patient zero

She kept running until she got to the drugstore, expecting it to have been looted but not knowing where else to go. The automatic door kept trying to close on a man’s body, with the greeting just repeating as it hit his hips over and over.

“Welcome ... David. Welcome ... David.”

She grabbed his legs and pulled him out of the doorway, then kicked him down the small incline into the parking lot.

It didn’t really hit her what she had done until she entered the store and heard the automated system’s voice again.

“Welcome ... shopper. You do not appear to have your GovID on you. Without it, you will be unable to complete purchases at this store.”

Her hand instinctively went to her purse. She blinked, shook her head.

David. His name was David.

The store had been abandoned; there should have been two employees on duty, but the body she found inside looked like a customer. She dragged that body outside as well, spotting some pumpkin-decorating paint in the seasonal aisle as she did so.

It was a silly, foolish thing to do, even if she hadn’t noticed any Patrols. But she went outside and sloppily wrote she didn’t mean it on the wall in red, orange, and brown.

Nobody would even see it. Probably.

Her stomach growled so she went back inside. The door code was the same as it had been when she had worked there. After she locked up the store, she barricaded the entrance as best she could. Then she made her way to the freezers, spotted a carton of vanilla ice cream, then caught a glimpse of her reflection in the glass.

Stringy blonde hair, eyes red and puffy.

She was still wearing her mask.

She didn’t need it, but on the off chance she was caught by a Patrol and they didn’t shoot her on sight, it should convince them she was still worried about getting sick. She unhooked the mask from her ears and dropped it to the floor. Her hands were still stained from the black dye; they had found some some disposable gloves under the kitchen sink, but she hadn’t wanted to waste them. Obscuring fingerprints on the run was more important.

The lights in the freezer flickered and her mind flashed on memories of a sixth grade class.

With advances in technology, our electric grid barely needs any human intervention. Mankind could disappear tomorrow and our buildings would all still be lit brightly.

“Messed up thing to say to twelve-year-olds,” she muttered as she snatched the ice cream from the freezer.

She sat in the pharmacy as she stuffed her face. The cold and flu section of the store was mostly empty and in disarray, but she couldn't tell if it was from stealing or just terrified shopping. When her stomach started to hurt, she put the half-empty carton back in the freezer.

Assuming her teacher had been right, and nobody tried to break into the store, she would have enough food to last for a while. Even if the freezer lost power, there was still a fair amount of non-perishable junk food still on display.

She hadn’t brought her tablet, as her father couldn’t assure her that it was fully anonymized, so she couldn’t download any of the books or magazines on display in aisle seven. The only thing she had to keep her brain occupied were a couple old-school paper novels she had swiped from her father’s study. She didn’t know if she liked Heinlein, but one of them had a cat in the title.

Using a package of toilet paper as a pillow and unrolled paper towels as a poor excuse for a blanket, she slept until it was light out.

Breakfast, she decided, would be salt and vinegar chips. And a chocolate bar. As she reached for the candy, her necklace got caught on a stupid hanger for a bag of mints and she panicked, knocking over the contents of an entire shelf as she felt the chain dig into the back of her neck.

“No, no, no, no, you can’t break.”

She got it loose without any damage and curled up in a ball on the floor, sobbing and rocking back and forth, clutching the small locket in her hands.

As she began to calm down, she gingerly opened the locket, being careful to protect the long strand of golden hair tucked inside, sitting on top of a faded picture of a once-happy family, carefully cut into a heart shape.

Her father thought cutting into flesh with the scissors to make a scar would be stupid. It would draw attention.

"People don’t want to look at a scar," she had argued.

"We don’t have time to debate this."

"They seem to believe your tip."

"It won’t take them long to figure out it wasn’t really from Mich-" He had started coughing again, blood splattering on the body on the floor. "It’s time to split up."

"Just ... just a few more minutes."

"The Patrols could be back any minute. Think about your mother. We go now."

A few tearful hugs and that was it. They were on their own.

There was still a media box near the cash registers.

With shaking hands, she turned it on and flipped through the stations. As expected, they were all showing the Emergency Broadcast Channel. A calm-looking AI was continuing the same spiel that had been playing for ... had it been weeks? Had it only been weeks?

“- believed to be alive in Nevada, Arizona, and Colorado. We are ceasing operations there."

"Just say you’re bombing the metropolitan areas," she snapped. "We saw the videos before you shut down YouTube."

"Whether you are displaying symptoms or not, you are encouraged to quarantine in place and call the hotline if you believe you need medical attention.”

“The hotline stopped working three days ago."

“If you have been exposed and believe you are Immune, call the number on the screen immediately. Your contribution is needed to develop a cure. Do not leave your home. The Cleansing Patrols are authorized to shoot anyone on the streets on sight. We cannot risk further spread. If you are Immune, you will be picked up from your home in a prompt fashion and brought to our facilities.”

The AI paused and put a finger to her ear, as if she was getting information from an earpiece and not an upload. “We have been informed that no one is believed to be alive in Montana. We are ceasing operations there. And now for your Urgent Reminder. Reports that Patient Zero was killed in Michigan have been confirmed false.”

The AI was pushed into the left corner as the screen filled with a GovID profile image.

She touched the screen, putting her hands over the face, as if that could somehow keep the rest of the world from seeing it.

"We are still searching for Patient Zero. She is forty-seven years old, five feet, six inches tall, with long blonde hair and hazel eyes. No known tattoos or scars. Patient Zero-"

"She has a name," she whispered. "Use her name."

"- even though she is asymptomatic. Do not believe her lies. She is a former CIA agent and cannot be believed.”

“She didn’t mean it!” she screamed at the broadcast. "She didn’t mean it. You sent her there! She was just doing her job. She didn’t know what they did to her!”

The AI didn’t care. “All citizens are authorized to use deadly force to contain Patient Zero, but are warned to keep at least six feet away from her at all times and to wear your mask if you approach. We are receiving reports that Japan is in anarchy and that no one is believed to be alive in New Mexico. We are ceasing operations there. Whether you are displaying symptoms or not, you are -”

She clicked the broadcast off and clutched the locket with her stained hands. "Just get to Canada. It might be different there. It -"

There was a sudden bang on the door. "Anyone in there?"

She slumped down to the ground with her hands over her mouth.

Just get to Canada, she thought. Please. Maybe it’s better there. Please.

The banging continued.

(fin.)