Author's Note: I completely appologize for the late updates. Serious computer problems and horrifying end-of-the-year schoolwork (not to mention finals) have been holding me back. I'll continue updating whenever I can since I'm now on summer vacation.

Some points in the chapters will even have some of my subtle, but corny, humor. And thanks for not throwing my cheescake back at me since I haven't been updating. That would've sucked.

But thank you to my lovely reviewers. You make me smile with your happy reviews.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is the revised chapter. I put it up a few days ago and a reviewer pointed out some things that needed to be fixed. So now this chapter should be a little bit... better.

Chapter 3: June 23/24- Taking Care of the Sick

The 23rd was the day the riots started. Josephine watched the news carefully and saw that some desperate men and women were breaking into buildings downtown including office buildings, stores, and banks. The riots weren't very big and there weren't very many and the police suppressed them quickly.

The 23rd was also the day the army came to town. They marched along the streets in their camoflauge uniforms with their large guns or drove around in their jeeps and tanks, intimidating people back into their homes.

Josephine would flinch every once in while when she heard gun shots outside. She assumed that it was the army or police shooting down civilians who resisted them and their rules, which the TV news stations had been reporting on recently.

Josephine never dared to walk outside, even onto her porch, for fear of being gunned down. And besides, she had other things to worry about. Her family was dying and she was the only truly healthy one in the house.

She had been in the house taking care of them for days. She even missed her therapy session, although it didn't really matter much anymore since it seemed the whole of America was dying.

Josephine stood over the stove, quietly using a ladel to pour some soup into a small glass bowl that sat next to the pot. Her shoulders sagged slightly as if some kind of invisible burden or weight rested heavily on her shoulders.

"Josephine, where the hell is that soup!?" her father yelled in between sparatic coughs from the living room.

"It's coming dad, so shut up already!" When Josephine turned around, she looked ill herself. She had dark circles under her eyes and a pale face, all from lack of sleep, and she looked like she could fall over any minute.

Josephine walked into the living room where her father was lying on the couch. He had been there for days. He had a cold before the 17th of June, before the superflu escaped, but just as everyone thought he was overcoming the worst of it, other people were getting sick and then... Mr. Kenndler just never got better. Not to mention he looked horrible. He was deathly pale and his neck was swelling to unnatural sizes. He looked like he was sweating horribly as well.

"Here, dad." Josephine said quietly as she placed the soup on a small tray that sat on her father's lap. "It's chicken noodle."

"About damn time." he mumbled as he grabbed the soup bowl and took a bite or two before slowly pushing it away. It was like he wasn't hungry. But Captain Trips can do that to you.

Her father had been treating her like this for days and Josephine wasn't very appreciative of his cold, nasty attitude. "Ya know dad, it would be nice if I got a 'thank you' out of you every once in a while. Without me, I'm pretty sure you'd starve since the only time you gt off the couch is to go to the bathroom and even then you barely make it." Josephine said icily as she walked into the kitchen to get her mother a bowl of soup.

If her father said anything or made any kind of witty comeback, she never noticed. She grabbed anothr bowl and spoon and poured some chicken noodle soup into the new bowl. She walked out of the kitchen and towards her parents bedroom where her mother, was, but she had to walk past the living room to get there.

She glanced at her father as she walked by and he was glaring at her. If looks could kill, Josephine would have been dead a long time ago. Not that it mattered to her though. She would rather be dead than live through this everyday hell she called home.

She ignored her father, figuring that he was being this way because he was so sick and he didn't know what he was doing. She slowly, quietly crept into her parents bedroom. It was dark inside.

"Mom? Mom?" Josephine called out into the dark room as she searched for the light switch on the wall next to the door.

When she turned on the light, Mrs. Kenndler flinched. She was sitting up in bed. "I'm sorry, mom, but you need the light. It's a beautiful day outside and you're in here, bundled up in the dark."

