The Vaccine

By summers end the Death Angel had killed an estimated 27 million people in the Americas. That's nearly 1/3 of the total population. The quarantine had prevented the spread of the disease but it still hadn't stamped it out completely. Just as the government had promised a new vaccine was developed by Pfizer and was set for distribution starting September 1st. Before Dan was killed in the medical center raid he had sent me some copies of all of his research on the virus and the vaccine. I think he must have known he was being watched and that his life was in danger. Dan's research was indicating that the vaccine could have possible adverse effects on those of us with the mutated DNA. It was suggested that the vaccine carried a component that directly attacked the Indigo Gene and destruction of this gene could lead to serious injury and potentially even death. Not a reassuring feeling when the nation, feeling an increased aggrivation from being isolated in their homes, was eagerly awaiting their Salvation Vaccine. The magical shot that will make everything that is wrong in this world all better. I knew this was a great fantasy that would probably not end in a happiness and dancing unicorns. At least not for some of us. The media had announced that the President herself would be addressing the nation Friday evening. One could only assume it was about the vaccination programs and the details on the process. We all gathered at our house to watch.

It was all too reminicent of that night where we sat in Reubens family room and listened as our lives changes irrevocably. This time the children did not go outside and play, they each one sat in nervous anticipation. We had all changed together and their young lives, we knew, would never ever share the innocence of the world we had grown up in. The news channel hushed as the screen changed to the President, sitting at her desk in the oval office. To her one side the director of the CDC Charles Clifton. The camera panned into President Dobson as she smiled for her big moment.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the American Allegence after several months of dilligence on the part of the American people we have seen a drastic dip in the occurances of RV 16-1. While we have lost so many and nothing can be done to console those who lost loved ones to this terrible disease. We can say that we have seen 1/3 less loss of life to the virus than the rest of the world suffered in the earlier outbreaks. While dealing with a stronger virus that adapted before it reached our shores we still fought hard and won the battle. Now it is time to win the war! This week, most of you have heard that Pfizer has announced the production of a successful vaccine for Rv16-1. Here today to speak to you about the plan being set for by the CDC to get every single citizen vaccinated and protected is Director of the Center for Disease Control Mr. Charles Clifton."

The camera then panned over to the frumpy black man who was wearing a peculiar pale green tie. "Good afternoon. This is the most pleasing announcement I have had to give in a very long time. Ain't that a blessing from the Lord? We are so very proud to have this week approved the vaccine that our partner company Pfizer has produced. We have had several successful rounds of testing done on the vaccine and have seen nothing but positive results. I am certain that this drug will irradicate this disease just as we stamped smallpox out of existance a quater of a century ago. Just how even farther back we stopped polio right in its tracks from continuing to cripple American children. This vaccine will bring a victory to the human race once every single American has been dosed. That brings me to the next part, how do we vaccinate the entire remaining population? Well, believe you me, we have a plan. Just as we have ensured that every single person was provided for with food, water and the necessities to live during this tough quarantine, we have a strategic plan to see to it that every household is vaccinated by the end of this year. That is correct, we believe we can have this quarantine lifted possibly as soon as Christmas. I would like to see to it that every one of you have the ability to spend the holiday reunited with the family you have all had to be separated from for so very long. So how do we do that? Well we have labs across the nation currently producing this vaccine as quickly and massively as possible. We will then begin, on Monday, sending out trained medical personel along with the ration deliveries who will immunize each household starting with the most vulnerable, children under the age of 12, elderly over the age of 65 and immune system compromised adults such as pregnant women, or those with medical conditions. Once we have the most vulnerable vaccinated then we will proceed to the adults by a birthdate. Now I know there has been some speculation around the internet as to the safety of the vaccine and I am first and foremost going to assure you that I am so certain the vaccine is safe that I am going to have myself vaccinated right now for all of the world to see." He smiled as he lifted his arm sleeve and a nurse stepped into the screen.

"Hi, my name is Tara and I have been working dilligently to care for the sick and dying during the past four months. It is such an honor to finally feel I can say that we are fighting back." she smiled and held a package up to the camera, "As you can see this package is marked DAV Vaccine and it is labeled with the dosage for an adult over 100 lbs. I think you qualify Chuck." they laughed, "it gives me an expiration of `11/2020 so we have a nice fresh vaccine ready to be administered." she opened the packaging and took out a strange looking device that didn't look like any sort of needle I had ever seen before. "Some of you may notice that this is an unusual form of vaccination, not your typical intra muscular needle. This actually is far less painful that a typical shot. It really just has these thirteen small needles that merely prick the skin. " She took the device and placed it on the CDC directors inner wrist, "This vaccination will bubble up with a blister similiar to the blister the disease itself produces and it will leave a scar after the blister dries up and falls off. Some of you older vaccinated Americans may have a similiar scar from the smallpox vaccines you recieved when you were young. This one will leave a scar that will look like this." she held her arm up and showed a triangular shaped scar that had the thirteen prick marks darkened around it. "Well that is it, Mr. Clifton, you will now be completely protected against the Death Angel Virus."

