John O'Brien - Chaos

In almost total darkness, we unroll our sleeping bags on the living room floor that is lit only by our flashlights. Mom has plenty of flashlights so we each have one that we will keep by our side. Mom is getting the couch ready for her with the remaining blankets from the spare bedrooms. The flashlights play around the room like the light flashing off a disco ball on the walls in slow motion. Moving, coming to rest, and moving again. Bri and Nicole climb into their sleeping bags like they are part of a synchronized swim team. Michelle appears to be having trouble undoing one of the strings on her bag so Robert crawls over to help before sitting once again against the inside wall. I climb into mine after laying my gun on the floor by my side. It’s a lot harder climbing into a sleeping bag with your shoes still on. We are all sleeping with our clothes on with a flashlight handy. My light is the last one shining as I settle myself in. I switch it off and stare upward into the darkness that is now the room. My mind goes over the day’s events before drifting off to replay the beginning…….

Cape Town, South Africa — Health officials expressed concern about a new flu virus that has infected more than 1,000 people in Cape Town. The concern stems from the fact that so many have fallen ill in a short period of time.

“This situation has been developing quickly,” said acting WHO director Dr. Tom Alderson. “This is something we are worried about. This could quickly escalate into epidemic proportions.”

A team of World Health Organization doctors and staff are preparing to depart to the South African resort town after many reported coughs, fever, sore throat, aches and pains. Dr. Wilhelm Schoff comments that…..

Oh my God! Why do the media have to be such drama queens? Everything has to be such world-ending news. Perhaps in order to keep the masses looking one direction and having to look out for themselves; part of the ‘keep the masses in order doctrine,’ I thought looking through the headline news while waiting for my sweetheart to come online from the Middle East. We talk most every night and morning waiting for her deployment back to the states.

Cape Town, South Africa — The World Health Organization has issued an alert for South Africa for what is now being dubbed as the ‘Cape Town flu.’ Medical teams from WHO are reporting more than 2,500 deaths from this new flu virus and an estimated 30,000 cases most of which are in the Western Cape Province in which Cape Town sits.

“The majority of cases are occurring in adults between 25 and 44 years of age,” reports Dr. Wilhelm Schoff, the leading WHO official responding to this crisis. This new strain of flu has resisted most antiviral drugs.”

Most of the reported deaths are occurring amongst the elderly, young children, and the malnutritioned. “I can say with 100 percent confidence that a pandemic of this new flu strain will spread,” Dr. Schoff continues to report.

Reports of outbreaks are being reported in Johannesburg and in the capital of Pretoria. Schools in the Western Cape Province have been closed……

Wow! First there was the Hong Kong flu virus that was supposed to reduce human existence, then the Avian flu, and the Swine flu not that long ago. Although it seems like a lot of cases, we have been here before. But that is also what happens when we hand anti-viral drugs out like they’re candy. More drug resistant viruses come into play.

Atlanta, Georgia — The Center for Disease Control today issued a travel warning for all of South Africa…. outbreaks of the Cape Town flu virus have been reported in Amsterdam, Paris, and London.

Pretoria, South Africa — The South Africa government issued a notice that all government services will be operating in an emergency capacity. The statement issued by the government in Pretoria included, “Only those services necessary for the essentials of government operations will be functional. All public schools will remain closed until this epidemic passes.”

Yeah, like I was planning on going to South Africa to begin with. I really don’t know why I continue to read this. It only enhances the reason why I stopped watching and reading the news in the first place. It seems like the same old news; just insert new name and place in the old news and call it new, I thought downing the rest of my coffee and getting ready to start my day. I had just finished talking with Lynn and was getting ready to head out to run some errands before dialing into clients’ servers and doing my daily work. I had the kids that evening and was looking forward to seeing them. I had a new movie for us to watch. The thought of what to do for dinner crossed my mind as I grabbed my keys and headed out of the door.

Geneva, Switzerland — The death toll directly related to the Cape Town flu has risen to over 5,000 in South Africa reports the World Health Organization in a statement issued today. “The number of confirmed cases has climbed to over 50,000 and is really now beyond our capabilities to contain,” Dr. Wilhelm Schoff said in a press interview. “Our resources to combat this virus are stretched to the limit.”

Atlanta, Georgia — The CDC has expanded it’s travel warning to include European travel. “With over 10,000 reported cases of Cape Town flu within Western Europe, we feel it is necessary to expand our scope,” reported Dr. Wendy Johnson from within the CDC. “We are continuing to focus our efforts on finding a vaccine and anti-viral drugs to combat this new deadly flu pandemic. It is only a matter of time before cases are reported within the border of the United States.”

You know, it really does seem like these outbreaks and epidemics are becoming part of normal life. It seems they are much closer together in epidemic proportions as opposed to the once usual twenty year epidemics. Maybe it is just a matter of time before one becomes a deadly force that sweeps over the world. I always thought that the more we messed with stuff and pressed deeper into unexplored areas of the world, the more deadly the viruses would become. And, the more we use and depend on anti-viral drugs, the less we will actually be able to combat those deadly strains.

Washington DC — The death toll from the Cape Town flu continues to climb. In an unconfirmed report, the estimated death toll from this deadly virus has reached 20,000. The number of cases has climbed to an estimated 250,000 worldwide with cases being reported in almost every major country. The first cases have now been reported in Los Angeles and New York.

The House and Senate are meeting to pass emergency legislation authorizing funds for vaccine research. The expectations are……..

Atlanta, Georgia — The CDC has confirmed reports of the first cases of Cape Town flu within the United States. “We have eight confirmed cases within Los Angeles and ten within New York,” reports Dr. Wendy Johnson of the CDC. “We expect this number to rise over the next few days and weeks.”

The CDC reports the symptoms to look for with the Cape Town virus are nausea, headache, sore throat, and fever. “What really makes this one different is the extremely high fever associated with the Cape Town flu,” said Dr. Johnson. “We have reported temperatures reaching 104 degrees which puts us into a danger zone. If you have any of these symptoms, please report them to your nearest medical facility at the first sign.”

I really have to stop reading this stuff, I thought noticing Lynn had come online. We talk about it some but are both under the impression that there is a fair share of media hype involved. Yes, we both think the numbers are pretty high and it is perhaps fairly dangerous if your immune system is not up to par. She even told me there are a few people in her unit and other surrounding units that are getting sick. She has even had to pull extra shifts to cover those sick. More of an annoyance than any fear.