The Beginning of the End

by Lorana Hoopes

  “Now, I have consent forms for each of you that I have given to your principal and your teachers. They will be standing by the exits. Please grab one on your way out. We hope to begin vaccinating in the next few weeks. If you have a mask, you are dismissed to your class. If you do not, please stay here and form an orderly line to receive your mask.”

  Katie and Lily stood and followed the majority of the students out of the lunchroom. Though she had no desire to take the vaccine, Lily grabbed the form as they passed Mr. Shane. She would make a copy for Gabe and Raven. Maybe it would help them out.

  “That was weird, right?” she asked when they were far enough away from listening ears. Lily couldn’t even put her finger on what had been so weird about it other than the creepy feeling she got from the new nurse, but her stomach felt like she’d been spun upside down on a roller coaster and left hanging there for a few minutes.

  “Yeah, a little. I mean not the words, but…” Katie trailed off as she too struggled to articulate what she felt. “Something felt off. Them pushing the vaccine and almost threatening those who won’t take it.” Katie turned to Lily, a serious look in her eyes. “Lily, for the first time, I’m really scared.”

  “Me too,” Lily said with a nod. “Me too.”

  15

  Raven looked at the picture on her screen. Lily had sent over a picture of the vaccine consent form, and though Raven knew little about vaccines, she studied the ingredients, looking for anything that might help them understand the rush to make the vaccine and push it out. Especially when deaths were falling.

  “Does any of this make sense to you?” Raven asked Gabe as she leaned back, allowing him a better view of the screen.

  He scanned the screen, a line furrowing on his forehead as he read.

  “What?” Raven asked. “I can tell you see something.”

  “To be honest, I see a few troubling things, but the first one that stands out is this.” He pointed to a line of text about five rows from the top. “Potassium chloride is just a fancy name for salt, but so is sodium chloride. That bothers me. Why have two different types of salt? Then you have Potassium phosphate. It’s in a lot of drugs, but it also carries a long list of side effects including blurred vision, itching or burning sensation, confusion, chest pain, mood changes, vomiting, and seizures.”

  Raven whistled softly. “That’s a pretty long list.”

  Gabe shook his head. “That’s not even half of it. I don’t know why they would put that in a vaccine at all, but that’s still not what bothers me the most.”

  Raven lifted her eyebrows. “It gets worse?”

  “Yeah, maybe. It’s the mRNA that bothers me the most.”

  “What’s mRNA?” Raven asked.

  “It’s hard to describe, but it’s modified RNA. Its goal is to go in and repair RNA. It’s gene therapy, similar to some cancer treatments.”

  “Cancer?” Raven leaned forward again. “But NCAV isn’t cancer last I checked. More like the flu.”

  “Right, so why would they need to modify our RNA?”

  “Could it be a way to keep us from getting NCAV?” Raven knew she was grasping at straws, but she had no idea why the government or Daman Caturix would want to change their RNA.

  “I don’t think so,” Gabe said. “It looks like this would actually cause your body to produce the toxin. This could kill people, Raven. Especially those with a weaker immune system to begin with.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Look, our DNA is perfectly made. When our immune systems are working correctly, it recognizes the bad things and gets rid of them. mRNA is supposed to cling to and modify our DNA so that it will recognize NCAV when we get it and fight it.”

  “Okay, I don’t trust much that comes from the government but that actually sounds like a good thing, right?”

  Gabe sighed. “Yes and no. If it works that way, then for a short time it’s a good thing. It should lessen the effects of NCAV, but it’s modifying DNA and who knows what that’s going to do to people in the future. The other, more pressing problem is this. If an immune system thinks the mRNA is bad instead of good, it will fight it, but if it doesn’t kill it all, the mRNA will replicate.”

  Raven suddenly wished she had studied more in science instead of computers. “I’m assuming replication is bad.”

