15th April 2023.

The town of Eliennée, in the north of Europe, is doing well. People are walking, having fun, relaxing in the parks and the sun above the buildings is shining down on them all. They say it's going to be hot today, but I confess I'm not really feeling the heat. I mean, it's probably about twenty degrees at most, and then some.

But it's good enough weather to go out, that's for sure, so I stepped outside too, to get some fresh air. Today is a closed day for cars in the city centre, so it's the perfect time to take a stroll through the streets without risking being run over by a hit-and-run driver, well except at the moment, when there's an upsurge in ambulances. That's right, I've already seen 3 of them!

So I spent my day outside, wandering aimlessly around the city. It's funny how you could find so many different people here. There were the odd punks on the corner of a cafe, the old men chatting in the PMU bar and even the environmental protesters against a train thing I think-.

"Hello! Have you heard about the Eliennée-Turin line? It's the government's new project, and it's an ecological disaster!"

"Er... no... excuse me but I've got other-"

"Here, read this, it's a brochure! Even if you think it doesn't concern you, it's going to have repercussions for the whole town, even the whole region!"

It was always the same routine. I'd simply taken the leaflet and escaped by chance when one of the demonstrators was caught by a policeman. I think it was because of a bottle or a fag. Just goes to show that even those who preach are not so exemplary.

But despite that, I liked my city. I'd grown up there all my life and never once had I moved from one place to another. After a few dozen minutes outside, I finally decided to go home, opening my old third-floor flat door with a loud creak, locking it behind me and crashing into my sofa. Ah well, it was a productive Saturday indeed.

Switching on the TV, I slowly started flipping between the different channels. Conflicts, diseases, dictatorships, you name it, the world was not a happy place at the moment.

"Ah... There's really nothing.."

That is, until I came across my favourite channel, Orte TV. I love watching it, it's a channel that talks about everything from history to dinosaurs, it's really the best. Settling comfortably into my sofa, which took up a good third of the space in my 25m² home, I spent the rest of the afternoon watching TV like the biggest larva I could possibly be, until my eyes fell on the clock above the screen, making me jump.

"...it was finally this morning that the long-awaited convoy from the Arctic Circle arrived, unloading its cargo of ice, much to my delight-"

"Oh shit, is it past 4pm already?!"

In no time at all I was back on my feet. I'd forgotten but I had an appointment scheduled for today. I didn't hold out much hope, but strangely enough unemployment doesn't pay that much, especially when you have to pay rent, food and utilities. Quickly combing my half-length brown hair, putting on some rather dubious clothes, including a shirt that had been lying on the rack for a fortnight, a pair of trousers that could almost stand up on their own and shoes that must have been my age or close to it, I ran for my life, slamming my door so hard that the walls shook, miraculously managing to catch the last bus to my appointment before arriving there at around 4.40 pm.

In one last rush, I opened the door of the café, breathing heavily as I searched my eyes for the man with whom I was to have my interview.

"Good... day... sir!"

I said, not without dying between syllables.

"Good morning, take a seat. So... you're... Axel, right?"

Pulling out the chair, I sat down and looked at the man. Well dressed, black hair, the complete opposite of me.

"Yes, that's it."

"So you're 22-"

"23 now! Careful.. ahah.."

"23, then. And you're applying for the job of PR officer in our company, is that right?"

"That's right. I did a degree in communications, and since then I've been doing odd jobs all over the place, and then... I saw your advert and here I am!"

"Right. So..."

Listing everything he had in his leather pouch, I nodded, speechless. It was crazy to think that he knew so much about me, even my friends couldn't have known that much. After about ten minutes, and a lot of 'um's' from me, the man had finished, closing his pouch with the notes he'd taken before speaking again.

"Right, well I think we can conclude this interview here. I'll send all this to headquarters and we'll get back to you as soon as we have an answer. I wish you a good day, and see you soon, I hope."

See you soon, my eye yes. Watching him leave, I sighed heavily, smashing my head against the table. It was the same refrain every time. We'll call you back in a few days, we've got to send this for this, we've got to do that, then we'll e-mail you... again and again. As I continued to bury my head in the poor wooden table, a voice came out of nowhere, a hand touching my shoulder.

"One more?"

"Another one."

Raising my head, it was my saviour, my very own Jesus, I name Elliot.

"It can't be... and look at the way you're dressed, no wonder they're all turning you down."

