The Goode Vaccine

A Story By Elizabeth Knight

Chapter One

November 3^rd

It was a cool November evening. The skies were blue-gray and the sun was starting to set on the horizon. It was a beautiful evening, but no one would enjoy it.

A man with broad shoulders and light brown hair stepped out of his car and looked carefully at the surrounding houses None of the houses looked lived in, but finally he selected a little old blue house on the corner. It appeared to be the most recently lived in. James Marker knocked but heard no response, so he entered. “Hello? He called. Still no response. He walked into the dark kitchen, it smelled of old food and death. He opened the pantry. The smell was so horrible that he could taste it. There were a lot of canned foods. He closed the pantry again, and started searching the rest of the house. He checked the bedrooms and the linen closet and found some blankets and few other trivial things, but he what he really wanted to find, was a survivor. He opened the door to the master bedroom and stopped cold when he saw a dead woman on the bed. He was horrified and quickly retreated. Searching for survivors was harder than he had thought. As he was heading back to the front door, he noticed a small note on the dining room table. He picked it up and read it.

Please, whoever finds my little home, don't hesitate to take things.

I know that I will be dead by the time you get here, so please take

my things! I hate to see it all wasted. Also, if you see my little cat,

Fluffy, would you please be so kind as to take care of him?

Izzy

The note was written in a shaky hand and James had to read it twice before he could make out what it said.

“Hm,” he said softly to himself.

He wanted to get out of house, but he decided to honor the woman's wishes. So he took another look around. He found a few sheets and blankets that could come in handy and he took the canned good out of the pantry. He couldn't find Fluffy anywhere though, so he left the house, tossed the things he'd gathered into the trunk of his car and got into the drivers seat. In the passenger seat sat a dark haired woman with a book in her slender hands. She looked up from the book as James got into the car.

“Are you okay?”

James glanced at her and replied, “Fine. I'm fine, Amy.”

Amy frowned. “I'm not convinced.”

“There was a dead woman in there. We keep looking for survivors, we've been looking for nearly a month, but all I see is death. I'm just not sure how much longer I can take this...”

Amy touched his shoulder sympathetically, unsure of how to reply.

“Do you think we'll ever find anyone? I mean, I found you, but it feels like we're the last ones left,” James said quietly.

“I don't think we're the last ones. God promised that He wouldn't wipe the earth out like that again,” Amy replied.

“If you hadn't noticed, I don't exactly believe in God.”

“Well, I believe in Him and I'm quite sure that there are more people left.”

James frowned. “If God were real, he'd show us in some way. If He loves us, He'd show it. Instead, all I see is death, pain and suffering. If your God is real then He wouldn't put us through this.”

“God does love you, James. So much in fact that He-”

“Stop! I don't want to hear anymore. My day has been stressful enough. The last thing I need is to have this conversation again!.”

Amy fell silent and turned.

James frowned and pulled away from the curb. He didn't say anything and didn't look at Amy. He just wanted to get some sleep. He wanted to wake up from this horrible dream.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

A girl of about fourteen or fifteen, Stephanie Monroe. She had chin length sandy-blond hair and she sat curled up in a window seat. The light of the moon reflected in Her bright blue eyes and the tears streaming from them. Her thoughts were far away. On what had led to all of this, trying to make sense of it.

Just a year ago, a virus had popped up in Asia and had in a few months it had into Europe and the Americas. It had been discovered by Dr. Bradford Goode. So it had been named after him. And the Goode epidemic began. Everyone panicked. Thousands of people were infected. It was like a flash flood and everyone started drowning. Schools were shut down. And work on a vaccine started. After three months it was released. Many rushed out to get, while others doubted that such a hastily made vaccine would be reliable and still others didn't believe in getting vaccines, ever.

Stephanie's family had been amongst the people who didn't believe in getting vaccines. Then her seven year-old sister, Sylvia, had gotten the virus. She just kept getting worse and her parents had taken her to the hospital. While Stephanie and her thirteen year-old brother, Jordan had stayed home. Sylvia had died that night and her parents had been forced into getting the vaccine while they were at the hospital. Shortly after they got the vaccine, they started acting oddly, almost drunken, then they just seemed to slip into a state of stupor.

A week after that, The U.S. had decided to follow in the footsteps of several other countries and force the vaccine upon the people. If you didn't get the vaccine, it would be forced upon you and you would face five years confinement. Most of the people willingly got the vaccine, but others rebelled. They got it forced upon them. Then came the horrible realization that the vaccine was more dangerous than the virus. They had the same reaction as Stephanie's parents. They started acting drunken, then fell into a stupor. After a few weeks their brains completely shut down and they died. Withing a few months, most of the population of the Earth was dead and gone. Leaving Stephanie horribly alone.

After a while, Stephanie turned her thoughts back to the present. She knew that she couldn't stay here, but she didn't want to leave. This had been her home for the past six years. It held everything that her family had owned and held dear. Now it was empty, except for her and the dog. She'd let the cat out yesterday and he hadn't returned. Maybe it was for the best that way. After all, it would be hard to travel with a cat. It would be much easier to travel with the dog.

As she sat there wondering what to bring and what to leave, she heard a noise that she hadn't heard in a long time. For a moment she froze, then she ran out the door into the front yard and nearly fell to her knees in relief. A car! There were still people alive! She ran towards the street and the car stopped abruptly upon seeing her. A broad shouldered man in his mid-thirties stepped out of the car, surprise written all over his face. They stared at each other for a few moments, shocked. Before either of them said anything, a tall woman in her late twenties stepped out of the car and said, “Hello! I'm Amy Hanson,” as though this were a normal meeting.

“Hello... I'm Stephanie,” the Stephanie replied still shocked but a smile was coming to her lips. She hadn't smiled in over a month. It felt good.

The man had an odd look on his face, “I'm James Marker.”

“Okay,” Amy said, “Stephanie... Are you the only person here or are there others?”

Stephanie stiffened and looked away. “It's just me.”

Amy looked sad and sympathetic at the same time and put a hand on Stephanie's shoulder. “You okay?”

Stephanie pulled away a bit and shrugged. “As good as I'm gonna feel I guess.”

She then looked over Amy's shoulder to James, “Um, Mr. Marker-”

“It's James,” James cut her off.

“Okay then, I'm Stevie.” Stephanie replied. “Would you and Amy like to come inside?”

“Alright. Just lemme park the car better.”

“Okay.”