24 July 1946
It was all quiet in Bikini Bottom and everyone was asleep. Everything was quiet until a loud explosion could be heard from the surface. It could be heard from the shallow waters to the deep sea where some of the loneliest fishes lurk. Everyone was outside trying to find the source of the sudden explosion but nothing was there. Dismissing it as a weird mystery.
Morning came as Spongebob leaped out of his bed as he got ready for work at the Krusty Krab. Quickly pulling up his trousers and putting on his shoes Spongebob looked around as Gary was not anywhere to be seen in the house. Not in his bedroom, not inside the living room. Walking to the attic, Spongebob opened the door as he saw Gary lying on his side, with his skin looking blue, vomiting up his organs and bleeding blue blood. "GARY!" Spongebob shouted at the top of his voice as he ran towards to animal in pain and picked Gary up. "You need to see a doctor!" Spongebob told him. "Meow..." said Gary. "I know I have a job but you're my pet and your one of my top priorities" said Spongebob as he ran out the door and carried Gary to the hospital.
Walking through the glass doors Spongebob waits until Gary is ready to be seen to by the doctor. "Meow..." says Gary as Spongebob strokes his shell and starts to cry up tears. "I know, I know it hurts Gary but I'm going to get it sorted… It's all going to be alright". The doctor calls for Spongebob as he walks into the room. "What seems to be the problem Mr Squarepants?" The Purple Doctorfish says. "It's Gary, I woke up this morning to find him like this" Spongebob says as he holds the snail up to the Doctorfish's face. "I haven't saw anything like this before, I would need to get someone to look at him who knows better than me" says the Doctorfish.
Dr Gill. Gilliam walks into the room as he looks at Gary. "Blue skin, bleeding rapidly..." says the Doctor as he pauses for a minute. "I'm afraid Gary has a fatal disease which has affected his bloodstream Mr. Squarepants" the Doctor says. "Fatal? What do you mean doctor" Spongebob asks. "Gary has a waterborne disease named Zerex, it's made when radiation mixes with water. At first this disease would be harmless for any species as it would only cause slight mutations but if it enters the body a second time this can be fatal to the person as it would kill them in 3 days after exposure. Sometimes symptoms can kick in on the first day while some can kick in later on the 2nd or 3rd day" says the Doctor. "Does this mean that these last 3 days will be the last days I can spend time with him?" says Spongebob with tears coming out of his eyes. "I'm afraid so…" says the doctor.
Spongebob walks out of the hospital as he walks down a road and into the city. He looks around and see's that many of the other fishes are also showing symptoms of Zerex.