Mortality

Chapter 10: Zarah

October 11th

The cuckoo clock chimes three o’clock as I walk through the door to the apartment. More than anything, I want to spread out on the couch and nap for a while.

Instead, I sit down at the kitchen table and spread out all of my homework in front of me. I’m still not quite caught up at my new school, and Aunt Noor’s apartment can get pretty crazed when she’s around, so I should make the most of this time by myself.

I’ve been here for a few weeks now and still don’t feel at home. I’m not even really sure what I think of Morgantown, West Virginia. I haven’t gone out much. Everything just feels too different, and nothing feels safe.

Noor moved here from Cleveland a few years ago after she was offered a great job as some kind of marketing guru. She says she loves it. I’m still not really seeing the appeal, but it’s not like I have a lot of options right now.

After ten minutes of studying, my phone buzzes; it’s a text from Liam. Can’t wait for the weekend. I smile at the thought and respond with a winky face. He is over three and a half hours away, but we’ve managed to see each other every weekend, alternating who would make the trip to see the other. This weekend is my turn; I just have to wait another few days.

We didn’t know each other a month ago, but now it’s so hard being apart from him. I have no idea if this is normal or a side effect of the apocalypse. We text all the time, but I still find myself constantly playing through what-ifs. The people you care most about can be ripped from you without warning. My phone is never more than a few feet away from me, and I get nervous if more than a few hours go by without hearing from him, and most nights I fall asleep thinking about what I’d do if something happened to him.

After quarantine ended, Liam and his dad relocated to Columbus, which was as close as they were allowed to stay to Cleveland. Half of Ohio is on lockdown due to the high level of infection, so Liam’s dad sees it as his duty to stay close in case he can help somehow. Before all this started, Mr. Holt was a low-level politician, but the outbreak led to a nice promotion for him and anyone else left alive in the state.

Liam and I were lucky in that we managed to get far enough away from the most heavily infected areas before we holed up and waited for rescue. Government vehicles were only able to make it so far, and had things gone a little differently for us on that first day we could easily still be trapped inside. Liam’s getting a little sick of my constantly thanking him for making me leave town that day.

Even the government quarantine facilities are well within red-zone borders, just to be on the safe side. We learned the hard way that it only takes one infected person to start the whole thing all over again.

The week Liam and I spent together in quarantine was actually kind of nice in a super creepy and intense way. Not that Liam was either of those things, but there are only so many full-body, medical checks you can live through before it becomes a bit much.

Everything was obviously put together in a hurry and supplies were limited, but the people running things did their best to keep us comfortable. We were constantly reassured that we weren’t prisoners. That is, so long as we weren’t infected. Anyone found to be infected was taken away immediately. Whether they were used in government experiments or killed outright, I didn’t know and I still don’t want to know.

What I do know is that the world’s population is back around the 6 billion mark. Almost one in seven people were gone in less than a month. Some African countries have been almost entirely decimated, and China was literally a war zone. For the first time in at least a thousand years, the planet’s population was falling. It’s crazy and scary to think about, but sometimes I just can’t stop myself.

We were one of three outbreak centers in the state, and there were easily a few thousand people biding their time and sitting through countless tests right along with Liam and me. It seemed like a lot at the time, but when you compare it to how many people used to live in and around the city, the numbers were heartbreakingly low.

When we were finally free to go, they told us in no uncertain terms we would not be allowed to return to the city for any reason. Everyone who made it out of Cleveland would be starting over, with none of their belongings, and in too many cases, none of their family. I would never be given the chance to bury my parents or my brother. I’ll never even know if there is anything left of them to bury. But I’m trying not to think about that.

Time passes at a snail’s pace and I’m about ready to start banging my head against the table when I hear Noor’s keys jingle in the door.

I get up right away, prepared to help her carry in the unwieldy amount of groceries she’s sure to have brought home with her. Ever since the outbreak, Noor’s been trying a little too hard to make things normal for me. Muffins and cereal aren’t going to make up for the fact that my family is gone, but I appreciate the effort all the same.

“Hello,” she calls from the hallway as the front door to her apartment swings open.

“Hello, hello,” I respond, taking two grocery bags from her hands before carrying them over to the kitchen counter.

“How was your day, honey?” Her black hair is up in a tight, perfect bun and her business suit looks like it’s more expensive than my entire wardrobe.

“It was okay. No complaints.” I start sorting through the various dinner options she brought home with her. “How was yours?”

“Great, actually. Did you hear the news?” She’s practically bouncing with excitement.

“No.” I look up from the grocery bag and raise my eyebrows. She seems awfully chipper for the type of news she usually comes home with. She’s not acting like she’s about to tell me about the devastating fall of yet another European city, but I’m wary all the same.

The news has been covering nothing but infection stories for a month, which is fine because everything else seems trivial by comparison. Things here seem to be mainly under control, but we still hear about tragedies all over the country every week. The original infection came out of the CDC in Ohio, but on its own an infection will take days to kill you. People can travel pretty far in a few days. Only a few small island countries have managed to stay entirely infection free so far, and international travel isn’t a possibility for the average person anymore. Still, like they keep saying, we’re slowly winning this thing. People know what to look for and how to protect themselves now. Some schools have even incorporated mandatory firearm training.

“Zarah?” Aunt Noor waves her hand in front of my face.

“Sorry.” I blink a few times and refocus. “What’s the big news today?” I pick up a carton of milk from the counter and move to put it into the fridge.

“They think they might have found a cure,” she says, beaming at me expectantly. I almost drop the milk carton.

“Say that again.”

“Well, more specifically… they think they’re close to a vaccine. Something that can protect us if we’re bitten.”

“Wow.” I don’t know what to say, but thankfully my aunt keeps talking.

“Obviously, they can’t bring back those who are already infected, but this is still huge.”

“How is this even possible?” I close the fridge door and lean against the large appliance. I’m having trouble processing this information. “We still haven’t come up with a cure for cancer, but this happened in less than two months.”

“I know, I know. And it’s not quite ready to go yet, but this is now the top priority of almost every governing body in the world.”

“Still…”

“I’m hardly a scientist, but my understanding is that because the virus was man-made we were already halfway there to begin with.” She shrugs. She’s not that interested in details.

“We? So this is an American thing.”

“Yes. That’s the second part of the good news. We’ll be the first to receive the vaccine once it’s available, which could be any day now.” She grins at me. “They’ve already started distributing the formulas to governments all over the world. It will take time to make enough for everyone, but all of this could be nothing but a bad dream in just a matter of weeks.”