The Unbecoming

Another day..... It's almost time for curfew to start. I just got off work from another 24 hour shift at the hospital. I wish they would figure this shit out already. The "Others" keep killing more people. The world's top scientists are saying they are trying to find a cure, but I don't believe them. They are all just profiting off everyone.

The "Others" are the people who took the Covid vaccine 20 years ago. They thought Covid was done and over with. Everything was going so well at first. For the next few years after 2021, they kept making people get the booster shots, like the flu shot. They were trying to make the vaccine stronger to help keep the numbers down. Then that's when it all started.

People started getting really sick. But they weren't getting better. The vaccine was doing something to them. Whatever they put in the new shot was causing the people to forget who they were. They were turning violent. They started attacking their family members. They were unable to be in the daylight because their eyes had become hyper sensitive to light. They would first catch an extremely high fever, start vomiting, then become severely dehydrated. At this point, when the person was knocked out, is when, whatever was in that shot, would take over. The whole transition took a few days.

The "Others" started to fight against everyone. They were fast and, somehow, really strong. Wars broke out all over the globe. Of course all the fighting was done at night since they would find places to hide during the day. I honestly don't really know what the "Others" want.

I work at the local hospital in town. Once everyone started changing they lost a lot of medical staff due to a majority of healthcare workers getting the vaccine. They thought they were doing the right thing.... I almost got the vaccine myself but I felt like something was up with it. So I decided to wait. Now, I'm glad I did.

I guess you could say I am a veteran in this field. I worked during the first Covid pandemic. It was crazy. Lots of people dying and being short staffed. Ha, looking back on it now, it feels more like a walk in the park. I wish I could go back to that time. There's way more death now and definitely short staffed but I guess that's just how it's going to be.

They started the curfew a year or two ago. They wanted to try and slow down the "Others" from attacking. So at 10:00PM they shut down all electricity to the city, well the whole state really. If you're not in your home and locked in, you're free game for the "Others".

There have been rumors going around the hospital that a new strain has been found. "Covid-X". I hope it's a load of bull. I really don't want there to be another mutation. Honestly, I'll believe it when I see it. Right now, the only thing I have to worry about is getting home. Only a five minute walk to my house, but there's only 10 minutes till the curfew starts.

It's sad what the city has turned into. Pretty much all the big buildings downtown have been knocked down by the military bombing the city. All the city to the south has been demolished. If you go across the river to the west side....eh...just don't. That's supposedly where the "Others" live. And I've heard stories of people trying to get over there and never coming back.

Finally home with 5 minutes to spare. I have a generator I use at night so I can charge my phone and laptop. Also to keep my fridge cold and one light on. My stove is gas so I don't have to worry about that. I just want to eat, shower, and sleep. I'm off tomorrow but I'll probably just sleep all day.

....

Man, I can't believe I actually slept that long. I feel like I am getting too old for this shit. Or maybe not too old, my body just isn't handling me working these long hours anymore. I got to work again today, too. I work in the Emergency Department. Hopefully, today is a good day.

Patience is key when working with people. Especially with all of the craziness going on, people are more scared than ever. Between people getting dropped off by Ambulance or just walking in, it is non-stop. And, I just got a new patient dropped off by the ambulance. The paramedic said she was running down the street and a cop almost hit her. She wasn't talking so the cop had her transported here. Oh man, it's a child. She looked maybe 10 years old. Where are her parents?

"Hey there sweetie. I'm your nurse and I'm gonna help you out, ok? What is your name?" I can tell she was scared. She looked un-bathed. Her brown hair was down and very unkempt. She was wearing a dress that was stained with dirt and had holes in it. She had leggings under it with some slip-on shoes, but everything was so dirty, I honestly couldn't even tell what color anything was.

"Cece. My name is Cece." She has such a soft little voice. "Ok, Cece, where are your parents?" Her green eyes looked up at me with tears pooling in the corners. "They're gone...." "What do you mean they're gone honey? What happened?" She looked around in a panic. I looked around to see if anyone was within ear shot. I didn't see anyone except a security guard near the exit. I couldn't tell if she was looking for a place to run or was scared to tell me what happened to her parents. "I promise you can tell me. I won't tell anyone anything and you'll be safe, ok?"

She started to fiddle with her dress. I didn't see it at first, but there was a pocket on the side of the dress. She pulled out a silver heart shaped locket. It was dirty but still had some shine to it. It looked like it was starting to turn a little yellow, so pretty positive it was white gold. So at one point, it was worth some money. She opened the heart and showed me the picture inside. The picture was of a young man and woman. They looked happy. I'm assuming it was their wedding day since she had on a pretty white dress and he had a white dress shirt and slacks. They looked to be only about 20 years old.

"Are these your parents?" She shook her head up and down. "This was before they had me. Back when everything was ok." So this picture was probably about 20 years old then. I'm surprised it is in such good shape. "Well Cece, where are they at now? Is there anyone I can get in touch with? Are you hurt at all?" She looked down. She looked ashamed of something. "I don't have anyone." She lifted her pant leg to show me a scrape on her knee. It wasn't too bad but it had some obvious rocks in it. I decided I would just clean it and put a bandage on it. The least I could do for this poor girl.

"Let's get your knee cleaned up. Why don't you tell me what happened while I fix you up?" "Ok, thank you." I grabbed all my supplies and started to clean her scrape. "So we haven't had a home for the last few months. We used to have one but it caught on fire." I vaguely remember hearing about a house fire not too far from here about 4 months ago. They said it looked to be an accident and was started by some candles. They didn't find anyone inside. I'm assuming this was her house. "So since we didn't have any money or anywhere to go, we have been living on the streets. We had a tent we set up next to our car." I wonder why neither of them worked? There was always some type of job available. Huh... "Well, I went to bed last night but my parents stayed awake. I was in the car asleep when I heard yelling. They always told me to stay in the car no matter what and to stay quiet that way the "Others" wouldn't know where I was." My heart sank as I already knew where this was going.

"I stayed quiet like they said and I just listened. I heard my mom scream. My dad was yelling and it sounded like he was hitting something? I heard what sounded like another person but they weren't actually talking? Like mumbling but I didn't know what they were saying. So I peeked through the window. I saw my mom and dad laying on the ground. I think it was a person standing over them. I couldn't tell what "he" was doing. It looked like he was licking their faces?" She looked at me very confused. I was trying to keep a straight face. Was this a prank? Very doubtful of that. But it was just weird. I have never heard of the "Others" licking people.

"Ok, well what happened next Cece?" I finished putting the dressing on her leg and I pulled her pant leg back over it. "Well, after he licked their faces, he turned and looked at the car. His skin was super pale and his eyes were such a light blue, like almost white. He didn't have a shirt on and looked really skinny. He didn't see me. All of a sudden my parents got back up and their eyes looked just like his! Then they all ran off towards the river!" She started crying. I grabbed her a box of tissues out of the cabinet. Her tears were leaving clean tracks through the dirt on her face. I have never heard of someone actually being turned into an "Other" before. This was crazy.

"I wanted to chase after them but they were fast! And I didn't want to break my promise to my parents by getting out of the car. I tried to look for them this morning and that's how I scraped up my knee." She was looking at the ground again. Man, how is this possible? Should I tell someone? I wonder if this is what they meant by "Covid-X". Holy cow, maybe they were right. Should I trust this kid?