Doings in Millinocket

Posted on Fri May 12th, 2023 @ 10:44pm by Hale Stratton [Major, United States Army] & Alonzo Blazevic & Vienna Quinn & René Rouen & Victoire Olaffson [Lieutenant, United States Navy] & Civilian Father Dominic Stephens & Ethan Thompson

3,008 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Bangor or Bust
Location: Millinocket, Maine
Timeline: 26 AUG 2010 - 08:00 p.m.

The streets were quieter now. There were still some cars on the road and the occasional pedestrian, scurrying from their vehicle to the nearest store and back, but for the most part, everyone hunkered down and waited ... for the next news broadcast, for daylight when it felt safer to out, for an end to the madness.

[St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, Millinocket, Maine

Vienna sat huddled up in the nearest safe corner, right now it felt safer to have her back against the wall where she could watch the comings and goings of everyone.

Alonzo and Ethan had arrived the night prior, but both were still settling in to their shelter. It did not fall past him that he recognized one of the girls, Vienna, and the name was not exactly a common one. She was the one Ethan had seemed to have a thing for based on what Alonzo had found in the boy's room.

The journalist did what he knew best. Joining the girl in the corner, Alonzo pressed his back against the wall and slunk down to sit next to her. "Vienna, right? How are you hanging in there?"

“Whose asking?” Vienna looked at him curiously. “You seem to know me, but I don’t know you’re name.”

Fair point thought the journalist. "I don't know you. I arrived yesterday, we met briefly. My name is Alonzo. I came here with Ethan, he goes to school with you...he's a little younger than you."

Vienna nodded. “It’s nice to meet you Alonzo. To answer your question, I’m...okay.” She sighed. “You said you came with Ethan? Is he okay?”

"He's been through a lot," Alonzo replied. "I don't know what you read or heard news wise about his parents, but he could use any friends he can find especially now. Were you two close at all?"

Vienna shook her head. “Just friends really, Ethan’s had a hard time of it from what I heard. I’ll do whatever I can to help him.”

And still wanted by police for questioning thought Alonzo but he didn't disclose that. There were more important matters right now that questioning a scared teenager. "I think he'd like that "

Vienna nodded and smiled. “For what it’s worth, I don’t believe Ethan would harm his parents.”

Ethan, still wearing the clothes he left home in, found a folding chair and took up a position near the window so that he could watch the street. With a bottle of water at his feet, sleep eluded him, haunted as it was by memories of that night, and so, he divided his time between reading the book he'd brought with him and acting as a sort of silent sentry.

Meanwhile Outside the Police Station

Victoire had ventured into town with her full kit; laptop attached to a rigged solar charger tucked against her back inside her A-Bag and her Malinois, Jasper, at her side. Her first stop was the Police Station as much to establish contact with local leadership as to offer a helping hand.

Beyond the Police Station she was keeping a vigilant eye for any signs of the virus that she knew was spreading through the world... as well as any new signs or symptoms it might show as diseases often did; she had already thoroughly examined herself and quarantined herself for several days after arriving in town just to ensure that she wasn't sick while she studied the files that she had grabbed from the University Hospital in Bergen, especially considering that she had flown in via France and was unenthused with the possibility that the virus had managed to breach military quarantine protocols on base.

At her hip hung a gas mask that aligned with NBC protocols though she had opted for the safety of her regular kit and lightweight but thick clothing under her NWU in the hopes that it would offer her the best protection; albeit at the risk of a tradeoff with being a touch warmer.

His shift over, Hale had been walking and thinking. Not as good as a run but still, necessary. He took her in, the outfit, the gas mask, the gear and headed straight toward her. Now well into his second day of helping the locals out, he knew many of the faces but not hers. "Hi," he said as he stopped a respectful distance away from the Malinois. "You need help?"

Raked her orbs over the man and smiled briefly at his ACU and half-nodded but stopped herself short. "Actually... to be honest Jasper and I came down here to see if there was any way that we could be of use. I've just come in from Norway by way of Bangor and I'm not one that enjoys just... sitting around... but somehow I get the feeling that you and I have that in common Sergeant."

She motioned first to her Trident and then to his Ranger scroll before falling into an easy parade rest and looking about the mostly empty police station parking lot and raising a brow at him.

Hale nodded. "Been helping the police out all day," he said. "And they could sure use the assistance. You'll have to find somewhere to stash the dog though."

