Page 136 of Viral Justice

“No, I sort of killed him with a knife through the eye.”

“Sort of?”

She walked over to the chemist. “Fine. He’s all the way dead.” She rolled the body over, pulled out her knife and began patting him down. She’d seen him stick her satellite phone inside his jacket.

She opened his coat, began patting and searching pockets. A puff of powder hit her in the face. It shocked her enough that she sucked in a breath.

She immediately began to cough convulsively.

“Ali?” Max called to her, his voice rising. “Ali?” He got to his feet.

She put her hand out to stop him from coming closer. “Don’t.” She continued to cough convulsively. “Whatever it is, it’s still in the air.”

Max swore long and loudly as she reached back into the pocket, pulled out her sat phone and punched in some numbers.

“I’m calling my dad,” she told Max, then had to yell, “Stop!” when he took a few steps toward her.

He halted, his hands clenched into fists.

“Ali?” Her father’s voice barked at her from the phone.

“Dad?” she said. “We need...help.”

“Report, soldier!” Her father’s disciplined bark offered a comfort she’d never expected.

“Akbar is dead,” she said, coughing and wheezing into the phone. “There are still armed militants not in custody. This place is ground zero for a deadly flu, so we’ve got sick and dead bodies all over the place.” She had to stop to try to catch her breath.

“What else?”

How did he know there was more to her report?

“When I searched Akbar’s body, I triggered a booby trap and got hit in the face with some kind of powdery substance.”

The silence from the phone was louder than a death knell. Finally, General Stone asked, “What do you need?”

She almost laughed. Nothing could help her now. “A full brigade of soldiers, a combat support hospital, and a fucking miracle.”

“Tell him,” Max yelled as he helped Warren to his feet and began guiding the man farther away from Ali and Akbar’s body, “to put all personnel into biohazard suits. We’ll need that antibiotic cocktail I developed for Akbar’s anthrax strain and enough medical and food supplies to support several hundred.”

She relayed all that.

“Tell him to get the antibiotics here as fast as he can.” Max’s voice broke and he fell silent.

She relayed that too.

There was some noise coming over the phone, voices, yelling, and a door slamming shut.

“Ali, everything is on its way. The antibiotics are going to be dropped first via drone.”

“Thanks, Dad. I don’t think it’s going to get here in time, though.”

“Are you sure the powder was anthrax?” her father asked in a subdued tone she rarely heard from him.

“Don’t know,” she said, coughing. “Whatever it was is making it hard to...” She stopped talking to cough and cough and cough. “Breathe,” she finally got out.

“Support is on its way. Hang on, soldier.”

“I will, sir.” She ended the call, not wanting to make her father listen while she slowly died.

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