Short Stories and poems for the lonely soul

The Plague

There once was a mad scientist. She never expected to do what she did. When she was younger, her life was filled with dreams of being a hero. She never knew that her life would turn out the way it did. It all started when she first met Stacy. Stacy was in her chemistry class in college, and she always thought she was a little odd, but then again, so was she. 

When they became lab partners, they started spending more time together and sharing all of their viewpoints together. She never thought anything of their conversations until Stacy walked up to her one day on their way to class.

"Hey, Ronnie, wait up! Sooooo, I have been thinking a lot lately, and I'm not entirely sure how to say this the right way buttt; I think we can really do some good in the world, you know? And sometimes I like to think that good might need to have a little bad first just to help clean up the mess," She says while struggling as if suggesting what she wasn't about to say next. 

"Any way to stop rambling now... I think that we need to create a virus that can eliminate everyone, not for proper survival. And before you think I am crazy! I need to really think about this! There is a certain gene in the body that can cause some people to be more successful in life than those who aren't, and if we created something that targeted those that aren't, imagine how much better life could be for everyone! Please just think about what I'm saying before you judge and remember what your mom told you! Sometimes you have to create a mess to fix a mess. Alrighty, we need to get to class before we are late but, promise me you will think about it! Ok?"

"Uh... okay?"

She stuttered while walking away, trying to fathom what her friend was thinking. Its been almost five years since she had that conversation and she can't believe how she got herself in that situation. She and Stacy ended up becoming roommates, and from there, Ronnie went into Biochemistry, and Stacy went into infectious disease specialty, ironically

. She was currently looking down at the virus they had created together, trying to convince herself that this was the right thing to do. As she was about to inject it into patient zero, she could feel her clammy hands shaking and struggling to keep her grip on the slippery tube. As she took in a deep breath and tried to tell herself it was ok, she stabbed the needle into the unconscious man's neck without trying to talk herself out of it any longer. She watched his eyes flutter as his body was trying to understand the sensations he was going through. She asked the two men to the sides of her to dump him near the middle of the city to get as big of an infection area as possible. She felt the stabbing grips of anxiety and panic seize her as the full reality of what she had created hit her. Ronnie had genetically engineered the perfect virus. The perfect plague. She knew what it could do to everyone. 

She tried to convince herself she did it to save others, but deep down, she feared, no, she knew, that she did it for revenge. For revenge against the people in her life who had hurt her. For the world that hurt everyone. She wasn't sure if she had the gene, the virus wouldn't attack or not. But, she wasn't sure she wanted to have it. She wasn't sure if she ever wanted to see the aftermath of what she caused.

Once she made that realization, she realized, the thing she wanted most out of anything was revenge on herself. She wanted revenge because of how weak she had been. She wanted to make herself pay for all she had or hadn't done. And most importantly, she wanted to force herself to feel that pain so she could truly suffer in the end. As she realized this, the thought as to why revenge wasn't one of the deadly sins consumed her brain. Why isn't something so harmful and detrimental to everyone, not considered a deadly sin?

Its been a year now since the virus was released. Chaos has spread across the entire world, and the virus has mutated and spread more than it ever was meant to. As she stared at her ruined hometown, wondering how she got her. As she stared at Stacies, lying dead body rotting beside her because she didn't have the heart to bury her just yet. She finally realized, revenge is a dish best served cold until it freezes the person serving it. She wasn't sure if there was anyone left on this earth, but if there was, she wanted them to know that she was sorry. She was sorry for letting it infect billions. She was sorry for destroying the world.

But most importantly, she was not sorry for also saving the world. Because she knew as she looked over at the little plants pushing through the concrete, she knew that the world would be better without humans with their seven deadly sins. She knew the world would be better without that malice and hatred and vengeful nature. She laid there lying next to Stacy's corpse, trying to tell herself that she was still helping even as she took her last, raspy, dying breath. She finally closed her eyes after looking out at the world she destroyed.