She noticed that more people were wearing masks that day. It had been a few days since she had been out. There was a line outside the new Food Emporium she hadn’t noticed, being surprised when the automatic door hadn’t opened for her, and she was directed to the end of it, where people were spaced at about six to ten feet apart.
Her scarf kept falling away from her face, no matter how well she thought she stuffed back into her coat collar, which was a relief, because it made her feel as though she was smothering, and the heat from her breath was stifling.
It was a lot better than the pandemic horror movies, where sudden depopulations sent civilization reeling into utter anarchy. This was merely a cold with teeth. Yes, it killed more people than it should, and put large numbers of people in the hospital, but it wasn’t science fiction.
Granted, it was scary enough just as it was, and Sarah knew she was of a “vulnerable age,” though she felt as strong as she ever was, and could run a mile in under ten minutes.
There was one movie she remembered from when she was a kid. A virus, instead of making people sick, made the healthier and happier, made them more inspired and loving.
However, the fallout was that fewer people were smoking tobacco, purchasing alcoholic beverages, prescription medications and expensive entertainments of all sorts. And fewer people worried about their investments, things like retirement, and so they quit their jobs so they could spend more time with others.
Of course, because of those things, it was a virus that threatened the financial environment, so it had to be cured as well. And when it was, people went back to their old sorry selves, just like old times.