The Beginning of the End

by Lorana Hoopes

  Candace smiled and reached for the nearby chair. She had let her friend down once, but perhaps she could give her the best gift of all.

  “I’m so glad today is over, but I don’t know how I’m going to avoid this vaccine,” Katie said as the girls put their books away for the day and grabbed their bags.

  “Me either,” Lily said. “My mom doesn’t believe me when I tell her it might be dangerous. Do you think we’ll have to leave?”

  “Leave our parents?”

  “If we have to,” Lily said and shut her locker door. “Look, I don’t like it either, but Raven is working on a place for everyone in the future if they force the vaccination. We can always go there.”

  “Yeah, I suppose you’re right-”

  The sound of violent retching cut her off, and the girls looked toward the staff lounge where the noise appeared to be coming from. The room, while for the teachers, was rarely closed as it also held the copy machine and the extra supplies. Except for during lunch, the door was generally propped open, and the blinds covering the small window were open. Now, however, both were very much closed, but someone was clearly in there. Someone who sounded as if they needed help.

  “Do we check it out?” The trepidation in Katie’s voice matched the feeling racing through Lily’s body.

  “I don’t know.” A part of her thought they should. After all, it was the nice thing to do. If she was sick, she’d want someone to check on her. But there was this part, this tiny voice in her head, that was screaming this was a bad idea and they should just leave.

  Before either of them could decide, the door opened, and Mr. Dagon stepped out. His eyes widened as he caught sight of them. “What are you doing here?”

  “We were on our way out,” Katie said in a shaky voice, “and we heard someone vomiting. Was it you? Are you okay?”

  For a split second, a look of fear or anger flashed in Mr. Dagon’s eyes, but as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, and his cool demeanor was back in place. “Yes, sorry, I swallowed something that didn’t agree with me. I’m sorry to have alarmed you. All is well.”

  But all didn’t feel well to Lily. For one thing, he still seemed a little nervous. For another, she wasn’t sure she bought his story. Vomiting was considered a symptom of the virus. Could he be sick and trying to hide it? While that was possible, what bothered her the most was that he kept the door closed behind him. As if he was hiding something or someone. She wanted to push the issue, but the voice in her head roared louder.

  LEAVE!

  “Okay, well, glad to know you’re okay. See you tomorrow.” Lily grabbed Katie’s arm and pulled her toward the exit, not daring to look back until they reached the front door. As she pushed on the metal bar, she spared a final glance, only to see Mr. Dagon still standing in the same spot, watching them. The creepy image reminded her of an Edgar Allan Poe story, and she quickly turned away.

  “What was that about?” Katie asked when the door closed behind them.

  “I don’t know, but that was NOT normal.”

  Katie sighed. “I’m not sure I even remember what normal feels like anymore.”

  Lily knew that feeling all too well.

  “Lily, Katie, you okay?” Raven stepped back and ushered the two girls in. The fear on their faces sent her own heart thundering in her chest.

  “We’re okay,” Lily said. “We just had a weird experience at our school.”

  “Do you want to tell me what happened?” Raven didn’t relate to the teenagers as well as some of the others did, but she could tell they were shaken up.

  “In a minute,” Katie said, her eyes darting around the room. “Is Gabe here? We have something we need him to examine.”

  Raven nodded and hollered for Gabe. He entered a moment later.

  “Hey, Lily, Katie. What can I do for you?”

  Katie dug in her bag and pulled out a surgical mask. “Can you see if there’s anything on this? Lily forgot her mask this morning and this is what they gave her, but she said it made her dizzy.”

  “Dizzy, hmm?” Gabe asked as he reached for the mask. “Did you have any other issues?”

  “It smelled funny,” Lily said, “and Katie said I acted weird.”

  “She did,” Katie interrupted. “She said the mask wasn’t so bad, and she hates masks.”

  “Okay, well let me run some tests on it. I’ll be back in a bit.” Gabe took the mask and disappeared down the hallway.

