The Last Alive

The Last Alive - The Beginning

Chapter One

The Beginning

Patient zero was a twenty-five-old female from a small farming town in Southwestern Pennsylvania. She presented to the emergency department late on the evening of September 14, 2012 with basic flu-like symptoms. Concerned about her complaints of headache, altered mental status, and spiked temperature, the on-call doctor admitted her to the hospital. The story relayed to health care professionals was that the young woman is a scientist who ended up getting stuck by a needle used for one of the viruses that she had been researching. The event occurred approximately twenty-four hours before symptoms began. She followed proper protocol as far as reporting and cleaning the wound. The doctor who drew initial blood work after the incident told her the rash that was forming could be a reaction to the virus. Her family had no idea she was already dying. Nobody knew about the danger lurking in the petite young woman.

Her parents left for the night, leaving the woman's identical twin to stay. Patient zero remained in the fetal position hugging herself and crying. The infection spreads depending on the size of the bite. For the more gruesome of bites the turn is fast. Only a matter of minutes. Smaller bites can take up to forty-eight hours. Patient zero turned within a day. No one is entirely sure why.

The first symptoms are typically a scratchy, sore throat and a rash that resembles hives. Nothing major. They think it's nothing more than a cold or the flu, perhaps even an allergic reaction. It escalates from there. Soon, a fever sets in. Then the afflicted complain about being cold despite having a temp of one hundred or more and a headache starts. Their skin begins to get clammy, and small sweat breaks out on their forehead. A few hours later they have respiratory problems. Their breathing becomes shallow and raspy. Right before death their eyes get a milky cloudiness to them, their pupils dilate so much it looks like they're black. Aggression is the final stage. At that point, they're contagious. Of course, this is when they're most likely to bite you, before dying.

Patient zero was taken to the hospital toward the end of everything. Her family didn't know she was so sick. They had no reason to believe their beloved child and sister was mere hours from death. She was put onto a neurological floor, even though the doctors weren't entirely sure what was wrong with her. They just knew the altered mental status was new. She wasn't an aggressive person by nature, but she was throwing swings at personnel and trying to bite them. As the family sat by her bedside they were distraught watching as she slipped further and further into delusion and the sickness that overtook her ravaged body. They were terrified she'd never be the same.

In the middle of the night, the aggression worsened. Most of the family had already gone home, her twin decided she'd be the one to stay. She ended up falling asleep in a recliner next to her sisters' bed but woke when she heard grunting and growling. She looked and saw her sister sitting up in bed. Her head lolled from side to side. It's too bad she didn't run. It's too bad the nurse didn't run.

"Becca?" she called softly.

Her sister's head turned wistfully toward her.

"It hurts so much," she said.

"What can I do for you?"

"Nothing," Becca replied.

"Do you want me to get your nurse?"

"Why? They don't know what's wrong with me. Nothing they've done is working." Tears streamed down the girls face in silent agony. "It had to be that virus. They said it was fine. We were supposed to be creating a vaccine. Something to save people. Not...not do this."

"They're going to figure out what's wrong. Don't worry."

"No, they're not."

"You don't know that. I'm sure they're figuring it out right now."