The Beauty and the Redneck

Outbreak

My name is Diana Moore. I'm a 27 year old intern at the Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. I've been watching horror movies my entire life. Never had I guessed my life will become one.

It was a beautiful evening in Atlanta. Everything was peaceful. Well as peaceful as it can get in a big city like this. Countless people roamed the streets and you could hear the loud car horns from all around you. Even though the city was as busy as ever, something about it seemed calm to me. Like the calm before a storm. While most people headed home from work I was heading to the hospital. There was a 24 hours shift at the ER waiting for me. Everything was new. I've only been an intern for about 3 months now and today was my first time working at the ER.

Ever watched TV series like Gray's Anatomy or House where they work the new interns to the bone? Well that was completely accurate. An intern's life was a living hell. Since they were new and inexperienced, they had to do all the "dirty work". 'New girl go fetch the medicine. New girl stop the bleeding. New girl take over Mr. X's shift' and so on. I didn't know what to expect from my first shift at the ER especially after I had a few days off that placed me into something like a "vacation mood". I was excited but afraid at the same time. An ominous feeling kept swelling inside me and made my chest tighten. But I brushed it off telling myself it was just because I was nervous.

Soon I reached the hospital. Walking in I greeted some of my colleagues then entered the locker room. Jinny and Alaina, two older interns who worked the previous shift were already there changing.

"Mornin' ", I said as I placed my bag on a bench in front of my locker.

"Well look who's here! And Dee by the way it's evening.", Jinny replied laughing at me.

"I know but it's morning for me. I slept all day. You know I had that terrible stomach ache and had to take a few day off. Because of that I lost quite some sleep. It seems the mice inside my stomach were insomniac." I looked at them with a quiet giggle. After a few seconds I took the locker key out of my bag, opened my locker and started undressing.

"By the way, Dee. Have you heard the news about this terrible flu that's been around for a while now?", Alaina asked me, her voice trembling a bit.

"Not really. It's not like I can watch TV while sleeping you know. Besides I used up almost all of my free time relaxing with a good book and a few episodes of my favorite TV show. What's new?"

"Oh it's bad. It's really, really bad. Some say this could get worse than the Spanish Flu outbreak back in 1918 but the Government denies such claims. Non the less there's been thousands of cases all around the globe and no one seems to recover after falling ill. They don't even know what's causing it in the first place." I was shocked. Have I been hibernating for so long?

'I had just three days off and then a new virus decides to show it's face. Just what kind of disease is this? A few days ago there were just a few isolated cases recorded in the U.S and zero deaths. Now it's spreading all around the globe and people suddenly start dying because of it?' Such thoughts kept swirling around in my head.

"WHAT?!?! Come on you serious? Is this a terrorist attack? And what the hell is the CDC doing? Shouldn't they quarantine the infected people or something? If it's that bad how come everyone is so calm?" Jinny placed a hand on my shoulder and I instantly turned around to face her. She shook her head.

"It's ok darlin'. They are doing whatever they can. I've heard that they quarantined people inside their homes in states where the situation is worse. We still have it good here honey. They established mobile hospitals at the outskirts of town for the diseased though. Thankfully our hospital is safe for the moment. You have to wear a mask the entire time while in it though just to be safe."