The Common Enemy
January 10, 2013 Short Story 0 comment EBaker13
I should have known to listen to my mother. In times like these when temperatures fall far bellow what is needed to sustain human life it is unmistakably essential to wear our special protective gear. Without our gear, we are left far more vulnerable to the enemy–the unseen and air-born bacilli. For years we have been at war with them and their leaders, constantly injecting ourselves with protective repellants crafted from DNA left by remains of past battles. Only a fool would walk into the white freezing abyss without proper protection–I was warned, but to no avail.
It happened quick and with no clear indication that any foreign enemy was headed in my direction, hence the the fact that they are indeed invisible–the rascals. As I walked into my safe haven ,stripped off my gear and jacket my reflexes kicked as I felt a tickle in the upper part of my head. Soon after a noise erupted from my mouth, like an elephant to be precise, and that was a clear warning that something had transpired. Quickly, I ran to the restroom to contain whatever it was that was causing me to react in such a way. I took a thin cloth (which was used to contain these kind of creatures, which most likely were the bacilli in action), and covered the bottom half of my face. The noises stopped and the cloth became damp in my hands. I feared for myself and so did my mother who gave me her best wishes after hearing the fit. I thought It was nothing–perhaps it was a “false alarm”, but oh how wrong I was.
The next day I woke up and it was evident that the bacilli had claimed me as their next victim. I wasn’t permitted to attend school that day. I couldn’t even if I wanted to–they made it impossible. It was thought that I would somehow lead them to the rest of the town’s children and adults for that matter. I couldn’t risk something like that so the best course of action was to stay put until they were through, or I could get my hands on one of the special transportable lausiae once their attacks began to waver. Eventually they did, but the damage had already been done. My throat burned from the scarring damage and head throbbed from the constant shortage of oxygen. It made it much more difficult to reach the living room when their attacks raged on. After a battle full of strength, courage, and determination I pulled out as the victor and made it to the family vault of lausiae. It was only a matter of time before the bacilli were fended off by my the new recruits. I retreated back to my room, letting my saviors do the rest of the work. As I made it back to my quarters, I looked at my bed–yes my bed, and laid down on it’s soft cotton clouds. I should have known to listen to my mother, goodness how I hate catching the cold.
