The Light Side of Death

'I have an idea baby. I think you and i should get back to the hospital and prepare enough of the anti-virus for the satellite before it gets here. Sarah and Janet are busy guiding it down manually.' Angela said.

'I think it's a brilliant idea. We will have to make a stronger dose that can be diluted with the rain water.' I said looking at Angela then returned my attention to misses Taylor. 'Misses Taylor would you mind coming in to the hospital with me tomorrow? I would just like to do some tests to see if there are any ailments hiding in your body. If i am correct the anti-virus should have removed anything of that sort by now.'

'I would be happy to my dear. I was diagnosed with brain cancer three years ago. I didn't want to use that other quack's so called cure. I knew i recognised you from somewhere. I was there at your office listening to you complain about it not being ready then heard them fire you. So when you left, i left.' Misses Taylor smiled widely.

'I had no idea anyone heard that. I should have gone to the newspapers with this.' I still felt a bit guilty about it.

'Don't blame yourself dear. You have been doing your best since then to fix their mistake and by the looks of things you are doing a great job at it.' The words misses Taylor spoke gave me new hope.

'I guess we should get going babe. We just have to tell Janet about the plan first. Maybe Janet and Sarah should come with us?' I said standing up from the table.

'I guess so. The autopilot of the satellite was damaged in mid-air by a crashing bird. Janet said she can only fix it on the ground so i think she can land it at the hospital then fix it there while we're busy with the anti-virus.'

'Good idea.'

Angela and i went to the lounge area to talk to Janet and Sarah. We found them hard at work on the laptops. Janet was guiding the satellite on one laptop while Sarah was navigating from the other laptop using the camera on screen to see where they were guiding the satellite.

I leaned toward Angela to whisper in her ear. 'They look so cute together, don't you think?'

Angela looked at me surprised. 'How did you know that there is something between them?'

'I can see it on their faces babe and in the way they steel glances at each other every few seconds.' I said looking at them smiling.

Without Janet and Sarah noticing Angela and me in the lounge they stole glances once more. They caught each other's gaze and held it there for a few seconds.

I pretended to clear my throat, which made both of them jump in their seats. They looked at the two of us then both blushed crimson.

'How is the satellite doing?' I asked them while walking over.

'Hum... it's a bit difficult to guide it with a damaged autopilot box but we are getting there. I bypassed that box to feed all power to the manual box.' Janet said clearing her throat.

Sarah looked up at Angela still shocked at their sudden presence in the lounge.

'Don't you think that it would be easier if we do all this work at the hospital? We can land it there in the parking lot where you can fix it. Angela and i will prepare the anti-virus and a delivery system for it.' I said leaning on Janet's desk.

'You know what? That does sound like a good idea. I will need the open space to land and fix it anyway. We have got the satellite on a steady coarse heading to this area, but we will have to move quickly.' Janet said standing up from her seat gathering the laptops.

'Sarah, whatever you do don't close the laptops. Keep them open. I need to gather my tools so we can leave.' Janet said while heading to her bedroom.

I helped Sarah take the laptops to the hummer then headed back in the house to the kitchen. Angela went to Janet's room. She found Janet looking at the photograph of Jason.

'Janet?' Angela said to get her attention.

Janet spun around with tears in her eyes. She hasn't looked at that photograph in a long time. Looking up at Angela, Janet dried her eyes.

'Yes?' Janet said with a shaky voice.

'I am very sorry about last night. I don't know what came over me. I should have been more considerate.' Angela said in an apologetic tone.

'Hum... no it's alright. I understand you were just looking out for Sarah. That's what mothers do. It's our curse and gift.' Janet said sniffing.

'Yes i know exactly what you mean by that.' Angela walked over to Janet and gave her a hug.

Stepping back from Angela, Janet looked at her quizzically.

'I take it you know about Sarah and me?' Janet asked almost in a whisper.

Angela cocked her head to the side raising an eyebrow. 'Of course i know. She told me last night that she has feelings for you. I encouraged her to do something about it. I will never keep Sarah away from friends. She never had friends.'

'I would just like you to know that i would never hurt her in any way and i would never touch her inappropriately while under age. I told her that i will wait and she agreed.' Janet said picking up her toolkit.

'I figured that much. I wasn't worried about Sarah or you doing anything. I was more worried about her getting hurt but i can see that you are an honest and caring person. I can also see that you are an old fashioned woman that would keep her word. Sarah is fifteen; i think she is old enough to do as she pleases. I won't stand in the way of her being happy.'

After a moment of silence Angela and Janet walked to the kitchen.