"Thank you Tara and I hope that this will help set the minds of each and every one of you at ease that this vaccine is not only harmless but life saving." he smiled sickeningly. "So lifesaving that we cannot allow even one person to go unvaccinated. We cannot give this killer disease the ability to keep going. In order to ensure that exact thing, we will be imposing some strict standards when it comes to this mass vaccination. Every single person will be required to submit to the dosing and we will not hesitate to arrest anyone not willing to be vaccinated. Parent considering to resist allowing their children this life saving vaccine will be considered a danger to their childs well being and the children will be removed from the parents home. I know that some of you might cry a violation to your civil liberties but I say this is a matter of national security and we cannot allow uneducated ideals to compromise the health and well being of this great nation."

At that point Sage, of course, went into melt down mode and there wasn't anymore watching of the broad cast in our house. "No way! They cannot do that! they can't force us to put that poison into our children!" she screamed. And while I agreed that it was a gross injustice and that acording to the late Dr. Dan probably truely a poison to those who were like us. I also knew that there was no way we would be able to fight the government on this one. They were serious about moving forward and nothing anyone would say or do was going to stop them. And in all reality, who would back us up if we did try to fight it. Most people were so terrified of contracting this disease that they would most likely sell their souls to try to get their hands on this salvation. We were going to have to find a different way around it.

"What exactly do you propose we do? We can't fight them and we can't run away from them since a quarantine is still in effect. This is a loose-loose situation." I groaned.

"We could fight them, were the ones with powers, not them!" she argued.

Reuben jumped up furiously, "You're a complete idiot! If that component in the vaccine is in there because they want our kind dead do you think exposing ourselves and our powers is the way to save ourselves? You give them proof we are who we are and they will kill every single one of us right then and there! This isn't some conspiracy theory bullshit, this is real shit with real consequences!"

"Hey! Don't talk to my wife that way!" Jack shouted.

"You need to set your wife straight. If we don't handle this situation in just the right manner were gonna end up like the Dirty Doctor, with a bullet through our brains!" Reuben had never been a fan of Sage, much like the rest of us but he never hesitated to be vocal about it. My brother never was one to worry about whether he hurt someones feelings or not, especially when the safety of his family was at stake.

"How can I set her straight when I agree with her, we can't let those people give our kids that vaccine," Jack argued.

Reuben threw his arms upin the air, "I am not saying we should let them vaccinate us, I am saying we need to figure out the best way to avoid the vaccinations. A way without exposing ourselves and our abilities."
"Who cares if they know who we are, there are some people out there showing the world that we exist and that they are not ashamed. This group I have gotton into contact with on Skye Net called Leigon. They are fighting back and we can fight back too!" Sage huffed loudly opening her laptop.

"Leigon? What the Hell? We aren't Super Heroes, we are joining a group of radicals who are parading around in capes and fighting the corupt government! We are just a family who happens to have ended up with some weird shit we can do. A family who wants to see their children grow up and have a safe place in this world. A family who wants to survive. That's it, all that other bull shit doesn't matter. That baby, right there, that your niece is holding, your son, he wants to survive. That's what matters. Nothing else!" Reuben stormed off, Sam, Beth and Liza quietly gathered up the kids and headed back down the trail to their house.
I could tell that Jack and Sage were carrying on a conversation in their minds which I assume was them judging our lack of bravery and our lack of compulsion to fight the powers that be. Jack was probably tucking his testicles between his legs and telling her how right she was and how cowardly we all were being. Jack grabbed the boys and they headed downstairs without much to say out loud. We all just sat there stairing at eachother wondering, "Now what?" We had until Wednesday when our block would be serviced to figure that out.

Most of the weekend was spent largely divided. Jack and Sage stayed to themselves, Jack didn't even come up and practice with Sol wich I could see was quite bothersome to my husband. Sage mostly worked in the garden harvesting as much food as she could. Harper came home Saturday morning and we occupied our time over at Sam's mulling over possible ideas of how to handle the situation. We thought possibly we could hide ourselves away and not be there when they knocked on the door but that would only buy us a small amount of time and would likely raise huge red flags. We were at a loss.

I had a web chat session with everyone I could reach to try and appeal to them to not allow vaccination. Oteika and Jesse seemed in wonderful spirits. They were having far too much fun together apparently Jesse had introduced her to XBOX 360 and she was hooked. I hadn't heard from Marta and May in a while and wasn't at all sure whether they made it through the virus or not. I was assuming not.

Josslyn and Rosie were still tucked away the mountains. Apparently they weren't too worried about the vaccine since they hadn't even seen rations, they didn't believe anyone knew they were up there. Josslyn told us they had been living off the food stored in the kitchen of the restaraunt and that there were a few other campers in the campground who were huntersand fishermen and that had kept them stocked in elk, venison and lots of salmon. Josslyn told us that they were staying at a hot springs resort. It had a main lodge where there was a restaraunt and gift shop. Then it had probably 30 cabins of various sizes and an RV campground also. It sounded like they other campers were like minded and all ended up having the virus and coming out of it, much like us. She said that if we could make it up there somehow that there was ample room and resources to handle the entire group. A very good option if we could find a way up there. She even said that the main road in could be completely blocked off with enough man power. Something to consider we thought but how could we get 9 adults, 11 kids, a dog, a cat and 3 frogs up into the mountains without detection?
The outlook seemed bleak, good thing we had until Wednesday to come up with a plan. So far, it was looking like the best idea would be to hide out in the woods and buy ourselves some time. We started working our way into the deep forest finding trees and hide-aways for each of us so we could get there quickly and easily. We thought that Tuesday night we would camp out in the woods so when they came Wednesday morning they would find an empty cul de sac. We began taking food and water down to our hidden camp and various other supplies. In fact, that is what most of us were doing when our plan went terribly awry!