  “It is. If the DNA fights the RNA and any piece is left, then the next time someone is exposed to anything - flu, cold, whatever, it could be deadly because the immune response will be messed up.”

  Raven blinked as she tried to process what he was saying. “So, what you’re saying is that IF this vaccine works, it might be good in the short term, but we have no idea what the long-term consequences will be, but if it doesn’t, we could see this vaccine killing people quickly?”

  “Yeah, I’m afraid so.”

  A moment of tense silence hung between them before Raven shook her head and said, “I don’t understand. Why would they want to kill people? I thought that the reason for the masks and the lockdowns was to save as many people as possible.”

  “I have no idea, but I’ll tell you what I do know. We cannot let those girls or Candace or anyone else take that shot if we can help it.”

  Raven bit the inside of her lip and felt the urge to pray. Though she tried to speak to God every day, so much had begun happening lately that she knew a few days had passed without her praying. However, this news reinforced that prayer right now was more important than ever.

  Candace glanced down at her phone. She didn’t really have time to take a call right now, but when she saw Raven’s number, she knew it had to be important.

  “I’ll be right back,” she said to the nurse on duty, before heading outside. The air was cool outside and instantly sent goosebumps racing up her arms, but it was safer to talk outside. There were fewer listening ears.

  “Raven, what’s going on?”

  “Have you taken the vaccine yet?” Raven asked, jumping straight to the point.

  “No, there was some hold up with our doses. They’re supposed to be here next week. Why?”

  “I know you and Gabe discussed you trying to get access to the vaccines, but it’s too dangerous. Lily’s school is pressuring the kids to get them, and they sent home the informed consent letter. I’m sending you a copy, but the main ingredient in the vaccine is mRNA.”

  “mRNA?” Candace asked, “Why would they use that? It’s gene therapy.”

  Raven sighed on the other end. “We don’t know. Gabe is looking into it, but he says it isn’t safe. He said some could have a reaction to it that could kill them, and even those who don’t won’t know how it affects them until a few years into the future.”

  “Yeah, that's definitely strange,” Candace said, glancing around to make sure she was still alone. “Gene therapy is only done in extreme cases. It would be like giving radiation therapy to a healthy person. Perhaps this is something they’re trying in order to get the vaccine out quicker.”

  “True, but quicker isn’t always better,” Raven said. “Look, in the end it’s up to you, but Gabe and I are recommending that you don’t take the vaccine. Quit if you have to. There’s room for you here, and our numbers are growing daily. We could use a good doctor close to home.”

  Candace took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair. “I’ll think about it. I promise.”

  After ending the call, Candace shoved the phone back in her pocket, but she didn’t return to the ER immediately. Something about the mRNA was nagging the back of her brain, and she decided to clock out for lunch and do some research in her office.

  She booted up her computer as she unwrapped her sandwich, but when the screen came to life and the cursor blinked at her, she paused. What exactly was she looking for?

  She typed ‘effects of mRNA’ into the search bar and scrolled through the results. Most were scientific pages desperately claiming there was no adverse effect to mRNA. There were a few less reputable pages claiming that mRNA would modify the DNA
and might kill people in the next few years, but it was the few pages hidden among all the others that stood out to Candace. These pages presented the known adverse reactions but stated they were small - one in a million or so, but near the bottom in smaller print was the line that raised the tiny hairs on the back of Candace’s neck. Long term effects of mRNA cannot be known, but will be updated next year upon completion of the current trial.

  Next year? The government and the media were claiming that the trials had already been done, that the vaccines were safe to take, yet this piece insinuated they were actually still in trial phase and the human population was unknowingly becoming the latest guinea pigs.

  ‘Why, Lord?” she whispered as she scanned the article again. “Why would they subject humans to something this untested for a disease that most survive?”

  Daman Caturix. The name flashed like a marquee in her mind, and she typed it into the search bar. She’d never heard of him until a few months ago when he promised to fund the vaccine creation, so she was surprised at how much information there was on him.

