Skip to content

Competition runner-up: ‘After the Virus’

This short story paints a dystopian picture of a possible world long after the coronavirus pandemic is over, a runner-up in the Visions of a World After COVID-19 competition.

Competition runner-up: ‘After the Virus’
Coronavirus lifecycle | Artwork courtesy of David S. Goodsell and the RCSB PDB, CC-BY-4.0
Published:

2037

“… now we move on to 2022. Referring back to 2021, we know the British economy bordered on collapse. 75% of all wealth resided with the top 3.5% of the population, and most businesses had made their employees redundant. Nevertheless, the lower class - that we now name the Insolvent - did not receive the governments next logical decision with good grace. Instead, the inevitable privatisation of the NHS was met with the beginning of the infamous Second Revolt in December 2021. But remember that despite the Second Revolt also being known as the Revolt of 2022, 2022 is actually the year it ended.”

“But today we are going to focus on the revolts failure. The revolt ended on July 12th 2022, which is marked by our national Restoration Day. On this day 15 years ago, the ed of the revolt and the restoration of Britain began with the death of Insolvent leader Jacob Corn, dubbed Tyler. He declared war on democracy on December 4th 2021, an act of violence in retaliation for the supposedly selfish act of closing the NHS to the public, claiming it was an act indisputably for the prioritisation of the rich over the rest of the population. He then led a small army of the Insolvent through London to the museum, 10 Downing Street. Only then it was home to England’s Prime Minister. Yet despite Corns sizable support, the ignorance of his followers towards the true injustice in society – the entitlement of the lazy lower-class population – ultimately resulted in the first uprising’s downfall. A distinct lack of food and two days of fighting forced the Insolvent to abandon their campaign. Now open your book and turn to page …”

*CLICK*