The level of rainfall has increased significantly, to the point where the storm drains are struggling to process it, and it is beginning to overflow into the streets. You wish you'd brought extra socks with you too. [[It won't do to leave soggy footprints throughout the courtroom.]]

You wake up and make your morning coffee. The heaviness in your head still hasn't gone away. You feel a pang of anxiety as you review the symptoms for the disease in your mind. \n\n[[It begins as extreme fatigue]].

It is sunny outside, with only a few clouds, and the piles of snow are beginning to melt and run into the storm drains. You're disappointed to be heading to work indoors, instead of enjoying the day, the way you'd like to. [[You work as a law clerk at city hall.]]

At the meeting are other heads from the other area hospitals and representatives from the city. Based on the findings you and the other labs report, there are plans to begin distributing bottled water and air masks, along with putting martial law into effect in the coming weeks.\n[[There are similar actions being taken in other nearby towns, and across North and South America.]]

You arrange the case materials for the hearing this afternoon, reviewing them before starting work on your trial brief. Over the next two hours, the wind begins to pick up outside, and a second storm warning is issued on the radio, indicating that conditions have become perfect for a superstorm. Individuals are encouraged to remain indoors, or get inside before the storm is scheduled to hit in late afternoon. [[It is still only 11AM, though, and you live relatively nearby.]]

Thanks to the fearmongering on the news, more people have been showing up than ever wanting to be tested for this new disease. Reports are greatly exaggerated, but everyone is paranoid they have it. As such, you have been a bit backed up recently, and everyone has been putting in a few extra hours each day testing samples.\n\n[[You put on your labcoat.]]

You decide to stay for lunch. You take the elevator down to the ground floor and head to the cafeteria. Just as you start reading the menu, [[the lights flicker and die]].

You see your supervisor grimace when you hand her the report. She tells you that other local hospitals are reporting the same dramatic short-term increase in the number of cases they are handling.\n[[She invites you to come with her to a city council meeting where they will be presenting the data.]]

Good Morning\n[[It's another wonderfully average day]]\n

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It seems that today, you are going to be assisting with only one trial in person, scheduled for the afternoon, and for the rest of the day, simply drafting trial briefs. Turning on the radio by your desk, you hear that there is a storm warning for this evening. This is in stark contrast with what you see outside, with only a smattering of clouds, but [[you make a mental note to work as quickly as possible today, so you can get home before the weather takes a turn.]]

Your friend messages you a link to an online news article. It's about the increasing tensions between the United States and China. You reply, "What year is it again?", and [[walk over to the library to get some homework done.]]

Leaving the courthouse, you discover that the roads are partially flooded. It's raining so heavily now that it will be a struggle to get to your home, even though it is only a few blocks away. [[The 20 minutes it will take seems more like an hour.]]

Having worked in a hospital for so long, you know what that means.\nThe days become a messy blur as you lie, isolated, in a quarantine room. Even friends and family members find it difficult to take the time to come to the hospital, wear protective clothing, and jump through all the hoops required for a simple visit to your room, eventually not bothering to visit at all. [[This isn't the worst thing, however, since you're barely conscious frequently enough to be aware of their absence.]]

What would you like to do first?\n\n[[Check the weather]]\n\n[[Watch the news]]\n\n[[Text your friend]]

You open up your laptop and try to get some work done. In your procrastination fuelled Facebook romp, you see almost nothing but complaints and panic about these most recent threats. People are fearful that China will launch nuclear warheads as a display of power and an assertion of dominance.\n[[You take a break and look outside.]]

The emergency lights come on, casting an eerie glow on the room. A voice comes over the PA, announcing that due to the power outage, all trials not yet in progress will be rescheduled, and all trials presently in progress will be suspended. You celebrate for a moment that you won't have to present anything today, and start making plans to [[get home.]]

It takes you longer than anticipated to get back to work. You only have 15 minutes to find the room the hearing is going to be held in and meet with your team. As you are checking the board with the rooms and schedules, [[the lights flicker and die]].

[[You close your eyes.]]

You grab a mask on your way back. Can't be too careful, when something so seemingly sensationalized is becoming a legitimate issue.\nIt's been a long day though, and you're feeling exhausted.\n[[Time to head home.]]

You didn't know when it began, but today was your last day alive. \n\nIt might not have been your fault, you might not have pushed the button yourself, but though the collective actions of humankind, your life ended.\n\nToday you closed your eyes for the last time, took your last breaths, and quietly slipped away into death's gentle, waiting arms.\n\n\nTime flowed on, unaware of your absence.

ᴛ ᴇ ᴍ ᴘ ᴏ ʀ ᴀ ʟ

Everything goes dark. You open your eyes. The tree has fallen and trapped you, pinning you to the street. The rushing water past your head doesn't make it easy, but you manage to get heaving gasps of air whenever you can. You struggle to push the branch off of your lower body but the tree is simply too heavy.\nYou tire easily with less oxygen, and soon give up, trying instead to call for help.\n\n[[You close your eyes.]]

