Outbreak
MAY 19, 2019
TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES, NEW MEXICO
8:32 P.M.
The night was young, and the full, bright moon shone across the dark sky. A 1972 Ford F-150 tow truck was parked at a cliff overlooking the town of Truth and Consequences, with a man known only by the name of Patient Zero sitting in it. He was sitting in the passenger's seat, drinking and listening to country music.
Then, suddenly, a slight flash of yellow dashes across the sky. Zero looked at the unusual occurrence in the sky, wondering what would eventually crash into the ground somewhere outside the town. "Wonder if I could sell that thing if I found it," he said to himself. He then slid into the driver's seat, making sure to crush his soda can and disposing of it, inserted the key into the ignition, and turned it. He then sped off into the distance, and all became silent on that little cliff.
[3 DAYS LATER]
A TV just outside the emergency room of the local hospital read, "BREAKING NEWS: TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES UNDER QUARANTINE". Many people were at the reception desk, some with strange dark red patches on their necks or arms. An old lady was talking with her colleague while pushing a stretcher to an ER. "That's the 18th patient I've had today with those strange red patches, Mackie. This sure looks like we are in quarantine, all right," said a short, gray haired woman. "Yeah, Beth, I've had a few come to me about burns or prickling in the patches," said Dr. Mackintosh, or as Beth called her, Mackie. They finished pushing the stretchers to their destinations and walked towards the front door to go have a break. Then they froze.
Zero. He had almost nothing on except a pair of what seemed to be jeans ripped into shorts and an old WELCOME rug he wrapped around himself, not to mention that many of the red patches he had on his skin had little bumps on them, as if they were growing into a tumor. His eyes were very bloodshot, signifying he had been up for a significant amount of time possibly prior to getting the patches, or that the infection spread into his brain, and consequently, his eyes. He was shaking uncontrollably hard, as if he was very cold, despite the night not being cold.
"H-help me, p-please," he stammered, as he started to shake even more. "What happened? How did you get yourself infected?" asked Mackie. "Please, it hurts!" Then, Zero twitched and convulsed repeatedly as spikes started to grow out of his shoulders and head, while his eyes turned into a glowing yellow as bright as hot metal, and let out an unnatural, gurgling cry of pain that was heard by the whole hospital. It was going to be a living nightmare in this hospital.