I Scream, You Scream
A man encounters turns of fate during an excursion into a virus-ravaged world.

Not sure if you’ve seen the news, but there’s this COVID pandemic thing going on right now. Many of us, including myself, have been under lockdown for the past three months or so. And for those not under mandated lockdown or curfew, I’m sure we’ve all practiced some pretty strict social distancing and self-quarantining during that time.

All joking aside, I’m sure you’re all pretty tired of being locked indoors for the most part. I bet we’re all just chomping at the bit for some sort of normalcy. I, myself, can’t wait to live my life again and enjoy the small things that I took for granted. For instance, the first thing I’m going to do when businesses open back up is enjoy a nice scoop of ice cream – several scoops, in fact. In a huge, dunce-cap sized waffle cone. Yes, I hear the ice cream trucks outside, playing “The Entertainer” tune that come around my neighborhood often. But I want REAL ice cream. I’m talking like some Cold Stone Creamery. Or even a Baskin Robbins. I want that gourmet s**t.

But what if things get worse? What if that day never comes? Sure, that’s a very pessimistic scenario to consider… but who would’ve expected any of this to happen? You never know…

In Anthony Russo’s COVID-themed tale, “I Scream, You Scream”, that’s exactly the kind of world we live in.

Set not too far into the future, the world has been ravaged by the effects of the COVID crisis; Businesses have been decimated, families have been destroyed and the world we once knew has become a post-apocalyptic ghost town, essentially.

We follow an unnamed survivor’s journey through his everyday routine that he was forced to adapt to as he drives through the barren streets wearing a Tyvek suit with a backpack respirator. We get a little context through an old news taping, revealing just how bad things have gotten via voice-over during this unnamed survivor’s journey as he gathers food and necessities…

FEMALE JOURNALIST (V.O.)
We saw a lot of fatigue in the months of March to June.
Social distancing worked, in that the hospitals weren’t
overwhelmed. But there was no vaccine, and no treatment.
And the shutdown was weeks too late. The virus had lit the match.
So the United States had no choice but to follow the Swedish model
and open back up, or face fifty percent unemployment.
An acceptable level of casualties had to be determined.
(a beat)
Then, something that not even the best epidemologists or
socialists could have predicted…

Not only have people become infected with the COVID virus… but so has the plant life. Yes, you read that correctly – the God damn TREES have become affected by the virus!

MALE SCIENTIST (V.O.)
As trees exhaled their oxygen into the atmosphere,
so did they infect the very air we breathe.
So our atmosphere in effect became tainted.
Being outside became like being on Mars.
Impossible without a supplemental air source…

A very grim glimpse into the future, indeed. Tis a very lonely existence for our unnamed protagonist, who has somehow found a way to adapt to this way of life – the sole purpose of his existence now is to survive.

But is surviving the same as living?

He reaches an existential epiphany after he happens upon an abandoned ice cream shop. And he makes a decision based on two choices– to “live” or to continue surviving.

Very well written, Anthony Russo’s tale almost feels like a stream of consciousness in its poetic execution. Though dark, “I Scream, You Scream” isn’t all gloom and doom. Yes, the journey is grim. But its cathartic, bitter “sweet” finale is very satisfying.