Bloody Mary - An Epidemic (Book 1 of the "Bloody Mary" Series) #Wattys2014

Chapter 27

July 26th 2030

[Angela's P.O.V]

--

Today, Dustin, Connor, and I would be heading back home. It would be the first time in a while that we would be back home. Ted and Carol would be here, working at the hospital, doing the usual hospital duties.

I'd miss them, they had helped us through lots of hardships. They'd be the go-to doctors if any of us became ill. They were there for everything.

We said our goodbyes, and the three of us got into the car. As we waved at Ted and Carol, I backed the car out of the parking space.

I put the car in drive and the three of us began making our trek towards home. The radio stations were back up and running. Nearly all of the radio stations were chatting furiously about the disease, and what it had done to the population. There were over seven billion casualties, not including deaths. About 6260 thousand people died from the disease due to an excess loss of blood. That's kind of interesting considering all the blood we had seen on the ground, and in the rivers; I thought there would have been many, many more.

The roads were starting to become busier as more and more people ventured out from either hospitals or their houses. Civilization was picking up the pieces. Many cars that had been left on the interstate had been driven away, and traffic was flowing freely.

"Now that we're getting back to the usual routine; what's for dinner?" Dustin asked with a smirk.

"Well," I began, "I figured that we would have the dinner that we were supposed to have weeks ago that just happened to turn into something that changed the world forever."

Dustin chuckled, "So, your dinner was so spectacular that it changed the world forever."

I laughed, "Of course, spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread completely changed humanity."

As the conversation continued I pulled off the interstate and began taking the back roads that would lead to our house. The road was the usual black asphalt color, and the grass was back to being green. We hadn't been back here in a long while, so I didn't really know what the road and the grass would look like.

I came to a stop at the stop sign, and then turned onto the street that our house is located on. The road was lined on each side by single family houses boasting balconies and fancy circular driveways. They may have been fancy houses but windows had been shattered, and expensive looking vehicles broken in to. That was just grand.

We continued driving down the roadway, gawking at the carnage that we saw. As we neared our abode the neighbors stopped us. They were a slightly older couple. "Angela all y'all okay?" The woman asked.

"Yes Marlene we're okay. How are y'all?" I responded.

"We're doing great, and our house wasn't broken into like some of the others. We heard on the radio that you, Ted, and someone named David helped create a cure because you three were immune," Kennith exclaimed, "you three are inspirational."

"Thank you Kennith." I smiled. "Well, we must get going. See y'all around."

"Alright. See you three around. Have a good evening." Marlene cheered.

I pulled into our driveway and turned off the car. Then I grabbed my suitcase from the trunk, and dragged it inside. We stumbled inside, and a musty smell greeted us. That smell tells me that we haven't really been here in forever.

My nose caught another smell, one that was more metallic. And I remembered that Dustin had had a pool of blood around him when this disease got a hold of my precious boy. I grabbed the Sanitizing Spray from under the kitchen sink, and walked upstairs. The stench was strong as I walked into Dustin's room. The dried blood was slightly brown, and looked really crusty on the, what used to be, white mattress.

I plugged my nose, shook the can, and sprayed the disinfectant all over the mattress. Once I finished the assault on the mattress, and the can was almost empty, I began moving the mattress. It was heavy but I was able to carefully get it down the stairs and into the garage.

After those shenanigans, I began making dinner. It was what we had, or were supposed to have a few weeks ago, the spaghetti and garlic bread. Nothing interesting happened whilst making dinner, and it was on the table in record time; not really.

The three of us sat down at the table and began eating. The television was on in the family room, providing some white noise. It was back to being a pleasant and soothing environment. As the news began rolling, I noticed that the research center in the Netherlands that we had been to was being featured. This broadcast was live from the front of the research center and the news woman was interviewing Dr. Noah.

"Thanks to three unique individuals we were able to create a cure with their help. Without them, and the few other people who were tested on, the cure would have not been possible." Dr. Noah said.

The news woman turned to Dr. Noah and said, "What are the names of these fine individuals?"

"Ted, Angela, and David." He responded into the microphone.

"Thank you, and a big thank you to Ted, Angela, and David. Without you three there would have been quite a long wait for a cure."

I couldn't help but feel a bit smug and genuinely happy because the three of us had done something great that might not have been possible without us.

"Angela, tell us about what happened over the past few weeks. I don't really know what happened and neither does Dustin." Connor said.

I finished chewing and then spoke. "Well, you two had been infected; I have a feeling that you already knew that. Any Wires, David had given you, Dustin, and Carol tea, and that seemed to bring you back to your normal selves. It didn't last for long though, and you ran into a group of infected.

"Ted and I, after you ran into the infected, decided that it would be a good idea to try and figure out a cure. We got in touch with that research center in The Netherlands. Testing was done on Ted, David, and I and we were able to create a cure. It was distributed by aerosol all over the world.

"After we knew that the cure worked Ted, David, and I got onto a plane and flew back out here. Sabrina who's from the shelter called me and said that you two were there. That's where I went, and I found Carol walking down the side of the road. She had been looking for you two, but didn't know where you were." I finished.

He ran his hands through his hair, "Okay," He chuckled, "That's a lot to happen in just a few weeks."

I smiled lightly, "Yeah, it was kind of a lot to happen, I'm just glad that it's all over, and you two are back to being your normal selves. I love you two, and that'll never change."

Connor laid his hand out on the table and I grabbed it gingerly. He said, "I love you too."

Once we had finished dinner, and watched a movie about a dystopian society that couldn't keep the peace between each other.

After that we headed to bed. Society had gotten back to normal, peoples' lives were getting back to normal, everything was getting back to normal. Life was going to be just fine. As my eyes closed, my arms wrapped around Connor, that's all I could think about; that life was going to be just fine.