SATURDAY STORY - SEPTEMBER 25, 2021 - THE GREEN NOSE PANDEMIC
On Saturday, I write fiction. Today, I’m writing about the great pandemic of 2033 (fiction)
*****
It started small with the beginning of the Pandemic of 2033. This pandemic was also known as the “Green Nose” pandemic and it was universal!
Fortunately, it was easy to tell if somebody was affected by the pandemic - within four hours of being affected, the tips of noses turned bright green. And, within two days, ear lobes also were bright green. Body temperatures generally dropped a degree or two. People wore sweatshirts to keep warm.
“Pandemic” screams the news channels. A terrible scourge has come upon us. This may kill thousands or millions, all will be affected. Do not travel inside or outside the country. Wash your hands, wear masks, and above all, avoid anybody with the virus. Those that heard it first knew exactly what to do - rush to the grocery stores before everything was gone.
The first shelves to empty were the bread and milk supplies, then toilet paper, then canned soup. Dry milk disappeared after all the regular milk was gone. Even the soy milk, coconut milk, and even oatmeal milk disappeared. Yeast for making bread flew off the shelves as well as the 25-pound bags of enriched white flour. Frozen pizzas and pretty much all of the frozen foods were gone within two days.
Parents bought enough for their grown children that lived near them. And, on the other end, grown children bought enough food for their aged parents. People bought non-perishable things that could last two years and then worked on freezing perishable items. Within the first three days, appliance dealers were sold out of stand-free freezers. The warehouse of the Best Grocery chain out of Hartford Connecticut was almost empty, the shelves of the 427 individual stores of the Best Grocery Store chain in New England and upstate New York were also almost empty.
Security guards were stationed outside grocery (and other) doors. If a customer had a green nose, they were immediately sent home. Inside the stores, managers (at least the healthy ones), carefully monitored their employees and at the first sign of green noses.
The first analysis was that this was very communicable. If a person with the illness came into contact with a non-afflicted person, the non-afflicted person would soon have the disease. But within a few days, that theory was discarded as epidemiologists determined that wasn’t true.
The pandemic hit everybody. The State of Connecticut placed 70% of its highway patrol staff and cars on temporary leave. Almost no cars were driving on the road. Interstate 91 (which started at New Haven on the Long Island Sound and went north through Hartford, Massachusetts, and Vermont was almost empty. But, that was okay, as gas stations were closed for lack of business (and the convenience store shelves were empty anyway). Schools were closed. Businesses that somehow needed to function did their work from home.
Hospitals were on Red Alert (which they renamed as “Green Alert” for this pandemic). Doctors and medical staff were required to move into rooms with cots so that they were prepared for the onslaught of pandemic victims. Retail stores closed. Even the six giant Walmart stores in the Hartford area were closed.
The Green Nose Pandemic crossed every ethnic, racial, political, sexual orientation, economic status, and physical barrier.
Online shopping went crazy. Amazon set records for sales in the first three days on the announcement of the pandemic - but then the realization hit that they may not be able to deliver with gas stations closed. Amazon delivery van drivers were also scared for their health and safety. And, when 10% of their drivers had green noses, Amazon offered double pay to unafflicted drivers but even then still had trouble getting even half as many drivers as they needed. And, when 53% of all drivers had green noses, Amazon stopped delivering.
The gun and ammunition business also had record sales. It seemed as if people were willing to shoot anybody that tried to take their food or supplies.
Even churches closed and went to online services (at least for a while). There were videos of priests saying Mass from their living rooms, or Protestant ministers preaching from their dens.
Television stations remained on air - but the newscasters were reporting from their homes.
*****
Amber Austin loaded enough clothes for a week in her car. She was a triage nurse at St. Luke’s hospital in Hartford. The hospital had taken the old nurses training unit and put cots and some privacy panels up (although it wasn’t really private)
The epidemiologists were talking heads all over the world. The prediction was that within three weeks, those who first had green noses would start vomiting a putrid liquid.
