V.W Wars

Part 1

Spring of 2069....

My name's Warren Fieldsman. I'm writing this experience years after it happened. It was the summer of 2048, when young Jacky Trenton moved onto good old Kildare Avenue. It had taken the boy all of a half hour to get bored shitless and explore the neighborhood. The boy walked down the sidewalk without a care in the world, when he saw me on the porch. A cute kid, average height, dark short hair and hazel eyes.

"Hi, mister. We just moved in up the road."

I glanced up the street to see where the moving van had been parked. "Ah the Daniel's old place."

The kid nodded. "I'm Jack Trenton, sir."

"I'm Warren. Good to meet you.. How old are you, Jack?"

"Twelve."

"Do you like sports, Jack?"

"Nah, I like books, science and history, especially war stories."

"Ah, smarter than most kids your age. If you like war stories, I did live through the last one."

"The V.W Wars?' He asked, eyes lighting up with curiosity.

"The Virus War of 2022, I remember it well."

"Tell me about it?" The boy pleaded.

"Okay kid," I told him as the memories of my youth came flooding back like a tidal wave.

"I remember when the world I knew went to shit."

He sat next to me on the porch swing, in awe of my words.

"Everything was supposed to be fine after the worldwide quarantine of 2020... Nothing could have been further from the truth."

"What was the truth, sir?" He inquired, wide eyed.

"The world went straight to hell, humanity it's handbasket."

"Was it after the war?"

"No, that's what started the whole damn thing."

"It did?" He asked with the curiosity only a kid could produce.

"You really want to know what happened?"

"Yes, sir."

"It all began with a virus, a horrible, deadly one. The world was put under quarantine. The government said a month, maybe two.."

"How long was it?'

"Eighteen months. Every nine weeks a new strain of the virus hit, harder than the last." I told him, then revealed the truth to him..

"After a while people lost their jobs, homes... Civilized life crumbled much like a human-zombie apocalypse."

Jack listened intently, transfixed on the memory I shared.

"It hadn't taken long for rational thought, then sanity to slip from them." I explained, looking into the kid's bright eyes.

"Soon, things ran out. People began fighting each other, riots in the streets. It was horrific... Just seeing it, changes a person."

"It sounds awful, sir." He said.

"It really was... like the black plague gave birth to a great depression."

"I learned a little about it at school this year... How many people died from it?"

"A quarter of the world's population. "

"When?" He asked, gazing at me.

"Summer of 2022"

"Wow, you're lucky to be alive."

"Something like that, kid."

"How long did it last?"

"Thirteen years and nineteen days."

"That is a long time."

"Living through it felt more like a century long curse." I said.

"I believe every word of it." Jack said.

"You go on home now, but come back and visit me." I told him as he shook my hand. I had a feeling that I'd be seeing a lot more of that kid.