The Cure That Killed Us All

The dinner was served. Three potatoes and a carrot.

“Thank you, Lord God, for another blessed day. Please continue to give us your grace and protect us especially Papa. All these we ask in Jesus' name. Amen,” Ben prayed almost sobbing. 

They all knew that this could be their last supper together. Tomorrow, Leo has to go out to find more stock that he could get for (who knows) a couple of days or months more.

After they ate, Leo kissed his sons' goodnight as they went on their bed.

Five months, nineteen days. Leo sighed at the thought.

Houses in the countryside were normally built with a basement in case tornadoes would hit. Now, that very basement served a different kind of protection for them. Since people were expecting a disaster would come at any time, their basement was built as big as the master bedroom upstairs with complete amenities.

The electricity and water supply had not been shut down, which was very helpful since they could still access the outside world. This was also one of the reasons they were not losing hope. The government was making efforts to reach all survivors thru the internet.

Sonny, his eldest which was more of a techy guy, was always sending an “SOS” message every day to all platforms that he knew. Apparently, they were not the lone survivors. But every day, some people would say their goodbyes, for the reasons of losing food and water sources or maybe the hope to continue to live.

“Papa?” Sonny said. Leo knew he could not also sleep.

“Tell me,” Leo said with a warm smile. For the last couple of months, Sonny had been Leo's comrade in protecting their family. Sonny would take care of his little brother whenever Ben would start to cry looking for his Mama.

“I miss Mama,” Sonny said as he sat on the floor beside his father's chair. Leo knew how to calm his son.

“Here, read it again,” Leo said and gave his phone to him. Sonny would read his mother’s last message over and over again as if it could give him hope that somewhere she was still alive.

Leo remembered his last conversation with their mother. It seemed like a normal day. Andrea went to the city that day to deliver the newly harvested corns to their customers while Leo was busy preparing for their picnic lunch which was planned a week before already. Their children were already dressed up and watching television in the kitchen with him.

Then the cartoon was suddenly interrupted by an Emergency News.

“Breaking News. Zombie-like creatures are causing massive chaos all around the city. We have Lily on another line. Lily?” the reporter said nervously.

Lily, the reporter, came into the scene. She seemed to be standing on a balcony and the camera would suddenly focus on the people running from everywhere on the streets. Then it focused on one gruesome event. A man with a missing arm caught a lady who had stumbled on the stampede. He bit her shoulders and suddenly more zombies came to eat her body.

Leo was so focused on the TV he did not notice his phone rang.

“Papa, Mama is calling,” Ben said and hand over the phone to him.

She was almost incomprehensible because of the noise in her background.

“Andrea, what’s happening? Where are you?”Leo said.

And her last words were, “Read my message. Survive no matter what, I love---". Then a deafening scream.

“Andrea? Andrea!” Leo shouted. He anxiously looked at his inbox.

Go to the basement, get the children, stock many food and water.

All gadgets bring with you.

Chaos here. I might not see you again. I love you all so much.

Please tell Sonny and Ben.

Leo looked at his children and he knew they saw the fear in his eyes. Whether it was true or not he had to do something.

Instinct kicked in and Leo ran around the house giving instructions to Sonny and Ben.

“Sonny, get your brother and bring as much food and water as you can to the basement. Get all the phones, laptops, gadgets also. And don’t forget the chargers. Ben help your brother and go straight in the basement, ” he said.

His children were confused.

“Now!” Leo shouted. He went upstairs to bring down some clothes and looked outside the window. He saw a huge crowd of people running towards their direction. He could not know if they were all infected like the one on the TV or if there were any who were still alive.

He went running down and saw Sonny was still getting some food from the kitchen.

“Papa, what’s happening? I saw some people running towards our farm,” said Sonny who was already panicking.

“Later. Where’s Ben?” Leo asked.

“He's downstairs now,” Sonny said.

“Hurry! Shut the windows and lock the doors” Leo said. Leo locked the backdoor from the kitchen and grabbed the knives that he could reach.

The basement door was located on the floor of the living room near a window. Sonny helped him to push the sofa and put it on the side to obscure the opening from unwanted eyes.

It was still noontime but the screams were echoing through the fields.

They went down the basement and locked the door.

They waited in eerie silence. Ben looked confused looking at them who were both on the basement stairs.

Then they all jolted at the banging of their doors and walls and then breaking of windows.

Leo gestured his sons to go farther from the door.

After an hour or so, there was silence again. Leo was still holding the knives and sitting on the upper level of the stairs with the entrance door above him, hoping that the zombies were not clever enough to see the basement door.

Since then, they would regularly monitor the news updates regarding the situation and they could still not believe the truth.

========================================================================

It was worse than the pandemic.

Just the previous year, a coronavirus pandemic shattered the whole world---countries implemented lockdowns, traveling was stopped, facemasks were mandatory to use in public, people became suspicious that anyone could be a carrier of the disease. Even the first world countries were not spared and all economies were hurt badly.

And then came the race for the cure---the vaccine. Countries that have the means to research and test thru advanced technology were able to produce a cure and the most awaited vaccine in record time. But some of them, with thoughts of evil minds, ignored some protocols and took short cuts by bypassing human testing stages.

After that, people cheered for the announcements of a new vaccine and everyone rushed to get this drug. It was the most celebrated time of the year. Prestigious awards and recognition were given here and there. Of course, the privileged and influential people got VIP access while other poorer countries took the time to get a hold of it at a higher price.

Apparently, the vaccine has unusual effects on some blood types. And after a year or so of being vaccinated, people of Blood Type O began showing some side effects. They would die instantly with no symptoms at all but only to be revived a day after with a hunger for meat. Once the dead came back, they would eat unmercifully whoever they see and the victim would get infected too. 

