Hope of the Dying World

[“SL News... last 2020, an epidemic has spread throughout San Lorenzo that killed almost half of the town’s population. And this disease seems to be returning and the side effects are even worse than last year. It was scattered throughout the town and everyone is expected to stay in their home to ensure your safety. Accidents are every---”]

‘Cally!’ He was so nervous while running. 

“Dad.” He said almost lost his breath.

“Where are the clothes? And why are you almost out of breath?”

“We need to leave.” 

“What are you talking about? Your sister is not feeling well and she needs medication.”

“I’ll explain when we get home. But for now, we need to leave this place!”

“Trestan Joern---” His phone rang.

“Dad please...” He ignored his son and lifted his hand to stop him from talking.

“What!? Virus? Epidemic? What are you talking about? Fine. Fine. I’ll be there. I’ll just make sure that my children are safe before I go. Okay.” The call ended and there, he faced his son. 

“Let’s get out of here.” Even though there is a big question why his son seems to know what is happening, he just puts it aside.

They need to go to the safest place as soon as possible.

Trestan wrapped his sister with a thick blanket and he was about to lift her but he moved away from her.

“No... She’s… infected.”

“Why did you---” Timotheus almost shouted at his son because he suddenly dropped his sister’s weak body.

“Daddy... Kuya... S-so itchy... It’s hot...” Cally cried with suffering. Timotheus slowly tries to reach her daughter’s little hand with his weakening body but Trestan held his father and shook his head. 

Her little hand became purple, even her arms. Some purple spots were found on her little face. Cally started nose-bleeding and hardly catching her breath.

“No… Let’s do something! We can’t let her die like this! We… We can’t.”

“Dad... We need… to go.” 

After a while, the little girl lost her life. Timotheus lost his mind and furiously threw things seen around.

“Dad, we need to… leave.”

“What about your sister’s body!?”

“We can’t do anything about it! We can’t touch her. It’s dangerous! Let’s go, dad!”

His son pulled him outside the hospital and they got in the car. Trestan volunteered to drive but his father insisted. Everything turned into a disaster. 

Trestan opened the radio to hear some news.

[“World News, a disease called Lila Virus or known as LiVi-20 named by the experts were contagiously spreading to different parts of the world and within a week, 48% of the world’s population was infected and 13% of them were killed by this new and deadly disease. This epidemic rapidly turns into a pandemic crisis. It is not yet known where the pernicious disease came from, so every citizen must stay at home and stay safe to avoid the increasing number of infected.”]

“Dad, we’ve been observing this virus for almost two years. We’re currently finding an effective cure but there is some missing piece in the formula and we can’t determine it yet. We don’t know what it is and where we---”

“It’s useless! It’s useless… Your sister is d-dead,” His voice cracked. “And we have done n-nothing to help her and many people are dying.”

“Dad---”

In an unexpected turn of events, there were many accidents on the streets of San Lorenzo in which many were killed. It is believed to be due to the spreading disease. 

They would have been saved but the uncontrolled bus and someone’s car behind collided with them. Timotheus was the most injured in the accident.

Before he lost consciousness, he heard his son calling him.

“Dad... Dad... Dad...”

Full of sweat and catching his breath. He wakes up in a dark room where he’ll just find a glimpse of light through the window. 

The smell of cigarettes filled the whole room and he couldn’t bear it. There are two doors inside that unfamiliar room and he entered the comfort room. 

His eyes were half-opened and faced the sink to wash his sweaty face. He wiped it with a towel and faced the blurry mirror. 

There was a look of astonishment on his face and he could not believe what he was seeing. He scoured the moist mirror and clearly saw his face.

“W-What? Ferran!? What the heck!? No!”