The H1 Covenant
*A fictional story about the the end of America due to the flu. by Tory S. Quinton
The end of the world came from a familiar source. Influenza, only this time it was different. They called it the Bird Flu or Avian influenza and then later owing to poultry farmers seeking to curb fears of contaminated birds, H1N1, but it was all the same. Tiny microbes of pestilence, invisible to the naked eye drifting through the atmosphere, coming into contact with a comfortable host which it set about to break down at a biological level. Children were the first to suffer. After three years of H1N1 reeking havoc on third world populations the pestilence shifted unexptedly into affluent 1st world quarters where schools in America and Europe became breeding grounds. Children, it seemed were easy targets and began to die at alarming rates.
This was the 21st century and yet families were buying their young in ever increasing rates. Special police unites were established for the purpose of going door to door checking on the state of those within when many families took personal measures in dealing with the problem. These dead were buried, often in back yards with little regard to public sanitation. The pestilence began to creep beneath the earth then, following the water table into rivers, lakes and reservoirs, of course by then the H1 had become widespread among all ages.
After the first three years the vaccines were proving to be panaceas as the virus showed a remarkable ability to morph into newer strains, each more deadly than the last. The Centers for Disease Control declared an epidemic at first, when they were losing their grip on the situation. Later it became a natural disaster, not unlike a devastated city after a hurricane, only this was global. Relief efforts could not keep up as whole communities were transformed into charnel houses. Charlatans taking advantage of the government’s inability to provide a workable vaccine began to sell remedies from the backs of vans, or on street corners. These provided the worst sort of false hope, the kind that lead to lowering ones guard and allowing the virus to slip in. News outlets, those first few years broadcast images of vaccination lines stretching for city blocks, then miles reminiscent of depression era bread lines. People were selling their place in line for thousands of dollars at first, and then after the violence born of desperation and fear took hold profit became meaningless. The economy around the world had already begun to collapse and banks were failing as unemployment rates skyrocketed. After seven years, the lines were growing smaller, keeping pace with a diminishing population. Then, after ten years the lines vanished. The CDC had ceased providing what had become accepted as useless vaccinations. Martial law had already been declared in most countries that had what passed for law to begin with, but even this had proven to be futile. Soldiers were no more immune than anyone else leaving the ranks hollowed out, many of those not sick simply walked away to be with their dying families. Churches had swelled as televangelists began to call this a condemnation from god, It was punishment for abortion, for war, for divorce, for whatever bugbear they could lay their hands on. Organized churches soon turned into cloistered cults, claiming to have special protection from the curse of the H1. Those whose members seemed more resilient drew in more members and became more and more paranoid and in turn dangerous while the others faded away. One of these cult churches became a new voice of fear, cresting radio waves and the television, which had yet to cease operations. It was lead by a charismatic woman who called herself Mother Anne. In Texas she drew in thousands of converts who declared her a new messiah. When she was killed by an angry mob her daughter stepped up, and took the message of her mother to new heights of depravity. She too was called Mother Anne and the second war for Texas Independence began under her orders. That was the first sign of America’s wholesale dissolution.
The end of the world came from a familiar source. Influenza, only this time it was different. They called it the Bird Flu or Avian influenza and then later owing to poultry farmers seeking to curb fears of contaminated birds, H1N1, but it was all the same. Tiny microbes of pestilence, invisible to the naked eye drifting through the atmosphere, coming into contact with a comfortable host which it set about to break down at a biological level. Children were the first to suffer. After three years of H1N1 reeking havoc on third world populations the pestilence shifted unexptedly into affluent 1st world quarters where schools in America and Europe became breeding grounds. Children, it seemed were easy targets and began to die at alarming rates.
This was the 21st century and yet families were buying their young in ever increasing rates. Special police unites were established for the purpose of going door to door checking on the state of those within when many families took personal measures in dealing with the problem. These dead were buried, often in back yards with little regard to public sanitation. The pestilence began to creep beneath the earth then, following the water table into rivers, lakes and reservoirs, of course by then the H1 had become widespread among all ages.
After the first three years the vaccines were proving to be panaceas as the virus showed a remarkable ability to morph into newer strains, each more deadly than the last. The Centers for Disease Control declared an epidemic at first, when they were losing their grip on the situation. Later it became a natural disaster, not unlike a devastated city after a hurricane, only this was global. Relief efforts could not keep up as whole communities were transformed into charnel houses. Charlatans taking advantage of the government’s inability to provide a workable vaccine began to sell remedies from the backs of vans, or on street corners. These provided the worst sort of false hope, the kind that lead to lowering ones guard and allowing the virus to slip in. News outlets, those first few years broadcast images of vaccination lines stretching for city blocks, then miles reminiscent of depression era bread lines. People were selling their place in line for thousands of dollars at first, and then after the violence born of desperation and fear took hold profit became meaningless. The economy around the world had already begun to collapse and banks were failing as unemployment rates skyrocketed. After seven years, the lines were growing smaller, keeping pace with a diminishing population. Then, after ten years the lines vanished. The CDC had ceased providing what had become accepted as useless vaccinations. Martial law had already been declared in most countries that had what passed for law to begin with, but even this had proven to be futile. Soldiers were no more immune than anyone else leaving the ranks hollowed out, many of those not sick simply walked away to be with their dying families. Churches had swelled as televangelists began to call this a condemnation from god, It was punishment for abortion, for war, for divorce, for whatever bugbear they could lay their hands on. Organized churches soon turned into cloistered cults, claiming to have special protection from the curse of the H1. Those whose members seemed more resilient drew in more members and became more and more paranoid and in turn dangerous while the others faded away. One of these cult churches became a new voice of fear, cresting radio waves and the television, which had yet to cease operations. It was lead by a charismatic woman who called herself Mother Anne. In Texas she drew in thousands of converts who declared her a new messiah. When she was killed by an angry mob her daughter stepped up, and took the message of her mother to new heights of depravity. She too was called Mother Anne and the second war for Texas Independence began under her orders. That was the first sign of America’s wholesale dissolution.