FINE LINE - T. BRADFORD

49

"The passenger picked up the wrong bag on the bus and cut his finger on a vial he found in there. I think the virus was in it because it was bleeding a lot for a small cut. He coughed up blood on Tim," Mirana's eyes move to the team members who are sealing up the door. "We need to get them out of there, not lock them in"

"We will. But first we have to establish a proper quarantine. Did any blood get on you?"

"I don't think so," Mirana shakes her head. "I was in the doorway, I think the blood all landed on Tim. He immediately closed the door"

"Smart man," Doctor Morgan nods before moving to the door. "Officer Bradford, this is Dr. Morgan from the CDC"

"Hey, Doc," Tim calls back.

"How you doing?"

"Fine. But Mr. Langston's struggling a little," Tim says.

"Can you describe his condition?" Doctor Morgan asks.

"Yeah. He, uh, started coughing blood about 20 minutes ago. Now he's got a pretty wicked nosebleed," Tim replies.

"Why aren't they coming in? Where's my ambulance?" Pete's voice sounds out.

"It'll be here any minute. Just stay put. Save your energy," Tim says.

"Where's the vaccine?" Mirana asks.

"Still in the air. Should land in the next hour or so,"

"If Tim's not infected now, he could be in an hour!" Mirana exclaims. "He could die!"

"Quarantine rules exist for a reason. Officer Bradford, do you mind if I put you to work while you wait?"

"You want to know what's in the bag?" Tim asks.

"Yes, I do," Doctor Morgan replies.

"Copy that. Uh, Mir- Cabrera, I'm gonna turn on my body cam. You can monitor it from out there,"

"Okay," Mirana replies, pulling out her phone. "Do not touch anything in that bag even with gloves on"

"Yes ma'am,"

Mirana opens the app on her phone before she begins to watch the body cam feed on the small screen.

"All right. Here we go," Tim says.

"Wait, wait. What is that bottle?" Doctor Morgan asks.

"Looks like the delivery device. It's a misting fan," Tim says.

"I think you're right. Looks like there's a growth medium inside the bottle. Add the virus to it, then spray it in a crowd. Droplets land on people's faces, infect them through their mouth and nose. It's as low tech as you can get," Morgan grabs her radio. "It's Dr. Morgan. I know how they're planning to disperse the virus"

"No sign of any I.D. or target information,"

Tim's body cam moves to show a reflection in the mirror. Mirana's eyes widen when she spots Langston charging at Tim with a chair.

"TIM! TIM, LOOK OUT!" Mirana shouts through the door.

A loud thud sounds from inside the room and Mirana bangs on the door.

"Tim! Tim, are you okay? Hey, answer me,"

"It's okay! I'm okay!" Tim replies and Mirana sighs in relief. "Well, that was fun"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Mirana asks.

"Kind of depends on your definition of the word,"

"You need to get that vaccine here right now," Mirana says to Morgan.