A Destroyer

Angela knew that something was not right as soon as she came into her house. The light was on, there were some medicines scattered on the kitchen table and the door to her parents’ room was closed. She felt that she was not alone. She always came back home first on Tuesdays, so she hadn’t expected anyone in. Her parents finished work late and Samuel, her brother, came back late too due to his training. She approached her parents’ room and knocked on the door.

“Angela?” The girl had heard her mother’s voice before she opened her mouth. “Don’t come in, please.”

Angela heard her mum approaching the door and she retreated a few steps obediently. The woman looked out from behind the door and came out carefully. She wore a surgical mask and pyjamas, and she looked as if she’d been in bed all day.

“What’s up with you?” Angela asked, worried.

“I’m sick. And dad too. We’re both sick.”

“What’s happening to you exactly? Do you have a fever?”

“Yes, I have a fever and several other symptoms. I woke up in the morning with shivers and your dad apparently caught the same bug. And how are you? Are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m alright. I’m just worried about you a bit. Shall I do something? Have you called a doctor?”

“Yes, I’ve called the doctor and she prescribed me the medicines that you can see on the table,” she moved her head in the direction of the kitchen. “But don’t put them away now. And don’t get close to me. The doctor said this bug might be contagious.”

Angela wanted to say “ok” and ask if she could at least prepare some lunch for them, but suddenly she got curious.

“Why does the doctor say that it might be contagious? I mean, flu can be contagious in general, but we never care about it as much as to wear masks at home.”

The woman sighed heavily.

“Melanie?” said her dad’s voice, strangely hoarse. Next, she heard him blowing his nose. “This black muck doesn’t disappear! Have you…”

“Mark, Angela is here!” her mother looked back into the room.

“Angela, how are you, honey?!” her dad cried out as loud as if she’d been on the other end of the house. “What’s up in school? Did you have the test?”

Angela was about to answer, but suddenly her mum turned around to blow her nose in a loud and long manner. She looked at her and saw that the discharge, the thick substance on her tissue, was pitch-black.

“Mum!” she cried, alarmed. “What’s this? Are you bleeding?”

“It’s not blood,” the woman replied. “It’s just another symptom.”

Angela stood at the sink, trying to clean all the plates so that she could cook a late lunch. She forgot what cooking entailed. She very rarely cooked, not counting preparation of sandwiches and oatmeals. Now she was supposed to cook for the whole family. She didn’t like that coincidence. Apart from her parents having rare and worrying symptoms, she had other plans for that afternoon which she couldn’t carry out now. She’d been supposed to study for an important maths test to be given the next day and she was going to meet Valeria, her best friend, to study together (and do other things). She’d already called Valeria to deliver the “bad news” and now she was wondering if she would find enough time and determination to study well herself. Samuel was too busy with his own stuff and rarely helped her with studies. Just as she started to make up her mind about what to cook, the door to the hall opened and someone came in.

“Samuel?” she asked, surprised.

“Hi,” her older brother replied.

She hadn’t expected him coming home so early. He had his training on Tuesday and always returned home in the evening.

“How are you?” she asked, leaning out from behind the door opening. “Why are you back so early?”

“I’m afraid I’m sick,” Samuel said. “I’m cold and I have a cough.”

As though it had been a part of the reply, he started coughing abruptly.

“Leave me alone for a second. I need to rest.”

“Mum and dad are sick too,” she said hastily. “What a terrible coincidence.”

“As for me, I like being sick from time to time,” Samuel confessed. “I like the feeling of not being able to attend classes and just resting blissfully all day. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

“Sounds like you’re lazy,” she shook her head disapprovingly, but couldn’t help smiling.

Samuel shrugged and went in the direction of his room.

“Do you also have a runny nose?” she asked quickly.

Her brother stopped and turned slowly.

“Actually, I’ve been having a stuffy nose all day. Why are you asking?” He reached for a package of tissues that was stored in one of the cupboards and blew his nose quickly.

“No way!” he said almost immediately with a shocked tone, looking at the tissue. “Look at this!”

Angela held her breath as Samuel showed her his nasal discharge. It was pitch-black. There was a moment of silence and then she told him that their parents suffered from the same problem. Samuel didn’t say much in reply. He wanted to chat with their parents, but eventually decided that they might have fallen asleep and it’s better to wait for lunch.

“So, in the end, there is something to worry about, isn’t there?” Angela asked, looking at her brother opening the door to his room, and referring to what he had said about the “blissful rest.”

Samuel only shrugged again, went into his room and closed the door.

When mum saw Samuel, she immediately told him to put on a surgical mask. When they found out about the unusual symptom they shared, they were as surprised as the two siblings and made Samuel call a doctor immediately after lunch. Angela’s brother got almost the same medicines prescribed and the same orders. He was expected to show up at the laboratory the next day in the morning. Angela had a hard time struggling to focus on the maths and study “well” for the upcoming test. She’d always had problems concentrating and now it was only worse. By the night, all three members of her family got a relatively high fever and she went to their rooms repeatedly to bring something until the temperature finally started going down and she found her dad asleep. Before going to bed herself, she talked briefly with Valeria (although their conversations were never as brief as they’re meant to be). Valeria told her not to worry about anything and promised that she would give her answers on the test (although she didn’t feel much more confident about maths than Angela).

