Return to Normalcy

We are finally settled in at the National Institute of Health located in Bethesda, MD. The scientists were very happy to see us. As expected, they did a blood draw on us and agreed that my wife & I can stay together as long as we follow infection control procedures. They have to determine whether she is immune or if she has become a carrier. They said the blood work will take a couple days due to the extensive testing to be performed. They asked my wife a long series of questions like, "Do you remember anything from being infected?" and "How long ago did you come around from the infection?" Their questions seemed logical enough; probably some are to determine if the infected have any cognitive ability. Surprisingly she did remember some things from her time being infected. She recalled speaking to me but my not being able to understand her.

I was curious as to what makes this infection tick as it were. While they don’t know everything, they did tell us what they do know. It was explained that when the infection takes hold, it attacks the cerebellum, cerebral cortex and the medulla oblongata. The cerebral cortex jumbles the words so you intend to say are like, 'the sky is blue' but it comes out as gibberish. The cerebral cortex also controls higher functions such as thinking, memory, and cognition. The cerebellum controls motor skills which are why people stagger when infected. The medulla oblongata, commonly referred to as the "reptile brain" is a more primitive part of the brain and if this part of the brain comes under attack, it can cause very violent behavior as it wouldn't function properly. So, when all three are attacked, people can appear to be in a zombie-like state however they are very much alive; a perfect "brain" storm as the scientists put it.

They hope to find out more about how this virus works thanks to my wife’s blood. I ask them how are they going to test the potential cure and they apparently have a few infected they captured down in the lab. They will test it on a couple animals first to ensure it is safe for testing. Their perspective is that we’ve already lost enough people; we should try not to lose any more. They then take their leave of us and we have pretty much the run of the place. The first thing we are going to do is take a nap since we have been on the go for days, sleeping only when it is relatively safe to do so by finding shelter along the way.