Crisis in the Red Zone: The Story of the Deadliest Ebola Outbreak in History, and of the Outbreaks to Come

by Richard Preston

What would it be like if a Level 4 virus event occurred and the Ancient Rule arrived in the supercity of New York? It wouldn’t take much to produce the Ancient Rule in New York City. A dry virus with high mortality that infects people through the lungs. No vaccine, no medical treatment for the virus. If you take the subway, if you ride in an elevator, you can be infected, too. If the Ancient Rule came to New York City, we can imagine people lying facedown on the street or in Central Park, crowds staring and hanging back. People begging for help, no one willing to help. Police officers wearing full PPE gear. People needing ambulances. No ambulances. Hospitals gone medieval. Medical staff absent, dying, overwhelmed. All hospital beds full. People being turned away on the street from Bellevue Hospital. Medical examiner facilities gone hot as hell and crammed with corpses. Nobody in their right mind would enter a New York City hospital during a time of the Ancient Rule. Transportation frozen. Food supplies dwindling or absent. Schools closed. People avoiding supermarkets for fear of contagion. Prophets and visioners predicting the future and offering cures. People leaving the city, bringing the virus with them. Airports infective, flights canceled. Parents giving care to their sick children in apartments, at home. If someone in a family got sick, there would have to be one designated caregiver, a person willing to sacrifice their life in an attempt to give care to a loved one....