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The Weekend

I direct my attention to Julie, and ask sternly, "Who is that?"

Julie makes herself presentable and says, "I told you, John, a lab technician; no one of importance."

"What do you mean no one of importance? Like hell, Julie! What the hell are you doing here? How and when did you get in here without being noticed?"

Julie ignores my questions, but calmly turns to me and says, "John, I'm here because I need to be here. I'm sorry for my behavior earlier, but I'm much better now and I need to work. I don't want to take the directorship from you. I prefer if we keep this quiet."

"Huh!" Ted exclaims.

"What the hell! Quiet!" I grip Julie's arm and say, "Tell me the truth, or I'm going to have the guards arrest you. What the hell are you doing here, Julie?!"

Julie pulls herself away from my grip. She looks at Ted, and then smiling, she says to me, "John, raw fish can be poisonous."

I remember my dream about Claire and recall the same phrase. I grab Julie's arm tight, pull her towards me, and say, "Who the hell are you? Did you kill my wife? Did you cause this plague?" My grip on Julie becomes tighter. I begin to shake her, demanding answers. Ted intervenes by trying to break my hold from her. I push Ted back and grab Julie again, yelling, "Who the hell are you? Tell me who you are, or I swear, I will beat it out of you."

"John!" says Ted, as he tries once more to tear me away from Julie.

"Back off, Ted!" I holler. Ted steps back.

Continuing to hold onto to Julie as tightly as I can, I push her up against the wall, grunting, asking her once again, "Who the hell are you?"

Julie looks into my eyes and says, "Raw fish can be poisonous."

I bring my arm up with my fist ready to plant it into her face; instead, I hit the wall. Feeling the pain in my hand, I release Julie and walk over to the lab window. Pissed off, furious as to why the former CDC director is here when she's not supposed to be, and not answering any of my questions, I turn around and look at Ted. I say, "Ted, make sure the hazmat team gets that person out of the lab. I need to go to my office." I start to walk out of the anteroom when Julie says, "John, we need to talk." I turn around, and as I search for something to say, I respond, "Like hell we do." I exit the lab.

As I walk towards the elevator, Ted comes running after me, grabs my arm, spins me around, and says, "What the hell's going on, John? Why is Julie here? I thought she was dead, or something. What the hell's going on, man?"

I give Ted a blank look and say, "I don't know, man. I don't know." I step into the elevator and head back to my office. As the elevator descends, I can only concentrate on what Claire and Julie both said: "Raw fish can be poisonous." What the hell does that mean?

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The waking dawn bursts through the twilight morn, as the bright Sun reflects its brilliant rays upon the virgin snow, glistening, as the white blanket of arctic lies silently upon Atlanta. There's no howling wind, just bright sunshine illuminating the silence. The quiet eeriness feels as if humankind no longer exists; only nature, only the universe. Humans' carbon footprint isn't leaving its mark as it has done for thousands of years before; instead, their presence is being defeated by death. If the world is to end, it is possible that a small group of survivors, those who are the fittest, will experience the greatest challenge that any human has ever encountered. But surviving might be the challenge they may lose.

After a restless night's sleep, I get up from my haven of rest, my office couch, which has been a welcomed companion this past week. I rub my hands along my face, take a deep yawn, stretch, then stand, scratch my balls, and stretch some more. Feeling like I need to go to the gym for a good workout, I quickly dismiss the thought and start looking for my shoes so I can go to the cafeteria and get some coffee I sorely need. After finding my shoes, I open the shades to evaluate what kind of damage the blizzard had done. I'm astounded.