Contamination

Beginning of a new series.

    At first, things were chaotic; everyone rushing for supplies. Drug stores throughout town were emptied and I'm sad to say there was a lot of death. People were killing each other over bottles of water. The entire nation was in an uproar and the government- though they tried- had fallen short and retreated. We were still at war as usual though I couldn't tell you where. I never paid attention to the media before.
    It was like that for nearly two weeks after we heard the news; the virus was sweeping across the globe at alarming rate. At first, the internet was shouting 'zombie!' but it was just hearsay. These people weren't coming back and never would. Another claim was that it was a second coming of the bubonic plague but that was also wrong; we had never seen anything like this before. As far as I know, they never found the source of it. One theory is that the CDC was working on a cure for Huntington's and when no effects were shown on test subjects, the efforts were stopped. Sadly, this sounds plausible because there are no signs at first.
    You catch it like you would a cold- bodily fluids and the like- and for the first couple of days, you won't even know you have it. But after that, the coughing starts... next, the nose bleeds. Soon, your kidneys and liver start to shut down and then your breathing becomes irregular. While all this is happening, you skin begins to stretch itself like it's constricting you. You begin to look- and feel, from all the accounts I've heard of- like the dead. You lose your pigmentation and bruise so easily that your clothes begin to hurt as your veins burst throughout your body as if they were overcooked noodles. What finally kills you is the fever; it'll burn you alive. The last one spiked a fever of 114 degrees before we lost him.
    This virus has one aspect about it that can best be described as parasitic which, according to scientists, is baffling. Before you die, the virus rushes to seek a new host. Sometimes, it will keep you alive until you find someone else to share it with. We've all been raised to think that sharing is good which is laughable to no end now. If you looked even remotely sick, you'll get shot on site by the uninfected. Hell, at least with my group you will.
    The mortality rate is 95% and that's if you somehow manage to get complete medical care. That being said, I have seen no one survive this thing. The religious nut jobs say that this is God's wrath and we've been due for it some time now. I don't know about that, but I do know that they got one thing right- this is our end. I wish it were an actual war but as it is, there's nowhere to hide. The best you can hope for is a bullet before you show signs.
    So, I bet you're wondering how I survived this long? That question has a long answer.

Reviews

[Raymond]

MM -great and interesting beginning. I would read more. Content and style are very good, mechanics need a little work (I know the worst part of writing -it's like cleaning up after a great party). There is an entire legion of folks who just can't get enough of good "end of the world" stories. I think you could definately pull it off.