Before and After (Before and After, #1)

by Andrew Shanahan

It’s one thing to fake a smile for Brown, but she’s a dog and it’s pretty apparent that everything is not OK. It’s really very evident that everything is fucked. I’ve been processing what’s happened and discounted an array of theories that runs roughly from zombies to Godzilla. My working theory is that there is some sort of illness or virus at large. The evidence for this is that Mr Ethiss, the lady from the lift and Karl all appear to have been ill – their skin has a grey tint - and they have those red, strained eyes that look as if they’ve been swimming in a heavily chlorinated pool, or like they have really bad hayfever. That could point towards it being something airborne like a chemical or pollen, but then why isn’t everyone affected? Why don’t I have it – or is that just a temporary state of affairs? Also, if I haven’t got it, surely some other people are ok too, in which case where are they? The only broad conclusion I can draw is that something has happened to a number of people from different genders and ages that makes them physically and verbally aggressive. In short, I don’t have a clue and the places I usually look for answers are gone.