The Beginning of the End by Lorana Hoopes (readict txt) 📕

“I know, but they’re my parents. What am I supposed to do?”

“Have you told them about Caturix and the patent?”

Katie bit her lip and shook her head. “No, you know how they are. They believe everything the media is saying. They didn’t even want me to return to school this year, but I refused to spend another year at home on a laptop.”

Katie’s mother worked for the state, and they had declared their workers wouldn’t be returning any time soon. Her father managed one of the local grocery stores, and while he hadn’t been forced to close like other businesses had, he was paranoid about contracting the virus. He wore gloves all day at work, changing them every time he went to the bathroom or consciously touched his face. Lily had also been surprised they’d let Katie return to school.

“I can’t blame you there, but don’t worry, we’ll figure something out. The vaccine isn’t even here yet, and I bet even when it is released, we won’t be the first in line to get it.”

“I hope not, but anyway, that’s what made me late today, and it’s kind of thrown my whole day off.”

“Well, at least today is almost over. You can come over tonight and we’ll celebrate the first day of school with ice cream. How’s that?”

Katie’s lips pulled into a slight smile, but the light did not reach her eyes. It might take more than ice cream to bring her bubbly friend back, but Lily wasn’t going to give up.

“When you girls are done, please remember to put your masks back on.”

Lily looked up at the woman speaking to them. Her voice was unfamiliar, and though she could only see the woman’s eyes and forehead over her mask, her face did not seem familiar either. Her eyes were the color of coal, and though Lily would not have thought it possible, her hair appeared a shade darker. Her skin, though not abnormally pale, seemed that way in contrast to her eyes and hair.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” Lily asked, trying not to sound as annoyed as she felt.

The woman’s eyes crinkled, and Lily knew a patronizing smile lay under her mask. “My name is Ms. Chemosh, but you can call me Ms. C. I’m the new counselor here.”

A counselor? This was news to Lily. Their school was so small that the teachers and office staff had served as make-shift counselors. Why did they have one this year? “What does a counselor do in a school this small?”

“More than you’d expect.” Her tone dripped like honey, but it did not sound sweet in Lily’s ear. Instead, it sounded grating like squealing brakes. “I help students figure out their graduation plan and apply to colleges. I also moderate issues between students, and of course, this year, I’m happy to help with any student feeling anxious about the virus.”

“Oh, that’s good to know,” Katie said, but Lily could tell she was simply placating the woman. “We’ll be sure to put our masks back on when we’re done eating.”

“Very well,” Ms. C said. Her eyes lingered a moment longer on them before she turned and headed off to another table.

Lily rolled her eyes as the woman walked away to share the reminder with another table. She didn’t have enough knowledge of this woman to form a solid opinion yet, but this whole nonsense of wearing a mask as soon as they finished eating was silly. By the time they finished eating, they would have spent at least twenty minutes with their masks off. If the virus were truly in the air, they would all have been exposed and putting a mask on after that certainly wasn’t going to save them. Besides the majority of the evidence still pointed to the fact that kids rarely got the virus and when they did, their cases were mild.

“I’ll see you after school?” Lily asked Katie as they stood and headed toward the trash cans. They didn’t have any of their afternoon classes together.

“Yep, see you then.”

13

“This makes no sense.”

Gabe looked over to see Raven staring at the numbers on her screen and shaking her head. “What’s the matter?” he asked, crossing to her side.

“Something isn’t adding up. Smythe passed the mask mandate months ago, right?”

“Yeah, as did many states. Why?”

“Well, you and I both know that masks are pretty useless, but even with them being useless, it doesn’t explain why positive cases are still occurring at such a high rate. Deaths seem to be lower which makes sense as we know so much more about how to treat this now, but why, if we are all masking and socially distancing, are cases still going up?”

“Well, the virus is highly contagious.” Gabe pulled up a chair beside her.

“I know, but something still feels off. Plus, look at this.” She clicked a different tab, and an email popped up on the screen. “Check this out.” She clicked on a picture inside the email, enlarging it before turning the screen toward Gabe.

He leaned closer to study the picture. “Okay, that looks like a hospital, but it appears empty.”

“It is,” Raven said. “Candace sent me this today. She said hospitalizations from NCAV are fewer than ten people most weeks, but no one is allowed to say anything. They were threatened with termination if they leaked any pictures.”

Gabe scratched at his chin. “So, there’s a rise in positive cases but a decrease in hospitalizations and deaths, but the government clearly does not want us to see that. Why?”

From behind them, an alert sounded on the TV proclaiming breaking news. They turned from the computer to watch.

“We are pleased to announce that the first NCAV vaccine, sponsored by Daman Caturix, has passed quality control checks and Dr. Goodman will be receiving the very first dose,” the news anchor said with a smile that was meant to be consoling but had the opposite effect on Gabe. There was still so much he didn’t know, didn’t understand, about how they