Today - 8:35am

My boss is pretty upset right now, which is rare for him. He's usually pretty cool, calm, and jocular. However, this morning's been pretty hard on everyone.

Anyone in the biomedical field doing cutting edge research knows the risks, and few more than those professionals in this Lab. We're trained, we're audited by the FDA, we follow rigorous safety guidelines, and we document everything. No, you don't understand. Nothing is left to chance on a laboratory bench when one is working with hazardous biological material.

I think that's why the top brass is so upset right now. The white coats down in the sterile room knew better, or at least should have known better -- but, I mean, how can you ever be totally sure? We know a lot about the human body, but there is still so much that scientists don't know about viruses, about bacteria, about genetics, and mutations.

And they're random, aren't they? I mean, who can predict a mutation? You can run the same test a hundred times. A thousand. Ten thousand. But who's to say when it might happen? You don't know.

And now the emails are flying. People are scrambling, and everyone's checking and double checking the data. This is going to be a very long day and there is even a slim chance that we're going to be here into the evening until we can get this properly resolved.

I am going to keep updating this blog as more information comes available.


Today 10:18am
Houston, we have a problem. The Clinical Research Technician who we feared may have been exposed has just tested positive. She's been moved into a sterile room that was being used for storage of biomedical materials. We can't bring her to the hospital for fear of this spreading until further tests and bloodwork can be done to determine the exact nature of the strain.

There is this eiry sort of somber feeling in the air and everyone's walking around talking in hushed tones. I think the strange calm around the office is more nerve wracking than anything.

Today 11:54am
We're in full fracking bore scramble mode now. The technician had apparently come into contact with at least one other person before we got her into containment and no one's sure who's been in contact with whom. The building has been locked down and the gate is closed. We're not getting out of here any time soon and people are getting scared.

Their are currently four known cases and managers are running around like lunatics literally shouting at people. They've brought several people into a sequestered area to interview (interrogate??) them to find out who they've been near and what areas of the building they've entered.


Today 12:38pm
Holy crap -- we've got eight people now in full blown infection and at least three more who are known to be infected but haven't been located. They're somewhere on the campus but no one knows where. Security guards are walking by here every 10 minutes and I just saw another security team in full hazmat suits. This is really scary. We've been told to remain at our desk and not to move. The phones have been shut off. I want to call my wife!!

Today 1:55pm
This is insane! About a half hour ago in the stair well from a couple floors below us, we heard screams and shouting and then a series of shots fired. Then... then a low moaning that sent chills down our spines. No one who went downstairs came back -- they're all dead. Dead!! The frigging phones are dead too and no can get cell phone reception in here. Terry pulled away some ceiling tiles a little while ago. We boasted him up and he's up there now trying to find some way out. Some of the women, and at least one of the guys are in tears. Leo said he saw them. He said they're all pastey white as if the blood was drained from their faces. Some of them are covered in the blood -- the blood of their co-workers who they attacked.

This is crazy! I can't believe it's really happening! Dr. Cjelkovitch says he's only seen this once before, about 27 years ago in a lab in a town outside St. Petersburg. An lab worker scratched himself on a needle and instead of telling anyone, he left the damn lab. They had to quarantine and cull an entire town to prevent the spread. If these infected get out of the building here, we're in deep crap!

2:29pm
We're trying to get to the guard shack to get the damned gate open. I just stepped over the body of someone I used to sit near. The top of their head was ripped open and their brains were gone. Gone! Jack says they were eaten, but I can't even imagine... it's just unfathomable.

3:18pm
I'm out. I'm sitting in a SWAT truck parked just off the Lab's campus. A team of police and paramilitary just swarmed in with some pretty heavy firepower to clean things up.

I don't know how many people were lost, but I counted at least three that I knew personally. This is horrible. I can't believe something like this could happen here. Zombiism! Who would ever have imagined?