Ignored by Omega

The day dragged and I left early. Traffic was substantially less than the day before. People had chosen to stay home and overdose on news or cry in their pillows. I noticed a lot of cars by a local church. It wasn't Sunday, but it looked like a Sunday mass crowd without the Sunday best duds. Entire families or groups were hugging or praying on their knees out in the open. In the past, I may have snickered or made a nasty comment about religion, but for some reason, I found myself understanding and thinking that our family could use some God help.

I almost hit the car in front and paid attention driving on the rest of the way home. When I pulled up on the driveway, Sharon's minivan was gone. She must be running an errand I thought. Or spending our money at the survival store buying guns and camo outfits for the family. Hey, you have to dress for the occasion when you're preparing for the worse in the 'burbs. Since the garage door was open, I went in through there.

Once inside I called out "I'm home".

Nothing. None of the usual sounds. No TV, no kids, no one. I checked the rooms upstairs. The girls' closet was open, and I almost didn't notice how it seemed half empty. The drawers on their dresser were out also part empty. No pillows on their beds. Favorite stuffed animals and some toys were also gone. By now I'm starting to worry.

I call for Jeffy, I mean Jeff, and hear nothing. His room is almost empty as well. No pillow, open drawers, no laptop. Posters he had on the wall were also missing. By the time I saw a similar scene in the master bedroom, I was in near panic. On the bed was a single sheet of paper pinned to a pillow that hadn't disappeared.

Jack,

There is no easy or nice way to say this, but I'm leaving you. The kids and I are going to my sister's in Miami, and from then our families are going away to hide. You don't need to know where, because I don't want you there or in my life anymore. It took this to make me realize how marrying you has been the biggest mistake in my life.

All I can say to you is I'll take care of the kids and keep them safe. The man in my life will do a better job of taking care of us than you ever could. If anything, right now I need a man around I can trust. You are not that man.

Sharon.

To say this about killed me would have been an understatement. Any man whose woman, especially his wife leaves him, even if he can't stand her has a bruised ego. But this was not just any woman and she didn't just take my car or trash my place. This was the mother of my children. She took my kids and ran to God knows where.

After the initial shock, walking around the house four or five times and punching the wall (that hurt by the way), I started thinking. She had a few hours lead on me and I knew her sister's address in the Miami northern suburbs. Assuming she didn't lie to throw me off her tail, I had to drive there or fly.

The first thing I did was checked our bank statement online. Nothing special there. But when I checked the second credit card, I saw it. Four tickets one way to CVG, Northern Kentucky airport. Ok, I had no clue why she was going there. We had no family or acquaintances in Kentucky. There was no other possibility. It had to be the guy she was with. I called the airport. The flight had left. Checking on the net I saw it was connecting in Dallas and then heading to its final destination.

Next stop, Face-book. I checked his account and sure enough, it was not limited to his followers. It took a few minutes to see that he was from there. Most of his friends were in El Paso like us, but his parents, two sisters, and assorted aunts and cousins were still back home. I bookmarked it on my laptop and tossed it in my carrying case. Then I drove like a maniac to the airport. It was a miracle that I wasn't stopped for speeding, reckless driving, or running a red light.

Then I left the car in a parking lot, (where it probably still is) and took a shuttle bus to the terminal. Lucky to find a first-class ticket with three connections, because economy class was booked. And even then, I could not fly to CVG as my family had. Instead, I was on my way to Dayton, Ohio. Just north of Cincinnati. While waiting to board, I rented a car to pick up on arrival.

In the plane, the hostess did what all hostesses do. I had taken plenty of business trips to know. But she was tense. Her hand was shaking when she gave me my drink. We glanced at each other briefly and there was a conversation that went unsaid.

"Sorry I spilled on your hand, but you see there is a plague out on the planet and I'm not myself". I smiled, nodded, and accepted the towel she offered with a polite nod and smile.