The next day, she was sent to school regardless of her family’s condition. Dad claimed he felt better, but they were still forced to call a taxi in order to get to the clinic. They still had temperature, although now it was not so high. Going out, Angela noticed something strange and dark. The plants in front of her house were all dead and they were almost as grey as if someone had painted them. The grass was grey and the flowers were grey and withered. The colour didn’t reach the crowns of the trees, but it looked as if it was going to happen sooner or later. It looked ominous. She stood motionless for a while, then approached the closest plant. She didn’t pay much attention to the plants in general, but it was telltale that they were dead and she had no idea what could have led to such an extensive devastation. She imagined her parents seeing the dead environment. Actually, didn’t they see it when they went out themselves, just an hour ago? She checked her phone. There was no unanswered call. But they might have not seen a point in calling her. They needed to go to the laboratory and it was the most important thing at that moment. Or maybe they called an emergency service or at least a gardening centre and she didn’t know. But she felt that they should have told her. She felt very insecure. Could it be a plague that would affect them too? Another plague, apart from the black nasal discharge issue? Or maybe the two issues were even connected? It was too much. Angela took a deep breath and reached for her phone. She needed to talk to her parents, but they didn’t answer. After failing to contact Samuel, she shrugged and finally went out, promising to herself that she would make another call at the first recess.

In the first lesson, she tried to tell Valeria about what had happened, but they were asked to read a chapter in their textbook and she knew they couldn’t have a normal conversation in those circumstances. History lessons were usually ordered and discipline was important. They either read or listened to the teacher, and they could hardly have more than a few words at the beginning of a lesson. So she only told Valeria that she had something important to tell her. Shortly before the lesson finished, she heard a gasp and a curse behind her, preceded by a nose blowing. The teacher turned in their direction and looked questioningly at the boy sitting behind Angela.

“I’m afraid something’s happening to me,” the boy raised his head, looking alarmed. “Can I see the school nurse?”

At the recess, there were already several students in their class with similar symptoms. Everyone was more or less amazed and worried by the black substance leaking from their noses. As soon as they had an opportunity to talk, Valeria bombarded Angela with questions.

“Yes, I agree that it looks like a plague or at least like a very contagious disease,” Angela answered and they went out of the building quickly to buy a package of surgical masks. As soon as their parents and Samuel left, she completely forgot about the necessity of wearing them. Actually, she hadn’t even thought that she might be further spreading the disease until she admitted it looked quite likely. Although she didn’t have any symptoms (yet), she might have already been carrying the virus unconsciously. People were looking at her with surprise when she passed next to them. Most people in the school certainly didn’t know anything and she was the only person who wore a surgical mask. The biology teacher looked at her questioningly when she entered the classroom, but eventually didn’t say anything. The second lesson started as usual, except for the fact that a few students were missing, probably queuing in front of the nurse’s office and Valeria was still badgering her, this time about the withered plants, sending her millions of messages on the phone, that Angela was not allowed to read. Somehow, she convinced herself that it was not really so urgent to talk to their parents about the dead garden during recess, but in the middle of the lesson she got a call and decided to answer it, sneaking out of the classroom.

“I’m sorry,” she said, looking at the biology teacher and pointing at her phone to indicate that it was an “important call.” She had an impression that the teacher wanted to say something, but she was already out, closing the door carefully.

“Yes, mum?” she asked, lifting the phone to her ear, impatient.

“Honey, are you good?” her mum answered with a question as if she’d expected her not to be good. Angela said that she was actually good, but several students in her classroom were sent to the nurse’s office due to black snot. Mum was expressly worried. Then, she told her about the grey garden. She was surprised to find out that Angela had already known it. They concluded it must have developed during the hour between their leaving and the leaving of Angela. She promised they’d take care of it, although they still didn’t feel good and Angela didn’t have problems imagining it, hearing her mum coughing after each sentence. At the end of the lesson, they saw there were several dead plants in the classroom, mainly close to her. She could almost see one of the plants on the windowsill next to her turning grey and withered like in an accelerated video. The biology teacher approached the plant and studied it for a few minutes, murmuring expressions of disbelief. Then he commented on Angela wearing a surgical mask and the plants next to her dying, but it sounded rather like a joke and a few people laughed bitterly.

Towards the end of the third lesson, there were quite many infection cases in the whole school, students leaving and the nurse being way too busy to deal with her job. At the end of the fifth lesson, Valeria joined the club of the sick and their form tutor announced that she let the entire group go due to the exceptionally high infection rate. Angela and her friends couldn’t believe it. It was just before the maths test. Angela didn’t even dare to express her relief, faced with the ominous virus circling around. After she got home, she only learnt that both the plants’ and her family’s diseases were not solved and she even noticed that the plants’ disease had advanced and covered now the trees’ crowns, making them lose all the early leaves and turning their branches grey, dried and grim. It was early spring and their garden looked poorer than in the winter. Actually, it looked like horror movie scenery. Later, looking out of the window, Angela saw a couple passing by and stopping to look at their garden in amazement. After a while, they took out a camera and took some photos. She felt a spur to talk to them, but eventually gave it up.

In the evening, her school was presented in the local news as a potential outbreak place of an unknown, dangerous and “highly contagious” disease. There was a medicine doctor outlining the common symptoms of the disease, a short take of a clinic in their City full of patients blowing their noses and she even saw with surprise her biology teacher talking about the occurrence in his school and mentioning the strange plague that attacked his plants. Angela felt confused and was becoming more and more worried. Maybe her brother enjoyed irregular events, but she came to the conclusion once again that she preferred everything happening according to a predictable scheme. The only thing she was happy about was that their maths test had been cancelled. Moreover, she was expecting more and more to get sick herself and experienced almost anxiety as the symptoms didn’t appear. Valeria felt so sick that she hung up after barely a quarter of an hour of their evening talk, which was quite unusual. Valeria was a very energetic and active person. She got excited quickly and sometimes Angela wondered what kept them together so strongly as they were so different. Angela didn’t like being idle, but she definitely wasn’t energetic and sometimes Valeria’s non-stop talking made her tired. This time, however, it was Valeria who wanted to finish the conversation first and said she needed to sleep. Angela attended to her parents and Samuel until almost midnight, as their temperature rose again and she realised she felt nearly guilty of being the only healthy person in her surroundings. She felt compelled to “compensate” for it in some way.

