A Few Answers, But Even More Questions

Posted on Fri May 5th, 2023 @ 10:20pm by Hale Stratton & Vienna Quinn & René Rouen
Edited on on Wed May 24th, 2023 @ 8:59am

2,197 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Bangor or Bust
Location: Saint Andrew's Episcopal Church
Timeline: 26-08-2010 07:00 a.m.

Father Dominic was working in the Sanctuary quietly. He hadn't slept much with having to care for the feverish young woman that had collapsed in front of the church last night. He had gotten a couple hours of sleep when the teacher, Mrs. Turner, had taken over caring for Madison around 2am.

He paused in his work when he heard a door open and saw the young woman who had identified the injured girl. He resumed laying out items for the Sunday Service.

Vienna offered a polite smile as she approached Father Dominic. “Father, How is Madison? Is she getting any better?”

Father Dominic shrugged. "Mrs. Turner relieved me about 2am to monitor your friend. She was still running a fever, Sorry to say, I have not checked on them since I woke up."

Vienna nodded. “I’ll check in on her later, see how she’s doing.” She offered a warm smile. “I didn’t have chance to say thank you for giving René and I somewhere to stay, René is living with my family while he’s here in America. I promised my mum I’d look out for him, but he’s doing a better job of looking out for me!”

Father Dominic simply nodded. He didn't really know the young Frenchman too well, but what little he'd witnessed was that René was a respectable and respectful individual. "He cares about you. He wants for you to be safe. Though I get the feeling you might want more."

Vienna paused. “I... like René, more than a little” she nodded. “We like each other. I think I might be falling in love with him father.”

Father Dominic sighed. "Two things I am going to tell you. Probably something your parents already have. Honesty and patience will always win out. I am not going to say that what you feel is not real or that you are too young to really know how you truly feel. What I am going to say is this. When your heart and mind agree on something, then...you'll know and there will be no lingering doubts whatsoever. Understand what I'm saying?"

Vienna nodded. “I understand father, I won’t rush into anything.”

Jordan came running into the chapel area. He looked somewhat out of sorts as he saw Vienna talking with Father Dominic. "Um Father. You need to come to the hall. There's something on the TV you need to see. It's about the virus and...well you really need to see it to believe it sir."

Father Dominic followed Jordan to the hall to see a large group of people trying to catch a glimpse of the news on a wall-mounted flat screen TV. He led Jordan and Vienna through the throng of young men and women.

Vienna looked at Jordan as they followed father Dominic. “What’s happening?”

The news anchor, well-dressed but maybe less polished than previously, was speaking. "It's been nearly twenty-four hours since the CDC announcement regarding the discovery of a virus with a near perfect infection rate. At that time, the CDC elevated the virus to the status of pandemic." Behind him on the screen was a bulleted list of the symptoms. "Virtually every emergency room has been swamped with patients reporting symptoms of the virus and authorities are asking that you do not go to the hospital unless the symptoms are life-threatening. We're being told that in all cases, you should sequester anyone you believe to be infected and, should the symptoms worsen, seek medical help immediately. We go now to Carrie Wilkes at the Bangor Police Department. Carrie?"

"Yes, Jay. I'm here at the Bangor Police Department where I'm told that there has been a sharp increase in violent attacks throughout the city. Cases of extreme aggression have been reported in a series of attacks that left more than eighty dead overnight. While the CDC has not yet confirmed a connection to the Wildfire Virus, the police are urging people to stay indoors and not to come in direct contact with the affected as the fever can result in unpredictable, even violent behavior. We are expecting a briefing from the Chief of Police within the hour and we'll report live when it happens. For now, back to you Jay."

"Thank you, Carrie. After the break, we'll be joined by Dr. Andrew Popovich, a specialist in infectious diseases speaking to his from John's Hopkins University for his take on the situation."

Jordan turned to Father Dominic. He remembered seeing Vienna, René and Father Dominic bringing Madison into the building last night. "What should we do Father?"

Father Dominic looked at the young people in the hall. Madison had been running a fever and been repeating one thing all last evening. The word 'mon'. René had said the word in French meant my. He was starting to wonder if it now meant something else. Something a lot more sinister.

“Madison?” Vienna looked at Father Dominic. “Should she be sequestered as they said on tv? As much as I hate to say it she is sick.”

Father Dominic turned to Jordan and Vienna. "We'll go check on your friend. Hopefully she will have improved, if not, I'll call the paramedics and have her taken to the hospital." He turned and headed towards the staircase to the second floor.

Jordan shrugged and looked at Vienna. "You go with the priest. I haven't seen Dave or Steve all night and Mrs. Turner will have a cow if they aren't at roll call this morning.

Vienna nodded. “Okay Jordan” She turned then turned back. “Jordan... be careful okay?”

Jordan nodded, giving Vienna his trademark cocky smile. "You too Vienna."

Vienna smiled warmly, pausing long enough to watch Jordan go. With that she rushed after Father Dominic.

Father Dominic glanced at Vienna as she rushed to catch up to him. He wanted to do a quick check on Madison before calling EMS. Hopefully, Mrs. Turner would have good news and that call wouldn't be necessary.

Vienna looked at Father Dominic as they walked. “What if... whatever this illness is, is what Madison has? We’ve all been near her, you, me and René. What if we all get sick too?”

