Losada Delgado Santiago, Young Survival

YOUNG SURVIVAL

Written By Santiago Losada Delgado

It is very tough to think that in such a short time, I’m almost alone. Everyone I have loved in life has gotten sick and died and no one knows what’s going to happen. Now I have nothing left to do besides sitting here on this rooftop in the middle of this concrete jungle, writing about what I have had to see during the last few weeks. But before I start telling you about this mess, there are a few things you need to know about the life I used to have before this horrible pandemic spread around.

My name is Darrell Jones and I used to live a normal life for a young man, next to my parents and my little sister. At some point, I felt that my life got complicated when I started dealing with constant bullying from my classmates who didn’t leave me alone. But then there was a moment when I felt that I had enough, so I decided to make myself respected no matter what, I promised myself that I was going to kick some butts until I finally made myself respected and I finally got it. I thought things were much better again until my father’s tragedy came. He used to be a very well-known scientist and suddenly he never came back home. He disappeared and there was never a clue or an answer. The authorities have said that they have done the best they could but it all seemed so confusing. And to make things worse the news got crazy when they started reporting that people were getting a very strange virus called HV-69 that killed them in a few hours. Initially, I imagined that those were international news and I saw it very far from me, but then the first case happened in my country and then in my city and the rest is history.

Now the streets I always walked, Now look like the ones of a ghost town in a movie of zombies and people don’t know what to do or when they are going to get infected and die. This is exactly what happened to my mother. In the beginning, I thought she was sick because of the depression she felt after

my father disappeared but then I saw that she had symptoms that made her look very bad. Before she left home and went to a hospital because she knew she was going to die and she didn’t want to infect us, she wrote a letter where she made me promise two things: first, I had to try to find out what happened to my father. Second, I had to take care of my little sister. And during the last days, that’s all I have been trying to do. But right now I feel tired and sad and lonely and I don’t know how long I am going to be able to continue.

2 weeks ago

Everything I used to know changed and I feel like I went from living a normal life to struggling to survive. This HV-69 virus took the best of people and dried them out, one by one. There’s no one I know who hasn’t had a victim in their family or close circle. The news was going crazy and people didn’t watch anything entertaining anymore. It’s all about the new number of infected patients and their deaths. Stores and supermarkets have run out of supplies and every city in the world looked lonely. In the beginning, I thought this disease would be something temporary and soon people would be talking about the next election for president or the new reality show, but I was so wrong. You can’t imagine how much I would have liked to have my father next to me, guiding me and telling me what would be the best thing to do, though I had to be strong and face the fact that he was gone and dead like everyone else. But what I never expected was that I would also lose some of the most important people I had left. Almost the same week, a few days after I lost my mother, my girlfriend also got infected and there was nothing I could do to help her. I lost both of them and the only thing I asked God was to help me keep my word with my mom; “find out what happened to my dad and keep my little sister next to me, no matter what.” Before my girlfriend was infected we had plans to get married and

we rented an apartment in secret. A few moments after she passed, I remembered this apartment, It was a small place but I felt that was the perfect place to hide because nobody knew about it, so I took my little sister there.

1 Week ago

Things got harder because it was scary to go out. When people started running out of supplies they started robbing all the stores and supermarkets and they got very violent. Many times I had to leave my little sister alone and go to look for something to eat but when people saw another person they thought that they were going to get infected or they wanted to take away other people’s bags with supplies so they attacked everyone else. I was never violent but now I had to do anything to survive.

