Work Text:
Just when she was getting ready to go out for the weekly shopping, her beloved mother had the great idea of showing her a video, shared through the building's net, in which it appeared, in a montage, what was happening in a city in a neighboring country. People were dropping like flies in the street –one moment they sold masks and the next they fainted– others left corpses wrapped in sheets or plastic in the middle of the road –some were set on fire– corpses piled up in trucks, vultures flying overhead a building –maybe a hospital. Like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie, only the zombies were missing.
Despite being the third time that she went out since the quarantine decree due to the pandemic by COVID-19, and knowing very well the security protocol to avoid the infection, the images affected her. It was one thing to see the numbers of affected and deceased on the other side of the world, quite another to feel the threat around the corner. This is why, before opening the door to the apartment, she had tachycardia and was hyperventilating, resulting in foggy lenses due to the mask.
After calming down as best she could, reviewing in her mind the route and the list of what she needed to buy, she cleaned her glasses, adjusted her mask, and, with the shopping bag on her shoulder, opened the door, thus beginning her particular odyssey.
As it was becoming routine, she walked down the middle of the hall and, coming down the stairs, didn't touch the railing or the wall. She couldn't help feeling like a character in those video games where obstacles are avoided.
The security guard on duty, the first person on her way, wore the mask as a hat. Then, after crossing the avenue, she saw a young man jogging down the sidewalk she had left half a minute earlier, without a mask or gloves.
Paranoia began to show its ugly face.
Already in the small shopping center –thank heaven it was located diagonally to her residential complex–, she went to her first stop, dodging any person she found. Once in the market and before letting her in, the guard sprayed antibacterial on her hands and another employee measured her temperature with a scanner. She found as much as she could from the limited selection because, due to restrictions on the movement of vehicles, there was no normal distribution of products. Then, when she was going to the register, she saw a rather gaunt old woman –without a mask– enter, holding hands with two children between four and six years old –with masks.
On the way she had seen few people, some were wearing masks and others weren't. Despite this, the thoughtless attitude of the lady was too much for the young woman, she could not believe her eyes. What the authorities highlighted most was the severity of the virus for the elderly, and even though children were not affected, they were the best transmitters; furthermore, the isolation of both age ranges was insisted upon. However, this damned lady was pacing like nothing, while a contagious disease was causing mayhem left and right –in an extreme case it could send her to the grave at any moment. Luckily, the young woman did not suffer from blood pressure, otherwise, it would have reached the ceiling due to concern for the health and safety of the children, put at risk at the hands of their irresponsible grandmother.
Nonetheless, the lady's recklessness seemed unlimited as she approached the cashier, who was serving a customer, and ignoring the minimum distance required, leaned in to ask her something. Then she left without buying anything.
The next stop was a small bodega, run by a nice Asian lady who kept the security protocol to the letter. There she acquired what she did not find in the first establishment.
On the other hand, at the butcher's, one of the employees used the mask as a necklace and another had his nose bare. She knew how annoying the garment was, she only noticed how often she touched her face when wearing it for the first time, but it was the only way to protect themselves while there was no vaccine. Nerves on edge and keeping her distance, she made her order, canceled, and left with her heart in her mouth.
One more step and she could go home.
The last place was a mini-market, opened a short time ago. She did not like to go there because they had no capacity control and let in regardless of whether the customer was wearing a mask or not, they only cared about selling; moreover, taking advantage of the crisis, they had gone a bit crazy with the prices. Yet, her mother had craved to eat lentils and that was the only place where they sold them, she had no choice.
As she approached the entrance to the establishment, the young woman saw the freaking old lady enter with the two little children. So, she decided to wait until she lost sight of her inside the place. They sprayed her hands with antibacterial and received her shopping bag –the clerk at the entrance had his nose uncovered. She walked straight to where she knew the lentils were and had to wait to be attended to as they sold the beans in bulk.
On her few outings or when looking at people on the street from the window, she had noticed that the general public found it very difficult to understand the concept of the minimum safe distance. She experienced this circumstance twice in less than five minutes.
First, a woman approached her, less than a foot away even though the corridor was wide and deserted, to comment on the price of a product. Then, while the clerk weighed the lentils and put the price tag on the package, an elderly man stood right behind her, despite there being enough space in front of the counter, and instead of waiting thirty seconds for the salesperson to be unoccupied, asked him the price of a green tea, speaking over the young woman's shoulder. She sneezed –she could swear with her right hand on the Bible that she didn't do it on purpose, her nerves got the better of her. All in all, it worked like magic, the old man vanished.
Fortunately, both examples of superior intelligence wore masks, otherwise, the young woman would have run off like a bat out of hell.
She returned to the residential complex walking as quickly as possible, despite the stuffed shopping bag, longing for the protection of the walls of her home.
However, as if the stress of the situation had not been enough, once inside the facilities, she found another obstacle. In the middle of the road to her tower was a neighbor, no more and no less than one who liked to gossip and, on top, thought that the epidemic was a government lie, a conspiracy to hide something. The lady was without a mask, and she was talking to the security guard –this time the mask served as a necklace–, standing very close to the man as if they were sharing a secret. When he saw her, the lady could think of nothing else than to approach her. At this point, the young woman did not mind appearing rude, she nodded to her in greeting, dodged her, and continued on her way, almost jogging.
When she finally got to her apartment, nerves made it difficult for her to insert the key in the lock, and was about to kick the door for her mother to open, but succeeded after a couple of frustrating attempts.
She breathed normally again after the door was closed behind her.