Will you survive?

Frederick

The old man died by my arms. I stared over him and stood up. I did not feel any pity. I have already experiuence many people died but one not from illness. I watched his lifeless eyes staring at me. Those eyes haunted me but it did not strike my soul.

I sighed and left him there. Someone can care for him. I only have myself to care. I've learned that many times in the past. I had stayed there at nigt for hours and hours but i did nothing to h,elp the old man but only stayed with him till his death. He felt like my father but my fatehr never cared for me. Not once, not ever. I sneeze and curse myself for this. I must be getting a cold or something. I had better things to do anyway than care an old greasy man.


Janilima

"So how was last night, had any fun?" Miranda ask me with her judging eyes as we sat on a table on a restaurant. She wore a purple tube while i wore a pink spagetti strap.

"Nah...it was too quick. Just this and that and it was all over. Seriously, Mirrie, there no fun here anymore..."

"What are you talking about, Jenie? You got the cash!"

"yeah, i think i'm going to use it to find my brother..."

"Oh come on, don't tell me you're still doing that. Its been five years."

"its just," i say holding my class of tea close to my hands, "when we seperated, it was such a surprise to me. I never even got to say goodbye..."

"Don't worry, Jenie, When you do find him, give me a call."

"Yeah right, that will be the last thing on earth but you know what my client acted weird."

"What kind of weird..."

"I don't know, he might be some lunatic but he's been sneezing and saying'oh, igoing todie' stuff. Eitehr its me or he is simply crazy."

"Its him..."

I laughed for that thought as i continued my dinner.

Hannah

Another doctor entered the room soon. I was thankful. My patient was screaming and in obviously so much pain.

"Hello Zire." I greeted him. We were aquaintances, not close but close enough for informalities.

"Hannah." He greeted back. "How far along is this one?"

I sighed. "Too far along. His eyes have already gone."

Zire rubbed his chin and started spouting off instructions for medications to slow the process and make him more comfortable. It still bothered me that I couldn't do anything to stop this.

My thoughts fell back to my lovely daughter. I had insisted to homeschool her and keep her close to me and out of the hospital. I couldn't stand it if she caught Coliac's. I needed to find a cure.

Caidlene

"Caidy, come here," my sister whispered.

"I'm right here," I said. I stroked her face. "I'll stay here as long as you want me here."

"Then go," she whispered. "I don't want you anymore."

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm staying."

"No. I can't see anything and it's only a matter of time before I start bleeding. No one needs to catch this, especially you," she coughed.

I took a wet rag and wiped the sweat away. She was so brave. How could anyone take life away from someone so precious?

"Don't you worry about me," I said. "I'm staying."

"You're not," she responded in a weak but decided voice. "You need to live. You need to beat this...this thing. You need to survive for me. For me and for mom." Here they come again. The tears, but I held them back.

"Get me a nurse," she said.

"Of course," I replied. Outside a weary, man nodded to me and entered the room. I stood outside, the walls blocking their voices. When he came out he stopped me from going inside.

"What are you doing," I said, extracting my arm from his grip.

"She said to keep you out," he responded.

"But I'm her guardian. Let me go!" I yelled, but his grip was too strong. I thrashed and kicked but got nowhere.

"If you don't control yourself I'll have to make you leave," he said. Did I hear pity in his voice. I went limp and he escorted me to the waiting room. I curled up on the couch and waited for morning.