He said as he looked me up and down, gesturing to the counter before sitting down opposite me, where the man had been before. He then started to give me who knows how many pieces of advice, all of which I'd already tried, without any success. But hey, he was my only friend after all, and what would I do without him, hell of a question. I was really lucky to have Elliot. He must have been close to six foot three, he had short black hair that was so well combed all the time it was a bit worrying, green eyes and he'd even been to hotel school to boot. And he makes a hell of a lot of chocolates too, don't forget!

So we chatted a bit about everything and nothing to the sound of cars, neighbouring chatter and the background noise of the café's TV before Elliot suddenly got up from his chair and headed back towards the establishment's kitchen.

"I'm on my way, I'm going to leave all this."

After a few minutes, the man had returned and we'd left the café, walking down the high street towards my house. Tonight was film and pizza night, like every Saturday night. It was also getting a bit chilly, so I'd stepped on the gas, motivating Elliot to walk faster too.

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I opened the door to my flat. Contrary to what you might think, it was rather tidy, and that was something nobody could blame me for. Yes, I had a very large sofa, but everything was properly optimised for maximum storage space.

A wave of the hand was all Elliot needed to get a pre-made pizza dough out of the fridge, while I went and got a packet of sauce. After that, and once the pizza was in the oven, well deserved, we started a film, Interstellor or something like that. It's science fiction, so generally that's what we both like. Time passes and the timer rings, my eyes open again as Elliot takes the pizza out of the oven and goes to get a bottle of cola from the fridge.

"You don't waste any time sleeping, do you? You sound like a lawnmower when you snore! Come and eat."

As soon as I'd asked, I'd stood up, heading for the pizza, which smelt terribly good.

"How was the film? I didn't follow it all"

I asked, not without furiously scratching my eyes.

"I won't spoil it for you, we'll watch it later. Anyway, you've already missed a good hour of the film, so there's no point."

"Oh yeah.. yeah we'll do that.."

Elliot having finished cutting up the pizza, I had taken a good slice not without a smile on my lips, tasting this one. The cheese flowed with every bite, the tomato sauce was perfectly seasoned and the ham was abundant - a dream. Tasting this magnificence, we had finally wolfed down a good majority of the initial pizza, throwing myself back in my chair as Elliot continued to eat, hands on his stomach.

"Otherwise... seen your brothers lately?"

"Mesh frèrshes?"

Elliot had said before finishing what was in his mouth.

"Sorry. Er, no, they're up north I think, I haven't heard from them much... have you?"

"The same, more or less. They're all over the country..."

There was silence as Elliot finished his slice of pizza. I glanced to the right, then to the left before rising from my chair with the shrill sound of a chair creaking on the floor, a big smile on my face.

"I'll unfold the sofa for you, dacc?"

The man had nodded, so I escaped to my room to fetch a set of sheets and other necessities, unfolding the sofa and setting everything up. Finally, after that, Elliot had finished his meal while he threw himself on his temporary bed, changing quickly. Likewise, I'd swapped my dodgy clothes for a good pair of pyjamas, staying to chat with my friend for another twenty minutes or so until it was about past one, getting up to make my way to my modest bedroom.

"Good night. Don't be a twat, or else don't make too much noise, there's the neighbours."

I said, laughing as I closed the door.

"It's OK, I won't blow up the kitchen. At least, I'll do it quietly."

Collapsing into my cosy bed, I turned off the light, taking only a handful of minutes to fall asleep, drifting happily into the arms of Morpheus.

16th April 2023.

Eight o'clock sharp, the alarm clock goes off so loudly that I jump, almost sending it flying into the wall. Why eight o'clock on a Sunday? Lying in bed staring at the ceiling, the shutters letting in a few wisps of light, I had begun to smell the sweet aroma of what seemed to be hot chocolate titillating my nostrils, deciding to rise slowly and painfully from my bed base, opening the shutters without even looking outside before heading for the kitchen.

"Good morning, good morning! Just a little longer and I was going to come and get you myself!"

Elliot's voice echoed through the small flat as I grimaced and rubbed my eyes, looking at the man who was already dressed as if he was going to a wedding.

"Good morning... you're going to have to learn to sleep later, you..."

Sitting down on one of the three chairs at my table, I watched the hot chocolate arrive in front of my eyes, ready as it should be, smiling despite my dishevelled appearance. Staring at the man in front of me who was cleaning the pan, I finally drank my cocoa nectar before turning on the television, which suddenly began to blare, hastily lowering the sound.

"Between that and the alarm clock, I've got a feeling it's going to be a nice day..."

I said sarcastically, while Elliot chuckled to himself.

