{"id":339,"date":"2014-12-30T06:18:08","date_gmt":"2014-12-30T06:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/?page_id=339"},"modified":"2021-12-06T19:27:11","modified_gmt":"2021-12-07T01:27:11","slug":"part6","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/episodes\/episode8\/part6\/","title":{"rendered":"Part 6"},"content":{"rendered":"

Episode 8: \u00a0FANthrax<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Part 6<\/strong><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

They all piled into the Hummer and started towards the arena.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey guys, listen to this. I spoke to Jeanie, and she said that now the virus has spread through the hospital. Dr. Carter is sick; they\u2019re sure he\u2019s infected. He\u2019s been showing all the signs — coughing, vomiting, and all that. But here\u2019s where it gets interesting\u2026\u201d Red started.<\/p>\n

\u201cI dunno, it\u2019s pretty interesting already,\u201d Nick said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWait until you hear this, then: it seems that it\u2019s airborne, or passed through something in the air. It could be anything. When you think about it, a concert is a surefire way to be able to infect a whole lot of people all at once, through the vents and whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian frowned. \u201cThat\u2019s crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know, but think about it — if you\u2019re trying to make a point and get a large number of casualties, what better way?\u201d Red reasoned.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, what you\u2019re saying is, they just blew a random cloud of this stuff in the air or something? I mean, wouldn\u2019t the performers notice smoke coming out that\u2019s not supposed to be there?\u201d Nick said, doubt lacing his tone.<\/p>\n

Red shrugged. \u201cDunno. I guess when you\u2019re performing, you don\u2019t notice those things\u2026 or more likely, it was transparent.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was silence for a moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I guess we\u2019ll see what we can find when we get there,\u201d Julilly sighed.<\/p>\n

A short time later, they arrived at the arena and made their way inside the building. As far as they could tell, nothing looked out of the ordinary.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy don\u2019t we split up into pairs and ask around, see if we can find out anything unusual about the concert?\u201d Brian suggested, swallowing hard. He suddenly wasn\u2019t feeling the best.<\/p>\n

Nick went with Julilly, and Brian and Red went together. Nick and Julilly made their way towards one of the control booths, knocking on the door, then entering when one of the workers opened the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan I help you with something?\u201d the man asked.<\/p>\n

Julilly showed him her badge. \u201cWe\u2019re here about a concert that was held in this arena on Saturday, The Moffatts concert. Were you in attendance for that?\u201d<\/p>\n

The guy nodded. \u201cYeah, I was. Why?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you notice anything\u2026 different when you were there?\u201d Nick asked, staring hard at the man. People were always intimidated by hard stares.<\/p>\n

The guy blinked. \u201cNo, not really. I mean, those fans are crazy, you know? I mean, grown women screaming and passing out\u2026 It was nuts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, so you didn\u2019t see anything abnormal happen\u2026 maybe something that wasn\u2019t supposed to?\u201d Julilly questioned.<\/p>\n

The guy frowned in concentration. \u201cNo, I don\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t think so?\u201d Nick pressed, increasing the hard stare.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I don\u2019t think so, sir. I\u2019m sorry, but it was a one-time thing, ya know? After that, what does it matter? The fans loved it and whatever. It\u2019s not like I was looking for anything to be wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick shook his head. \u201cWait, but isn\u2019t that your job? You work the control booth!\u201d<\/p>\n

The guy groaned. \u201cI don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about. I work the concessions stand. I\u2019m just up here cause I\u2019ve always wanted to see the control room, and one of my friends works up here, and he let me up here to, ya know\u2026 mess around.\u201d The guy smiled, his face beaming.<\/p>\n

Julilly stared at him for a moment before turning and leaving the room. Nick shook his head in disappointment. \u201cLive the dream, man\u2026 Live the dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou bet I will!\u201d The guy grinned.<\/p>\n

They exited and started down one of the aisles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, that was a complete waste of time,\u201d Julilly groaned.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut not really! Some young man is having his dream come true; what\u2019s more precious than that?\u201d Nick smirked.<\/p>\n

