The End of Men

by Christina Sweeney-Baird

There are three different ways that a vaccine against a virus can be created. Firstly, you can change the genes of the virus so that it replicates poorly. Secondly, you can destroy the genes of the virus so that it doesn’t replicate at all. Thirdly, you can use a part of the virus but not all of it, which means that it can’t replicate.

“The virus causes a massive spike of white blood cells. It mimics an extreme form of leukemia. That’s why it kills you so quickly; your body can’t do anything with that number of blood cells.”

“You know, the world doesn’t have to remember you for you to matter. We were loved by those we loved. Not everyone can say that,” she tells me softly. No, I don’t suppose they can.

“Perhaps some traumas are too overwhelming to recover from.” On an individual and societal level, perhaps recovery is too great a goal. We can never regain what we have lost and we must accept that, mourn that, grieve what cannot be, and find a new way to exist.