Pandemia

Eric runs away from home and hides inside a panel truck hauling animals. The truck finally comes to a stop at a remote complex late at night. Eric sneaks into the building and hides in the attic. He becomes comfortable with his new home, gets food and drink from the building's cantina, and makes friends with the dogs held captive in cages. Several weeks later he decides to leave the installation but rescues his favorite healthy dog, a monkey, and six sick dogs. They wander the mountainous area and camp out at night. After the animals disappear, the scientists learn that two genetically engineered microorganisms were injected into six of the missing dogs and after a while the formulas begin reacting to each other and mutating. They learn that the evolving microorganisms do not stabilize and six of the escaped dogs will become carriers of a deadly pneumonic form of anthrax plague. All of the animals love Eric and he gives each of them a name. After a while, the sick dogs appear to be healthy again. Shep and Reds leave Eric's group. They come to a farm in the mountain region and raid the chicken house at night. Within four days, the farmer, his family, pets and livestock have succumbed to the new plague. Friendly and Blackie leave the group and set off in another direction. That night, they come to a sheep farm. After the farm is quiet, they break into the barn and kill a sheep. The farm becomes devoid of life. Eric, the monkey, and three dogs sneak into a campground but Sunshine and Brownie don't want to stay. They go in their own direction. The scientists work around the clock in the underground BSL-4 laboratory. They narrow the search to a triggering mechanism that activates the plague within the dogs but they cannot find a cure. The Centers for Disease Control is contacted and several of their scientists set up base at the research center.