The woman sitting next to me made a face. A "you are only smiling at her because she is young and cute" face. But at that point, I was beyond caring what this stranger thought. Not my fault she had self-image issues. What was going on in my life was a bit more important.

"Have you seen the news?" the middle-aged woman asked.

"Hard to miss, I replied.

"It's disgusting what passes for hygiene in the third world," she replied with a snide look.

But unlike some people in the flight and the airport, she had no mask on. So much for HER hygiene. It didn't matter, we had been informed that the plague was transmitted by touch. Direct fluid exchange through biting. Or something like it.

I didn't reply at first. But then I decided that small talk might take my mind off the stress of the situation.

"I'm Jack," I said.

"Karen," she replied.

Yeah... she said, Karen. And in that instant, she saw my judgment of her in my face and I saw her response in hers. The only words we exchanged after that was for her to ask me to move my legs so she could go to the bathroom. So much for more legroom in first class.

After that, I dozed a bit until we got to Houston. Rushing so as not to miss it, I found my connecting flight boarding area, but had to wait for it to land. Schedules were starting to slip. I was lucky I had not missed the connection. Having little to do, I watched the news with many others waiting to connect in the waiting area.

CNN was reporting that cases were popping up all over Germany, Spain, Britain, and Italy. Russia was reporting some as well, but not in the big cities. Most of theirs were out east from refugees. In Europe, it seemed that it was planes bringing the infection. The panel was debating how long it would be before it spread elsewhere. Just like Corona.

My mind wondered why there were still flights coming in from infected nations. I hoped that people in government had learned from the Corona fiasco and would shut down international flights soon.

OK... stop laughing. Some. And I emphasize, some government people are decent and smart. But let's face it. Their bosses are politicians who worry more about their "position" than people's welfare. I don't give a shit what party they belong to. They all have that virus running amok for what passes for brains in politics.

Pardon my soapbox moment. But after going through Corona and losing a few million people worldwide, silly of me to expect a better response. OK... back to the TV news.

They cut to a scene similar to Baghdad at the Athens airport. The army had the place encircled and had shut the other airport down as it was battling a major outbreak. Some of the infected had escaped and were running amok in the eastern Athens suburbs. With half the population of Greece living in the Athens area, there was near panic by the authorities. Citizens were being told to stay indoors as martial law was declared.

A woman on the panel with a ridiculously long Greek name was going on about how it was the first time since the late 60's martial law had been declared there. And how the people were likely to ignore it. But the soldiers I saw driving down the streets with dog handlers and guns looked scary enough to keep me inside. Still, there were reports the highways to the north and west of the city were packed.

It was then I noticed uniformed police followed by soldiers in full combat gear near our gate. Our people in charge were taking no chances either. It would have taken an idiot not to see the pattern. Troops and police with dogs. Dogs could spot the infected and troops with guns had to shoot them in the head. Or anyone with a gun.

A gun! I had no gun. I had left ours in the safe. Just about everyone had one in Texas. But I was going on a plane where I could not bring it. And I didn't know the laws in Ohio. I made a mental note to get something when I got there. How do you get a gun with waiting periods in a state you don't live in? Something I would have to deal with. But not now.

Like everyone around me, I watched the chaos in the Greek streets as cops and soldiers battled a throng of infected down a city street. A mean-looking tank painted in green and brown patterns rumbled before the swarm. I'm sure the green and brown camo made it invincible to the infected who kept coming. It fired its big gun and machine guns but despite the hits on their bodies, most of them kept coming. It was Baghdad all over again, but worse as the soldiers realized they could not stop them.

A few months later, I met up with a Marine officer who had seen the same footage and he told me that the Greek soldiers, like others later who had to face large, infected packs, had been shocked into panic. And let's face it. Most were young and had a hard time accepting the fact that the dead were walking the earth even after being shot all over their bodies.