  “Now, do you guys want to tell me what else happened?” Raven asked, pointing to the couch and inviting them to sit down.

  Lily and Katie exchanged a glance before Lily began, “We’ve had a few new teachers join our school. They tell us they’re subs for teachers who got NVAC, but…”

  “But they’re strange,” Katie said, interrupting. “This one teacher, Mr. Dagon is the worst. He keeps having us research how effective vaccines are, and today -”

  “Wait,” Raven said, holding up a hand and interrupting Katie. “Did you say Dagon?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Dagon was mentioned in the Bible. He was the father of Baal.”

  “Whoa, that’s creepy,” Lily said. “So, he was like an idol in the Bible.”

  Raven nodded. “Sorry to interrupt you, but I think you need to be very careful around this man.”

  The girls exchanged another uncomfortable glance. “Well, that brings us to today’s event. As we were leaving school, we heard what sounded like someone throwing up in the staff lounge. We weren’t sure if we should check it out, but I had a bad feeling. Before we could decide, Mr. Dagon opened the door. He seemed shocked to see us but told us it was him throwing up, except he didn’t look sick. Then I heard a voice in my head that said leave, so we got out of there.”

  Raven bit the inside of her lip. She didn’t want to tell the girls to leave school - theirs was one of the few actually open - but she was concerned for their safety. “Is there any way you both can avoid him?”

  “He’s our first period teacher, at least until our regular teacher returns,” Katie said with a shake of her head, “so, I don’t see how.”

  “Well, then how about staying together. Can you make sure you are never alone?”

  The girls looked at each other again. “Yeah,” Lily finally said, “we have several of our classes together anyway, and the ones we don’t, we have other friends in. We can make sure we go nowhere alone.”

  “Good, do that. Hopefully, it will turn out to be nothing, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

  “You said you got this from your school?” Gabe asked, re-entering the room.

  “Yeah, why?” Lily asked.

  “I found traces of Methylene Chloride on it. It was small but enough to be the cause of your dizziness and confusion. I can’t believe they would give you a mask like this.”

  “The question is… did they know?” Raven asked. She looked at the girls and then at Gabe. “Either someone at the school did this on purpose or the manufacturer of the masks did.”

  The insinuation of those words fell heavy on the group. What evil were they dealing with?

  19

  “Dr. Markham, I need to have a word with you.”

  Candace looked up to see Dr. Aikens standing in the doorway of the breakroom. She knew from the stern expression on his face and the fact that he’d used her title instead of her first name that he did not have good news, but she’d been expecting his visit. She’d known when she made the video a few days ago that retribution would come for her. She just hadn’t known when.

  “Yes, sir.” She was determined to stand strong. She’d done nothing wrong. The government and the media had perpetrated this awful event on the people and she’d been complicit for too long. She would not apologize for speaking up now.

  She followed him to his office and waited as he shut the door and crossed to his desk.

  “Sit down,” he said, pointing to the chair.

  Candace sat and folded her hands in her lap.

  �
��You have created quite the problem for us, Dr. Markham,” Dr. Aikens said, steepling his hands together underneath his jowly chin.

  Candace said nothing as she waited for him to continue.

  “I’m sure you understand what I am referring to,” Dr. Aikens continued. When Candace merely lifted an eyebrow, he continued, “Your video has gotten quite a few views and now people are looking into this hospital.”

  “Perhaps they should be,” Candace said, “What we’ve been doing is wrong.”

  Anger flashed in Dr. Aikens’s eyes. “We have done nothing illegal. We’ve simply benefitted from the government’s incentives.”

  “At the expense of fear and panic of the public. People are suffering mentally from the isolation. Did you know that suicide and homicide numbers are through the roof? People are dying from things other than NVAC because they’re too scared to come in and get checked out. And don’t you care why the government offered those incentives? Don’t you wonder why they wanted the numbers to seem much higher than they are?”