'Mom, will you be alright here by yourself?' Janet asked her with a concerned look.

'Yes i will be fine my girl. You go ant take care of your business.' Misses Taylor said while busy in the kitchen.

'Okay then i will see you later tonight.' Janet said planting a kiss on her mother's cheek.

Janet left the house with Angela and me following. It turns out that misses Taylor had Janet when she was in her mid-thirties, which would explain the age difference between them. Janet really was her miracle baby. Janet had Jason just after she turned sixteen. Janet was raped by a burglar and couldn't get it over her heart to terminate the pregnancy. She fell in love with the baby growing inside her. At the time the police were busy protecting the town from zombies, so they never found the burglar.

We were all talking about what to do on our short drive to the hospital. Janet and Sarah were sitting in the back watching the progress of the satellite. I pulled into the parking lot close to the entrance. Angela and i went inside while Sarah and Janet stayed outside guiding the satellite.

Inside my lab i got work on the anti-virus making a stronger dose while Angela made a delivery system using the plans of the satellite Janet gave her as a guide line. Once back in the air the satellite will release concentrated amounts of the anti-virus when it senses rain. The concentrated amounts will allow the whole earth to receive the anti-virus.

The dose of the anti-virus i am working on is thicker.

Twelve hours has passed since we got busy working. We were all growing tired and exhausted. After finishing the delivery system Angela went to get us all some food and something to drink.

I sat outside with the anti-virus and delivery system in my hands. I was sitting in the back of the hummer with my legs hanging out. Janet and Sarah sat next to me busy on the laptops as usual.

'How is your head feeling Janet?' Sarah asked her looking very concerned.

'Oh, it's not that bad. I just have a throbbing headache. Nothing an aspirin can't fix. It could have been worse if you weren't there.' Janet said smiling lightly at Sarah.

The satellite was a few thousand feet away now. Angela is on her way back with food and drinks. I couldn't help but think about; if all this didn't happen... would i have met Angela? Would i have remained alone for the rest of my life? Would i have found my happiness? I think these are questions we all ask ourselves. Things happen for a reason and we learn to deal with it in our own way. Man's destiny is set by their own hands by what they do. The earth has faced a lot through human cruelty through the years. Still the earth will live longer than any human being will.

The four of us spent the rest of the late afternoon just waiting for this day to end. We grew tired as the satellites distance grew closer and closer. A beeping sound resonated from the laptops sitting in the back of the hummer. The four of us were standing nearby talking about life and its possibilities. Janet and Sarah rushed to the laptops.

'The satellite is here.' Janet said looking up at the night sky.

A small flickering light flashed its arrival a few feet away from us. Janet guided the small satellite gently down to a steady landing in the parking lot. Sarah then grabbed Janet's toolkit with Janet following to repair the auto pilot and program the metre wide satellite to disperse the anti-virus.

Angela and i carried the delivery system with the anti-virus in it over and placed it inside the satellite. We then stepped back and left Sarah and Janet to finish their repairing.

After a while Sarah returned to the laptops leaving Janet to finish up. Janet joined her in a few minutes then started the satellites engines.

'Okay guys, this is it. It will take the satellite much less time to reach its destination on take-off then when landing. So step back. I'm switching the boosters on.' Janet said while typing a command on her laptop.

The satellite started lifting up from the ground slow at first then shot straight up in the air with more speed. We all stood there watching as the flames disappeared into the darkness.

'Once it reaches its appropriate level the engine will switch off by itself. After that the rest would be up to mother nature.' Janet explained.

'Okay, so that is it. Now we wait.' Angela said turning toward the three of us.

'Yip, the satellite sends rain alerts to my laptop so we will know when it's going to rain.'

Over the next few days the sky grew darker and darker with rain clouds. Within a month it had rained all over the earth so far. The anti-virus had worked. Listening to reports over the radio station, the people thought of it as a miracle because the rain was dark purple in colour. The purple rain cured all the infected victims of the virus and cured sick people of their ailments, which i proved by doing tests with misses Taylor. Three weeks before. No-one except for the five of us knew that Sarah and i came up with the anti-virus.

There were also reports of groups trying to release the virus again but failed because of our formula. After three more years Sarah and Janet moved in together happier than ever before. Misses Taylor eventually died of old age. Angela and i lived happily together for the rest of our days. As for the rest of the earth's population... who knows?

I have imagined this disaster as being a dark tunnel in which all of humanity was trapped of our own doing. The survivors travelled through that dark place by standing together to the very end eventually reaching...

The light at the end of the tunnel.