Internal Warfare
Chapter 9: Plan B… Ebola?
Pacing, Heero could only now begin to register the grief he felt. It had been seventeen days, seventeen days in the slammer and not one of them had developed that first headache, that one single pain that let you know that you now had a 75 percent chance of dying. They had been separated as soon as they reached USAMRIID, and Heero had quickly found himself missing both Kent and Relena. He had resolved now to tell her that he was in love with her as soon as this whole mess was done and over with, but now he was in agony. Today he had been informed that Kent had awoken with the headache, Kent had Marburg and it was his fault.
He sighed as he slumped into a chair in his white, sterile, room. He hunched over and put his head in his hands. "No." he said to himself, not as confidently as he wanted to sound, "I could do nothing more to prevent this. Kent was almost destined to die. If I had said no in the first place he would be dead already, and when I said yes, he ended up like this anyway, helping me to fix my mistake." He laid back and looked at the ceiling. "No matter what I do, God won't let me pay for my sins with my own life." He looked again at the glass window leading to the Grey Zone. "I should not have let him help me. I could have done it on my own." He stood again and continued his pacing. "No, I shouldn't talk like this. Kent is strong, he'll fight Marburg. He'll make it out of this alive, he has to."
***************
Dear Diary,
It has been nineteen days. It's become torturous. I heard that Kent has gotten the headache, the first sign that you have contracted the Marburg virus. I wonder how Heero's taking it. They finally allowed me a pen and my diary. I have been requesting they bring it for a while, I want my thoughts on paper during this time, I don't think I would be able to retain my sanity otherwise.
I was so shocked at first when I observed the regard that passed between Kent and Heero. I was also startled at his affection toward me. He looked so good up there in front of all of the ESUN delegates. So smart and commanding, yet saddened by some inner turmoil. I'm almost certain now that that turmoil he spoke of in the form of his "sin" has something to do with how Montgomery got the Marburg virus in the first place. I have tried desperately to put that thought out of my mind. I do not want to think of Heero like that; as a party to all this suffering.
Oh Heero! I received a letter from Trowa today. Somehow they let him write me a letter. Did he write you one too? I asked the man who brings my meals if I could write one to you, he said that it would be to great a risk. You know, spreading the disease from me to you. Trowa told me he saw you cry. That it was the most disconcerting moment with you he had ever experienced and that it tore him apart. He said your eyes were so sad that he wanted to cry with you. He also told me that you let the tears flow freely in front of him, your team and even on Kent's shoulder. Oh Heero, how much have you changed?
It scares me to think of you changing, for I have not. I still love you uncontrollably and struggle to hide it. I retain those urges to follow you everywhere and sit by your side in silence. And dance… I am afraid to think of you changed. You appeared to me at first only slightly different. But you let me, even if only for a moment, to hold your hand. You have no idea how my heart leapt and sang at that moment, and how it was pulled back to Earth when you pulled away again. I wonder if I will get to know that new you. I am so afraid that you may have changed so much that I will no longer find that mystery in your eyes, though I severely doubt it, it stings the back of my mind without end.
Why is it, I ask myself, that I always start writing to my diary and end up writing to you Heero? Is it because I love you?
I hope you make it through this my love, and I hope Kent and I do too. But we are second to you in my mind. The world is second to you, Heero. It is cruel and unforgiving and ungrateful of you and so unworthy of your life. I choke every time I hear some careless bureaucrat slander the title of Gundam Pilot; and every mob that screams for war sickens me. They do not understand, Heero. How could they? They don't know what war does to people, they don't know about the sacrifice of innocents, your innocents. I love you, my dear, dear Heero.
Relena
****************
Heero smiled at the piece of paper in his hands. Trowa had managed to get a letter to him. He shook his head in amusement as he read what Duo had done to Wufei. He noted that Trowa had only written about matters not concerning those of the Marburg situation. Though it was a little disappointing, not knowing what was going on in the outside world, he was grateful to have something to keep his attention away from Kent. His eyes scanned the paper and he frowned as the letter ended. He picked up the envelope from the table and walked with it to the trash. As he was about to throw it in, he noticed the corner of a picture from within it. He smiled again and took the picture from the envelope.