After three days, nothing had improved. She hadn’t come back to school for a single lesson. All lessons had been cancelled and they were asked to study remotely and on their own. Angela actually felt she could learn some things faster this way, focusing specifically on what she was supposed to know instead of waiting for the teacher to give millions of examples for the least important piece of information, but other things, particularly maths and science processes, were difficult to be understood by herself and she missed the general hustle and bustle of the school life, although sometimes she was fed up with it, especially with the younger students screaming at each other every other second. The thing that worried her the most, however, was that there were more cases of infection every day, including people close to her: her family, her grandparents, aunt Sophie and her children, Angela’s cousins, Angela’s best friends, most people from Angela’s classroom, according to the updates she followed, but also many people and groups she didn’t know—as for now, all from the City. People tried to isolate themselves from each other, various companies and services closed, office workers worked from home and there was a general obligation to wear surgical masks in public spaces. In addition, there were also more cases of the plants’ disease and Angela was relieved to learn that their garden was not the only one affected by the mysterious plague. However, people still stopped by their house just to stare at the unprecedented phenomenon.

Angela spent her days studying, taking lonely walks, reading books and talking with friends and relatives. She felt like they were all interconnected due to this strange situation and she even contacted, or got contacted by the people she normally wouldn’t talk to. She was quite surprised when she received a message from Stephanie, with whom she hadn’t talked for a few months. Stephanie was a student in one of the Universities in the City and Angela met her the first day she moved here, over eight years ago. Angela got lost downtown and Stephanie helped her find her way home. They’d stayed in touch ever since, Stephanie introducing her to her friends, as Angela felt a bit lonely in the City in the beginning. Although Stephanie had always been welcoming to her, Angela felt they didn’t have much in common and every time she tried to get to know her better, she had some excuses. She never had time just to hang out and the events they met at were kind of solemn to Angela. The last time they met, Angela confessed that her friend seemed reserved to her and this is why she made other friends she got on “better” with. Stephanie looked offended and since that time Angela felt awkward talking to her again.

“Angela,” called her mum, going out of her room for the first time that day, not counting short trips to the bathroom. The girl was sitting at the kitchen table with her laptop. She didn’t like to be bothered in the middle of her learning process, but she replied obediently.

“I have a proposition for you,” mum said.

“You have a proposition for me?” Angela said with an ostentatiously incredulous tone.

“We’ve been thinking,” mum continued, “and we’ve realised that we need to protect you.”

“What do you want to protect me against?”

“Don’t be silly. The disease.”

Although “the disease” had already been given a name, most people still called it just “the disease” or “the virus.”

“We want to send you to a retreat.”

Angela turned around. She hadn’t expected it.

“A retreat?” she repeated. “What kind of?”

Actually, her mum had found several options to choose from and it was up to her to choose one. She just wanted her daughter to get away from her dying family.

“We’re not dying. We just need time,” she coughed. “But you can be spared this suffering.”

“No one can be spared suffering. I don’t see the point.”

Angela tried to convince her mum that it wasn’t a good idea, that she might most likely be a carrier of the disease and that she didn’t want to give the bug to more people, but her mum was relentless. Her dad and Samuel, who were walking around or sitting on the couch in the neighbouring room, approached them quickly, hearing them talking, all in bathrobes or pyjamas, apart from her.

“Your mum is right,” said dad, shrugging and looking at Angela. “We don’t have any better option.”

After Samuel gave his opinion which was not very different and mum kept badgering her, she finally gave in. Most of the retreats were organised with a view to deal with the “epidemic” and give the healthy an opportunity to flee the deadly environment, at least temporarily. There was obviously a likelihood of the entire group falling ill itself, but the social services didn’t find a better alternative. The retreats took place in fairly isolated villages or campsites, but at the same time were close enough to medical units. Angela agreed to join a retreat reluctantly, but after she set off, she decided that it might be a good idea after all.

“Promise me not to catch that bug,” said her mum before her departure.

“And you, promise me to recover,” Angela replied vaguely. She knew it didn’t depend on them and she didn’t like this type of comment.

They were a group of barely twenty people, including all supervisors and leaders. The accommodation and food were very basic, but decent. The first day and night were fine for Angela. She was pleased to experience a change, not to wake up to the sound of cough and see the dead garden every morning. Valeria envied her openly and wished her a great time. She spent most time outdoor, breathing fresh air and hoping ingenuously that it’d protect her against catching the virus. Some artistic souls began chanting a spontanously composed song shortly before the sunset and Angela quickly found herself among them, as she loved music.

Suddenly the world turned upside down,

Seeing all those people who have fallen ill…

Will it reach us as well? This retreat cannot last forever!

We are like an island in the ocean of devastation.

We are waiting in suspense in between those two dimensions.

We want to be ready, but we will be not!

We want to share the same fate, we want to be spared!

Oh-oh-oh, what would we give to regain control?

We want to escape,

We want to escape the plague! …

Anything would I give to return

To my friends who laughed and sang with me!

Should we be happy we’re here? We want to bring a relief,

But we’re afraid to compromise ourselves!

We are like an island in the ocean of devastation.

