The Monster Pandemic

 

The X-11 virus turned into a deadly pandemic. The first strain wasn’t potent, but as the months passed by, new strains emerged that spread faster than a wildfire. The initial vaccines that rolled out were ineffective, but eventually, the Pracean vaccine proved to be promising. The infection rate began to drop, but it didn’t take long for the situation to flip.

Not two weeks after international shipping was made possible, something went horribly wrong. Patients’ skin turned blue, while their eyes grew crimson. They became violent and volatile; it wasn’t long before they started attacking and eating people alive. People were forced to barricade themselves in shops or run for their lives before they were eaten by the bloodthirsty hordes. They watched as their families and friends butchered innocents before their eyes. The rain of blood was unceasing.  
 
As nightfall arrived, Marianna peeped out from the corner of a window to find the streets empty. She did the same from another window and decided to call out to her brothers Josh and Peter, as well as her Uncle Stewart and Aunt Dianne. They were all that was left of their extended family.

“What’s the matter?” asked Peter.

“The streets seem to be empty. Maybe we can go out and get some food.”

“Uncle Stewart and I will go this time, sis. You stay back and work on the antidote,” Josh said.

Marianna nodded as Josh walked towards the box that was on the couch next to them and grabbed two pairs of night-vision goggles from it. Stewart and Josh then took two assault rifles and stepped outside, slowly crossing the road while sticking to the shadows.

After they left, Marianna, Peter, and Dianne locked the doors and walked into the next room. There were vials and flasks filled with chemicals, as well as a couple of whiteboards with chemical formulae and equations written on them. The three of them went through file after file as the time slithered by. Josh and Stewart returned an hour later.

“How did it go?”

“We got some stuff, but there was a trail of bones along the way,” Josh said, putting his bag on the table.

“Well, I’m glad you two are safe.”

Stewart and Josh couldn’t eat dinner that night. The gruesome scenes outside had consumed their appetites. Marianna and Dianne spent the next five hours toiling to find the cure while Peter slept on the couch. A couple of days passed by, and things slowly took a turn for the better. They also took in more people who were running for their lives and gave them shelter. Those survivors lent them a hand as well. Within a week, they came up with an antidote that they thought was certain to work. All that was left was to find a test subject.

However, it seemed that they did not have to go that far: the test subjects had come to them. Everyone started firing their rifles as ten monsters besieged the building. Several people fell prey to them, with even Stewart and Dianne almost meeting their end, but the company managed to shoot the monsters with the antidote on time and save them.

The monsters collapsed and trembled on the floor for minutes before turning back to normal. At first, their memories were hazy; they only remembered being hospitalised. However, it was not long before the horrors of their ‘monster state’ actions began to flood their minds. It was as if a whirlwind of emotions had gripped them tightly. They had a long journey of healing ahead. However, in the months to come, more people were cured, and the plague was nullified.