[ANDRE GREYSMITH]

The park was empty. No-one played, laughed, cried or chased young children around. It was amazing how the virus effected everyone, so little into the time since it had spread.
"Come on, lets skate in the bowl," Andres' friend called. Not one person was there, like the rest of the park, it had been abandoned - no one could risk the though of a graze, the torture that it would release on the world.
It wasn't yet known how long the virus can last in air, but it can spread far enough to contaminate a room full of people in a matter of seconds. This hasn't yet been proven with science, but the proof is substantial. When the first drop of blood turned red from the air, the patient had ten hours to do just that - be patient and let their last hours of life roll by, nothing to do but sit back, and wait for death.
Andre mulled all of this over in his head - what could possibly stop it? It was far to late to immunise, and there weren't any patients that could risk being contaminated. Prisoners? The terminally ill? Who would want to put themselves through pain? What kind of reward could you offer to convince someone to commit suicide?
Andre played with his mask around his neck - the thin fibers wouldn't be enough to stop the virus, so what was the point? Keeping his mother happy?
"I'm moving" The words left his mouth before he could stop them. He wasn't even thinking about it until he uttered the thought.
"When?" came the reply. Anthony was by his side, walking on the grass until they could skate. He had already grasped the concept - this could be the last time they saw each other, friends since Pre-K. It couldn't end like this, Anthony knew. They have to see each other after the virus has mellowed out.
"It's because my mum has been thinking about dad. Crying herself to sleep. She can't bear the thought of loosing me too, or me loosing her. It's what this thing has done to her." He needed no reason to utter the name, it had destroyed too much of his life already, it didn't need to destroy his time with Anthony.
"I know... life's changed. I don't think it'll ever be the same after this whole Coliac's thing's blown over. It's spreading fast too... how long d'ya reckon 'till it mutates?" He didn't need to mention that Andre was avoiding the subject, it would come out soon enough.
They reached the skate bowl, and Andre propped his board up on the lip of the ramp. "Dunno man - hopefully never? We still know nothing about it - they can't even burn the dead like they did with... " His voice trailed off for a second. "They don't know how it'll spread. The stupid thing is I think I know how to stop it!"
"Really how? You look into this too much, it's depressing - especially for you." Anthony stood on his board, and eased it over the edge. "How do you cure it?"
"Nah... stupid theory anyway. You couldn't test it unless you had half a million people and onother half mill to examine the results. You can't ask that of so many people, and it probably wouldn't even work."
"Come on, lets hear it..." It felt good to be joking around again - just the two of them. It felt like old times, before coliac's, before the death, before his mother became depressed, and dragged him down with her.
"Fine, well, you inject some mor--" Andre started, abruptly stopping. Anthony looked behind him, to see the cause of the disruption.
Andres board glided along the ground, rolling up the slope and then falling back down. As his eyes followed it to its' owner, he sighted blood. Sprawled across the ground lay Andre - blood oozing from his knee, slowly building up until it could trickle down his leg.

*Frederick

The gun was handed to me and the first thing I did was to grab and put it by my pocket.

“So what do you say, Frederick? Would you join us or not…?” the boss, a big fat man with a large cigar by his mouth asked me.

“And if I say no?”

“I’ll shoot you point blank at this moment, kid. I do not care about your reputation but you should have not mess with
The big boss.”

I smirked. In truth, I did it on purpose. What else is there for me to do? I had tried to find her with the cops but they were useless. So I had no choice but to go undercover to find my sister.
“You got yourself a deal, pork chop…” I offered him a hand and said his nickname which was no offence to him. Pork chop shook my hand before he cough for two times.
“What? Did shaking my hand made you sick all of the sudden?”
“Shut up, you cocky bastard. I’ve been this for two days already and where is your respect kid. We’re starting our first heist tomorrow.

Janilima

I stared at the window looking at the new stocks they had bought in from England and France. I can feel my wallet by my pocket and feel the thousand dollars that my client has given me last night. I could spend all of it on the dress but then again…

I left the person with a donation box with a shock and great gratitude on his face. There goes my allowance. I may be a prostitute but that does not that I have a cold greedy hard. Oh well, I can do better tonight. It is not that I am a newbie for this type. I could easily get the money in no time.
I walked around town, one quarter of it for a moment trying to find my brother. There is no way I am telling my friends if I find him. There going to own him before I even noticed it.
I dress casually today with no signs that I am a hooker. I am like everybody else.
I checked the missing reports; I read newspapers trying to find his name.
Frederick, I recall. That was his name and even after ten years since our separation, there is no way I am giving up.

