Black Flu

Mutation

Amy sat besides her sick mother at the hospital, the only sound being the beeping of the heart monitor and the static of the tv. Chocho, her dog, sat silently on the floor, facing the door. It began at least a month ago, everyone started getting sick. People were rushed to the hospital and those who didn't get to the doctor died soon after. Those who weren't lucky enough to die quickly suffered. Their skin would get rough and start decomposing. Their fluids would turn black. After a week, their eyes would turn black and their skin would lose pigmentation. After two weeks, their brain would start to fall apart and the only thing they could do was twitch and after a month, there wouldn't be enough left of them to move. After the first week, a vaccine was created to combat the airborne strain, but the virus could still infect someone by getting the black fluids into their body through consumption or by getting into their bloodstream. Those with weak immune systems would die within a week while those who had strong immune systems lasted a month. Within a month, 40% of the world was dead. Animals seemed unaffected by the airborne strain as well. Amy waa the only member of her family not to get infected. Her mother was the last living member of her family. Most tv stations were dead due to no one having time to schedule shows since they were all curled up in their homes hoping that they wouldn't get the illness. The beeping slowed until it was a flatline. Amy picked up Chocho and walked over to the door. She hesitated before opening the door, something was wrong. Amy turned of the tv and pressed her ear to the door. Someone slammed against the door. Amy jumped back and Chocho bark wildly. "Help me! Their everywhere!" Blood was leaking from the corners of his mouth and from his nose. Black blood. He was dragged away from the window, leaving a trail of blood on the window. Amy grabbed nurse masks from a box next to her mother's death bed and put them on Chocho and herself and shoved the rest in her pocket. She pushed the table to the corner of the room and climbed on top of it before pushing the roof panels to the side and into the ceiling. She crawled around the ceiling crawl space while clutching Chocho closely to her stomach. She pulled up one of ceiling panels and looks at the room beneath her. A man stood in the center of the room covered in bite marks and scratches. He was whispering to himself about how much it hurt. His skin was peeled off and his flesh was grey. His fingernails were long and black. Amy silently moved away from the opening in the ceiling, keeping Chocho's mouth shut with her hand. She crawled. Heavy footsteps sounded from beneath her and the man in the room ran out of it. Amy crawled toward the footsteps and peeked through the ceiling, seeing a group of people in hazmat suits armed with guns walking down the hallway. The man turned the corner and charged them, and began to tear them apart. Blood splattered across the walls and those who weren't fatally injured soon rose to their feet and started wandering around the hospital, their mumbles muffled by their suits and their suits decorated with their now black blood. Amy swallowed the vomit in her throat crawled closer to the dead biohazard people and removed another roof panel. No one was in the hallway so Amy dropped down and grabbed a gun off the ground. The sound of her landing on the ground attracted the attention of the infected people. The skinless man did not return, but the biohazard people as well as doctors and nurses began to briskly walk toward her. They mumbled things like "Help me" or "we know you can save us." Amy ran toward the doors of the hospital, throwing them open and running toward her car. A man stood next to her car, trying to break into it. "Get away from my car!" Amy yelled, pointing her gun at him. "Please don't! I have a family! Don't shoot! Take me with you!" He pleaded. The infected people pushed the door open and began to approach her. "Back off or I'll shoot you! This is your last warning!" He put his hands together and took a step forward before he jolted back from the gunshot through his head. Amy fished through her pocket for her keys before unlocking her car and jumping inside. She put Chocho in the passenger's seat and put the key in the ignition and turned the car on. It swerved in reverse, running over the people behind her before driving onto the street and away from the hospital.