ZAD 8:11 AM (Gallion, Ohio):

Jana:  "Gross..."

Jake:  "I think I'm going to be sick."

Cal:  "That..."

Jana:  "Is disgusting, yeah.  Grow a pair Jake."

Georgette:  "Nngh...  What are you all doing over-Oh my!"

Mr Barker:  "Grrrrrr..."

Ron:  "Wow!  Mean mouse whisperer must be hungry!"

Francine:  "Ron, get back here!  Please.  I'm sorry I shouted."

SFX: Ron whimpering but shuffling back.

SFX: Rats screeching being cutoff.

Jana:  "Well, you did tell him to eat some rats Cal."

SFX: Jake throwing up.

Georgette:  "Fascinating..."

Cal:  "Aren't you going to faint or something?"

Georgette:  "Only if it's human blood or...  Hm.  The only rats attacking him are the ones that he's currently attacking...  Strange."

Jana:  "You think?  I mean, I'd say the fact that they're chewing off chunks of him while he's-"

SFX:  THUMP

Jana:  "Georgie...  Damn it."

ZAD 7:59 AM (Gallion, Ohio):

Alex:  "Yo!  Uh, Captain Talbert, dude!"

Captain Talbert:  "Nnngh?"

SFX: BRRACK-BRRACK!

Alex:  "Nap-time is over, you gotta get up!"

Captain Talbert:  "Get your hands off me!  What the help are you going on ab-Who is shooting?"

Alex:  "Your men!  There's...  There's something wrong with some people outside.  They're fucking psychos or something."

Captain Talbert:  "Nngh.  Where are they?"

Alex:  "Up on the roof, they-"

Captain Talbert:  "Out of the way, let me see."

SFX: BRRACK-BRRACK-BRRACK!

SFX:  BOOM!

Captain Talbert:  "Lieutenant Jordan did you just throw a grenade at a civilian?!"

Lieutenant Jordan:  "Sir, no sir!  Take a look sir, if those aren't hostiles, I don't know what is!  Two o'clock!"

Soldier:  "I see it."

SFX: BRRACK!

Captain Talbert:  "Suppressive fire!  Those are civilians out-"

Civilian: AAAAGGHHNNN!  GET HER OFF GET-!

SFX: BRRACK-BRRACK!

Captain Talbert:  "My god...  She was biting that man's arm off.  What the fuck hell have we entered?"

ZAD 7:48 AM (Gallion, Ohio):

Jana: "Lock it! Lock it!  Lock it!"

SFX: THUMP!  THUMP!  THUMP!

Mr. Barker: "Little...  Pig...  Little Pig..."

Jake:  "What the hell is going on?"

Cal:  "Just help us keep the door shut!"


SFX: THUMP!  THUMP!  THUMP!



Jana:  "Mr. Barker tore the restraints and bit off one of one of your neighbors fingers!"


Jake:  "What the fuck?!"

Mr.  Barker:  "So...   Hungry..."

SFX: THUMP!  THUMP!  THUMP!

Jana:  "So am I but there's plenty of food coming when your neighbors come back you psycho!"

Cal:  "Go eat some fucking rats if you can't wait!"

SFX:  THUMP!  PAP!

Mr. Barker:  "Rats?  Rats..."

Jake:  "Fuck, what the hell was that all about?

ZAD 7:32 AM (Gallion, Ohio):

SFX: Wind howling.

SFX:  Radio Static

Alex:  "Guys, can any of you hear me?"

SFX:  Radio Static

Alex:  "Shit...  Well, still here...  Few of the soldiers went out to get more ammunition and supplies to fortify the store for now at least....  Before the storm picked up.  Not sure how far they can even see out there."

SFX:  Wind Howling.

Alex:  "The others are getting a bit nervous.  Some of the people buying things got stuck in here with us and are laying down wherever they can, hoping like me that the wind dies down..."

SFX:  Radio Static.

Alex:  "But a few of them came in a bit sick and just keep getting sicker.  Hell, two of them had to be restrained and tied down with belts because of their violent fevers."

SFX:  Rattling and distant shouts.

Alex:  "Hopefully they'll live long enough to get cured from whatever they have.  Not the same as Jana, so I've got no idea..."

Alex:  "Well...  Huh.  Guess the soldiers managed to get back after-"

SFX:  Loud scream cut off with a loud thump.

