58. Epilogue
Epilogue
One Month Later
Elisa sips her coffee at her kitchen table as she scrolls through her phone, hopping from one app to the next.
She’s dreading the conversation with her boss she knows she must have, that she’s been putting off.
If she can’t write hard-hitting stories like she’s always wanted, she’ll need to find somewhere else to go.
Writing columns about celebrities simply doesn’t interest her.
She wants to make a difference, wants to be on the ground, exposing corrupt systems and stories of human resilience.
Already feeling dejected, she sighs and stands, putting her mug in the sink. She’s about to get dressed when her doorbell rings. Wrapping her robe tighter around her frame, she peeks through her peephole to see a delivery driver on the other side.
She pulls the door open enough to pop her head out.
“Morning,” the delivery driver says. “Just need your signature on this.”
Wracking her brain for what she must’ve ordered online, she opens the door more to sign for the mystery package and takes it from the driver.
Shutting the door with her foot, she pads back into the kitchen and places it on the table. She really can’t remember ordering anything, but it’s addressed to her. Shrugging, she gets her scissors and pulls the small box open.
Inside is a notebook.
Curiously, she lifts it, turning it over before fanning the pages out. It’s been used, with notes on nearly every page. As she flips through it quickly, a small piece of paper falls onto the table.
Her free hand picks it up and reads it over a few times, not quite understanding.
We’re trusting you to tell our story for us. Please do it justice.
-the only three left
She puts the note down and sinks into a chair, the sense that something world-altering is about to happen. Dissecting each page, she doesn’t quite understand every word, but it doesn’t matter; the story is clear.
The government and the vaccine company, pairing up to spread and study the contagious virus everyone was told was wiped out, using the small island off the coast to study it. The work to cure the people, to protect them, all ending abruptly after potential treatment was found.
Elisa’s breath stalls in her lungs as she keeps reading. She doesn’t know how to handle this sudden responsibility now on her shoulders, but she knows she must.
Finishing the last page, she closes the notebook and looks at the small note again. Whoever these three survivors are, she’ll try to do them justice.
THE END