Eyes from the Deep

The anticipated message lit up Genna's screen at exactly 8 o'clock a.m., on the seventh day of her isolated quarantine. Her previous hours staring at the dome ceiling above her, had brought her to contemplate the heavy black water above. She wondered at how everything could seem so calm. How could the unimaginable pressure of the Atlantic Ocean above her seem so still and unmovable, but in reality, it was a seething beast, just waiting for any chance to rush in and crush Gennas body with its immense weight.

Genna's morbid thoughts were interrupted by rib breaking coughs and whole body convulsions. Violently, she bent forward, muscles tensed and shivering with strain, her airways cut off as she dry heaved.

There was nothing for her body to expel, and the sides of her dry, throat stuck together and ripped apart painfully.

Sweat plastered strings of hair around her forehead and face as Genna struggled to breathe normally again. She Fought the urge to cough that itched in the back of her throat. Her spasms had left the upper half of Genna's body to hang off the side of the wall mounted cot. But When she gained back her breath, she slumped the rest of herself onto the cold, smooth cement floor of her bubble. The cool ground soothed the sore joints and bones that ached from fever.

Although she dared not move her body, for Fear of another fit, Genna did manage to tilt her head and peer at the dashboard across the small, circular room. The dim glow of her screen was the only light inside the small space. But a pale blue light from outside provided a weak glow that surrounded the entire bubble. beyond the complex multi-layered glasslike dome, a huge spiral rose from the sea bed, beaming even through the dense water. Two kilometers away and the structure still managed to shield Genna from the blackness that constantly pressed against the edge of the light.

Genna stared longingly at the thick tower that stood in the middle of the spiral, a thin rod at the base that turned into a large sphere nestled in the top ring of the spiral. As far away as she was she couldn't make out The finer details, but she knew that somewhere down the central beam of the great spiral was her home. And her chest ached deeply for the comfort of it. Genna sat in nostalgia, thinking of obvious things like her parents and siblings. But also she thought of the smell of her bed sheets when she laid down to sleep. And the cool rush of air that met her at the front door. Immense waves of emotion thrashed like a storm in her chest and the torrent caused another bout of coughing.

When it was over she rolled over on her back trying to breathe normally again but it felt as if a Boulder had been placed on her chest. Every breath she took was constrained, and every intake of air just wasn't enough.

Laying on the floor looking up at the black sea above a sharp ding!, was heard over the speakers on the dashboard as the message renewed. With a groan, Genna heaved herself up into a slouching sit against the cot base.

She had almost given up on living past her quarantine the moment it began. The sickness was supposed to last seven days. If on day seven the fever is broken and the cough begins to clear up, the sickness is almost over. If the seventh day approaches and fever and coughing is still present, a slow death awaits. For whatever reason there is only seven days to break the fever or else the body succumbs to the illness.

She knew what the message would say. She knew what fate beheld her. She was going to die today, and not from sickness, from a self administered cocktail of drugs that did it for you. The notification was to ask if Genna wanted the "treatment".

the choice is Gennas, but the hope of recovery is slim to none after day seven.

One, middle aged man did make it past day seven but the man that went into quarantine wasn't the same as the man that came out. He appeared more dead than alive when he first emerged. skin bone and budging green eyes.

It may seem like a blessing to be able to trade the enviable fate of a slow agonizing painful death, with a sleepy surrender to nothingness. But Genna only felt dread colder than the floor, heavier than the ocean, pressing down on her.

Genna had imagined her death many times, laying in her cot looking up at spiral's light fading into blackness above. She questioned if it would really be peaceful, or would it be black and crushing. A wave slamming down onto her, the will of the black tearing her apart and her soul, swept away, drowned out in the darkness.

Some ancient mythological texts refer to colossal and omniscient Gods that held the power to create and destroy universes And the power to heal any sickness and mend morbid injuries. But that was before the remnants of mankind had to flee to the bottom of the ocean to avoid the harsh environment Genna's ancestors had set in place for the rest of humankind. No shining figures descended from space, or erupted from the ground when the earth slowly fell to ruin. Whatever forces that govern the universe, could care less, about the blue spec called Earth. What happened to this planet is what happens to everything eventually. Genna had heard it like a mantra since she was small and couldn't comprehend hers or anyones mortality.

"Everything has to come to an end eventually"

Tears began to well and spill over in an instant. The pain she felt at the thought of leaving everything behind, was so much greater than that of the illness that plagued her body. She was arriving on the precipice of death, and all she could think of was how much she wanted to live.

