Venus

I started NaNoWriMo this year with some really good intentions but I got stuck on the story concept. Life got in the way this past month due to unforeseen circumstances. I decided instead of fixating on my failed attempt, that I would still post it- unfinished and edited- here on Vocal.

Introducing...

Venus

Chapter One

"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."- Robert Oppenheimer

The end of the world as we know it started out slowly. About twenty years ago, there was a pandemic called COVID-19. A virus that affected millions of people and shut the world down for a couple months. It was similar to the common cold but researchers didn't know much about it other than it was extremely contagious. So we became isolated for two years. Masked up to prevent contagion. Wash our hands more frequently. Infection spread like wildfire. The media blew it way out of proportion back in those days though.

I was born during that time so I don't really remember much other than that my parents worked from home mainly. My mother studied to become a registered nurse, taking online classes and raising us two kids. My dad was a wilderness survivalist. He worked from home most of the time or out coaching others on survival techniques. He had an office space with a few cronies of his in the city of Regina. My mother was a nurse at the hospital. Together, they were a dynamic duo.

I was just plain old me. Venus, their high school dropout daughter. Nothing spectacular defines me. My brother Vincent followed in my father's footsteps and coined himself a "survivalist". I was the bookworm and rule breaker. As much as I loved school, I preferred partying over actually attending so I had to make a choice in my last year of Grade 12. I did study from home though so I'm not all that much of a complete failure.

I was just 19 years old when the world ended. It was mid August and Vincent and I were hanging out with our cousin Estella in mom and dad's huge basement. It was too hot to be outside in my opinion. I lived to wear sweatshirts though. I was currently rocking an oversized band sweatshirt and a pair of shorts. We were watching TV in the basement of our parents' place. Estella's dad was my Uncle and she was his only daughter. We had spent the summer hanging out with her while school was out. Our parents were out of the house running some errands or something- I’m not exactly sure what they were up to.

We were just watching TV in the basement. My brother Vincent, Vin for short, was just flipping through channels till he finally settled on a news broadcast episode. Estella had headphones in and was invested in something on her tablet. I was busy reading a book on my Kindle about star crossed lovers from different planets. It was pretty intriguing.

My brother was a huge history buff. He inhaled the news like I did with a good romance novel.

I was vaguely listening to what was on. Anything COVID related I found rather boring so I fixated more on my Ebook instead. All of a sudden, Vin nudged me. “Venus, are you listening to this?”

Shaking my head no, I looked up from my book to watch what was on the TV screen. Hospitals had been flooding all over the country for weeks now as a new variant of the virus was taking over. Symptoms were the usual, high fever, chills, vomiting, and difficulty breathing. However, as the newscaster was saying. “It’s time to take some serious safety precautions again. I’m ready to declare this the 2040 Pandemic. It reminds me of the pandemic back in 2020 when I was just a teenager. It started the same way and I’m worried that if we don’t start taking more precautions now, then we will be far worse down the road.”

“Huh,” I chewed on a piece of my hair. I didn’t like the sound of that. I wasn’t ready for a worldwide pandemic even if I had lived one when I was an infant.

“I know right? I wonder what Dad has to say about it.”

“Look online for more news dipshit before you just start calling him. He could be busy right now.” I flicked him on the back of the head.

“Ow!” He cried out and tousled his dark brown hair. “That hurt.”

“You know I’m right, that’s what hurts more.” I retorted.

“Okay fine, I’ll find a few New’s articles.” He whipped out his new iPhone and began typing furiously into the search engine.

I went back to reading my romance novel. Estella barely budged from playing games on her tablet. She was a cute kid. She looked more like my brother than I actually did. Her dark brown hair was hanging down in perfect little ringlets. My own red hair was pulled back into a a messy bun. I hadn't showered in a few days so it was a little greasy and in desperate need of a wash.

"Well guys I'm going out for a smoke." I stood up and closed the Kindle app.

Vincent scoffed at me. "Aren't you sick of that yet?"

I chucked. "Not even in the slightest."

Estella briefly looked up and took her headphones off of her head. "Where are you going Venus?"

"Just heading outside for some fresh air." I ruffled her hair quickly as just made my escape up the stairs and outside.

We lived in a gated community just outside of the city of Regina. It was a nice quiet location with not a whole lot of trouble to be found. I'm not sure how we could afford it but somehow we did. I sat on the metal bench outside my parents house and called my best friend Riley.

"Smoke time?" I teased.

"Smoke time." She laughed at me.

Her family spends every summer up at their cabin at Barrier Lake. It was quite beautiful there but I missed my best friend.

We conversed for a little while about how her family was driving her up the wall and how she cannot wait to come back home.

Before I could finish my second smoke, Vincent came outside and interrupted my phone conversation with Riley.

"Venus, you have to come back inside and see what I found."