Most soldiers then had not learned to keep their cool, save their ammo by not firing automatic bursts. Most soldiers had been trained to shoot at "center of mass"; in the middle of the body so as not to miss. You have to be a hotshot to make a headshot on a moving enemy soldier. Most soldiers in war don't hit the enemy in their first engagement. Assuming they even get over the shock and fire at all. So many of them panicked and withdrew.

"Withdrew?" What a crock that was. They mainly ran to their vehicles and drove off, ran down the street tossing down their guns, or tried to hide in a house. And you guess it. Most were eventually trapped, attacked, and infected. It wasn't uncommon to see infected soldiers in the infected packs stumbling along with arms outstretched and moaning as they searched for uninfected pray to attack.

Their fellow uninfected soldiers had to face that and from what the Marine said. That it was heartbreaking to shoot at anyone in uniform. But they did. After all I have learned since, I now know that the soldiers I saw at Baghdad were the most disciplined in those first encounters. That's because the Marine told me, those Iraqi troops had faced outbreaks before. Only such troops fired at their own as soon as they saw them infected.

For some reason, the tank did not drive back with the retreating troops. It drove into the infected and crushed them to death. If you can call that death. If their head was not crushed, the undead were still flopping around looking for prey. Buttoned up, the crew was safe and kept its cool. The action gave the foot soldiers time to board their trucks. Together they all drove back to the city.

The CNN reporters were now frantically yelling at their fellow reporters in Greece to get out of there. They ran to their vehicle with the feed still on. It's been a long time, but the image of the road and their frantic yelling to each other is still in my mind. They got to their SUV, opened the doors, and were getting in when the infected reached them.

The cameraman was already in the back seat and brought the camera up giving us a live view. By then frantic, the female reporter was in the passenger seat screaming at the driver to move. He was just starting the engine when the infected reached in the open window and grabbed him. Had he closed the window, had they backed up in time, had they kept their cool... maybe they might have made it to safety. But the infected had yanked the driver out the window and only the screams of the reporter rivaled the man's screams of terror as the infected tore him to pieces outside the car.

The cameraman yelled at the woman to close his window, but she froze. He put the camera down, on something next to his seat. The camera must have been on its side as we could see the frantic cameraman try to reach over the seat and close the window. He screamed in pain and kept trying to reach the button or to get upfront, I guess. They got him too and he was fighting for his life when CNN cut the picture.

The faces of the CNN panel back in the states were beyond shocked. One man was repeatedly tugging his beard while he stared at the studio screen now showing the CNN logo. The female moderator was trying not to cry and failing at it. Just like myself, the people around me were in similar shock. We had just watched a massacre.

I could hear sobs and comments of "Oh My God!" or "Did you see that?" all around me. But most people were like me. Numb. An airline official got on the intercom and announced that our flight would be boarding. To say that the flight from Houston to Chicago was tense among the passengers was an understatement. We sat in our seats and tried to come to terms with what we had seen. But how does a person accept that the dead walked the earth and hungered for human flesh? Not even corona had prepared us for that.

In those early days, TV coverage did a lot to spread the panic. Most networks tried to have medical experts explain the plague. But most would say it was unknown. And while some now think they know where it came from. I think it's all guessing. Conjecture.

Maybe it was a lab researching in China like Corona; since we now accept that the first cases were there. Or the infection came attached to the asteroid that hit central China about that time. Or from the Chinese astronauts that had returned from a mission just before. Did it matter?

All we know is that this thing spread. Like wildfire! And that the idiots running the Chinese dictatorship didn't want to let anyone know how bad it was just like with Corona. Not until they lost any control they had, and it spread all over through plane flights, organs for sale, and refugees. But spread it did. By then, no one trusted the Chinese government, but it was too late.

Having gotten away with it the first time, the Chinese party bosses thought they would again. That they could threaten to cut off the flow of cheap goods as they had done before. In some way, they were worse than the Arab Oil countries threatening an embargo. But not this time.