  “That is not our concern,” Dr. Aikens said with a shrug.

  “Perhaps it should be.” Candace leaned forward and placed her hands on the edge of Dr. Aikens’s desk. “We’ve been told to inflate the numbers and we did. Now we are being told to push this vaccine and we are, but have you looked into this vaccine? Have you gone down and checked in on Anne who shakes so uncontrollably that she can barely function now after taking this vaccine? Or how about the five people who died in the ER last week after receiving the vaccine? Have you looked into them? Have you researched Daman Caturix? Because I have. The man stated that the way to lower population growth was with good vaccines. Good vaccines, Dr. Aikens? He’s talking about vaccines killing people to slow the population growth. The same vaccines we are telling people are safe to take.”

  “I don’t believe he actually said that,” Dr. Aikens said, sitting back.

  “You can look it up for yourself. It was a video of him speaking.”

  “Look, regardless of what he once said, you have a choice to make. You can either take the vaccine and release a video telling the world you were wrong and it is safe or you can find another job.”

  Candace knew this day would come. She had hoped it wouldn’t come this soon, but she’d been prepared for it. “I will not continue to lie to people and be responsible for their deaths. I pray for your soul.”

  She stood and left the room before he could say anything else. There was only one thing she needed to do before she left the hospital.

  Anne’s body was still convulsing when she entered the room, but the woman flashed a hopeful smile at Candace. “Do you have any good news?”

  “I don’t yet, Anne,” Candace said, picking up the woman’s trembling hand. “I just got fired and I’m moving to Olympia to work with some people down there. I can’t guarantee we’ll be able to help you any better, but will you come with me?”

  Anne blinked at her. “Do you think they will be able to help me here?”

  “I don’t know.” Candace wished she could assure her friend, but she didn’t want to give false hope. “They definitely have more equipment here than I’ll have access to down there, but I can’t in good faith say this hospital has their patients’ best interest at heart. What I can tell you is that where I’m going, the people will try. They will research and not stop until they find a cure for you.”

  Anne chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. “Then I’m coming with you.”

  “Seriously, Katie, what is going on?” Lily asked as they looked out at the half-empty cafeteria. It had been a week since their run-in with Mr. Dagon, and while they’d managed to avoid him outside of class, they could no longer deny that the population of the school had taken a serious hit.

  Katie glanced around and answered in a hushed voice, “I don’t know, but a few students are saying that some got the vaccine and are home sick because of it.”

  “Well, that goes against their narrative that the vaccine was supposed to keep people from getting sick,” Lily said as she unwrapped her sandwich. “No wonder they’re not sharing that news.”

  “Yeah, but what does that mean for us, Lily? I know there are a few others who are going to refuse to take it, but how long do you think we really have before they start pressuring us?”

  “My guess is not long.” Lily tried to force a smile, but inside she fought an overwhelming sense of sadness. She’d wanted this year to be different, to be normal, but she was very afraid that nothing would ever be normal again.

  “Help, someone help!”

  Lily and Katie jumped from their seats and raced over to the girl shouting for help. She was younger, probably a freshman as Lily didn’t recognize her, and she was bending over a boy who appeared to have fallen out of his seat. The boy was also unfamiliar to Lily.

  “What happened?” Lily asked as she pulled out her phone and dialed 9-1-1.

  “I don’t know,” the girl said. “He was eating and then he just grabbed his chest and fell over.”

  “9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” the woman on the other end of the phone asked.

  “There’s a boy here who passed out or something,” Lily said. “He was eating lunch and then he grabbed his chest and fell over.”

  “Is he breathing?” the woman asked.

  Lily looked to Katie. “She wants to know if he’s breathing.”

  Katie placed her hand over the boy’s mouth and nodded. “He is but just barely.”

  “I told him he shouldn’t have done it,” the girl said, sobbing as she wrapped her arms around her knees.

  “What’s your location?” the woman in Lily’s ear asked.