It was of Relena. She was on the beach standing beside a beautiful sunrise. She was looking out to sea, not seeming to notice the camera. Her long hair was tied back with an aqua colored ribbon, and she was wearing a bikini of the same color. So looked lonely in the picture, sad and contemplative, so very lonely.
Heero placed the picture beside his bed. "I will tell you how I feel soon." He scanned the room. "If I ever get out of here."
***************
Heero blinked several times as he entered the hall outside of the Grey Zone. The walls were a pale tan, but where still quite nice to one whose eyes have seen nothing but stark white for so long. He had finally been released and he loved it already. He breathed the air deeply. It was a great smell, not as stuffy and controlled as inside the slammer. He rounded a corner, heading to his office to get out of his surgical scrubs. As he spotted the deep mahogany doors he stopped. Trowa was standing beside his door waiting for him.
"We have to go now." He said simply.
"What do I need?" Heero asked, seeing this question as more important than where they would be going.
"Nothing." Trowa turned and began walking down the hall to the elevator. Following close behind, Heero's heart beat loudly with anticipation.
"Where are we going?" Heero finally asked as they entered the elevator and it began to move up.
"To a helicopter on the roof."
Trowa had averted his gaze as he answered the question without really answering the question. Heero shook his head.
"And where will the helicopter be taking us?"
"To the hospital." Trowa said simply.
Heero's mind became frantic, but he showed none of it. "What of the ESUN delegates and General who contracted Marburg?"
Trowa seemed to settle some at the question, finally something that didn't seem to unnerve him as much as the other direction of conversation. "All dead." He paused, glancing carefully sideways at Heero. "Have you heard about Kent?"
"They stopped updating me when they observed how much it seemed to upset me. How is he?" For the last three words his eyes met Trowa's. He looked tired and scared and god only knows what thoughts had gone through his head during his time in the slammer.
Trowa didn't avert his gaze, "Not well." He looked up as the elevator door slid open. "He's already started vomiting that tarry substance."
"Vomito Negro." Heero stated absently, looking distractedly at the helicopter now in his view.
***************
They landed on the roof of the hospital and exited the helicopter. As Heero's eyes scanned the roof he found what looked like a large plastic tube covering the door, big enough for a couple people to fit in. On the entrance of the tube, which was a zipper flap, were the words 'GREY ZONE'. Heero flinched unconsciously and looked at Trowa who had walked over to a couple of men near the tube and was being helped into a containment suit. Heero followed his example and allowed the men to help him into a suit as well.
Heero put on his respirator and looked back at Trowa, who had already entered the Grey Zone and was waiting for him.
**************
A few minutes later they were on the elevator inside the hospital. When the cold metal doors opened, Heero felt his legs go weak at the sight before him. The Hospital was filled, literally, from wall to wall, with patients exhibiting symptoms of Marburg.
Heero heard Trowa's faint voice over the sound of his respirator, "That's why they waited so long to let you out. We wanted to get a handle on things before you or Relena were pushed into it."
Heero found himself unable to look away. "How?" he managed to stammer out.
"We think they infected the water supply, but we can't be sure, the cultures we gathered aren't ready to go under the Electron Microscope. It took us way to long to catch on to what was going on." Trowa was still standing in the elevator, as if afraid to leave it. Heero took a few careful steps into the crowded hallway, as if transfixed on the images before him.
On a bed to his right an old man sat with his hands on either side of his head. Rocking back and forth as if it would take the pain away. To his left a young girl, no older than six, was laying on a bed, her knuckles white from the strain she was putting on them to hold the sheets so tight. She was crying so hard Heero couldn't seem to hear anything else, not even the muffling noise of his respirator could penetrate against her cries. Her eyes were wide open, a piercing shade of red, and her skin was blotched in bruises. He forced his gaze from her, and his feet, he pushed back. He reentered the elevator next to Trowa, who pushed the button for the roof once again.
Once on the roof they quickly got out of their suits and got on the helicopter. Heero hadn't realized how bad he had been sweating until he went to wipe his forehead.
"Don't bring Relena here." He said in a deathly strained tone.
Trowa didn't even glance at him. "We told her about it, but were never planning on bringing her here."
"So she's already out?" he asked, his voice still unnerving with the tone so quiet.