She chuckled and patted Jasper as he gave a deep grumbling "boof" at the suggestion of being stashed and looked back to Hale. "I dunno; he's a pretty hard one to stash, especially since he is fully military trained. Been technically retired a few years but the K9 officers worked with dad kept and him as civilian contracted trainers so he still meets snuff; he could be useful for search and rescue or similar work" she looked down briefly at the bit about her dad but took a deep breath and turned her gaze back to Hale. "Seems the police are out on calls at the moment, huh? Long day?"

"Long is an understatement and ... it's not that, about the dog I mean," Hale said. "It's more that what you'll be doing ... well, it's nothing he's been trained for and what he knows to do, will get him hurt, even killed. Look, come on into the station with me, where it's more private and I'll give you the full run down."

Nodded her head grimly, stepping into the police station and unslinging the A-Bag and reaching into it for her Navy Portfolio and the Manilla Envelope that it now held; along with the handful of patient files and everything she had been able to pull about their cases. She thought for a long moment; looking to Hale and then almost as a second thought pulled out her laptop; setting the solar charger that she had rigged on the counter and pulling up her various portals from the hospital in Bergen. Jasper automatically circled once and then laid at her feet, keeping a watchful but not aggressive posture.

Once that was all said and done she looked at Hale and nodded her head as she waved her hand over the things she had pulled out and explained. "I've been suspicious of a few things going on and have been building a 'case' of sorts since mid July... just before my parents were killed in an 'wild animal attack'; but last time I checked wild animals don't have the same jaw structure as humans..."

"You're not wrong." Hale dropped into the nearest chair, stretching out his long legs, as he thought about how to explain it all. "From the reports we've been seeing, you get the virus, you die. No one survives. Problem is what happens afterward." He sighed as he watched her face. "This is going to sound mental, I know, but I've seen it with my own eyes. Some time after death, a few minutes, a few hours, no one is certain ... they ... reanimate."

"I'm afraid it isn't nearly as mental as you might think... at least not for me... but I think that you know as well as I do some of the things that can be seen in the field when you work in the field we do." she shuddered as she spoke a bit and then pulled her notebook over to show him her notes that she had been gathering since the death of her parents.

"This virus is by far one of the weirdest things I have seen and I've been working medical for a long time; both on mission and not... my fear is that it is the most dangerous, Sergeant. I wouldn't even begin to know where to begin to start sequencing an anti-viral agent but I also haven't had time to actually look at it properly; then again my primary has always been medical not lab, despite my training or volunteer work at hospitals. This laptop and my handwritten notes here may yet prove to be the only things I manage to keep in one piece and I'm not even sure of that right now."

"The hospital and EMTs are in need of help," Hale said. "Helping those who are injured, containment for those who have the virus, and all that. Me personally, I've been paired with a cop and we've been checking on people." He leaned back in his seat, stretching out a bit, and sighed. "The word isn't getting out. Folks are trying to help those who are sick and .. paying the price for it."

She thought for a long moment and then tilted her head. "What's the status of the Emergency Broadcast and Early Warning systems here in Millinocket? If they are in good maintenance we can utilize them to get the word out to those who aren't infected that they either need to shelter in place and barricade down then call into the police station or hospital to let us know where they are so that we can coordinate rescue teams.... I can set up quarantine and containment at the hospital that will be suitable for observation of everyone we pull in; at least while we are here in town as I suspect we won't be able to stay here forever."

Hale listened. Not the way most people did with their minds half on the subject at hand and the other half on something completely unrelated. No, Hale listened. He heard in her suggestions her belief that this was going to get worse before it got better and came to the understanding in his own mind that Millinocket's reaction-based strategy wasn't going to be enough.

"I believe that the hospital is already doing something along those lines, just like the police are doing what they can but," Hale said, "they haven't seen what we have and maybe we can offer some guidance that will make things a bit safer for everyone, providing of course that they listen. One of the big problems right now is space. Everyone is sheltering in place and that leaves them vulnerable to the ... infected. I know the Mayor and his team have been working on organizing shelters and I'll talk to him about providing instructions over the Emergency Broadcasting System. We need more medical personnel who can move from shelter to shelter, do triage, and teach those at the shelters what to look for and what to do."

He sighed quietly. "Teenage girl turned at one of the shelters and attacked her teacher because they didn't know what signs to look for. They were treating it as a fever and the teacher stayed at her bedside."

