Deadeye Read Free Page B

around the world by 786
shaheed
, or martyrs. Some were elderly couples, some were students, and some were infants. All chosen because they had spotless records, looked Western, or were clearly innocent. Like the babies.
    Twenty-two of them were prevented from entering the country they had been ordered to attack for one reason or another but the rest got through. Once they became ill, the
shaheed
sought out sports events, music festivals, and transportation terminals. Any place where there were lots of people.
    The results were just what Al Mumit had hoped for.
Bacillus nosilla
spread, thousands fell ill, and unknowingly communicated the disease to others. Within a matter of weeks, hundreds of thousands were infected—and they swarmed hospitals like Los Angeles General demanding a cure that didn’t exist.
    Sadly, people who were trying to get medical attention for the flu or some other common ailment contracted the plague while waiting in line. Some of them dropped dead and were stacked like cordwood until such time as hazmat-suited sanitation crews could come and haul the bodies away.
    Lee hadn’t been born yet. But her father was twenty-three at the time and a street cop. He told her about the panic, the lines that stretched for miles, and the violence that took place as people tried to crowd in. Neighboring Hazard Park had been fenced off and turned into a holding area where exhausted medical personnel worked day and night to sort people into three categories: those who were dying, those who might be infected, and those who were okay. Unfortunately, very few people fell into the third group.
    Some people survived the disease but suffered terrible mutations because of it. Of that group, some were carriers, and others weren’t. That made no difference however. “Norms,” meaning those who were found to be free of disease, didn’t want to mix with those who were infected, or to witness what
B. nosilla
did to its victims. So the mutants were forced into “recovery camps.”
    But it wasn’t long before the recovery camps were referred to as “relocation camps,” and the mutants were shipped east into states like Idaho, Nevada, and Wyoming. Meanwhile, a similar sorting process was taking place in other parts of the country. That resulted in the creation of norm-run states like Pacifica on the West Coast, Atlantica in the Northeast, and the Commonwealth in the Midwest.
    Meanwhile, mutants took charge of the Republic of Texas, which lay east of Pacifica, as well as the New Confederacy in the Deep South. Territorial disputes had been common during the early years, and wars had been fought, but a new normal had evolved. And the government of Pacifica wanted to preserve it.
    The sign over the entrance to the hospital read: THE CALIFORNIA CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES . But in all truth it was there for the purpose of treating
one
disease, and that was
Bacillus nosilla
. Before they could enter the hospital, the detectives had to pass through the screening center and put on disposable masks with the word VISITOR printed across them.
    Most of the staff were wearing masks that had been customized to look arty, funny, or featured caricatures of themselves. Such devices were popular on the streets as well—where many wore them for extra protection. Because so-called passers, meaning mutants who looked normal enough to “pass” as norms, continued to infiltrate Pacifica, hoping to better themselves.
    After showing their IDs to the security guard at the front desk, the detectives were allowed to enter the lobby beyond. The witness’s name was Reba Fuentes, and she was staying in room 326, awaiting a clean bill of health and the legal clearance that would allow her to leave LA.
    An elevator took the detectives to the third floor, where the doors opened onto a nurses’ station. Conti showed his ID, and the detectives were sent down a hall to room 326. The door was partially