Traum von Asterhive

The Panic

You're not quite sure what it is, or how you first heard of it, but you knew what a raccoon was and you knew what the flu was, so when you saw the snuffly bandit-looking creature stroll across the airport parking ramps, you could guess what you were seeing.

"Raccoon flu," you whispered, and your shadow friend, still a cat, raised its hackles with a hiss.

Nobody else had heard you though, and that was unnacceptable.

"RACCOON FLU!" you hollered, and this time everybody promptly stared and screamed.

The crowd began madly running away at once, and you felt a sort of satisfaction as you joined them. You had always wanted to start a panic.

You realized somewhere amidst your running that you had abandoned your brothers. Oh well, they would have and had probably done the same to you. Besides, they were taller. If you could escape with legs as short as yours, they could certainly save themselves.

The shadow wasn't a cat at this point. He was a dark ribbon clinging to your hair and wrist.

"You chicken?" you asked, grinning.

He just held on tighter.

Despite your warning and your immediate action, it seemed that you were too late. You noticed that some around you already had gray-patched skin and dark circles around their eyes.
Infected.

You ran faster, escaping the affected individuals through twists and turns and amateur parkour. You eventually had to stop. It wasn't because of tiredness, for you never had and never could feel tired in Asterhive, but because the glass walkway which you had been walking on suddenly shattered.

And so you fell down, down, down, plummeting into the depths of the mall.