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vaccine, by the time the body did mount a defense, it was a losing battle.
    The macrophage response produced by Victoria’s body attacked the virus where it was most prolific—in the lungs. As a result, not only was the lung tissue damaged by the virus, but the body’s defensive response caused inflammation, mucus secretions, and elevated temperatures. She was literally drowning in her own fluids. The damaged lung cells could not effectively exchange the incoming oxygen and get rid of the carbon-dioxide buildup inside the body. Hence, Victoria’s oxygen levels started to decline, leading to hypoxia in the brain. The symptoms of hypoxia were confusion, dizziness, and shortness of breath.
    Worse, Victoria’s damaged lungs and congested nasal passageways tried to expel the mucus by triggering the coughing and sneezing reflex. This only aided the virus’s agenda to spread out and infect others.

    By the time Victoria collapsed in the Los Angeles airport restroom, she had personally infected twenty-four people on the flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles, including the airline staff and everyone in first class, and fifty-one people in the Los Angeles airport while waiting in customs and walking to baggage claim. During her wait for the baggage to come around on the carousel, she managed to infect another twelve people, including the Harringtons, who were just returning home from a relaxing and fun family vacation.
    When Victoria finally drew her last labored, raspy breath on the restroom floor near the baggage-claim area, she inadvertently infected the two women who tried to help her and also the airport’s emergency first responders who came to assist.
    Victoria, just one person, infected over ninety people before expiring unceremoniously on a dirty restroom floor. How many more unsuspecting victims did those ninety influenza-infected people unknowingly infect? Victoria was only one out of seventy-four people on the first leg of the trip from the Philippines to Tokyo who had contracted the influenza virus. Another seventy-three victims were now unknowingly infecting others. The infection rate was growing exponentially.

    William Harrington and his wife, Stacy, kept one eye out for their luggage and the other eye on their two children. Their son, William Junior, was eight years old, and his sister, Michelle, was fast approaching her twelfth birthday. They were all exhausted from the long flight, but it had been well worth it. William had taken some much needed time off from work to spend quality time with his family. He loved them all so much that he’d do anything, including putting himself in harm’s way, to keep them safe.
    It was William who first noticed Victoria at the baggage pickup. She was well dressed, and he could tell by looking at her clothes and jewelry that she was a person of wealth. However, she looked very pale; her face was so white that it had the appearance of a ghost. When she started violently coughing, he nudged his family to move farther away.
    Collecting their multiple bags, the Roberts family piled into their SUV and started driving toward home in Porterville, California. By the time he pulled off the freeway to top off the gas tank, William wasn’t feeling very well. Dizzy and groggy, he attributed it to the long flight. His wife and children had fallen asleep; but after the nonstop vacation fun and the long last day of travel, he didn’t think much of it.
    While filling up at the gas station, William noticed he was sweating profusely. It was warm out this evening, he rationalized. As his hand grabbed the pump handle, he noticed that even his palms were slick with sweat. Michelle stirred from within the depths of the backseat and announced she had to use the restroom. As she went inside the convenience station, William noted that her eyes appeared a little swollen and she was sniffling.
    She reemerged from the station as he put the gas handle back in the cradle. They both climbed back into the