December 17, 2009
9:49 P.M.
1 day before spread of infection

“Hey, you look a little young to be looking at those,” he said.
“Oh, I, um, they’re for my boyfriend,” she replied softly, trying to shift her brown hair over her face.
“Uh huh, right. How old are you, anyway?”
“I’m 21,” she said.
“That’s odd. You don’t look more than 14. Can I see some ID?”
“I left it at home…”  
“I’m afraid you’re not to buy alcohol without identification.”
“Look,” she said, glancing at his nametag, “Felix, can’t you just ring them up for me? No one has to know.”
“I can’t do that. I’ll lose my job,” he said.
“I have to get it for him, or else--” She stopped herself. “I’ve got to go.”
“Wait,” Felix said. “Your boyfriend shouldn’t be making you buy anything for him.”
“…Yeah…That’s what people have told me before,” she replied quietly. “I don’t mean to get too personal or anything, but, um, can we talk after you get off work? I just need someone to talk to…If you don‘t want to, it‘s just fine, I can--”
“Sure,” he cut her off. “Can I know your name?”
“Roxanne. Meet me around back after close?”
Felix nodded and went back to work.

About fifteen minutes later, Felix ended his shift that Thursday, and proceeded to go behind the store, where he found Roxanne sitting on the sidewalk, waiting for him. She wore a purple collared shirt, and dark wash blue jeans. Her hair was a light brown, and cut a little above her shoulders. Her nose was slightly pointed, and her skin was a light tan color. As Felix approached her, she glanced up at him and gestured for him to sit next to her.

“You do realize how dangerous it is to ask a complete stranger to meet you around the back of a store at ten o’clock at night in the dark, right?” Felix asked her.
“Yeah. But, my current situation can’t really get worse.”
“What do you mean?”
Roxanne lifted her shirt and exposed a large purple and red bruise on her right side. She pulled her shirt back down, and crossed her arms around her legs. “I want to leave him.”
“Why can’t you?”
“He knows where I live, he knows where my friends live, he knows my phone number. He has a fucking house key, for god’s sake!” Roxanne cried.
“What about the police? Your parents?” Felix said.
“He would beat the shit out of me before there was ever an investigation, and my parents don‘t believe me. They love him,” she said.

They both fell silent.

“I want a slushy,” Roxanne said, abruptly.
“There’s a Kwik-E-Mart down the road. It’s the only place open right now that serves them this late. Would you like me to take you there?” said Felix.
“If you don’t mind…”

So, the two got into Felix’s battered jeep and drove to the Kwik-E-Mart. Once they arrived, they noticed caution tape surrounding the area.

“I wonder what happened,” Roxanne said.
“I’m not sure,” Felix replied. “I guess we won’t have any slushies tonight.”
“I think I know a little place that might still be open, if you don’t mind.”
“Hell, I’ve got nothing else to do. There’s nothing more exciting than driving around with a complete stranger at night, right?”

Felix and Roxanne drove to another gas station that was a few block away that was just about to close. Roxanne headed toward the slushy machine, only to find out that it had been turned off a few hours earlier. So, she settled for a coke. As they proceeded to the counter, Felix produced a few bucks from his pocket and handed them to the groggy store clerk. Behind the counter, Felix noticed the evening news was on.

“…evolved form of the H1N1 virus has been located in the area. Scientists in Kentucky have been analyzing the patient that awoke from the dead during a surgery that occurred the previous Saturday. The virus has been found to spread rapidly, and is commonly transmitted via water droplets in the air. The general public is being advised to wear surgical protection masks in heavily populated areas, and to avoid people who have been diagnosed with the H1N1 virus,” the news report stated.
“Hmm,” Felix said. “I wonder why they didn’t give more details about the case.”
“Maybe they didn’t have the information,” Roxanne said.
“They must have the information, otherwise, they wouldn’t know what the victim had. They just chose not to tell the general public. Something feels wrong.”
“I’m sure this will all blow over soon once scientists have a vaccine for this evolved virus. They produced a vaccine pretty quickly after the first swine flu pandemic, right?”
“Yeah. This just feels different. I have a bad feeling about this.”