How To Count From Thirteen to One
Number Thirteen. This is the hospital that is currently occupied by over 100 patients plagued with hunger and disease. Although, hospital may be too strong a word for this desperate place. Number Thirteen, at its core, is fundamentally a quarantine. Since most of the world is experiencing extreme poverty and there is essentially no way of obtaining any form of medicine, hospitals have basically become extinct. In reality, Number Thirteen is just a giant room, every square inch covered with beds resembling coffins in both shape and function, created to prevent disease from spreading like wildfire through a dehydrated forest.
Whole families as well as a few orphans, such as Clara and Max, the twins, made a home for themselves at Number Thirteen. Very rarely were relationships made because of the very short life span of the majority of the patients. However, the nurse, Cassandra, is a rare case. Somehow, every single ounce of luck present in Thirteen has ganged up inside of Cassandra and has allowed her to survive. Through every strange disease and through every bout of hunger, Cassandra has been there, always trying her best to keep upbeat given the conditions they all face. That is not the only unique quality that Cassandra possesses. Cassandra knew the names of all the patients, of all the patients' families, of all the patients histories, she even knew of all the patients' pets. Cassandra formed an especially tight bond with Max, or "Maxie", as she likes to call him.
Max is a young boy, one of the few orphans at Thirteen, about eleven or twelve, although no one knows for sure because his parents died at a very young age and Max does not remember much from his childhood. What little refuge Thirteen provides, it is still lucky that Max and his twin sister, Clara, found Number Thirteen when they did. Both Max and Clara have had a longer stay than most at Number Thirteen, a whole month. However, things are starting to head downhill, especially for Max. Max is like many of the patients in that Cassandra has no clue what his illness is, how to treat it, if treatment is even possible, or how to make the patient feel more comfortable. The nurse feels absolutely terrible about Max's troubles, so often times she sits with him and they just talk about whatever is on Max's mind. Cassandra's hope is that these conversations, frivolous as they may seem, will ease his pain, if only somewhat.
One day, on Cassandra's rounds through the rows of the sick, she approached Max's cot. He looked like he was doing some major thinking and had a pensive look on his face. When the nurse got nearer, Max stopped her and asked, "Hey there Ms. Cassandra, can I ask you a question?"
"Go right on ahead, darlin'."
"How did the world get this way? I mean, I've heard the stories. We live on this continent that used to be this place called America," he pronounced it Am-ur-ica, education is scarce at Thirteen, "back in basically the prehistoric times, you know, around the 2000's. And then it became the nation that it is today: Fatum. But my question is why did the world become like this? I mean, look around Number Thirteen! Look at all these half-dead people!"
Cassandra did not want to add anything, especially not that Max is included in the crowd of the sick. Apparently Cassandra's silence did not bother Max, he was just starting.
"And the name, Number Thirteen? Come on, that is not even a real name! It is just a number; obviously the government doesn't care about any of us! What are we? Thirteen out of One Hundred? Two Hundred? A Thousand?"
For being a boy of such a young age, Max surely is perceptive, Cassandra thought.
"Sorry about going off on that little rampage, it just makes me so angry and I want to know why. Why would the government allow this way of living?"
Cassandra had to pause a moment but finally she responded, "Well, Maxie, I think you know the answer to that question. Our so called government isn't good. In fact, it is downright bad. That's why a revolution has begun. Remember our talk about Amaryllis and her new ideas and the Revolution?"
"Of course I do, Ms. Cassandra. I remember all our conversations."
That perked her up considerably. "Well, this Amaryllis, she is a lot like you, Maxie. She wants to know why the government is acting this way too. But she's a lot older, so you want to know what she did? She got people to believe in her and follow her. Soon enough she began a Revolution. Right now, she is our only hope we have at having a better future. So I want you to promise me something, ok?"
"Sure," Max replied.
"Anytime you are feeling the way you are right now, I want you to think of Amaryllis. And in return, I will promise that Amaryllis will make everything better. Not just for you, and Clara, and I, but for the whole world. Sound good to you?"
"Sounds better than good. And Ms Cassandra? I promise."
With that, Cassandra left Maxie to his thoughts. She finished checking in on her patients, chatting quietly with them about their families and other small talk, although at the end of the night, it was still Maxie's conversation that was implanted into her brain.
Much later during the night, when all the patients were sleeping, apart from Max as he was still wide awake thinking about Amaryllis and her Revolution, one of the other nurses approached Cassandra.
"Hello Cassandra. I'm sure you already know this, but Amaryllis has been checking in on many of the hospitals, and word is she is heading for Thirteen next. She has been through Twelve, although for some reason she skipped Four, so it is only logical that her next step is to be here at Thirteen. Isn't that great news?"
"Indeed it is! I'm so glad you told me." Of course Cassandra was happy. Why wouldn't she be? Amaryllis has been stopping by every hospital, handing out food and any supplies that she can provide. Yes, all that is great. But really Cassandra is most happy to see the look on Max's face when she tells him the good news.
Max, having been up still and happened to hear the conversation, was ecstatic, but he knew Cassandra, and knew that she would be dying to tell him. He wasn't going to ruin it for her, so he would act surprised and joyful just as if he was hearing the information for the first time.
The next morning, just as promised, Amaryllis showed up. But the joy was short lived, for another present came a few minutes after. A bomb. Somehow, the government received the memo that Amaryllis would be in Thirteen. The government had been looking for a way to get rid of her anyway, she was completely ruining the government's plans. And besides, what does the government care if a few hundred only half living people are blown up?
The bomb hit the hospital head on. There was no way anyone could possibly make it out alive. Not even all of the luck could save Cassandra this time. And of course there was Max, young, sick, frustrated Max. In the last few seconds of his life, he remembered his promise to Ms Cassandra. He promised that whenever he was having terrible thoughts about the government, he would think of Amaryllis and her revolutionary ideals that were the only hope for a better life for everyone. So he did, and although Max wasn't sure if it was just an illusion, or it was because he was thinking about her, but he could have sworn he saw the back end of Amaryllis fleeing from the bombing wreck once known as Number Thirteen. Before he could stop himself, Max was floating , his life slipping away. And although his last thoughts should have been of Amaryllis, or the Revolution that he would never see the outcome of, his last thoughts were mostly of Ms Cassandra.