Josephine walked to her mother and placed the bowl of soup on the small tray that she set up on her mother's lap. Her mother looked just as horrible as her father. Her face was pale and her neck was swollen, although, not as much as Mr. Kenndler's. She was also coughing horribly. It was a disgusting, phlegmy cough that made Josephine flinch every time she heard it.

Josephine knew the inevitable. Her parents were dying. She would never admit to it, but deep inside, there was a little voice that just screamed out the obvious.

Her mother quickly grabbed the bowl and began to eat it wildly, very much unlike Mr. Kenndler. Perhaps it was because he was far more ill than she was.

Josephine sighed and walked to the door.

"Thank you." Mrs. Kenndler said in a quiet, raspy voice

Josephine turned around in shock. Her mother didn't really speak much the past day or two, and besides, her mother rarely said thank you to her daughter and always caused problems with her.

"You're welcome." Josephine said slowly as she walked out the door and back into the kitchen to go get herself a bowl now.

As Josephine walked into the kitchen, she saw her sister, Kimmy, sitting at the table with her head down, resting on her arms which were on the table. She was completely still.

Josephine paused. "Kimmy?" she said softly. No answer. Josephine slowly walked to her sister, barely even making the floor creak. "Kimmy?" she said again, this time a little more nervous.

Just before Josephine touched Kimmy's shoulder, Kimmy looked up and turned around to stare at Josephine. Josephine jumped back, startled, but was relieved to see her sister wasn't hurt or, what she thought, dead.

"Joey, I don't feel very well. My throat hurts." Kimmy said. The child looked nearly just as bad as her parents, except her neck wasn't as horrible looking and at least she was able to walk around without any help.

"Why are you down here?" Josephine questioned. "I thought you were sleeping?"

"I was, but there was a man in my room. A dark man. I told him I was sick, but he just stood there and smiled at me. So I came down here. Maybe you can make him go away." Kimmy said as if what she was talking about was a simple everyday matter, like a friend coming over to play.

Josephine stood there in horror. "Kimmy, there's a man in your room?" she said with wide eyes. Kimmy just nodded her head. "You're going to show me where he is, OK?" Kimmy nodded her head again.

Josephine grabbed a large wooden bat that sat in the corner of the kitchen, just in case of such an emergency, and she took Kimmy's hand. They walked up the stairs together. Josephine checked every room except Kimmy's, of which the door was only opened a few inches. There was no one in any of the other rooms.

Josephine slowly opened Kimmy's bedroom door and to her relief, found nothing. There was no one, no man, no 'dark man' in her room. But strangely, Kimmy's bedroom window was wide open. Someone could easily come in through the window. Josephine poked her head out the window only to realize that no one could come in that way because they were on the second floor.

"Kimmy, did you open this window?" Josephine asked as she pulled her head back in and looked at Kimmy.

"No, Joey. I didn't even know it was open." Kimmy said with a shrug.

Josephine stuck her head back out the window, looking for anyone. She saw no one. She suddenly felt like someone was watching her and she looked up only to see, on her neighbor's roof, a crow. She glared at the bird. The bird glared at her.

"Get the hell outta here!" Josephine yelled at the bird, not even expecting the bird to flinch. But it did, it flew away.

Josephine thought it to be weird, but thought nothing of it afterward. Josephine closed the window and tucked Kimmy back in.

"OK, you look very sleepy Kimmy. And you need your sleep if your going to get any better." Josephine said as she pulled the sheet up to the child's neck. But Josephine had a sinking feeling that no one was going to get any better, that things would get much worse before any good would come along.

Josephine walked down the stairs and back into the kitchen only to find that the pot of soup had fallen to the floor and soup was everywhere.

"Damnit!"

Josephine crawled into bed that night very afraid to go to sleep. The past few nights she was having dreams of the old black woman but every time she would always see him, as well, whoever he was. She never saw his face, but she knew who he was. He some dark force that encompassed all the nightmares of the world.

