Beacon of Life

increasing number of people being infected. They needed a plan.. In April, the world powers met in Washington, DC. and decided on a strategy to stop the pandemic. They woul

e night, they would spray the vaccination to protect people who had not yet contracted the disease. In May, they put

ess, like a shroud, wraps me and bears me

reet as far as she could see. As she jumped out of her car, the smell of gasoline and fire hanging in the air assaulted her. Dark smoke was everywhere. Only the crackling sound of burning cars broke the ee

thing ran without a hitch. It was the type of challenge she loved most, even though fear plagued her of not being ready and drowning under the burden of others' expectations and judgment. Despite her misgivings, she had never failed to bring a project to successful completion. Alecia groaned when the alarm blared,

k. But the thought of seeing them again in person at the reunion was exhilarating. Suddenly her normal morning was over! Mangled cars with their mutilated bodies filled the streets. Fire and black smoke permeated the air. She grabbed her phone and called 911. It rang and rang, but there was no answer. She ran to the corner Starbucks where she got her skinny grande mocha latte every day. It always opened at 5 a.m. but was still closed. She looked at her watch. It was 6:33 a.m. What was going on? With trembling hands, she called her mother

ide? No, it was too late. Then as they came closer, she could tell that they were just people wearing hazmat suits. Relieved that they were not aliens and tha

ere afraid we were the only ones left," the taller one answered. "I am Hank and t

uits. In this frightening situation, why was she acting like she was in a high-pressure meeting? S

We heard they were going to do the aerosol- spraying of the vaccine and cure. We were afraid

ired. "Yes, I'm fiv

o see her parents, but our rid

ade you think that you and the bab

ice cars and ambulances were in the emergency lanes and a fire truck blocked all the other lanes. The three sat there in despair. "Wait!" Alecia tried to rub the tension from her forehead. "We can walk through, can't we?" "Walk all the way to Castro Valley?" Hank hugged Becky close to him. "She can't make it." "No, we can take a car from the other side. Hopefully, the ones at the front should have less crash damage and be driveable," Alecia said. "What? We can't do that." Becky said. "Becky," Alecia said, "This is a different world. We're going to be doing a lot of things to survive that we wouldn't have done yesterday. We need to ask ourselves if we are hurting anyone. The people in the cars are dead. They don't need them. We do!" "I guess so. I don't know how we are going to make it, anyway." Becky looked at Hank for support. Hank took her hand. "We'll make it. We've got a family now to take care of and we'll do what we have to do. And I know you can do it, Honey. We have to. Let's go." Alecia led the way, edging past the fire truck and the lifeless firefighters. Fire hoses snaked around their bodies. Becky cried out, "Oh no! Hank, do you know who that is?" pointing to one young firefighter. "That's Dirk. He played the lead in the school play in our freshman year. "What was it called? Death of a Salesman". She began to cry and shake uncontrollably. "Becky, I know it's hard," Hank hugged her. "But we have to keep going." With his arm around her, he led her forward. Alecia continued to forge a path for the others, wishing she could give way to the sobs that were screaming in her throat. She thought that if she did, she might never stop. Crumpled car after mangled car, someone's dream car; practical commuter car; a vacation car; or the old affordable car blocked the way. Those c