Passage of Mystery

It was a beautiful Spring morning and Chuck Spears along with his wife, Colleen and their eight-year-old son, Jackson had just returned from a two week vacation in Rome, Italy. While at the airport, the officials working in Customs had them sign a declaration stating that they would go directly home and quarantine themselves for the next 14 days due to a virus that had been spreading rampantly throughout Asia and Europe, and has now arrived in North America as well. They signed and complied with the order by returning directly to their home.

As they pulled up the driveway to their custom built Victorian-Style home that they had only purchased a few months prior, they noticed that the neighbourhood appeared to be virtually uninhabited with the exception of a stray cat and a large, black crow that hovered over the house. Chuck unloaded the vehicle as the other two went inside to start unpacking. After the last bag was in, Chuck walked around the house to check for anything out of sorts and then headed inside himself.

After everyone had showered and changed, they sat down for dinner. The news was on the radio and they finally understood what the fuss was all about. The news broadcaster spoke of the tens of thousands of cases that had already been discovered and hundreds more seem to be turning up worldwide by the day. They finished off by telling of the precautions that people should be taking around their homes such as a thorough disinfecting to reduce the chance of the virus being spread. They were all jet-lagged from the flight, so they decided to wait until the following day to start with the cleaning.

The sun shined brightly through the window of Chuck and Colleen's bedroom as the couple slowly started stirring out of a deep sleep. After about an hour, the family was ready to start with the cleaning and disinfecting. Colleen started on the second floor, while Jackson began on the main floor and Chuck in the basement. Colleen scrubbed everything down paying extra attention to all of the hard surfaces that are often touched. Down in the basement, Chuck wiped down everything in his “Man Cave” and made sure the furnace had clean filters. Meanwhile, Jackson was doing the best that he could cleaning the main level of the house. He was trying to wipe down the walls when his cloth got stuck on a piece of wood that was protruding out of the wall slightly. He tugged on the rag, and to his astonishment, a large section of the wall popped open slightly.

He yelled for his father, and when Chuck entered the room, Jackson had a tear rolling silently down his reddened face. “I'm sorry”, he said pointing at the wall. Chuck looked confused as he approached the opening. He called for Colleen to join them, and as she reached the main floor, Chuck was standing in front of a gaping hole in the wall. Her pace slowed down as she stood shocked by the sight.

Inside the hidden doorway, cobwebs swayed ghost-like in front of what appeared to be a darkened passageway. Chuck ran back downstairs to grab a flashlight and when he returned, Colleen had already removed some of the cobwebs with a broom. Colleen pleaded with Chuck to wait until they can get it checked out, but his curiosity got the best of him as he made his way into the darkened tunnel. Armed with only a flashlight and a broom, he bravely made his way through the walls of of webs until he came across a door at the end of the passage. He hesitated as his thumb pressed down on the door handle's latch, and to his relief and apprehension, the door opened.

The room smelled of old newspapers and rotting wood. On the West wall stood a desk riddled with books and papers. An old oil lamp sat on a table to the left of the desk which Chuck lit to get a better look. The room glowed ominously of a flickering orange colour, and the shadows danced around the walls like demons. He felt a chill come across his neck suddenly and turned around. Along the East wall was a map with several red push pins marking various cities around the world.

Chuck began to sort through the various papers that were scattered along the desk. There were diagrams of what appeared to be DNA strands, complicated formulas and mechanical drawings for some type of machine. He gathered up what he could carry as he heard Colleen calling from the living room, and after putting out the oil lamp, he started back down the passage towards the light of his home and the silhouette of his wife and son peeking around the corner.

The papers and books now laid across the dining room table where they could look at them in a better light. As they started thumbing through the books, Colleen came across highlighted sections in a book on viral containment. “Maybe the former owner was a scientist”, they thought. Perhaps they could find something in these books that could help stop this virus from killing more people. After further investigation however, the realized the gruesome truth; this man wasn't trying to save the world, he was looking for a way to infect the world. He was a terrorist!

So, what do they do with this information? Who do they call? They decided to notify the World Health Organization and ask them what to do. A gentleman by the name of Arthur returned their call and asked for their address and more details. He said that a team would be deployed immediately to investigate. Two hours later there came a knock on the door. Four men in Hazmat suits entered and showed their credentials. After a short debriefing, the men got to work. They laid down plastic across the living room floor and began to empty out the contents of the hidden room. Each piece was carefully numbered and recorded. Pictures were taken of the room, the passageway, and all of the contents. Everything was then bagged up in sealed containers and taken out to the van parked outside. One of the men thanked the Spears family for their cooperation and said that somebody would be in touch with them in the near future, but until then, they needed to remain in their home until the isolation period was over.

Nearly ten days had passed when they had received the call from WHO. A female scientist named Dr. Patricia Fitzpatrick was on the line and seemed elated at the information that they had recovered from their home. She had asked about the health condition of each family member. Jackson wasn't showing any signs or symptoms, Colleen had developed a headache after the first week and now has tightness in her chest. Chuck was in the the worst condition however. He had the same symptoms as Colleen plus a serious cough and fever. He spent most of his day moving between the bedroom and the bathroom. The doctor recommended that they stay warm and drink plenty of warm liquids plus try to get foods like soup or broth into them as much as possible. She claimed that the items recovered from the Spears' house has been a turning point in a possible cure. It turns out that the previous owner had detailed plans on remotely releasing this deadly flu-like virus in highly populated areas around the world. The papers outline plans for a drone to fly over the cities and discharge a gas into the downtown core of major cities, Luckily, he also left behind the chemical composition that was used to created the virus, so now they have a basis to develop a vaccine. She assured Chuck that his family would be one of the first to receive the cure once it was properly tested.

The phone call had lightened the mood of the Spears household slightly. They finally had hope that this would be over soon. They paid close attention to the news and heard that this virus had now affected over half of the global population and was growing stronger closer to home, though they had talked of a possible vaccine which was currently being tested on forty-five volunteers somewhere in the United States. Until the vaccine was ready, they were going to have to make the best of their isolation. Through video chats and phone conversations, they were able to stay in touch with family and friends, and they caught up on all of the shows that they didn't have time to watch before the virus. At least they were all together as a family.

It took six weeks before the number of confirmed cases started levelling off and another eight weeks before the vaccine brought the numbers down to dozens instead of hundreds of thousands. Many people died before they could receive their shot, countries around the world fell into a recession and life as we once knew it was changed. The one positive thing that came out of this whole ordeal, is that this was the first time in history where the entire planet worked together to fight a common enemy. We can only hope that these bonds that were made will remain unbroken and the world will finally be at peace.