The Beginning of the End

by Lorana Hoopes

  He ran his hand down his cheek, scratching at his beard. “What even is this quantum dot delivery system? Don’t they inject vaccines with a shot or a mist up the nose? I always got vaccines by injection in the Army, but I heard they can do nasal ones now.”

  “Well, that’s where it gets weirder. It’s a way to get the vaccine to people, so they can administer it themselves. Evidently, they attach it to something like a Band-Aid with this system, and then people can just put the patch on themselves and the vaccine is administered through the microneedles that pierce your skin.”

  Jason shook his head and scooted back a little on the couch. “Nuh uh, that sounds weird and little too futuristic to me. I don’t like shots, but I’ll take mine the old-fashioned way.”

  “Wait, there’s more. Evidently his system needs some other substance to make it adhere correctly, and the substance he chose is this binding agent called Luciferase.”

  This time Jason’s eyebrows lifted and his eyes widened at her. “Luciferase? As in Lucifer?”

  “Still think it’s a coincidence?” Raven asked. “Luciferase is actually a luminescent, so it’s named after that, but interesting, don’t you think? Anyway, this Luciferase makes it light up in your body under a blacklight.”

  “So, people could check to see if you’ve received the vaccine?”

  Finally, it seemed the pieces were falling into place for Jason. “Exactly, and what would be the purpose to knowing if people have had the vaccine?”

  “To keep them from entering places and spreading the virus, but if that’s the case, why even open up now? I mean it’s limited, but if the plan is to make people want this vaccine, why open at all?”

  Raven shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe to give people a little hope before they take it away again. Whatever the reason, I have a feeling this might be the mark of the beast mentioned in the Bible.”

  “Wait, wait, wait,” he said, waving his hands. “Why would they use the vaccine to be the mark? Didn’t you say it was about pledging loyalty to the Antichrist?”

  “I always thought it was an actual pledging of loyalty, but what if it’s hidden in this? Think about it. We were told masks didn’t work, then we were told they were the only way to stop the spread. Even with them, things aren’t going back to normal - not the normal we want anyway. There’s already been one story of a man getting killed over not wearing a mask.” Raven was fairly certain there were more stories out there like that or would be soon.

  “Now they’re beginning to tell us that vaccines are the only way to get back to normal. If they can now see who’s had a vaccine and who hasn’t, why wouldn’t they use that as an excuse to keep people from shopping or attending events? They could easily tell us we are endangering people’s health without one and can’t enter until we have one.”

  “Okay, let’s say I’m buying all this,” Jason said slowly. “What would be the point of restricting people who don’t get the vaccine?”

  “What’s the point of the lockdowns and the mask mandate now?” Raven asked. “Control. It’s all about control. We’ve all been following the rules because we believed them, because we thought it would make us safer and help us return to normal, but what if this has all been a test to see how much they can control us? Those who don’t wear masks can’t return to work. Some businesses are even kicking customers out who don’t have them or refusing them service. It’s quickly becoming more of a law than a mandate. What happens if a vaccine becomes mandatory? And what if it’s this vaccine?”

  “Then we don’t take the vaccine,” Jason said as if it was the simplest thing in the world. “We’re both young and healthy anyway, so there’s no need. My bartending job might require it, but Brian never will, and you can work anywhere with your skills.”

  Raven sighed. He still didn’t see the bigger picture, but it was a start. If she could at least keep him from getting the vaccine, maybe she could save him until she could convince him that all of this was predicted and that the only real solution was God.

  11

  Gabe Cross stared at the small house and checked the address again. Raven Rader, the mind behind the TruthSeekers website, had said they couldn’t meet in the regular church due to the governor’s orders, and this was the address she had given him, but he still wasn’t sure he was in the right place. However, maybe his apprehension had more to do with the fact that his life was spinning out of control for the second time in less than a year than the fact that he was meeting a woman for the first time that he’d only spoken to over the computer up until now.

