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The End - Part 1

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The End - Part 2

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The End - Part 3

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The End - Part 4

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Suddenly, the sound of the front door opening lifted Sonny’s attention from the TV for a moment.

“Hi dad!” he called out, running over to greet his father. Normally, there would be an enthusiastic, Hey kiddo! in return, but something seemed to be on his mind at the moment.

“Hey, kid,” Dad said hurriedly. “Darling, would you turn the TV to the news, please? I heard something on the radio on the way back that seems pretty worrying.”

“But dad—” Sonny began to protest, but his father putting a gentle hand on his shoulder silenced him.

“You can watch your show later,” he said. “This is important.”

Mom rushed over to the television and quickly changed the channel to the local news.

“…so make sure to grab your umbrellas for the rain this weekend. Back to you, Ted.”

“Now, an emerging story from China as a mysterious illness is beginning to worry health officials. A total of 59 cases of unknown viral pneumonia is have been reported in the city of Wuhan in central China, with seven patients in critical condition. All patients are being treated in quarantine…”

Mom sighed slowly. “What does this mean for us? Surely it can’t spread all the way here like last time, can it?”

“What do you mean like last time?” Sonny asked.

Mom shook her head. “You’re too young to remember. When you were a little baby, something similar happened, where some people in Hong Kong got sick and infected some people in Canada. Everyone was really scared for a while, but it turned out okay in the end.”

“So we could get sick?” Sonny asked, a tremble in his voice.

Dad shook his head. “Probably not, the last time a few people got sick but it sort of fizzled out and everyone forgot about it afterward so…we’ll probably be fine.” He began to wander off toward the closet, sliding his jacket off his shoulders.

“...first reported in the country in 2002…spread to 37 countries worldwide, infected more than 8,000 people and killed 774…” the news was not reassuring.

“Mom…” Sonny started, but his mother cut him off.

“Why don’t you turn the TV back to your space show while I finish setting the table,” she said hurriedly, rushing back into the kitchen.


The air in the ship hung around the three crewmembers like a weighted blanket. The shaking had finally stopped. The three of them staggered out of their seats, breathing heavily. Jack looked around the Rover. “Busted,” he said, wiggling a hanging part out of its socket and tossing it to the floor. He shook his head in disgust.

“Boss…”

“Not now, Richard.”

Richard simply nodded and fell silent.

Jack sighed deeply. “Well, I guess our only option is to head out by foot to Amanda’s last known location.”

Richard shook his head. “Shouldn’t we try to find Lexa first?”

“No.” Chris replied sternly.

Richard’s brow furrowed. “That’s just because you have a thing for Amanda,” he said, pointing an accusatory finger toward his crewmate. “You know just as well as I that she’s dea—”

“Not, now, gentlemen!” Jack shouted with a loud stomp on the ground. “Pull it together, man! We have two crew members out there that we need to save, plus Daniel who is still back on our ship, which is god knows where. Is this argument really necessary?”

Richard fell silent once again, but Chris refused to back down. “Amanda is in the most danger right now, we have to find her first.”

Jack shook his head. “You’re right,” he started, “but we have no idea where she is now, or if she even survived the tsunami. At least we can more easily Lexa’s safety, the pod should always be transmitting a signal.” He walked toward the console on the Rover, which despite some mild flickering, was still in working condition.

Click.

Jack froze in place, and turned around slowly. Chris stood behind him, gun drawn, pointing directly at his head.

“We. Will. Find. Amanda. First.”

Jack’s eyes quickly flicked over to Richard. He was lying, unmoving, crumpled in a pile on the ground. Fortunately, Jack knew, he was alive, though not of much help at the moment.

“Now.”

Jack could see the strain in Chris’ face, and he knew what was coming next. Suddenly, Chris dropped his gun as he was overcome by a surge of coughing. Jack quickly stepped in, kicked the gun away, and pushed Chris down into a seat. The belt system kicked in automatically, strapping the still-coughing man tightly to the seat.

“Why—” Chris started in between deep coughs, before finally slumping weakly to the side in his chair. Through his labored breathing, a red-splotched hand heaved up and down with his chest.

Suddenly, the console lit up. “Another distress signal from—” the TV shut off.


Sonny could hear it before he felt it. A long, deep rumble, like a train passing overhead. The clinking of dishes as they rattled against each other in the cupboards. The creaking of bookshelves that were beginning to teeter.

“It’s an earthquake,” he heard his mother exclaim in surprise.

She burst into the living room, grabbing Sonny roughly by the arm and dragging him off the couch. “We have to hide under the kitchen table,” she said while half-tugging, half pushing him under the heavy oak table.

“Where’s dad?” Sonny asked.

“He’s hiding somewhere else in the house,” his mother reassured him, “but we’ll be safe here.”

“I’m scared,” Sonny whimpered, pulling himself in close to his mother.

“It’s gonna be okay,” his mom said, holding onto him tightly.

Fortunately, just as suddenly as everything had started shaking, it stopped. An eerie calm descended over the house as everything settled back into its rightful place. Mom let out a sigh of relief.

In the living room, the TV crackled back into life. “…even with such strict measures, it may be possible that China is unable to contain the outbreak…”