Julilly shot him a look and started to probe the aisles for anything unusual. The arena had been cleaned up since the concert, of course, so finding anything was going to be one in a million.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is crazy. What could we possibly find?\u201d Nick questioned, growing frustrated as he walked up and down aisles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to see if we can find anyone else who works here, who\u2019s not trying to fulfill a childhood fantasy and get some answers,\u201d Julilly grumbled, bending over to look under the seats.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

On the other side of the arena, Brian and Red were having slightly better luck.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you\u2019re saying, during the show, confetti came out and sprayed across the arena?\u201d Brian asked.<\/p>\n

The woman nodded. \u201cYeah, I was one of the people who controlled two of the cannons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Red nodded. \u201cI see, and altogether, how many cannons were there?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s see\u2026 two in each corner, so eight altogether.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd would you say they cover a good area?\u201d Red asked, jotting some things down in her notepad.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey cover a wide area, but the wind coming from the vents catches it and carries it over the whole arena.\u201d<\/p>\n

Red and Brian looked at each other in triumph.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd does anyone check the confetti cannons before launch?\u201d Brian questioned.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that you mention it, we did have some weird guy come about an hour before the concert started. He stated that he was from some confetti company and he was here to check the cannons because there had been reports of some issues with them at other concerts,\u201d the lady offered.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, really? And what did this guy look like?\u201d Brian pressed.<\/p>\n

\u201cKinda short, Hispanic guy\u2026 Oh, he had this\u2026 twitch. It was odd,\u201d the woman finished, her eye twitching suddenly, and she frowned. \u201cApparently, it\u2019s contagious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHmm\u2026 and have you noticed anything different with any of the workers who also worked there that night? Yourself included?\u201d Red asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah\u2026 actually, a lot of people have complained of not feeling too good. Sounds like the flu, coughing and vomiting. I\u2019m okay; I\u2019ve had a bit of a headache lately and body aches, but I\u2019ve been exercising, so I\u2019m sure it\u2019s nothing.\u201d She looked them over uncertainly. Their suits screamed out to her that maybe something was wrong. \u201cOr should I, uh… get checked out, or…?\u201d<\/p>\n

Red cleared her throat. \u201cIt\u2026 may be a good idea to stop by your doctor\u2019s; it\u2019s always good to have a routine check-up anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

The woman stared at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrevention is the best medicine… No, really, it is,\u201d Red added at the woman\u2019s look of skepticism. \u201cAnd who knows — if it ends up being more than just a simple cold, they can help you out right then and there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian was eager to bail; his head was pounding, and Red\u2019s meager attempts at dodging the woman\u2019s questions were making him nervous. He hated to downplay what seemed to be a very serious outbreak, but they didn\u2019t want to cause a panic either. \u201cWell, thank you for your time, ma\u2019am,\u201d he said abruptly, ending the exchange.<\/p>\n

He and Red examined another control room, then started towards Nick and Julilly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, that was interesting. I think we may have found how they spread it, but I\u2019m not quite sure how they\u2019d do it through the confetti, though. Then again, there are the vents, but she didn\u2019t mention anything about\u2026 Hey, you okay?\u201d Red asked as she looked at Brian, who appeared to be sweating.<\/p>\n

He nodded. \u201cYeah, I\u2019m fine. These suits are hot, ya know?\u201d<\/p>\n

Red nodded absently. \u201cIn any case, it\u2019s here, I\u2019m sure. If not the vents, the confetti somehow.\u201d<\/p>\n

They reached Nick and Julilly and told them what they\u2019d found out. Then they all started looking around the aisles and seats, trying to find any leftover confetti.<\/p>\n

They noticed several of the workers coughing and sneezing as they walked around. One hurried into a nearby bathroom with her hand over her mouth.<\/p>\n

