Cordoned

The year is 2022, and well, let's just say I'm at that age where kids USED to be thinking about graduation, personal independence. For a long time, in the state of Alaska, you were finally able to purchase cigarettes. We're past all of that, somewhat fortunately. The public school system has dissolved, trademark ages mean nothing; your most solid memory is probably the day you learned how to properly shoot a gun. These days, kids my age are more focused on bigger things. Such as, well, not dying, for one, and inevitably, starting a colony.
Yes, I said "colony".
See, shit hit the fan back in 2020, when I was busy envying my friend's used cars their parents had dutifully bought them to say, "Hey, you're sixteen! Don't get in a car accident and die, because this plastic toy with an engine has shit for safety ratings!" Maybe not in those exact words, but as it were, I was so focused on silently hating their privileged lives and wishing only that my parents would let me stay out past midnight, that I didn't even bother to watch CNN or even pick up a paper..
It started with a scientist. Two, actually. Completely unrelated, unbeknownst to each other, these scientists. One, an "American", went just too far. Sane man, as he was, decides he is tired of head-colds. No more sniffling and runny noses for me. Boston-born and Yale University educated, Dr. Jason Abbott was very revered in his profession and began playing with Rhinoviruses. His intent was to make the new virus work to eliminate the harmful virus it stemmed from, thereby create a vaccine for the common cold.
Some of you are already nodding, like "I know where THIS is going," but bear with me..
We cured small pox, eliminated Whooping Cough for the most part, and we damn near kicked cancer's ass. Before it happened.
It was late 2019 when Dr. Abbott had hardly released the announcement of the creation of his new "wonder drug" that people began to get antsy. You see, Pertussis X sprang up, a more aggressive and highly infectious version of the original "Whooping Cough", and began to devastate the populations, especially among infants and children under five. The "X" was the unknown variable that caused the gene to mutate. My money has, and always will be, on the idea that we just meddled with nature too much. This onset happened during a harsh winter for most of the country, and as a true American, he sold out. He MAY have fudged the final testing a little, broken a couple of federal laws, but oh, he made millions..
Dr. Jason Abbott failed because he lacked the conscience to thoroughly test his new vaccine before releasing it to the general public, or even a private sector! Because, you see, this anti-virus was prone to mutate. Before we get to that, let me explain this virus a little more to you. Abbot's Influenza spreads much like the common cold. Airborne droplets pass from host to host, breeding in the hot sanctuary of our nasal cavities. There, the germs breed and cause respiratory symptoms such as inflammation and the irritation of the mucous membranes, but in this process, it encounters the regular flu-type virus, mutates with the white blood cells, establishes the proper way to handle the virus, and thereby eliminates it. You know that angering moment when someone coughs next to you or near you and doesn't cover their mouth? Or the horrible moment when someone sneezes in the same room as you? You have just contracted the Abbot's Influenza! No more colds for you, you lucky duck! And it did exactly what it was meant to do..
Meanwhile, a very, very bad man decided, "You know what? Fuck America. Fuck their pollution, materialism, warmongering, and their ginormous world-wide debt! Fuck THEM."
I was born in the fall of 2001, so I was simply too young to experience the terrorist attack on the world trade center, but I do remember studying it, World War I and II. I remember video games and microwave popcorn, and I sure as hell haven't forgotten Mutt. The studies I was forced to endure taught me one thing about terrorism: It's not hard to recognize. And this? This was biological warfare.
Have any of you heard of the atom bomb? That would be a blessing. I'd even take radiation!
There is a type of disease that all scientists, virologists especially, fear: Filoviridae. Marburg Virus. EVD, or Ebola Virus Disease. Filoviruses, meet your cousin, the Maldane Flu. Clearly, misnamed. Tragically so, might I add.
Why? Because, the word "flu" makes people think, "No worry, a fever, soreness, maybe some nausea, but not a disease." But it WAS a disease.
The man who misnamed it died not long after, because Karma's a bitch, and he contracted the "flu". Doctor Alan Maldane, a virologist. The identity (or specific intentions) of the person whom released the disease is hotly debated. The few Religious Nuts still out there - hardly any of them survive because they depend on their faith to save them in gun or teeth situations - claimed it His judgement. Those Conspirators claim it was the government. (Don't they always?)
Others, like me, believe it was the Chinese. I mean, fuck, how much did America owe them? Trillions??
Here is what the government admits: It was smuggled out of a secure lab, as only three of the world powers, the United States, China, and Switzerland, had access to this specific strain and all three had it in mandatory very high-security biohazard facilities. Also, this disease was spread by coating the surrounding airspace in some aerosoled combination of the disease and possibly something similar to a saline solution. It was sprayed by jets and coated cities, nature, you name it. (This was confirmed by possible enemy planes within the country's airspace reported frequently over the course of an afternoon.) Their plan backfired, whomever they were, because people going overseas carried the disease with them.