Almost all countries became affected by this plague. There was no way to get a cure.

It did not just cause another lockdowns but also produced dead cities all around the world. Governments and WHO made efforts to contain the new disease, however, still they had no luck. With limited tools and restrictions made across the globe, there was still no hope except to make a safe haven for the survivors.

And it was like that for months now.

=======================================================================

Leo and Sonny would take turns guarding the door and monitor the CCTV footage outside their house. They would see zombies lurking around the cornfields from time to time. Sometimes, they would see the familiar faces of their neighbors or friends.

“How can I help?” Sonny asked when he finished reading his mother’s message.

Leo looked at him and thought of a good idea.

“You will be my lookout. I will be out there in the fields, just within the CCTV’s scope and you will alert me if you see movements,” Leo said.

“Then we have to switch phones. I will call my number whenever you are in danger,” Sonny said courageously.

“Good idea!” Leo said and patted Sonny's head.

Sonny stood up and hugged him.

“Be careful, Papa, we cannot lose you also,” Sonny said but his voice was breaking.

“Of course. Don’t worry,” Leo said and hugged him back.

“I sent another SOS,” Sonny said, “I hope someone gets it this time and help us.”

“Keep trying. Don’t lose hope. Now off to bed,” Leo said and smiled to Sonny trying to look and sound calm as possible.

Because he was not. He was scared of not only his life but for his children also. If something would happen to him, how can his sons survive?

========================================================================

Leo went out around ten in the morning after he and Sonny ensured that everything was clear in the fields. Sonny and Ben were his lookouts. Leo wore a brown shirt to camouflage himself in the field.

He opened the basement door as quietly as he could and was almost blinded by the light coming from the nearby window. Being in a basement without sunlight for so long made him dizzy. The whole house was a mess. He let his eyes adjust first and did a little warm-up before opening the front door.

It was hot outside but the smell of the wind was a little pungent. 

He went into the fields and began gathering as much corn that he could get in his basket.

He was maybe only ten minutes there when he noticed a small movement. He stopped and tried to feel his surroundings. Maybe he was only imagining.

Then he jumped when Sonny’s phone rang. It was not on silence mode. The sound echoed around the field and Leo knew he was doomed.

He immediately ran to the house not switching off the phone. He had no time. Movements along the cornfield were everywhere.

He was already at their front yard when he noticed a couple of zombies running towards him. Growling at their food that they had waited for so long.

While Leo ran as fast as he could towards the house, his mind was racing. If he would go straight to the basement, he would expose their hideout. But how could he give the food to his children?

He was thinking about his children’s thoughts while they watched him run away from the zombies.

“Sonny don’t get out! Lock the door! I will throw the foods nearby but get it later!” Leo shouted as he entered the house. He threw the corns to the corner where the basement door was and ran upstairs. 

He went to the master bedroom and had no idea how alone he had managed to move the big cabinet behind the locked door.

The zombies were trying to open the door as he tried to hold on to the cabinet. There was no way they would stop. He could hear more were coming.

Then there were sounds of guns and bombs. From where he was, Leo could see the fighter planes and helicopters attacking the zombies running from the field and towards their house.

“Help! Help!” Leo shouted. The rescue came and definitely got Sonny’s message.

But there was no way his children could get out. With the crowd of zombies, the rescue might bomb their house as well and his children would be buried alive.

I have to do something. Leo thought.

“Sonny! Take care of your brother. I am proud of you. Ben, please listen to your brother. Love each other and survive no matter what. Be brave! I am so sorry! I love you so much!” Leo was crying. He shouted as loud as he could, hoping that his children could hear him.

He looked at the window and calculated the height of the balcony from the ground.

He ran quickly and pulled out their blanket, then tied it on railings of their balcony. It was not enough but it could allow him to drop on the ground unbroken.

The cabinet fell down and the broken door opened. Zombies came towards him as Leo threw the end of the blanket to the ground. He began climbing down.

Other zombies were waiting for him already at the ground. They bit him and tried to pin him down but he insisted to run away from the house. Zombies went out of their house trying to catch their food.

He knew he would not make it far enough as the infection entered into his bloodstream. He could not even feel the bites of the zombies as they tried to dismantle him.

And then everything went dark.

=========================================================================

Sonny and Ben watched in horror as their father ran away from the zombies. They were both crying very hard.

Ben went rushing to the door to open it but Sonny stopped him.

“Papa said no,” Sonny said.

There were a lot more zombies in their house than ever before. It seemed that they were patiently waiting for this day when the prey would come out of the hole.

Hope came when they heard the planes and gunshots. But they got more scared of the explosions.

Then they heard their father’s last words.

They saw their father climbed down the balcony and ran to the fields, sacrificing himself to bring out as many zombies with him from the house. 

Sonny and Ben hugged each other as the truth sank in.

More bombs exploded nearby and shook their house. After an hour or so, many footsteps came inside again. There was a relief when they heard the voices of humans.

“Rescue’s here! You’re safe now!” a voice shouted. The men were looking around the house for the survivors.

Sonny and Ben ran to the basement entrance and opened it. The men saw them and hurried them away from the house and to the helicopter.

They were still holding each other. It was their first time to get out of the house after many months of hiding. The air was filled with smoke. 

“You are safe now,” a man in military uniform said as they flew into the air.

Sonny looked out the window.

There were at least five helicopters around their house still trying to shoot the zombies in the burning cornfields which were already destroyed by the explosions. 

Then he saw a zombie in a torn brown shirt among the crowd looking up to them. His two arms were missing and his stomach was exposed. But Sonny recognized the familiar smile on that zombie’s face.

“We are now safe, Papa,” Sonny said.