Contagio
With the nausea in
her stomach she stared across the room. The judge had ordered six
months of Narcotics Anonymous after her last incident. Now Ana was
stuck sitting in this stale room in a terribly ugly church.
She thought back to
her years failing out of an Art History program..... Churches that
had all the look of the poverty of a religion that had once adorned
cathedrals, now Christianity was as likely to be found in the store
face of an old strip mall than within a beautiful adorned building,
and this church was only one more example of that ugly focus on
god......
Yea it was nice of
the judge to give a suspended imposition of sentence as long as she
complied with some terrible rehabilitation program, but what had she
really done wrong? She was in a hurry, her damn dealer had held her
up making the goddamn girl wait all day, so she had to shoot up on
her way to work. So she thought it would be fine to do it at the stop
light. It had never been a problem before, but this bag was a little
stronger.
She felt the gentle
prick of the needle and the next thing she knows she is at the
hospital trying to explain to the cops what happened, which she
didn't herself know. In fact they
explained with such arrogance, they told her she had passed out while
driving and rolled into traffic. Then they had taken her to this
hospital, and pausing they read her, her rights and put her in
handcuffs.
Oh,
and the gall she thought, of the judge to suggest that she would
attend these meetings even if the world ended.....Like the world was
going to end.
The
group stared at her in silence. Finally she looked up....., “Yes”,
she mouthed..... Then the councilor nodded his head and pointed at
the television, the news was on.....
Due
to the growth and rapid spread of this new virus the governments of
major world powers are imposing quarantines on the infected zones
while they are investigating a solution to the infection. We
apologize for the inconvenience, and instruct all citizens to stay
where they are. To remain inside until the danger has passed. Now the
rules and regulations of the local curfews will appear as they differ
quarantine zone to zone.
Everyone
sat in silence, they stared at the wall and the floors, no one wanted
to look each other in the eyes. They feared the burden of having to
speak a word of comfort or assurance after such terrible news. The
Pastor walked in with a sullen look and put his hand on the
councilor. He spoke bravely, but unconvincingly, “All of you are
welcome to stay here, we don't have much, but will share all that we
do. Turn to god in these difficult hours, and he will give you
strength. We will bring what blankets we have to the church there we
shall weather this storm.” He looked to heaven and then across the
room.
Ana
was staring at the ground.... at least it couldn't be nay worse she
thought. The pastor came over to her, a few of the girls were
standing with him, she hadn't been paying attention, “He put his
hand on her and spoke, “Would you mind helping us set up the church
for these people?”
Ana
sighed but stood. They walked over to the Parish house. The pastors
wife sat there silently holding her children. You could tell she was
scared. However, her manners came first, she offered the girls some
tea, and then sent her daughters to start fetching linen and pillows
and whatever they could spare.
The
girls finished their tea and followed the pastor over to the church
piling blankets and sheets on the pew. The pastor looked at the three
girls. “Ana, Hailey, and Brie, I have watched you girls recover and
deeply wish you strength, me and my wife will be available at any
time if you need to talk, as I'm sure the counselor will be.
The
girls headed back to the meeting room. The room was in argument.
Voices were raised and people were leaving. The girls stood silently
as half of the people stormed off mad and unaware of the gravity of
the situation. The remaining six people sat in silence. The counselor
watched the news ardently. For the last few weeks there had been
health warnings, but nothing so serious. It was suggested that people
drink orange juice, not it seemed they may have been smarter to have
hoarded weapons.
As
the night came to a close the remaining girls slept int the church
while the counselor slept in the meeting room. The pastor and his
wife brought them a nice dinner, but everyone knew and understood how
little prepared they were for this.
As
days went by their numbers thinned but the three girls remained. The
meals grew scarcer, and everyone started to feel the sting of the
quarantine, the news continued to show scenes of dramatic
confrontations between people and security forces. Finally there came
a knock at the door there were armed guards, they argued with the
counselor and the pastor. They seized what few provisions remained
and stormed off.
Things
grew worse as hunger rolled in. The counselor left and the pastor
became ever more distant. His family remained locked in their home
and the three girls were left to their own thoughts. One night they
pried open the cabinet and found some sacramental wine. The girls
split it three ways and as the night grew colder and they grew
hungrier they decided to head out and look for some sort of food.
The
church was in a wooded area. They headed down the path the girls
rambled on incomprehensibly as they shivered and stumbled into the
woods. They had been lost for days before the first one fell from
exhaustion. The two remaining girls ran to the collapsed one. Brie
had collapsed from exhaustion, she was wheezing. And as she lay there
shivering Ana kissed her forehead. The girl closed her eyes and the
other two stood up.
They
kept walking and Ana could feel the tears running down her cheek. It
was a terrible waste of hydration. Finally her and the other girl
found some berries. They began to eat these half rotten probably
poison wild berries as fast as they could. Needless to say, their
stomachs were turning early the next morning as the girls continued
to wander lost and hungry. Hailey fell to her knees crying.
Ana
tried to to get her to stand up, but she begged her to leave her
there. So Ana stood up and wandered forward. As night close she
noticed an old cabin. She got the door open. At least she had learned
somethings when she was a junky.
She
opened the cabinets and her heart was delighted, she found food. It
is hard to really understand the feeling of elation felt. Sometimes
Ramen Noodels and Veg All seem like a king's feast when you have so
little. In the cabinet was also a bottle of vodka so there she sat
filthy scared, but at least now she was warm and fed. In true
serendipity the water even still worked. And so Ana dozed off in the
bath tub with the bottle of vodka. When she woke up she climbed into
the bed, holding the bottle close to her as one would a lover she
slept for what seemed like days.....
