Page 65 of Outbreak Protocol
I can't finish the sentence.
"What about our research? The samples, the data?"
"Pack everything that you can. Priority on treatment doses and genetic screening materials."
At 1500 hours, military personnel arrive to coordinate our evacuation. Three transport helicopters wait on the hospital roof. Felix, still intubated but stable, is prepared for transport by a military medical team.
I find Colonel Santos supervising the loading of equipment.
"You're making a mistake," I tell her. "The treatment works. We just need more time to refine it."
She doesn't meet my eyes. "Those aren't my orders, Doctor."
"Then whose orders are they? Who actually decides to destroy a city of millions?"
"You know I can't discuss that."
"Can't? Or won't?"
She finally looks at me. "Would knowing change anything now?"
She's right. It wouldn't. The machinery of destruction is already in motion.
At 1545, air raid sirens begin to wail across Hamburg. Emergency broadcasts instruct residents to remain indoors and await further instructions—instructions that will never come.
I supervise Felix's transfer to the helicopter, ensuring his ventilator remains functioning throughout. Emma clutches my hand tightly as we board, her backpack and rabbit her only possessions now.
"Why are there sirens?" she asks, eyes wide with fear.
"It's just to let people know to stay inside," I lie. "So they stay safe."
As our helicopter lifts off, I look down at Hamburg—the sprawling port, the elegant Alster lakes, the neighbourhoods where millions live their lives. In three hours, it will all be gone.
Emma presses her face against the window. "I can see my school!"
I put my arm around her shoulders, unable to speak.
Our helicopter joins a formation heading northwest, away from the city. The pilot informs me we're bound for a secure military facility near Berlin where we'll continue our research under NATO supervision. Felix's stretcher is secured beside us, his chest rising and falling with mechanical precision.
At 1630, we're far enough away to see the perimeter of the containment zone—a ring of military vehicles and personnel surrounding Hamburg. Beyond that, more rings of containment, fallbacks in case the first fails.
"Look," Sarah says, pointing back toward the city.
A stream of military aircraft are approaching from the south—bombers and fighter escorts.
"They're starting early," Aleksandr murmurs.
"No," Colonel Santos says from his seat. "Those are evacuation flights for essential personnel. The containment operation doesn't begin until 1900."
I check my watch. Less than three hours remain.
At 1700, we land at the Berlin facility—a sprawling military complex surrounded by three rings of security. Felix is immediately transferred to the medical wing. Emma refuses to leave his side, so I stay with them both while Sarah, Yuki, and Aleksandr begin setting up our lab equipment in the designated research area.
"How much of our research did we save?" I ask when Sarah returns.
"About eighty percent of the samples. All of the critical data. And enough treatment doses for another four hundred patients."
"Not enough," I say.