She felt her grief build into a hard ball in her throat and she let out a deep sob that was consumed by desperate coughing. After countless minutes spent catching her breath, she found herself looking out into the blackness of the ocean, on the shaded side of her bubble.

She had avoided looking directly into the blackness beyond the veil of light provided by her home. The darkness reminded her of the waves of death descending upon her. Thick black crests rolling over on top of her and driving the life from her body and sucking everything she was away. The black water seemed to pull at her now yawning open, beckoning her to a still and lonely death, her soul floating away, lost forever in the dense inky depths. She could almost see it, a premonition of her future. Like a strip of muslin cloth drifting along in the water, haunting the ocean floor.

She watched the imaginary ghost of herself fade in and out of the blackness, dangling between light and dark. She leaned her head on the glass feeling the slick surface cool the beads of sweat clinging to her brow, and let her eyes lazily follow the phantom.

A green circular haze near the front of the cloth-like silhouette caught Gennas eye, and her heart froze for a few beats as she realized she wasn't seeing something conjured up by her imagination.

The spot of green rose and sank with the strange shadow, but slowly the spec of green grew from a barely visible glow into a ghostly, algae- colored light. She pressed herself closer to the glass, hoping for a clearer view. The green orb began to shrink and so did the distant shape it clung to, and Genna feared it would fade completely. However a second spot of light across from the first appeared, and in perfect sync they dipped and floated closer.

Mesmerized, Genna stared at the strange lights as they grew larger and

Brighter. Out of the gloom and into light that leaked from her bubble emerged a creature. Columns of strange white teeth peeked out from a wide smiling mouth. A thick long body the color of shadow snaked behind the hideous smiling face. It's fins long and thin like strips of satin, drifted behind it as it moved forward. It gently swayed its long body and encountered the bubble with no sign of hesitation. The sharks observed the strange structure hovering just a few inches from the surface.

Sharks had'nt been sighted in decades. But Genna remembered seeing the huge gaping jaws of the ancient predators that stalked through the warmed surface waters of the world before. her school's museum had also kept a vast collection of high quality photo albums, showing all sorts of strange and unique creatures that used to dominate the aquatic world. There had been fossils and preserved specimens as well. But as the Earth warmed then cooled and kept cooling creatures from the land, air, and sea, started to disappear.

Humans were thought to be one of the few remaining species, but shark sightings had been consistent. Every decade or so, someone would claim they had seen a ghost of the old world lurking in the dark.

The great beast moved along the side of the bubble until one of its green eyes rested on her. it spread out its fins, like billowing sails, and stilled its graceful wandering. Up close Genna noticed the reflective nature of the beast's green eyes and the many bright red gills wrapping behind its narrow head.

To most, the sight of the shark would have been a sickly one, but Genna felt no fear, or disgust. Her mind was clear and calm and she thought of nothing but the bright green eyes that stared back at her. The calm moment wasn't broken when the creature began to glide along the outside of the bubble again, And the peace remained when the shark began to sink back into the darkness, becoming a silky silhouette, until it disappeared completely.

Genna sat with her forehead pressed against the bubble's edge for a long time. Her mind still focused on the green eye and the brightness in them, as if lit from within. Despite everything that had happened to the world, despite every odd, that horrible, wonderful, creature had made its way to Genna. One survivor encountering another.

Something rose in her chest, not a fit of coughing or a heavy wave of nausea, but something lighter. It tickled her heart and fluttered up into her throat and bust from her mouth as laughter. It was weak, and strained, but she laughed anyway, even though her body trembled from the effort.

Genna began to climb the glass like surface of the bubble and used it as a crutch to inch her way to the dashboard. She flopped into the docked chair at the dash and ,with no further hesitation, opened the message and stated down the thick black letters:

“YOU HAVE REACHED THE SEVENTH DAY OF YOUR ISOLATED QUARANTINE. AT THIS TIME THERE ARE NO TREATMENT OPTIONS AND THE DEATH RATE IS 99% AFTER DAY SEVEN. PLEASE CONSIDER A COCKTAIL OF DRUGS THAT WILL SLOW THE HEART RATE UNTIL IT STOPS.

And the options below

“Accept Recommended treatment" and "Decline recommended treatment."

The wording made it seem like such an educated decision to accept the “treatment”. But Genna had made her mind up long before she had reached the console. She declined the recommended treatment. Took a long drink of cold clear water, and carried herself back to her cot. Genna faced looking into the dark ocean, thinking of the green eyed shark, that refused to die off with the rest of the world. She then slipped into a deep, calm, sleep.