THE 8 MM BATTLE

Long Guns Against a Virus

An oncology patient’s surreal encounter with the absurdities of a lockdown

Illustration made by AI and tina

The anesthesia broke me, but I had to leave the hospital quickly as COVID raged.

The city fell silent under emergency rule.

Then came my oncology check-up.

I expected nurses. I got barrels.

At the entrance, instead of the usual routine, I met soldiers with long guns.

Exhausted patients — battling for their lives — passed by armed guards futilely “defending” us from a virus.

The soldiers looked lost; we looked terrified.

My stitches pulled with each step past their barrels. My body, hollow from surgery, passed by their solid, oiled metal.

One soldier wouldn’t meet my eyes.

The only sound was the rubber of my soles on the floor.

Fear of illness merged with fear of men with rifles.

I thought: they can’t shoot what they can’t see.

The real death I was battling crept by quietly, completely uninterested in guards or barriers.

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