Could it happen again?

There were many kids. All had horrible deformities… Some had tough scales emerging from their skins. Some had a third and a fourth arm developing on their ribcages… Some were too deformed to be called human, but rather a walking mesh of flesh, eyes and mouths. And there were some that looked perfectly normal, save for a glazed stare… and a tendency to copy movements and words.

All from a simple contaminated water source....

I stopped the nurse again. I remembered I had something to do. And I didn’t want to stay in that room for long.

“John Fennel? He is in room 234. It’s on the hallway left to the lift.”

I raced to the room, sincerely I didn’t want to be in the hospital anymore. But I had that one compromise to fulfil... I promised it to Anderson.

 When I got there... The sight was heart-breaking. I found John, lying in the bed, his face full of tubes, and his arm jabbed by an IV… He was conscious, as the desperate need to move his hand translated in a weak shake. His eyes were struggling to remain open... and after every blink, I could see they were frantically darting back and forth.

When he noticed me, something akin to a smile appeared on his face. “Mr.… We…st?”

“It is okay, John… You need to rest.”

“I do...t wan… rest. I’m sc…ared…” He said, struggling to get his voice out of his throat.

“I know. Botulism must be a horrible disease.”

“No! Th…e vi…sio...ns…” His voice was getting breathier by the second. The monitor besides him flared up. “D...estr..ucti...on ...Mon..st..er”

I fell silent when I heard that. A cold wave ran through my spine... 

"When did you saw that?"

“Bef…o...re thi…s...”

His lips were slowly turning blue. His eyes stopped fighting to remain open. The shaking in his hand ceased.  I just stood there… frozen… terrified. I just stood there, not wanting to believe what I heard. One doctor passed by and heard the continuous sound of a stopped heart...

I was escorted to the ground floor by the nurse I met before. Her fury at my ineptitude was showing... And I can't blame her. When I got down, everyone was surrounding a little boy.

The boy had a small radio. There was another breaking news segment.

“Scotland Yard seemingly had pinned the blame of the rising wave of attacks to a mysterious terrorist cell. According to the press statement, they have been testing toxins in the populace, making them suffer horrible hallucinations. Along with this, they had been deemed responsible for the recent disease outbreaks. Controlled distribution of food and water will begin in a few hours, along with mandatory investigations of houses and business”

When the segment was over, the room devolved into a screaming cacophony.  “What!?”; “They won’t enter my house!”; “They won’t ransack my shop!!