I glared. "Vin, I really don't care about COVID. I'm sorry but it is what it is. It never seems to go away. It just is something that we live with"

"No you're going to find this interesting. I sent the article to Mom and Dad too."

I glared at him, and mentioned to Riley that I had to get going because my dipshit brother had another conspiracy theory for me to debunk. She laughed at my misery to my dismay and then cheerfully hung up on me. I sighed and flicked my cigarette butt in the opposite direction as him. "What is it?"

"Just come inside. I loaded it up on the TV." He scurried back into the house. I sighed again. Why is my brother such a nerd. I was barely outside for five minutes and it was like the world was ending. Turned out it was.

As I headed back inside I never would have imagined that a single YouTube video could lead to what was about to happen. Even Estella had her headphones off and was ready for Vincent to hit play.

I sat back down on one of the large leather couches that littered my parents basement. Vincent looked at me wild eyed. "Ready for this?"

I scoffed. "Yes, ready."

I was not prepared for what the video had to say.

In Toronto city hospitals, there are a rising number of bodies starting to effect the staff from the latest COVID variant. However, things aren't seeming to stay that way. Hours later, the corpses seem to come back to life. After an injured coroner came forward, it seems as if these could potentially be real life zombies hitting Canada. The CDC has been informed of this new updated information and has given us permission to reveal it to the public. Stay tuned with HBC news for more details on this matter.

"There's no way a corpse came back to life Vin. This seems so fake but there's no way zombies are real."

"Just wait Venus, Dad is calling me." Vincent pulled out his phone and showed me.

"Put him on speaker. I want to hear what the nutcase has to say." I rolled my eyes

It was no secret that I didn't agree with what Dad called "work".

Estella glared at me. "Venus that wasn't very polite."

Vincent rolled his eyes back at me and answered the phone. "Hello? You're on speaker phone by the way."

"Hey guys, I'm just finishing up at work here and then I'll be back at the house. That video you sent me Vin, that is quite something. I'm going to call your Mom on her break and see if she's heard anything on her end. I wouldn't panic if I was you guys, I would just take it easy on the COVID research for right now okay Vin?"

"BUT DAD, a real life zombie made the news!" He cried out in excitement.

"But nothing. It's just one video from a somewhat reliable news site. I don't want you to scare Estella with this conspiracy crap. We can talk more when I get home in a few hours." His voice sounded staticy. I couldn't believe it but I actually agreed with Dad for once. That doesn't happen very often.

Vincent huffed. "Fine. We can talk later Dad."

They quickly said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. I sighed in relief. My dad was a little eccentric to say the least. After the first pandemic, he spent a bunch of time creating a safety bunker in the basement of our home. I don't know why he felt the need to take a precaution like that but the thing could withstand a nuclear bomb if one went off. It was packed to the brim with supplies, pretty much anything anyone could need in a crisis. I thought it was stupid. I suppose I was a bit morbid in thinking I'd rather die in a future apocalypse than live in a bunker in our basement but hey, whatever floats your boat am I right?

Estella looked at me with some fear in her brown eyes. "Are we going to get sick like that man did?"

"No El, we will be okay. I promise you that. We live in fucking Saskatchewan of all places. We will be fine I'm sure of it." I smiled at her. "Do you want to watch a movie together?"

She nodded in excitement and I grabbed the remote from Vincent, with only some minor protesting coming from him, to throw on an old favorite of mine, Frozen. It was a timeless classic Disney movie and it was one of our favourite things to watch together when we hung out.

I never really called it babysitting when I hung out with Estella. She was just an only child, she had no annoying brother to pick on. She reminded me of Vincent at that age in a way but more delicate and soft spoken. She was incredibly tech smart for a ten year old. I'm sure she had a future in computer engineering if she worked hard at it.

We watched the first Frozen movie together while Vincent ranted and raved about COVID zombies. In his mind, it had to be real. I scoffed at some of the nonsense coming out of his mouth. "Just wait until Mom gets home. Then we can talk more about this. She will be able to tell you straight to your face that you're being delusional as all hell right now." I could have smacked him in the head for scaring Estella.

"Fine," he huffed. "We will see who's right and who's wrong."

Estella just ignored us and continued watching Frozen.

All of a sudden, Dad called my phone. I frowned for a second before answering it. "Hello?"

"Venus, whatever you guys are doing, I need you to get inside the bunker and stay there."

"What are you talking about Dad? Is this some kind of drill?" Again we didn't get along where his survivalist techniques were concerned.

"I just got off the phone with Mom. She is stuck at the hospital, under a massive quarantine. Whatever is going on in Toronto is serious and the same thing happened here in Regina. A corpse came to life after being infected with this new COVID virus and attacked a doctor. He’s in critical condition from the attack. The government doesn't see what your brother sees and is trying to cover it up to prevent mass hysteria. But they are on their way to assess the situation at the hospital. I see things ending one way and one way only. I'll be home as soon as I can but I want you guys to evacuate into the bunker for safety.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying Dad.” I replied slowly. I felt like all the air in my lungs had been sucked out.

