C3 Red barracks
Inside the gate they were sprayed with a clear and totally odorless liquid. Only then did the second inner door open and they entered some kind of changing room, where a man in a yellow coverall was waiting for them already.
He advised them to take off their clothes and to place them in one of the empty lockers. Markus was more than embarrassed by this situation.
First of all he only changed unwillingly in front of strangers. Besides that he became aware that had not seen Sabine naked in all those years. Not that he hadn‘t imagined it before, maybe even had wished for it. But it had never happened. It would have been some kind of crossing the line – a breaking of the many tiny rules. Those rules had put in place for interacting with each other, which would now in this situation, or even in a couple of days, would turn out to have been a mistake.
He noticed that Sabine was hesitating as well, only starting to undress when the coverall-wearing man demanded it again. Turned away from each other and with flushed faces they took off their dirty clothes, which smelled of sweat and wet forest soil. The “coverall” watched them emotionless and waited for them to be done.
Then he started to spray them with another liquid that was prickling on their skin. Trapped in this more than embarrassing situation they were not even allowed to cover up their private parts. No, instead they had to spin around a couple of times with their arms raised up in order for the guy to moisten every part of their unwashed bodies with the stuff from the tank on his back.
They could not help but throw embarrassed looks at each other, every time their position enabled them to do so. Again Markus asked himself in secret, what would have become of them, if they had not imposed those rules on themselves, but he could not deepen those thoughts, because the “coverall” was finally finished.
They were allowed to slip into the light-green, knee-long hospital shirts, which were lying ready for them in the lockers beside the disposable sandals.
“We‘re going to clean your personal belongings and we‘ll bring them to the green barracks. You may enter the medical area now”, the man‘s emotionless, rubber-like voice bleated at them both.
This time they complied without resistance, entering the inner area through the door. Why was Sabine thinking all the time about the fact that the human dignity was defined as untouchable within the German Constitution?
She felt hurt and exposed. And that was a circumstance she hated profoundly and which she for sure would not endure a second time. The medical area was, in comparison to the rather dark disinfection area, almost too brightly lit.
Furthermore, everything was white which intensified the bright light beams. They painfully shut their eyes, but it still took some time until they were able to see normally. A nurse wearing a uniform and a mask hung a plastic envelope around their necks, which contained a red card with their personal data. That was what they probably went through their papers for.
The medical area was divided into several examining areas, which were separated from each other through moveable dividing walls. There was a sickbed in every one of them, as well as a little aluminum container, containing the necessary equipment to conduct the necessary examinations. The whole thing was completed with a mobile water- and disinfection station. In the middle between the examination zones was an aisle, about three meters wide. Relieved Sabine noticed that at least in here they paid attention to a separation of genders, because the left side was marked with the symbol for female and the right one with the symbol for male. Besides the medical staff some armed soldiers were present in this zone as well. The omnipresent, penetrating disinfection smell was expanding inside their noses, causing an unpleasant sensation.
Just when their eyes had adjusted to the brightness, they were let by the nurses to vacant examination zones. Sabine to the left, Markus to the right. Sabine tried to radiate confidence with an uncertain smile, but her glance reached Markus more like scared uncertainty.
Markus sat down on the sickbed and waited, while the nurse turned her back on him to write something on the red card, which she had extracted from the envelope around his neck. He could even hear the scratching sound of the pen on the rough paper.
“I‘ll take a blood sample from the crook of your arm. Are you a bleeder or do you normally have any problems with this procedure?”
Markus shook his head. “Not that I know off.” He felt the penetration of the needle shortly after. His veins lay on top and were well visible, however the nurse had to try three times before she succeeded.
“I‘m sorry, but it‘s not that easy if you have to wear those stupid gloves while doing this.”
He just shrugged with his shoulders, looking at the nurse with a blank stare. He had always hated needles and the feeling of sensing their point under his skin, moving back and forth in search of a vein.
“What‘s happening with the blood now?”
The nurse was busy inscribing the three tubes filled with dark red liquid. “We‘ll run some tests in order to determine if there are any pathogens in your blood. In addition, I‘m going to take a hair sample, some saliva, a skin swab and a urine sample. After that a doctor will answer your questions.”
Again he could do nothing more than to nod and silently go through with everything else. He could not shake the feeling that the doctors’ themselves were clueless, trying to find, with the help of various tests, some kind of virus, germs or anything else, which could be connected with this weird flu. Finally the nurse pressed a little cup with a red lid in his hand with a compassionate smile.
“I don’t have to fill it in here, right?”
“No, no worries. There‘s a toilet at the end of this aisle. A soldier will accompany you and he‘ll take the sample afterwards.”
That was not too inconvenient, because he had to pee the whole time already anyways. So he willingly followed the soldier and went straight to the so called toilet, where he had to notice disillusioned, that it was a camping toilet, which had been simply placed between the dividing walls. Markus spared himself a look into the hole underneath the seat and hurried along with what he had to do. Afterwards, he gave the filled up container to the soldier, who pointed towards a seating area made out of simple wood benches.
