Containment Failure (A Special Agent Dylan Kane Thriller, Book #2) Read online

  From the Back Cover

  FROM USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR J. ROBERT KENNEDY

  THE BLACK DEATH KILLED ALMOST HALF OF EUROPE’S POPULATION. THIS TIME IT WILL BE BILLIONS.

  New Orleans has been quarantined, an unknown virus sweeping the city, killing one hundred percent of those infected. The Centers for Disease Control, desperate to find a cure, is approached by BioDyne Pharma who reveal a former employee has turned a cutting edge medical treatment capable of targeting specific genetic sequences into a weapon, and released it.

  CIA Special Agent Dylan Kane has been given one guideline from his boss: consider yourself unleashed, leaving Kane and New Orleans Police Detective Isabelle Laprise battling to stay alive as an insidious disease and terrified mobs spread through the city while they desperately seek those behind the greatest crime ever perpetrated.

  The stakes have never been higher as Kane battles to save not only his friends and the country he loves, but all of mankind.

  In Containment Failure USA Today bestselling author J. Robert Kennedy delivers a terrifying tale of what could happen when science goes mad, with enough sorrow, heartbreak, laughs and passion to keep readers on the edge of their seats until the chilling conclusion.

  About J. Robert Kennedy

  USA Today bestselling author J. Robert Kennedy has been ranked by Amazon as the #1 Bestselling Action Adventure novelist based upon combined sales. He is the author of over twenty international bestsellers including the smash hit James Acton Thrillers series of which the first installment, The Protocol, has been on the bestseller list in the US and UK since its release, including occupying the number one spot for three months.

  He lives with his wife and daughter and writes full-time.

  "If you want fast and furious, if you can cope with a high body count, most of all if you like to be hugely entertained, then you can't do much better than J Robert Kennedy."

  Amazon Vine Voice Reviewer

  Find out more at www.jrobertkennedy.com.

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  Books by J. Robert Kennedy

  The James Acton Thrillers

  The Protocol

  Brass Monkey

  Broken Dove

  The Templar's Relic

  Flags of Sin

  The Arab Fall

  The Circle of Eight

  The Venice Code

  Pompeii's Ghosts

  Amazon Burning

  The Riddle

  Blood Relics

  The Special Agent Dylan Kane Thrillers

  Rogue Operator

  Containment Failure

  Cold Warriors

  Death to America

  The Delta Force Unleashed Thrillers

  Payback

  Infidels

  The Detective Shakespeare Mysteries

  Depraved Difference

  Tick Tock

  The Redeemer

  Zander Varga, Vampire Detective Series

  The Turned

  CONTAINMENT FAILURE

  A Special Agent Dylan Kane Thriller

  Book #2

  by

  J. Robert Kennedy

  CONTAINMENT FAILURE

  By J. Robert Kennedy

  Copyright ©2013 J. Robert Kennedy

  Smashwords Edition

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  First Edition

  1.1

  Table of Contents

  The Novel

  Acknowledgements

  Thank You from the Author

  Newsletter

  About the Author

  Also by the Author

  For Gary and Daryl.

  Friends gone, but not forgotten.

  “The idea of infection began to be taken far more seriously than it ever had before. Hospitals transformed themselves in response to the new plague - sometimes for the better, but often for the worse, as when, in fear, they cast their ulcerated patients out into the streets.”

  Peter Lewis Allen

  “There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed.”

  Mahatma Gandhi

  PREFACE

  The Black Death is the most devastating plague in recorded history. At its peak during 1348-1350 AD, it reduced the population of Europe by anywhere from 30 to 60 percent. Europe took 150 years to recover its lost population, and centuries to recover from the religious, political and social chaos that resulted.

  Imagine where America would be tomorrow, if today, one hundred fifty million of its citizens were to die, along with half the populations of its trading partners.

  The science described in what follows has been simplified for dramatic purposes, however the concepts described are real, and are cutting edge techniques that will be available in the near future. What is described can happen, what motivates it has happened. The horror that unfolds may very well be a scenario that if not we, then our children, will soon face. To dismiss the possibility is to ignore history.

  Inside the Quarantine Zone

  Outbreak Day #11

  Kyle Patrick motioned for everyone to get down as a troop transport rolled by, its rear filled with people just like him, desperate to escape the plague ravaging this once proud city. He looked back and gave his parents a slight smile. He could tell his mother was tired. They had been dodging patrols and overhead drones for hours as they made their way through the nearly deserted streets from his parents’ house to the border of the quarantine.

