Halloween Eve. A special evening when most of the people wanted to have parties or to go trick-or-treating with their children or grandchildren. Halloween Eve. A special evening when all kinds of creatures can walk among the normal people without risk of getting noticed.

I knocked on the locked glass door and after a moment an exhausted-looking nurse came to the door and looked at me behind the glass. I put a smile on my face and lowered my mask so that she could temporarily see my whole face. Since she had no idea who I was I lifted also my ID card so that she could see it. Yet it took a while for her to read the card and compare it to my face. Slowly the light of understanding came into her face and a bit later she pressed the electronic switch on the other side thus opening the door.

The automatic door opened slowly and I slipped in with my mask on greeting the woman.

“Hi Sheila, my name is Sam and a volunteered to come here this evening when I heard that you are alone here tonight.” “Thank you... - Sam. But why?”

I shrugged and smiled behind my mask, hoping that some of that could be seen even if I wore the mask.

“I volunteered to the pool and they let me know that you are a bit short of the stuff here. Since I was around I thought that I could come here at least for a moment and offer some help.”

Even if the woman was wearing a mask I was able to tell how the look on her face softened and left only the exhaustion.

“Thank you for even small mercies! If you volunteered, then you are an angel!”

I forced a chuckle to come out.

“Sheila, I’ve heard that before, but not all the people have been happy who have said that. Now, why don’t you go outside for a moment, maybe have a cup of coffee and take a short nap? Try the trick the truckers use, coffee first and then a short nap in the restroom. Use your phone’s alarm. Even if 15 minutes would already help I suggest at least an hour or two. After all, I cannot stay all night.” “Sam, I’m not sure if I can...” “Sure you can. For how long have you been here now? Eight, no - ten hours - with at least eight, probably ten hours to go? I can take care of these people alone for an hour or two, no problem. It’s not like they are going to escape. Call the office if you are unsure.” “If you really think so...” “I do. I promise that I do not let anyone die while I’m here.”

After saying that I used my arm and pressed the button that opened the door and gently pushed the exhausted nurse outside the isolation area. During the late evening, the halls of the hospital were almost empty and nobody had fixed the closest fluorescent tubes that had probably first blinked for some time and the tubes had finally been disconnected when somebody got tired of the blinking. This area could cause you a headache even without that blinking. I checked my mask before starting my tour around the very sick people, some of whom were in ventilators.

My first stop was a bulky man in his thirties. It was clear that he had been training and in quite good shape before becoming sick. Now he was awake and it was clear that he wanted to say something. For some reason, people often wanted to talk to me, like it would have made them feel better. Or maybe they just wanted to confess something.

“Did I... - did I do right?” “Right where - Walter?”

I had quickly checked his name from the papers at the end of his bed.

“For staying true to what I believe. For not believing them and what they tried to tell me.”

While saying that he reached for my hand like asking for support. Even if he didn’t say it aloud I knew immediately what he had meant. He had believed that this COVID-19 was a fluke and the vaccination was a conspiracy. I was able to see how he had been chanting outside the hospital and the city council house with his friends. How he had been tearing masks away from the people who had come too close when trying to talk to him.

I was even able to see the spit flying out of his mouth when he had been shouting.

“We have our own free will. I’m not someone to judge people for that.”

That answer seemed to satisfy him and he closed his eyes and went back to sleep. I knew that he would not make it through three nights even if there would be a free ventilator for him.

The next person I went to see was an old woman in her nineties. From the notes, I noticed that she had got the first vaccination but she had gotten sick just before the second one and now she was here. She had been offered a ventilator but she had refused, saying that it should be used for somebody younger. Also, she became awake when I walked next to her.

“Are you here to take me away?”

Those blue eyes under her white hair were still piercing ones even if the light behind them was fading. I couldn’t help smiling at the obvious challenge in her voice.

“No, I don’t think that I could ever do that. However, is there something that I can do to make you feel better? I could put you in a queue for a ventilator...”

The old woman seemed surprised but she shook her head the tiniest bit.

“No. No, I want to save those to some younger people how still have a life ahead of them. I’m almost done here.”

Her voice could barely be heard and I shook my head, a bit disappointed. Ventilator might have saved her - this time. I was sure that she would see the morning sun, but not the sunset.

The next one was a woman, a young mother - or a mother of two. She was not awake and did not wake up when I touched her hand. She had been a follower all her life even if she didn’t understand it herself. She had believed that she had her own, different ideas when she searched the depths of the Internet, ignoring the sites that most people were reading. No, she was smarter than them, she was able to see through the lies most of the people were presenting. She thought that she was so special - while she was just following the breadcrumbs that had been left there. For people like her to find.

Her husband had tried to talk sense to her but nothing had helped and now he lied awake at home, worrying how he could make it alone with two small children - since exactly that would happen. He would come again tomorrow, this time without children and it would be the last time when he would see his wife alive. I shook my head. What a waste.

In the room opposite the young mother was a totally different case - a preacher. A man who had been strong with his believes. A man who had been sure that he saw the right path much better than anybody else. He had not followed the news, not the recommendations, not the Internet. There had been no need because he knew. He had been a man who had never been really sick, just small flu once a year - and it had been that way because he had been right - because he knew.