"Cross that bridge when or even if we come to that." He paused halfway up the stairs. "Where is your friend René anyway?"

Vienna paused. “I...don’t know!” A feeling in the pit of her stomach told her she needed to find René. “Father will you excuse me? I need to find René, to make sure he’s okay.”

A girl was walking down the stairs and paused. "That French exchange student? He is in the hallway upstairs. He had a tray of food for Mrs. Turner and Madison. Though I did see him talking to Courtney out in the hallway."

Vienna nodded. “Thank you” She didn’t hang around as she moved on ahead of Father Dominic. She knew René could take care of himself, but she was worried about him nonetheless.

René was almost to the office door. He shifted the tray in his arms in an attempt to open the door while holding the tray with breakfast. Fortunately, there was an end table next to the door. He set the tray down on it and grabbed the doorknob.

Vienna could see René ahead of her, and that he was about to open the door. “René...” She was about to say more when Father Dominic arrived.

Father Dominic burst on to the floor right behind Vienna. "René! Do not open that door! It might not be safe."

Vienna quickly caught René up. “Madison could be infected, like the others on the tv. She could be dangerous.”

René release the doorknob and took a step back as Vienna and Father Dominic jogged up to the door. He was about to say something when someone in the office slammed into the door on the inside.

Vienna jumped back, obviously alarmed by what she’d heard. She looked at the base of the door where a pool of blood was starting to seep through. “Father...look...” she pointed to what she was looking at.

Father Dominic looked at the slowly spreading blood pool. "Vienna get the girls off this floor and call 911, have them send police and paramedics. Send a couple of the bigger guys from downstairs. We'll need hammers and nails from the closet under the stairs we just came up."

Vienna nodded. “Y..Yes Father.” She quickly ran off to get the other girls, instructing them to send for the emergency services. With that she went to get the guys from downstairs.

Father Dominic opened a drawer on the small nightstand table outside his office and pulled out two wedge doorstops and handed one to René. "Office door opens out into the hallway. Jam one under the door, but don't get any blood on bare skin."

René took the doorstop and dropped it from about an inch from the floor before rising and nudging it in. He gave a slight kick to wedge it in tight. Father Dominic repeated the same action on the other end of the door.

René turned to Father Dominic. "What about Madame Turner and Madison? Shouldn't we have looked in on them before trapping them in the office."

Father Dominic shook his head. "A news report said that the fever the infected have causes aggressive behavior. We wait for the police and paramedics."

Ten Minutes Later

Not even twenty-four hours into helping out the police, Hale was hitting his stride. Years in the military had taught him how to compartmentalize and maintain a disciplined focus. Basically, the horrors were saved for later, often in his dreams, but in the moment, he got the job done. And too, as the cop he was working with him had said more than once in the last few hours, what they were doing was not policing as he understood it anyways.

Dressed in his military fatigues, he entered the church and looked around. No odd sounds and everything looked to be in place. That was promising. He glanced toward his 'partner' and said, "who runs this place?"

"Father Stephens," Andy answered at once. "My wife goes here. Says he's a good man. I hear he offered to give the teenagers a place to sleep last night."

"Great. Teenagers," Hale said with about the same level of enthusiasm he reserved for terrorists.

"No kids, huh? I got two myself. 13 and 15." Andy chuckled as he led the way in. "I hear it gets better." He flashed Hale a grin. "At least that's what they tell me in the support group. "

René was at the bottom of the stairs when Hale and the police officer entered the building. He pointed up the stairs. "Father Dominic Stephens is at the top of the stairs. Madame Turner and Mademoiselle Madison are in his office at the far end of the corridor."

"Thank you," Hale said. And, with Andy in tow, he took the stairs two at a time, headed up to where Father Dominic waited for them. "What seems to be the problem, Father," he asked he reached the top.

Father Dominic was keeping an eye on the office door from the top of the stairs when Hale and Andy got to the upstairs landing. "Andy glad to see you." He glanced at Hale. "Sergeant. I wasn't aware that the Maine National Guard had arrived in Millinocket."

"US Army, 5th SFG out of Fort Campbell," Hale said automatically. "And the problem, Father?"

Father Dominic gestured down the hallway to a door at the far end that had a 2"x4" nailed across the frame. "We have a girl who snuck out last night and returned with what could have been an animal bite. She started to run a fever and was incoherent. We secured the door like the news said to do and called you. There a pool of blood seeping from under the door."

"Is she alone in there," Hale asked while Andy approached the door and picked up the hammer they'd used to nail the board into place.

Father Dominic shook his head. "Her teacher, Mrs. Turner, is in there. She is the group leader for a number of the students downstairs."

"Best you get downstairs now, Father," Andy said, turning back toward the priest. "And get everyone away from the front door too. Give us a clear path out, alright?"

Downstairs

Vienna was standing looking perturbed as she watched the comings and goings. The amount of blood that had looked under the door upstairs wasn’t a good sign, question is whose was it? “What’s going on up there René? Someone in that room is badly hurt!”

René took Vienna's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "No need to worry. Police are here and...", he heard sirens approaching, "...paramedics will be here in just another minute."

Vienna nodded. “What if the news stories are right? What if Madison...” she didn’t say it out of fear that Madison was no longer the Madison they knew.

 

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