We are waiting in suspense in between those two dimensions.

We want to be ready, but we will be not!

We want to share the same fate, we want to be spared!

Oh-oh-oh, what would we give to regain control?

We want to escape,

We want to escape the plague! …

In the morning on the second day, however, the problem reappeared. Two girls who slept in the room with Angela woke up with terrible coughs and shivers, and soon started releasing black snots from their noses. The plants in the room and on the balcony were totally withered and painted grey. They were told not to leave the room unless necessary, but within a few hours, the whole group was sick. The supervisor called the health service and the part of the group who didn’t have high fever sat in the canteen, waiting and sipping hot drinks. At some point, one of the leaders asked if there was someone who didn’t have any symptoms. Angela tried to blow her nose in vain expectation, but nothing came out. All eyes turned to her and suddenly she understood that what had appeared in her mind for barely a few minutes on one of those days, was now becoming blatant. The virus came from her, but for some reason she was immune to it. She was the source of the disease. No one dared to state it aloud, but a few people asked how she did it with a tone that indicated a mix of amazement, admiration, envy and annoyance. Feeling uncomfortable, she went out and sat on a bench on the other end of the campsite. She buried her face in her hands, dispirited and undecided. What should she do now? Did she even have a choice? She would go back home, lock in her room and hope her family and friends would recover… She heard footsteps. She raised her head and saw a woman she talked with the day before.

“How are you?”

“Don’t get close to me, please,” Angela said curtly. “I’m sick. I mean, I have the virus. I’m infecting everyone.”

“How can you tell?” the woman asked, stopping obediently, two steps away from the bench.

“Everyone is getting sick around me except for myself.”

“I know. And I agree,” she sat next to her, eventually. “But I’m already sick and I don’t care.”

The woman turned out to be a scientist, and she promised Angela to take care of her case and submit her to necessary tests.

“I’m sure it’ll disappear sooner or later,” she said. “But we’ll check if we can get rid of it sooner.”

“Thank you,” said Angela, feeling that she was not left alone after all.

The retreat group was ordered to stay in isolation for a few more days, looked after by a medical team wearing special suits and looking almost like astronauts. The virus was until then fairly specified and scientists claimed they could design preventive clothes, although some sources stated they were still just blind tests. Angela was submitted to the exams immediately after return and her suspicions proved to be true. She was declared a “carrier” and although she heard there were a few more people suspected to be immune, she appeared in the news under a fake pseudonym and this title alone, and was officially ordered to stay locked at home together with her family by the National Emergency Council. She was being calmed by everyone and told not to worry, although she had an impression that it was rather her mum who needed reassurance. She obviously didn’t give her consent to present her in the news under her real name, although after almost a week of staying locked at home she thought she might actually like to share her miserable life. For some reason, Valeria had only been responding to her messages vaguely and briefly since she returned from the retreat and Angela was beginning to feel lonely and annoyed. Her parents and Samuel were still sick and she could hardly hear about any recovery. On the contrary, the situation was only getting worse. There were new infections every day and some patients were in such a bad condition that they needed to be taken to a hospital. There were first mortal victims. And apart from that, in addition, their whole neighbourhood was undergoing a transformation. Now, not only their garden, but also all other gardens on their street and neighbouring parks were dead. Scientists were studying the virus she carried day and night and according to the results they obtained, it was very likely to cause the plants’ disease as well. Even buildings and inanimate matter started to be covered by a mysterious grey coating, causing rising desperation among their neighbours and her own family. There was nothing they could do and even scientists felt hopeless. Their neighbours soon started suspecting their house of spreading the disease. Once she was walking in her garden, saw a neighbour and greeted him. The man, usually cheerful and outgoing, gave her a grim look and walked in his house, blowing his nose ostentatiously. The next day, she overheard her dad having a talk with him. It was easy to hear them, even with the windows closed, because they were shouting. Dad stood relatively close to the fence between them, but the neighbour was on the other end of his plot. He was inquiring her dad relentlessly and finally accusing him of starting the disease. Then, they parents received a call from another resident of their street who stated that Angela was the carrier discussed in the news and that she had identified her and wanted her to go away. The next day, she got two private messages, one of which was sent by her schoolmate, telling her that she had started the epidemic and that she should leave them. Finally, her social media profiles started to be attacked by messages in this: “Because of you my whole family is ill! Go away from us!” and Angela could almost see people looking at her with disgust.

The girl felt terrible and hopeless. Scientists couldn’t provide a clear explanation of the virus inside her, which spread with such enormous power. Her family having been locked in their house for nearly two weeks seemed not to bring any improvement, nor even hinder the epidemic slightly. When she received a call from the National Emergency Council asking her to go to an isolated location for some time, she wasn’t surprised. They organised the entire operation and gave her two options to choose from: a house in the mountains or an island. She was about to choose the one in the mountains, as it wasn’t that far from her house and the mountains were more familiar to her, but then she thought that she (that means, the virus) would kill all the trees and beautiful forests and the closest fields, and she decided to go for the island. For a moment she even felt thrilled about the upcoming adventure, as she’d never travelled to an island before, but anxiety still prevailed and she was not the only person who experienced it. Their parents and Samuel weren’t happy that she was leaving and, moreover, that she was going to stay on a far island completely alone, but they trusted national authorities fairly and couldn’t deny the logic of the theory, even though mum still couldn’t say it aloud.

“Remember that you can come back at any moment,” she repeated over and over again. “And you have a right to tell them all your whims so that you can live comfortably there.”

