The Oasis of Filth

They kept us locked in walled cities, away from the unlucky people who got infected.

I suppose that made us the lucky ones, but for me it was a pretty tough pill to swallow. Before everything went down – before a combination of rabies and leprosy turned people into something an awful lot like zombies – I was a Maryland doctor, nearing retirement, wealthy and respected, even if I was a pompous ass. In the walled city, all of that disappeared and I had nothing. Not until Rosa showed up one day. She had dreams, making me realize that I had lost mine. If not for her, I would never have escaped. Never seen the world outside the walls. Never known hope again. But with hope came fear, and in our world, that came with death. Funny how the disease took away life, community, even civilization itself, but gave me one thing I never knew I wanted: family. Still, our life was a cruel life, and it taught me one thing clearly.

We might not all get killed by this world, this disease, but there’s no way we’re all getting out alive.

Part 1: The Oasis of Filth

Two well-known diseases combined with tragic effects, plummeting the world into chaos.

Leprosy and rabies, turning people into something like zombies. I was there, and I watched it happen from the very beginning. But this wasn’t the undead, and the infected weren’t monsters. They were people. People who would feed and spread the disease. It was all too real. The best advice? Stay clean, stay alive.

Before it all happened, I was a doctor in the Maryland suburbs, well into my sixties, practically a king in my community. After? A nobody. One of thousands shuffled inside the new walls of Washington, DC, a sanctuary, a place to keep the bad ones out. I figured I’d be stuck that way until I died. And then I met Rosa.

Rosa meant hope. She meant there was a chance at something better. I knew it was crazy to follow her dreams of finding an Oasis, but I had to do it. Even after how it all ended, I’d probably do it again.

Even if the world is broken beyond repair.

Part 2: The Hopeless Pastures

I didn’t care anymore, not after what happened at The Oasis… and afterward.

I just walked, not concerned if I’d live or die. Strange how things change. How a little house, a dog, and a total stranger worked their way into my heart and soul when I didn’t think I had either of those things left anymore. I thought I was too old for all of it, certainly too old to care much for my own well being. But the others? Having them around changed my outlook, made me protective.

When new dangers appeared, having friends made me truly understand one thing: fear.

Part 3: From Blood Reborn

What the hell did I know about leading, about trying to save people?

I used to think I was saving people, before, back when I was a suburban doctor. That was nothing. The disease that made people into something like zombies didn’t just take away the lives of the infected, it took away everything – family, community, civilization itself. How could I save people from that? But the younger ones looked up to me in some weird way, given that I was well past my sixtieth birthday. Maybe they thought it made me wise. And maybe it did, because I knew one thing as clear as day.

We might not all get killed by this world, this disease, but there’s no way we’re all getting out alive.