Dystopia: The Beginning of the End (17 page)

About the Author

DJ Cooper is the author of the Dystopia series and other short works.  Currently a student at Southern New Hampshire University studying for a Bachelor’s Degree in Creative Writing/English.

Often writing humor, research articles for her blog
www.survivingdystopia.com
and post-apocalyptic fiction, she can be found in front of a computer somewhere.  When asked about what kind of writer she is, she says, “The starving kind. Believing that writing is an ART, often times one must sacrifice to maintain the artistic integrity of the works.”

She works in and around the Cincinnati, Ohio area flipping houses and spends much of her time in the areas of Kentucky she writes about in the Dystopia books.

Works by the Author

Dystopia : Beginning of the End

Dystopia : The Long Road

Dystopia: The Dark Days

Survivng Dystopia.com

Turn the page

For a special preview of

The sequel to

Dystopia: Beginning of the End

Dystopia

The Long Road

Chapter 1

“Time is short”

“If the day should ever come when we must go, if some day we are compelled to leave the scene of history, we will slam the door so hard that the universe will shake and mankind will stand back in stupefaction..”

-Joseph Goebbles

September 6th

              John stood looking at the wood pile, wondering if what he had cut and split this year was going to get them through.  He thought, “It is already so cold and it is only September, New England winters can be brutal.”  Grabbing an armload for the old wood stove he headed back inside.  He loved a good fire in the mornings, but this early in the season troubled him.

              Practicing his fire-starting skills by using his flint keychain he began to strike the sparks at the paper at the bottom of the. Humming along to the song on the radio he soon began to sing along. “
I’m not the one who’s so far away, when you feel the snake bite enter your veins.”
 

              “Damn phone, ” he scolded “just when a good song comes on.”  “Fire won’t start and now who the hell is texting me at this hour.”  Tossing a match into the stove John went to check his phone.  Seeing it was a text from Matt, John checked it right away.

              Reading the text he raised his eyebrows, “Hey guy, you might want to check out the news.” 
Bing Bing, another
text “You know me, I don’t usually worry about news, but something is up with this.”  John texted back, “Hey guy checking it out now.”

              Turning on the TV, John grabbed a cup of coffee and sat to tend this fire that refused to start. Absently, he was looking for the TV from time to time when he caught sight of the ticker rolling across the bottom. 
“Ebola virus has been confirmed at hospitals in the following six U.S. cities.  New York, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Denver, Sacramento and Detroit… Please stay tuned for an official announcement.”

             
This piqued John’s interest, he decided he would watch the announcement.  John rarely watched the news, except for the weather reports, because he felt like it was all propaganda.  “This new tidbit might prove entertaining, ” he thought. He had a little time before the official announcement for this new “event” sure to raise some kind of cry for new laws or changes.  With September 11
th
right around the corner, he expected something to draw attention away from it.

              He didn’t bother to wake Amy, she was never interested in what she called his “conspiracy theories.”  As he sat contemplating what this could mean, because to John it all meant something.  The “
Beep, Beep, Beep”
sounded on the TV indicating the news conference was beginning.

              He refilled his coffee for what was sure to be another round of useless banter on this or that.  But Matt had wanted him to watch and he trusted his friend’s instincts.  Not long after the beeping the announcement began
;
a spokesperson from the Centers for Disease control in Atlanta, appears for the camera and approached the podium. The announcer begins to speak.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Dr. Ralph Sorenson, incident manager for the CDC Ebola response.”  

A rather nervous looking and visibly uncomfortable man walked into view.  A tiny little man, with a comb over and what looked like glasses from the 50’s took the podium and he began to speak.

“Health officials have confirmed cases of Ebola within the U.S. Patients are being treated at undisclosed hospitals in the following cities, New York, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Denver, Sacramento and Detroit.” 
There was a long pause as the weary spokesperson continued,
“Understand, we know how to stop Ebola.  It won’t be easy or fast, but working together with our U.S. government and international partners, we are doing it in Africa and can do so here, but it will take time.” 
He pauses for the murmuring to quiet and continues.
  “Ebola is a deadly virus. It is spread through direct contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of those who are already infected.  This is not an airborne virus, I repeat, it is not airborne, you cannot catch it from casual contact. Symptoms, which can begin between anywhere from two to twenty-one days after infection, include fever, muscle pain, headache and a sore throat.  Followed by vomiting, diarrhea and rash. If anyone in these cities has been experiencing these symptoms, please report to the nearest health care facility as soon as possible.” 

“The CDC is sending workers to the affected cities to fight Ebola’s spread, and while the number of CDC experts may change slightly from day to day.  More than fifty CDC personnel are being sent to remain in these six cities continuously.

“Again, the CDC’s public health experts in West Africa and here in the United States are working closely with our U.S. Government and international partners as part of this worldwide emergency response to the Ebola outbreak.  Our primary goal is to contain this disease and keep Americans safe, thank you for your vigilance and stay safe America.”
He nodded to the announcer, turned and unceremoniously exited the stage.

              John laughed out loud saying, “Matt has sure lost it if he thinks this is news.”  Something struck him in how antiseptic it all was and he thought it might be best to keep his ear to the ground.  He was amazed at how little else about the whole Ebola thing was not on any channels.  It was like a little blurb and then nothing else and this is what struck him as strange.

              He was getting ready to shut off the TV when Amy came out of the bedroom saying, “what’s this? YOU watching the news?”  Yawning, she whined “it’s cold in here.  Didn’t you make a fire?”   John leapt up from his seat, he had fallen into his own thoughts and completely forgotten about the fire.  Clamoring over to it, he realized it was but a smoldering pile of newspaper ash, none of the wood was doing anything but smoking.  In a flash he had a blaze going and Amy was snuggling next to the stove calling out for coffee.

              John wondered sometimes how he and she had managed to stay together.  They were nothing alike and she made fun of his theories every time he had anything that concerned him.  Luckily he and Matt talked often and he could talk about anything with Matt.  They had been friends for as long as John could remember.  As he was making more coffee, he reminded himself “I need to call Matt and talk with him about all this.

              The rest of that day while Amy watched her shows on the TV, John made a quick inventory of the supplies he had there.  He was still concerned about the early cold and worried if things went badly that many would not be ready to brave it.  He chopped more wood that day than many others.  He didn’t know if it was because of the news or just that those damn shows annoyed him.

              Something about the news this morning was really beginning to eat at him and by dinner time he was completely into his own thoughts on everything that could go wrong.  He decided that between now and the 11
th
he needed to do a few things and would start on them tomorrow.  He didn’t bother to tell Amy his thoughts because he knew she would just scoff at him.

Thank you for reading

Look for the rest of Dystopia: The Long Road available now on Amazon