The Pandemic: Ten Years After

"Get inside the house, Hunter," I shouted at my seven-year-old kid. He ran at the door holding his yellow toy car. He just stood and leaned at the door. I let him play outside just as long as I'm outside too.

   "Be careful Mommy," he shouted back.

   "Get inside. Close the door!" He complied.

   I roamed my eyes outside the four feet fence. Here they are again. Head tilted to one side, hands swayed on their sides, legs marched slowly and mouth drooled with blood that turned black over the time. Smell of decayed flesh filled the air.

   Five of them were approaching my fence. Five steps away…Four…Three…Two…Bang! I swung the hard piece of wood that I'm gripping with both of my hands. The first walking cadaver fell on the ground with a thud as the end of the wood struck it’s head. I did the same to the other four.

   The bodies piled up outside blocking the gate. I roamed my eyes to see if there were more of them. Seeing that there was none, I opened the gate and pulled each body away from the fence. I clasped the foot of the fourth body but as I begun to pull the foot detached from it’s leg. I tumbled back still holding the foot. Disgusted, I threw it away. I wiped the sweat on my forehead with the back of my hand and continued to pull the footless cadaver.

   As I was about to pull the last body, cold hands grabbed me by the back. I jerked back upon seeing another cadaver and kicked it’s midsection. It fell on the ground. I quickly picked up a stone, large enough to whack it’s head, and before it could stand again I threw the stone and smashed it’s head. It made a whacking sound and blood and brain tissues scattered on the ground.

   My chest moved up and down as I locked the gate, took off my jacket and washed my hands and face with soap and clean water.

   I went inside the house and there is my little boy waiting for me. He ran and wrapped his arms around my hips.

   “Are they gone, Mom?” he asked. I knelt and held his tiny face.

   “They’re all gone, baby. Nothing to worry about,” I smiled. I stood up and gestured him to sit on the stool in the kitchen. “I’ll make dinner.”

   I opened the box where I store our food supplies. It’s almost empty. I sighed. I had to leave my boy alone again to scavenge supplies for the coming days.

   I reached inside the box and grabbed a can of tuna. I opened it and poured it into a bowl.

   “How about tuna and bread for dinner?” I said with a wide grin. He glanced at me with a smile.

   After dinner, I helped him clean up and change his clothes.

   “Sleep now, babe. Mommy will look after you.”

   “Goodnight, Mommy,” he mumbled and closed his eyes.

   “Goodnight.”

   Life was easier when my husband was still here with us. Hunter was five. 

   “Sam, I'll come with you,” I insisted when he was about to go to scavenge for supplies.

  “No! Stay here. I need you here with Hunter,” he argued.

   “But we can get more and we can return before it gets dark.”

   “No buts, Malena. And please…don’t ever go out of the fence,” he said holding my left cheek.

   “I’ll stay inside the house, I promised,” Hunter cut in.

   “No, baby. I'm the Daddy here and I say you two stays here.” He turned to me. “Look at me.” I locked my eyes on his. “If it's dark and I'm still out there—”

   “No! Don't say that, please,” I cut him in. A tear escaped from my eye.

   “Promise me you won’t go out looking for me. Promise me.” I nodded. He gently kissed my forehead and waved goodbye to Hunter.

   The door closed in front of me and he was gone. We waited. I played with Hunter until it’s time for his afternoon nap. I busied myself with the house chores until I didn’t notice that it was already getting dark.

   I opened the door and walked closer to the fence. No sign of him.

   “Mom, is Daddy here?” I turned around to see my son standing at the door.

   “He’ll be here soon.” I carried him and closed the door behind us.

   I suddenly missed talking to someone my age. I missed Jamie, our neighbor. She went out to see if she could get some medicines and vitamins.

   “We need some immune system booster. We ran out of paracetamol and pain killers,” she said while putting a bottle of water inside her backpack.

   “Are you sure you want to go alone? We can wait for Sam. Maybe you could both go tomorrow.” I tried to restrain her from leaving. “I really don't feel good about you going out alone.”