The disease was quickly noticed, yet it was not addressed as such. People spoke of devastating cases where small children fell down and were picked up by their parents, only to discover they were experience seizures and blood was seeping from their orifices. Perfectly healthy men and women would go to bed and wake up dead. Ill looking people would wander into public places, collapse in fits and spew blood horrifically. The man who was finally able to find the common denominator, the virus, was Dr. Alan Maldane. He didn't create it, but he discovered it. By then, however, it was too late. The dormant version of the virus was already waiting to be spread. Thankfully, Maldane Flu is not airborne, and can only be passed via fluid to fluid contact.
And by some miracle, these two viruses met and conjoined. As I said before, Abbott's Influenza was prone to mutate, and it was exactly what Maldane Flu had been waiting for. Meet Abbott-Maldane Syndrome. Again, it was misnamed to scare less of the general public. Those afflicted with this "Syndrome" are simply referred to as "the infected". And while the general public was busy fighting for their humanity, the government officials continued to avoid holding press conferences about the outbreaks and downplayed the seriousness of the situation, all while dousing themselves in bleach. It wasn't long before the news articles and videos of the outbreaks and surrounding areas began disappearing all together. Now tell me, who has the power to suppress the FREEDOM of press?
It began in Florida. Turns out their climate and humidity is the prefect hot spot for the disease. The first recorded "affliction" of Abbott-Maldane Syndrome was a blonde, blue-eyed twenty-something college girl. She was planning to become a swimsuit model, meanwhile majoring in English and minoring in Music Comp. Her name was Anne Louise Stevens. But when she was found, she was just Jane Doe. She amplified at approximately 11:45 PM. Police had hardly arrived on the scene of a call of a young woman unresponsive on the dance floor. According to the 911 call, a young woman crying in hysterics reported her friend had accepted a drink from a gentleman and wasted no time downing it. Witnesses who remained on scene reported she had already consumed more than her fair share of liquor that evening and suddenly began seizing. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she foamed at the mouth before collapsing; that is when her friend dialed 911. Police arrived on scene, and one officer began trying to wake the young woman. The two other officers began to disperse what was left of the crowd, as many had ran when the police were first called. The woman seized only slightly more and went entirely still. Her skin had already been cold and the officer knew she was not breathing. The paramedics were just rushing into the club, their heavy medical kits in hand. They were two young men, grave-faced and pale.
She still wasn't breathing, and the paramedics rushed in at all sides. They began to crouch around her, preparing to perform CPR, when she began to growl. It was quiet at first, then it grew louder, like a gargling sound. The girl began to move her limbs, pulling herself up. The paramedics, in true self-preservation, jumped back, abandoning their supplies. The officer who stood closest drew his weapon and took a step back.
"Miss, are you alright? Are you in need of medical attention?" he asked.
A groaning sound responded him, saliva dripping from her lips and her eyes foggy. "MISS, are you in need of medical attention? What happened here tonight?"
The groaning became a shriek, and the officer steadied his weapon, his face becoming drawn. "Miss, I am going to only say this once. Stand down, and put your hands above your head."
But, the young woman didn't listen. Her hands moved up from her sides slightly, her acrylic nails chipped and strangely normal. Her face screwed up and believe it or not, she spit on him. It hit the officer on the shoulder of his Kevlar vest, surprising him. The officer straightened his stance, ready to shoot. "STAND DOWN!"
The paramedics scampered far away, and people were murmuring, confused. Then she leaped. This sick girl lunged at the officer, nails swinging wildly, teeth chopping at his face. A few women screamed, and the one of his fellow officers took the initiative, moving to his side, bringing up his heavy boot and giving the girl a swift kick on her hip. She flew away from him, shrieking and landing on the ground with a thump. A split second later, the slight girl picked herself up, growling with more force. Her leg was broken, and the bone stuck out at a horrific angle, but she shuffled closer and attempted to lunge at the same officer. The man who had given her the kick withdrew his own gun, and trained it on her head, hesitating. The third officer drew his weapon and shot her in the arm. Blood splattered on the dance floor and the girl spun with the force of the bullet striking her in the left bicep. She spun and stumbled and let out a horrible shriek of anger.
At this, the first officer pulled the trigger of his mandatory state-issued gun that had only been fired twice before and killed Jane Doe. A week later, all of the articles about her were gone from the Internet and any news station in the country, but Anne Louise Stevens was still listed as "Deceased".
YouTube was the only video outlet that began to hold any amount of truth about what was really going on in the word, infection-wise.
My name is Kimberly Joan Lowell, and I will not give up.