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

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.