One of the things that worried Angela the most was her broken contact with Valeria. Valeria stopped answering her messages and calls and another friend of theirs only told her that Valeria was very sick and didn’t talk to anyone. She even called her parents, but they told her that Valeria was ok, although sick, just didn’t want to talk to her temporarily. Her mum sounded sorry, but decisive at the same time. It seemed very strange and worrying to Angela. She’d known her friend for many years and she wasn’t used to acting like that. They always talked, no matter or, rather, particularly when they felt bad. On the day of her departure to the Island, she received another call from another friend of theirs, but she couldn’t believe what she heard. She was told that Valeria had called the National Emergency Council to tell them that the virus Angela carried was lethal and indestructible and to ask them to get rid of her. It sounded unbelievable indeed, but she couldn’t imagine Sally lying either. Although Sally was not her best friend, the girls shared a lot of experiences and Sally’s honesty and simplicity were among the main characteristics Angela would choose to describe her.

“I’m so sorry,” Sally repeated. “And I’m feeling so bad, because Valeria wanted to keep it a secret, but I can’t keep such a secret. It’s terrible what she did and you have to be very careful with them.”

But when Angela got the call, it was late. She was now under supervision of the Council and she depended fully on them. She felt even worse than before and it was not only because of Valeria’s “treason” and possible dangers she might have been facing apart from the virus. Her identity wasn’t a secret anymore and she didn’t know if it was because of the neighbours, the press, authorities or Valeria, but now everyone knew that she was the source of the disease and opinions on her case multiplied at breakneck speed. Most people believed that she should stay on the Island until the virus disappears definitely. Some believed that such an isolation wasn’t necessary, because there might be more virus-carriers and the entire operation only cost the State more money and effort, meanwhile it already was in severe crisis due to the number of the sick, people not working, insufficient health workforce, a natural disaster and general depression of the society caused by all those factors. Some people, to her horror, blamed everything on her and held her responsible for spreading the virus. There were different theories. There were people who believed that she tried to infect as many people and places as possible right when she discovered her “power”, others were convinced that she belonged to an illegal biological experimental group and produced the virus, spreading it either by accident or on purpose. Every theory seemed to Angela more ridiculous than the other.

She worried about her family. Samuel said that their parents were getting crazy and tried to find an opportunity to move out from the City, possibly to the seaside, as though staying at different ends of the Ocean would make them somehow closer. Mum was sure there was fungus developing in their house and there was virtually no single night when they would not have a fever, which kept them weakened and depressed. Angela felt even strangely motivated to keep up their spirits, presenting everything better than it actually seemed to her.

The island itself was even more lonely and smaller than she’d expected. She’d tried not to expect anything, but she couldn’t help some images coming to her mind almost unconsciously. She thought there would be a mountain somewhere and that going from one end of the Island to another would take at least one day walking. And that there would be at least one village somewhere there, an abandoned village, of course, left abruptly by its inhabitants so that she could live there alone. And she would take one of those many small houses. Instead, there was just one building on rocks, not counting a few structures for machinery and a few sheds for tools and provisions. It was actually a kind of research station. And it was very small. It was so small that when she climbed the highest point near her house, she could virtually see the other end of the land. And it was not rich in plants to poison. She had everything she needed there. Running water, gas, electricity. It was all rudimentary, but still appreciated, taking into account the distance of the Island from other inhabited lands. There were occasionally a few workers walking around in astronauts’ suits at a distance and taking care of all the systems, but generally she was completely alone and only every few days a provider came to bring food, water and some experimental medicines for her. They tried to reduce contact with the Island as much as possible. Angela sitting at home with windows closed was obviously not enough to keep people safe. The whole environment got infected almost immediately and there were barely any plants left apart from sparse dry, lifeless trees.

She spent her days talking with friends and family (although, in spite of the latest technology, connection failed sometimes), preparing food, taking walks, trying to read books and study, and obviously giving daily records of her health, which usually included a few tests. The activity that she seemed to spend the most time on, however, was just thinking. Her life had changed completely over those two weeks and if someone had told her what would happen to her before it all started, she would take it as a fantasy story. Probably, the most striking thing for her was still her friend’s treason. She considered Valeria her best friend not only because they’d shared many experiences, but she also recognised many essential values in her, and actually those values were the reason why they could share so much. She’d always been honest and direct with her and with people in general, just like Sally, in a way, and she was committed and caring, always being there for her. She was generous and didn’t count time or resources given to her, Angela, or to another person when necessary. Angela couldn’t remember her talking bad about anyone or holding a grudge against anyone, except for some occasional minor resentment that she tried to correct. She was responsible and reliable. Probably even more responsible than Angela. Always prepared for the classes, sociable, a class leader. Angela remembered all the adventures they went through, from playing and walking home together after school, often taking a detour just because they fancied, inviting each other to their houses, to parties with friends in high school, spontaneous excursions, studying together. Now, every day she tried to contact Valeria, but she couldn’t.

***

The virus’s expansion was frightening. Even after relocating the carrier, the plague didn’t stop. After a few days, they noticed it slowed down, but the impact and damages were still enormous. The number of mortal victims had exceeded one hundred and was rising rapidly. There were also a few cases of recoveries, but many people had been sick for two weeks without any changes and scientists and doctors wrung their hands in desperation. There was no treatment found and only some vague theories of stopping it from spreading had emerged. Moreover, the environment had suffered and although scientists and gardening teams did their best to recreate it, the effects were miserable. They had to remove all the dead plants, because it was impossible to treat them, and removing trees was a hard job. Then, they planted new plants, although some specialists claimed that the whole area of the City and its surroundings was contaminated and that people should move out.