  He looked up for a drone or helicopter, and seeing none, moved from around the concrete barrier and inched forward, watching for any additional patrols. Clear, he darted across the road and into an alley, double-checking for any more troops, then motioned the others forward.

  His father helped his mother across the road, followed by two more families they had found, both with little children, all equally scared. None of them were displaying symptoms, and none of them wanted that to change. They weren’t infected, but if they stayed within the city limits, they knew they might eventually catch it. When the President had ordered the total containment of the city, they had been shocked, and as the footage continued to play out on television showing tens of thousands of troops surrounding the city, of the airport being shutdown, all outbound flights still in the air being forced to return, train and boat traffic stopped, freeways being shut down, and people being forced back into the city limits at gunpoint by soldiers in hazmat suits, they knew they had to get out of here, and their time was running out.

  Within hours the cordon would be complete, and there’d be no means of escape. It had been a family conference like no other. His mother had wanted to stay put and take their chances. Kyle knew she was as scared as they were, but he figured she didn’t feel she could make the journey. Luckily they lived in the outskirts, so the quarantine zone wasn’t that far, and he and his dad had convinced her she could make it. She had proven a trooper, but the exhausted look on her face as his parents cleared the street had him very conce
rned.

  “You guys rest, I’m going to scout ahead.” He pulled out his cellphone and brought up a map of their GPS location. “According to this in less than a quarter mile we’ll hit farmland. We just need to get there, and we’re out of the quarantine zone.” He put a hand on his mother’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “I’ll be back in half an hour. You guys keep out of sight and rest.”

  Kyle then turned and ran down the alleyway, coming to a halt at the end then quickly looking left and right then up. Clear. He darted across the street, past several more houses, over a fence, through a ditch, then as he crested the top of the ditch and pushed through some tall grass along its edge he suddenly emerged in pristine farmland.

  And nearly cried in happiness. Carefully scanning the area, he saw no one, civilian or military. Overhead a drone circled and he scurried back to the ditch, rolling down the side and into the cold mud and water at the bottom. He flipped over on his back, staring up to see if he could spot the drone, but it was out of sight. He pushed himself to his knees, then a crouch, and spotted it leaving to the west.

  Climbing up the other side of the ditch, he pulled a pair of cutters from his backpack and cut a hole in the fence so it wouldn’t slow them up when making their escape. He took a swig of water from a bottle, then making sure the coast was clear, quickly returned to where he had left the others.

  And they weren’t there.

  “Mom! Dad!” he called in a hoarse whisper.

  Nothing.

  The gnashing of gears and roar of an accelerating engine had him jumping for cover. There was a mandatory stay-at-home order for all non-essential personnel, and he and his parents were definitely non-essential. He didn’t know about the others. He didn’t care. He just needed to get his folks to the other side of the quarantine zone, then to their family in Lafitte who would hide them. A call had already been placed and his uncle would be waiting for them not five miles from here.

  Another transport went by, the rear loaded with more people, but from his vantage point, he couldn’t tell if any of them were his parents.

  He was starting to get worried.

  He scanned the ground for any evidence of a scuffle, but could see nothing. If you had to hide, where would you hide? He spotted a side door to the building he was hugging, and approached. He tapped three times, gingerly.

  Nothing.

  “It’s me, Kyle!” he said, only as loud as he thought he needed to be heard through the door.

  The knob turned and the door opened an inch, then pushed open all the way as he was hauled inside. At first he was shocked, but as soon as the door closed a light flicked on and he was surrounded by his parents and the two other families.

  They were all eating food from what looked like a storeroom, filling up on water and apparently using the services of a toilet in the back, the wife of one of the men just exiting, jumping slightly at the sight of him. He looked at himself, realizing he must look a mess from the ditch.

  “Oh thank God!” exclaimed his mother, hugging him. “We were so worried!”

  “What is this place?”

  “Mom and pop store,” said his father. “I tried the door and it was unlocked. We called but there doesn’t seem to be anybody home.”

  “They probably buggered out of here when the trouble first hit. They’re so close to the edge of the zone,” said one of the men named Dan, his wife Sophie the one who had just left the bathroom.

  “I found a way through. It’s pretty easy, seems clear. We should go now before that changes.” Kyle gripped the doorknob, then looked back. “Is everybody ready?”

  Nods from everyone, and a weak smile from his mother, replied.

  “I’m going to check to make sure it’s clear, then I’ll give you the signal. Go to the left, to the end of the alley. Hold up there so we can make sure the coast is clear.”

