AM13 Outbreak Shorts

Crackdown - Three

In all honesty, it wasn't too bad in the beginning. Our main job was to stop anyone getting into too much trouble, that was standard, just what we did anyway. The only extra duty was to take any sick people to the specialist medical facilities that had been set up specially to deal with the virus. That was good, it kept us busy, and we were all keen to stop the virus from spreading. Hearing that 35% of people could potentially die from the infection was pretty scary, none of us wanted that.

The specialist medical facilities seemed to be running much better than expected, since they were set up in the middle of an emergency. The hospital staff seemed to have it very much under control, I didn't ever see anything in those buildings that troubled me, it all looked as good as it could be. I thought we were working smoothly, all together like a finely-tuned machine, I presumed it would all be over before we knew it and it would soon be something long forgotten. Soon, the AM13 outbreak would be something we didn't think of much anymore...

Then, the Lockdown began, not that many people listened to it at first. Everyone was supposed to stay indoors in quarantine to prevent the virus from getting worse, but no one really complied with the rules. We didn't know how strict the rules were either, so we didn't pay much attention. Not until the Chief came in and told us that we now had to crackdown on anyone outside. We had to insist people comply with the rules and remain indoors, on threat of death. It was so important that the rules were enforced, that nothing else mattered as much.

That was the moment I started to listen.

I thought I would never enforce the death rule though, it was just one of those empty things that we said to try and scare people into doing what we wanted. I never would have thought that I would be the man standing in front of a teenage boy, firing bullets into his heart.

But then I saw one.

More than one.

Lots of them everywhere, littering the streets.

I started seeing them more and more regularly. The infected. The grey skin, the white eyes, the blackened blood, the violent blood lust temper...this virus started doing things to peoples bodies that was utterly inexplicable. People should die when they're shot in the heart, in the chest. If a heart stops beating, the person should not live anymore. But that is what we started seeing, people with bullet holes in their hearts, still living. Only a gun shot straight into the brain of someone infected will kill them which is terrifying. It isn't normal., it's inhuman. It makes me see that anything is possible, and that the foundation the world is built upon doesn't mean anything anymore.

The impossible is more than possible.

I started to realize the danger and the threat that the virus really presents and I grew scared. So scared that I started to actually do as I was told. We were commanded that anyone spotted on the street was to be considered infected and killed. Murdered before they can be infected. Maybe it isn't the worst rule. The vague information we have suggests that the virus is transferred through bites and doesn't always show immediately. But once there's a bite, there's no turning back. Maybe the brutal rule is a way to put people out of their misery. After all, I wouldn't want to end up like that.

Luckily I didn't see anyone that didn't fit the bill for a while, so I could tell myself that everything we were doing was okay. I didn't even have to think about it, I could just tell myself smugly inside that I had it under control. I thought the police were the good guys, that we didn't do single thing wrong. Being good is the only thing I want for myself after my past and losing Marie, but now...now everything is topsy turvy again.

Ever since I killed the teenage boy and I tried to kill myself.

I don't know much whoI am anymore, or what I'm supposed to do. Nothing feels right and I'm scaredthat I'm losing myself again. I honestly don't know if there's any way backfrom this.