Aftermath, No. 5

January 3, 2039

They estimate that there’s a total of nearly 20 million dead. That number could swell to 30 million by the end of the week. I don’t want to believe that so many people could die so quickly, but I can’t see any way of refuting the evidence. Photographs of streets that are lined with bodies and over-filled mass graves have saturated news broadcasts since yesterday. It doesn’t look real, but somehow I know it is.

My roommate moved out this morning; he works for the Quarantine Department and they’ve decided to ship him off to India. I work for the QD too, but I’m currently on reserve because of a cold I had six months ago. We’re very careful about colds in the QD. I feel selfish for being glad that I’m not going to be deployed. I’d rather not be on the forefront of an outbreak this severe. I didn’t actually tell my roommate goodbye; he was too busy contacting relatives. 

Apparently both of us doubt he’ll come home.