Nile Province.
Rovenaad Village.
A group of white-coated personnel gathered in front of several houses in Rovenaad Village. Many people wanted to watch, but city police drove them far away.
A long cordon enclosed the houses marked with red paint. The white-coated personnel were fully equipped, wearing masks and gloves, holding tongs as they picked through things.
A police officer in full army green shouted at the Rovenaad villagers before him, "No one come near. For the next week, it's best not to approach these houses. We'll be burning them down, so don't gather to watch the spectacle. You might get hurt by accident."
Another police officer said, "Also, one last time—has anyone in the village hidden any personal belongings of the infected? Think carefully. Don't risk your lives over some petty gain. Let me remind you, the virus is contagious, but we are not sure how it spreads, so it is best to leave no room for error."
The villagers shouted, "Don't worry, Officer. We know how to deal with a plague. We wouldn't dare take a dead person's belongings. Who would throw away their life for such a tiny profit?"
"Very good. Best if no one has."
In truth, this small village in western Nile Province had nothing valuable worth coveting. Most immigrants' belongings had been issued by East Africa and were accounted for, so it was broadly possible to determine whether anything was missing. As the police had said, the question was merely to ensure nothing went wrong. It was a necessary procedure.
Some villagers were rather panicked by the sudden plague, while a number of older immigrants remained calm and composed. They had experienced such things often enough and had gained some experience. Rovenaad Village was a new immigrant village, so it had a small number