Sarah had never been this scared in her life before and that was saying something. She hadn’t been this scared when she was 19 years old and left her home in the middle of the night before she was forced to marry a man almost three times her age becoming his fourth wife. She hadn’t been this scared when she got into the car with the man who had helped her escape the community where her family and so many others who belonged to their “faith” lived.
She hadn’t been this afraid when she learned how the real modern world worked, she wasn’t this scared when she wore jeans for the first time or had her hair cut for the first time in years. She hadn’t been this scared when she got her first job and made enough money to live in an apartment. She hadn’t been this scared when she remembered all the sermons about how those who left the faith and where inmodest and impure would be doomed to hell for all time.
She hadn’t been this scared the time she thought she saw her father looking for her, was he trying to kidnap her and force her back into the faith. She hadn’t been as scared as she walked past him, him not recognizing her in make up and cloths which would have gotten her a beating just to looking at back home.
She hadn’t been this scared when she had sex for the first time, she hadn’t been this scared the moment she found out that the birth control had failed and a one-night stand meant she was with child.
She hadn’t been this scared when she gave birth or the first couple of months as a single mother in a tiny apartment working nights to pay the rent while going to school to better herself and her future.
“Miss Sarah Heaton…” said a nurse as Sarah sat up in the bed, the small crib beside her bed wasn’t the one she had put together for her son but they would never see that again.
“How are we doing today?” inquired the nurse
“Thirsty.” answered Sarah her throat was dry.
“A sign you are still in stage 1 of the change but that can change at any moment.” Explained the nurse as she handed a bottle of green liquid, it wasn’t water but a type of seaweed which was made into a drink. It was what merpeople drank instead of water. It tasted horrible to her the 1st day but each day she liked it more and more, a sign that her changes where advancing.
“Well let’s check your son…” said the nurse as she looked over the four month year old boy, he was showing no signs of change but that was hard to tell on a baby but like her he had tested positive for the virus. He was changing as well.
“Alright, ring me if you need anything and I will come by later.” Said the nurse as she left the room. The room was basically a makeshift hospital room located near enough to the ocean to get those who transformed all the way to the ocean within 10 minutes. So far only she and her son had this room but if the news was anything to go off, the number of people transforming was only rising so she may have a roommate soon.