Upon landing in the US, the CDC had held him at the airport while they tested him for the virus. The CDC and health agencies worldwide were now calling it “X1-Mandera,” as tests had confirmed that the flu and the hemorrhagic fever were in fact caused by the same virus, which mutated inside the body. Millen had breathed a sigh of relief when his results came back negative. He wasn’t about to take any chances of getting infected now.

When he was sure the suit was airtight, he disconnected the hose, taped his inner gloves to his scrubs and checked them for punctures, then slid into the suit and donned the helmet. He braced himself on the bar-height steel table while pulling on a pair of rubber boots.

The entrance to the lab reminded him of the entrance to a spaceship. A door with a keypad loomed. He punched in his code and watched the red light turn green. The door opened with a pop, and Millen shuffled in and made his way across the room, past several researchers hunched over computers and microscopes. He connected his suit to a hose hanging down, then activated the speaker.

“How’re you feeling today?”

Halima sat up on the bed, recognized Millen’s face through the helmet, and smiled. “Good.”

“Are they treating you okay?”

“Yes.” She pointed to a portable DVD player lying on the bed. On the table behind her was a stack of DVD box sets including seasons of Seinfeld, LOST, Alias, 24, and The Big Bang Theory. “They brought me some TV to watch. It’s incredible.”

The other villager, Tian, the young boy who didn’t speak English, was asleep on the bed beside Halima’s.

“How’s the food?” Millen asked.

“Fine.”

She glanced at the suited researchers behind Millen. “Are they close to finding a cure?”

He knew they had made little progress—and that the last few days had been pretty tough on the Kenyan teenager.

“They’re very optimistic,” he said. That was a bit of a stretch, but the truth seemed too harsh for what she was going through. “We appreciate what you’re doing very much, Halima.”

“I’m glad to do it.” She held up the small DVD player. “Wanna watch LOST? I’m on season two. They just got in the hatch.”

“Wish I could. My shift is about to start. I’ll come back after though, okay?”

Outside the lab, with his suit still on, Millen waded into the chemical shower that lasted three minutes. After doffing the suit, he showered his body, which was covered in sweat, and changed back into his clothes in the locker room.