Outbreak

Start writing here…“Hey wait up!” cried out Eric. “Ughh I’m gonna hurl.”

“Okay okay fine, but I win.” bragged Kyoshi.

Kyoshi Kim and Eric Miller had been racing in the back of their high school. It was a golden fall afternoon in downtown Los Angeles and the sun was beginning to fall away. Leaves crackled under their feet and there was a light gale passing through their hair. In the light, Kyoshi’s gold brunette locks became a light hazel, and Eric’s own showed as a sandy blond. Light leaked through the trees and set a resplendent glow on their faces.

“Dude, you can’t be serious. You’re the captain of the track and field team. It’s no doubt that you’re going to win.” exclaimed Eric through heaving breaths.

“So you do acknowledge that I win.” A smirk was growing on Kyoshi’s face.

“No, you only ‘won’ because I was tying my shoelaces then you started,” protested Eric. “I have to keep these in good shape. I already ruined 2 pairs.”

“Yeah yeah Mr. I’m-Gonna-Hurl. Anyway I have to go see my dad before he leaves. See you tomorrow.”

“Okay. But wanna have a rematch tomorrow?”

Kyoshi chuckled. “Wow, you do not give up, huh.”

At this, Eric grinned. “Nope, I’m going to challenge you until the day I win.”

“Well, then we’ll have to race in wheelchairs and walking sticks.”

“What?”

“Haha nevermind. See you tomorrow, loser.”

“Yeah sure, you too, loser.”

They grabbed their backpacks from under a tall oak tree and began to walk out of campus. Both walked off towards their home. The sun was drifting off to its sleep and the streaks of sunlight soon became shadows.

He hurried home as the thought of the dark scared him. He crossed the street and walked onto a familiar sidewalk. He was greeted by the familiar flowers and wind chimes decorating the exterior of the house. They had always welcomed him home after a long day.

“Hey mom, hey dad I’m home.” Kyoshi smiled as he walked inside his home and kicked off his shoes.

“Kyoshi, it’s getting dark, where have you been?” demanded his mom.

“Sorry, I was hanging out with my friends.”

“Who, the bad ones that always stay out late? Kyoshi, I told you several times not to be with them.”

Kyoshi could feel the rising temper from her.

“No, I stopped hanging out with them last year,” he tried to reassure her. “I was racing Eric. You, know, for track and field stuff.”

“Okay, but you have to come home earlier, alright?”

“Yes mom,” He decided to change the topic. “I got an A on the math test, and an A on the english final too.”

“Good job, now you just need to bring up your Spanish grade. I see it’s still at a B.” Mentioned his father.

“Okay.” Kyoshi muttered.

Kyoshi’s dad looked at his phone. “Looks like I should go back to the lab now. They need me.”

Kyoshi’s father was a scientist that created and mutated diseases. He then took them to his team and they tried to find a cure, hoping that this cycle would allow them to find cures for the original diseases, or find new scientific information about them. He then killed the mutated ones.

“Hey dad, what are you working on this time?”

“Oh I forgot to tell you, Kyoshi. We’ve created a new infection called ‘occisor morbus’. It’s just the latin name for killer disease. It’s hilarious how simple they make their names. We’re thinking of changing it.”

Kyoshi dropped his jaw. “What? A killer disease? Is that safe? What does it even do?”

“Don’t worry son. I think it’s harmless. Just a few muscle spasms and hallucinations. I think it will be one of the most dangerous diseases in the world. It’s a huge breaking point for our team.” he said this with a childish grin.

Kyoshi couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Dad, how can that be harmless?”

“I’m just kidding! We haven’t figured out any effects of the disease.”

“Oh, okay. Stay safe dad.”

“I will, don’t worry. What you need to worry about is getting that Spanish grade up.”

And with that he got into the car and drove off. The garage door shut and Kyoshi was alone. His father’s work had gotten much more dangerous as the years went by. First, he started out with mutations of the stomach flu, then to more grotesque ones, like the Black Death and Ebola. He shuddered at the thought of his father covered in oozing blisters, or coughing up blood as he spoke.

His nightmarish ideas vanished as Kyoshi’s mom called from the kitchen.