Victoire rubbed her temple as Hale explained and then looked to Jasper and then back to Hale. “I have an idea… but it’s going to take time to implement and some of it might have to be done on the move as we organize and move places ourselves. Jasper here has been trained to do search and rescue, search for drugs, explosives, and the like… I’ve seen some studies where dogs have been used to detect cancer… it’s all experimental but the study results were true and the dogs detected it before even our most advanced medical scans and technology could show it…. What if we took police K9’s and other dogs that show promise and train them to sniff out the virus and then use them as a… sensor?” She petted Jasper for a moment before she took a deep breath

“When new people come to the larger group we introduce them to the dogs innocuously and if the dogs give any sign or alert we quarantine the individuals and monitor them away from the rest of the group?”

"It's a good idea," Hale said, "though maybe a bit tough to implement given the current situation. Still, if Jasper can recognize the scent, then he becomes invaluable. You could start by visiting the shelters that are established and then move on to doing wellness checks with the EMTs."

Nodded; for a brief moment lost in thought and then looked around the police station, searching for a map. “Do we have a map that you can mark the shelters on? I am familiar with the town as it’s a family tradition to come here every year for the festival but I like to know where I am going…. And I suppose it might behoove me to have something more than my K-Bar. Any ideas there?”

"What are you licensed to carry," Hale asked.

Quite nearly scoffed at the question as she raised a brow at Hale. ”are you actually asking a SEAL what they are licensed to carry, Sergeant?” she chuckled lightly as she pulled out her wallet and produced her concealed carry and national LEOSA licenses for the US though if he was paying attention he’d be able to spot the European equivalents as well. “I’m certified to carry just about everything a standard officer might; my service pistol is a Colt .45 but unfortunately that is back on base in Virginia so I’ll take what I can get.”

Navy he thought as he rose wordlessly to his feet and took her to the armory. "Pistols only," Hale said. "Those were the instructions I was given and you'll need to partner up with someone who is official here in town. They won't let you go out alone or with me for that matter. We're the guests here."

Flashes him a smile and wink as she looks into the armory; glossing over the very small collection of rifles and to the rack of pistols and ammo and searching through them visually for something she thought was going to be comfortable in her grip. likely shan’t be like my service weapon; but they’ll have something just as reliable.

Entrance to the Church

Nicole had been pretty much all over town over the past day. Most of that time was spent helping the police keep the peace since she was military. However she hadn't been to St. Andrew's yet which she had heard to be open to those who needed rest or help.

She had also been watching her back due to this new virus. More and more dangerous and strange events had been occurring. While Nicole's priority at the moment was helping others, her second priority was to watch her own back. She approached the steps of the church and stopped to look at the building. It was a nice building.

Nicole ascended the steps of the church and looked behind herself to make sure that nothing or no-one was sneaking up on her. She opened the door and carefully closed it behind herself as she entered St. Andrew's.

René was carrying a box through the atrium when Nicole entered. He took note of the Grey, black and blue NWU. "May I help you mademoiselle? Are you here to see Father Dominic?"

Nicole looked at him. "I think so? I've been making rounds around town trying to help where I can. That's how I ended up here I suppose?"

René nodded towards the door to the main hall. "This way mademoiselle."

Nicole simply nodded and began to follow René. Noting his accent she spoke up. "I apologize if you get this a lot, but are you from France?"

René nodded as he turned his back to the door and backed through. "Oui. I am an exchange student. I have only been in the United States for a little less than three weeks. My home is in Paris."

She followed him through the door. "Besides everything that's going on, what do you think of it here?"

René thought of the Quinn family and how grateful he was for the family taking him in for the next year. "I have met a few wonderful people, full of kindness and generosity for the most part." He paused to think of his own family. "I do miss my parents and my sister, but the Quinn's have been absolutely great."

"That's good" she smiled briefly. When she was René's age she didn't completely have that since she was an only child and her mom died when she was young. Nicole was happy for those who got that chance.

René set the box he was carrying on a table near the kitchen door and gestured for Nicole to follow him. "Father Dominic is in the Sanctuary. I can take you to him now."

Nicole nodded. "Thank you. That would be greatly appreciated."

René beckoned Nicole to follow him. "Of course. If you would follow me." He turned and started walking to a door across from the kitchen.

The streets were emptied. People found shelter, talked and worried, while fear began to spread through the small town of Millinocket in much the same way as the virus had, hopping from one person to the next. What if it gets worse? We'll need supplies. What's the government doing to stay this?

 

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