chapter 4 - the beginning

“We have to stay as far from people as possible. If you or I contract this virus... I don’t know what I’ll do with myself,” Isabelle said, pacing back and forth in the kitchen.

“They know very little about this disease. Maybe it only affects unhealthy people,” George suggested.

“It got Trish.”

“Well, maybe Trish’s weight gain was a coincidence.”

“We can’t risk it, George. We need to stay indoors until they find some cure or vaccine. If the effects of the virus are permanent, then our lives could be ruined.”

“Honey, calm down. We’ll be fine. I’m sure this will all work out.”

“The only things that will work out will be us when we’re fifty pounds overweight.”

George got a glass of water from the fridge. He looked in the pantry to find they were short on food.

“We need to go grocery shopping, Isabelle.”

“No! Ask someone else to buy our groceries.”

“That’s expensive and unnecessary. I’ve got an N95 mask I can wear that filters the air I breathe. I’ll wear that to the grocery store.”

Reluctantly, Isabelle let George go to the grocery store. He brought along his mask and hand sanitizer. Once he pulled up to the parking lot, he saw a line of people out the door.

“Damn... Why is there a line?”

“Sorry, ma’am but you can’t come in. Have someone else purchase your groceries for you. Next person please,” said a store employee outside the door. Next to the employee was a scale and a height measurer. George gave a confused look when he saw a woman step on to the scale, and be sent away for her weight.

“Next person please.”

“Here, let me take off my shoes,” said a clearly overweight man as he stepped on.

“Sorry sir. Your BMI of 36.8 is outside our limit. Next please!”

George, stunned at the practice, stood in line. When it was his turn, he got his height recorded and then stepped on the scale.

“185 pounds... BMI of 25.8, which is under 30, so you’re good to go.”

George stepped off the scale.

“What’s the point of this?”

“Well sir, we’re avoiding high-risk carriers of MDD-20 by prohibiting obese customers from entering our store. Those with a BMI above 30 are not allowed to come in. We hope that we can reduce the number of infected people by doing this.”

“I guess,” George replied as he stepped inside to purchase his very healthy groceries. Everybody in the store, including George, was wearing a mask. The store was relatively empty as expected when a third of all people were not allowed in for their weight.

After dinner that night, Isabelle watched the news as they recapped the key events of the day regarding MDD-20.

“The first death caused by complications of weight gain related to MDD-20 occurred in Kentucky today, when a 45-year-old man died of a heart attack after gaining 150 pounds on top of his already unhealthy 300 pound weight. More deaths are expected as more people gain weight and contract this disease. Celebrities and athletes, including Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady have contracted the disease. Serious questions are raised about how weight gain could affect the sports and movie industries, while others are concerned about the effects for everyday people and situations like transit and hospitals. It’s unknown where this disease originated from, but it has been believed to be spreading globally for at least a month. Testing capabilities have increased, as other countries look to avoid the crisis as seen in Britain, with 42% of the population estimated to be clinically obese.”

“You wore that mask, right George?”

“Yep, and I applied hand sanitizer too.”

“Good. Let’s keep an eye on our weights from here on out to make sure neither of us have this thing.”