Alex:  "What the crap was that?!"

1 Day BZAD (Gallion, Ohio):

Cal: "Sounds like the wind is starting to let up."

Jana:  "Nnnghhh...  Shhh-shut up until it's actually stopped."

Cal:  "You okay?"

Jana:  "Just...  Fucking hate the cold right now and you moved the blankets when you got up."

Cal:  "Jeez, sorry."

Jana:  "'S alright...  Still need to keep bundled up Georgie said, keep taking the pills and trying to keep my body from having difficulty fighting off the rest of the... thing."

Cal:  "Still hard to just call it that... The plague."

Jana:  "Which is why I didn't say that, dumbass.  It's...  Not the same thing.  Not when we have cures.  It's not the fucking middle ages and shit."

Cal:  "Alright, alright, I got it.  Still, with all that's been happening since the rats appeared...  What about for those who didn't get the cure or didn't get someone like Francine and Georgette around to figure out what it was?"

Jana:  "Ron."

Cal:  "What?"

Jana:  "Ron's the one who picked up on it first.  Didn't know what to make of it, but...  I'd probably be dead without his messed up head."

Cal:  "...  True enough."

Jana:  "Anyways...  I really would rather not talk about it...  Bad enough thinking about still trying to keep fighting it off, let alone what might have happened to others around the city."

2 Days BZAD (Gallion, Ohio):

Alex (over radio):  "Bit better now, right?"

Jake:  "Yeah, we read you loud and clear."

Georgette:  "You said last night that the soldier were trying to get through to the CDC?  Did they get through?"

Alex (over radio):  "No, no response from them. A couple of the cell towers are down and the landlines are out for some reason still.  Hell, power outages in our neighborhood seem to be spreading to other ones as well.  The soldiers plan to check there tomorrow if they get no word.  Should be able to find out why the grid is failing."

Cal:  "Crowd control, whatever this outbreak is, they're probably behind it or know all about it, keeping the general panic down."

Jana:  "If those assholes are behind this we'll need to get Alex out of there, the sooner the better."

Alex (over radio):  "No, no, everything is okay over here..."  *crackling*  "Damn, seems like the wind is picking up.  Going-" *crackling* "to keep a stable channel.  Can you-" *crackling* *hiss*

Jake:  "Shit."

Georgette:  "Just what we need...  Nngh.  Another snowstorm."

Jana:  "Fuck, it's cold enough in here as it is..."

Cal:  "Best get to warming each other up."

Jana:  "Gross.  Perv."

3 Days BZAD (Gallion, Ohio):

Georgette:  "Seems your fever has gone down at least."

Jana:  "Yeah, though I'm still drowsy and have a major headache."

Georgette:  "Well, you still need rest and the asprin should help with the headache."

Jana:  "Nnn.  Probably right.  Going to take another nap."

SFX: Static

Cal:  "Alex, you there?"

Alex (over radio):  "Got-" *crackling* "-message.  Glad she's-" *crackingly* "fine.  We're good over here, the store is mostly sold out of a lot though, storm picking up-" *crackling* "your way I think."

Jake:  "Damn.  I thought I saw the rats leaving for a moment, but they just started carrying in some of the snow and eating it."

Georgette:  "What did you say?"

Jake:  "I thought I saw the rats leaving, but I was wrong."

Georgette:  "No no, what were they eating?  Snow?"

Alex (over radio):  "Same going on over-" *crackling* "water sold out.  People eating-" *crackling*  "didn't seem to matter if it was clean or not."

Cal:  "You think that's important?"

Georgette:  "Maybe."

Jake:  "What are you thinking?"

Georgette:  "The snow... It's mostly just water.  Despite their survival instincts to stay away from humans, the rats aren't completely devoid of them...  They know to keep hydrated instinctually still...  To eat, though they won't turn on each other..."

Cal:  "Even though they've got to be starving."

Jake:  "Maybe they're eating insects and such?  I mean, except for them all going to get snow they haven't left as a group, but there are enough we probably wouldn't see if one or two went underground for a bit..."

Georgette:  "Probably, makes sense anyways, but they somehow see humans as better food since they still keep swarming around the stairs...  I think the fungus I extracted from Mr. Barker I told you about, the one the rats seem to have is making it so they don't smell each other as food...  But what if it's also making them drawn to our own scent?  Like some kind of parasite..."

