Macabre Gambit

[DECISION 7] STAY AND REBUILD

[BEKZ HAS HER OVERFLOWING JOURNAL AND MAP SPREAD OUT OVER THE CENTRAL TABLE]

[LOBLEY 'COYOTE'] Wow, I think she has one up on you Frogman.

[BRANT] Shove off.

[BEKZ] We need to establish an understanding amidst the civiies. They need to know what I'm about to tell you.

[ROURKE] Last time Diggy told us about you he said you were a tat artist. What do you know about viruses?

[BEKZ] You're right. I'm no virologist but—

[DANIEL] But she's been tracking and studying this a decade before the first cases in 2030.

[BEKZ] This thing didn't start in Eastern India.

[DANIEL] What?!

[BEKZ] It was a political detour of the media so the real story of Miromatrix, based out of Minnesota—

[SHOKED FACES ALL AROUND] Yup. That's correct. Right here in our own backyard. Eggheads were performing xenotransplantations, surprisingly successful operations, considering they were putting pig hearts into people.

[DANIEL] You're joking.

[BEKZ] I wish I was. That's actually how the virus mutated and jumped to humans. An infected pig, infects a xenotransplant recipient, and that person infects the world.

[BRANT] Anyone ever read Frankenstein?

[LOBLEY] We all know how that turned out...

[BEKZ] Scientific journals, published articles, and deep dives into the structure of the rabies virus—you can learn a lot of stuff off the internet, if you know where to look—and I'm confident that the virus spreads primarily through saliva.

[ROURKE] Yeah, we got that. They bite and you get a bullet in the brain.

[BEKZ] You gonna let me talk or should I do you the favor of stitching your mouth shut?

[DANIEL HOLD UP HIS FOREARM THAT HAS A LARGE SCAR FROM THE TOP OF HIS WRIST DOWN TO THE ELBOW] She does do beautiful stitches.

[BEKZ] Although salivary glands are the primary delivery systems in the original RABV; sweat, bodily fluids, and blood may have the potential to carry the virus with this new mutated strain. The virus by itself can't stay in direct sunlight for more than 2 hours or on hard surfaces. Bodies also tend to still be infectious 24-48 hours after death. Other than lead in the cranium, bleach, UV light, oxygen, extreme heat and water are the ONLY ways to combat it.

[LOBLEY] Water?

[BEKZ] Yes. RABV30 still exhibits characteristics of the original rabies virus and those with the infection often develop a form of hydrophobia. The virus is scared of water because it will dilute the virtual proteins in the saliva.

[ROURKE] Why do you know so much about rabies? Why the fascination?

[BEKZ POINTS TO THE BRUTAL SCAR ON HER FACE]

[DANIEL] Rabid boxer who got out while her and her siblings were on a walk in their rural neighborhood. She protected them while they got away to get a hold of animal control.

[BEKZ] The shots in the stomach were not fun.

[BRANT] So, you get rabies from a dog that nearly tore your face off and suddenly become obsessed with the same virus that also tried to kill you?

[BEKZ] I collect bones and dead things. What did you expect?

[DANIEL] So, what do you recommend our course of action should be to keep the civviies in line?

[BEKZ] Are you confident your men won't get cold feet 6-9 months into this crap?

[DANIEL] They are Marines.

[BEKZ] Of course. As for as people go, they are like sheep. If one makes jumping off a cliff seem like a good idea the rest will do the same. Two things we need to do. One, prevent panic and two, promise safety. To prevent chances of infection there needs to be a decon procedure when your men come back from a run. Keeping too many people in one area also increases chances of exposure.

[BRANT] Don't lump all your eggs in the same basket...

[BEKZ] Exactly. Plus more bodies means incubation of other sicknesses and illnesses are more likely to occur. Antibiotics are in short supply. Just because ferals have claimed this land as theirs doesn't mean we can forget about cold and flu viruses too.

[DANIEL] I'll get the other squad leaders together and we can see about clearing a couple other buildings on base and set up the civvies with better living.

[LOBLEY] These people need to also learn how to defend themselves.

[ROURKE] You want to arm scared civvies?

[BEKZ] Either that or let them be defenseless sheep.

[BRANT] Sure, give the trigger happy loco a loaded gun. Nothing bad will come from that.

[BEKZ] So, train them. There's facilities on base to do that right?

[DANIEL] Affirmative. But they aren't gonna like trying to teach clueless civilians.

[BEKZ] Well, I don't like being stuck here when I could be elsewhere and yet here I am. There's gonna be things we don't like and some things we really don't like. Survival is the name of the game now. People are our number one enemy now.

[DANIEL] But the zeeks--

[BEKZ] Are like any other pest. Once survivors hear about this base we'll be fighting the ferals at night and people in the day.

[BRANT, LOBELY, ROURKE, DANIEL] We?

[BEKZ] Yes, 'we.' Think I'm gonna let you guys have all the fun?

[FULL PAGE OF THE CONTROL TOWER LOOKING OVER THE AIRFIELD, THE BONEYARDS IN THE DISTANCE, AND THE BUILDINGS OF THE AFB]

[DANIEL] C'mon, then. We got work to do.

TO BE CONTINUED...