FLOOD

Chapter 1 - The interview

What a mess, if people had told him what a shithole this town was before he had agreed to take the job, he never would've taken it. Well, people had told him that right now the town wasn't doing the best, mad cow disease was ravaging the region, and apparently it was spreading to local farmers, still, the sight of cattle being rounded up and burned on the side by the road was not a pleasant one, and it made William recoil as he drove up the street to go see Mr.Wallace, who had agreed to an interview.

Mr.Wallace had been a long time resident of Kettle Falls, he was 67 years old and worked as the head veterinarian of the Kettle Falls clinic. He had asked to speak with William after a concerning outbreak of a bacterial infection in the region, which he suspected to have initiated with a farmer's dog. Of course, the idea was not ludicrous, but William was honestly skeptical of the reliability of such a claim, a new bacterial infection was concerning, but nothing the town couldnt handle, which it was apparently doing quite well, albeit more barbarically than he had hoped. A mass culling of cattle was not a pleasant sight to see, especially when they were being methodically burned after being euthanized, but then again, if it kept the other cattle safe, then he supposed he could ignore it.

Mr.Wallace did have interesting concerns however, and that was the idea that this bacterial infection could spread to humans. While it was still a theory the idea that a new zoonotic disease could be spreading was worth taking note of. Mr.Wallace had not spoken much on the phone, but William had gotten the idea that, shortly after the dog's examination; when this disease was discovered, the farmer himself had gotten sick with flu-like symptoms. Shortly after he had been admitted into the Providence Mount Carmel Hospital in the neighboring town of Colville, and was currently in intensive care.

As William pulled over Mr.Wallace's driveway, he put on a facemask and got out of the car. He had no intentions of catching whatever was in the air, he was skeptical, and he wasn't near any of the cattle burning, but he was still going to take at least some precautions, it was only common sense. He walked up the stone steps leading to the front door of the Wallace's and rang the doorbell, waiting patiently as he heard the sound of shuffling steps inside the house.

A man in his late 60's opened the door, he was walking straight, but had to rely on a cane to hold himself up. He was balding on the top of his head, white hair lining his temples, and he wore thick aviator glasses with a copper colored metal frame. William cleared his throat and straightened up, pushing his own glasses up his nose.

"Mr.Wallace. I'm William Rivera from the Seattle times, you called about an interesting case you had..."

William looked down at his notes, fumbling with his pocket notebook. He found the date and looked back up.

"...2 months ago, if i'm not mistaken"

"Ah, yes, please come in, please, make yourself comfortable"

"Thank you"

William stepped into Mr.Wallace's house after he was invited to come inside, and he looked around. It was a modest house, what he would expect from the architecture of a rural town in the north of washington. He saw several diplomas hung up, and he examined them closely as Mr. Wallace shuffled his way towards the living room, William following slowly behind him. He has a DVM, as well as a postgraduate title in Advanced veterinary practices, and clinical practices.

William nodded to himself, impressed. This aging man had done more with his life than he had in the 20 or so years he had been alive, but then again, Mr.Wallace had been alive much longer than he had been, so he didnt let it get to him too much. As Mr.Wallace settled in the living room, William sat down on the couch opposite him, looking at the old man sitting in his rocking chair. He cleared his throat and pulled out his phone, going to his voice memo application.