Just the PlagueJust the Plague by Ludmila Ulitskaya tells the story of Rudolf Maier, a young microbiologist who is working on a plague vaccine. Summoned to Moscow to deliver a progress report to his superiors, he inadvertently carries the virus with him from the lab. Upon the discovery of his illness, the state machinery responds with terrifying efficiency, rounding up dozens of people. For many, the line between this enforced, life sparing isolation and the