Patient Zero

In science class, they told us our grandparents expected massive flooding. The ice caps would melt, and coastal cities would drown. We'd live in a world without California and Florida. And you could tell who the teacher voted for by their comments on those states.

Nobody mentioned a meteor so huge it causes tsunamis. We didn't expect one to hit the Arctic, sending massive ice blocks in our oceans, getting rid of the cities. There isn't any ice in the Arctic anymore.

The world adapted, and the world rebuilt itself. Florida and California did disappear. So did Washington D.C., making New York City the new capital. The Great Lakes flooded, shrinking Michigan. It doesn't look like a mitten anymore.

Nobody talked about mosquitoes. Nobody talked about how dangerous they became. Nobody talked about thawed prehistoric diseases infecting animals, mosquitoes drinking their blood, and transferring diseases to us.

The world went in lockdown before. Our grandparents talked of not being let out without a mask and the outrage that came from it. Unvaccinated people formed mobs and attacked the vaccinated, blaming them for mysterious diseases killing off the population.

Violent riots drove people out of the cities before they burned. So many people in such huge gatherings spread disease to smaller towns, infecting more people. With smaller towns having fewer masks and vaccinated people, diseases and riots killed them off quickly.

My father kept me in a treehouse in a pear orchard when he heard my mother coughing. He gave me notebooks, a radio, a walkie-talkie, and exercise gear. He guided me inside. The treehouse looked like no one lived there in a while. There was a bed, desk, and a small room for a bathroom. I opened my mouth to ask a question, but the look on his face told me not to ask anything.

"No matter what you hear outside," he explained, "You don't open the door unless you hear my voice. I don't care what anyone tells you. Don't open the door unless it's me."

"What if you get sick too?" I asked.

"I'll tell you," he answers. "If something happens to me, you get out of here, and you head North. There is a river a mile away from here. I left a kayak there for you. When you get to the bridge ruins, you find a red-haired woman, and you give her this."

He takes my hand and presses something into it. I tried to look at it, but he holds my hand tighter.

"I'll be back after I check on your mother," he said. "I'll explain everything later. Lock the door."

He climbed down the tree, and I padlocked the door. I kept the lock in my room with me if something happened to my dad before he could get to me. Then, I could escape if I needed.

When he left, I looked at what he gave me. It looked like the locket my mom always wore. I knew before I opened it I'd see my mom and dad's wedding picture in there. My dad looked happier in the picture than I'd ever seen him. And my mom looked strong, not as frail as she looked before the coughing began.

For weeks, I sat in the treehouse. I did the exercises and wrote in my notebooks while listening to the radio. I wrote wild stories about my dad curing my mom and saving the rest of the world. I wrote about myself carrying on my dad's legacy.

Every day, the radio played the same songs and asked about the same person. Whoever this man was, the government is interested in him. Had something to do with the world getting sick, I think? By the time they'd explain why they wanted him, I'd be too deep in my stories to concentrate on the radio.

I saw my dad twice a week. He'd bring me a freshwater supply and MREs while I stayed cooped in the treehouse. It wasn't next to our house. He needed to walk a mile to get to me. In case something happened, he'd say.

On days he didn't come, he'd talk to me on the walkie-talkie. Mom was getting worse. The coughing was so bad; she couldn't breathe. She tried to hide the blood on her pillow, but she couldn't.

"Any day now," he said. "I'll come to get you any day now to say goodbye."

A week later, that time came. Dad called me on the radio, sobbing. He told me to be ready, for he's coming to get me. Once I heard the familiar crack on the radio, I flung the door open and nearly jumped out of the treehouse to meet him. He said nothing but lead me to the house, giving me a black facemask.

It took longer than I remembered to get through the woods to the house. Dad zig-zagged across the forest, stopping at the biggest tree he found to look up. I watched the cloth on his mask rose and fell rapidly. Beads of sweat appeared on his face. I looked at the sky. I didn't see anything, but my dad's rapid breathing made me nervous.

"Keep your mask on," he whispered to me.

Finally, we made it to the house. It was a small cabin big enough for the three of us. With me in the treehouse and my mom being sick, there was more than enough space for my dad.

A small pond sat next to the house. I could see fog rising from it. It made me think of old monster movies from history class. I shivered at the thought of something rising from the pond to kill us.

I saw a tent sitting outside of the house. Now I understand how my dad stayed healthy through my mom's sickness. Twenty feet away lay a large firepit. It was large enough to fit a body inside. I cautiously walked to the pit. A bundled, bloodied bedsheet lay in the firepit. I choked back a tear at the sight of it.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. My dad looked down at me, silent tears rolling down his face. I stepped backward as he lit a match and threw it inside.

As we stared into the flames, I listened to the breeze. The air was a mixture of forest and burned hair smells. My dad stood next to me for what felt like hours. Then he quietly took his hand off my shoulder and walked into the house. I stayed watching the fire. Something told me to stay outside.

My dad came back with an old computer. He looked up one more time then put the computer in my arms.

"Listen to me," he said. "When we go back to the treehouse, you need to watch the video on here. Then, you need to get to the river and start heading North."

"What's going on?" I asked.

"This is the last time I'll ever see you," he said. "Everything you need to know will be on that video." Then, as the flames died down, my dad leads me back through the zig-zagged path back to the treehouse. He helped me inside and looked at me one last time.

"Take care of yourself," he said, "Remember, find a red-haired woman at the Mackinac Ruins. I love you. Don't trust anyone." He shut the door, and I watched him walk away until he disappeared in the darkness. I locked the door and opened the computer.

My dad stood, frozen on the screen. He looked slightly younger. The video was made maybe a year ago. I pressed Play and listened.

"Hello, Skyler," he said. "By the time you start watching this, both your mom and I will be gone. Dead, kidnapped, it doesn't matter. You will never see us again.

I'm sure you heard the radio asking to look out for a guy. The guy, the government, is looking for questioning. Well, I'm the guy the government wants. The government believes I'm Patient Zero. So they've been looking for me for years.

Years ago, when I was dating your mother, I went on a dig in Siberia. I found the locket your mother wore—the one you're holding now. Instead of giving it to my boss, I kept it with me and gave it to your mother.

What I didn't know is that the locket is the source of the plague. When I found and thawed out the locket, I thawed out a long-dead, contagious disease. It's similar to tuberculosis. Think of it like TB's grandpa. It infected your mother, and it's why she looked so frail your whole life. So all those stories about mosquitoes were wrong.

Remember what I told you about the river and the kayaks? You need to go after this video. Please don't wait to hear what happens to me.

Don't just walk in a straight line. The government has silent, black helicopters looking for me. They've been using them for years. Find the biggest tree and look up to make sure you don't see them.

Remember me telling you to look for a red-headed woman? The red-haired woman was my old boss. Show her the locket and tell her who you are. She is the only person who can help you. Now, I have to go. I love you, Skyler. Stay alive."

I shut the computer and took out the locket. It felt cold and heavy in my hands. How long did he know? Did he kill my mother on purpose? How long did she know?

I grab a bag and put the rest of the MRE's in it. Then, I climbed down from the treehouse. I looked at the sky and listened. There was still a faint smell of burned flesh in the air. I took one last look towards my dad's house and went the other way, to the river.