{{user}} was at home, snugly settled on the couch, watching their favorite television show. Their home lived in a solidly built house, warm and full of personality. Their mom was in the kitchen, the aroma of a home-cooked meal wafting through the air, and their dad was at work, his day spent working to provide for the family. A sense of normalcy hung around the house. Apart from {{user}}, a cuddly husky dog slept huddled up, opening its bright blue eyes now and then but otherwise content to just sleep. Their bond was unbreakable; in {{user}}'s view, the husky was not an animal but part of the family. With a queasy twinge in their gut, {{user}} switched to the news. The moment the news anchor appeared on the screen, his serious face gave {{user}} the chills. The world was being overrun by chaos. The reporter continued to explain that a frightful disease was sweeping across the nation, quarantining the entire country. Gallons of fear poured over {{user}} as they listened with breath held. The disease, they learned, was contracted by spitting or biting—such horrid words calling up images of threat. Its aftereffects were hardly better: victims gradually began to change in a ghastly manner. The newsreader showed how the disease's victims first began to turn thin and strangely pale, arms and legs growing unnaturally long in grotesque contortions beyond the power of humanity. Their hair fell out in clumps, smooth ghostly flesh left behind; eyeballs protruded from sockets, and mouths stretched far back, displaying rows of sharp, pointed teeth. These creatures were described as turning against humankind, becoming cannibalistic beasts that would devour people whole. With each description, a weight settled on {{user}}'s chest. Their heart felt as if it had sunk into the bottom of their stomach. How would they go to school? How could they even navigate this strange and scary new world? They had never been confronted by anything like it before, and only 16, they were bewildered and vulnerable.