  Most of the articles were about his philanthropy - the things he’d done since becoming a billionaire to help people. How he became a billionaire was a little harder to find, but it appeared he’d had some luck in the stock markets several years back. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and she was about to dismiss him all together when an article caught her eye.

  She clicked on it, her eyes widening as she read. “Daman Caturix warns that the Earth is becoming too populated. He asserts that the only way to save the Earth from disaster is a mass reduction in population. When asked how he expected that would come about, his answer was with good vaccines and reproductive care.”

  Candace read the words over again. Good vaccines and reproductive care would lower the population? That made no sense. She knew his idea of good reproductive care probably meant abortion, and while she didn’t agree with the concept, she could see how more abortions would lower the population rate, but good vaccines were supposed to keep people healthier. The only way they would lower the population was if their purpose was not to heal but to sterilize or kill.

  A shiver shook her shoulders, and she glanced around the empty room, suddenly feeling as if she was treading in dangerous waters. Her eyes scanned to the end of the piece.

  “Daman’s final words on the topic are this, ‘When a disaster strikes, those who are weakest will embrace the hand that feeds. It will be swift.’’’

  It will be swift? Not only did the words seem out of context with his previous statement but they possessed a connotation so negative that Candace froze in her chair. Could his vaccine be the means to deliver his swift end? Or could there be even more to it? Regardless, she knew now that she couldn’t take that vaccine. And she had to find a way to educate her friends before they took it as well.

  16

  “Did you watch the news last night?” Katie asked as Lily climbed out of the car. It was Monday morning, the second week of school. In a normal year, this would be the week that everyone settled into their routines and began to adjust to the new year. But this was not a normal year. Not by a long shot.

  “I did.” Lily couldn’t believe she was actually watching the news now, but with everything going on, it felt important to be informed. She felt better knowing she had people like Raven and Pastor Ben on her side, but she was still terrified that the school would try to force her to be vaccinated. She’d heard they couldn’t force you to take it, but they could pass mandates limiting your freedom until you did. She was no longer sure which scared her more.

  “Do you think he’ll close us down again too?”

  The governor had held yet another press conference discussing how cases were rising and demanding that college students disband any get-togethers and wear masks even in their dorm rooms. Lily still didn’t understand his reasoning. He kept quoting science, but he never showed any. He never showed graphs or listed where this evidence was coming from, yet people all around her lapped it up like it was gospel.

  The people at church were some of the only people looking at and discussing real data, and all of that data still showed that students were not at high risk for this virus, and even if they got it, they generally had a very mild case. In fact, the latest reports stated that regardless of age, the survival rate was ninety-five to ninety-nine percent. With numbers like that, Lily still couldn’t understand why they were shutting down things to begin with.

  “I don’t know,” she said with a sigh. She’d had high hopes when they started that they would be able to continue the whole year, even if it meant wearing a mask every day, but with each new restriction, she was becoming more convinced they’d be shut down before the end of the first semester.

  After getting their temperatures checked, they grabbed their books for science and headed to Mr. Higgins’ room. However, his door was closed when they reached the room. That was odd because Mr. Higgins’ door was never closed. In fact, Katie and Lily had often debated whether the man slept at the school or not.

  “He’s not here,” a voice said from behind them.

  Turning, Lily spied Tristan, a fellow Senior, sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. They must have walked right past him though she had no idea how. “Yeah, that’s obvious. You know where he is? He’s always here on time.”

  Tristan whipped his head to move the long brown fringe of bangs out of his eyes. “Heard he got the virus. He’ll probably be out for a month at least. If he’s lucky.”

  “What?” Mr. Higgins had seemed fine when they left school on Friday. Plus, he wasn’t in the high-risk category. The man was only in his fifties. How could he be out for a month? “How do you know that?”

