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For the first time in a long time Jake woke up feeling like the weight on his chest had lessened just a little. He felt like after all they had been through that there just might be a light at the end of the tunnel. Dr. Cannerts had started right to work in his lab after they had discovered Cinco's body had indeed defeated the virus.
Jake made sure that Quentin had gotten breakfast then he left to check on Katie before he went to see if Cannerts had made any progress. The only sound coming from her room was the steady beep of the heart monitor Dr Cannerts had recently hooked up to her. Jake never thought he would love the sound of that machine so much. But it meant she was still in there. She was still fighting. And if Cannerts could get the treatment right, she could get better and wake up. Never in his life had he prayed for something so hard. He placed his hand upon the window glass like he used to when Katie was awake. "I love you." He whispered.
Jake walked down the hall to the lab where he saw Dr. Cannerts fully covered in his hazmat suit, a vial in his hand.
"This test should tell us the exact mixture of interferon to go with Thomas's blood profile. With the proper proportions we may be able to extend the life for those who have the virus exponentially longer." Dr. Cannerts explained as soon as he saw Jake arrive.
"That's good, right?" Jake asked.
"Only one problem." Dr. Cannerts sighed.
Then the realization struck Jake. "There's only one Thomas." He remembered how much it took out of Thomas just to do the treatment for Cinco. There was no way this little kid could cure the entire cordon on his own.
"Exactly. And at the rate we need to draw blood, we'd end up killing the boy and we'd still never get ahead of the virus." Cannerts confirmed Jake's fear.
"Could there be another source?" Jake wondered. "Anyone in the cordon?"
Dr. Cannerts didn't sound optimistic. "The odds. Based on these types of antibodies is about one in a thousand." He let out a sigh.
Jake was trying to be more positive. "Still out of all the people in the cordon, that's four possible candidates.
"Well, then we'd have to test them all and hope that we find a match." It's an impossible task. There was no way he believed anyone still alive in the cordon would allow themselves to be tested even if it was to help find a cure. He was sure no one trusted the doctors, police or government at this point.
"Then we test them all." Jake had his mission. He didn't know how he was going to accomplish it but he would get every single person he could to get tested. Their lives depended upon it. Katie's life depended upon it.
Jake grabbed the rest of his uniform and secured his helmet on. He headed towards the park in the middle of town. He was hoping there would be a fair amount of people making their way around town.
"Sir I'm with the Atlanta PD." Jake approached a man walking towards him. "We'd appreciate your cooperation."
"Can't help you." The man said walking quickly by.
"Would you please help?" Jake asked some others as they walked by.
"No. No." They shook their heads as they hurried by.
Jake saw some more people coming out of a building. " Hey, you two, would you two come to the hospital with me?"
"No, I got to get home to my kids." One of them scurried off.
Jake was getting impatient. If he could just get someone to listen. "Hey, everyone needs to get their blood tested. It might be the way to a cure. We need your cooperation."
"Bunch of liars." He heard someone yell.
"Hey, listen, I'm not infected." He started after the individual. "Hey." They stated running even faster. Jake felt defeated. This was hopeless. He got why people didn't trust anymore but he felt like if they would listen maybe he could make them understand.
He headed back to the hospital. He sat down in front of Katie's window to her room and pressed his forehead against the glass. What would she tell him if she were awake? She wouldn't let him give up he knew that. She gave him the strength to do the impossible. He would give anything to just hear her voice again. Her laugh. It felt like ages ago they were sitting in the hallway giggling over the "shopping spree" Jake took her on.
"Any success in rounding up donors?" He heard Dr. Cannerts ask from behind him, snapping him back to reality.
"The people are scared. Scared of the virus. Scared of each other." Jake sounded spent. "I'm not the right person for this. Any of this." He sighed putting his head in his hands. He was tired. He had known from the start of the cordon he wasn't cut out to be in charge. He couldn't do this. It was too much.
"You're a good police officer, Jake. The fact that you're here speaks volumes about your character." Dr. Cannerts tried to encourage him.
"Katie always gave me a hard time when I thought about giving up. She always saw me as more of a hero than I saw myself." He knew she wouldn't let him give up if she was awake. No matter how impossible it seemed.
"She has a way of seeing the good in people." Cannerts agreed. He had underestimated her intelligence. Sbe had figured out that the Syrian man wasn't patient zero and she had called him on it. She had told him to step up and take responsibility for his mistakes. He admired that about her.
"Yeah she does." That got Jake to thinking.
"I have an idea." Jake told Cannerts as he got up and ran into the boiler room. He grabbed his little black notepad out of the metal box sitting on the table. He grabbed his helmet and headed outside the hospital.
He headed back to the park where he had first attempted to recruit people to get their blood tested. There were a few individuals walking around with backpacks on, their faces covered with masks and scarves. Jake pulled out the little notebook out of his pocket and turned the page. He pulled the microphone out to his megaphone and began to read. "Ann Scott. Jeff Joseph. Oscar Welch. Carl Pierson. Ashley Bowen. Timothy Hall."
"What's this about?" Someone asked. More people started coming closer.
Jake continued. "George Owens." He thought of Katie at that moment. She was still with him though. She was still holding on. He was doing this for her.
"These names….these were fathers, mothers, sons, daughters. These are the names of the people we loved. And lost. The list and the pain goes on and on. But what can we do to keep the list from growing? There may be one thing. And I'm not going to sugarcoat it. It's a long shot, but it's a shot. I know what I'm asking here goes against everything we've been told. And we've heard it all. Stay inside. Keep four to six feet apart. We've had it drilled into us. But I'm asking everyone, please, gather as many people as you can and come back here at 3 pm to be tested for a possible antibody. This could lead to a cure. The hope may lie in one of us. Which means it lies in all of us." He felt Katie would be proud of him but he wished she had been there with him. She had a way about motivating people. Making them believe in themselves more than they ever had. He had no doubt she would have convinced the crowd to help. But it was just him. Now he had to wait and see if they had taken anything he had said to heart.