“Thank God you’re here,” I said to them when they got to me.

Their feet made a slipping plastic sound on the porch’s wooden floor, and they did not bother to introduce themselves as the only woman on the team handed me a folded orange suit.

“It’s probably a little late,” I said.

“It can’t hurt.” Her eyes met mine, and she didn’t look much older than Lucy. “Go ahead and put it on.”

It had the consistency of a shower liner, and I sat on the glider and pulled it over my shoes and clothes. The hood was transparent with a bib I tied securely around my chest. I turned on the pack at the back of my waist.

“She’s upstairs,” I said over the noise of air rushing in my ears.

I led the way and they carried up the litter. For a moment, they were silent when they saw what was on the bed.

A scientist said, “Jesus. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Everyone started talking fast.

“Wrap her up in the sheets.”

“Pouched and sealed.”

“Everything on the bed, linens, gotta go in the autoclave.”

“Shit. What do we do? Burn the house?”

I went into the bathroom and collected towels off the floor while they lifted her shrouded body. She was slippery and uncooperative as they struggled to get her from the bed inside the portable isolator designed with the living in mind. They sealed plastic flaps, and the sight of a pouched body inside what looked like an oxygen tent was jolting, even to me. They lifted the litter by either end and we made our way back down the stairs and out onto the street.

“What about after we leave?” I asked.

“Three of us will stay,” one of them replied. “We got another chopper coming in tomorrow.”

We were intercepted by another suited scientist carrying a metal canister not so different from what exterminators use. He decontaminated us and the litter, spraying a chemical while people continued to gather and stare. The Coast Guard was by Crockett’s truck, Crockett and Martinez talking to each other. I went to speak to them, and they were clearly put off by my protective clothing, and not so subtly stepped away.

“This house has got to be sealed,” I said to Crockett. “Until we know with certainty what we’re dealing with here, no one goes in or near it.”

He had his hands in the pockets of his jacket and was blinking a lot.

“I need to be notified immediately if anyone else here gets sick,” I said to him.

“This time of year they have sickness,” he said. “They get the bug. Some take the cold.”

“If they get a fever, backache, break out in a rash,” I said to him, “call me or my office right away. These people are here to help you.” I pointed to the team.

The expression on his face made it very clear he wanted no one staying here, on his island.