Corona Virus. (On Hold)

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Jia walked out to the street and took a deep breath. The warm sun shined upon her, exposing a soft yet warm smile on her face. She loved summer, and this year's winter was crazy for her.
She happily crossed the Wuhan's famous market, looking at all of the fresh meat stalls. She was an energetic girl, loved by everyone in her neighbourhood. Her mother worked at a factory, and her father worked at the Medical laboratory. One of the grandma that stall asked her name out loud, "How are you, Jia?"
"I'm good. How are you?" Jia stopped by and asked, looking at the fresh octopus at the stall.
"I'm great, look at the fresh seafood we caught this morning!" the grandma smiled brightly and proudly.
Vendors calling out for their sales and many foreigners curiously looked at the exhibit of many exotic types of meat. Jia was used to all of the Wuhan's market hustle. It was her routine to passed through the market for the school.
As soon as she entered her class, she immediately realized the absence of her best friend, Xiu. She texted her, "Hey? Where are you?"
After a few minutes, her phone dinged with a reply, "I'm not feeling well today."
"Food poisoning again?" Jia texted. She waits for the reply but got busy with the lecture. After the lunch break, Jia received a text from Xiu,
"Hello Jia, this is Xiu's mother. She is burning with a fever, so doctors suggested to be hospitalized."
"Oh, is it very severe? Send me the name of the hospital, I will stop by after the school", Jia texted back worriedly. Now she was waiting for the school to get off, for her to see her best friend.
As soon as the school bell rang for the last period, she rushed out of the school and took public transport to the hospital. Holding flowers in her hand, she asked her room number from the reception. She walked to the second floor of the hospital and searched for her friend's room. After arriving at the room's door, she witnessed the extreme condition of her friend. She was held by the three nurses. Her eyes were all white, and her body jerked like hundreds volt of current passed through her body. After the doctor gave her a sleep inducer, her body laid on the bed, lifelessly.
Jia took courage to enter the room and saw her friend's mother sobbing in the corner of the room. She tried to console her, but deep inside of her was scared too. The day went on sitting by her friend's bed, holding her hand.

***********
Later that night, Jia received a call.
"Hello?"
"Jia? Your friend... Our Xiu....", a woman sobbed on the other side of the line. Jia was devasted to hear the news of her friend's sudden death, she screamed loudly in despair, making her parents rush to her.
"What happened?" her mother asked.
"Xiu left me. Xiu left us all without saying goodbye." Jia sobbed uncontrollably.
That night, she held her best friend's photo and cried for hours. After a day, she walked into her funeral. She heard chattering and whisper about her friend's sudden death. One hushed voice caught her attention the most,
"I was suffering from the flu for a week. Her parents didn't take care of her."
"That's not true", Jia thought.
"All of her reports clearly mentioned that it was pneumonia. But the doctor says it was something else." The same voice echoed in her ear.
Jia got a bit suspicious. After the funeral, she sat by her friend's mother and asked, "Aunt, what was her disease?"
"I don't know. Xiu had seasonal flu. You know her sensitive health." Aunty wiped her tears.
"I saw her having seizures. That was not normal. What doctors told you at her then?" she asked, being careful.
"They said it was just a fever," Aunt replied.
Jia walked through the same hustle of the Wuhan market after the funeral. The same grandma called her name out loud but stopped as soon as she saw her devasted face.
"What happened to my little girl?" the grandma asked, holding her hand.
"My friend, Xiu died." Jia sobbed.
Grandma hugged her, "Darling, don't cry. Pray for her soul to seek peace by the Moon goddess."
"I'm a restless grandma. Mama and Pa are out for work late. I don't know what to do..." She said.
"It's already ten. You should go home and take a warm bath. Here drink this tea after the bath for better sleep. Ok?" the grandma handed her a kettle of tea. She respectfully bowed to the grandma and walked towards her home.
As instructed, she took a warm bath. The water fell down her body felt like a huge burden fell on her shoulder. "Grandma was right. I feel better now." She tried to console herself.
After dressing up in her night pajamas, she walked into her kitchen for the tea. As she poured the tea into her mug, she heard distinct chatters and cranking sound of her basement door.
"Thieves?" she thought and held a bat in her hand tightly. She walked toward the half-opened door of the basement. She witnessed two men, one of them was foreigner, talking. She hid behind the door and tried to hear the chatter.
"We are finally successful. Now it's time for us to threaten the government." One man said.
"Yes, we will tell them if they didn't meet our demands, we will spread Corona in the whole of China." The foreigner laughed.
"Corona?" Jia whispered to herself, then felt a hand on her mouth. In horror, she dropped the bat and struggled to be free from this firm grip.
She looked behind and saw her father holding her tightly. She cried in pain, "Pa?" Her father's face had an evil grin.
"So, she heard everything just like that dead girl?" the foreigner asked.
"It doesn't matter if she heard us or not. She is going to be our next experiment." The man laughed.