1 Prolouge
2020, the new decade. The year brought many jokes about the year. Like any other teenager my age, I laughed and even made a few jokes of my own about events happening in the world.
I was 18 turning 19 in the fall, so a lot was already expected of me. Although I was graduating, I still felt I wasn't ready for my future. I had an idea about what school I wanted to go to, but the cost of tuition and the possibility of moving from Texas to Florida was a little daunting.
Little did I know that my priorities would change.
The first major event in the new year was the threat of World War 3. Half the country blamed the president, others blamed the country threatening us. Many of my guy friends were worried. If the war was declared, then most of them would be drafted. Thankfully and quickly, the threat passed and the country calmed down.
Across the world, we have been getting reports about a virus.
Apparently, some people had eaten a bat while lost in the mountains and when they were rescued they had this disease. Not much was said about their conditions, only that they seemed to have similar symptoms of the flu. In school, I helped report about the news program I was in. The next month passed and went without anything eventful in the world, then spring break hit.
My family and I road tripped to California to move my grandma to Texas after my Great-grandpa and grandpa passed.
On social media, conspiracists had been making connections about how every century during the '20s a disease broke out and each worst than the last.
Ours was named Covid-19. I wasn't too worried, I have a decent health history and only have gotten really sick a few times in my whole life. But the US was different. The president was forced to take some precautions, after seeing the numbers rise in our land.
In California, I noticed many people wore masks, and those who didn't were usually called out. This started a lot of tension. Besides, that people began to panic and freaked out. They began clearing the shelves of bottled water, soap, and….toilet paper. It was getting quite ridiculous. Various things in markets were getting taken as soon as they were stocked on the shelves. So they were limiting everything.
I realized this disease had gotten serious when we got back to Texas. Within a week, the whole world went into lockdown.
The only stores that were open were grocery stores, pharmacies, and other stores deemed 'essential' by the government. Almost everyone was sent home to 'quarantine' to keep the virus from spreading.
New rules were implemented too. We were told to stay at least 6 feet apart from each other whenever we were in public spaces.
Videos on the internet with people fighting began to float around. From getting toilet paper to people getting angry for them getting too close to them.
My mom would get what we needed, and if the stores were out, we'd order them online. What sucked most for me was not being able to go to school, or even go to my favorite restaurants and stores. I couldn't see my dad either.
Due to my parents being divorced and the fact that my dad had health issues, with his lungs, and covid was deemed a respiratory virus, I didn't see him for 2 weeks after I got back.
School got canceled, and I was bummed as hell. But I tried to stay positive!I had my first job coming up in the summer, I was going to be a lifeguard and I was stoked.
Then the worst happened...
