17

Reverend Apocalysis: Reality Surpassed Fiction

Chapter 17: Surviving at All Costs

Fear is often responsible for making us aware of external dangers that can threaten us as individuals, and the body interprets it in a very peculiar way. Firstly, the senses capture the focus of danger, tired of being interpreted by the brain's reasoning based on the gathered information, and then the limbic system takes action.

As they faced an unknown situation in a deadly risk zone, everyone was lost and very afraid. It was normal; even someone like Anton was still trembling from the impressions and adrenaline that hadn't yet left his body.

What was happening in the surroundings? That's the first question one asks in these kinds of situations. Will I die or survive?

No one wants to be eaten to death!

Although Anton wasn't an expert, he recognized fear in people's eyes, panic, and, of course, persistent shock. In cases of extreme fear, it paralyzes, emotionally blocks people, and hinders their reasoning.

Facing the accusations of more than a dozen people at that moment, Anton showed no hint of surprise.

Such is human behavior; even he wanted to get the infected child out of the rain but wouldn't rush to make decisions because his information source was still limited. If they gather information now, it will give him a significant advantage in the future, so he immediately pressed the button on a stopwatch to know how long it takes to become infected.

How is this virus transmitted?

Anton knew that both bacteria and viruses have the ability to spread in different ways. But the majority can be distinguished by the four transmission routes that exist.

The most common way to get infected is through indirect contact, which he hadn't proven yet, but it would be unlikely given the lady holding the child while screaming. But it does spread through direct contact; this could include saliva or blood, so they couldn't, under any circumstances, get injured by those carriers.

Now, it was obvious that many got infected through the air due to the recent rain that turned everyone on the street into carriers.

Was the free water contaminated? If so, that means they must be careful with what they eat because they could ingest germs present in them. These are the most common routes within the so-called common infection vehicle. This mechanism allows infecting many people from a single source of infection.

Finally, if infected by parasites like mosquitoes, fleas, flies, and lice, among others, they would die in less than a week.

"Are you listening, demon woman? You must be aware that you and your brat put us all in danger. That also includes those two over there. Come out now and be quick so you don't infect us."

Anton smiled coldly while holding a knife, which he later put back in its sheath. After that, as if he had changed his mind, he pulled a gun from his waist and aimed it at the men in front: "Will you get us out now? It's obvious we're all scared, but you must judge rationally and not include me and my partner on the list of infected. You must have seen how long it took people to become carriers of the disease, so we were infected by the rain; we should have been one of them by now, and you would be dead."

As soon as Anton said those words, the people in the hallway and surroundings were shocked, even Emma. Where did Anton get a gun, and why exactly was he armed? Of course, these questions were temporarily suppressed because she wanted to know the choice of the people in front, so immediately after, she took a hammer that was in one of the wooden boxes on a table.

His action was seen by everyone, but Emma didn't care because now she and Anton were alone in this dangerous situation where they had to rely on each other for their lives. Of course, in these situations, deterrent words are not enough. What made the others stop was the weapon in Anton's hands. That gun had a bullet for each of them, so they would prefer to negotiate.

When Anton raised his weapon, he didn't mind shooting to protect himself and Emma. She, who saw this fierce side of him that she hadn't seen for a long time, whispered, "Anton, we're in danger because they won't trust us until time passes and they know we're not infected. But that child seems to have problems; if an unforeseen event arises right now, we must find a safe way out."

A woman in work uniform said in an almost pleading tone, "Miss, my husband, who was on his way to bring my lunch, got exposed to the rain, and in just a few minutes, he turned into a carrier. If he hadn't run back quickly, he would have bitten me, so for our own safety, and I hope you understand, you can't stay here."

"So, are you saying we're infected?" Anton released the safety on his gun, and his words became completely cold.

"You have wet hair; water droplets are dripping from your forehead and neck... How do you expect us not to assume you're wet from the rain? We're not idiots; now we're in a tangle of your words against ours."

"Eh?" Anton ran his hand over his chin, and at that moment, he realized he was wet, took some of the water, and licked it. "It's salty; this is my sweat."

