Valli : Personal Journal of Valli Pillay, a Living Dead Pandemic Survivor

Entry 33

I spoke to Pedro today. He's been flying supplies to reconnaissance teams spread out around the Sahara. They are watching the swarm. The Global Council has decided to contain them in the desert for as long possible. Our resources are limited. Pedro will be there for a while. I'm hoping he gets time off to come to the coast. He's encouraging me to keep writing to keep my mind off things. I don't have a choice. I mean it's not like I can go to the movies or whatever. I mean I could. The library does movie nights every Tuesday. They also rent out DVDs and Blu-rays. I don't have a player though. I should ask someone from the Materials Department. They might have one. In the meantime, I keep writing.

When the lady had the shotgun pointed at us I thought, "This is it. I'm dead," but Satish calmed things down.

"We have some people who are sick. We just need to give them their medicine. Let them get better, and we'll be out of your way," he said in Creole.

"How do I know I can trust you?" she asked sticking to French.

"You don't. At least not right now," Dad said, in Creole and coughed. "Just give us a chance and you'll see you can trust us."

A child coughed, and two girls came and stood behind the lady. One was around twelve and the other ten or nine, the lady I guessed to be in her late forties. All three of them were gaunt and frail looking. I felt sorry for them.

"Camille, Lucy, stay inside."

"Maman," the older one said in French. "Lucy is wheezing again."

"Camille keep quiet!"

"Your child is asthmatic?" Satish asked.

The rest of our group were behind us. "Hey, lady," Dave said in English, "we have Ventolin inhalers we can give to your daughter. Let us help you."

The youngest girl started to cough. She sat on the floor. Her wheezing was so loud. Each breath was an obvious struggle.

Maya ran past me. She pushed the gun away and pulled Murali's inhaler from her pocket. She gave it to the girl who put it to her mouth and pressed down on the inhaler. Maya stroked her hair as the girl inhaled. Her mother just stood there not sure what to do. The girl started breathing better.

"Thank you," said the older girl, who I guessed was Camille.

"Can you breathe?" Maya asked the little girl.

"Yes. Thank you," she said, panting.

"What's your name sweetheart?"

"Lucy."

"Come inside," Camille said, beckoning us to follow her.

"Camille!" her mother shouted.

We ignored her and followed Camille into the house. We entered a huge living room with sofas and settees everywhere and a huge stone fireplace in the corner with a flat screen TV above the mantle. It felt cosy and welcoming. The hardwood floors gave it that extra warm touch. What creeped me out were the antlers and the heads of different animals hung high on the wall. "Wow," I said.

"Put me on the couch, baby," Dad said.

I helped him to the nearest couch. He eased on to it and closed his eyes.

Stephan helped Mrs. Kalichurn to another couch.

"You can't stay here!" The woman screamed. "This is my house. My husband will be very upset when he comes back."

"Maman!" Lucy said.

"That's okay," Satish said. "We'll take our chances with him."

"Maman, they just helped Lucy," Camille said.