Thank you for reading. The first few chapters will be introducing all the characters and how the wold changes. There will be some time hops so just keep that in mind. I hope I leave enough mystery to what is happening to make in understandable and not too confusing, but more all be explained and explored later.

*I am going to try and update this every Friday* I have a few chapters written already so depending on the Review, if people like this, I will keep writing at a steady pace. Reviews really do help me write more, so please let me know what you think.

Enjoy

Chapter 1 – Andie

3 Months - Before

Andie was at another person's house when she heard the news—well, she was dog/house sitting for her neighbors to be exact. She had just taken their Laberdoodle, Rufus, for a run and she was sweating and breathing hard as she unlocked the door to her neighbor's garage. The cool, insulated air of the garage hit her in a wave and immediately relieved her from the humid air outside.

It had been a late start to summer, but it had finally arrived with a vengeance. She silently thanked a higher power that her neighbors had air conditioning. (Her blonde, curly hair loved any chance it could get to frizz.)

Her neighbors had left their house to travel out West and left Andie in charge of the house and the dog while they were gone. She had helped out her neighbors plenty of times before, and rather enjoyed spending her time at their house.

Her neighbor's house was a beautiful lake house with huge windows facing the water. The kitchen was all granite, wood, and stainless steel—much nicer than Andie could ever afford.

As Andie entered the kitchen, she stopped to grab Rufus's bowl of water then pulled a complementary Gatorade out of their fridge for herself and turned on their television—which they had in their kitchen.

"We have Dr. Darnell with us today," the female news anchor began. Andie watched the anchor's face. She had brown, straight hair, caked on makeup, a serious face—just like any other anchor that was on practically every channel these days.

It turns out a group of doctors may have found a cure for cancer—possibly all diseases. It was the only thing on the news, every channel, and all day. Curiosity peaked, Andie listened to the Doctor speak as she continued to fill up Rufus's bowl with water.

"Thank you, Wendy. So far the tests on animals have been successful." The doctor said. Dr. Darnell was an man with a symmetrical face for television and an informative voice. His brown hair was just beginning to streak with silver. Dark, thick-rimmed glasses sat on the bridge of his nose. They looked like they belonged to a younger person, and yet the older doctor made them work. Andie imagined the doctor was extremely attractive when he was younger, and he still was, in a "hot dad" sort of way. Older men always were more attractive. Sigh.

Andie looked down at Rufus who was now enthusiastically lapping water out of his bowl. She couldn't imagine testing anything on something so cute. The testing was most likely on rats or monkeys, but she still felt a pang in her heart.

She directed her attention back to the TV.

"Our sick and diseased animal test subjects have shown more youthful tendencies as if they were never sick to begin with. It's almost as they are now healthier than they have ever been. The cure has shown a 99.9% positive result rate and our next step is to start tests on humans. Normally, this process could take several years to approve, but we hope that because this is such a high priority case that the Board will approve the cure for human testing within the next few days." The doctor sounded optimistic. He ended his speech with a smile.

From what Andie had heard from other sources, this cure was the real deal. Mankind had finally found a cure for cancer, not only that, but a way to make humans cured from all sorts of diseases like heart problems, diabetes, even the common cold. If this cure ended up working on humans there would be no more famine. It would be like an act of God, wiping away all the disease in the world like it never existed. From what it sounds like, this cure may even make humans stronger.

Andie's aunt had cancer. She remembered watching helplessly as her aunt slowly and painfully slipped away. A disease like that would put up a fight, and Andie had her doubts that this cure would work on humans. Part of her even wondered if humans were overstepping their bounds. Humans have created cures like this that have gotten rid of terrible diseases before, but they've never battled a disease quite like this. People have been searching for a cure to cancer for so long that it was hard to believe that it might have actually been found.

"Our hope is to turn this cure into a preventative vaccine for all humans," the doctor continued. Andie rolled her eyes.

She did hope that this cure would actually help people, but there was always a part of her that had to be realistic. What if it didn't work? She was genuinely intrigued, just like everyone else; she just couldn't get her hopes up. Not yet.

She turned off the television, despite how much the news peaked her interest. She would just have wait and find out what exactly this cure would do.

. . .

One week later

"Mom?" Andie called out into a seemingly empty house. "Dad?" She stepped into their living room to find them watching the news. Today was the day that they broadcasted the first test of the cure on a sick human.

There had been billboards, newspaper ads, commercials, and videos that popped up on computer screens that broadcasted this day. It was last minute news and the media was trying to spread the news as fast as possible. They seemed to have done their job right because this day was all anyone was talking about.

The box TV flickered in the darkness of the living room. It was Primetime, and countless channels were broadcasting live from a New York testing facility.