"Yeah, they let her out yesterday. She spent the whole day crying when she found out." Trowa's tone betrayed something.
Heero turned a heated glance in his direction. "What?" his tone was loud and demanding, yet broken too.
"Zechs has Marburg." Trowa said, not looking at him.
Heero's breath caught in his throat and his face went ghostly pale. He felt his stomach lurch as he parted his lips in an attempt to speak. But no words came, not even a sound from his aching throat. Zechs… Milliardo… Relena's older brother… My… Tears welled into his eyes once again. Trowa's head snapped in his direction when Heero let out a choked sob. The closest person I ever knew to a father… Heero would never admit that in public, but he really admired and looked up to Zechs, in fact, over the last few years he had been working as USAMRIID, Zechs had come to visit many times and the two had come to respect each other as friends, in a strange sort of way. They seemed to have a weird understanding of each other.
Trowa's eyes were glued to the tears flowing painfully down Heero's face for a moment before forcing himself to look away. A moment later Heero's voice made him jump.
"Take me back to USAMRIID." His tone was calm and concise. His face was dry and all remnants of tears pushed away, he was once again wearing the mask that had somehow become a permanent fixture in front of his eyes. He was the Perfect Soldier.
Trowa didn't need to be told twice. He gave the orders to the pilot and in just a few minutes they had landed back on the roof of the Institute. As Heero stepped off the helicopter, he turned back to Trowa, stopping him from following.
"Don't follow. And stay away for awhile, I need to concentrate." Trowa nodded numbly, not knowing what else to do. "Were are Decon and Hews?"
"Somewhere in there." He said back, pointing toward the door into the building. Heero nodded and turned on his heal, heading silently back into the institute.
****************
Relena ran onto the back porch of the Peacecraft mansion. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying, but she looked hopefully at the helicopter that had just landed. Ready to run to the occupant of it and cry onto his shoulder.
Trowa stepped out and she didn't move, waiting for something. Then the helicopter once again took off. Her eyes looked questioningly at Trowa, who averted his gaze.
"He's at USAMRIID." he said softly once within earshot.
Relena looked startled by his words. Her voice betrayed her, "Why?"
"No, he doesn't have Marburg." Trowa said, sensing her panic, "After I brought him to the hospital, and told him about Zechs, he told me to bring him back. He's working again."
She looked away, trying to stop the tears that threatened her. She turned back to the house and headed back inside. She didn't know what to do. She felt so helpless, through all her struggle and triumphs for the peoples' cause, she was helpless in their time of need. She was jealous of Heero, jealous that he could help and she couldn't. She wanted to walk out onto the street and go door to door helping, but they wouldn't even allow her out of the mansion. She stalked up the large stairs to her room. Cuddled up to her teddy bear and fell asleep with eyes tightly shut, and tears on her cheeks.
***************
"Look at this." Decon said to Heero, holing up a picture to the light and pointing to the hook shaped image there. Heero squinted as he eyes adjusted to the dark picture as opposed to the white screen he had been staring at.
"That's not Marburg." Said Heero after a moment.
"Exactly." Said Decon. At that moment, Hews walked up to them and glanced at the picture.
"It looks like Marburg to me, how can you tell its not." She said skeptically.
"It makes perfect sense," Heero said, addressing them both. "Montgomery wanted a fast killer. Marburg is fast, but not that fast, and it only has a 75 percent kill ratio. He decided to use something else, something close enough to Marburg that we wouldn't notice, but something that would kill fast and with a greater efficiency." Hews looked pail a moment, suddenly sick to her stomach. "I think this is Ebola, and not just any Ebola, Ebola Zaire, with a 90 percent kill ratio."
Decon nodded sadly in agreement as Hews blanched even more. Heero glanced at Decon. "I have to go tell the other pilots. I want you to run a test to confirm if it's Ebola Zaire and get back to me. Hews," she looked about ready to collapse at any moment. "why don't you lie down for a while. Let this soak in before we start working again."
Both Heero and Decon quickly exited the room. Hews stood frozen in place a moment before her legs gave way and she wound up sitting on the floor.
