This might kill me, but the dead won’t judge me.

And Serenity doesn’t have to be alone.

“I’m not a priest,” I tell her when I dig. “Or any sort of holy person. I would be offended if you called me that. I don’t know how to commit your body to the earth or if you’d even want that. I don’t know if such a thing like life after death exists. I don’t know if there’s a God either. But I want you to know, you’ll be remembered. I’ll remember you. And I hope you find your way home.”

GOVERNORS MOBILIZE NATIONAL GUARD AS CASES CONTINUE TO RISE

• National Guard to provide lockdown support as well as mortuary affairs support across five different states.

• Mass graves and freezer trucks to provide a temporary solution in dealing with rising death toll.

• White nationalist groups have been protesting the use of lockdown measures, claiming their right to freedom supersedes others’ right to live.

With cases continuing to rise, the federal and state governments are reaching for drastic measures to restrict the community spread of the new plague as much as possible. From local stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders to mask mandates and curfews, everything is being done to keep the healthcare system from collapsing.

Governor Brooks (AR, D) stated, “The best way to keep ourselves and our fellow citizens safe in this time of uncertainty is to follow local and state guidelines as strictly as possible. I was proud to be one of the first governors to mobilize the National Guard to assist in maintaining our lockdown and curfew measures. As of today, they will also assist in recovering bodies of plague victims across the state. This is not an easy measure, but it is a necessary one.” She continued to say, “I am grateful to all of our brave soldiers who are assisting in this.”

In cities across the nation, the announcement of stricter measures led to protests by local militias, originalists, and, in some cases, churches. The vast majority of these protests have been disbanded by National Guard soldiers and local law enforcement, citing the various shelter-in-place orders.

Scientists across the nation—and, in fact, across the world—have come together virtually to discuss the possibilities of treating a multidrug-resistant illness. An insider, who wishes to remain unnamed, says that there is frustration among scientists at the lack of urgency among governments in recent years. At the same time, this insider expresses a careful optimism at the research that has been done and is sure to be continued given the current state of affairs. “Antimicrobial resistance is one of the biggest public health threats of our time. When it comes to multidrug-resistant cases of Y. pestis, we have seen hopeful results in experiments with phage therapy. With time, funds, and global collaboration, breakthroughs might finally be possible.”

An official communiqué from the presidential task force cautioned against expecting too much from these exploratory meetings. “While treatment is a crucial focus, our main concern is to find the quickest and best solution for this crisis. As such, we will keep investing heavily in developing better vaccines and researching all other avenues of containment.”