The Tide

The Tide

How could we have been so stupid?

There was never any way we could of seen it coming? Really, was there? It has been fifteen days since the TOXI P21 virus went global.

The news reports we not unlike any other at the start. A few isolated cases of hospital admissions, red light warnings of a high increase

of rodent infestation, an the an escalation of countrywide riots and medical facility lockdowns, which in turn led to a national declaration

of ''State of Emergency'' by our government.Ten days later, and I sit here, alone in this abandoned warehouse, boarded and shuttered away

from the chaos and crumpling remnants of normality just beyond those two barred wooden doors.... This is my story....

My afternoon started with a purposeful meaning. In another 15 days, my daughter Melanie is, or was... I don't quite know now, meant to

graduate University. Oxford, Medical Science, to be precise, and I was on my way to Queen Smith Master Jewellers in Hatton Garden to pick

up her graduation gift; a beautiful 24Carat Gold locket. I had requested it specially to be moulded into the shape of a heart, with a ruby

encrusted medical cross on the front and a picture of our family, myself, my wife and Melanie herself inside, along with a personal inscription

to make the moment special. It is, ironically the greatest gift I have ever bought for her in twenty one years....

It was meant to be straightforward. I finished work in Canary Wharf at 13:30... I would collect the gift and then begin the arduous commute

back to my apartment in Oxford, put my feet up, ring my daughter to check in, watch the same routine drizzle of TV shows until passing out,

and then get up and do it all again the next day.

Well things did not quite go to plan....

I had just collected Melanie's' locket. Expertly wrapped in exquisite gold leafed paper, bound with a silky red ribbon and at that moment,

I felt like the proudest father in the world.... my girl had earned this, she deserved this, and then lost in those thoughts, I was jolted

by the screaming....

Toxoplasmosa Gondii was always a well known Rodentia parasite which had been studied by scientists for decades. It is a parasite which

invades a rats' brain stem and takes control of the wheels and turns the animal into a mindless drone with the sole intention of infecting

another host and so on. There has always been a fear that, if the parasite ever got smarter in its mutation it could cross over to humans...

It was strange how the first initial news reports never really clued anyone in to the full extent of what was happening...

Armies of rats invading cities was reported as unusual infestations, but should be managed by a higher extermination rollout and should pass

on without a problem, a higher hospital admission rate was fobbed off as a stronger strain of the seasonal flu and should not be a cause for concern.

The rodents which started it all...Eight rats infected with rabies being used for study at the Imperial College had escaped and injured

thirteen staff members was written off as contained, a freak accident and the thirteen were recovering in the Royal Hospital.

In hindsight, the media made the situation, and dealing with it and the resulting chaos worse by ten fold.

The screaming... The panic... News reports never quite present to you what it is like to be there in the thick of it....

I walked to the window of that jewellers and see outside a fast flowing current of brown... Rats, hundreds of them, all moving at speed and in

unison. Groups of people... shoppers, friends who had met up for an afternoon coffee, guys on their lunch break from work, all trying to

escape from the horde. I had never seen anything quite so horrifying.. The young girl, she can't of been any more than seventeen tripping

over her own momentum and then disappearing beneath a sea of fur and teeth, or the smart looking businessman, cornered in a doorway,

swinging his briefcase as the beasts scurried all over him, biting and clawing all the time until he fell beneath the current...

I could not do anything other than stare, unblinking for what seemed like an eternity. It was only when I saw one of the first to fall,

a young strapping lad, likely in his early twenties, rise up amongst the ever flowing horde covered in deep seeping wounds on his face and arms,

reach out and grab a women in heels and sink a deep blood and froth spattered bite into her neck that I realised that I needed to get

as far from here as I could!

In those next moments, I was not proud of my actions, but I guess when the ''flight or fright'' response kicks in, you have to make your

choice, and I made mine. I ran out through the front of the jewellers, leaving behind the other bewildered and shocked customers and staff inside

and out onto the chaos ridden street and spotted the Audi...