**************
Relena looked out her window as the sound of a helicopter neared the mansion. As it landed she held her breath, hoping it would be him. The door opened and Heero stepped out, his white lab coat ruffling in the wind of the blades. He seemed to be saying something to the pilot as he pulled a folder off the seat he had just occupied. He then turned toward the mansion, his eyes involuntarily seeking out her window. Their eyes met for a moment, he didn't smile, even though he was happy to see her. His expression remained hard, and he had blinked a few times to keep it that way. He looked back at the door, to find Duo now standing there looking at him. He then jogged over to the house.
"We need to talk, call everyone here, quick. I have bad news." Duo's faced seemed to turn white a moment before he broke into a run, heading back into the house.
Heero moved into the study and placed the folder in his hands on one of the desks. Relena was the first to enter. She walked to the front of the desk he was standing behind and looked at him. He made eye contact and felt a wrenching pain in his gut. Her eyes were red and puffy, as though she had just stopped crying. He didn't remove his gaze from hers until Trowa entered, panting, a few moments later. Wufei and Quatre entered together and last were Miss Noin and Duo.
Heero took a deep breath, scanning the room for a moment. "You guys might want to be sitting for this." He said, observing the everyone in the room was standing. Noin, Relena, Quatre and Duo all sat while Trowa and Wufei remained standing, as did he.
"I don't know if anyone has noticed," he began, "but all the people sick right now developed their symptoms too quickly. It could be said that this was because, perhaps, Montgomery was planning this from the beginning, and had already infected the populous before Kent and I got to his supply of Marburg, and that may be correct. But if it's not, and I'm right in my suspicion, things are a lot worse than they seem."
"What do you mean?" asked Wufei, suddenly looking very pale.
"Look at these." Heero said, taking a pile of pictures from his folder and handing two to everyone in the room. "Are these the same virus?" he asked as everyone examined the pictures.
"They look close enough to me." Said Duo, observing no noticeable difference.
"How close is close enough, Duo?" asked Heero back, Duo shrugged his shoulders and looked once again, straining his eyes, at the pictures. A beeping sound interrupted them. Heero removed his beeper from his pocket and read its message. A collective breath was held by the other occupants of the room as his face blanched. He looked back at them. "My suspicion has just been confirmed. Those minor differences make one of those viruses Marburg and the other something far more deadly."
Relena's eyes widened as her stomach lurched forward. "What is it?" she stammered out.
"Do you all remember, when I was addressing the ESUN delegates, that the filovirus family has three sisters, and Marburg was called the 'Gentle sister'?" a few nods from his audience and he continued. "Well, the worst of the three sisters, Ebola Zaire, is what the general population has."
No motion or sound disrupted the silence of the room. They had reacted with pure shock, as Heero had suspected. He didn't give them time to start panicking, he wanted them to have all the information before he left again, and after he was gone they could let it sink in. "Ebola Zaire has a ninety percent fatality rate, and kills much more quickly than Marburg. It's spread incredibly easily, through any body fluid, that means sweat, saliva, anything. This also means that someone else at USAMRIID has been helping Montgomery."
"How did you come to that conclusion?" asked Trowa, the only one who seemed to have a voice at that moment.
"Well, you see, I gave Montgomery the sample of Marburg he needed. My error, my sin. But that's all I gave him. He would have had to get the Ebola Zaire strain from someone else inside the Institute." The detective work involved must have helped, at least the Gundam Pilots, to keep their heads clear and focused.
"But we already know that Dr. J was working for him and USAMRIID, he could have easily gotten him Ebola." Quatre relied, looking deep in thought.
"No, if Dr. J had level four clearance Montgomery wouldn't have needed me in the first place. Dr. J worked as a vet, he wasn't aloud in level four containment zones, he had to have someone else." Heero replied, having already figured this out before he had gotten here.
"But who?" Heero was startled by the sound of Relena's voice, and a brief moment of astonishment crossed over his face before it disappeared.
"That's what I'm counting on all of you to figure out. In this folder is a list of everyone who has access to level four zones. I want you all to look this stuff over and figure out possibilities. I'll come back here tonight and you can show me what you have. Is everyone all right with that?" Everyone nodded as Heero handed the folder to Relena, who sat closest to him. He then left the room, quickly, to return to the Institute.