Zire


Another patient. Another innocent person to die. Another person that we could not save. This was getting worse. The virus was spreading. How long would it take before the doctors got it? And then there would be no way to find a cure. Already several extremely talented doctors who were studying this disease had died. People thought it was a new form of 'black death' brought upon them by the gods.

Another patient arrived into the room. Hannah Sark rushed to his aid letting me take over the patient she was checking.

*I know its short, i posted this for the sake of the storybook.*

Caidy

I stared at my sister. She was dying. I knew this, but couldn't force myself to accept it.

"Are you okay," someone asked touching my arm. Until now I hadn't realized that I was crying.

"Yeah, sure," I said.

"How long has she been sick?" He asked.

"6 hours," I replied. I saw him nod. Please don't let him say 'I'm sorry,' I thought. If I hear that one more time I think I'll scream. Though, he didn't say anything. He only touched my shoulder lightly and gave me a sad smile.


**Sorry so short!!!**

Hannah

Another patient was brought in. Another doomed to death was lying in another hospital bed in our hospital.

Zire took over the patient I had been tending to so I could take care of the newest. I did everything I could to make him more comfortable. A nurse came into the room after a while.

"Doctor Sark," she said. "You're daughter is here."

I didn't remember telling her sitter to drop her at the hospital at all. My thoughts fell to the worst possible senario.

"Where is she?" I demanded.

"Room 201."

I sighed in releif. That was not a room even close to the Coliac's ward.

"Can you handle this Zire?" I asked.

"Sure, go see Claire." he said.

I ran out of the room. Although Claire was about as far from the Colaics ward as she could be, I worried. Sometimes Coliacs was hard to diagnose at first.

I came to her room and she was sitting in a hospital bed smiling at me. Her sitter was in a chair near the bed looking absolutely tortured.

----
that could be one of the younger characters if they want..i'll just leave that open for now.

[Andre]

No... this couldn't be happening. The words ran through Andres mind again and again. He instinctively ripped open his shirt to reveal a smooth chest. Just to be sure, he looked down. There was nothing there - no rash, no coliacs.

"Calm down... I'm fine. You're fine. It's just a scrape."
It frightened him - just how much a graze could terrify everyone now. There was no way of knowing if that person had coliacs unless they checked for a rash.
"Come on, lets go" His friend muttered. they set back to their seperate homes in cilence, not daring to breech the silence that enveloped them.

*sorry I kind of forgot about this.*
Madeline.

I held the shirt tightly against me and pressed it against my nose. My dad's shirt. I kept it after he died. It was the only possession I had that was his. My mom got rid of everything after he died, her way of grieving.

But, the smell was gone. The sweet, smokey scent of my dad's cologne was gone. Tears welled up in my eyes. I balled up the shirt and threw it against the wall violently. "Stupid virus!" I screeched.

I stood up from the couch and grabbed one of the surgeons masks. I walked out the door and started down the street. Dying wasn't something I was scared of. If I died, then it was just meant to be. There wasn't anything I could do about my fate.

The virus was stealing lives, it wasn't fair. But, I was no doctor and I couldn't do anything to help. I just needed someone. Someone to listen, someone to care. Because my mom wasn't any help.

I looked up at the sky, praying that things would get better.

Zire

"We're doing our best" I explained.

"Your best? Is this all you've done? Admitting people with the virus and then keeping them till they die. Is that all?" The man in front of me shouted.

The whole ward seemed to have got more silent except from the moans and screams of some patients. It wasn't unusual for someone of a patients family to come and scold the doctors. After all wasn't he right? We were truly doing noting, We weren't doing anything. The words lingered in my mind. Usually Hannah too care of this, but as she left i knew i had to do something about it.

"Nurse" I called.

