Andrew the Agent

 

It’s never a good time to be a spy. It’s always dangerous to a greater or lesser degree. Usually greater, as in this case. My mission required the elimination of a target in a foreign country and the securing of another individual for transport from said country. I accomplished the mission, but now we’re unable to get out of the country. The longer we stay the more likely we will be tracked down, discovered and caught. Who would have thought a pandemic would foil my mission?

When I left the US for Italy to intercept the Iranian scientist defector and kill his uncooperative partner, the chance of a pandemic locking down the world was only a whisper in the higher ranks of the government. It wasn’t enough to put my mission on hold. If we held off, we would have missed the opportunity to secure an essential key player in the international arms race. Javid held classified information in his head that the Iranian’s would not want leaked to the US. He was allowed to visit Italy for a conference, but it was only a window of twenty-six hours to work with.

I had to get him out, but at this point it was impossible.

The country went into full lockdown two weeks, one day, six hours, and forty-two minutes ago, trapping us in the hotel room I had rented under a false name. I’d made the necessary extraction requests over and over again, to no avail. Italy had locked down tighter than a virgin on her wedding night. No air or motor traffic in or out of the country. No one allowed on the streets without proper papers to show they were essential to the ongoing operation of the country.

Javid and I had watched news broadcast as the information unfolded. The Cauldronvirus was spreading like a wildfire across the globe. Italy was hit hard because they were a nation of multi-generational families housing together and a social climate that brought adults together for coffee before work and drinks after. The infection rate overwhelmed the hospitals’ abilities to deal with the pandemic. Patients were lined up on beds in the hallways and in the waiting rooms. Hospital staff were overcome by the influx of the sick and dying. The country was stunned to see deaths climbing so fast that refrigeration trucks were being used to store the bodies until graves could be dug.

Each room in the hotel was issued with a bottle of hand sanitizer, an additional bar of soap and a modified room service menu for orders to be delivered to our rooms. We were advised to shelter in place until informed differently.

There was nothing to do but wait. I read a book I downloaded to my phone. I know Central would have words to say about me using their equipment for such a frivolous thing, but I was going a little mad listening to the latest news, and Javid refused to turn the TV off.

His disappearance did not even appear on the news, so I relaxed a bit. I still pulled my gun each time there was a knock on the door for a meal delivery or housekeeping. We waited as the days progressed into a week with no notice from my contacts about any plans for extraction.

On the eleventh day of our isolation Javid complained of a fever with alternating chills. He developed a cough later that day. I ordered aspirin to be delivered with our lunch. Within another day he was having difficulty breathing.

I’d listened to all the advice on the news and anything I could pick up on social media, which I also added to my phone and will no doubt catch hell for when I, if I, return to the states.

I couldn’t call for assistance. He couldn’t be taken to a hospital. If he was admitted, then he could be tracked back to me.

I laid him on his stomach because the news said your lungs were more open that way then lying on your back. I patted his back to loosen the phlegm. I ran cold, wet towels over his sweat drenched body. I tried to keep him hydrated as I listened to him struggle for breath. Eventually, on the fourth day of his illness, he succumbed. His last breath was ragged, but almost silent.

I waited until no one was in the hallway on our floor. I bundled him in a sheet and sent him down the laundry chute to the basement. Things were in such a turmoil that I doubted his body would be discovered very quickly. Once discovered it would take some time to mobilize the forces to search the nine floors of the hotel for me, provided someone from the staff didn’t make the immediate connection between the dead man and me.

 

I have packed the small bag Javid had with my stuff, and I intend to leave tonight after I get the food service delivery I ordered for dinner. I told the staff member taking the order that we were celebrating Javid’s birthday and that was the reason for the extra-ordinarily large order. I might need supplies for several days of travel and I can’t risk getting close to populated areas once I get out of the city.

I will need to make my way on foot at first. All vehicle traffic has to go through roadblocks. Once out of the city, I can steal a car and hopefully make it over the boarder to Switzerland. I have seen on the news that they have not closed their boarders yet. From there I might be able to make it home.

I just wish I wasn’t so tired, and it wasn’t so damned hot in this room. The power grid must have been affected by the lockdown. I wipe my brow. I’ll feel better once I get out in the cool evening air.