“Wait here. You will be called as soon as a doctor is available. But it can take a while.” With that the soldier turned around and left.
There even was a pathetic Christmas tree between the benches, on which tiny glistering lights were dangling and Markus remembered that he, too, still had to buy a tree, once he was back home, because it was again his job this year, as well as the decoration of it on the morning of the 24th of December. He rejected this thought again right away because he knew already that this was not going to happen this year.
There were more dividing walls behind the waiting area, where Markus suspected the doctors. There was nobody in the waiting area besides a blond girl of about five years of age with bright eyes. Not feeling social, especially with children, Markus tapped some lukewarm coffee out of a banged up thermo can, sat himself down on one of the benches and grabbed a well-used magazine about off-road vehicles rather than say anything.
He sipped his coffee, which was so hot that the tip of his tongue went numb because of it. Presumably this coffee had been in this canister since this facility had been opened and it was endlessly bitter.
Apparently the little girl seemed to have fewer problems with that. She was sitting on the bench opposite his, drawing something roughly resembling a mermaid onto a turned over desk pad with some colored pencils. She must have been doing this for quite awhile already, because there was a respectable pile of sheets on the floor beside her.
Markus actually did like children a lot, even when he was not able to act to enthusiastically about them like most grownups were when they saw children. He did not stoop down to stupid baby talk and he did not try to show children what he wanted by making weird looking gestures. He rather appreciated them because of their honesty and their ability to still see things to which most grownups have become blind.
And as he himself had been spending his whole life in some kind of wonderland, he preferred to build it up for children rather than tear it down.
Maybe that had been the reason why his marriage did not work out and why his ex-wife was trying by all means to keep their daughter away from him. Rather successfully, which he had to admit, because by now their mutual contact was limited to the collection of presents on Christmas, Easter and Birthdays.
Sure, there had been an insurmountable rift between them right from the beginning. She was the realist; he was the dreamer. Neither of them had willing to give up his or her life for the other or at least to change enough in order for them to have been able to live together.
He did not even know anymore why they had gotten married and had a child. And so, at the end of all of this, he now stood silently paying like a bad father figure on the sidelines, having to watch his daughter calling some other man “daddy”. A knife to one’s gut seemed more pleasant in comparison.
He did not even have her phone number because she preferred to call him and otherwise she did not want to disturbed. The only thing left was the concern for his daughter and the hope that maybe she would think of him if she needed help. Deep in thought he must have been sitting there for awhile, starring at the child. This had not gone unnoticed by the girl.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she wanted to know.
Markus flinched, tumbling back to the here and now. His daughter’s image faded, making space for reality.
“What?”
“I asked why you’re staring at me. You don‘t do that. And you don‘t answer with What!”
“I’m sorry, but I had to think of my daughter when I saw you drawing like that.”
“But you don’t have a daughter. You’re here all by yourself.”
Markus leaned back, swallowing hard on the lump in his throat.
“I think you’re maybe right. I used to have a daughter once, though. A girl, just like you.”
Now the girl put the pencil down, looking at him alert. “Oh, what happened to her? Is she in heaven as well, like my parents?”
Frightened he shook his head. “No, I hope not. Who has brought you here then?”
“Oh, the soldiers did. They are quite nice. My parents had packed a little bag for me and had sent me to church, before they flew to heaven. But there was nobody there anymore either, so I just waited in front of the church.”
“Were your parents sick?”
“Yes, big time, they had to cough and sneeze all the time. Mum was so sick that she did not even come out of the bedroom anymore.
And daddy had those weird looking eyes already.” Markus exhaled, he had to lean back. This was rough to hear. Apparently the parents had known what was about to happen and therefore tried to at least safe the child. How incredibly lucky this child had been.
“I’m Markus by the way and what’s your name?”
“Marie.”
Tired he looked at the child a little more closely. “Has the doctor already told you what will happen next?”
She shook her head and grabbed a light-green colored pencil.
“Yes, a really nice nurse will be coming soon to bring me to the green barracks where I`m supposed to stay for now. I like green.”
He was just about to ask another question when the curtain of the doctor’s office in the front opened up and his name was called. Passing the girl, he nodded towards her. “Stay brave and everything will be just fine!”
The few meters towards the doctor felt like a dead man’s walk, like the anticipation of a cancer patient for the deadly diagnosis because his levels had gone up once again. The doctor was wearing one of these protective suits as well and without saying anything pointed to a plastic chair which was set up before his desk. Papers were piling up on his desk, growing into three huge piles. At least the man was trying to nod to him in a friendly manner.
“Well, let us look at the results, shall we?” The so-called results fitted on one single piece of paper, on which some numbers were scribbled with a pen.
Markus shuffled nervously with his feet on the floor and folded his hands in his lap. Please let me be healthy, that was all he wanted. And let me finally drive home. The doctor put his file to the side.
“The results don’t look that bad. Hair analysis totally fine, urine as well. Well, your blood results are a little too high, but that doesn’t necessary mean anything unusual. I’ll have you placed inside the yellow barracks for now, at least until all your results are in, because we only made a quick test here. If nothing changes with your condition within the next three days, we’ll transfer you to the green barracks.”
