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Crank
LA Times
Doctor Allan Pritchard has been working on a cure for blindness for three years now. He gives us an one on one interview.
LA-When did you want to find a cure for this?
Allan- My daughter, Alexis, was born blind. I just wanted her to see the world.
LA- How close are you to finding a cure?
Allan- Very close I would say, the mice I have tested on have shown great improvement.
LA-How soon until this cure will be ready?
Allan- That is unknown right now. I’m as close as one could be.
LA- Are there any side effects?
Allan- Well, yes there are always risk in medicine. My test subjects have shown some of these effects but none so far are life threatening.
LA- I don’t mean to intrude but have you found any new information on your wife?
Allan- No... I have not. Mary left when my second daughter, Alexis was five and Greta was 8. She came back to us when Greta was in sixth grade and Alexis was 10.
LA- I’m very sorry.
Allan- Thank you. Now I must really go.
LA- Thank you for your time.
Cure
RING! RING! RING!
“I’m awake, I’m awake...” I muttered
“Well, do you really want to be late again?” Allan, my father asked in
his all knowing voice.
“I was late once, five years ago!” I blurted out.
“And it has put a spot on your perfect record!” Allen replied.
“That was in sixth grade!” I yell as I get out of my comfy, warm bed.
“GRETA!!!! Get in here right now!” Dad screamed at the top of his
lungs.
“What did I do now?” I mumbled as I exited my room.
“How many times to stay out of my lab?” My dad
questioned me.
“ I don’t know... a million. Why?” I asked.
“ My acetones, benzols, and cupric oxide are missing!” His wasface as red
as a tomato.
“ Well, I didn’t touch them. Check my room if you want. Oh, can Camryn
come over tomorrow? We have a project due on Monday.”
“ Sure, sure... Go and wake up Alexis.”
“ Ok, she has a field trip coming up to the zoo.”
As I walked into Alexis’s room, I noticed her breathing was ragged and
short. I came closer and saw little pinpricks on her arms and legs. Each one
was a bright, blistering red. I nudged her with my elbow, and a primal sound
came out of her her mouth. It was unlike anything I had heard before.
“Alexis... are you okay?” I whispered
“ No, my head hurts... and my body is on fire.” Alexis screamed in pain.
“ I’m going to get dad.” I told her in the most calming voice I could
bring out of my self at the time.
“Dad, come in here now!” I yelled.
“Don’t yell at me, young women.” Dad called out.
“ Alexis she’s... freaking out.” I said in a low voice.
“ I’m coming” Dad said
By the time Dad got in the room, the needle marks went from a red to
yellow, to a greying color. Alexis looked like a mummy, wrapped in linen and
preserved for years to come. Her eyes, normally a cloudy blue, glowed a dull
yellow.
“Greta, call 911.” Allan said in a panicked voice.
“OK.” My voice thick from the tears.
I ran to the phone and dialed 911 as quickly as possible. A shriek of pain came
from Alexis’s room. Dropping the phone I sprinted back to my father and sister.
“What happened?” I asked my voice tight.
“She, she bit me.” Dad said in a constricted whisper.
A welt the size of a small rock was on his skin, raised and broken. It
looked like something out of a horror movie. The color mirrored the look of
decay and ruin. Dad was on the floor eagle spread. Alexis unrestrained
now moved freely in the small room. She maneuvered herself under the bed,and
batted at my ankles and hissed at my feet. Acting like a cat being provoked,
Alexis rolled around, wrapping herself in blankets. The poster of Braille was
knocked down and was lying on the floor. Books lay on the floor and their
spines open to show the ridges and bumps. As the horror crept into my throat
and panic about to take over, the door squeaked open. The form was human but
the movement was broken, jagged and sharp.
“Hello, my dears...” My mother whispered.
The shock hit me like a brick, sliding around my stomach, it broke the
last straw inside myself. Her face was the color of ash, dingy color and sunk
into her face, the hollows of her cheeks shadowed by gray.
“Well, well, I can’t tell if she can see. What about you, Greta?” Mom
said, her voice rough and cracked.
“ What did you do her?” I screamed.
“I helped her. She was deformed, unhealthy and now she is whole.” Mary
Ellen spit out
“What are you talking about? She is blind, nothing more. How could you
do this?” I yelled.
“It was quite easy really, once I got the final ingredients from your
father. They just had to simmer. Then once injected it would finally cure
her!” She was coughing up blood now. The bright red liquid splattered her
blouse and dripped onto the floor.
“THEN WHAT IS HAPPENING? THIS IS APPARENTLY THE CURE! Why is she hurting
even more?” I screamed.
“ It takes... time. But I know it will work.” Her eyes filled with tears
and they falled, intertwining with one another and plummeting to the ground as
one.
Alexis now tossed and turned on the floor. The chemicals were rushing
through her blood. Her eyes twitched and her body shook like it was on fire.
“How long does it take to kick in?” I inquired, the calm in my voice
fake and untrue.
“I took it three days ago, and I’m fine, just fine.” My mother said
as she quivered.
“ We need to get you three to the hospital. Come on, Dad get up.” I told
him.
“He won’t wake up.” Mary Ellen confessed to me.
“Why not? What was in this cure?” I investigated.
“None of your business. It will help Alexis.” My mother informs me.
“In case you haven’t noticed, she’s kinda freaking out!” I yelled.
A groan came from the floor and my father rose. Stumbling towards me,
the smells of chemicals fills the air around me. With his face contorted and
grey, he lurched toward me.The expression on his face told me that my father
was gone. That he was replaced with a demonic form of a human. He reached out
and bit my shoulder.
“AHHHHHHHH!” I cried out.
The pain raked into my soul and draged out the fears I’ve hidden from the
world. I gripped the bed post and it broke. I’m stronger than ever before and
hunger riped through me. An intangible grip on my body it forced me to find
flesh. As I left the small room, I saw a feast.
HONK! HONK!
The bus is here.
LA Invaded
LA is being evacuated due to disease that causes madness and cannibalism.
Science has no cure and there is not one in sight. This disease called Crank started in Chicago and has
spread statewide. There are cases of Crank in Asia and Europe. Most cities are invaded. 75% of the
United States have contracted the disease. Safe houses are located at 1236 Marzo drive, San Diego and
4576 Second street, Concord. Warning stay away from windows and doors. Do not go out at night.
Always have a weapon with you. Have someone with you when you go out. A list of symptoms is below.
Greying Skin.
Coughing Up Blood.
Yellowing Eyes.
Lumps
This will be the last LA Times until further notice.
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