Silent Night (A new story from Darktales)

Silent Night

The hospital was crowded. I sat in the emergency room waiting area with
my daughter Sara and held her while she cried. Her face was bright red and
covered in sweat. It was no use yelling at the receptionist. I'd done that five
or six times already. The place was in chaos. People kept coming in faster
than the doctors could treat them. All of them had the same symptoms;
fever, headache, nausea, and mild vertigo.

Sara was burning up. I watched in horror as some of the people in the
waiting room went into convulsions and died. There was confusion and
screaming and still more people poured into the hospital. Whatever was
happening, it was bad, real bad. My daughter's eyes rolled back in her head
and she passed out.

That's it I thought. "I need to bring her temperature down. I need ice." I
went to the drink machine and got as many cold cans of soda as I could
carry and held them against her forehead.

"Help me!" Someone yelled.

I looked as a man kneeled over his wife. She was unconscious. Then a
gunshot rang out. Blood spattered the light blue wall like a Jackson Pollack
painting where a woman had just shot herself and slumped over her dead
husband. It was time to go. Obviously this was not the place to be.

Hours later I found myself back at home pouring ice into the tub where my
six year old lay shivering, but alive. The news on CNN said it was a virus.
An epidemic they were calling Silent Night because the first case was
discovered on Christmas Eve. That was six days ago. Since then hundreds
of deaths were reported with no apparent end in sight. From what I had just
witnessed at the hospital, this was only the beginning.

I looked down at Sara. I needed to think. I couldn't bear the thought of
losing her. Her mom, my wife, Kate, had died while giving birth. Sara was all
I had. I went through the medicine cabinet and found a bottle of Penicillin. I
gave her a teaspoon of the antibiotic and put her in her bed. Her
temperature had come down for the moment. I went back to the living room
and listened as a reporter spoke.

Silent Night is a man made virus; A terrorist attack. But even the terrorists
didn't expect it to spread so quickly. According to the note the FBI found on
the bodies, the attackers had dropped a vile of the virus into the air vent in
the New York subway, then got sick within three hours. The note said they
regretted what they had done and will beg Ala for forgiveness.

"I hope they burn in Hell." I said to the screen as the news report continued.

"According to our latest estimates only one out of five will survive Silent
Night. The President has declared a stated of emergency and complete
martial law is in effect. All Americans except civil authorities and medical
personnel are ordered to stay in their homes. The military is taking no
chances and have 'shoot to kill' orders."

"My God!" I said out loud and went to check on my daughter. She was
sleeping and looked like an angel. I felt my forehead. Was I warm? Did I
have a fever? Did I have Silent Night? A million thoughts ran through my
head. Who will take care of Sara if I die? What was going to happen to the
world? How long will this last? Do we have enough food? Enough water?

There was a knock on the door and I froze in my tracks. I heard sirens and
yelling outside. Then I heard what sounded like fire crackers in the
distance. I knew better than that. It was a machine gun.

Someone knocked on my door again. I grabbed my 9mm from the drawer by
my bed and pointed it at the door as the knob turned. I forgot to lock it.
How could I be so stupid? My neighbor John Sloan stood in the doorway.
He was as pale as a ghost. He was sick.

"John stay where you are," I said and pointed the gun at him.

"Kelly's dead." He said showing no expression. He looked lost and
confused. Kelly was my wife's best friend before she died. John was my
best friend.

"John stop!" I yelled. "You're sick. I can't let you bring the virus in here."

"What are you going to do? Shoot me?" I fired a shot near his feet.  "Yes.
I'm going to shoot you. Now get out."

My friend smiled. "OK Rick. OK." He turned and walked out. I grabbed a
towel and put over my face and locked the door behind him. I knew I
probably had Silent Night already but why take chances.

I stayed up with Sara all night. Her fever kept coming back and I made her
stand in the cold shower every time to keep her temperature down. Then I
put her back in bed and held her to keep her warm. There was no way I was
going to lose my daughter.

It was New Years Eve when the power went out. The last news report said
that forty million people had died from the virus but that just as many had
gotten sick and recovered. When all was said and done almost three
fourths of the world's population died from Silent Night.

It was Revelations, the Apocalypse, Armageddon, and the end of the world
as we know it all in one bottle that held less than two ounces of liquid.

Sara and I both survived. Honestly I never even got sick. But my friend
John didn't survive. Sara and I buried John and Kelly in their back yard
beside the rose garden. Kate used to love that place. Sara stood over their
grave and said a prayer. I cried for the loss of my friends and all the people
that died. But for the most part my tears were tears of joy. Sara was alive.

A year later when Christmas came it had a whole new meaning. The world
had changed. There were no more wars. There was no fighting or crime.
There was plenty of food and water and medicine for everyone who lived.
Somehow people had changed. Everyone worked together to rebuild the
world and took joy in the simple things again. In the end, the world had
become a much better place.

I'm not going to tell you I'm happy about Silent Night. But I am happy to
have this night, and every night for as long as I live.

Steven R. Zellers

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This material may not be reproduced
reprinted in whole or part without the expressed
written consent of Steven R. Zellers or Wordwizard
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