“Kyoshi! Go take a shower and change your clothes. We’re going to have dinner with Eric’s family.”

“Aw sweet! Okay mom.” he called back.

Kyoshi’s family and Eric’s family had always been close. Kyoshi’s dad and Eric’s dad met in a subway station when they were visiting Korea, where Kyoshi’s dad was born. They soon found common interests and became close friends. The two became inseparable.

“Haha he didn’t even tell me that I was going over to his house.” Kyoshi said to himself.

They drove down the street and was greeted by a pair of familiar faces.

Dinner was extravagant. There were bowls full of steaming soups, platters of juicy pork, dishes full of creamy mashed potatoes, and sparkling sodas at each corner of the table. There lined an assortment of entrees, from crisp salads, each drizzled in dressing and sprinkled with croutons, rolls of bread, a warm toasty aroma emanating from the plate, clearly fresh from the oven, and dishes full of vegetables, cooked to perfection and balanced and harmonized with sauces and dressings. Kyoshi’s mouth watered at the sights and smells.

He stuffed his mouth and his stomach until he couldn’t eat anymore.

When they had finished their conversations and catch-ups, they said their goodbyes and drove back home.

He quickly asleep and didn’t even remember what his father called the Killer Disease. He had forgotten it all.

Kyoshi woke up the next morning to blazing sirens and a loud ringing in his head.

“What’s going on?” he thought to himself.

He trudged out of his room and went downstairs. He noticed the tv and his mother watching it intently. Police sirens wailed and people were outside on sidewalks, pavements, and roads.

“Mom, what’s going on.” he noticed the worry in his mother’s eyes. “Mom, what’s happening, why are there police outside? Mom, mom!”

His voice seemed to pull his mother from her trance. “I’m sorry Kyoshi, but…”

“But what?”

“Occisor Morbus”

“What? Mom what’s Occisor Morbus? Come on, please just tell me what’s going on.”

Then realization struck him. His father had told him the previous night. The Killer Disease.

“Mom. What about Occisor Morbus. What happened.” he urgently asked.

“It… it escaped.” she sank into the couch.

“I don’t understand.” His mind was still cloudy from sleep.

“Yesterday was the day your father’s lab was supposed to ship the cases of it to the health facilities. 6 cases full of the infection was placed in a truck. The truck… crashed yesterday night.”

Kyoshi couldn’t believe what he was hearing. A Killer Disease? It could be roaming around anywhere. It could be reproducing on and on. It could… he trailed off.

“Mom, what does Occisor Morbus do?” He could see her expression darkening.

She sighed and closed her eyes. She opened them again after a moment. “Kyoshi, Occisor Morbus is a parasitic disease. The infected individual’s brain loses control. The disease triggers the brain and its ability to make logical decisions.” Her face grew dimmer. “This disease… wasn’t what your father was expecting it to be. It grew until it reached its point. It’s possible that it’s the most dangerous infection to ever be made.”

“Mom, why would dad be mutating a disease like this? Why did he even do it?”

“Government agencies threatened to shut down your father’s lab if he hadn’t started on it. As the chief in control…” She stopped and winced. “As the chief in control, he had to. For the sake of the thousands of scientists in the lab. I’m sorry, that’s all he ever told me.”

Kyoshi felt his anger growing in him. How could his father do this? “But, how are they going to stop it? How is our city going to be affected? What does it do? Mom, please answer me.”

“I’m sorry Kyoshi, but I don’t have all of the answers. I only told you what I knew. I wish I could do more.”

“But shouldn’t we be telling others about this?”

“Then what would happen? The whole city would go into chaos. People would try to leave, and if they’re affected, the would spread the disease.”

“Then what about the police mom?”

“That’s why they’re here. They haven’t released anything to the public yet. They’re only here for screenings of the infection. Our city only knows that some sort of flu is going around.”

“Oh.”

“Kyoshi, how about you don’t go to school today? I think that’ll be safe.” Kyoshi’s mother looked with pleading eyes.

“Mom, if I don’t go to school today… the kids will know something is wrong. Most kids will know about the ‘flu’ going on, and that dad is some scientist. But if I don’t go, they’re going to go crazy. Then the whole situation is going to get worse.”

