Aftermath

July 7, 2028 - News Transcript

Reporter Kris Ander: “This is an emergency broadcast alert. [Music] My name is Kris Ander and this evening on Channel 4 News, a bomb threat from an unknown source has just been broadcasted on Times Square’s billboard signs wreaking havoc among the citizens in quarantine from the global pandemic. Law enforcement is working on tra- Hold on what? (Oh dear…)

I have just been informed the bomb has been set off and has annihilated New York City. Masses of black smoke headed out South toward Manhattan along with many other bombs have also just been heard of being blown up and scattered worldwide, so smoke could be coming in any possible direction. Take cover underground for your own safety and avoid exposure to the smoke at all costs.”

April 19, 2032 - Manhattan, NY

I looked deeply into Mama’s eyes bloodshot red in the sign of the plague and whispered to her, “Mama- I’m scared. I thought the pandemic ended years ago. ”

“I know, we just need to hope for the best.” She began to cough harshly and I couldn’t bear to watch as she gasped for air when the heavy clots of blood came in strings out her mouth. Father rushed down the basement stairs and over to her to try the best he could to help. “It’ll be okay, hun. We have to go, Ulster Labs is waiting right outside the house.” He turns up to face me once Mother is okay and with a short grin, he tells me, “Keep your chin up. It’ll all be okay. Just promise me you’ll never ever take your gas mask off around people, they cannot know about you or your immunity. And most importantly, take care of Gemini. I love you, princess.”

“I promise…” They both kiss and cradle my newborn brother, Gemini, and I for one last time before they start towards the basement stairs where the men in hazmat suits bang harshly on the front door. A big lump in my throat formed and my face began to heat and tear up. I sat Gemini down and raced towards mama and papa and slid onto the floor to grasp and claw onto their legs, begging that they stay. “MAMA, PAPA PLEASE! PLEASE DON’T LEAVE US HERE!“ Mama comes as quickly as she could carry herself back over shushing me “Emily, Emily! Quiet down, they could hear you! Please just listen to your Father! It will all be okay!” With tears in her swollen eyes she removes her heart-shaped locket from her neck, kisses it and places it into my trembling palm. I gripped it so tightly my knuckles turned white but mama’s soft but sickened voice told me “I love you.” and my tension suddenly weakened. Father then looked over towards us, nodded, then shouted to Ulster Labs, “We’re coming!” and they both headed upstairs and instructed me to lock the door behind them.

And so I did.

After some time I could hear a man shouting with bold power in his voice, “It says here you have a 12 year old child, where is she?” I wasn’t sure what Mama and Papa replied with but after a while I heard their screams and Mother shouted, “NO PLEASE!” The front door then slammed wide open and I heard stomping on the basement’s ceiling. They’re raiding our home. I could hear them clashing through our belongings, probably taking whatever they wanted to disinfect and sell to the remaining healthy people in the city for a profit. “Agh…” My face burns with tears and my throat aches from the lump in my throat. I place my hands tightly on my mouth to silence the sound of my breathing, coughing and crying while the men storm through because they could possibly hear me.

Meanwhile, I could hear more mumbles coming from outside. Then, two snapping noises echoed outside one right after the other. It took me a moment to take notice that it was Mama and Papa being shot dead outside. I drop to the cold concrete floor and more tears fog my vision and strangle my optimism. Out of the floods of my mourning I remembered I needed to hide. I race back over to where Gemini sits calmly and try my best to pick him up without dropping him. Quickly, I scramble myself to find a hiding place as Gemini begins to fuss. “Oh. No.” I whisper to myself and in my best attempt, try to cradle him whilst panicking at the thought a single lock is by no means a hardship for a governmental-operated lab with its very own death squad. Being left with only one choice, I rush myself and Gemini for the sewers that lie interconnected through the old dried well as the doorknob jiggled. “No no no no no!!” I swung my leg over the well’s opening and onto the first thin metal bar then down. As far down as my body could take me. That's when as I had gotten nearly halfway down, the Ulster lab’s death squad bursted through the door and it came sliding down the stairs in loud thuds. The squad soon followed by the time I had gotten down the well. I took a deep breath and thanked Gemini for his cooperation. I got down on my hands and knees and desperately climbed through the sewer entrance. As I progressed deeper into the puddles of old sickening water, rats came running by and spiders lurked all around me. The odor soon began to intensify and Gemini didn’t look so good. He broke free from my arms and hunched into a gag that soon led to a milky regurgitation from his last meal Mama gave him. “Aw...I’m so sorry Gem, we’ll get out of here soon!” I steadied him back into a position that would lessen the hardships and ache of carrying him so we could pick up the pace and eventually came across a much larger space where I now have the ability to walk and carry him comfortably. Just then, I spotted a ladder that must head up into the streets of the city, “Oh my god!” I quickly shifted uneasy Gem into one arm so I could climb efficiently up the ladder and make an exit through the horrific foul odors of the fece infested water and onto the wastelands of Manhattan. I scurry over to an alley between two wrecked buildings and slide down on the cold brick wall. “We made it.” I check his eyes, turn him back over, and pat him to sleep. “We’ve got a long day ahead of us” I take a deep breath, clasp onto Mama’s locket, and closed my eyes.

To Be Continued