—-NARRATOR'S POV—-

It's a usual day in Numberland, now a bustling city full of buildings, cars and Numberhumans. The place is a perfect balance of modernity and nature, having lush and fruitful greenland everywhere.

Amidst area 31, street 768, there is a little disturbance in the silence of park 26.

'Are you sure Five? It sounds a bit off topic." Said a small, light voice that belonged to a girl named One.

"But One, don't you see? It fits the situation!" Replied another female voice, that is coming from Five.

Somebody else called Nine suggested "Two, Three, Four, Six, Seven, Eight, Ten, how about we make a video on its prevention?"

"Good Idea!" Exclaimed a Numberhuman named Ten.

"Oh, Eleven to Twenty are going to love it! Luckily, we know what to do now!"

Said a rainbow-loving Seven.

"So can we go home?" Asked Two. " I guess we have to, since we're done talking." Answered Four.

Everyone starts standing up to leave the park when quite suddenly, a small, floating figure of a girl came to them, clutching a body heat checker.

"Hello, I am Zero. Please don't leave the area before your temperature is checked."

One by one they left, as all their temperatures seemed normal. They headed back to their homes as the sun set behind them.

—-2's POV—-

I approach the door and take out my keys. Once the door was unlocked, One and I stepped into our home and settled down on the couch to check the news.

While looking for the news channel, One grabbed us a snack and asked, "Why do you think Zero had to check our temperature earlier?"

I found the news channel and selected it while thinking...Why didZero check our temperature? Munching on Cereal Numberlings with milk, I replied "Yeah, it doesn't really make sense. We don't even have a single COVID 19 case yet!"

One stayed silent. For a few seconds I thought she didn't hear me when she said "Well.. Maybe you should pay attention to the news." So I listened and heard

'First confirmed case of COVID-19 in Numberland this morning

when 2.6 reported his brother coughing. The Numberhuman 

named 3.1 was taken to the hospital in area 32 and was

diagnosed with COVID-19.The one who took him to.. 'etc.

I don't know if I'm shocked or not. COVID-19 has already swept across the world, so how did I not expect it to happen?

I shrugged it off and said "Well, since we didn't have a single case for more than 3 months, maybe we shouldn't worry about it."

"Okay". We browse through shows and find one we like. Sooner than I thought it would, my phone beeped, signaling bedtime. One and I headed upstairs and into our corresponding rooms, room 1 and room 2.

—-9's POV—-

I wake up in the middle of the night. I'm breathing rapidly and I sit bolt upright.

That... must have been a nightmare. But I know what could have caused it. The news earlier.. what I've been doing.. it's all right, I said to myself.

But as I lay down, I just can't ignore the fear..