Emma did the same with the moisture on her skin, and indeed, it tasted salty. But as the woman said a moment ago, these are their words against theirs. Working quickly to prevent a tragedy, she said calmly, "Listen carefully. A while ago, we received a message that the rain seemed to be acidic. We have no evidence that it turns people because there were people being carriers inside commercial stores, and it's obvious they weren't exposed to the rain."

"Miss, you mentioned that the rain cannot turn people, and clearly, we have no evidence. But do you have proof that it's the opposite of what we now believe? What if both you and that child become  carriers?" The woman said it again, convinced of her words, regardless of whether the man shot her.

Emma didn't want things to get worse, so looking at the child, she said, "I don't care what happens to them, but I'm speaking for everyone when I say my evidence is those people coming out as carriers from a department store. If they weren't exposed to the rain, how do you explain that they are carriers? That perfectly proves that not everyone has been infected by the rain. Also, if you connect to the internet, you'll know that carriers have appeared in cities where it's not raining. We, even with that, were not touched by the rain, but I can't say the same for them."

"I can believe that; the fever is not normal; it was one of the symptoms of the coronavirus... You may look fine, but we'll first take care of getting the child out." A man took a long tube and walked toward the woman and her son.

"Please don't take us out with the carriers! My son is fine; he just has a fever."

"Lady, behave; I don't give a damn if your son has a fever from the rain or from eating expired milk. You must leave no matter what."

Anton watched this and lowered the gun; he wouldn't be so stupid to speak for the child and his mother in this circumstance. He was sure they weren't infected, but he couldn't talk with people he knew.

"What if we tie them up and leave them here?" Emma asked, slightly affected by the situation.

"Miss, don't play the hero in this kind of situation, or you'll end up infected... Do you want us to tie them up like dogs? If you do it, then there won't be any problem as long as, once tied, they stay in the storage room. But if you do that, you also have to isolate yourselves from us for a few hours or until the next day." A man in a suit said it loudly this time.

Emma remained silent, but Anton, seeing this, shook his head. "Alright, but you'll be the one to tie them up. If they move, I'll shoot them myself, so we'll all be fine. You must be aware that if you kick them out, you'd be killing them, and the virus wouldn't do that. Do you really want to do this?"

Immediately, the situation in the place froze, and the few people on the opposite side didn't dare approach to force them out. After all, Anton had a weapon, so they had no choice but to follow his words and approach with ropes to tie the woman and her son.

"Damn, it's better that this trash doesn't spread through touch; not being a carrier myself, I'll bite you." A grumpy man said this while tying the woman, who cried silently. Looking at Anton, she showed her gratitude with just a glance.

Emma, on the other hand, held a hammer in her hand, facing people not far away. She was also very nervous at this moment; generally, she wouldn't be so fierce with people, but in these moments, she discovered that this was the only way to protect herself and Anton.

At that moment, a man in his forties sitting on a metal chair stood up and said, "Listen, both of you, this place belongs to our courier company, and I'm the team manager, so strictly speaking, this place belongs to us, and you're just strangers. No one has the right to expel anyone."

While the company manager spoke, there were eight people behind him. The situation was evident at that moment. The workers from the courier company outnumbered the people outside. No one except them had the qualifications to actually kick people out.

Upon hearing this, the man in the suit had a furious expression on his face, but Emma felt a sense of gratitude in her heart. She never expected someone to stand up and speak for them at this moment. This same elder was the one who helped them get in here, so it was evident that he was a good person. Of course, with his help and the workers, everyone could stay here.

However, what the manager said afterward made Emma feel bad because what the elder said was, "But I have to protect my workers and my security. As proposed by the woman and her son, they will be locked in the storage room, while you two will enter the woman's bathroom. You can come out if you don't agree with that. If you don't turn into one of those they call carriers by tomorrow, then we'll forget about it. But if you do it while you're locked up, no one will have a problem. What do you think?"

The people around quickly said, "No problem, no problem; it's really not a problem to be locked in a bathroom."

The manager smiled and said, "We all deserve a chance, so it's good that we lock up those we think are infected. It will be done as planned. Does anyone have a problem?"

