Lost Immunity by Daniel Kalla (free reads TXT) 📕

“Day or two before he died. He called home almost every day.”

“Did Darius mention anything about a vaccination?”

“Nah. Nothing like that.” He bites his lower lip. “His mother was worried about the meningitis scare, though. I know she gave him a good talking-to about it.”

“Did Darius have any family here?”

“No.”

“Friends?”

“Lots of those,” Isaac says. “He lived with his best friend, Jayden Rogers.”

“Do you have Jayden’s number?”

Isaac digs into his pocket and brings out a small notebook. As he flips through the pages, looking for the phone number, he pauses to look up and ask, “So is it true? The vaccine killed Darius?”

She considers couching her answer in medical terms such as unexpected complications and hyper-immune reactions, but in the end, she simply nods.

“How can that happen?” There’s no accusation in his tone, only disbelief.

“We… We still don’t know.”

Isaac tears a blank page from the back of the book, copies down a number, and hands it over to her.

Lisa thanks him for his time and, with nothing more to say, hurries out of the oppressive building. As soon as she steps into the hot afternoon sun, she tries the number for Jayden, but his phone goes straight to voice mail. She leaves a message asking him to call her, adding that it’s urgent.

As Lisa drives away from the morgue, the memory of the pain in Isaac’s eyes lingers, compounding her guilt. She’s glad now for the distraction of the radio and is about to change it to her favorite jazz station when a familiar voice sounds over the speakers.

“Frankly, I think it’s a travesty,” Max Balfour says.

“How so, Dr. Balfour?” the host asks.

“Public Health rolled the dice with the children of Seattle. And it came up snake eyes.” Lisa can picture the smug smile on the face of the anti-vax naturopath.

“It’s that simple?”

“Look, I am not doubting the good intentions behind this vaccination campaign,” Max says, his tone simultaneously empathetic and condescending. “But I have seen it time and time again. There is so much money to be made in developing new vaccines. Billions and billions of dollars.”

“What about all the risks they take on?” Lisa rhetorically asks of the radio, thinking of how it costs more than a billion dollars to bring a new vaccine to market, with no guarantees of recouping the investment.

“Big Pharma puts so much pressure on our health agencies,” Max continues. “These corporations spend a fortune manufacturing studies that allegedly ‘prove’ the vaccines are safe. And they probably spend as much money suppressing the unbiased studies that usually show they’re not.”

“Like in this case, Dr. Balfour?” the host asks.

“Exactly. Big Pharma took advantage of the panic caused by this meningitis outbreak to push an unproven vaccine that should never have seen the light of day. Now the public is faced with these devastating vaccine injuries, and a poor family has lost a son for nothing. What’s worse is they’ve vaccinated thousands of other people over the past few days. Who knows how many more will still react? And how permanent the damage will be?”

“Is there anything that can be done to prevent it?”

“Careful surveillance and awareness will help,” Max says. “Obviously, they’ve suspended this program now that the dangers are so clear. But there’s nothing unique about this vaccine or their approach.”

“Can you elaborate?”

“Look what the government is still planning to do with the mandatory HPV vaccine campaign. So many of us in the vaccine hesitancy movement, including doctors like myself, have been arguing for a safer and more rational approach over the willy-nilly distribution of more and more vaccines. They treat our children like pincushions. And at such a cost.”

“Are you referring to all vaccines?”

“Vaccines have historically had their place. But like any manufactured drug, they’re poisons. Most of which are unnecessary.” He pauses. “Maybe now others will finally realize that, too.”

“A complete FUBAR,” Lisa murmurs to herself. “What have we done?”

CHAPTER 46

Yolanda opens the door, and Max bounds inside her one-bedroom condo. He sweeps her into a hug, kisses her, and spins her around and around. Prone to motion sickness, Yolanda feels dizzy, but his affection makes it so worthwhile. She feels loved. Nothing is more important to her.

“What are we celebrating?” Yolanda giggles as she inhales a whiff of her favorite peppery cologne.

“We won!”

For a moment, Yolanda wonders if he entered them into some contest she wasn’t aware of. “What did we win?”

“The battle.” He kisses her again. “Along with a tidal wave of public support. Which is the key to winning the actual war.”

She suddenly realizes that he’s talking about the vaccination campaign and, reluctantly, breaks off the embrace. “This isn’t a war, Max.”

“It is for some of us.”

“Everyone at my office is really upset.”

Max strokes her cheek. “Wasn’t your fault. You were only doing what you all thought was best. I get it.”

Yolanda shifts away from him. She loves Max more than ever, but he’s rejoicing over one of the biggest catastrophes to ever hit her office. “This isn’t so easy for me, Max. I can’t even count how many inoculations I’ve given over the past few days.”

“No one’s doubting your good intentions, beautiful.”

“What if I gave the shot that made one of those poor kids so sick?”

“I’d never blame you.”

“But, Max, this feels kind of… wrong.”

The smile leaves his lips. “What does?”

“To celebrate a bunch of kids getting sick from a vaccine. Especially one that we hoped would stop this awful meningitis.”

Max’s eyes narrow, and his upper lip curls. “A few kids got sick,” he snaps. “Big deal! Do you have any idea how much damage has been done by vaccines over the years?”

“I know how important this is to you.” She moves toward him, but he recoils from her touch.

“You don’t have a fucking clue, Yolanda!”

“Max!”

“You hand out those shots like candy. Without a second thought. You have no idea what it’s like to have to live with the devastating consequences of them, day in and day out.”

She has