   “I’ll be fine, Malena. Don't worry.” She kissed the baby in my arms goodbye. “I’ll try to bring some goodies too, for Hunter’s first birthday tomorrow!” she shouted as she walked out the door.

   She never came back. We celebrated my baby’s first birthday without her. She was with us when I gave birth to Hunter. We were lucky she’s a nurse. We used to talk about girly stuff. Almost every night before going to bed.

   My husband and I weren’t really planning on having a child. I didn’t like the idea of bringing a child in this catastrophic world. But one day I got sick. My head was spinning and all I did was lie down on the bed. I got so scared that I got the virus. But Sam said I don’t have the symptoms. He left me for a few seconds and when he came back he handed me a pregnancy test kit.

   I shook my head, “No! It’s impossible. It can’t be!”

   “We need to make sure,” he urged.

   I snatched the kit on his hand and went straight to the bathroom. After a few minutes I emerged with puffy eyes. Hands shaking, I handed him the kit and his jaw tightened when he saw the result. Two red lines.

   It was easier when it’s just the two of us, we could go out together scavenging, we enjoyed hitting the walking cadavers in the head. We built the fence together to keep the cadavers out.

   Sam was a policeman. He taught me how to defend myself. He trained me to fight. He said that he’s complacent when we were outside because I can defend myself, from the other scavengers and from the cadavers.

   We just got married when the world fell apart. We spent our savings to built the house. A small house with one bedroom, a tiny bathroom, kitchen and a table where we can eat our meals and empty living area with just the television in it.

   News in the television said that every citizen in the country should be vaccinated. They made it mandatory. To prevent the virus from spreading. My husband and I refused to get the vaccine.

   Soldiers roamed from house to house to make sure every citizen had already gotten their shot. If you couldn’t provide a certificate of vaccination with the Mayor’s sign in it, a health worker will give you a shot immediately.

   A knock on the door startled me. I looked at Sam, he was washing the dishes.

   “I’ll open it,” he said calmly. Two soldiers and a health worker showed up. They were all wearing a surgical mask.

   “Good afternoon officers. What can I do for you?” Sam asked.

   “Can we come in?” the taller officer asked.

   “Sure.” Sam let them in. One of the officers stayed outside.

   “How many people live here?” the officer asked again.

   “Just me and my wife,” he answered.

   “Have you taken a shot?”

   “No, we did not.”

   He gestured for the health worker to give us our shots. She put her bag on our dining table and took out two syringes and vaccines. Just as she was preparing the shots, her head tilted from side to side. She stood up straight with her right shoulder higher than the other. I saw her pupils rolled up until they were gone. She struggled to raise her hand and took off her mask. Blood spilled out from her mouth.

   Sam was taken aback by the sight. I reached for his arm and pulled him closer to me. The officer stepped back, shocked.

    “What the hell?” he exclaimed.

The health worker turned to him paused for a second and swung her head to the officer’s neck. He shrieked and clasped the health worker's head trying to get free from the bite.

    My face turned to ash and my legs glued to the floor. Sam grabbed the woman trying to help the officer but she was so strong.

   Finally free from the woman's bite, the officer held his neck. It was oozing with blood. He stepped back lost his balance and fell to the ground.

   I could see Sam's mouth moving. I could not fathom what he was saying for everything seemed to be muted. I just stood there staring. Sam pushed our bodies inside the room and closed the door. We heard another shriek.

   It’s too late. The virus had already killed hundreds of thousands of people from across the globe. The vaccine only weakens the virus, not kill it. But it was already mutated into different variants. More deadly and easier to pass from host to host.

   We have undergone a two-year locked down when the virus started to spread. Leaders of the affected countries worked together to come up with a vaccine. Flights we’re cancelled. Millions of workers, both local and overseas, were laid off. Most establishments and offices were ordered to close to avoid people from physical interaction.

    I appreciated the time when we could climb mountains and bathe in the seas with our friends. Those times when we can do family gatherings and parties. Those times when we are free.