Day Zero

Day 95:

Abigail started at the cell culture of white blood cells. She was confused to say the least because there were now minimal traces of the virus in Riley’s blood. There had to be something within his white blood cells that would make this happen. She increased the power of the microscope staring intently at the cell while turned and looking at a medical journal every few minutes as she identified different parts of the cell. She stared at the white blood cell seeing the nucleus as the cell drifted slowly through the blood culture. I have got to figure this out. She thought to herself.

She paused and drank what must have been her seventh cup of coffee for the day.

She looked back at the white blood cells and the minimal viruses that were floating about in the sample. She watched as the bullet shaped virus with spikes on the surface wandered into contact with a white blood cell. The white blood cell slowly began to engulf the virus the same way that she had seen white blood cells do it thousands of times. She kept watching intently.

“Abigail?” Benjamin asked as he entered the lab.

Abigail waved an annoyed hand at him, not bothering to look up from the process happening before her. The white blood cell had completely engulfed the virus now. She watched and waited.

“Benjamin?” Abigail asked.

“Yes” the man replied.

“How many white blood cells does a human body have?” she asked.

“At max 11,000” Benjamin said.

“We need to get everyone in here while I connect the microscope to my laptop”

“What’s did you find?” Benjamin asked.

“No time to explain” she replied quickly as she turned on her computer and fumbled around for the USB cord to connect the microscope to her computer.

Only everyone was piled around Abigail’s computer did she begin to speak. “We need to do a white blood cell count, but I think that Riley’s blood has more white blood cells than the average male. Immensely more white blood cells actually” Abigail explained.

“You would dye your culture pink…but what’s your point?” James inquired.

“White blood cells are what fight off the viruses” Henry said.

Abigail zoomed in the microscope and moved the computer around until she found a picture of the virus. “That’s the virus” she explained to the others.

“Yes we bloody know that is the virus” Benjamin said impatiently.

Abigail then zoomed out slightly revealing both a virus and a white blood cell. They all watched as the white blood slowly engulfed the virus. Abigail gave her watch to Fabiana. “When I say ‘go’ I want you to start the timer” she said. Fabiana nodded. She has no idea where the hell I am going with this. I just hope I am going in the right direction. Abigail thought to herself.

The white blood cell finally finished engulfing the virus “Go” Abigail said.

They watched as almost immediately, the infected white blood cell was engulfed by another.

“Stop” Abigail demanded.

“Ten seconds” Fabiana answered.

Abigail turned back to the screen and zoomed in the microscope even more.

“CD4+ T-cell is adapting to recognize and immediately remove the infectious virus from the body” Abigail explained.

“They are cannibalizing the infected cells” James noted.

“This is the same result that Mark Slifka and Carol Beadling found. But how is this happening so quickly?” Henry inquired starting up at the screen.

“We need to do a cell count, but I think that Riley has more white blood cells than the average man, allowing his body to react faster and prevent the spread of the virus” Abigail explained. The scientists all stood in the room and watched as the process was repeated again and again.

“The infected white blood cell never has a chance to go through mitosis, the virus doesn’t spread.” Benjamin marveled.

“We need another blood sample from Riley” Yumi demanded.

Fabiana immediately walked out of the room, silently indicating that she would get the sample.

“James, Benjamin, and Henry; I need you three to review the photos from every other blood sample” Yumi demanded.

“Dr. Kennedy you are with me. Abigail when the new sample arrives I want you to record this process. We are going to share our results” Yumi said.

“Wait does this mean that the kid is immune to it?” Strader asked.

Dr. Suber smiled at the other man “It looks like it” he replied.

“Strader, I want you on camera duty. Tell us if Riley does anything that would show the symptoms of the virus. Its day ten, if anything happens it will be today” Yumi explained.

Abigail watched as the rest of the team went into action. She returned her attention to the blood sample and zoomed in on a virus. She turned on the recorder on her computer and watched as another cell was infected and just as quickly eaten by another white blood cell.