The Pandemic

PROLOGUE

PROLOGUE
         The morning was quiet, the sun was almost up and the kettle was whistling as the water boiled for her morning tea. She reached for a bag in her wooden tea box, 'earl grey or english breakfast?' She debated before going with the latter and grabbing the milk out of the fridge. Humming a soft tune as she poured the water into the yellowed ceramic mug followed by whole milk. The teaspoon tapped against the wooden counter and she took up the cup bringing it to her lips. Warm, it was a drastic change against the cold chill of dusk through her drafty house. Making her way to the corner of the room to grab a notepad and pen to write to her mother who had been gone for a few years, updating her on her life so far.  

         The living room was small and perfect for her lone self. She lived alone in a small studio apartment during her college days and decided that the apartment building had so much character that she moved one floor up into a single bedroom flat. Her studies were in epidemiology, she loved studying diseases and by far her favorite was currently her research on Malaria. She sighed as the current show playing ended, which happened to be the news, she wasn't paying much attention but it was election season and she didn't care about that drama.  
She stepped out the door and into the cold autumn air, making her way to her office building, well if you could call it that, it was more of a small government building, well small on the outside. The interior was mirrored to the exterior, cold and clean; simple and white. The main part was in the basement where she worked, she had her own lab and was thankful for it. She didn't have to have any lab partners that would interrupt her 'mad experiments' as she liked to call them, actually if she had a lab partner they would probably quit because of how annoying she is. She loves her job and could talk, and has, about it for hours on end; until the next day; watching the sun rise and fall in the ,not so clear Oregan, sky.
Today she was preparing to leave for 16 months and go do a study in another country, in around a month,on a girl who has come down with a case of something between the plague and an extreme case of rabies, although not currently rabid, carrying multiple indications of both diseases. Lucinda  found this case very interesting and extremely risky, but since when was she about to turn down an amazing opportunity? Never, that is. She began finishing up her research about current arsenic cases and jotted down a few things before running through her lab and collect a few items needed on her trip. Her current file about arsenicosis was dealing with a coma, 'As, cell damage. Possible trichloromethane, CHCl3' deciding to keep those notes close to her and drop them by her boss before leaving later. Her clinical officer was a scary man, he was tall blonde and absolutely handsome. She would never admit that to his face, those strong facial features made her face flush a deep red, almost the color of her hair. Pushing her feelings aside, she made her short trek to his office and tapped on his office door. "Mr. Smythe?" she called out, 'maybe he's away currently' she sighed and proceeded to walk into his office where she placed her papers on his desk. Glancing to her left over the neat stack of file folders lay a small yellow sticky note, 'gone to get more coffee, if you need anything just call. -Irvine' she placed the note down and smiled to herself as she left the small and ugly office. The tapping of her stupidly uncomfortable heeled shoes on the concrete flooring echoed through the creepy but calming basement. Pushing her lab door open and replacing her blazer with her, not so clean, lab coat. Pulling her hair into a fairly high and messy ponytail and pushing her boxy metal glasses up her nose she began to work. Dancing away in her lab to some current pop music and enjoying the way her, now more comfortable, lab slippers felt on her aching feet. She danced to her heart's content while typing up lab reports and letters explaining her new development. In her own little world where she was able to be her quirky, spunky, and energetic self.

         Around ten o'clock she received a knock on her lab door,  "come in" she returned as she lifted up her goggles and stepped away from the current mixture she was concocting, the door swung open to reveal a smiling Irvine and what she assumed was a huge glass of black coffee, her favorite, the only thing able to keep her awake through hours of processing boring papers. "For you," he sat the cup on her desk, "why thank you, I was just about to take a coffee break.". "Actually, there is a pretty serious reason i've come here" Mr. Smythe said his voice not wavering a single bit. "What would be the matter, sir?" Lucinda  started at him with almost worry,   "Well, Dr. Honse, your patient, Ilse the 16 year old with the rare disease, has gone rogue, it has spread, rapidly throughout her body". "Well that's fantastic!" Lucinda  exclaimed sarcastically, "let me guess, I don't get to visit Luxembourg now?", the scientist now pouted at her loss of a spectacular case. "No ma'am you will get to visit it now, and much sooner than you previously hoped, you plane leaves tomorrow at 9, be ready." and with that the door was closed and left behind was a very mad scientist ready to bring on her mad adventure. Maybe a nap before she needed to prepare.