Nick blanched as he crawled across the floor. \u201cCan we, uh, hurry this up a bit? If I see one more person hacking like they\u2019re gonna cough up a lung, I\u2019m seriously gonna hurl. You know, all it takes is one person, and then it\u2019s a chain reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust hang in there, Nick. We\u2019ve gotta find something we can take back for testing,\u201d Red said. She sounded far away since she, too, was bent over, facing away from Nick.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, yeah,\u201d he mumbled, his gaze wandering to a worker who appeared to have some kind of oozing sore on his arm. Nick swallowed hard again, his stomach churning. Yeah, they needed to get out of there soon.<\/p>\n

Sighing, he went back to searching and suddenly stopped. He couldn\u2019t believe his luck: on the floor in front of him was a long, thin piece of confetti. Carefully, he reached out, gently sliding the piece closer to him. His eyes widened. It was dusted with some kind of white powder.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey guys, c\u2019mere! I think I found something!!\u201d<\/p>\n

The three hurried over to him and looked over his shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, a piece of confetti, and it\u2019s got some white powdery shit on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat job, Nick! Let\u2019s bag that baby up and bring it in for testing.\u201d Red grinned.<\/p>\n

Nick extracted a plastic baggie and a pair of tweezers. \u201cNick finds the proverbial needle in a haystack, making the whole trip worthwhile in just a matter of seconds. His sharp skills and keen eye for discovery have brought the group one step closer to success!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, Sherlock Holmes, pick up the damn confetti and let\u2019s get the hell outta here, sheesh,\u201d Julilly groaned.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re just upset that you didn\u2019t find it.\u201d Nick smirked, sticking his tongue out. He slipped the confetti into the bag and zipped it up.<\/p>\n

As they thanked the workers and made their way out, Red looked over at the others, her expression grim. \u201cThis whole place needs to be quarantined,\u201d she said in a low voice. \u201cSome of those workers are surely infected with the same thing Terrance Phillip died from, and if they leave, it\u2019s just going to spread more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julilly agreed at once. \u201cCall Boulet back and have her send a team from CIDPC out to quarantine the venue. We need to get this sample back to the lab and confirm that it contains the virus. By the looks of some of those people\u2026 I\u2019m sure this is it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listening to them talk, Brian suddenly felt queasy. He stifled a cough. Now was not the time to speak up, just as it was not the time to be falling ill. His team needed him. But as he walked away, he cast an uneasy look back at the Air Canada Centre, thinking of all the sick people unknowingly trapped inside.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Just outside the Toronto city limits sat a small warehouse. It was often used as a movie set, but that night, it hosted a group of people who were quite different from its usual guests.<\/p>\n

In the far corner of the room, Dr. Rough sat stiffly on his throne-like chair. In contrast with his stillness, his left eye kept twitching as he carefully watched his companions on the other side of the warehouse.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to call you my girl\u2026 I used to call you my friend…\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

A sudden stir disturbed the man\u2019s stillness, diverting his attention for a second. His eyes darted towards his right shoulder. Dr. Twitches covered his ears with his front paws and shook his head feverishly, almost falling off from his master\u2019s shoulder. Dr. Rough smiled as he stroked the ferret with his left hand, trying to calm him down.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know, Dr. Twitches, I can barely endure it myself\u2026\u201d He sighed slowly as he turned his attention back to the corner of the warehouse, where four of his minions — four brothers, in fact — were practicing on a small, makeshift stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI miss you like crazy… even more than words can say\u2026 I miss you like crazy\u2026 every minute, every day\u2026 Whoo!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Dr. Twitches squealed loudly and climbed down from his master\u2019s shoulder to his lap, burying his face under his shirt. The sudden movement of his beloved animal disturbed Dr. Rough immensely; he hated it when his attention was constantly divided by outside effects.<\/p>\n

\u201cI miss you, miss you, miss you\u2026 Whoo, I miss you like crazy\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Irritated with the amount of music he had to put up with for the sake of his latest mission, Dr. Rough stood up abruptly from his seat. Dr. Twitches squealed and fell to the floor, only to climb back up to the safety of his master\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n

