Hearken

Patient Zero

Five Years Later...

The safe haven had become a home to me since i was fifteen, and now i'm twenty. Have just given birth to a beautiful baby boy named Henry, and married Orlando just a few months ago. It's been years since the death of my family, and the other survivors, but not once have i forgotten them. I've carried them with me through everything i've faced since then. The hearkens didn't find us, after the first year we were skeptical. But when one year became three, everyone truly started to feel safe here. 

Even me. 

We're not just a community, we're a family. 

There was always plenty of food, plenty of fresh water, areas to do laundry, in a place where you never felt alone. It wasn't until recently, that i started to notice a change in the atmosphere here. People were starting to get sick, with some sort of virus. There ears would bleed, and soon after they would fall into a fever or some sort of flu. Once that ended, they became one of those black eyed walkers. I started to notice a pattern here, with the side effects of this sickness. 

Migraines would start, blue patches on the skin, ear bleeds, blurry vision, sore mouth, pink eye, and then poof black eyed walkers. What was strange to me was that, none of us could hear the frequency the hearkens or the walkers created outside these walls. So how were people changing? how were they getting sick? how could we be back at square one? There was one person considered in charge here, the man who opened up this deaf home for refugees a few years back. He happened to be Orlando's father. Mark was always trying to be discreet with how he got rid of the infected people, but i would sneak out of my room at night. 

Watching him open the front doors of the building to keep them out, some he would drag, some he would beat out to the front. He always had allies around him who would do his dirty work, beating our people with sticks like they were police officers, and trapping the infected behind closed doors. Away from us. I know they are just trying to protect us. But i could see them screaming, i could see the fear in there eyes, and the pain inflicted on them. Whether they were changing into those walkers or not, they were still are our family. 

My heart ached for them. 

I watched as Mark closed the doors, whispering to his allies before walking to the common room to have a discussion. I followed them, tiptoeing past the hallways, and peeking behind the corner, as they signed in silence to each other. "And then what are we gonna do when all of us get the virus?" one of them signed, "are we just gonna throw everyone out?" another man signed. Mark shook his head, his hair resting on his shoulders, as he had grown out his beard and mane this year. Eyes the same color as Orlando's as i remember wondering what characteristics he obtained from his mother. 

Who were also taken by the hearkens. 

"If this is some virus it's obviously spreading from patient zero, we just need to figure out who that someone is and throw them out. Once we do we should be in the clear. These things haven't found us for five years. Five years! i plan to keep it like that... for longer" he signs, as my heart races. Who was patient zero? and how were they going to find them? The group dispersed, walking off in several directions before i watched Mark sigh and turn to his desk. He rested his hands on the edges, before hanging his head between his shoulders. Before he noticed someone was watching him, i left down the hall to my bedroom again. 

I opened the door slowly, closing it behind me, so i wouldn't wake up Orlando or Henry. As i turned to see them both fast asleep on the bed in front of me. I folded my arms, staring down at them, as Orlando held Henry close to him while they slept. My heart ached even more, knowing some sort of virus was threatening this family. And if they didn't find out who patient zero was soon, i would have to convince Orlando to leave with me and Henry. But Mark was his father, his only family left, aside from me. There's noway i could ask him to do that for me.