VIRUS

His hand reached out from underneath the warmth of his comforter to silence the blaring alarm clock that read 6 a.m. A slight chill from the window above his bed reminded him that it was the middle of winter and he had to be to work in less than an hour. Why, oh why did he stay up all night playing Monster Hunter with his friends?

The 30-year-old man threw the covers off and stretched before groggily getting up and heading to the bathroom down the hall. 

With a quick shower, dressed in his best suit and tie, some toast for breakfast, and a few minutes to let the car warm up, Evan Wilson was on his way through the busy streets of St. Paul, Minnesota to the Federal Department of Health building.

"Mr. Wilson!" A plump woman dressed to the nines in pink with silver earrings and curled red hair caught his attention by pounding on the glass entrance doors as he entered through them. 

"Ah, Ms. Abel. How's your morning so far? Little chilly out there today," He small talked as he grabbed a copy of the Star Tribune off the stand and headed towards the elevator. His coffee was, luckily, still warm in his mug. 

"Oh, it's going. But, I have a message here for you," She pulled out a little sticky note from her clipboard and handed it to him.

Evan studied her face. Usually, a cheesy grin was splayed from ear to ear. Now, however, Ms. Abel was not smiling.

Holding up the note, he read it. Evan frowned and tuck it into the newspaper under his arm, "Thank you, Ms. Abel. Have a good morning," He gave her a smile and dipped his head to her. 

With a quicker step, he headed towards the elevators and punched the number six with his thumb. His eyes studied the slightly dented door of the elevator as it came to a stop on his floor.

His mind raced. The note only had a few works hastily scribbled on it; end times with a question mark instead of a period.

End times? What the hell does that mean?

Before he could contemplate anymore, the doors opened. Instantly, Evan could feel the tension hanging in the air. Thick, almost palpable. His colleagues all seemed to be focused on their work. No good morning came from his typical group of co-workers.

Stopping in the middle of tables lined with papers, graphs, and some chemicals that should have been brought back down to the lab, he nodded to the first person who made eye contact with him, “Mariah? What’s going on with everyone?”

She just shook her head and pointed to the front of the room.

There, in a separated part of the room, through the glass windows, Parker Ingmon waved for Evan to come in. Evan swallowed hard.

His mind raced back to the past six months of his employment here. Did end times mean he was possibly being let go?

Evan racked his mind, analzing his time here. He was a qualified scientist that specializes in infectious diseases. He was the top of his class! What could he have possibly done wrong?

Mariah just motioned with her head for him to get his ass moving. 

Taking the cue, Evan briskly walked into the glass office and shut the door behind him.

“Yes, yes. I understand. I got him right here. Don’t worry about a thing, Senator," Parker hung up the phone and pinched the bridge of his nose underneath his broad rimmed glasses.

Evan's heart thumped loudly in his chest. Senator? How badly did I fuck up?

With a sigh, Parker flopped himself into his chair and looked at Evan. 

Shit. Evan prepared to steel himself for the possible bad news.

“Sit down, Evan.” Parker said stoically.

Parker’s face was pale, and his hands shook just slightly. 

“Sir, whatever I did, I’m really sorry–” Evan starts. 

“Evan, we have some…concerning news…from the local hospitals. It seems that some patients are coming to the hospital with a cough, fever, chest pains. The typical signs of a bad cold, or even COVID-19. What’s concerning is within 24 hours, these patients end up dead in the emergency room....with their organs missing.”

Evan gaped, trying to find the words. Organs missing? How is that possible? “L-Like d-dissected out of them? Are we talking about murdering doctors or nurses? Are the police involved in this?”

“No, Evan!” Parker’s voice grows hasty. “Not dissected. Like, vanished. These organs disappear from the body. We had a doctor from Mercy in Duluth call and say they watched a man’s lungs fade away in a CT scan! He started gasping and choking in the machine, and by the time they pulled him out, he was gone. His lips blue, eyes bulging, skin ashen. Vanishing!” Parker sat up in his chair and placed his hands on his forehead, feeling the weight of the word overcome him.

“H-how is that possible?” Evan stared at the desk, trying to keep his eyes from moving too much, lest panic set in.

Parker looked at him and leaned in. He tapped the papers in front of him before pushing them towards Evan. “That’s where you come in. I heard you were top in your class for rare and deadly diseases. I’m putting a team together, and you’re on it. Whatever this…this virus is…it needs to be isolated immediately. We’ve already been in contact with state officials and a border is being put in place as we speak."

Right now, Minnesota is a hotspot, and no one is to enter or leave until this shit is figured out.”

Swallowing hard, Evan took the papers.

A phone rang and Parker fished in his pocket for it.

He waved Evan out as he answered, flinching at the loud voice on the other line.

Evan made his way to his cubicle and sat at his desk.

His hands tore through his hair as his heart raced.

His mind flashed to his parents; They lived in a little town north of Minneapolis. The only news they listened to was their local newspaper!

His mind didn't stop at just mom and dad. He had to tell the whole state. The whole country? The whole world?

"End times?" He whispered to himself as he pulled the note out from in between financial articles and sports talks in the Star Tribune.

Looking at the stories that were inked into the tabloid paper, Evan suddenly felt like none of it mattered.

What was on the line now was much more important than which stock market was crashing.

He had to find the reason for this virus. Find the cure. Stop the end times.

Stop the virus.