He returned to the aid agencies building, found Dhamiria, and took her by the hand. “I understand if you want to stay.”

“You know me better than that, Elim. Wherever you go, I’ll go too.”

In Hannah’s room, he inspected the young physician. She was stable, but the virus was advancing. Elim had been treating a secondary bacterial infection, which he was quite worried about. The gunshot wound that had gone untreated for too long was likely to blame. She needed IV antibiotics, but Elim had none to give her. She was asleep now, and he was glad; the rest was good for her.

“Will we take her with us?” Dhamiria asked.

“Yes. It’s her only chance.”

Elim barely slept that night. It seemed like there were a million things to do. He wrote endless notes to the nurses who would assume his duties when he departed (there were still thousands of people too sick to travel). He inventoried the supplies on hand, dividing up what would go and what would stay.

From the window in his small office, he watched the crowd gather at the trucks. They lined up, carrying sacks and backpacks and pushing carts with their belongings. Smoke from the fires rose into the sky, forming black clouds that hung over the camp and the mood of everyone within.

Dhamiria pushed the door open and walked to Elim’s side. “They’ve loaded her up.”

He nodded and rose. “Are you sure?”

She kissed him and squeezed his hand. “Let’s go.”

Outside, Elim surveyed the crowd. It was amazing: over half the people who had gathered yesterday were here. Elim guessed there were four thousand people standing ready to join him.

To the nearest driver, he said, “We’re going to need more trucks.”

Chapter 87

Chapter 87

In the conference room at the CDC’s Emergency Operations Center, Millen and the other shift supervisors listened as Phil Stevens stood before the large flat screen and briefed them.

“Two hours ago, the United States government, as well as governments around the world, were contacted by an organization that calls themselves ‘the Citium.’ The heads of watch were briefed an hour ago. We requested, and were granted, permission to play this message the White House received.”

Stevens sat and worked the touchpad on his laptop. A recording began playing over the conference room’s speakers.

“The Citium is a group of scientists and intellectuals dedicated to improving human existence through science. We have watched in horror as the X1-Mandera pandemic has decimated the world. We can stand by no longer. We have developed a cure for the virus—an antiviral that we have tested and used to cure thousands in our trials. We offer that cure to you and your citizens.