Amonsri's Thoughts - 2. The World after the Flame (prompt #339)

I was only 15 when the world was plunged in to chaos. The Flame started in the Americas according to the officials. It was a terrible illness that would cause fevers, that would kill whoever it infected. The first symptom was feeling cold.The cold feeling was caused by an core temperature drop. This would last for about two days. Then came the Flame. The body would burn it’s self out trying to raise and maintain the core body temperature. People would have a hundred and ten degree fever and ask for blankets and hot baths. The whole time they were like this they were contagious. With an onset period of two days it traveled quickly and left trails of dead in its wake. My family lived in China, so we knew it was coming. My family left for the country side about a week after the first reports hit South Africa. I still lost my family. I apparently had a natural immunity that saved me. If I had any siblings I guess they would be alive to.

When the cure was announced there was even more chaos, then when everyone thought they were going to die. People start stealing cars and small planes, anything to move around the world to where they think they had a better shot of getting to the cure. People left China thinking there were to many people here for the government to deal with. People came to China because they thought we had less population then their country after the Flame. My dad was the one who dragged me back to the city of Zhengzhou. Here the world’s biggest hospital had been reclaimed by an international task force as soon as it was said they had the cure. We were waiting in line when my father suddenly collapsed on me. His body was on fire. He must have been hiding it from me. What is worse is that the cure has no affect after the reached the second stage. When he fell everyone started screaming and backed away. The guards quickly surrounded us and separated me from my father. They put me in isolation and asked me questions. After a few days of me not complaining of the cold and not having a drop in my core temperature, they stared to take blood samples. They quickly identified the antibodies in my blood that made able to withstand the Flame. They told me I was lucky because if I was not naturally immune I most likely would not have been give the cure as I was of no real value to society, and they did not have enough of the cure to go around yet.

In a couple of weeks countries around the world stared to burn cities that had been destroyed or were filled with the dead. They were worried that the animals might eat the bodies and that the Flame might cross over to the animals. People live much differently now. A lot of convinces of the old life are gone. There are a lot more farmers now, as it is necessary to feed yourself again. In all the riots, mobs, and flames not much was left untouched. Everyone also dress differently now. The clothes for the most part are in far poorer shape and some could hardly be called clothes and are more plastic bags tied to gather with string. There is one piece of clothing everyone takes care of, to the point of obsession almost. A thick plastic bracelet with their name and the day they received the cure. My bracelet is a little different than the rest. It is a different color than the rest . Most of the others are a light blue. Mine is green. People tend to stay away from me because of that. They don’t know it means I am naturally immune to the Flame. The guards all know. The guards are the one who protect the town and the access to medical supplies and other things the government limits. The government is a part of a new global organization called the Stronger Together, they are trying to rebuild after the Flame. ST tries to keep everyone calm, but I hear rumors of another version of the Flame breaking out in Africa.

Everyone is so afraid to so any sign of sickness. Sometime people who are visible sick are taken by the guards. Most of the time you will see them a couple weeks later, but it is still strange how they disappear. I don’t really care. I just want to leave China. They have stared allowing people to travel abroad recently. It took about 8 months after the Flame was defeated to allow it. The only thing they want is food or other form of payment and to take a good look at your bracelet. No one care about passports documents anymore. Which is a good thing considering almost everyone lost those in the Flame. The world is in a bad spot, but we can come back if we try. My name is Guang Wang and I survived the Flame, and I WILL BE STRONGER FOR IT.