You make a simple graph and bring the charts to your supervisor. The disease, though rare, is rapidly progressing and it will be important to ensure that measures are taken quickly to halt and contain the spread. \n[[Making sure that everyone is aware of the progress it is making is your greatest priority.]]

The newscaster is doing a report on increased tensions between the United States and China, and yet another over-hyped tropical disease outbreak, same as the past few weeks.\n\n[[You turn it off.]]

It's time for you to get to work anyway. You're a [[lab technician at the general hospital]].

He is holding a folder and looking over several sheets inside. He says that you have, unfortunately, tested positive, and that perhaps you handled some materials improperly while at work, or perhaps came into contact with infected individuals who weren't showing symptoms but were still virulent. Either way, [[there is no cure, but they hope to make you as comfortable as they can]].

By the time you arrive at the office, you find that you're a little bit too warm, despite wearing only a thin jacket. This is of no great concern to you, though, since the temperature indoors is controlled. [[You sit down at your desk and review the paperwork you have to complete.]]

You learn that the government has virtually no missile defense system in place, and on top of that, virtually no way to detect any weapons launched until perhaps a minute before they hit the ground. [[Chilling.]]

The trial hearing is scheduled to begin at 1:30PM, so around 12:30PM, you excuse yourself for a lunch break. You mentally debate between [[going home for lunch]] or [[grabbing something from the cafeteria]].

You start by placing some samples into the centrifuge before looking over results from yesterday. There has been a significant increase in the number of samples being flagged as positive. \nPositive flags don't always mean the patient has the disease, but after comparing data from the past few weeks, you notice an exponential upward trend in positive samples.\n\n[[Organize the data.]]

As you struggle to make your way down the street, you hear a loud crack near you. A lightning bolt hits the tree next to you on the street, and you see it begin leaning precariously. You do your best to get out of the way before it can hit you, but the conditions have made it incredibly difficult to move quickly.\n[[In a gust of wind, it swings down.]]

The first thing you do when you get to work, before even clocking in, is let them know that you are experiencing what you think might be symptoms. You are taken to an isolated room, with little instruction. A nurse asks you some questions, takes some samples and starts an IV. You spend the rest of the day alone, save for the brief moments when you get meals delivered. You spend the day in and out of sleep, losing track of time.\n\n[[A little while later, a doctor comes into the room.]]

Sitting in your kitchen, lit only by a small flashlight, you eat your sandwich. Before you know it, it's just about time to get back to the courthouse for the trial. Throwing the dishes in the sink, you grab your jacket again and [[head back out, this time remembering to take an umbrella.]]

As you leave city hall, it begins to rain lightly. You don't have an umbrella, but it is light enough that you don't mind. The wind is more irritating than the light rainfall, anyway. [[Speaking of which, it has begun to pick up quite considerably.]]

You're beginning to regret not having brought an umbrella with you by the time you get to your front door. Hurrying to unlock it, you go inside and [[start fixing youself some soup and a sandwich.]]

You roll over in bed and grab your phone off the nightstand. You send off a quick good morning message to your best friend, hit the lock button and close your eyes again. [[The phone vibrates, you've received a response.]]

It has been a long day, and you are absolutely exhausted. It has been very tiring to deal with all of this, and you can feel the exhaustion down to your bones. After dinner, you take an Aspirin to lighten the weight of your head, and [[get right to sleep]].

In the distance, there is a flash of light. Fearful from everything you have seen and read this morning, you leap under the desk and cover your head with your arms.\n[[You close your eyes.]]

Though it is late February, the weather has been unseasonably warm. It is virtually springtime outside, and you honestly can't complain. You were never a fan of cold weather, so the impotent winter has been a welcome reprieve from the typically harsh weather you're accustomed to. There is some rain predicted in the early evening, but you're usually home before it gets too dark.\n[[You leave the house wearing only a thin spring jacket, instead of your parka.]]

For the past several months, there have been whisperings of a potential nuclear attack. A while back, there were legitimate threats made, but these were, of course, hollow. There is no reason for any country to even consider taking actions that dramatic.\n[[You find an empty desk in a quiet area on the second floor and sit down.]]

VERONICA ING

You see lighter objects tumbling down the street and the trees violently swaying. You remind yourself that although it may look alarming, it is likely nothing to worry about. [[Storms like this are always overexaggerated by the media, with the way they're always looking for stories about anything.]]

You go to turn the lights on and realize the power has gone out. The wind must have blown over something important and knocked the power out. You can't think of any way to prepare the soup without heat, so you go ahead and make a cold sandwich using whatever you can from the fridge, [[hoping the power comes back soon so everything else doesn't go bad.]]