Becoming Dead

Thought I share my mess I call my NaNoWriMo Novel.

Becoming Dead Chapter 1 Part 1.


A steady buzzing sound brought John to life. His eyes struggled to open as morning light found its ways into his tired irises. He turned his head away from the window, cursing whoever thought it would be a good idea to leave the curtains open. He slammed the snooze button on his alarm and fell back asleep. Today was the first day of summer and needed to catch up on his sleep.

A rustling sound came from the closet, his eyes opened in alert. He could have sworn he had left the closet door open before he went to bed, something about being to lazy to close it. John climbed out of bed, his body whispering promises of sweet dreams of lovely women, but he refused the offer. He wasn't sure why, but John felt his heart pound in his temples. His hand, shaking, reached out for the door knob. Someone had definitely been in his room, first the curtains and now the closed closet? As the door knob turned it let out an irritable screeching sound, louder in his heightened awareness. As he pulled the door open, a blonde headed monster jumped out of the closet.
“Boo!” She shouted her arms outstretched over her head.
“Hey Boo,” John said embarrassed. Should have guessed, he thought scolding himself.
“Did I scare you?” Boo asked as she jumped up and down, a bright smile pasted on her eight year old face.
“Nope,” John said turning his back on her.
“Not even a little?” She whimpered. Her excited jumping stopped and as John glanced over his shoulders he could see her arms were folded. “Fine, I'll take my stuff elsewhere.” She ran out the door and out of his sight. As she left his sight he could hear her shout the name of our cat, Goggles. John let out a sigh as he fell into his bed and wrapped his blanket around his body.

The howling of the cat brought him back, and John realized he couldn't sleep any longer. Climbing out of bed again, he changed out of his pajamas and into a pair of shorts and jeans. He wiggled his toes as he considered shoes and socks. He had to stop from slapping himself. Long were the days he had spent as a child running around the neighborhood, his feet naked as could be. Groaning over the death of his childhood, he left his room.

Just as he was about to close the door, Goggles flew past and jumped onto the bed. Poor thing, not easy waking up in the morning to have Boo try and scare you. He smiled as he left the door partially opened. As he entered the kitchen Boo froze, her eyes searching for an escape. John glanced at her before opening the fridge to fish out some orange juice. Setting it out on the table John could see Boo slowly stirring her frosted flakes, her bangs obscuring her eyes. John then went for the cupboard and pulled out two small cups. Poured some orange juice into each, all very slowly. He sat down and passed one glass to her.
“I didn't mean to I swear!” She cried out, her face forming a sad puppy face. “Well I don't swear, mom would wash my mouth out with soap.” She said, her breathing becoming more rapid. She paused for a moment, her eyes lingering on the juice. “I was trying to scare Goggles but I accidentally knocked over the broom and it bopped him on the head.” She squirmed in her seat, as he sipped from his cup.
“You know very well that Goggles shouldn't be trifled with.”
“Trifled?” She asked scratching her head. “Oh I know! Its that word the bad guy always says in Captain Rangers!” she sat up straight and cleared her throat and began to say in a deep voice, “You lousy kids I am not to be trifled with!” She slumped back down smiling.
“Yeah, anyways.” John said as he got up and rummaged through the fridge. “You remember last Halloween?” Boo nodded and John could see her tremble. “I never told you what that was, did I?” John returned to the table, empty handed. She shook her head, her blonde hair waved around frantically. “Well a couple of days before Halloween, you stepped on Goggles tail. He wasn't to happy with that...” John finished his juice as Boo let out a terrible gasp, forcing a smile on John's lips. “So you might want to watch out or he might just go.... BOO!” John said in his most monstrous voice he could summon. Boo jumped in her seat, and when John started laughing she smiled.
“You got me,” she smiled. When Boo finished her juice and cereal John took the bowl and cup and put them in the sink. “Have you seen the funnies today?” Boo nodded and got up from the table and disappeared into her room. When she returned she held the terribly folded newspaper under her arm. “Thanks.” After crinkling the paper, he scanned the newspaper, not looking for anything in particular. When he came across a article title 'H1N1 Terror' he froze.

H1N1 Terror
by Susan Davis

Another confirmed 67 deaths at the Lanton Hospital late last night. In each case the patient exhibited signs of Swine Flu as they entered the ER early that afternoon. Only a few had any underlying problems, otherwise the 64 patients were fit and healthy. What worries CDC official is that these patients only came down with the flu the night before.

“It was terrible,” one of the attending nurses said. “When they came in you could just see it in their eyes. They were dying. When I tried to speak to the doctors they refused to answer questions. But their faces told their reaction. They were scared.

Last month CDC officials told us that the H1N1 virus was mutating, the Vaccine that was released late last year has become useless. When asked about if a new vaccine was in the process they looked grim as the reply was given “We are trying, but we fear that as soon as it is available to the public it will be useless. We underestimated the virus it is mutating and adapting at speeds we have never seen before.”

Across the nation small towns have been quarantined. Most communications into the quarantined areas are restricted to military personal only.

John didn't finish the article. He balled up the newspaper and tossed it away. He let out a sigh as Boo left the room, not a worry in the world. 67 deaths last night, making a grand total of 1,245 in the month alone and that was just in Lanton. Ever since news of the vaccine becoming inefficient he had made sure to keep track of the Flu From Hell as one of the major news networks had called it.
“Johnny,” Boo said. John snapped into attention finding his kid sister staring at him. Her eyes wide, her small body was trembling. “Are you OK?” John sat their, looking at her for a moment wondering what it would like to be her. To be completely oblivious to the evils of the world, or at least think that some one was going to come in and save the day. No one was coming though, not now.
“It just came to me,” he whispered and to his surprise he could hear the shakiness of his voice.
“What?” She said, her eyes growing even wider.
“That scare you gave me this morning!” John tried to smile, but couldn't get his lips to move. To many depressing thoughts. Boo started to jump up and down, a smiling a wide toothy grin. She stopped and ran out of the room and a moment later her door slammed in victory. How mom puts up with her was a mystery. John thought as he looked at the clock, at least they should be coming home tomorrow. John got up from the table and flipped on the TV.