It looked like it had come to a stop very quickly, as the driver door was hanging ajar, and he engine was still running. The wave of rats

had largely passed, bar for a few stragglers, and apart from the bodies of the unfortunates who did not make it to safety, the coast was mostly

clear. The car was my best chance... some of the bodies were now starting to get back on their feet.. yet now were attacking anyone or

anything that moved, in a blind rage and ferocity. I needed to get in that car, and get moving far away from here...

As I approached, apprehensively, I could see the driver sprawled out on the pavement. My god, I thought, he must of been dragged from the

car. I didn't know if he was still alive, but I could clearly see his body contorting and spasming, like a fit or seizure, and I also noticed

the deep laceration across the front of his throat.

I dove into the front seat of the car and slammed the door closed. The poor guy, he hadn't even had a chance to take the keys out of the ignition.

As I put the vehicle into drive, I was shocked to see the driver had now got to his feet as well. His front was a soaked crimson, as

arterial blood gushed from the deep wound on his throat, froth and bile spewed from his mouth, open and contorted in a twisted snarl, and

his eyes had formed a milky, cataract like film, almost lifeless like. He started to pound the bonnet of the car. I could also see that he had

lost several of his fingers, and the stumps where smearing the perfectly cleaned silver of the car with bloody fluid, and loose pieces of flesh

and sinew.

So I drove, as fast as I could, weaving in between the carnage and panic, out of the city towards the Thames Waterfront district, where I came

to a stop outside of this warehouse.

I say it has been fifteen days.In truth, I don't know really. The moment I stepped outside, I was rushed by another swarm of that sea of

fur, along with around three dozen diseased people, all looking to pass their infliction on to me. I barely managed to make it in here,

and drop down the board on the double doors inside. But they are still here. I can hear them outside, trying to get in.

My phone battery lasted for several days. I was carefully putting it on for several minutes at a time... Just long enough to read the latest

news about what was happening, and to try and call Melanie... whom I have not been able to contact. But now the internet, and I assume the grid

has gone down now because everything has gone dark.

That brings me to were I am now. I ran out of food and water two days ago... I think. I was lucky to have my work bag still with me, and I think

I have managed to make my eight sandwiches last well, even after the bread went mouldy. But hey, I am not a fussy person, and when your back is

to the wall, you do what you have to do to survive after all.

But, I don't think I am going to do that. They always say ''you are never more than four feet away from a rat''. They were right.

A big one, has somehow managed to squeeze its way in here. He just took one hell of a chunk out of my ankle... It hurt. A LOT!, but I think

I payed him back in kind with the crowbar that was in here with me. I am sat down, legs splayed looking at his body and the blood seep from my

ankle, and for some reason, I can't help but smile.

The last news report I read was about how the rabies rats from the Imperial College had mutated Toxoplasmosa Gondii. They were the ultimate

death machine ; a host body driven by the Toxo bacteria with an insatiable desire to infect, mixed up in a pee tree dish with aggressive

rabies. So yes, WE WERE VERY STUPID.... But we could NOT HAVE SEEN THIS COMING.

They are banging on the door again. The wood boards holding the doors closed are splintering with every thump. I am starting to feel

delirious, and my mouth is starting to salivate.

Its funny how I got here. But in the end it was worth it. Reaching into my bag, I also still have my daughters locket. Opening it up,

I hold it in my hands, and truly study it. Precious gold and rubies and that wonderful heart shape. Looking again at the picture inside,

it soothes my mind and my pain. What a strong, beautiful and independent women my daughter has become. I only wish my wife, who lost a long

fought battle with aggressive stage three melanoma eight years ago could of been here to see you now....

And the inscription....

''For Melanie, you have all the gifts in the world''

''The future is yours''

''Love always, Mum and Dad''

Another thunderous bang and I can hear the anger and violence outside. Another bang, and the wood board shatters. Traces of sunshine starts

seep through, and the doors start to part open... I clutch the locket tightly, and close my tear soaked eyes.... and wait, for the tide to come.