Thoughts

The Child Apocalypse: Preface.

The year is 2092.

Mankind's population is now at an all time low of 1,432,765 people since the 21st Century. Procreation has now become an illegal act in all the countries of the world punishable by death. It seems to be the only reason the population hasn't died out to a complete zero.

Confusing, I know. Let me explain.

It was at around 2018 when mankind finally found new alien life in this universe. A feat hailed to be our best discovery since that of fire. Curiously enough, no one had to venture outside our atmosphere to see them. They came to us.

Maybe they intended to colonize us. Maybe they just wanted to snack on us. Who can ever tell? They died about a week after arriving and they left a nasty stench in the air for a while. So our greatest discovery turned out to be a dud.

On June 6, 2020, Julia Morales was admitted in a hospital somewhere in the outskirts of Colombia with a temperature twenty degrees above what a normal sixteen year old girl has. Careful study was done on her and it was discovered that some of our alien friend's DNA had mixed with her own. She would never see the outside world again as she spent the next seven months being carefully analyzed to see just how she ticks.

Her body was in a complete stasis mode. She seemed immune to any of the human illnesses or needs. The need for breathe in her lungs for instance, or food in her stomach, or even water for her thirst. She was claimed to be the stepping stone to human evolution.

That was until January 15, 2021 when the second case was discovered in Liberia. A nine year old boy was running a fever that seemed to never go down. Soon the Government came knocking, but it was harder to take him away from his home. He was not an orphan as Julia was. The story was that he died in a bus accident on his way to school one day. The body of Joseph Zeh Blah was the only missing one in the wreckage.

The same tests were conducted on Joe and they were similar to Julia's results in very manner of biological irregularity they were looking for. The only singular differences were that he was visibly growing faster than any normal human and needed to eat at least twice a week to live. Six months in and he was already developed to be the same age as Julia even though he was supposed to be a nine year old. He was estimated to live another five years before he would succumb to old age.

Tests to fuse Joe's and Julia's genes to human life were unsuccessful. Most went mad, were prone to suicidal actions and developed bipolar irregularities before succumbing to death. It seemed more extensive analysis was needed. Live tissue was from the hosts was the logical step to proceed to.

They never got the chance.

Julia went missing and Joe was found dead in his chambers, his throat slit for good measure. It turned out to be a good thing that Julia left and killed Joe. Maintaining a close proximity with the two patients had infected the doctors with some pathogen they had no idea existed to being with.

They called it the Morelia Disease and it was said to be deadlier than radioactivity. The loss of Julia meant it was now impossible to find a cure from patient zero, but she was not necessary for the experiments to continue. The phenomenon had begun to spread rapidly around the world.

By December 1, 2030, 84 percent of humans below the age of sixteen years were diagnoses with the Morelia disease. All major cities in the world suggested quarantine measures to be taken as an effort to contain the epidemic. Riots would break out from families who did not want to surrender their children to the government. It was the primary reason for death tolls in adults reaching an all time high of sixty individuals per hour. Marshal Law would descend on countries and soon free will was an unheard of story.

Camps were divided according to the four known symptoms found in the patients so far. Children with a pre disposition to violence and possessing enormous strength were secluded in the camp somewhere in the Antarctica with the label 'Vorso' assigned to them.

Those with a rapid aging syndrome were placed in the camp north of Canada with the label 'Vetero'. These two were the most common kind of patients.

The harder ones to come by were the neurologically gifted. The range of their ability seemed to be limitless, with some being very clever and others being able to move things with their minds. There were rumors among people that some children actually possessed abilities to manipulate another person's mind and make them do their bidding. Because of this, each country was very possessive of such children and rarely spoke of finding them. They were used to further the country's economy and prosperity, but in a distant environment of course.

Then there were the crowning jewels in all the mutations with the Morelia epidemic; the immortals and half breeds.

Half breeds were those that possessed two of the defining traits in patients. For instance, one could be both smart and strong at the same time, strong but aging too fast, or smart but aging too first.

The patient Julia Morales is the only one known to be immortal in the sense that she did not age. They never got around to knowing just exactly what she can do since she broke out of the facility nine years and has never been found since. It was, however, safe in assuming she had all these traits because her DNA tested positive for every single trait the other mutations had, save for the rapid aging strain.

I was born in March, 24 2037. By that time, all children below 16 years that lived had, or were on their way to have the Morelia disease. My fever came when I was ten. I remember because my mother had hidden me underground for six years after that hopping that I would not become like the rest. By the year 2043, it was clear why children with incredible strength were secluded in the furthest corner of the world. I had felt my time in this basement was more than enough to last me a lifetime. We argued with my her about it and it did not end well for anyone.

The next few moments found her with a fractured skull and a broken wooden bat impaled six inches deep into her torso. She cried, not from the pain, but from the fact that I would die alone or become much easier to be taken by the Government.

I wish I could have assured her not to worry. It's been 49 years since Maggie Carter died and I'm still a sixteen year old living in my mother's house.