With that he closed his file.
Wait a minute, what was that all about. Yellow zone, three days wait…
Markus noticed that he still had a lot of questions and decided that it was about time to finally get some answers. “Doctor, what was your name again?”
“Schneider.”
“Right, so Doctor Schneider, It’s impossible for me to stay three days, and that’s something, you should know.”
The doctor was annoyed right away, looking up to him. “Really and why’s that?”
Markus was shaking his head. “I have to go home as fast as possible. My wife is waiting for me there. She’s alone and I’m really worried about her. Could you not simply give me some kind of injection and then I’m good to go?”
Now it was the doctor’s turn to shake his head with almost amused gestures. “An injection? Do you honestly believe that we’ll get out of this mess with a simple injection? No, certainly not. I truly believe that you’re absolutely clueless about what is happening out there right now.”
With that, he threw he Markus’ file on top of the pile in the middle. Markus felt how his blood got hotter, rising to his head.
Regardless he tried to continue speaking in a calm tone.
“Well then clarify things for me, here and now. I have a right to know.”
The doctor leaned forward slowly. If he had worn glasses he would have pushed them up to emphasize his gesture. “Clarify things for you. As you wish. Out there, that is outside of the security fence, the world is going under right now. We’re losing one city after another to this sickness. People are dying in the thousands and so far we have not even discovered a rudimental antidote.”
“Whoever tries to escape by highway or autobahn is stuck in traffic only after a few meters without any chance moving forward. And the best part is that this sickness has spread over all of Europe by now. So we’re dealing with a full-grown pandemic. That’s how it is and nothing less!”
As if he had just finished some heavy work, the doctor let himself fall back in his chair, exhaling loudly.
Markus was stunned. Until now he had been under the impression that this thing was locally restricted but Doctor Schneider had effectively convinced him otherwise. Thousand of thoughts were running through his mind, causing a steadily growing white noise. He needed to have clarity about how things looked back home.
“Listen, I have to go home, by all means necessary. Is it really that bad everywhere in Germany? What’s with the area around Mannheim and Ludwigshafen, do you maybe know anything about that, hm?”
His counterpart shrugged his shoulders. “How should I know that? I don’t want to give you any false hope because the situation is changing every few hours. What I know is that there was a restricting line, at least until yesterday, which was expanding south of Frankfurt through the entire country.”
“But if this is still the case now, hm, I don’t know. At least there is still a healthy part of this country, from what I know. And that part is in the south. And now I have to take care of my other patients.”
He stood up demonstratively pointing with his hand to the exit; there was hardly any clearer request to leave.
Markus was unable anyways to offer any resistance. His thoughts were to bewildered. As if somebody had pulled away the rug from under his feet. Confused he took his old place in the waiting area. The girl was there, too. And Sabine, who was smiling at him exhausted.
“What’s new? Markus? Are you still with us?”
He had to take a few breaths first. In order to not have to talk he nipped on his meanwhile ice-cold coffee. Then he looked up at Sabine, her eyes widening in surprise. He apparently gave a miserable image, white as the wall and how he was holding his cup with trembling hands.
“Spill it, what’s going on, damn it. You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”
Markus was so incredibly tired. He just wanted to go to sleep right away. The last minutes had cost him all of his strength. He had no resistance left. Sluggish, he looked at Sabine.
“It looks damn bad out there. Apparently the sickness has spread everywhere. There’s no getting through because, at least according to the doctor, all of Germany is affected. I am supposed to stay here at least another three days, damn it! Shit.”
Markus was slowly losing control, exhausted and strained by all of it. Tears were suddenly running out of his eyes when he thought of how Annette was all by herself at home waiting for him, while he was wasting precious time. He kept shaking his head.
“Sabine, this cannot be true. Not here, not here. What are we suppose to do now, hm?” He was exhausted, resting his head in his hands. He barely felt Sabine’s touch who took him into her arms desperately.
All too soon, she was called into the doctor’s office. She had to leave him all by himself with all his grief.
From: [email protected]
Date: 21.12.2013 11:05:22 p.m.
Subject matter: Extreme
My love,
Meanwhile, the internet only works rarely and I have the feeling that they keep shutting it down. Where are you, why have you not arrived, although you had written that you’re on your way? I hope that nothing has happened and that’s why I’m writing you another mail, maybe you’ll be able to read it.
There’s still a curfew at night. Soldiers have distributed leaflets, letting us know, that they have orders to shoot on sight, if we disobey.
In addition to that there is an obligation to wear masks over mouth and nose, if you go out. But I’m not leaving the house. My last experiences on the train had been enough.
Some guy was totally freaking out, attacking other people.
You know what, they had bitten each other until there was blood. Luckily there had been two policewomen in the train and they shocked them with a stun gun. The assailants were picked up by the military at the next stop. Everyone even had to leave the train and wait for the next one.
Everyone here behaves weird, strained and nervous. Everyone is saying something different. By the way, Facebook is not working anymore as well and all the other social networks have become silent as well.
Strange, right?
Please come home, I really really need you…
Yours Annette