Later afternoon on Monday all of the kids were over at our house with Ember and Azure while the adults (minus Sage who was refusing to participate in cowardly hiding) worked hard on our hide out. Ember came running into the woods crying hysterically, when I finally calmed her down enough for her to catch her breath she wheezed, "They took them! Mom, the kids, they took them!"

"What do you mean they took them? Ember, who took them?" I asked, I couldn't comprehend what was being said, it made no sense.

"The people, the government, they came to vaccinate the kids and then Sage...she...oh God Mom they took them!" she cried. Reuben began to run up the trail and we quickly followed.

When we got inside Ember was sitting at the table reading some paperwork that had been left with them, Sage sat in the chair next to the play pen blubbering how sorry she was over and over.

"What the fuck happened?" Sol demanded, he was a man of few words but when he spoke he made it count.

Azure spoke up, looking up from the documents she was examining, "They came to vaccinate the kids, Sage told them no and they argued, then they zip tied her hands and lined all the kids up against the wall."

"Argued? You argued with them! Jesus! What did I tell you, IDIOT!" Reuben ranted.

Azure continued, "They took down all of our information and called it in, they took all the kids except Jasper and Shiloh because they couldn't facilitate that young immediately."

"Why didn't they take you girls? You're still children." Sam inquired holding Shiloh so tight it looked like she was squeezing the life out of her.

"They said we could make the choice for ourselves whether we would take the vaccine or not and that if we didn't we would be tried as adults...we had to say no, right?" Ember quivered.

I hugged her, "You had to, you did the right thing."

"So Hami's...gone?" Harper said with a look of shock, her face was drained of color. Hami had been the only man in Harpers life that had stayed with her through thick and thin. Hami was her Little Man and she wouuld be lost without him.

Azure knodded sadly.

Sam teared up rocking Shiloh, "Gabe and Zeke. My babies are gone..."

"No, fuck that, I'm getting my shot gun and I'm going to find my boys!" shouted Reuben.

"You can't go after them Reub, thats not going to help. Anyways you won't have any clue where to find them. The police will have you arrested for breaking quarantine before you get out of the neighborhood." Reasoned Bethany.

"She's right." I added noticing something odd. I walked over to the terrerium. I have no idea why I was counting frogs but there was definitely four, not three, four, "Griffen." I whispered tapping on the tank. Suddenly one of the frogs sprang out of the tank and shifted into my grinning little boy. I grabbed him about as tight as Sam squeezed Shiloh, "you clever, clever boy!"

"Jonah is clever too aren't you Jonah!" Griffen said looking over toward the tv.

I heard his voice reply but I had no idea where it came from, "Ya me too! We tricked them, Griffen and I, we tricked them." Slowly I was able to make out an outline of my nephew appearing from thin air. Jonah had finally discovered his special ability and in the most spectacular way, invisibility...brilliant!

The good news that Jonah and Griffen had fallen under the radar faded quickly into the realityt that we still had five children to find.

"They have to have some place they take them to for holding. How would we find that out Harper? You work in a medical center, where do they send the people to they come take?"

"Um, there's a database that finds placements for certain patients and they send out trucks to pick them up. But I only get a truck number assignment, it doesn't tell me where the trucks go."

"Marco! Marco is a hacker, he can hack into the database and find out where they were taken! I will go email him right now!" I hopped on SkyeNet and preparred an email:

RICKY: Hey little brother we have run into a problem! The CDC showed up early to vaccinate and there was an altercation. When Sage refused to allow them to vaccinate (which in her defense it was the right choice) they rounded up the children and took them in. Need Marco's help hacking into the data base that Harper uses at work to have people placed into CDC holding facilities. I know its dangerous but it's our only chance! Have him look for Sebastian and Alexis, Hami, Gabriel and Zeke Talk to you soon. EZ

He messaged back immediately:
Nothing is too dangerous for our niece and nephews! We know if it were Fiona, Adele or Nate you would do the same. Marco said he needs you to link up to him from your work computers so he can gain access to the system. From there he said it, being a government agency, will like be heavily encrypted but he will do the best that he can. When is Harper going to be working? You need to get out of the cul de sac ASAP! They will be back to arrest or possibly kill the rest of you. It happened to other Legion members. Get Marco access then get out of town! Take care Sis! Ricky

I replied:
She works tonight, we will leave in the AM. Not sure where we will be headed but we will stay in touch. And tell Marco Thank You and that we love you all! EZ