Ian was sitting in his office, thinking of the people who discussed the problem with him, who had given different solutions and believed in different strategies of dealing with the plague. He knew that he should listen and respect them all, but personally, he was convinced that the only solution would be eliminating the carrier. He was greatly impressed by that girl, Valeria, barely an eighteen-year-old who contacted them voluntarily to give them a hint about the virus and its carrier who was, by the way, her classmate. It must have been a great challenge and sacrifice for her to talk about her friend in an objective and mature way. She presented Angela as a good and polite person who, however—she had no idea why—had now turned to a dangerous power she was not able or not willing to control and posed an immeasurable and unpredicted threat to their society, if not the whole world. She was one of not so many people who understood that there was no perfect solution in this situation and that they couldn’t save them all—people were already dying. He was sorry for Valeria, he was sorry for all the sick and dying, and he was even sorry for Angela—if she actually couldn’t control the virus she carried—but he knew he couldn’t do much more. The National Emergency Council had been working day and night since the epidemic started and many people and units were involved in the crisis management more or less directly—as long as they were able to work. They had to be extremely careful not to get infected. The virus was present now in the capital too and even moving to a relatively distant location didn’t give them any guarantee against possible infection.

And now, there was that woman who claimed she knew Angela too and she “volunteered” to go to the Island to accompany her. It sounded like a ridiculous idea, but as she insisted, he let her join one session and present her ideas. She didn’t say anything new to him, the only thing that surprised him was that she wanted to go to the Island. He obviously didn’t agree, as they already had more than enough operations to manage and things to discuss with the press. And all those people from inside and outside who assured that the virus would disappear and that the carrier should be given better care before he even announced the possibility of eliminating her. There was now a poll conducted in the country and globally about the different strategies to deal with the plague, although for Ian the situation was quite clear. The circle of contamination was now growing and not only the Island, but a bigger and bigger circle around it was affected. The water was being contaminated, turned black and all sea creatures were dying. And it all happened despite preventing Angela from touching the water. Seemingly, there was no way to control the disaster and some half-experimental treatments she received didn’t help at all.

***

When she heard that her parents and Samuel had died, she regretted not having tried harder to see them again. She regretted having accepted the proposition to go to the Island. There was no one else she could rely on like them. And they had tried to see her as well. Samuel gave her records every day. They asked the authorities, and she asked them too, but there was no way to make it. She’d been feeling more like a prisoner now than a patient. They stopped asking her questions and reacting to her whims. A few days before, she was officially informed that she had no choice to return to the land anymore until the virus disappeared definitively.

One of those mourning days, when she felt her life didn’t have a point anymore and was a vain and endless expectation for something that would never happen, Angela heard the noise of the aircraft. It wasn’t anything surprising. She knew the provider was going to come in the afternoon. She only got surprised when she heard someone knocking on the door. She thought they had come to kill her because there was no other reason for which someone would try to enter the house directly. For some infrequent medical tests, she was asked to come to another building, but actually, since the first days on the Island they hadn’t taken any samples from her and from what she heard, they were not going to repeat it. Eventually, all her samples had a potential to kill. She didn’t answer the door and began trembling. She only forced herself to head slowly down, because she knew she had no chance to escape if they wanted to do away with her. She came near the door and asked who was there with a trembling and surprisingly high-pitched voice.

“Angela? It’s me, Stephanie,” she heard and she got speechless. How could Stephanie appear here? How could anyone she knew get here? She believed it could have even been a hoax, but she had no choice and she was burning with curiosity, so she approached the door and opened it.

“How have you done it?” she asked. “And why?”

Stephanie was wearing warm clothes, a scarf and a cap, although the temperature was very mild that day. Angela could guess she was still sick.

“Hello,” said Stephanie with a pretty cheerful voice and coughed. “How are you?”

She let her friend in and Stephanie started explaining the story behind her arrival. As she knew there were plans to kill Angela, she tried to prevent it, but the most and probably only effective thing she could do was come here in person. She was not allowed to travel at first, but she contacted a group within the National Emergency Council who supported the protection of Angela and helped her carry out the operation.

“Why aren’t you wearing the suit at least?” Angela asked.

“I can’t live in a suit. It only works for a limited time. I can’t eat while wearing it nor do almost anything. I couldn’t live in it. Believe me, we’ve been thinking a lot about how I could survive here, but there’s no way, just the hope that the virus won’t kill me.”

“But why do you think they’ll not kill me now, just because you’re here?”

“I don’t know. I hope,” emphasised Stephanie. “They’d been planning to bomb the Island to increase the chance of destroying the virus, but if they bomb it, they’d need to kill me as well. I just hope it’ll deter them. We’re two innocents and I don’t even carry the virus… Although, of course, it’s not your fault that you carry it,” she added quickly.

“If only all people believed it,” Angela started. “I don’t know who started the theories about me cultivating the virus, but it’s so popular now, it’s terrifying… But honestly, maybe they’re right… I mean, they’re not right saying that I’ve produced the virus, but maybe my life actually must be finished in order to destroy it. If there’s no other way…”

“It cannot be true,” said Stephanie with a distanced voice. She didn’t sound convinced though. “Well, at least don’t say it so hastily. I’ve come here because I believe you can be saved and you should not give up your life easily, just as no one gives it up until the end.”

Angela thought for a while.

“But, actually, why do you care so much about my life? I mean, well, we’ve never been the closest friends, have we?”

She could list a few other people who she would expect here before her, even with her closest family dead and Valeria turned a traitor. But there was more that she could count on. With a little surprise, she heard Stephanie singing:

We haven’t talked for a while!