  Kyle pushed the door open an inch and looked, then listened. Nothing. He exited quickly, closing the door behind him, then darted to the alley to make sure their rear was covered, then confirming it was clear, returned to the door and knocked. The door opened, and they all filed out as he sprinted ahead to the other end of the alley. Finding it clear, he raced to the other side of the road, took cover, then holding his breath, listened. He could hear almost nothing over the hammering of his own heart. He tried to calm himself as he looked again.

  It looked clear.

  He held up two fingers, then motioned for them to join him. This was the signal for his parents. They rushed across the street and joined him.

  “Go to the end of this street. You’ll see a fence. Just stay out of sight until we join you.” He looked at his mom. “Take your time. I have to wait for the others so there’s no rush.”

  His parents continued on at a less hurried pace, and he checked to see if everything was still clear. As he poked his head out, he saw a head in the window of the house the other families were hidden beside. The person was pointing to the right. Kyle looked but didn’t see anything, then leaned out a little farther and gasped. There was a Humvee two blocks down, parked between two buildings, four soldiers in hazmat suits looking at something.

  He gave the thumbs up to the person in the house, who quickly disappeared behind their curtain. He peeked back at the Humvee and the team. They still weren’t looking this way.

  He motioned for both families to come, rapidly motioning for them to hurry. Dan and Sophie, carrying their kids burst from the alleyway, rushing across the road, as the second family, Frank and Christa, with their one kid in Frank’s arms, followed suit.

  Kyle kept urging them on as he watched the soldiers. One began to turn, his arm extending behind him, indicating Kyle’s direction. As all four soldiers began to turn, Frank cleared the road and Kyle ducked out of sight.

  “Keep going, all the way to the fence!” he ordered, and without looking back to see if they had been spotted, he raced after them, quickly overtaking them. He reached the last house and joined his parents who appeared to have just arrived. A quick glance showed everything still clear, and no signs of pursuit behind them. He darted across the final road, pushing through the opening he had cut in the fence, then motioning for the others to join him.

  His parents came first. His dad pushed through the fence, then they both helped his mother. Kyle pointed ahead. “Down into the ditch, then up the other side. Through some grass and there’s a farmer’s field. We’ll join you there.”

  His dad nodded, then gripped Kyle’s shoulder.

  “I’m proud of you, son.”

  Kyle felt himself choke up. He managed a nod and a smile.

  “Go!” he urged.

  His dad squeezed his shoulder again, then helped his wife toward the ditch. Kyle checked if everything was clear, then motioned for the other families to come. In less than a minute they were all through the fence and heading for the ditch. Kyle jumped into the mud and saw his parents just clearing the other side. He helped the others down then scrambled up the edge. He took the baby Dan was carrying and placed him on the grass. He reached down and pulled Dan up, who then took care of Sophie and their second child. Kyle helped Frank and Christa with their child, and when they were all successfully out of the ditch, they pushed through the grass to the field and freedom.

  He pointed to the other side of the field.

  “We just need to get there, across one road, then we can make our way through the fields, keeping out of sight until the next road. We can call my Uncle Charlie to pick us up there.”

  A noise above them caused Kyle’s head to pivot up.

  “Shit!”

  It was a drone, approaching from the south. Kyle looked for cover and saw a hedgerow just ahead. “Hide in the hedge!” he yelled, grabbing the other side of his mother and helping his dad nearly carry her the fifty feet to the tall, thick hedge that most likely acted as some sort of windbreak for the farm. They reached it and he pressed his body into the thick cedar, his arms and legs getting scratched up badly.

  He fe
lt the hedge shaking as the others did the same, then they all remained quiet as the drone passed overhead. As the drone’s engine slowly faded, he began to breathe a sigh of relief when a thumping sound in the distance rapidly got louder.

  “It’s a helicopter!” exclaimed Dan.

  “Stay hidden, maybe they can’t see us!” yelled Frank.

  A military chopper roared overhead, then banked to face the hedge. It was obvious it knew exactly where they were. Kyle stepped back slightly and looked at his father. It was pretty clear the situation was helpless.

  “They won’t shoot us, will they?” he asked.

  His father shook his head. “I don’t know.”

  “We’re Americans. They’re Americans. They wouldn’t, would they?”

  His father looked uncertain. “I would hope not.”

  “There’s an opening here,” said his mother, almost matter-of-factly. Kyle and his father joined her, noting the two foot gap.

  “There’s one down here too!” called Dan. “There’s no way they’ll shoot us. We’re citizens. Let’s just—”

  He was cut off by a loudspeaker on the helicopter.

  “This is Colonel Jackson of the National Guard. You are in violation of a Federally mandated quarantine. You are ordered to turn around and return to your homes. If you do not turn around, we will be forced to open fire. Lethal force has been authorized.”