He had also known that this sickness was just like small flu, something that did not really affect people who believed like him. People who knew they were right. I knew all that after taking his hand in mine.

Suddenly he opened his eyes and he tried to speak. Only because my hearing was extraordinarily good I was able to figure out what he tried to ask.

“Who are you?”

I smiled at the arrogant man behind my mask.

“I’m somebody whom you will meet again, very soon. Then you will really know.”

I let go of his hand since I had made a promise that none of them would die while Sheila was resting but my answer had been enough to cause some distress to the man. He didn’t quite know - yet. But he would learn the truth soon enough.

I walked through the rooms, seeing the people, fixing a pillow here and there, emptying a bedpan, and so on. After all, I had made a promise to help Sheila. Her work was hard enough as it was and I didn’t mind getting my hands a bit dirty here.

Most of the stories I heard here were variations of the same theme. People who knew better. People who had found their own truth and people who believed that somewhere others tried to take control of them by forcing them to use masks or have vaccinations.

They didn’t need vaccinations because they were strong themselves. They didn’t want vaccinations because that would have given somebody else the ability to control their lives. Nobody would control their lives, they had their own free will - all the way to the end.

It was after an hour and a half when Sheila came back.

“I’m sorry Sam, I must have been much more tired than I believed. I...” “Sheila, do not worry. You needed that sleep. Nothing serious has happened here, nobody has died and all the people should be as comfortable as they can be. However, there are a few who probably do not make it through the night...”

Sheila sighed.

“I know, don’t I know. The saddest thing is that when so much equipment is being used here and there are people in other parts of this hospital who suffer and even die when this wing is filled with people who believe that the government is trying to poison them with vaccinations or roast them alive with 5G networks. It just frustrates me sometimes...” “They have their own free will, Sheila.” “Yeah, free will to exhaust us and the resources of the hospital before dying away.”

Sheila sighed again.

“I’m sorry Sam, I shouldn’t talk to you like this. After all, you volunteered to come here to help, on Halloween Eve.” “Hey, I don’t mind. I think you should be able to say those things out.”

I could see that Sheila smiled a bit behind her mask. Probably sadly, but she smiled.

“You can go now Sam, you should go home and get some rest yourself. Or spend some time with your family.”

For once I was speechless, so I just nodded to Sheila and pressed the switch that opens the door. The dark hallway was waiting for me when I started walking towards the doors.

Outside I took away the gown and the mask I had been wearing and put them into a trashcan together with the ID card I had been wearing. Then I took a look at my surroundings. There had to be a party somewhere that I could visit.

“Hi Sam, how are you doing? Do you mind if I sit here?”

I took my gaze away from the half-empty bottle and the glass I had been holding and forced myself to concentrate. I knew the voice. I had heard it before. I put a smile on my face and made sure not to slur when I turned to face the person who had dared to ruin my solitude.

“Mike, how nice to see you - and not at all, please - take a seat. May I offer you something? Like a slice from this bottle.”

I could feel all the disappointed ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ coming from the women when without a doubt the best-looking man at that party sat next to me to the bar counter. Well, I could also hear them - and so could Mike. The difference was that I smirked and he looked annoyed. I was also sure that Mike wasn’t overjoyed that he should use some of his Halloween Eve for meeting me here - but for sure I would not go anywhere just to meet him. Besides, I certainly would not miss a day like this, Halloween Eve. The one day in a year when I would be able to party like this.

Mike was a totally different thing and he certainly needed a reason to come here, especially to a party full of people.

Party. I almost laughed aloud. As soon as I had got there I had asked the most expensive bottle of Whiskey they had, bought it, tipped generously, and formed such an aura around myself that nobody would certainly approach me. Until Mike came.

“Just what is it that you are having, Sam?”

I turned my gaze back to the bottle and concentrated. Macallan 1940. Without even trying deaths of 8 children in Wick, Scotland came to my mind, as did many other things.

“Something from the previous century, quite good in fact even if it was made with limited resources during the war. I decided that I had earned it since we just got our quarterly results.” “Quarterly results?”

Now I had to laugh aloud.

“Yes, quarterly results. Not results from millennia, not from a century, not from a decade - not even from a year. No, results from the last quarter of a year. Something so brilliant that I can only wonder how we did not invent that. No, it was invented here, by these people. It’s the way publicly listed companies need to show their results. We adopted that habit and we have been using it for a while now. They say that it keeps us trying our best all the time... - Cheers, Mike! To quarterly results!”

I wasted no effort in keeping sarcasm out of my voice. With Mike, it would have been totally useless anyway.

“Is that the reason why you are here now and drinking that expensive whiskey... - Sam?”

I rolled the glass in my hand watching how the strong liquid moved around. The smell of the smoked peat had been strong but it had given space to some fruits and even toffee later on. I probably could differentiate all those elements if I wanted to but it would break the illusion. I shrugged.

“Yes - or no. It’s a part of it.”

Mike could probably figure all the reasons out by looking at me closely but I knew that he wouldn’t do it. Something against the rules, he would say - he was the one to follow the rules. Always had been.

He didn’t say anything more, just waited. I took a small sip from my glass and then filled the glasses in front of us.