The Infection- Discovered

Chapter One: The Beginning

            I looked over my shoulder on my way out of the house. On the TV, there was something about the Berry Virus and outbreaks and stuff. I did not care much, since most of it happened on the East Coast. In the last outbreak of Berry Virus, nothing really happened. Sure, there were like, ten thousand deaths so far, but really? I shook my head. The chances of getting ANY illness would be almost 1 out of a million. In the year 2120, scientists and doctors had a cure for about ninety-nine percent of diseases. It was November 2125 now; I do not see how another one could form.

            I turned away and walked out the door.  It was baloney; how could someone get a virus by eating berries? It did not make sense. I got on my bike and started pedaling. My school, Evergreen High School, was five miles away, a ‘long’ distance nowadays, in LA and pretty much everywhere else. Everybody uses cars now. There is no point in walking or bicycling, since there are not even sidewalks. Pedestrians usually have a car-width lane nearest to the curb, but most cars just ignore it and drive in it anyway. I had to dodge and drift past cars to get where I wanted.

By the time I arrived at school, it was eight. I dropped my bike in the ‘Put Bike Here’ area, equivalent to a car parking space. I rushed past everyone to get to class, shoving and greeting friends along the way. First, I had Biology AP, at the far end of the campus. Mrs. Holly, the teacher, was always cheerful and creative, but her teaching skills were a little hard to keep up with. I was near the back of the classroom, with a table group of four. Alvin, a friend at the group, came second.

“Dude, have you seen the news?” Alvin asked.

            “About the virus?”

            “Yeah. That thing is freaking me out. Have you seen anyone with it yet?”

            “No. Not yet.”

            Then, I stopped. A girl named Stephanie had just walked into the classroom with a brown bag over her head. One by one, the noise dialed down. Everyone was looking at her. As she walked pass, the groups of students leaned away.

            “Hey, I found a person.” Alvin said a little bit too loudly.

            “Shut up,” I whispered back harshly.

            She found her way to her side of the room, despite being watched by everyone. I was feeling tense, as if someone had just shot a gun.

            “The chances of getting IT are like, a millionth, right?” Alvin asked.

            “Yeah. So, there should be about twelve-thousand infected people in the world.” I replied.

            Breaking the silence, the school bell rang, signaling the start of the school day. Mrs. Holly began with a morning routine, calling for silence, which became unnecessary ever since Stephanie stepped through the door. She then called for a homework pass up. She was definitely in a bad mood, since she had her sick face on.

        She coughed wildly, sneezing and hiccupping at the same time. I heard her say something like, “Sorry. Excuse me. Bless me.” I shifted my eyes to Stephanie, then back to Mrs. Holly. Something was happening. Just then, I made the connection.

The teacher had caught the virus. From past research, I found out that the disease was deadly contagious, transferring from victim to victim in minutes. Mrs. Holly’s breath stopped. She was turning purple, a sure sign of illness. She was twitching her muscles and shaking her head. It was if she had a seizure, except much worse, showing side effects of swelling skin.