“I suppose… but if anything goes wrong, if anything happens, you call me. Okay? If you start to feel sick, if someone else gets sick, you tell me.” She seemed to be pleading him.

“Okay mom. I promise. And I’ll stay safe too.” He gave her a little smile of reassurance.

And with that, he walked upstairs to get ready for the day ahead of him.

Kyoshi trudged downstairs to go to school and noticed his sleeping mother on the couch. The tv was still turned on and the police were still outside.

“Wow, she must have been really tired. And stressed out too.” he thought to himself.

Even when he was little, Kyoshi’s mom had been very organized and well put together. She was the first to sign up for a fundraiser at any PTA meeting, always passed out water bottles at his school field days, and despite work and crazy schedules, she somehow always managed to iron her business suit everyday and pack healthy lunches.

Seeing her so distraught and worried scared Kyoshi.

He kissed her goodbye and walked out the door.

He got on his bike and spread down the road, passing the neighborhood drug store, past the big buildings

At school, rumors had spread like a wildfire.

“Yo did you hear? There’s some disease going on.” “Hey, does that mean we can graduate early?” “Oh my gosh, if I get sick, I won’t be able to wear any makeup.” “Wait, will Homecoming be cancelled then?” “Wait, what about Halloween?”

Kyoshi navigated his way through the crowd and found Eric slouching against the East Wing wall.

“So he did find out what happened,” Kyoshi thought.

“Hey.” Eric looked up.

“Hey,” Kyoshi replied. “Did you hear about what happened? About the whole…”

“Yeah your mom called my mom at, like, 2 in the morning,” he chuckled. “How are you feeling?”

“To be honest dude, I feel terrified,” Kyoshi tried to chuckle but it sounded forced. “I guess we’re all just waiting for what might happen.”

“Yeah. Can’t be that bad, right?”

At that moment, from the middle of the library, they heard a blood-curling scream. The school hushed itself and fell silent. The scream rang through the halls and echoed into the fields. Then the school rose from its stillness and the sound of voices and feet were heard.

Kyoshi looked towards Eric’s direction only to see him sprinting down the stairs.

He quickly followed afterwards.

When the two reached the library stairs, he found a crowd surrounding a figure. He focused and saw Arie, a female junior, on the floor, screaming, twisting, and with blood-shot eyes. There was a crowd surrounding her, taking pictures and videos.

She lashed out at the crowd and bit into the leg of the sophomore football player. She ripped off a chunk of flesh from his leg and gnawed into it. He screamed in pain and immediately fell to the floor. Flesh was torn and his calf was bleeding heavily. A pool of blood was beginning to form around him. Several rushed to get him something. Ice, water, towels, anything could help him, they thought. Kyoshi could hear him curse loudly.

The sophomore was screaming in pain from his leg and desperately trying to stop the bleeding with his blood-soaked jacket. Just seconds after, he fell limp and rushed to the floor. They all gasped in horror; He seizured and shrieked. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell still once more. Then, he twisted on the floor, just as the junior had and the irises of his eyes turned blood red.

The sophomore turned to the terrified crowd and with greater brute and speed, lashed out at them.

Kyoshi and Eric turned to each other and dashed for the door.

This triggered panic and everyone screamed in horror; The entire school seemed to be moving. People were flooding out the doors of every and any entrance, hoping to escape the school.

They all seemed to realize what was happening.

They flew down the stairs and tripped over each other; Some bolted out the doors, but the unlucky ones became trampled by the rushing feet and fell still. Others were dragged by the junior and sophomore into the shadows and the only thing heard from them were the echoed screams and the muffled shrieks of horror.

Kyoshi and Eric escaped out of the building and dashed into the neighborhood, past the drug stores and the houses and into the fields. They sprinted up the hills until they couldn’t move their legs and couldn’t see properly.

“What the heck was that!” gasped Eric.

“Dude I don’t even what to know.” Kyoshi was panting.

“That, that… that was scarring, I can’t… this is like a nightmare coming to life.”

“But are we safe up here?” Kyoshi was heaving.

Then they felt a cold hand on their shoulders.