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Back At the End of Everything Save as PDF
Contents ( 46)
  3. Contents
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty-one
  25. Twenty-two
  26. Twenty-three
  27. Twenty-four
  29. Twenty-five
  30. Twenty-six
  31. Twenty-seven
  33. Twenty-eight
  34. Twenty-nine
  35. Thirty
  36. Thirty-one
  37. Thirty-two
  38. Thirty-three
  39. Thirty-four
  40. Epilogue
  41. Author’s Note
  42. Acknowledgments
  43. About the Author

WALKER: Once he what? What is going on, Mom?

WALKER: Mom?

MRS. GREEN: I’m sorry, Walker. I’ll give Tibby your love. Stay safe out there, okay? I think you might be safest of all of us now.

This phone call has been disconnected.

PLAGUE OUTBREAK AND PANIC SPREADS ACROSS THE NATION

• Following outbreaks of a virulent strain of Y. pestis in cities and counties across the nation, the president calls for a calm and measured response.

• The rapid spread of the disease has caused governors in at least half the affected states to declare a state of emergency and institute harsh lockdown measures.

• Government agencies are investigating the possibility of bioterrorism or other forms of chemical warfare, though without any proof so far.

What started with a few seemingly unrelated cases of pneumonia shortly before Thanksgiving has devolved into a rapidly spreading new disease. In the past week alone, more than 275,000 cases have been counted, with nearly 80,000 deaths.

While the first death was confirmed ten days ago, scientists theorize that this new strain of Y. pestis has been in the country for at least fourteen days, with initial cases either undiagnosed or unrecognized altogether. It’s possible that initial outbreaks stem from the near invisibility of those cases or the expansiveness and virulence of initial vectors.

Unnamed sources within the CDC say they are instead working under the assumption that the index case—who is as of yet unidentified—traveled knowingly or unknowingly while infectious, with airports and other forms of transport creating a viable environment for endemic spread of the disease during the holiday rush.

What appeared to be localized outbreaks at first is now turning into uncontrollable spread in three states, with the rates of infection and death climbing exponentially in at least half a dozen others.

A presidential task force of scientists has been instated to create rapid-response alternatives for treatment, containment, and vaccination. Existing plague vaccines are available in other countries but not currently in the United States, and none have proved effective against inhalation and airborne variants of Y. pestis.

Kitchen Inventory List

• 60 cooked meals (That’s enough to keep us going for three days. I know it sounds like a lot, but there are 21 of us, and I don’t think there’ll be another food delivery anytime soon. We were supposed to get one this week, I think. I don’t expect we’ll see it now.)

• Frozen packages of meat (chicken and beef)

• 3 frozen tubs of butter

• 15 loaves of bread

• 75 eggs

• 3 bags of rice (50 lb each)

• 2 bags of potatoes (50 lb each)

• 4 bags of beans (50 lb each)

• 5 bags of flour (25 lb each)

• 1 tray with 6 cans of tuna

• 2 trays with 8 cans of green beans

• 1 tray with 8 cans of chickpeas

• 2 trays with 8 cans of carrots (Ew.)

• 1 bag of lentils

• 10 boxes of cereal