Dr. Rough took a couple of steps towards the light, making himself visible to his minions. The music came to a halt the second his appearance was clear to the others.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you like it, Dr. Rough?\u201d the group\u2019s main vocalist asked sheepishly.<\/p>\n

Dr. Rough eyed the four brothers one by one. Three of them looked identical. All four had the same expectant look in their eyes. Dr. Rough was familiar with that look, the look of loyal minions seeking their master\u2019s approval. He liked it. It made him feel more powerful and gave him an excuse to take his brutality to new levels.<\/p>\n

Still, he didn\u2019t enjoy the fact that this creepy quartet looked down on him from the small stage. Without saying another word, he walked slowly to the stage. He raised his hand to his right shoulder and stroked Dr. Twitches, who had been sitting calmly since the music stopped. The silky softness of the ferret\u2019s fur under his fingertips always helped soothe Dr. Rough when he wanted to clear his mind and focus on his task.<\/p>\n

He climbed the stairs that led to the stage and made his way towards the center. The three identical brothers backed away, leaving the lead singer of the group standing alone in the middle of the stage in front of his microphone. Clutching his guitar tightly, he stared at his master in fear.<\/p>\n

Dr. Rough stopped a couple of feet from his minion. \u201cScott, was it?\u201d he questioned quietly. The minion nodded in response, gulping almost audibly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wonder why I agreed to continue the mission with you in Europe,\u201d Dr. Rough continued through clenched teeth, \u201cand with that sorry excuse for what you call music.\u201d He spat out the last word and eyed the rest of the minions. \u201cIt perplexes and amuses me that you could make it outside of Canada with such intolerable music. Today\u2019s youth must be deaf.\u201d<\/p>\n

He heard another audible gulp coming from the minion standing in front of him. \u201cI can assure you, Dr. Rough, that we will be very successful in the next phase of our mission. Europe was always welcoming to us; they like our music, and I\u2019m sure–\u201d Scott stopped hastily when he caught the cold stare of his master.<\/p>\n

\u201cMove!\u201d Dr. Rough hissed once again. Scott nodded meekly and hurried over to his brothers. Dr. Rough gave them another cold stare before starting to pace back and forth across the stage. \u201cI have to concede that your Toronto concert went quite well. Better than I expected.\u201d His voice echoed in the warehouse, accompanying the sound of his languid footsteps.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t notice the way his minions beamed in response to his words. He kept walking from one side of the stage to the other, scratching his goatee.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe FANthrax virus works brilliantly. There are more casualties than I expected in the first place, and the effects are horrid enough to distract everyone from working properly on any antidote\u2026 yet. Everyone forgets Canada, just like how HimTak had forgotten about me. And they are going to pay for that. The price for treating Dr. Rough like a piece of dirt will be very high. But yes\u2026 from now on, they will remember. The world will remember me! Yes\u2026 when my chemical weapon spans the globe and people across the world are dropping dead in pools of their own blood and purple piss, they will remember Canada. They will remember Dr. Rough. They will remember how I rose from my ashes in this forgotten land.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stood in front of the microphone in the middle of the stage. As a lone spotlight shone down on him, his shadow loomed over the four minions standing behind him, mesmerized in fear. Dr. Rough opened his arms widely, his fists clenched.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeath and destruction will rain down on HimTak! They\u2019ll regret rejecting me\u2026 forgetting me\u2026 underestimating me. I will bring about their doom! And from then on, HimTak will REMEMBER MY NAME AND FEAR IT!\u201d<\/p>\n

His voice echoed off the walls of the warehouse as he threw back his head and laughed.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Part 7<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Episode 8: \u00a0FANthrax Part 6   They all piled into the Hummer and started towards the arena. \u201cHey guys, listen to this. I spoke to Jeanie, and she said that now the virus has spread through the hospital. Dr. Carter is sick; they\u2019re sure he\u2019s infected. He\u2019s been showing all\u2026<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span><\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":141,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"templates\/template-onecolumn.php","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-339","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P5xaHX-5t","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":919,"href":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/339\/revisions\/919"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dreamers-sanctuary.com\/00carter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}