  After his research into Daman Caturix, he’d realized he could no longer remain quiet about what he knew. He’d called a press conference, shared his findings, and been fired shortly thereafter as he’d been nearly certain he would be. Not only that, but he’d been ostracized by his fellow scientists. Still, he wasn’t sorry he’d done it. Though he did not know the man, everything he’d found pointed to Daman Caturix being evil, and while he hadn’t mentioned the man’s name on the air, he’d said enough about the virus being man-made to get him blacklisted from every scientific community. Well, the scientific communities that were allowed to speak. He was beginning to find more brave souls like himself speaking the truth through videos on the internet. However, they were being taken down nearly as fast as they went up. The social media sites had declared war on anyone who spoke against the accepted narrative by either removing their content or shutting down their account entirely.

  Thankfully, he’d spoken with Raven before going on camera, and she’d promised that whatever happened, he had a home with them. If he was right, they’d all be going into hiding sooner or later anyway. He was just speeding his time frame up, but hopefully, he would change a few minds and save a few souls on his way.

  He knocked three times on the door, pausing before the last rap as Raven had stated he should. There was probably little need for the secrecy right now, but it would come in handy soon.

  The door opened, and he found himself staring at an edgy woman with long dark hair. A small silver ring glistened in one nostril. Had he met her on the street, he might have given her a wide berth, but when she smiled at him, he felt instantly at ease.

  “You must be Gabe,” she said, opening the door wider. “Come in, we’ve been waiting for you.”

  He wondered who “we” was, but as he stepped into the living room, he could see a group of about ten people staring back at him.

  “This isn’t everybody, of course. Due to the governor’s orders, we had to start meeting in smaller groups and communicating by phone and secure video channels, but this is everyone local. I’m Raven, as you probably figured out, and this is Jason.” She pointed to a tall, muscular man with a beard but a bald head. “He’s not quite a believer yet, but he is against government control. Plus, I’ve known him the longest, and I vouch for his trustworthiness.

  “Next to him are Brian and his wife Dani.” She walked over to an older looking man with salt and pepper hair and a blonde woman who looked like she could bench press anyone in the room. “Brian owns the kickboxing gym where Jason works, and Dani worked as a nurses’ assistant until she was laid off due to the virus.”

  Gabe smiled and nodded, but he knew he would not remember everyone’s name tonight. “Next, we have Lily and Katie. Lily also attends the gym. She and Katie will be Seniors in high school next year.”

  “If we ever get to go back,” the blonde one he assumed was Lily said.

  “Right. If.” Raven moved on to an older man in a button-down shirt and pants. “This is Pastor Benjamin Westley. He’s been our guide through all of this so far, helping us make sense of the book of Revelation.”

  “Well, as much sense as we can,” the pastor said, “and you can call me Ben.”

  “And finally, we have Nathan. He was in charge of the sound system at Mountain Home before the rapture. We haven’t had much need for that as we’ve been pretty small, but he helps with our communications.”

  “It
’s nice to meet you all.” Gabe looked around the room and then back to Raven. “Wait, didn’t you say there was another doctor too?”

  Raven nodded. “Yes, Dr. Candace Markham. Unfortunately, she lives up in Seattle right now and is an ER doc, so she’s on the front lines of NCAV. We keep in touch, but she hasn’t been able to come down in a few weeks. However, I’m sure she’ll be joining us as soon as the vaccine begins rolling out.”

  Raven motioned for Gabe to take one of the empty seats before taking one herself. “Everyone, this is Gabe Cross, the brave virologist who came forward to share with the world that NCAV was indeed man-made and not transmitted by bat or at a market like the media has been claiming.”

  “No offense, but how exactly do you know that?” Jason asked.

  “Every virus has markers,” Gabe said, adjusting his position to lean forward slightly. “Natural viruses differ slightly from each other, but they differ greatly from manufactured viruses. Natural viruses appear round with short stubby knobs under a microscope. Manufactured viruses have nodules that are much longer and thinner. The NCAV virus is definitely the latter.”

