The Final Outbreak

Chapter 1: Hello Beautiful

Josh woke up to the sound of his Husky barking. Brutus wanted to play and it was their normal playtime, 7 am every morning. Like clockwork, he got up and let Brutus out, then started his coffee pot. Yawing he checked the fridge for any leftovers that might be good from the night before. Josh was a freelance reporter and had the luxury of sleeping into his heart's content. Brutus began to bark signaling he was ready to come in.
"Come on boy let's get some breakfast"
Josh flipped on the TV and started to pour coffee into his mug. It was his favorite morning news show that was on. He loved keeping up with the current events to find his next gig. Josh was an excellent writer on his way to success with the San Francisco Chronicle, a big newspaper in the greater Bay Area CA.
"Reports are just coming in of the 10th person showing similar symptoms from flight 869 that landed in San Jose last night." Josh's ears perked up as he leaned in to listen spilling a little coffee in the process.
"Anyone showing flu-like symptoms was quarantined and sent to a local hospital for evaluation.
"There is no information at this time as to what type of virus this could be but we will be monitoring this story for any updates, Dean Jones KPIX news"
The whole world was still scared shitless after dealing with the Coronavirus Pandemic. Josh's mouth was wide open at this point as he watched the news unfold. Could this be another variant or maybe a bad case of food poisoning from the in-flight meals? Josh picked up his phone and found five missed calls from last night, It was the newspaper.
"They must want me to find out what's going on Brutus"
Brutus just smiled at his owner and wagged his tail and continued scarfing down his morning kibble.
The flight had departed Las Vegas NV at 8:50 pm and landed in San Jose CA around 10 pm. It wasn't clear yet what had happened or why, It was the beginning stages of the world's worst outbreak in history.

Josh threw on his cleanest set of clothes and combed his hair with urgency. He knew he needed to move fast if he wanted some of the action. He arrived at the San Jose Airport in his 1967 Red Mustang, his pride, and joy. With his voice recorder ready he approached the Airport security.
"I need to speak with someone about the sick passengers from last night's flight!"
The guard looked at him and paused.
"Sorry sir, we cannot release any information at this time," the guard said.
"Shit, I guess you're just doing your job right, well can you tell me how many were sick on the plane"
The guard remained silent and pointed to a tv monitor in the terminal which was covering the story.

(Tv Reporter) "It is now confirmed that 32 people have become sick from flight 869 all showing flu-like symptoms and now lesions on their skin" The pictures of the patients in beds with ventilators and bandages were quite a grim sight. Josh's stomach sank and he ran to the nearest garbage can and started violently throwing up. In his 15 years of covering health emergencies, he never reacted like this. From ten to 32 patients in a matter of thirty minutes, he knew this was just the beginning of something huge. He ran back to his Mustang and jumped in, terrified that he could have potentially been exposed to some new disease.

It had now become Global news of the situation from flight 869. The number of infected had grown to 120 people, all of who were being quarantined at a local hospital. The CDC set up a mobile command center and closed both airports as a precaution. In a matter of a few hours, shit had hit the fan! Ten people had already died from health complications, cardiac arrest, and suffocation from puss in their lungs. What a way to die, and fast too considering the passengers were probably infected during the flight. It had been 12 hours since the flight and people were already dying! It was now noon as Josh arrived back home. He ran inside and immediately started washing his hands and face vigorously.
"God help us," he said