We always find excuses,

but I’ve heard you’re not doing fine

and I want to let you know

that I’m still there for you

if there’s anything that I can do...

We were both busy and active apart,

but I remembered you all of that time.

Now I tell you - I have something to share.

I don’t know if you still want to talk with me! But I hope you’ll take advantage of me idea,

cause I’m trying to save you,

and I want you to live,

there are dangers surrounding us,

but we are both here!

If it’s anything to go by, just follow my advice.

Even though I haven’t told you before,

I really care about your life!

I really care.

I really care about your life!

And then, Angela joined, following the same melody:

We haven’t talked for a while!

We always find excuses,

but you’ve come here despite it all,

and I want you to know…

That I appreciate your coming here!

I appreciate!

I appreciate the thing that moves you!

Even though I didn’t know this part of you, I know it now.

I felt completely alone, but I’ve been never alone,

cause I believe you care about me life!

I believe,

someone still cares about my life!

“Why wouldn’t I care?” Stephanie asked, coughing again. “We don’t need to be the closest friends to care about each other’s lives, do we? Besides, there were more people who considered moving here. Your family… Your mum was really determined to visit you, from what I know. She just probably didn’t find the right people to make it true.”

“I know…” Angela still found it striking and hard to believe that her parents and Samuel were dead. “But, anyway, I just wouldn’t expect you.”

“I was very busy carrying out the operation. But I think I wrote to you that I’d do what I can, didn’t I?”

“Yes, but it sounded very general… But the most important thing is that I’m feeling relieved now. I haven’t really talked with anyone for weeks. Are you not afraid that the virus will kill you?”

“It might kill me anywhere. It’s not proven that staying close to the carrier increases the likelihood of suffering death… And many scientists say that the virus they managed to identify shows indications of expiration. I mean, that its life cycle will come to an end.”

There wasn’t much about it in the articles that Angela read, although they came from different sources.

“So why do so many people still consider destroying me?” she asked almost rhetorically, just because she wanted to hear the reply again.

“Because it’s not certain and some people can’t stand being apparently passive in such a disastrous situation.”

Angela nodded in silence, thinking if there was something else worth to mention apart from the hopelessness of the situation.

“Have you heard about the extent of the virus’s impact growing in the ocean?”

“Yes. And I saw the ocean turned black already in the air.”

Stephanie wrapped her jacket closer around her and blinked.

“I think I need to rest…” she said finally.

“Sure!” Angela stood up. At least she had an occasion to take care of someone again for a change. “Do you want me… To show you a room?”

Stephanie nodded and she led her up to the first floor.

The next day, they went out, as there was no one else on the Island. The weather was changing rapidly and the sky might have been almost completely clear and then almost completely clouded in the same quarter of an hour. Occasionally, a stray bird flew above their heads, but in general, everything was still and quiet apart from the wavy and—now—black ocean.

“So, how are you handling the situation?” Stephanie asked Angela after a morning small talk.

“Terribly,” the girl confessed. “I still can’t believe that my family is dead.”

She didn’t see a point in expressing all she felt, maybe because it was so complex, changing and accumulating that she wasn’t even sure what exactly she felt, apart from experiencing confusion and generally feeling terrible. But now, they didn’t have anything better to do apart from just talking and there was no one else who could understand her, at least a little, at that moment.

“Have you heard about Valeria?” she asked Stephanie.

Stephanie knew more than Angela had expected and she even turned out to have talked with Valeria shortly after the girl got convinced that her best friend had malicious intentions or had gone mad. Angela didn’t learn anything new though.

“It’s so painful and unbelievable,” she said. “She’d been my best friend for like ten years now. I could always confide in her. And it’s so confusing: she, not willing to talk to me, and you, coming here instead…”

Angela bit her tongue, realising that what she’d just said might have sounded like she didn’t believe that Stephanie might care about her at all. But Stephanie didn’t react.

“Valeria is afraid of talking to you. She knows you must be mad and hurt. She’s just too afraid and too obsessed about her belief. She doesn’t know if you’re mad or not, but what she knows for sure is that you carry the deadly virus she wants to eliminate at all costs… But of course, I don’t justify her actions. You see, it’s difficult to rely on anyone entirely. And this is why I’ve always been trying to rely primarily on an ideal.”

It sounded familiar to Angela. She’d heard it before. But back then, she didn’t understand. She believed that she could just find ideal people. Or at least, sufficiently ideal. Now, she understood. She couldn’t rely on anyone entirely, even on her best friend. And in a way, even on her parents, because they’re not with her anymore. She realised she was ridiculously attached to everything she had, although she’d never actually possessed anything. After confessing and discussing this hard truth with Stephanie, she decided to ask her why she hadn’t talked to her for months.

“Did you feel offended about what I said when we last met?”

“I don’t remember what you said the last time we met,” said Stephanie with a surprised voice. “I thought it was you who didn’t want to talk.”

The next day in the morning, Stephanie fainted before having breakfast. Angela contacted her emergency service immediately, but they couldn’t come. They said no one would come to the Island anymore until the virus disappears and Stephanie is the only responsible for her decision. She didn’t see a point in discussing with them, so she only asked what she could do and, fortunately, a bucket of water was sufficient to help her friend come to. It was, nevertheless, terrible to know that now they could only rely on each other—and on the virus. In the afternoon, Stephanie claimed that she felt much better and they went outside again. The weather was exceptionally beautiful, sun shining and the sparkling sea looking a bit clearer than it used to. Angela couldn’t stop being anxious though. As she often did, facing one or another difficulty, suddenly, without planning, she started singing. And she didn’t have to wait for Stephanie to join her.

