Nature Always Fights Back |Day 15 After Virus Release: Anneka|

We finally finished securing our base’s ground floor and setting up and powering our equipment. As a result, I started going on supply runs for food and water at the places we found on the map and accompanying Lex on runs around the city to trap zombies and gather saliva samples. All you need to do is bait the zombie to open its mouth. The zombies instinctually open their mouths as humans come near. Due to zombie biology, saliva is overproduced, and some will be able to be collected if you tilt the tied-down zombie’s head down and use a sterilized vessel. I observe one of the bodies while Lex is busy. Its light blue color is fascinating. How does their skin possibly turn out like that? It mirrors the light blue water in the ocean near the shore. Leaving the thought behind, I turn to look at Lex. Gosh. I dash over. “You look so intense, Lex. Your legs are twitching uncontrollably, and you are going to fall down at this rate.”

I forcibly pry my hand away from my mouth. “I’m fine. It is nothing.”

“That cannot be true. You seem stunned beyond belief.”

“I’ve been tracking the rate of zombification, Anneka. It seems that Fion was wrong. I’ve paid attention to the first batch of zombies, and I’ve checked these new ones. There seems to be a standard rate of decay. Assuming it always stays linear, then the time we have till the worst case scenario is only nine months and not the predicted eleven.”

“That’s unfortunate. How are we doing on time right now?”

“I think that if we release our antivirus from this one point in Seattle, it would take six months for it to radiate out and spread globally. That is if we can find a decent transport system. It would be best to release it at multiple spread-out points, but I doubt we have that luxury.”

“So we have a bit more than two odd months considering the time it takes to spread.”

“Exactly.” Anneka walks away to continue observations. One more thing to say. Should I? No, no, push it away. I’ve been called an overthinker. I am an overthinker. There is nothing that this virus could produce that could be worse than these blue zombies. Be rational. Statistically, hundreds of years could pass, and I wouldn’t be guaranteed to see what I am scared of. The patterns and genomes that suggest that the virus has the capacity to be even more frightening and complex should be insignificant. This cruel mutation miracle will be impossible even with trillions of virus replications.

Over the next 24 days, we acquired new strains and looked at their genomes. More accurately, Lex was the one looking at them. We kept the important strains to cultivate in a cold environment. Just today, we started the process of modifying the antivirus to give them molecular scissors to cut the viral DNA. Lex is using a harmless host-virus as the base virus for our antivirus. Lex chose it because it was very infectious, safe, and relatively easy to modify. After Lex was comfortable with a prototype that could be replicated in an incubator with all the modifications it needed, we planned to head out into the city to test it the next day's morning. 

The walk is long and strenuous, as always. Anneka demands quiet so that she can detect and react to possible noises from zombies or other dangers. Not that I can imagine what those would be. Still, I am sure she means well. I distract myself in the city. Towers upon towers sprawl upwards to the skyline, piercing the sky, but much of its access is difficult now that humanity has moved in panic. The streets, walkways, and buildings are randomly arranged with discarded cars, barriers, and trash as if these items really belonged to the streets. Without cars or even bicycles to rely on, it is apparent how much humanity has slowed down and how un-walkable this claustrophobic space is due to the disastrous state this city is in. 

"That's a nice mountain over there." 

I look at where Anneka points. It seems that she cares for nature more than the city. The still mountain on the horizon with its white and grey strata. Mount Rainer, a stratovolcano, was also a designated national park. I fondly look at all these reminders of old humanity. If the zombie virus really succeeds, these fragments of old culture will wash away quickly as humans are required to reallocate manpower toward pressing infrastructure and humanitarian plights. 

We continue down a commercial street with closed restaurants and storefronts on both of our sides. Unfortunately, the smells of the city are rot and nauseating from the waste. I still haven't gotten used to it even after weeks. Many more animals have migrated into the inner city. Raccoons, birds, and a few deer have been spotted. This influx of scavengers has not started to whittle away the vast leftovers of society's departure.  I remember seeing the occasional dog or cat without their owner. It may be my imagination, but they looked scared of us and saddened.  Zombies don't attack animals, but they must be so strange to them. I realize we look the same in shape. Lex eventually brings me back to the present problem.

“-I estimate that this new prototype is half complete, but we should still test it to see if I am wrong or right.” I noticed Anneka stopped in front of me, not fully listening. I look over, and I am shocked to see a huge fog cloud covering the far end of our street. A perfectly normal occurrence in Seattle, but we know that it has a concealed effect besides obstructing vision. The water of the fog presents a deadly zombie gas moving and blanketing the horizon. I try to ignore the sadness from how none of the people here knew of its danger before it was too late. We hurriedly searched the insides of our bags. Do we have our gas masks with us? Not in this pocket or the front pouch. I continue feeling all around my materials, trying not to breathe or look at the fog’s approach. Anneka eventually taps me. She hands me the mask, and I strap it on, moving it carefully over my hair and face. The cloud is going to arrive in seconds as we decide to take refuge inside a nearby building. It would be best not to take additional risks now. We watch the wind move the fog along quickly from our window. On the edges of the window, water condenses. Touching the glass as if to show that the virus knows we are in here. Small amounts of fog seep inside the building through broken material in the walls. We head deeper inside and wait for better and less wet weather before leaving. At 11:03 AM, the conditions are stable enough to leave.

“That was a scare, wasn’t it? The fog wasted a bunch of time.”

“Yeah, I think that in the vast majority of the world, these forms of precipitation could be an even bigger threat than zombies. At least we’re almost downtown now Anne-” I see Anneka’s vision rapidly analyzing and shifting from a massive shadow around the building’s corner in front of us, then immediately back to me. Her demanding, slicing, and icy voice alerted me that something was vastly awry. It was a side of her I'd never seen quite before. I wouldn't have time to adjust or understand it as the situation demanded more.

“Lex, leave now, or we will both die here.”