Shaundra’s Contest: Uncommon End

At one of our meetings, Shaundra created a contest where she gave each person a strange item and a strange goal. My prompt was hairnets and to create the “uncommon cold.” I spent my entire day yesterday on this and put aside homework, so it’s not all that great, but at least I got it done. 🙂 My story placed somewhere around 4th to 6th place out of 6 entries.

Day 1: It has come! After many years of careful planning and researching, the day has finally come for me to put my plan into action! I have worked through many sleepless nights to create this monstrosity, and I think that I have perfected it! Soon I will have the world’s most deadly weapon in my possession and I will have the entire population in my grasp!

For recording purposes, I will be studying the effects that my new strain of virus will have on my chosen test subjects and will carefully be writing my observations in this notebook. The world will want to know how its destruction was brought about…My brilliance will be admired and feared by many!

From this quaint table hidden away in the corner of the cafeteria within the St. Mary’s Hospital, I am able to observe the five lunch ladies that I have chosen to unleash my weapon upon. Nobody has suspected that I have previously seeded the hairnets with my synthetic ailment. Now the world’s fate rests within time’s hands…

Day 2: There are no changes to observe so far. The virus does not seem to have taken effect yet, but it will.

Day 3: All five of my test subjects are beginning to display symptoms. Two are complaining of a sore throat, one with a headache, and the other three are suffering from a mild runny nose. Soon, the virus will slowly begin to destroy their bodies…

Day 4: It seems to take a full three days after contact with the virus before full symptoms begin to show. Two women have not come to work today and the other three are suffering from severe runny noses; dry, sore throats; itchy, puffy eyes; rasped coughs; and painful headaches. The plan seems to be working as planned, but there is still more to come…

Day 5: The unusual and manipulated effects of my virus have finally begun to tear apart their victims! There are only two subjects working today and both have a constant running nose that will not cease, immensely powerful headaches that are unknowingly causing brain damage, sore throats that are beginning to eat away the esophagus that will soon be followed by the trachea, followed by terrible coughs and sneezes. I cannot wait to see what is to ensue.

Day 6: I am sorry to say that I will not be attending any of the five funerals that will be scheduled soon. At the moment, I have more important things to attend to.

Unknowingly, my first few test subjects have helped spread their murderer to lead to the world’s end. I predict that each of the women’s families will follow them to their death followed by those who were served by them here in the hospital. Of course, if any of them took public transportation from work, she could have infected many more. That would fortunately speed up my plan. I will need to continue to observe to find out how fast the virus can spread.

Now, I wait here at this table and wait for the chaos to unfold…

Day 7: I have noticed a few of the beginning symptoms in some of the patients walking about the hospital. Soon, my disease will infiltrate this entire building and I will be one step closer…I do wish that it would hurry.

Day 8: Just as I suspected, (and planned,) doctors and patients are beginning to die. It’s too bad…soon this entire hospital will be lifeless, followed by the city, then the state, the country, the world…How far can I take this?

Day 9: Few roam the desolate halls of this empty facility. The few who are alive are already suffering from the bizarre effects and know that their ends will come swiftly. Once I am finished here, it won’t be long.

Day 10: I have finally made the news! An entire hospital dying off is now the main story across the country and people are frantically trying to find the cause of the deaths. They won’t ever find the cause…That is of course until I tell them all what I have done, but at that time they will all be too weak to do anything. I will control their meager lives from then on.

Day 11: People all across the country are dying! It’s so brilliant to see! They’re beginning to call it The Nationwide Epidemic. Isn’t that great? People are also starting to commonly call it the “Uncommon” cold. I never did realize, but it does have symptoms very similar to that of a common cold; however, my cold is so much more powerful and constraining.

Day 12: Other countries have discovered that they are also infected with the virus.

It’s not long now that the world will be mine…Yes, the price was high, but after dedicating so many years of my life, I am willing to pay it. I have thirsted for this moment for so long…

These past few days have been so strangely satisfying…I wonder how the world will remember this attack. How will they tell of this in the history books? Thanks to this journal, the whole world will know of my clever plan and how it all started out with simple hairnets. How ingenious is that? Now, the only way this day would get better would be for me to get rid of this terrible cough…