This time, by the end of the third day of the crisis, most nations had shut down flights from China. No one said it was racism this time. And any businessperson who dared call the White House and complain was bluntly ignored. We would not find out for some time, but Australia had ordered two airliners to return to China. One did. The other refused and was promptly shut down. But we didn't know that then and would not find out about it and other incidents until much later. And this was just the second day after the crisis began.

By the time we reached Chicago. I was convinced this would get to the US and soon. It had gotten out of hand and the authorities were not able to contain it. Oh, they said they would, but they were still dithering in Washington. Politicians argued if they should close the borders and stop inbound flights. And sure enough, right before we boarded at O'Hare airport, FOX broke the story of an outbreak in Philadelphia. From what I learned later, the decision to shut down flights and the border was made right after that report.

Frantically, I speed-dialed Sharon. Surprisingly, she answered. But it was Jeff, not her.

"Dad?" he replied. /i> "Where are you?"

"Jeff" I tried to say, but my voice broke. I knew that I had seconds to get some information from him before she got hold of the phone. "Jeff don't say my name and keep calm. OK?"

"OK, Da..." he almost said it but stopped and composed himself.

"Tell me quickly where you are."

"We are at this guy's mom's house. It's north of Cincinnati. We took highway 71 to get here. She has us living in the garage. Mom is in the bathroom in the house."

"Look son", without realizing it I was sounding like my father. Maybe it was about time I started acting like one. "Stay safe, keep watch over your sisters, and don't say anything to your mom about my call. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Dad... and Dad, please come get us. Ok? Do you want the address?"

The kid was a miracle in so many ways.

"You have it? I mean, yes." I reached for a pen and wrote it down on my appointment book. "Jeff, I have to go. I love you. Kiss your sisters for me."

"Do I have to do that?"

I think I laughed. Am positive I did. Weird that a person can laugh at the oddest moments. It's one of my fondest memories.

We said goodbye and I was the last to board the plane. On the way there I went to the bathroom and cried. As much as I tried to keep it together, I was barely doing so.

After we landed at Dayton, I picked up the rental. Then I managed to get on the right highway and head south to Cincinnati. I had an all-news and talk station that carried ABC special reports and live news. The Philadelphia outbreak was out of control. Infected people were infecting others and so on and so on. The government had closed all air traffic; finally. But not inside the nation. That was coming by the talk from Washington. I had gotten to Ohio just in time.

By now I knew that to get the kids out of town I would have to drive out. But first I had to get them away from their mother. A thousand versions of how-to went through my head. It's why I missed the news the first time. But somehow, I did manage to snap out of it and listen.

"...we repeat. There is an out brake reported in the Cincinnati area. The police are responding to groups of people attacking shoppers at Kenwood mall. Which is down the street from our studios off I-71. Please remain calm and stay indoors. The police are asking that you do not open the door to anyone you do not know, no matter what..."

The police. They had as much chance of stopping this here as anywhere else it had been tried. By the time I reached the northern Cincinnati suburbs. And that is as far as I got. National Guard roadblocks and the declaration of martial law got in the way. But it didn't stop me from taking side roads.

It took me most of the evening, but I managed to make it to Kenwood, Oh. All along the way, people were abandoning the area; turning in to refugees you see in other nations. There were cars full of families and belongings headed north past me. I stopped for gas and managed to be one of the last customers. There were already fights at the pumps and stores.

When I finally reached the house my family was at, it was abandoned. I stayed in the area and asked neighbor, after neighbor if they knew the family. I was knocking on the door of the new guy's sister's home when a man came out with a gun and told me to leave or he would kill me. I tried to explain, but he shot at my feet. I begged him to listen and just then a small blond woman in her mid to late thirties came to the door with a gun in her hand.

Frantic that I was so close to anyone that could help, I told them both why I was there. That all I wanted was to see my kids and protect them. He did not look convinced. But she lowered the gun and took a deep breath.

"My brother, the woman... your wife and kids, are on the way to my grandparents in Indiana. We are going in a few minutes. I'm sorry about what your wife and my brother did. She should not have taken the kids away from you at a time like this. My brother is an idiot."