Omega

The evil of humanity was discovered on May 25th, 2035, that is the date when the Omega escaped and when human beings where no longer the custodians of the Earth. It was our own doing, it was from the refusal to learn from previous mistakes. Now there is only one ship left to escape this dying world and it is out of my grasp.

The Omega, the result of gain of function research conducted in laboratories funded by governments all over the world, it is an airborne virus that specifically targets Primate DNA, there is no vaccine, there is no cure and has a fatality rate of almost one hundred percent.

The accident happened when samples from a research laboratory were being transported from a facility in Jakarta to multiple US own facilities around the world for further research.

The Omega escaped when the armored government vehicle transporting the virus was involved in unforeseen traffic accident. It was just terribly bad luck, they were struck at an intersection by a fuel truck because the driver Richie was distracted by a Facebook message alert on his smart phone and was not paying attention to the upcoming traffic light intersection.

It was the explosion after the fuel tanker knocked down a power line pole and the transformer shorted out and caused the fuel tanker to exploded. The force of the explosion was enough to rupture the airtight vessel the virus was contained in.

In a disaster of this magnitude, it would be natural to think that somebody could be held accountable, for example the government’s who funded the research, the laboratories that conducted the experiments, or even Richie for not paying attention to the road. all these contributed the accident that unleashed Omega. but it is hard to hold anybody to account and make them pay for their incompetence when they are all dead. there is nobody left to blame.

Within two days of the omega escaping there where cases with people having horrible symptoms all over the world. Within two weeks ninety-nine percent of the population were dead and the remaining people left alive are fighting or even killing each other to secure a seat on one of the few spaceships left leaving to escape Earth to a new colony on Mars.

Most people have simply given up trying to escape, maybe its impossible to get to a launch facility or because of the danger of being attacked while traveling. Worse still, some people have given up on life with suicide becoming a popular alternative to the Omega.

The Omega starts by entering the host’s lungs where it quickly begins replicating itself insuring that the host becomes contagious to further spread itself to more victims, once the Omega has infected the host they start developing lung tumors and causing tremors in a host’s nervous system. The tremors then become spasms and then the host dies of exhaustion or heart failure, whichever comes first.

To say Goodbye

The day of Richie’s traffic incident, the world changed forever. I was sitting beside my wife Amy’s hospital bed, in the cancer clinic on the 3rd floor of the hospital. We were watching the news. I saw the reports of a horrible fatal disease that appears UN-treatable, occurring in the city where a fuel truck exploded. As well as strange reports of weather satellites detecting a strange iridescent green cloud forming over the same city.

It was the next morning after I saw the news reports, I understood the seriousness of the situation. with the death toll reaching in the hundreds of thousands overnight and an iridescent green cloud starting to cover the planet. I called my only daughter Grace to check in with her and make sure she was alright.

My daughter Grace is an astrophysicist fresh out of college who landed a job at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral. She is apart of a team that sent the first colonies to Mars and has been developing the latest space travel technology.

When Grace answered the phone, she said “hello, dad is that you?”

I replied “Hi sweetie how are you, where are you?”

Grace answered “I am on my way to work I have been called in. they are preparing an emergency launch of the remaining spaceships of the mars space colony program”

I said, “why on earth would they do that?”

Grace replied “Dad I think it has something to do with this new virus, I am really worried. I will find out more when I get there, I got to go I am running late. I will call you back as soon as I can. Love you dad.”

I said, “Love you too sweetie talk to you soon” then hung up the phone.

I said to my wife Amy, who was suffering from a terminal illness that she has battled for the past 3 years.

” I just spoke to Grace, she said she has been called into work to start preparing their remaining spaceships for launch. She sounds worried”

Amy asked, "Why?”

I said, ”she thinks it has something to do with this disease and green cloud that’s all over the news”.

