Charlie spent the next two weeks stuck in the enclosure. True to her word Louisa refused to leave him alone. She camped out next to the enclosure. To pass the time she would constantly read him books and he had nothing better to do so he just watched her and listened. To his surprise he learned everything pretty quickly.
He learned that Louisa was actually a human. That anyone with the same features were considered humans. Just like cats there was a difference between the genders. He learned the names of the weird appendages that she had, which were actually body parts and thay some body parts change when they hit something called puberty.
The most fascinating thing he learned was the history of their world. "Daddy says before the pandemic hit our world 15 years ago, it was actually really beautiful. There were hills of green grass, blue skies, a yellow sun, a moon and bright stars. There were people every where and places people would go visit for fun. Like malls, pools, zoos and museums but one day someone got really sick."
"Louisa why didn't they just get rid of the sickness? It doesn't make sense to let it go an infect so may people?" Charlie meowed as he looked at the colourful pictures of what Earth looked like. Just like Charlie, Louisa learned fast. She started to pick up some of what Charlie said and was able to understand most of what he wanted to say.
"When the first person got sick they thought it was just a cold so they went on their day as if it was nothing... But then one person soon became 10 then 1000 then soon enough it was over a million people infected. They told everyone to stay home to stop the spread but the president of one of the biggest and most powerful countries gave mixed messages."
"Daddy said because they looked away from the people who were suffering, because they only thought about lining their pockets, because they thought about only themselves that their country started to fall. More and more people started to get sick. More people got angry and left their homes in denial as the ran the streets screaming for freedom all the while the virus mutated from person to person." Louisa explained.
"How?" Charlie meowed. "You're so curious kitty! At first they thought it was just a cold. Scratchy throat, feeling drowsy and a fever but after a few days the fever would rise. Legs and arms would swell three times their normal size as giant hives appeared everywhere. Then their fever would rise even more! They start to pant because their losing so much water, they were dehydrated. They become so thirsty but they couldn't stomach water. Soon the fever starts to affect the heart, lungs and liver. Breathing became harder and harder while your heart rate rose and your liver shuts down."
"After 12 days, if the person didn't get better they would die from either a stroke or suffocation. Some even died from blood clots that formed in the blood stream. Some people were lucky they only lost a limb but soon that disability became a huge disadvantage."
"Daddy said that when the people cried out about their pain and suffering others cried louder that they couldn't stay inside anymore. People started to flood the streets not caring what was going on to the ones who had their cries drowned out. Though the numbers were vastly different, the few got what they wanted and the president of the big, powerful country let them have their way."
"As thousands died evey three hours they allowed people to have their 'freedom'. Three months after they opened everything the population that was once 328.2 million dropped to 300 million because they lost control. After another three months the virus mutated and the population dropped to 150 million, a vaccine was impossible. In a span of six months 178.2 million people died. The president started to freak out, he was about to be kicked out of office and out of spite against the people who once adored him he retaliated."
"He thought he could win their love back but eliminating the 'hot spots' that the virus lived in so he did the unthinkable. He sent out prototype nuclear missiles and fired them on his own country. More people died, the innocent dyed the streets with their blood and radiation suffocated everything. Plants, animals, water, earth and people were all affected. He thought infusing the nuclear missiles with hydroxchloroquine, ammonia and concentrated ultra violate light with uranium would have destroyed the virus... But it helped it evolve into what we know today as Covid-Anthro."
"What?" Charlie meowed. "Covid-Anthro." Louisa repeated. "It's a mutation. The virus mutated in something crazy. At first the people who survived the blast were finding that their fevers rose to crazy numbers. Joints and bones started to break and dislocate, eyes started to change colours and shapes while hair started to sprout in unusual places. Certain body parts morphed and grew. People were starting to change into Anthropomorphized zombies." Louisa explained.
"WHAT?!" Charlie meowed in shock. "Anthropomorphized zombies. Daddy said that the people who survived mutated to live. They changed into different animals, some turned into alligators, some were wolves, lions, zebra, monkeys, dogs, birds, fish, any animal you can think of! Their was always one out there except cats were really rare. Well domestic cats. The Covid-Anthro people roamed the country like mindless zombies, attacking normal people. Depending on the genes of the person some got infected and changed too but some people couldn't change."
"They became food. Soon people became scarce and the Anthropomorphized zombies started to attack the animals. Just like people some changed while others became food but the ones that changed couldn't fully become human like, instead they became lesser beings and some even became familiars." Louisa explained. "Is that why I'm in here?" Charlie meowed. "Yes." Louisa replied. "Louisa! Are you talking to the cat again?!" Xiomara shouted as she walked into the kitchen.
"Mom! I need to educate the kitty about the world!" Louisa said with a definite pout. "Sweety you're getting too attached. If the cat is a carrier or even a familiar you know what will happen." Xiomara said with a sigh.