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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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Published:
2020-11-04
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1,380
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1/1
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13
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698

Untitled Original fic

Summary:

This is a little something I've been working on for a while now.
(Stupid inconsistent muses!)
Criticism is welcome!
Submitted through the Makebelieve_YG mailing list.

Work Text:

Untitled Original fic
by Phynix

Chapter 1

Sarah strode to the window and peered through the curtains at the rain on the front lawn. She couldn't help but wonder who else had survived the plague. Would matt make it to her little stronghold? Had he even survived? Would the government restore order and services like power and water soon? Was there even any government left?

Somehow she didn't think so. The plague had appeared out of nowhere overnight. It had baffled scientists because there seemed to be no "Chain of infection". It was like the very atmosphere of the planet had been seeded with this plague that no one had ever seen before. There was nothing any one could do to stop it. It ripped through the populations of rich and poor, advanced and primitive nations all over the globe, and nothing the doctors, scientists, or local healers of any kind did could even slow it down.

Somehow, Sarah and others had known that something was coming for years. No one just knew when, what, how, or why. That was the reason Sarah had bought her little house in the hills, even though it meant an hour and a half commute. She had been digging into the hill her house sat on and roughing out rooms for years. That same something had compelled her to plant crops, and get some livestock. Not much, just three cows, a horse, some sheep, some goats, and a handful of chickens.

Most of the people who knew Sarah just thought that she was paranoid when they saw the safety system she put in a round the perimeter of her land. Only a few of them even knew about the rooms in her hill, and only 5 or so had any clue as to what was in them.

The first cases of the plague had started showing up about a month and a half before. None of the scientists or doctors could identify what was making people sick and then killing them. No one knew where it had come from, how it spread, or even how long people had actually been infected.

At first the doctors thought it might be a new type of encephalitis because of the symptoms. But it didn't respond to any of the antibiotic or antiviral treatments they tried. It started with a high fever and a headache. Then a paralysis set in that became progressively worse. For some people the paralysis extended to their vital organs and they died. Others died from an aneurysm or the high fever.

When the first plague victims showed up, something in Sarah's mind and soul clicked and she started stocking up on supplies and making plans with Mikey and their friends and all of the contacts that they could reach. Sarah maxed out her credit cards buying supplies that she didn't already have. Things like food that was semi perishable, seeds, and medicines that she didn't already have on hand.

She called Matt and her friends and family to make plane and let them know that they were welcome at her little sanctuary when they could get there. They knew how to get past her security system if she didn't make it through the plague. If she did make it she would be waiting for them. She also made sure that they knew they were welcome to bring other survivors with them.

After checking her food and fuel supplies, Sarah made one last trip to town: it was becoming dangerous to leave her lands as more and more people fell ill and died.

As she first began to feel sick, Sarah put her animal out into the pasture with the three sided shed and made sure that her dogs and cats had food and water. She also checked her security system and solar generators one last time before heading to the room she had stocked with food, water, and medicine for herself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As she began to feel better, after about three days, Sarah got up to check on her dogs' and cats' food and water supplies. They had been in to check on her several times each day. After spending time with her the dogs went out to check on the other animals again. Now that her fever was no longer so high all the time, the cats got into bed with her, when they weren't hunting mice, rats, and other vermin.

As the headaches began to taper off, about a week after she first began to feel ill, Sarah began to get out of bed for more than just using the bathroom, and feeding the animals. She went down the hall to the kitchen to get something to eat that wasn't part of the stash in her sick room.

As she began to feel better and better she began to spend more time either in the front room looking out the window or on the front porch when the weather was good.

Finally during the third week she felt well enough to go out to check on her livestock. Her mare was doing well, and so were the cows. A few of the older chickens had been taken by the local predators but here were plenty of chicks to replace them.

Over the next three weeks Sarah checked on her neighbors' places, none of whom had survived, saw to it that their animals were taken care of, and removed any supplies they had that she might be able to use. She consoled herself that she in fact she wasn't looting, her neighbors would have wanted her to have what she could use and to see to their animals.

She began checking her ham radio, listening for other survivors. The radio stations had stopped broadcasting as she was getting sick, and hadn't gone back on the air.

 

Two months after she fell ill she got a response on the ham radio!

"Sarah! Is that you!?"

"Jimmy?! You survived! Thank god! I missed you brother. How's Cathy?" Sarah said grabbing the mike with a huge smile.

"Cathy's good. We both came through the sickness Ok. Your warning was a lifesaver. Things got bad in LA just after we made our last trip in. It didn't get too bad with the local population here around the base," Jimmy said.

"Have you heard from any of the others?" Sarah inquired anxiously.

"Mikey managed to get some word to me. He has supplies and is holed up to wait out the unrest. He and his classmates and colleagues have the campus sealed off and the library and labs shut down. Some of his peers were already starting to recover when he called before things shut down."

"Have you heard from any of the rest of the network?" Sarah asked anxiously. The weather was getting out of hand and she needed help.

"Mikey said Theresè was recovering and should be able to resume control of her area soon. Have you heard from Jody lately?"

"You're the first I've heard from Jimmy. I'll have to do some long range listening tonight," Sarah her older brother.

"Have you noticed anything unusual since the plague, Jimmy? There's no telling what's going on in the world."

"Matt called on his sat phone. He's headed your way leading a caravan of survivors. He's picking up people and survivors as he travels," Jimmy told her.

"I'm going into town this week to check out things there. I'll check on the far neighbors on my way in. I'll take the truck. I might get lucky and find some gas. There might be survivors or supplies. None of the closer neighbors made it and I've already made scavenging runs to their places and collected their animals.

A week ago I saw a large fire out west. Might've been a Pyre."

"As many people as have died couldn't be buried, you'd have to do a pyre. It's a sign of potential survivors," Jimmy pointed out. The radio began to cut in and out on his end so they had to end the conversation for now.

 

TBC