Anton entered with the woman and her son, watching as both were tied by the feet before leaving. He looked at the manager and nodded in gratitude; he really was a reasonable elder. So he said, "Then we'll go in."

A hint of helplessness flashed in the manager's eyes, and he said, "Then there's no other way. For our safety, we can only let you two go to the women's bathroom. If you think about it clearly, you might be able to sleep there."

"Of course, but if you have anything to eat, it's better to share it like the good friends we are... If you do, I'll ensure your safety. If you don't, then you must think about what will happen." Anton holstered his gun when he said this and walked towards the bathroom.

At that point, the manager extended his hands helplessly and said, "How can we have food and water here? There's water in the tap, but there's no food!"

But Emma wasn't stupid; she had seen many possible exits and found one in a storage area. "Don't lie to us; there are snacks in that place, so you could start by sharing that. We'll leave if that food isn't enough. There's no need to lie to our faces."

"Current online shopping is very simple, and many people use this method to buy snacks. Therefore, there's no need for food in this place for a few days, as everyone can eat that for now."

The manager smiled and said, "Then we'll share everything equally, even if it's just snacks."

Anton smiled but didn't say anything and entered with some pieces of cardboard. Seeing this, everyone felt relieved, and a man with food packages handed them to Emma before she also entered the bathroom.

Emma looked at the empty room, except for all the tools next to the surprisingly clean bathroom; there was nothing else. But some things could be seen from this place. When silence invaded them, sounds of gunfire, screams, sirens, and many other things could be heard.

Thinking about everything Emma had experienced, she collapsed and murmured, "They're not dead; the functions in their bodies haven't stopped because they can run as their normal bodies allow them to." That means they are controlled by whatever infected them."

Anton saw a tap not far away. It seemed that the only source of water for the two of them was the tap water, but at that moment, there were no containers.

Fortunately, there were some discarded mineral water bottles in a corner. Anton cleaned them and connected them to the tap water, filling the bottles as much as he could.

"Is it the same as what your father sent you?" Emma, after calming down, asked Anton.

"It's very different; they're not the same." Anton shook his head while staying silent.

If that child has a fever, it's for something very special that very few know. That is, fever is a way that humans have to defend themselves. The body raises the body temperature to kill the viruses that enter the motor functions. Once all the viruses have been eliminated, the body temperature slowly drops. Therefore, the body temperature of humans will remain stable after that. Now that this child has a high fever, does it mean that his body is killing the virus entering his body?

"Do you have any idea what we could do?"

Anton, after thinking, said, "We can go out at night and be lucky enough to be stealthy until we reach the van. On the other hand, we could wait until the army takes charge."

Just as Emma was about to answer, her phone started vibrating, and the screen indicated that it was her mom: "Yes, can you hear me? Mom, I'm fine!"

Anton watched Emma's agitation and sat beside her while holding her hand. "I'm fine, Mom; you shouldn't go out under any circumstances. If I'm with Anton, we both managed to take refuge inside a building, so you shouldn't worry about anything else. Do you want to talk to him?"

Anton smiled while taking the phone and hearing, "Anton, tell me how you both are!"

"We're fine; you shouldn't worry because I'll protect Emma as I promised... Yes, you shouldn't leave the house, and we'll take care of going as soon as we can."

When Emma's mother heard this, she felt a little relieved and said, "It's good that you're together; God will take care of both of you. I'm fine; my building seems to have been sealed in time, and there's nothing wrong, so take your time."

Upon hearing these words, Anton nodded and said, "Well, I think in the end, we'll be saved by the army."

After saying this, the call suddenly cut off. He saw that even the internet was cut, so now the army would definitely take action.

"How much food and medicine does your mother have?"

Emma, who was silently crying, said, "Enough for a few weeks if she manages to ration it, but she can barely make herself food."

Anton thought of something and quickly turned on the bathroom switch, only to find that the power was cut in the building, meaning he couldn't fully understand the information outside due to the power outage!

"She'll be fine; the important thing is that they've communicated now." Anton said while smiling slightly, feeling a bit more at ease with Emma by his side.