?"
Several people groaned and complained. "Seriously? Stevens nailed this one, too? That makes what? Four damn diseases in a row? The guy is planting the diseases."
"Yeah. The man who never takes time off somehow got to a place in central Borneo; planted a brand new disease that he created; got back here without anyone noticing; and then won the pool."
"Well... he's got the most extraordinary luck of anyone I've ever heard of. Or he's figured out how to predict the outbreaks."
"Yeah. Shit. There's over six grand in the pot this time. Where is our lucky Deputy Director anyway?"
"Got called into the Director's office."
CDC β Office of the Director:
The Director was standing with his back to the room gazing out the large window. The fall foliage was in full force creating a tapestry of colored leaves outside. He sighed and sat back down at his desk. Looking across at the thin man seated in a large leather chair he collected his thoughts. "Stevens, this is the fourth brand new disease you've predicted. We need to know how you're doing it. If you've cracked some sort of code that shows the socio-communicable pattern of how a disease is formed or mutated we need to put that into a program so for once we can get ahead of the game. You even knew what strain it would be."
The thin man looked bored. "Mr. Acker," he began.
"James. Not Mr. Acker." The Director interrupted him.
"Of course. Sorry. It's not that difficult. I gave the IT team my algorithms weeks ago and they ignored them. The information is already at your disposal."
Acker pressed a button on his phone, "Darlene, get Addams from IT up here post haste please." He stared at Stevens for a moment.
Stevens broke out in a huge grin, "That's not the real reason you're upset, is it? You're ticked because you listened to everyone else telling you the betting pool was a sure thing this time and there was no way I could possibly win four times in a row. How much did it cost you?"
"Asshole. Five hundred. Yes, that does irritate me. It irritates me more that you could figure this out and no one else could. I don't like you Stevens. You give me the creeps the way you play with diseases like they're your pets." Acker was quiet for a while and continued to glare at him.
Stevens broke the silence first. "So what do you intend to do about it? You can either let me do my job and help make the CDC one of the most effective and efficient actual disease control organizations or you can fire me and prove the CDC is just as petty and useless as every other government organization. So which one will it be?"
"Your job is safe. For now. Get out." Acker was fuming.
Stevens left and went back to the Infectious Diseases floor. He waved at his team, "Hey guys, where's my ill-gotten gains? Daddy needs a new ... well, I'm certain I'll think of something."
His executive assistant Sarah handed him a thick envelope filled with cash. He opened it and fanned through the notes smiling.