The video filled the entire screen and showed empty shelves, usually displaying various painkillers, anti inflammatory and cold meds.
“The World Health Organisation is urging all people to remain calm and refrain from bulk buying medication in pharmacies and shops. It is also recommended that people stay in their homes and don’t go outside if they start experiencing any symptoms of the disease. If you need to buy food or seek urgent medical attention, use a face mask or a scarf to cover your mouth and nose. Maintain a distance of six feet.”
A mass infection? What the hell?
I reached for the newspapers and the front page title jumped out at me at once. A pandemic? Tens of thousands of people infected; a mysterious flu appears synchronously in Australia, Asia and Europe!
I skimmed through the whole article frantically, but the information was so confusing that I had to go back to the beginning and read it all properly. I got to the continuation on pages 3, 4 and 5 and thought about the whole thing, horrified. The New Zealand government is waiting for confirmation from Africa and North and South America, but unofficial sources have confirmed the disease has appeared there as well.
A world-wide pandemic? Synchronized…?
What the hell was this?
As if to confirm the whole thing, I suddenly heard violent coughing from the room next door, muffled by the thin wall, and raised my head. Connie had been under the weather for over two weeks now. I assumed it was just a nasty cold, but all the other symptoms and especially the length of it were suggesting the flu. Could she have been infected by this disease from the news?
My good mood vanished, replaced by fear. How serious was this illness supposed to be, if it was a pandemic…?
I had noticed an unusual number of sick people all around us, blowing their noses, coughing, or looking miserable and about to fall ill. But it was autumn, I had assumed it was simply a regular transition between the seasons.
But in Europe it’s been the spring, just like in America, you’d think that those places would have seen a decline in illnesses. And Africa had a warm climate all year round! What did this sudden cold, well, the flu, I corrected myself internally, mean there?
Connie
I woke up the next morning with a splitting headache. It felt as if a buffalo had settled on my lungs, making it difficult to breathe and excruciating to cough. I tried to not breathe too deeply, because that was what set it off. Had Dad heard my last explosive outburst, or had he slept through it? I hoped for the latter, but when I heard a light knock on the door just a few minutes later, I knew that I’d been hoping in vain.
“Come in,” I wheezed.
He peeked into my bedroom, looking devastated. He knows everything, I thought to myself instantly. He’d somehow discovered or figured out my involvement with The Collective and the release of the plague. I’d probably have felt guilty if I wasn’t physically so sick that it left no space for emotions. How could my health get so much worse in just one day? I had felt alright yesterday morning.
“How do you feel?”
I answered by a violent cough which nearly tore my lungs apart. A half-asleep Ruby appeared in the door, still in her pyjamas, messy hair and sleep in her eyes. No, I thought, I don’t want her to see me like this!
Suddenly I remembered Mark’s question. “Do you want your family to watch you die?”
This can’t really be the end yet, he’d promised me three weeks! It hasn’t been that long, I still had at least a few more days, maybe even a whole week!
“Two to three weeks,” I heard his voice shouting the precise words, “depending on the strength of the individual.” I’d always thought of myself as a strong, healthy person, but… this was my second fight with cancer. Was it possible that it’s weakened me so much that I’d lose a portion of my last week?
“Connie, can you hear me?” Dad said loudly. His eyebrows became one line.
“Sorry, I’ve got this terrible headache,” I whispered. Any kind of volume was incredibly painful. “I can’t concentrate…”
He turned to Ruby. “It’s chilly, go lie down for a bit longer. I’ll be with you in a moment. We’ll read a story, okay?”
She rubbed her eyes, nodded and skipped away.
“Connie, I was watching the news last night…” The anxiety in his voice!
I felt like pulling the duvet over my head and covering my ears to protect myself from what he was about to tell me. But I didn’t have the strength to do so. I took shallow breaths and watched his face as he was telling me about the evening news.
So it’s started. The plague had begun and spread just as fast as The Collective anticipated. According to Dad, the pandemic was officially confirmed by governments on half the continents, and unofficially on the other half. It was really quite impressive that the members managed to release the infection simultaneously without any blunders or delays. They must have really longed for the end of mankind to not allow any glitches in the realisation of their plan.
And I’m dying.
“On the news they said that sick people shouldn’t go outside…”
“That makes sense,” I agreed. “To be honest, I don’t feel like going anywhere today anyway. I think I’ll just sleep the whole day. But you and Ruby should go.”
What was on our list of trips? I couldn’t even remember, my head was filled with mist.
I must have succumbed to the fatigue and sleep for a while, because the next thing I was aware of was Dad shaking my shoulder. It took a few seconds to bring him into focus. He stood before me fully dressed with a backpack.
“We’ll let you rest,” he said, looking at me with concern. “We’ll stop by a
