In Sickness and in Health (Mars, Part 3)

Read Part 1, Part 2

Pills. I didn’t think I’d ever be forced to eat so many pills. vitamin D pills for my bones, because there isn’t enough sunlight. In fact, there is no sunlight, not down here in the caves. On earth, we’d just eat something like oily fish or red meat, but that’s not available here. So it’s pills. For my bones and other things, they say. I must take other vitamins too, along with mineral supplements.

It’s been a month since we successfully landed on Mars and our fresh food supplies are decreasing every day. Two of the ten other ships already arrived, which is worrying. There should be five by now. Did they not make it? Did something unexpected happen to them? Are they even still alive?

But there are even more problems. Nobody is sleeping well or even enough. Everyone seems to suffer from insomnia, but there are no sleeping pills available. As a result, people are walking around like zombies, constantly tired. It’s only a matter of time until someone makes a mistake that might kill us all.

I know I’m being a bit dark. But nothing here is like I expected it to be. There are too many people, the air reeks despite being filtered constantly. It’s impossible to have a significant amount of privacy, even when I’m on the toilet or under the shower because there’s always someone waiting to be next. There are just too many people here. It’s earth all over again.

And the worst thing? I think I’m developing a cold. Ugh.

Endlessly bored, I walk through the tunnels I have to call my home. People pass me, I pass people. Neither of us pays the other a lot of attention. Why should we? There is nothing to talk about, not really. The terraforming can’t be started before the last spaceships arrive because there might be unforeseen consequences. Which consequences? No idea. They don’t explain these things to a teenager.

I sneeze and thousands of tiny droplets fly through the air. Guess I was right about the cold thing. Suddenly, the room starts spinning, forcing me to sit down. I pull my knees close to my body and clasp my hands around my face. Breathe. Just breathe.

My skin is hot, I feel like I’m burning up. Do I have a fever? A loud moan escapes my throat which attracts the attention of a passerby.

”Are you alright?” The man asks and squats down next to me.

”No, I’m feeling very sick. I think I’m going to …” I can’t finish my sentence because I throw up over the man’s shoes. He tries to move away, but it’s too late.

”That’s disgusting”, he calls out. Wow. Thanks. Very compassionate of you.

”I think I need a doctor”, I whisper. There is a second wave of nausea coming, I can feel it. ”Please, quickly.”

The man seems very indecisive and more worried about his shoes than about me. Asshole.

”PLEASE!” I plead as loudly as possible which catches the attention of another man.

”What are you doing? Why are you not helping that girl?” He asks. Then he bends over and lifts me up, bridal style. Feeling very weak, I lean my head against his chest. Please don’t let me throw up on him too. I don’t want him to drop me.

”She vomited on my shoes!” The other man complains.

”So? No reason to let her sit there. She’s obviously sick”, my personal hero replies. Then he turns away from the other man and carries me towards the medical room.

”It’ll be okay. I’m Frank, what is your name?” The man asks.

”Hannah”, I whisper.

”You’ll be fine, Hannah. The doctor will take care of you.”

We arrive at the medical room and Frank places me on one of the beds. Only moments later, the doctor rushes over. He starts checking my temperature, blood pressure and other things while Frank explains what happens. Finally, he inserts an IV needle into my arm.

”This will keep you hydrated”, he explains. ”I also added something against nausea, but that will make you sleepy. Don’t fight it, sleep is exactly what you need right now. You have a very bad case of the flu, it seems.”

Slowly, I doze off.

Violent coughing wakes me up. But I’m not the one coughing. Disoriented, I open my eyes and look around. The former almost empty room is filled with people lying on beds which are pushed together as close as possible, to preserve space. I count at least thirty people. What the hell?

”Honey! You’re awake!” The sound of my mom’s voice makes me turn my head to the side. There she is, sitting on a chair, a face mask covering her mouth and nose.

”Mom? What is going on?” I ask.

”There has been a big outbreak of the flu”, she explains. ”On earth, it wouldn’t be a problem. But being in space has weakened everyone’s immune system. At the same time, the flu virus seems to have mutated a bit, probably because of the radiation. It’s spreading extremely fast, what you see here isn’t even a quarter of the sick people.”

I’m feeling nauseous again, but it’s not because of the flu this time. What my mom is describing sounds like an epidemic.

”Aren’t the air filters supposed to take care of this?”

”Air filters can’t filter out everything, it seems.” I can’t completely see my mom’s frown because of the facemask, but her eyebrows convey her emotions perfectly.

A noise catches our attention. People screaming. It’s coming from outside the room. And it’s coming closer.

With a loud bang, the metal door is thrown open and clashes against the wall. A group of maybe twenty people is slowly pouring into the room. They’re carrying knives and ropes. What is going on?

”Everyone who isn’t sick should go now”, a woman proclaims. ”It’s for your own safety.”

”What’s with the patients?” My mom asks.

”They pose a danger to us all. We will get rid of them. They can’t spread the disease when they’re outside.”

Wait, what? Is this woman really planning to throw us out because we have the flu?!

”Are you completely insane?” The doctor chimes in. ”These are my patients. They’re not going anywhere.”

”I disagree. We’re all going to die if we don’t purge this disease. Move aside, doctor. You’re too valuable, I’d hate to kill you.”

”You’re not going to lay a hand on these people. Only over my dead body”, the doctor says, his voice as cold as ice.

”So be it”, says the woman.

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References:

How to get vitamin D from sunlight

Vitamin D: The “sunshine” vitamin

Microbial Creatures in Space

Don’t Sneeze in Space: When Astronauts Get Sick

Flu – Symptoms

Sleep-Wake Actigraphy and Light Exposure During Spaceflight-Long

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