Alex (over radio):  "Soldiers keep trying-" *crackling* "medics and the CDC, but-" *crackling* "through.  Gotta change batteries and get rest.  Will radio again in a few hours."

4 Days BZAD (Gallion, Ohio):

Cal:  "Alright...  So we've got two different infections going on then?"

Georgette:  "At the very least, yes.  I honestly don't know if Jana has both or just the one... Mr. Barker didn't show signs of having the yersinia infection, but it could be whatever else he is infected with wiped it out, or that he wasn't infected by it, or even that he's one of the rare people who are immune to it regardless of the other infection."

Jana:  "Nnghhh..."

Jake:  "Hey, hey there sleeping beauty."

Francine:  "Welcome back to the land of the living child."

Ron:  "Oh good good!  Jana is up!"

Jana:  "Will someone please...  Will everyone just quiet down?  Got a major headache.  What happened?"

Georgette:  "You got the bubonic plague from one of those fleas."

Jana:  "What?!"

Cal:  "No no, you just lay down and rest for now."

Jake:  "Yeah, you're still recovering."

Jana:  "Nnghh...  What...  Whatever..."

Georgette:  "...  Well, at least she woke up, though we'll need to keep her fever down still while she recovers.  The next few days will need round the clock observation on her to make sure she gets whatever she needs."

Ron:  "Jana not going to play with us now?"

Francine:  "No Ron, she still needs to sleep.  Tell you what, I'll go with you into the room and play, alright?"

Cal:  "Alright, better tell us what you're going to need us to do while you're asleep.  Looks like you could use it too."

5 Days BZAD (Gallion, Ohio):

SFX: *thump*

SFX: *thump*

SFX: *THUMP!*

Georgette:  "Nnghh...  What's that noise?"

Francine:  "I don't know, I was reading and heard it so I came out here.  It sounds like it's coming from-"

Georgette:  "The window!  The guys must be back!  Quick, help me get them back up here before the rats start to take notice of them."

SFX: *Sliding Door*

SFX: *PAF*

Georgette:  "Fffftt..  Fffphh..  Nngh...  Stop throwing those!  We're here!"

Jake:  "Finally!  Started getting worried it'd be spring before you got out here.  We didn't want to shout in case the rats came out."

Cal:  "Yeah, and it's freezing out here, come on, let us pass up the bags so we can climb up."

Francine: "My word!  What did you boys back into these things?"

Jake:  "Medicine, both what you listed and whatever else we could find at the pharmacy that was still left.  Someone ransacked the place and no one else was around."

Georgette:  "Oooofff!  Okay, we got it.  Damn...  I had hoped that it hadn't come to that yet."

Francine:  "Where is Alex?"

Jake:  "He's over at..."

Cal:  "He's guarding the other bags we got."

Georgette:  "What?  What other bags?"

Jake: "It seems the rats are everywhere, not just in our neighborhood.  Some areas we passed had been looted like the pharmacy, the grocery stores had a lot of blood in the snow outside and dead rats.  Got a few military boys there keeping everyone in line buying things still instead of stealing it.  Must have been there when the rats came, I think they might have even let loose a few grenades or something."

Cal:  "So Alex told them about what was going on here, let them try to radio the nearest base for reinforcements and the CDC as well.  No idea if they'll get in contact with anyone, since they hadn't when we were there, but Alex made sure to get as many batteries, flashlights, radios and other devices he could and started giving them to a few people who would be going across the city to their homes so we could stay in contact.  He's got his on, along with the bag of gear, and a few assorted other things he was grabbing for some reason."

Georgette:  "Pretty sharp of him...  Uh, put your foot a bit more to the left, yeah, there."

Francine:  "I'll say.  So is he planning on coming back later tonight then?"

Cal:  "Maybe.  He said he was going to stay over there a couple of days unless the soldiers got through to someone who could come to town.  Ngh.  Phew.  Bit more tired than I thought...  Going to go lie down on the couch if you don't mind..."

Jake: "Go ahead man, I'll be laying down myself shortly.  Alright, so, here's the medicine for Jana, and the rest we can sort out later, right?  Or you two can while the two of us rest up."

Georgette:  "Yes, but we've got-"

Jake:  "Tut tut tut tut tut!  I honestly don't want to hear it right now because you'll have to explain it again when I'm not dead on my feet.  Just let us rest and whenever we wake up we can talk about it."