"...new cases admitted to hospital, the beginning of an epidemic reported throughout the country. The Ministry of Health hasn't yet-"

"Wow, I don't really feel like going out right now."

"You're right, I'm all for staying in!"

Always, if I could stay at home, I'd be happy.

After that, we decided to stay nice and warm, especially with this new thing running around. Later that morning, we learned that it could either come from bodily fluids or something contaminated, like water, although they had no idea what it was at the moment. In any case, the cases were multiplying rapidly, and several leads were being investigated. For our part, I raised the point that if it was water-borne, perhaps running water was contaminated, so we started boiling the water before drinking it. It's not the best, and it's reminiscent of war, but it's something.

"Wow... that's scary, oh. Maybe I should call my parents.."

I thought, pulling out my phone and trying to call my dad, no answer, then my mum, same thing. Strangely, on Sundays they should answer.

"Ah.. they don't answer... probably sleeping, eh? Ahah.."

"Yes, that's it, they're probably sleeping or busy, don't worry!"

Of course they weren't asleep. They both got up very early and didn't do much during the day. I had just hoped they were just busy, looking not without stress at Elliot, who was right next to me.

"Come on, it'll be fine, your parents are tough too, aren't they? From what you told me, they looked strong!"

"Yes... I suppose so... they were into taekwondo I think. I never did figure out how they were going to use that anyway!"

I laughed lightly, clearing my throat. My parents always had strange hobbies. Whether it was taekwondo for both of them, homemade rocket building for my mum or even experimental cooking for my dad, they're not your average parents, that's for sure!

Finally, with that moment of anxiety behind us, we turned our eyes back to the television, which was showing a report on the current state of the disease. And maybe we shouldn't have. As the presenter spoke live from the hospital in Saint Lucia, near the capital, we could make out something in the background. Small, it came closer and closer, before finally jumping out at the presenter, startling us both, the cameraman running to the screen while the reporter was on the ground. Shortly afterwards, the creature started chasing the cameraman, although we had no image, before the camera stopped transmitting, relaying to the studio.

The silence was thick and heavy. So thick you could have cut it with a knife, even at home. Then Elliot finally spoke, exclaiming.

"What the hell?! Are they dead? What the hell was that? A biological attack, a hoax? We're on public television, what's going on?"

So many questions asked by Elliot behind that television screen, hundreds of miles from the studios, and yet the same questions asked by the various columnists, the control room clearly in total incomprehension. However, it only took a few dozen seconds for the social networking phenomenon to get involved. Whether on TV or in my living room, Elliot had taken his phone to Twotter, myself looking over his shoulder.

From then on, we had images from all over the world, accessible in a second. Trending hashtags included, in order, Cristina Cordalla, Victorua II and Pope Friçois. Two seconds later, it was Strange Virus, Attacks and finally Bacteriological Weapon. Images from all over the world showed the same thing. In China, the United States, Russia, Algeria and Brazil, sick people were coming out and attacking people in the street, violently scratching them and in some cases even biting them. The most worrying thing was that the cases were multiplying. Every minute, more and more people were coming out and jumping on each other, both law enforcement officers and politicians. In China, Xi Chingping had started attacking members of his government, while closer to home, one of the ministers had attacked a foreign diplomat who had come to do a contract.

All over the world, people were going crazy, and we, like the presenters on television, were standing still, mouths ajar, looking at each other. Then, with a thin line in my voice, I began to speak, but not without trembling.

"It's a joke, isn't it? That's it, isn't it? Tou..it's all an April Fool's e..late?"

"I.. don't think so, no."

"But.. and..and.. and my parents? D..do you think they're ok? My..family? Y..your brothers?.."

"I hope so."

A blank look appeared in Alex's eyes. Elliot was trying to comfort him, while outside, events were taking place. All over the world, people were reacting in the same way. Some were fleeing their homes, others were taking planes, boats, cars - by any means necessary, people were running, stealing, committing violence in the hope of saving their lives.

Some passengers were already infected when they boarded planes, and more than the danger they could pose, the real enemy was the human being, the comrade, the colleague, who, in times of crisis, became selfish. Fighting for survival, some of them told the pilot to land, to go faster, to sound the alarm or whatever. Then, in a panic, one man, with nothing to lose, opened the passenger compartment door where the plague-stricken man was. The cockpit door was also open, and in a fraction of a second, while the plane was far too high in the sky to have any oxygen, there was explosive decompression, the plane split in two and the cabin exploded, the cockpit came apart and people died, not because of an infected person, but because of a man who wanted to live by dying.