There was a man sitting—not so calmly—in a cushioned chair that reminded Andie of the ones at dentist's offices. The man's hair was thinning, but he was not old—most likely in his thirties—the thinning hair was most likely from previous chemotherapy treatments.

Andie could also see a group of doctors, as well as Dr. Darnell from the news in verdigris colored scrubs. Apparently Dr. Darnell was not just a handsome spokesperson, but also an actual doctor working toward the cure. Their mouths were moving, but there was no audio; the shot of the white room was silent while a commentator was describing the action.

"As we approach the nine o'clock hour, our hopes and prayers go out to the medical team, the researchers, and the brave patient who volunteered. The world is anxiously waiting for positive results." The man who was talking couldn't be seen. He was probably in some news studio far away from the test facility, watching the live feed like everyone else.

A nurse rolled in a table with a clear, transparent, glass bottle and one needle filled with red liquid. It reminded Andie for a moment of a Cherry flavored drink she had as a kid, but she knew this was no childish drink. This had to be the cure—the cure for cancer. Andie thought to herself, that's it? Just one little shot and the cancer would be gone?

She thought back again to her aunt who went through months of chemotherapy, countless injections, and dozens of pills in the hopes that maybe it would cure her cancer. How could one little injection actually do anyone any good? How was that going to help?

Suddenly the audio of the room had been turned on. No one spoke at first and all that could be heard was the faint buzz of iridescent lights. A machine was hooked up the patient in the chair and it beeped steadily as a heart. Now that Andie was looking, the man had several wires hooked up to him, measuring and monitoring who knows what.

A tall doctor began speaking now. "Thank you for joining us tonight. We hope that this testing is as successful as all the others and of course we all hope that this day will mark the end of cancer's vicious reign over humanity." He glanced over at a nurse who handed him the syringe of red liquid. A nurse had previously cleaned the patient's arm, and now the doctor was finding a vein. "I feel as if we should have prepared something to say, since this is a moment that will be written in history." The doctors let out a chorus of muted chuckles behind their masks. "All I have left to say," the doctor injected the cure into the patient's arm. The man gasped quickly. "Long live, Humanity."

The crowed of doctors and nurses applauded after the cure had been injected and the patient smiled in relief. Andie was sure the cure may take time to actually work, but she understood the happiness he must feel. The hope. The relief.

She found his smile contagious, and she smiled herself. Maybe this was the cure. Maybe this would end up being the end of all illness.

"Seems like the doctors sort of shot themselves in the foot," Andie said out loud.

"Why's that?" her father asked as he leaned back into his LazyBoy. The doctor's room gave off a murmur of voices talking at the same time and congratulating each other—not much to watch anymore. The exciting part was over.

"Well, their hope is to eventually make it so that humans are immune to all diseases. It sounds like they are going to lose some business." Andie explained.

"You are always one step ahead of everyone," This time her mother spoke.

"I feel hot," the patient finally said from the TV. The doctors went silent, but the beeping machines went crazy. "I—I—" the man was visibly sweating now.

The patient who had been injected was seizing up, eyes rolling back into his head. The doctors were scrambling to help him, but nothing seemed to be working. They were barking medical orders at each other to try different things, but nothing seemed to be working.

Finally the screen went black and then went to static before returning back to a worried news anchor sitting behind a desk. In the time that the anchor spoke, however long that was, Andie read the words that were on the bottom of the screen. The words "Breaking News" scrolled along the bottom with headline-like titles. Andie pulled her knees to her chest as she read.

CANCER CURE FAILED

CEASE ON HUMAN TESTING

PATIENT DEAD

Neither of her parents spoke. Andie imagined that no one in the world was speaking either after what just happened.

Suddenly, the newsperson's face changed from grief to confusion to shock. He put his hand up to his earpiece to make sure he was hearing correctly. Silently, as if to other people in the studio and not to the audience at home, the anchor whispered, "what?!"

This time the newsperson did not speak. Maybe it was from fear or shock, but the anchor could not form words. Headlines began to form at the bottom of the screen again. Andie read.

PATIENT RESSURECTED

PATIENT KILLS 3 DOCTORS IN BLOODY MASSACRE

PATIENT LIVES AND IS STRONG AND AGGRESSIVE

PATIENT ESCAPES

The last line that scrolled across the bottom of the screen read: DANGEROUS PATIENT IS ALIVE AND AT LARGE, LOCK ALL DOORS AND STAY INSIDE. PATIENT IS VIOLENT AND STRONG. LOCK ALL DOORS AND STAY INSIDE.

Hope you liked this first chapter! The next two chapters will introduce three other main characters (hint. hot boys. gotta have them)

PLEASE REVIEW! This is the first chapter and i really want to know how it is! THANK YOU!