  “What did he do?” Katie placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder in an effort to calm her down.

  The girl lifted her head, her eyes brimming with liquid. “He took the vaccine.”

  “Ma’am, are you there? I need to verify your location,” the woman said in Lily’s ear.

  “Uh, Mountain Elm High School,” Lily said into the phone, trying to concentrate on both conversations.

  “Please stay on the line. We’re sending help.”

  Katie caught her eyes before looking back to the girl. “Are you saying you think the vaccine caused this?”

  “I’m not crazy,” she said, shaking her head. “I’ve done my research.”

  “We don’t think you’re crazy,” Katie said. “We believe you.”

  “What is the meaning of this? You are all breaking the six-foot distance rule.”

  Lily looked up to see Mr. Dagon coming their direction.

  “I’ve got this,” Katie said, standing and meeting the teacher before he could reach them. “A boy collapsed. We’ve called 9-1-1, and we will wait with him until they get here.”

  “You called 9-1-1? That is not policy.”

  “Not policy?” Katie’s voice rose in anger. “Since when? The boy collapsed. Calling for an ambulance should always be the first priority.” Katie placed her hands on her hips and though Lily could not see her face, she could imagine the glare emanating from her eyes. Her friend might have a soft exterior but she was fierce on the inside if backed into a corner.

  Mr. Dagon folded his arms across his chest and returned her stare, but before he could say anything more, Mr. Shane and Mrs. Fox rushed in.

  “What happened?” Mrs. Fox asked as she knelt down beside Lily.

  Lily pointed to the girl. She didn’t know the girl’s name and felt bad as she realized she should have asked. “She was with him, but she said he grabbed his chest and collapsed. I’ve got 9-1-1 on the line.”

  The sound of a siren cut through the air and moments later, two paramedics rushed in and took over. Lily took a step back and found Katie. Mr. Dagon, it seemed, had disappeared.

  Candace parked the car and walked around to help Anne out. Her husband Stanley climbed out of the passenger side and came over to help as well.

  “Are you sure this is the place?” he asked, eyeing the small house.
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  “It probably won’t be the final place, but yes, I have friends inside and we can stay here until we find a more permanent place.”

  They each took one of Anne’s arms and helped her up the steps. Candace entered the key code Raven had sent her into the box and pushed the door open.

  “Hello,” she called as they entered, “Raven? You here?”

  “She ran for some groceries,” a male voice from the direction of the kitchen said. A moment later, the owner of the voice appeared. Though she’d never met him, Candace assumed this had to be Gabe Cross, and she was surprised to find her breath catch just a little when she saw him.

  “Hi, I’m Candace Markham and this is Anne and Stanley-”

  “Oh, right, here let me help.” He hurried toward them, but stopped short as if trying to decide the best way to help. “Raven told me you were coming. We’ve got a room prepared for you, Anne. Follow me. I’m Gabe Cross, by the way,” he said as he led the way toward the bedrooms. “Sorry, I should have introduced myself earlier.”

  “It’s fine,” Candace said. “We’re just happy you have a place for us.”

  “Yeah, unfortunately, this house is getting a little small. We’ll probably be moving to the shelter soon, but we’ll make sure everything is set up for you there as well.”

  Anne nodded. “Thank you,” she said as they helped her into the bed. “It means so much to me.”

  “To us,” Stanley said, grabbing her hand. He turned to Gabe. “We don’t have kids anymore. They were taken in the disappearances. I’m in decent health, but I’m not sure the best way to help her. I have to admit I was afraid of letting her leave the hospital.”

  Candace placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. She knew this decision hadn’t been easy for him. It hadn’t been that easy for her either, leaving almost everything she owned back in Seattle. “Don’t worry, Stanley. I promise I will be here even if I have to sleep on the couch.”

  “And I’ve been researching some remedies,” Gabe said. “Experimental, but safe, so if you’re open to trying them-”