Josephine turned on her side to face the door, which was open and she could see all the way down her hallway. She was just on the brink of sleep when a figure appeared at the top of the steps, just at the end of the hallway. Josephine wasn't even fully aware that a person was there until she got a good look at the burning red eyes that seemes to sear her own when she looked at them. She gasped once and blinked her eyes. The figure was gone.

Josephine was shaking badly that night when she fell completely asleep, which was around 3:00 or 3:30 a.m.

Josephine was once more walking around in a big cornfield that seemed to go on forever. She walked around for a while and was getting scared when she couldn't find the house or the old woman. Then, out in the distance, she heard the guitar and the sweet sound of song.

Josephine felt something behind her and then, without turning around to see who it was (since she already had her feelings), she ran towards the music. Whe she came to the house, she sighed and smiled in relief.

The woman was sitting on the porch again, guitar in hand, singing some kind of religious hymn. Josephine didn't believe in God, though, so it didn't really have much of an effect on her.

"H-hello, Mother Abigail." Josephine said shakily as she walked to the end of the porch.

"Why, hello there, child. Nice to see you 'gain." Mother Abigail said as she stopped singing and playing the guitar.

"I have a question..." Josephine said slowly, not knowing if it was proper to just come out and say it.

Mother Abigail looked at her with such great interest. "Well, what's on you mind, child?"

"What's happening to the world? Why is this happening?"

"I don't know, Josephine, but if I did, I would certainly tell ya. This is God's will, and I got no control over it."

"God's will?!?" Josephine said as she raised her voice a little.

"Yes, sugar."

"How can God do this?!? If these are HIS people, why is he killing them off like they're nothing but desposable bugs?" Josephine was gaining a certain amount of sarcasm with the woman. She was beginning to loathe the God she didn't even believe in.

Mother Abigail pursed her lips a little, as if she knew something, something deeper than any understanding, but wasn't allowed to tell Josephine. "God wasn't the one who created this sickness, baby."

"Then who? The Devil?" Josephine laughed.

"The government." Mother Abigail whispered.

Josephine immediately stopped laughing and her jaw dropped. It suddenly all made sense. She took a step back, the another, and another.

"You come see me Josephine Kenndler! You come see me and bring along who you can! Don't let the dark man get you!" Mother Abigail called out as Josephine disappeared into the corn.

"The dark man?" Josephine whispered to herself. "Where have I heard that before?" Then it hit her. Only hours before had her sister mentioned this 'dark man'.

Josephine didn't know what to think she was so terrified so she ran and ran and ran until she was out of breath, but now that she was deep in the corn, she felt that presence again. It was a feeling that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and a chill run down her spine.

The voice was soft at first and as she walked deeper into the corn it got louder and it seemed to come from everywhere yet no where all at once.

"Josephine. Josephine, I know you hear me." It was a male's voice and it seemed so soft and seductive.

Josephine swallowed hard. She didn't want to come face to face with whatever was talking to her and she knew she would if she continued on in this dream. She was at a loss of what to do when she simply began to pinch her arm. She looked up and saw something moving through the corn towards her.

"Josephine."

She continued to pinch her arm until she was almost bleeding. "Oh my God." she said anxiously. "I'm gonna die in my sleep!"

Before she saw whatever was coming towards her, she woke up. She was breathing heavily and she was soaked in sweat. She looked at her door and it was closed, but she never remembered closing it. She figured she was just sleep walking.

She looked at the clock. It was about 6:00 a.m. and then sun would soon be peaking over the horizon.

She laid there and stared at the ceiling for nearly an hour. Just before she finally fell back asleep, she glanced out the window and to her relief, there was no crow in sight... and no dark man.

But she was still scared. She would soon have to get up and take care of her family and face the world that was not being terrified by a tyrannical, unfair leader, but by the two groups of people that were supposed to protect and serve and defend: the army and police.

Too bad they were too caught up in rioters rather than seeing the real storm that was slowly coming over the horizon...

Author's Note: Please tell me if this chapter needs to be corrected anymore!