Experts said it was an airborne virus and it affected all people on the planet. A volcano in Indonesia that seemingly reached deeper into the Earth’s core, had erupted and the germs had gotten thrown into the air and the prevailing winds had carried around the earth within hours. Even Eskimos and people in remote places had green noses as the wind carried the virus to every nook and cranny.
But that was good news to the epidemiologists. This volcano had almost wiped out three villages in the past hundred years. Seemingly the groundwater had been compromised by underground magma and villagers who drank the local water soon had Green Noses. From news stories from Indonesia at that time, it was said that in about three weeks, the Green Nose suffers would vomit, get dehydrated, and would get terrible sores and die. But, there were about 10% of the population of those villages did not get the Green Nose illness near the volcano. That seemed to match the current outbreak - except this time the virus was airborne and worldwide. Would about 90% of the population die from this? Could something be found to stop the Green Nose virus?
It did take about a week to fully infect the world. The prevailing winds from Indonesia blew northeast, so the millions in China, Korea, and Japan were afflicted first. The pacific tradewinds swept low over South America and then to Africa. But the huge quantity of the airborne virus soon got taken up to the various jet streams and to North America, Europe, Russia. The wind currents took about four days to bring the virus to Australia and New Zealand. The people of those nations were largely ready with masks and protective clothing.
*****
Pharmaceutical companies were working non-stop fearing the worse. What if all people on earth were to vomit profusely within three weeks? Could this Green Nose pandemic be stopped in time? Would the vomiting weaken the immune system for the second round of terrible sores, spasms, and sudden death that the experts expected about two weeks after the vomiting?
*****
And, there was Amber at St. Luke’s Hospital. Amazing enough, Amber’s nose did not turn green. The figures were interesting on who got the Green Nose and who didn’t. About 15% of females were exempt and about 7% of males. Overall, about 11% of the population as a whole didn’t get the Green Nose virus.
What was the reason that 11% did not have the disease? They seemed to be a totally diverse group - every nationality, ethnic group, and whoever had about the same percentage of healthy people. Of twins, identical twins either both had Green Noses or both did not. Of fraternal twins, there did not seem to be any pattern.
In those early days, scientists speculated that the virus was carried on the X chromosome. Since females had two XX chromosomes, and males had only one X chromosome, it seemed logical that X chromosomes were involved. The big question was “How”, and “Why hadn’t this be noticed before”.
Genetic experts soon were scrambling over the data. At the 29th unit on the DNA strand, those who did get the Green Nose had a slight indentation that the virus was attaching itself on. And those who did not get the virus did not have that indentation.
Amber, as a nurse, was part of a research consortium of the few medical people that seemed to have been exempted. Why were most afflicted and so few not afflicted? And why only those with different DNA strands?
*****
Soon the first of the vomiting people arrived at the hospitals. Amber and twelve other women and four male medical staff at St. Luke’s Hospital were the only ones that could help. And, as predicted, the vomit was truly putrid and awful. The vomiting phrase soon became universal. Hospitals couldn’t work with the numbers. Media tell people to stay home and vomit responsibly!, (whatever vomiting responsibly meant)?
*****
Meanwhile, the entire world was going crazy. There were limited services around the world as those that weren’t affected (about 10 or 11%) were working, out there was a need for engineers to keep the electrical equipment running, without shipments of coal, gas, and the flow of energy, electrical systems around the world were stopping. All the Amazon (and other delivery services) stopped - both from a lack of supplies and a lack of drivers. Those that hadn’t hoarded food were slowly starving to death. Farmers were butchering some of the livestock to have food but that was a local issue.
*****
Vomited leads to dehydration. People couldn’t get bottled water (since all stores were closed), tap water was being used - and in some places was still running, but in many locations around the globe, it was shut down by either overuse and wells and water supplies running out or equipment failure. Thousands were dying daily from dehydration and vomiting. It was impossible (and even dangerous) to pick up the bodies. Funeral home staff were also afflicted.
*****
Ah yes - to be continued next week.
*****
(Hmmm - I wonder how I’m going to solve this? Is Pollyanna Karen going to let the world die? Can’t something be done?)
