TO DIE, TO SLEEP, NO MORE,
by Erica RuppertReports of a new plague had begun a little less than a year before, scattered through Europe and Asia. And then like a wave crashing, the sickness was everywhere. Travel bans and quarantines didn’t stop it. Health care systems collapsed as it swept through, overwhelmed by its ferocity.
It started with a sudden fever, a wracking wet cough. Then came a searing headache, bloodshot eyes, cramps, hemorrhage, organ failure. The CDC said it was certainly transmitted by close contact, but it had spread to so many, so fast, it must also be airborne. So far, it had killed nearly eighty percent of those infected. Many people called it simply the flu, knowing it wasn’t. But it was easier than calling it a plague.
“Laura’s mother says it came from the Israe