  “In addition to Dr. Cross’s findings on the virus is what he found out about Daman Caturix which I’ve already shared with all of you,” Raven said. “Now, we still don’t know exactly what the play is here. As Jason said to me the other day, why open up just to close down again? I don’t have those answers, but what Pastor Ben and I do agree on is that this is the beginning.

  “We believe the virus was put into play to create fear and to condition the people to do whatever the government said. We’re already seeing that with our young and healthy friends who face little risk of death with this virus but refuse to get together or go back to work. We see it with the people berating and attacking those who refuse to wear masks, and I’m afraid it will only get worse. My guess is that this vaccine Caturix is backing will be fast tracked out to the public as a means of “getting back to normal.” Even though most of us in this room are not at risk, we will be asked to take the vaccine for those who are. That request will soon turn into a demand and then into a threat that will keep us from being able to enter stores, purchase items, et cetera.”

  “What happens then?” the other younger girl asked, fear threading her voice.

  “We need to start preparing before then,” Ben said. “There is plenty of room at the church where we can store supplies for now. When you go to the store, pick up a few extra canned goods or boxed items - anything that will keep for a time. Bring them to the church and Nathan and I will store them. Nathan is also working on building a secret door where we will be able to enter the supply room and retrieve the supplies should they ever bar us from the church.”

  Raven nodded as Ben finished and gestured to the space around them. “This house belonged to Kat, who was raptured. It hasn’t been used for a while, and I don’t think it will be on their radar for a while either, so anyone who needs a place to stay is welcome here. I’ll get a keycode lock installed so we don’t need keys. I’ve also got someone looking for a larger safehouse for us. We’re spread out over Washington right now, but when the time comes, we will be safer together.”

  She turned to Gabe. “I’m hoping that perhaps you can work on a safe vaccine for us. While most of us aren’t at risk, we do have some elderly members who are. Plus, I have no idea if they’ll find a way to mutate the virus.”

  Gabe nodded. He’d been thinking the exact same thing after speaking with Raven the first time. “I’m just one man and vaccines like this generally take years, but if I can get my hands on a dose, I may be able to isolate the part that works while eliminating the Luciferase.”

  “Okay, we’ll add that to the list. I’ll send a message out to the other groups and let them know the plan. I know this all sounds scary, but I do believe we’re in the eye of the storm right now. I believe things will appear to get better before they get worse. Please keep your eyes open for anything out of the ordinary, and whatever you do, don’t take the vaccine.”

  12

  Two Months later

  Conflicting feelings coursed through Lily as she turned off the alarm. The last few months had almost felt normal, minus the limit on gatherings and the wearing of masks. In fact, they’d been so close to normal that she was returning to school today. Most of the schools in Washington were starting the year the way they’d ended - remotely - but Lily’s school was smaller and because of that, the school had decided it could return to in-person learning and still follow the Governor’s requirements. It was those requirements that made Lily’s blood boil though.

  First and foremost, masks were required at school every day. Lily had purchased several different varieties in hopes that something would be comfortable enough to wear all day long, but she had never worn a mask longer than it took to run errands in town. What if she couldn’t breathe? What if it caused her to break out or pass out? That hadn’t happened so far, but she’d read about mask acne online, and it sounded gross and unsanitary.

  Second, they were going to have to stay six feet from each other during classes and lunch. Conversations weren’t impossible to carry on with that much distance, but they were much harder to keep quiet. Everyone would be able to hear what everyone else was discussing. At a high school in general that was a bad thing, but with Lily and Katie probably having a much different opinion than their classmates on the vaccine that was due to be released any day, it took on a whole new meaning.