A nurse appeared beside me. Apparently she had been listening to our conversation all along.

"Take our kind visitor and show him to the exit please" I said in a sarcastic and angry tone.

Luckily the nurse was strong and managed to drag the man strait to the exit. I sighed and the turned back to do my job, also waiting for Hannah to come. I was tired and needed some help now.

*I'm going to bring in one of Echelon's characters. Is Echelon still in this since she hasn't posted yet?*

Hannah

"Emily, what happened?" I asked Claire's sitter, Emily Lee.

"She fell and scraped up her knee while playing outside." she explained. "I was worried so I checked her and she had a rash on her arm. I brought her here immedeatly. Of course I couldn't drive, so I had to bring her on the bus. Don't worry though I made sure she had her mask on."

I sighed in relief. "Thank you Emily. Claire will be fine, the rash on her arm is poisen ivy. Isn't it Claire?" I asked my little girl sitting in the bed.

"Yeah!" she squealed. She was entirely excited to be where mommy worked.

I smiled and turned back to Emily. "Thank you again. Would you mind watching her a little longer? I think I'll be working late again and I hate having her here." I asked.

Emily nodded.

"Thanks again." I said. My pager buzzed, I pulled it off my belt and checked it. Doctor Zire Mackane in room 507, it read. I hurried out of the room.

As soon as I reached the Colaic's ward I could faintly hear music playing. It grew louder as I reached the room where Zire was.

He saw me when I entered. "Good, you're back."

I nodded. "What can I do?"

Caidy

My sister screamed in pain. I waited for it to stop but she kept screaming. I walked over to her.

"Stay with me honey," I whispered. "Please, I need you." I couldn't help but cry. My sister, my only family left, was dying. I was to keep her safe when my parents died, but look at the suck-y job I did at that.

"Caidy," she croaked. "Water." I nodded and walked outside. A tired looking doctor was beside the door.

"Water please?" I asked. He nodded and came back quickly.

"How is she?" He asked. I shrugged. I couldn't speak the words I knew were true. He seemed to catch on. I poured her a glass of water and lifted it to her mouth. She drank greedily. Then the water spluttered out of her and the screaming atarted again.

"It's okay," I crooned. I got on the bed beside her and held her in my arms. The screaming stopped and she laid her head on my shoulder.

"Thanks...Caidy," she said. "I love you. You're a good sister." I tried not to cry as I rocked her gently. If I was a good sister she wouldn't have gotten sick. She would live.

Outside the room I saw the doctor's shadow. He had been watching everything. He smiled sadly and nodded my way. I sighed. That meant a lot to me. Just knowing one doctor appreciated what I was doing for my sister.

Frederick

During the course before the robbery, porkchop had numerous cough and all of it he had complained that it was simply a bad case of flu.

I sat down by the entrance.
"Want a smoke?" a guy whom i recognized was at porkchop's swine.
"Sorry i don't smoke," i waved it off and looked out. I was in a hurry to let the robbery finished.
"So what are you in here for. Don't tell you just want to have some fun." he coughed hard.

"Why would i tell you, " i said mockingly before i took out his cigarette from his mouth, "Youll get lung cancer if you continue thius crap."

He laugh before cough more and more before residing back. "Who says so. Don't tell you believe those crap, Fred..."

[Andre]

Getting home early didn't help Andre's mums hysteria. 'He could have died' and 'She'd be lost without him.' 'It was very imature, but' she was 'glad he was safe'.

Her ramblings went on for a while, and then her tone softened.

"We're moving tomorrow." She quietly stated, and then left the room. She chouldn't deal with his reaction, so she went upstairs to pack her things.

Andre spent the rest of the day packing his clothes. he was surprised how much junk he had that he wanted to throw away, and ended up taking his desk, bed, small collection of beeks and beside table. There wasn't much else that he owned and truely cared about.

Tomorrow, at four in the afternoon he was leaving his house, town, and friends for good.