All Downhill From Here - Chapter 1

by Phixelated

Ivan thinks he's a pretty unlucky guy. He's right. When he gets infected with a deadly plague, he thinks there is no way to stop it. Then he meets Angela, who tells him all about a man who makes and controls plagues. They have to find the Plague Maker and stop him once and for all. But when the world is falling apart around them, saving the world gets a whole lot harder.

Chapter 1 – Everything Is Going Wrong

September 15th 2019, 08:01, Hammersmith Tube Station, London

Ivan bolted up the stairs. Any bystanders who happened to be in the way were confronted with a flurry of flailing feet. He got to the top, to find his fears had come true…

He had missed the train.

"Ah, jeez. I'm gonna be late for work again." He sighed, sitting down on a creaky old oaken bench. The foot, which had been squeaking and groaning for over 3 years, chose this time to give way. He collapsed on the cold, stone ground in a rather comical way. An old man who had been sitting on the end was flung onto Ivan's already badly bruised body, and coughed loudly into his ear.
"Just end it now!" he cried to no one in particular, except possibly for the old man that had fallen onto him and was now lying in a pool of blood.

Wait a second. A pool of blood?

Ivan rushed to the man's side, to find his pulse was still beating.
"Oh my gosh, I nearly killed a man."

Just as Ivan was gathering his papers that were strewn across the station, his train came then left.

September 15th 2019, 09:14, Plaque Inc. Offices, London

Opal was furious.

You never really wanted Opal to be furious, because when Opal was furious, you're probably going to be sacked.

Everything had gone wrong today. Her coffee machine had broken and squirted coffee in her eye (which still hurt), some idiot on the road had crashed into her car (she didn't have insurance), and now Ivan was late (who was close to being fired anyway). She decided the best course of action was to take an hour off work and drink some coffee. She walked towards the door.

Ivan chose this moment to rush into the office, hitting Opal square in the nose.
"Ivan! What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.
"I… Coming into work, possibly slightly late?" he replied hopefully, with a cough.
"You know what we do here, Ivan?"
"Erm… We make plaques… Kinda boring, to be honest… Oh no, I shouldn't have said that, should I?"
"Boring? Ah, that's it! You're done! Fired! Sacked! Pink slipped! Get out of here!" she screamed. Ivan backed out slowly, and coughed his way out of the building.

September 15th 2019, 10:01, Johnson Café, London

Pete was aghast to find that the Johnson Café had no seats available! This was preposterous! Despicable! Absolutely unacceptable! He had to… Wait for it… Share a table! Outrageous. He sat down, to be greeted by a bombardment of coughs and sneezes.
"Oh, would you stop, you utter imbecile?" he shouted.
"My name's Ivan, nice to meet you too…" the coughing man said sarcastically.

Sarcasm. So loathsome.

September 15th 2019, 10:02, Unknown Location

He sat, laughing maniacally in his chair. This was because of the message on his screen. Just a minute before, he had been customising transmission and symptoms of his Plague (now it makes people sneeze as well as cough), when the message popped up. He cracked his knuckles and read it with eagerness, then delight.

"Congratulations! Your plague has infected its third victim. Infected: 2. Dead: 1."