“I’m saying that we need you kids safe in that bunker. Before mass hysteria hits the sheeple.” Dad paused for a moment before saying the words. “I love you Venus. Please listen to me, I have had years of training on situations like this. I need you to trust me right here right now before things get out of hand. Take whatever you want from the house and move it into the bunker. I’ll be home soon.”

I paused in complete shock. “I love you too Dad.” Vincent was staring at me with a what the hell look on his face, Estella too. I should have had the old man on speakerphone in all honesty.

"Guys, I hate to say it, but Vincent was right."

"I usually am."

"Shut up, this is serious. Dad wants us to get inside the bunker."

He just stared at me. "Like a drill again?"

"No, as in this is serious enough that we could be in a military state of living by this time tomorrow and he would rather us be safe in the bunker than be attacked by a COVID zombie."

He just looked at me with shock. "You definitely should have had him on speakerphone Venus. Is this a joke?"

Estella's eyes welled up with tears. "Venus are you joking?"

I shook my head no. "Apparently at the hospital where Mom works, the same thing happened. Dad senses something bad is about to happen so we are going to the bunker to ride whatever this is out. Grab your things guys." I stood up. "I'm gonna go raid the kitchen quickly and gather up all the canned goods."

Vincent just laughed. "This is insane. You know I was kind of just kidding about there being COVID zombies right?"

I paused for a moment before ruffling Estella's hair. "It will all be okay guys. I'm sure it's nothing. Dad is just overly paranoid sometimes."

Vincent just sighed. His head sunk into his hands. "Okay Estella come with me, let's grab a few things ourselves."

Her little brown eyes were filled with tears. I smiled weakly. "I'm sure it's nothing you guys. Let's just ride out whatever is going on in the bunker."

"What about my Mom and Dad?" Estella asked.

"I'm sure they will join us in the bunker when they get off work." I replied as cheerfully as I could. I wasn't exactly sure what's going on but dad rigged the bunker so we had WIFI through an internet stick at least, thank God for that man's brain sometimes. As long as we had power we could stay connected to what was going on. "Okay guys. Gather your stuff we will go out to the bunker and get settled and wait for everyone to join us."

I had faith in my old man. Ever since the first COVID pandemic had happened, he became an expert in survivalist measures and even taught classes about wildness survival. I used to think he was a bit of a nutcase but well times have changed and all those lessons he taught me were finally starting to sink in. It's like my body kicked into fight or flight mode after that phone call ended and I just became an organized machine packing the canned goods and whatever else I could find into a box before grabbing my own stuff. That can wait.

Vincent already had a survivalist bag packed in case of emergency so when he appeared in the kitchen to help, I was semi surprised but not really. It was Estella that we were both worried about. The kid is only ten years old and her parents weren't here.

"Here Venus, let me take this to the bunker. You go grab your things." Vincent grabbed the box off the counter of my parents' spacious kitchen. I sighed and agreed with him.

The bunker was a keyless entry. As long as you knew the pass code you could access it. I had faith that my Dad would join us. My Mom is who I was worried about. She's stuck at the hospital with a fricken walking corpse. What is the government going to do? Is my Dad just being paranoid? I feel like he's just being paranoid. I looked at my reflection in the hallway mirror and I looked like a wreck. My red hair was still in its messy bun but my eyes were different than before. I sighed heavily. Dad better be right on this one.

I went into my mess of a room and grabbed my maroon school backpack. I was not prepared like Vincent was as much as Dad always preached that we should be ready for anything. I knew the bunker had lots of supplies but my brain blanked. I knew Dad was right now. I thought long and hard before throwing a few pairs of clothes into the bag, my worn copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales, thinking that if we lost power to the bunker for whatever reason that this could be something that might interest Estella. I grabbed my makeup bag and a few other knick knacks of mine that I couldn’t leave behind. My bedazzled knife collection was one of those things. I changed my shoes from flip flops to my old school gym runners, and decided that what I had packed was good enough. Nobody can prepare you for the end of the world. Besides, I had faith that the government would get a handle on things before pandemonium hit the general population.

Estella was outside my bedroom door waiting for me. I smiled brightly at her, trying to hide any fear I was experiencing. “Ready?” I asked. She nodded. Her small face was pale with fear. She held her tablet and stuffed bunny rabbit in her hands. She had really nothing to bring inside the bunker but I knew there were board games and other things to do tucked away. My parents were ready for the end of the world, even if I wasn’t.

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This is just my first chapter, I have a couple more but my brain got stuck with COVID Zombies.

What did you think?

Let me know in the comments down below.

Chloe Rose Violet 🌹