Deck 54. Rear Section J. Hospital.

Thief’s mother nudged her awake long before dawn. “Sorry, love, going to need your help at the hospital. They’re calling in all shifts, and anyone else not assigned to essential duties. That’s you, now that you’re thirteen.”

Thief sat up and shook her head to clear the last remnants of sleep. She ran her hand over the wall next to the bunk. Her morning tradition. Children that slept there long ago had scratched their names, and ages, and sometimes brief messages. Thief knew them all by heart.

“But I was going to help Johan today.” she grumbled.

“Johan can do without you for once. Besides, your rad count is getting high again. It will be good to spend a day out of that workshop. Tell you what, I’ll treat you to breakfast on the way.”

Thief scrambled from her top bunk and threw on the first jumpsuit she found. Grey and well worn. She looked like a lost waif next to her mother, dressed in fresh green.

The two emerged onto a busy Main street and Thief chose one of the half dozen food stalls for breakfast. A kindly, older woman, Ms Sampson, served them two sweetened pastries and two sticks of chewy malt extract. A gourmet feast compared to nutro packs. Thief felt guilty when her mother handed over four credits.

They headed down the street at a steady pace while they ate. Other nurses were also hurrying in the same direction, and several workers from various stations joined them. The commotion created a buzz in the air.

The hospital occupied a separate deck to aid in any quarantine efforts should a pandemic break out. There had been several in the past, the worst in recent times being the norovirus outbreak that claimed Thief’s father ten years ago. For her, the place brought back some of her earliest memories, the bad ones of watching her father pass away through the cloudy plastic of the isolation ward. Her stalwart mother squeezed her hand tighter as they joined the line of people descending the stairs to the wards.

They crowded into the back of an already full entranceway. The Medical Chief, a Doctor Warren, was speaking.

“We think it’s respiratory, but we’re not yet sure if its transmitted by air. If it is, I’m afraid we’re in for a very tough time. The ward has filled overnight, and no doubt we’ll see more patients today. Symptoms are the usual respiratory ones. The worst cases have a lot of fluid build-up in the lungs.”

Warren assigned people to their posts. Thief and another teenage girl she hung out with, Emily, earned the job of distributing face masks. The two spent the morning first ensuring everyone in the hospital had a mask before sitting in a corner, making more. Thief cheered up as the girls raced to see who could make the most masks from the piles of fabric and string provided.

Emily, being a year younger, wasn’t as outgoing but loved hearing of Thief’s exploits in the forbidden front of the ship. They chatted as they bent their bald heads over their work.

“Don’t you every get scared of being caught? I’d be so scared I wouldn’t be able to move!”

Thief was no show-off. Losing her Father and the dire circumstances they all lived in kept her and everyone else grounded in reality.

“Yes, terrified. When I lose my way or run out of matches. Or I hear a noise. So yeah, most of the time!” She laughed.

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“Have you ever seen, you know, one of… them?”

“Nope. I’m pretty sure if I had, I wouldn’t be here now.”

“Word is, they got old Campbell.”

“Yep. I think so. Poor man. I liked him. Stank though, from working over in the waste plant.” Thief scrunched her nose.

“Ew, yeah. I don’t know how those guys can work there. Yuck.”

“They get extra credits for it, and more water allowance. So that’s something. I’d love to have a proper shower once in a while.”

“Yeah, me too.”

After a fresh delivery of supplies from a harassed-looking storage clerk, they’d each filled a bag with masks. It seemed enough for everyone, although they’d lost count and abandoned their contest. Thief’s mother was nowhere in sight, neither was Doctor Warren. Nurses came and went through the hospital doors ushering in older adults, all coughing.

“This isn’t good.” said Emily

“Have you noticed? It only seems to be old people so far. I hope Mamma is okay.” Thief worried.

“Come on. Let’s go give these masks out, up above. I’ll bet that’s what they want us to do anyway.” Emily stood up and stretched. “Ow, my leg’s gone dead.”

Thief was glad to get away from the hospital, although she wished she’d seen Mamma before she left.

Up on the main deck, they handed out a mask to everyone they saw and knocked on the doors to living quarters. But most people were at work, sick, or asleep. With a healthy supply of masks still in their bags, they set off down the darker corridors to the working sections.

Emily found her father tending to sick plants in the hydroponics section and showed off their sewing handiwork.

“Well done, you two!” he said, accepting his mask, “How bad is this thing? I’m the only one down here now, everyone else left for the hospital, or an emergency council meeting.”

“It’s scary, Dad. They were bringing more patients in when we left. I’m worried. Seems to be the oldies like you. Please keep your mask on okay!” Emily gave her father a hug.

“I will, darling.”

It took the rest of the afternoon to cover the other sections. They left waste processing until last. Their own masks helped a little to block the smell, but they still held their noses the whole time.

Back at the hospital, the situation had deteriorated. Patients were now waiting outside. Thief insisted on going into the ward to find her mother. She weaved between the legs of nurses and doctors bent over coughing patients. She found her, not working, but being tended to by another nurse.

“Mamma! What’s wrong?”

Mamma waved her away while coughing. “Go! Now! We’re isolating the whole hospital. I’m in quarantine. Don’t worry, we’ll all take care of each other.”

“But…”

“Go, Sarah!”

Thief left, with Emily in tow. She’d never heard Mamma shout with such force.

“Shit, Em. This thing is happening so fast. She was fine this morning.” Thief rubbed at her wet eyes.

Emily had nothing to say, but followed her friend out of the hospital

They passed a council member chatting to a stallholder.

“The Doctor now says it’s airborne. Seems everyone’s got masks already, so that’s good.”

“Thanks to us.” Emily whispered.

Thief walked Emily home, to discover they had admitted her friend’s father with symptoms. He hadn’t even made it to the end of his shift in hydroponics. Emily’s mother paced in front of their living quarters, waiting for news.

“Sarah, do you know anything? What did your mother say?”

“Sorry, she couldn’t say anything much. Only that the hospital was in quarantine. I’m sure they’ll take good care of Em’s dad though.”

Thief felt like she’d aged a year in one day. The weight of recent events bore down on her shoulders. She accepted an invitation to stay the night, and the three spent the evening waiting and worrying. Emily and Thief curled up together in Emily’s bunk. They left the front door open, so they’d hear any commotion or announcements from the street.

Lights flickered off across town, and those not at the hospital and council emergency meetings tried to sleep.

A shy knock woke them. Hamish, the small boy from next door, stood there sniffling. He did his best to explain himself without crying.

“Sorry. Mamma and Dad are both sick. A nurse told me to go home, but it’s too scary on my own.”

And so the household grew by one more. They lowered the kitchen seats and stuffed clothes between them to bridge the gap and create a comfortable enough bed.

“It’s lucky you’re a small wee thing, Hamish.” Emily said, trying to cheer him up. “Thief and I would fall right off this!”

“I ain’t small, I’m nine!” The boy chirped up.

“Oh, right! Sorry Mister!”

Later in bed, Thief whispered to her friend, “You have a way with kids. Maybe you’ll have your own before me”. Her reply was a punch on the arm.