  Third, there were new requirements about having to get their temperature taken every day and answering questions about symptoms. Brian had been forced to implement the same procedure at the gym, but after two months of no one presenting with a fever, he’d finally stopped doing it. Nor did he require a mask to work out. They had to wear it in and out of the gym, but they were able to take it off to work out. Thank goodness.

  The school, unfortunately, wasn’t going to be so gracious. They’d sent home a list of the symptoms that could keep a student out of school. It was not a short list, and if they answered yes to even one of them, they had to be home for ten days or get a test to prove they weren’t infected with the virus. If the virus had unusual symptoms, like extreme vomiting or a crazy rash, it wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, but the symptoms for this virus were largely the same for a cold or the flu - runny nose, cough, fever, and congestion.

  That meant at some point this year, Lily would probably have to be out and learning from home because it never failed that she got a cold at least once a year. In fact, she was surprised that she hadn’t gotten sick just from the paranoia that was running rampant through her state. Add to that the stress that school could close literally at any time, and Lily wasn’t sure she even wanted to get out of bed.

  The principal had made it clear in his welcome letter that the health expert didn’t like them being open until the vaccine was available, and the woman would probably be watching Lily’s, and the few other small schools who were opening, like a hawk just waiting for some random case or broken rule so she could sweep in and slam the doors shut once again. Lily had no idea why the state seemed intent on keeping kids out of school, especially since students made up fewer than one percent of the NCAV cases worldwide, but she figured it was part of the scare tactic as well.

  Kicking back the covers, she sighed and rolled out of bed. After a quick shower, she stood, staring at the clothes in her closet. This time last year, she had been so excited to return to school that she had laid out her clothes the night before, but this year the excitement wasn’t the same. Even though she was getting to go back, she knew it wouldn’t be the same, and the threat of having to return to distance learning was never far from her mind. Grabbing a pair of jeans and her black long-sleeved shirt with a silver heart on it, she pulled them on and headed downstairs.

  The aroma of freshly brewed coffee along with the tempting scent of bacon and eggs greeted her as she made her way toward the kitchen. At least her mother had more time to make break
fast since her job was still requiring her to work from home.

  “Hey, sweetie,” she said, glancing up with a smile. “You ready for school today?”

  Lily shrugged and grabbed a mug from the cabinet. After filling it up, she decided she could finagle bacon and eggs into her diet today. After all, Bryce wouldn’t be at school this year, having graduated last year. There wasn’t really anyone else she was trying to impress.

  “Yeah, I guess,” Lily said with a sigh as she sat down and filled her plate. “Though I’m not looking forward to wearing a mask all day.”

  Her mother flashed a sympathetic smile and patted her hand. “I know, but I bet it won’t be as bad as you think. At least you get to be back in school with your friends instead of stuck home here with me.”

  There was that silver lining. Lily loved her mother, and it wasn’t being stuck home with her that drove Lily crazy, it was just being stuck at home. Her gym had opened, but most places were still closed. There was no place to go for entertainment - no movie theaters, no bowling alleys, even the outdoor go-cart place was still closed.

  Before Lily could say anything more, the alarm on her phone went off. With a sigh, she stuffed a final bite of eggs in her mouth before wrapping the bacon in a paper towel. It, at least, could travel.

  “Do you have everything you need?” her mother asked as she stood and gathered her bag.

  “Yep, I packed my masks and supplies last night.” Lily opened the fridge and pulled out the brown bag she had put together the night before. “Along with my lunch.” She and Katie didn’t usually eat lunch at the school, but that was another new restriction - no leaving campus due to the temperature checks that had to be performed every morning. Just another thing in the long list of things about this year that sucked.

  A surreal feeling blanketed Lily as she pulled into the parking lot at school. Nothing looked that different minus a few small signs pointing to the areas where students would need to check in and get their temperatures checked, but the mood felt off. Almost dark. Lily looked around as she climbed out of the car, but nothing jumped out at her. There was no dark stranger waiting to attack her, so why did she have goosebumps erupting on her arms?