Amy looked at me worried and Said “go to her, something’s not right”

I said,” but Amy, I can’t leave you here”

She said to me “Michael, you have too, it’s time for you to say goodbye to me, I am too weak to get out of this bed yet alone travel and I think I have run out of fight baby”

As tears welled in my eyes Amy said,” you need to get to Grace. There is something terribly wrong happening in the world and our baby is all alone out there. Tell her that I love her, and I will always be watching over her”

I took my wife’s hand and gave her a kiss on the check and said,” I love you more than life itself and I can’t just leave you here to die alone”

Amy said, “you have too Michael, here please take my neck less”

I unclasped the neck less from around her neck. On the neck less was a heart shaped locket with a photo of our family inside when Grace was a child. Amy said,” can you please give that to Grace, something she can remember me by”

I took the neck less and put it around my neck. With tears running down my face I held my wife for the last time, gave her our last kiss. then Amy said “I love you, but you need to go”

So, I stood up and turned around and walked to the door and said “goodbye Amy”

then I walked down the hall to the elevators and never saw my wife again.

Saving Grace

When I got downstairs to the parking lot, I walked to my car, I got in started the engine and just stared at the locket Amy had left for Grace. Then suddenly my phone began to ring, I looked at it and it was Grace calling. I answered and said “hello”

Grace Said “Dad where are you, everything is so much worse than I could of imagined”

I replied “I am just leaving the hospital to come see you. I’m heading to your place. Be there in two hours or so”

Grace spoke with a shaken voice,” no dad, you and mum need to come straight to the Space Center they are going to evacuate”.

“what do you mean evacuate?” I replied.

Grace said “the planet dad, we need to get on a ship before the cloud takes over”

I replied, “the cloud?”

Grace said “they are calling it the omega cloud. you know the one on the news. They said it’s the source of the disease that is killing everyone. You guys need to get here before the cloud gets here”

With a dismayed voice i said, “sweetie mum can’t travel she is too sick. She said she loves you and that I have to get to you”

Grace now crying said “oh dad, its just not fair. I am never going to see her again, am I?”

I said softly, “I don’t think so sweetie, but I will be there soon. I’m on my way”

Grace said, still crying, “hurry dad, there isn’t much time. I will make preparations and get us our seats secured. I love you. ”

I said “ I'll be there before you know it, bye” then I hung the phone up, put the car in gear and started to drive to the Space Center.

As I was driving down the freeway, I was tuned into the local radio station to try and receive updates on the situation. About halfway to my destination I heard a public service message saying that “the Omega Cloud is heading due west, all infected by the cloud must quarantine”

So, I started to drive a little faster and increase the distance between the cloud and me. I maintained a high speed until I past a road sign saying the space center was thirty kilometers ahead. That is when things took are turn for the worse.

A refrigeration truck had blown out a front tire and rolled onto its side and was cutting off the road to the space center. I pulled over and got out to see if the driver was alright but the truck was abandoned. So, I returned to my car a tried to drive around the truck. But as I left the road my tires sunk in soft soil, and I was bogged. Then I looked east, I could see it, the cloud was right behind me. I looked around franticly for somewhere to run. Then I saw the access door on the side of the refrigeration truck I ran to the truck and got inside.

So I sat alone in my makeshift bunker, a turned over truck refrigeration container on the freeway thirty kilometers from the Space Center, the site of the last ship to escape Earth, where my daughter is waiting for me.

The Omega cloud has surrounded my bunker, but it cannot get into this airtight container, well for now at least. but It is only a matter of time before I run out of breathable air in this confined environment, with the carbon dioxide getting more concentrated with every breath.

There’s nothing of much use in this makeshift bunker, of all the possible things to be transported, like fresh fruit and vegetables and frozen meats on its way to local supermarkets. I climb into a truck hauling medical supplies, mainly insulin for diabetics.

The only things that I have with me are the things I had in my pockets when I ran from my car to get inside the refrigerated container.

my wallet and my phone that has only 23 percent remaining battery, then I notice my phone has no signal inside the container.

I realized the only way to speak to Grace to tell her to get on that last ship without me is to open the door and walk outside to get phone signal.

I prepared a goodbye text message on my phone, and attach a photo of myself with Amy’s Gold Heart shaped Locket around my neck. I was ready to hit the send button to Grace, because once I open the door outside I would not have much time before I was infected.

I took a deep breath, opened the door and stepped outside. I looked at my phone and saw full phone signal. I hit the send button, dropped my phone and walked into the Omega.

The End