Going out during the day was dangerous but less scary than at night because at night it was hard to see who was following you. Although; I didn’t think anything could happen to me so I went out one night after my little sister fell asleep but I regretted it utterly because after I came back I realized that someone had followed me and they were trying to open my door. So I woke up my sis and we had to escape through the balcony, entering the next apartment that was empty and then went running down the stairs and hid in the dark and empty streets. I was scared but my little sister was tired and crying. So I took all my forces and carried her all the way. I remembered my parents had a small country house that was twenty minutes away from town, so I decided to try to go there. I took an abandoned car and drove fast over there. After I arrived and checked that we were safe we fell asleep. But I knew I had to be alert so I stood up and started walking around the house. There was a beautiful picture of my family together and it made me very sad to see it. I decided I wanted to keep it as a souvenir and took it out of the picture frame,

but when I was going to keep it I saw that it had a note on the back. It had my father’s handwriting and it was directed to me because sometimes he used to call me D. This is what it said:

“D, not long ago I was researching about the cure for a virus and I tried an injection on you. Some people didn’t want me to continue my investigation so they threatened me to stop. I am very scared. Please check my files at the lab.” | Love, Dad

A few days ago

After I read that note I knew I had to go to the lab where my dad worked. That was not just the place where he worked. He helped build it with a group of scientists that were his friends so that place became like the most important project in his life. There he carried most of the investigations that made him one of the most popular scientists in the country and the world too. I remember that my father told me all the time since I was a little boy that I had to be a very good student because he wanted me to be a scientist and take over his place in the lab. I didn’t know what it was like to be a scientist but I remember that I loved it when my father took me there. I loved to observe things on the microscopes and I had a lot of fun playing there. I even had access to many of the rooms because I knew my father’s passwords. I never imagined that many years later they were going to be useful. I just hoped that they hadn’t changed them or locked the doors.

I knew it was dangerous to go there with my sister but I couldn’t take the risk of leaving her alone either, so I decided to take her and leave her waiting for me in the car behind the lab’s building, but I didn’t explain her anything about the reasons why we were going there. I thought that the lab was going to be empty but what I found was very different. Many cars were entering and coming out and didn’t know exactly what was going on there but I thought that was very strange.

I had to climb a wall and enter through the back. I looked for a vest and wore glasses and a mask so they didn’t see my face. Fortunately, the passwords that I knew worked and I had access to all the doors but it was hard to open my dad’s office. I had to try many different combinations until it finally opened with the date of my parent’s marriage: 12272002.

I couldn’t believe what I saw when the door finally opened. As soon as I entered everything was dark and couldn’t find the light switch. When I finally turned them on I saw everything was a mess. There were many papers and folders on the floor and all the drawers were open. Even the safe was open. All this seemed very strange to me. It was like someone else apart from my father had been there. Then I heard a beep so I pressed a button on the answering machine. The message was there since last weekend. At first, I couldn’t understand it because it was very low, but after I put my head closer I realized it was my father’s voice. He sounded like he was sick or hurt and especially scared. The message said the same two times. It was a name I haven’t been able to take out of my mind since I heard it; “Matt Kling. Dr. Matt Kling.” It was a name I was very familiar with because I knew this person very well. Dr. Kling was one of my father’s best friends and he was also one of the scientists who helped him start the lab.

So, this probably meant that my father was alive because the message was recent and he had disappeared almost a month ago. My heart was beating very fast and I got very scared. I felt that I had to get out of there immediately and I just couldn’t think of anything else. All I wanted to do was run out of that place. Then I remembered that my little sister was alone outside and I was desperate. I came out and started running and taking off the lab clothes I had on but when I turned the corner I saw three men getting on the car and my

little sister screaming. One of them was forcing my father to get in the car and the other man was…Dr. Kling.

Now I am sitting here on this rooftop, thinking about what happened and I don’t know what to do. A part of me is relieved because my father is not dead but now I lost him and my little sister and I have no idea where they took him. But there is one thing I am almost sure of. Dr. Kling wants my father out of his way because he has always been very ambitious and he wants to get the credit of my father’s investigations and save the world. I think my father discovered the antibiotic to kill the virus and that is why I have not been infected. I think I must be immune but I have to take advantage of this and do something to get my dad and my sister back. But I know that they are in danger and now that I know such a terrible secret I must be in danger too. Now, if you ever read this is because you found this journal. But It might be too late. There is only one thing I want you to tell the world. Dr. Kling is responsible for whatever happened to my dad, my sister, me, and the rest of the world who died by the virus that he didn’t want to prevent. Please make sure he is going to pay for what he did to us. And maybe what he did to you and your family, as well.