  Tristan shrugged. “Heard them talking about it in the office this morning. Forgot my normal mask and had to borrow one of theirs.” He pointed to the surgical mask covering his face.

  “Do you know who the sub is?” Katie asked.

  Lily could not imagine Mr. Higgins having a sub, especially considering she was pretty sure he made it his personal mission to make their lives as miserable as possible, and she couldn’t see him giving that up. Nor could she see anyone teaching his lessons the way he did.

  Tristan shrugged and his bangs covered his eyes again. “Yep, heard we have some new guy. That’s all I know.”

  Another new person? With a sigh, Lily slid down to the floor and leaned her back against the wall. Katie followed suit. Neither girl was close with Tristan, but at least he was a human body in this world that suddenly felt very foreign and weird. “This stinks. I hope he’s nice.”

  “Yeah, welcome to this year,” Tristan said.

  Lily nodded, and for a moment silence descended on the three of them, but it was not one of those comforting silences. It was more like the oppressive kind that left her stomach churning with anxiety. And suddenly she couldn’t stand it. “So, how was your summer?”

  Tristan flicked his head, sending his bangs swooshing to the side again, and fixed her with intense brown eyes. “What summer? There was nothing to do.”

  Lily opened her mouth to reply but closed it again. What was she going to say? He was right. Summer had been crappy and fall wasn’t shaping up to be much better. Some things had opened for a time like dining inside at restaurants but only with your family. Of course those were closed again now. And gyms had opened but at limited capacity. The press conference last night had shut them down again too. Bowling alleys and movie theaters had opened for a month or two, but masks were mandated the whole time, so she hadn’t patroned them when they were open. Like everything else, they had been forced to close their doors again as well.

  Suddenly, the sound of footsteps interrupted the awkward silence that had fallen between the students. Lily glanced up to see an imposing figure approaching, his loafers tapping on the linoleum floor. He was tall and thin, reminding her a little of Thin Man, the character on some video games meant to scare kids. His black hair was perfectly placed, and da
rk eyes peered over his mask. A tiny thread of fear erupted in her stomach, and she swallowed to keep it down. He was just a man, a dark and sinister looking man, but a man just the same.

  “Ah, the eager beavers. I do like seeing that.”

  Even his voice set her on edge. What was it about all these new adults? Why did every one of them give her such a foreboding feeling? Sneaking a glance at Tristan, she saw his face was still focused on the phone in his lap. Katie’s eyes, however, were wide and fearful, and Lily believed hers looked similar.

  “I’m Mr. Dagon, and I’ll be your science teacher now.” He unlocked the door and pushed it into place so that it stayed open before ushering them inside.

  “Wait, now? I thought Mr. Higgins was just home sick. He’s coming back, right?”

  “What? Oh, of course he is. I mean that I’ll be your science teacher until he returns.”

  Mr. Dagon’s demeanor still appeared confident, but Lily had heard the hitch in his voice, some hint of emotion that left her wondering if Mr. Higgins would return.

  When Mr. Dagon flicked on the light switch, Lily nearly dropped her bag. She blinked at the room as another round of trepidation passed through her. Mr. Higgins had always had the room decorated in bright colors with lots of natural light, but now it was dark. The windows were covered with some film that only let in the softest gray color. Dark posters hung around the room, and the only other word she could grasp at the moment to describe the place was sterile. Empty, sterile, and dark. She had never been in a morgue, but suddenly she was sure it would feel exactly like this. How on earth had he transformed the room so quickly? And why, if he was only subbing for a week or so?

  “What happened here?” The words escaped Lily’s mouth before she could stop them, and as soon as his head whipped her direction and his eyes bore into hers, she knew she had made a mistake.

  “If I am to be working here for the foreseeable future, then it only makes sense the room should be to my liking. Now, pick your desk,” Mr. Dagon said, “but be sure to choose wisely. Whatever desk you choose right now is the one you will remain in for the entirety of class. I will not be cleaning desks willy nilly.”