Angela: You know you should go away. You should run away from me. There’s something that destroys you and you can only flee.

Stephanie: I would never be happy knowing you are put to death. I see a hope for us and I just do what I can. It’s my right and my duty to prevent that mistake.

Angela: There is so much happening, and although I lose my friends, I also gain new ones and I’m not sentenced yet. Maybe this is not the end!

Both: As long as I live, my singing won’t stop, cause I see the hope unfolding in front of us!

Water looks a bit less black, the sky is brighter every day. As long as I can, I will admire this day!

Stephanie: I believe that this plague might disappear very soon. But even if it doesn’t, I want to stay with you. They don’t know what to do, but I won’t help killing you. I would do the same with anyone, we can choose not to destroy!

Angela: You can see a value in every life, although it hurts. I wish I was the same and I could pay back…

And I understand they’re so afraid that they consider killing me just to shoo the plague away! And if I’m the cost, I can’t do anything. Should I hope to live or should I give in? There’s a reason to stay and there’s a reason to let them live…

Stephanie: We cannot control what destroys us, but we can choose not to destroy!

Both: As long as I live, my singing won’t stop, cause I see the hope unfolding in front of us!

Water looks a bit less black, the sky is brighter every day. As long as I can, I will admire this day!

***

Mission accomplished. The carrier has been eliminated. The world is saved. These were the slogans that led today’s news delivered by the National Emergency Council. Ian felt proud and confident. Or at least it was how he imagined feeling. Because of that cursed crazy woman called Stephanie they couldn’t bomb the Island (although he’d considered giving fake news) and decided to deliver a fake pill instead. It was a very clever and very easy plan to perform and he saw it as an “alternative” from the very beginning. It was not infrequent that Angela’s provider brought her medicines to take according to the instructions, so they gave her a poisonous pill and she took it. He was a bit afraid that her fanatic friend would thwart their plans, but either because she was not with her at the moment (maybe they always stayed in different rooms, which was ridiculous) or for some other reason, she didn’t. Angela’s body was soon found dead (which was obviously announced by Stephanie, that mad and obsessed woman) and the virus was announced to have been destroyed (although no one could actually prove it yet). Now, he only needed to give a convincing speech as the head of the Council, showing to people that it was the best and only solution to prevent the world from a total disaster. And that everyone was generally sorry for the carrier’s inevitable and sorrowful death, of course. He was about to form the next thought, when the telephone rang.

“Yes?” he asked.

“It’s Valeria McDeon, sir,” he heard the familiar voice of his secretary. “Do you want me to redirect her to you?”

At first, he wanted to reject the call, but suddenly he felt curious about hearing the first actual informer once again. She was not a very good informer though. She changed her mind according to the wind or the whims. Yesterday morning, just when the operation plan was being finished and was about to be executed, she called him and begged to withdraw, claiming that she’d invented everything and the carrier could and “must” live. It was one of the most naive and unreasonable calls he’d ever received.

“Sir Zeldon,” the trembling voice of Valeria spoke. “Please, tell me it’s not true!”

“What are you talking about, Ms Valeria?” he asked, willing the girl to express herself clearly.

“Angela. Did you kill her?”

“I didn’t kill Angela. I killed the pest.”

Valeria became crying, insisting again that she’d made a mistake, but he didn’t see the point in listening to her.

That day, he had one important event after another. First, he gave a speech justifying the measures taken, that is, eliminating the pest, and then he sat at the conference table to listen to another speech, and contribute to the mourning ceremony and tribute paid to the victims of the plague. Something like a supranational mass funeral. Although they often wore black, that time attention was paid to every detail and the decoration of the room was specially selected. All the people in the room were declared healthy before coming and all wore surgical masks, although it was more a showy habit than an actual safety measure. Some people gave Ian a grim look or avoided his sight. He knew that they hated him. But hopefully, most of the society were still happy with him. He did it for them.

As he was sitting, listening and contributing, he noticed something strange. There was a plant in a pot next to him—now dead. Was it dead from the beginning? He didn’t think so. There was another plant at the other end of the room—alive. Suddenly, his colleague sitting next to him coughed and took out a packet of tissues. He blew his nose and gasped. There was a familiar thick black substance on the tissue. He was evacuated from the room, in the middle of the conference. Ian was on tenterhooks until the end of the event. When he stood up and reached for his chair to move it closer to the table, he saw another ominous sign—it was covered by a grey layer. Soon, all the people in and outside the room started coughing, shivering and blowing their noses with black snots. All except for him. Soon, there was no doubt—somehow, he inherited the virus and was now infecting others. He couldn’t deny it, it was too obvious.

He was sent to an isolated place as a test. Days were passing. After five days, he was officially announced as a carrier. He was sent to the Island. He prayed every night that he could wake up the next day, realising it’s all been a bad dream, but it wasn’t so. He felt ill, but he felt it was because of the enormous anxiety he was experiencing and no black snot nor any other virus’s typical symptom would get out of him. He was in the very place of Angela, now depending on his former colleagues. And again, despite what he did with Angela, some of them were in favour of his life. But some were not. Among the people who wanted to kill him, there were some of his friends who collaborated with him before. Was it a surprise? They just wanted to do the same thing as before—eliminate the virus and get rid of the plague. He didn’t know what made him suffer more—the fear of death or humiliation. There were questions raised as to whether this horrible succession would ever end, but finally, he was sentenced to death and he wasn’t surprised—he was a victim of his own ruling. What surprised him the most was that both Stephanie and Valeria wanted to save him.