Maylin

PROLOGUE

PROLOGUE

This is the story about how life as we know it crumbled apart. How humanity's hopes, dreams, and happiness took an illness so powerful no scientist could begin to create a vaccine but we're able to create a name. Anotia.

Spreading like wildfire and tearing families apart worldwide, it started off slowly, harmless, with the old. Then, slowly, almost cautiously, they started dying. No one paid attention to it at first, someone's grandma with Alzheimer's gets sick and goes away in the night. No big deal. But then it started getting worse, progressing. Any normal disease would keep around the same the same pace or at least grow at the same rate. Not this one.

Its pattern was so irregular. To most scientists it just seemed like an outbreak that would make its mess then leave, like flu season.

Those that became infected at first had a slight fever and fatigue, then after awhile stopped eating, skin begins to change color. Most recently before the Black Day, infected patients began coughing blood and then vomiting black fluid before dying. This was when it finally became an urgent matter to scientist and biologists around the world. But at that point, it was too late. It was spreading too quickly for anything to be done.

Sorry if it seems like I'm rambling, I haven't slept in days.

I should probably start from the beginning, though It's not something I look upon with great fondness. The beginning, anyway, before everything went to shit. I usually avoid even thinking about it because all it does is bring back memories of family, friends, my life..... and her.

My name is Kellen Johnson, I'm seventeen and I lived in Northbrook, Nevada with my mother, my thirteen year old sister, Kaylee, and my six year old sister, Carrie. Our father left when I was eleven, Kaylee was seven, and Carrie was just a baby. People think it's hard to be the only male in the house, especially without a dad, but I don't see the fuss really.

I used to attend Northbrook High and was just shy of a 3.9 GPA. I was in all advanced classes, I can drive, I have job. Well HAD one, anyway. When the disease became more prominent, the government closed down lots of shops and restaurants to prevent spread. Of course they had promised us that once it was all over they would make sure every one of us got our jobs back, which as you can tell, didn't happen.

I was basically every parent's dream child. In some ways I guess I am a "normal" teenager, what's wrong with having a few bad habits when I have all of my shit together otherwise? That's not the point, though.

I guess I'd be leaving out a big part if I didn't tell you how I didn't become infected. It's quite a stupid reason, really. Either my immune system doesn't cooperate well with it or I was just in the right place at the right time. Both fit well I guess.

The day the disease fully took over was much like a zombie apocalypse. Came out of fucking no where, mass confusion and fear, freak accidents. The whole shitload. Though in my opinion, the things that were created from this were far different.

Only a select few were smart enough to know where to go, where to hide. I was part of that few and was able to save three other lives besides mine. What I said about my immune system, or whatever, was true. It killed most of everything in its path that day, I'm just glad I wasn't in it.

I guess I'd also be leaving out a large part if I didn't tell you about Maylin. Maylin Caldwell was a huge part of my life. I say "was" because we don't really consider what we have now a "life". Just a twisted game to survive. She is everything to me, I risked my life for her time and time again. To me she is utter perfection, the way her hair shines in the sunlight, her soft skin that always smelled so good, the thin and curvy shape of her body, the way her eyes reflected the sunlight to show green pools.

Maylin and I went to high school together, just finished our junior year.

Miraculously like me, she also was immune to the disease. Most people either died or became something much worse than what we would call a "zombie".

This is the story about how Anotia killed humanity.