6 Days BZAD (Gallion, Ohio):

Georgette:  "Alright, good, good...  Mr. Barker is sleeping."

Francine:  "Are you sure it's a good idea wheeling him in here?  I mean...  His friend has been checking on him several times each day, and he's been violent and feverish the past few days."

Georgette:  "It's fine.  Trust me.  Ron is safely locked in just in case to make sure he doesn't interrupt us, and the main door is locked as well.  Hopefully we just need a few minutes or so for me to find out what is causing the scent that makes the rats ignore him."

Francine:  "I understand what you're trying to do, but...  How are you going to keep him from attacking us if he...  What's that?"

Georgette:  "This...  Is a horse tranquilizer.  As for why I have it, well...  Jana won't be missing it."

Francine:  "Lord almighty, that poor girl has some problems doesn't she?"

Georgette:  "Yeah, well, judge not and all that...  I've tried getting her help before, but...  Well, besides, it's a good thing she had it in this case."

Francine:  "I suppose..."

Georgette:  "There.  Now, I gave him a dose meant for his weight, give or take a little, but either way he should stay down for a good half hour or so, more than we should need.  Now, help me unstrap him and flip him over."

Francine:  "Nothing on the front of use then?"

Georgette:  "We can check there after, just to make sure he's properly secured again beforehand.  Not that I saw anything that really stood out aside from the stench and his own filth..."

Francine:  "Phew!  That's musty...  What is that?"

Georgette:  "I don't know yet...  But clearly whatever is making it is somewhere on his back...  Must have been too much pressure on it to let much stench get out before..."

Francine:  "Is that blood?"

Georgette:  "Mnnghh...  Thankfully no.  Though it is a stain...  Let's get the shirt off him.  Cheap enough, get me the scissors.  Thanks.  Hmm...  Now that's strange.."

Francine:  "Looks like circular scars?  With bumps in the middle?"

Georgette:  "I'd say ringworm, but the skin isn't red, it's browning there...  And those bumps...  They're black.  Some kind of fungus?  Get me the mask there?  Yes, thanks, get one for yourself too.  Right...  Now...  This might get a bit messy..."

Francine:  "What?  What might-Lord have mercy!  You just cut him without any-"

Georgette:  "Ughh...  I know.  Please, quiet down unless you want everyone to know.  It's hard enough for me not to vomit right now...  I need to make this into a culture of some kind...  The boys had some cans of tuna left, right?  And some plastic food containers?  You mind getting me one?"

Francine:  "Right.  Um.  Just a second."

Georgette:  "Well...  Mr. Barker...  I don't know what you're infected with yet...  Never even heard of anything in the textbooks about this to be honest.  But it may just hold the key to our getting past the rats."

SFX:  Creeeeak

Low Growling Voice:  "Not...  Enough.  Didn't even dull it...  Just couldn't speak."

Georgette:  "What?  Who...  Mr. Barker?!"

Mr. Barker:  "Not enough tranquilizer...  Wearing off now, but I felt...  Everything.  You...  You psychotic bitch.  You want to play doctor?  How about I take a turn...  Hold still-"

SFX:  Shlick!

Francine:  "I'm sorry!  I'm so sorry!"

Mr. Barker:  "Aaaghhh!  A knife?  Really not going to be enough...  Hfff...  Be patient, I'll be right with you..."

Georgette (gasping):  "Francine...  Nnnghhh...  Nee...  Need...  Nnghhfffhfff..."

Mr. Barker:  "What you need is to shut up shut up shut up!  All the sounds, the rats, the freak, your whining, questioning, the electricity, the wind against the windows...  It just won't-Nnghhhh...  Finally....  Hfff...  Thank you..."

Francine:  "Hfff... Georgette?  Are you..."

Georgette:  "Aaaahhhffff....  Fucking crap!  He just...  You stabbed him in the shoulder and he didn't even flinch, he just screamed and..  Fuck!  How much did you put into him with the tranquilizer?"

Francine:  "I...  I don't know.  I just drew some out and jabbed it into him."

Georgette:  "Shit...  I need to check his pulse...  Just...  Okay, I'm okay...  Let's see.  Whoa.  Come over here...  Feel that?"

Francine:  "Oh praise heaven, he's still alive..."

Georgette:  "No, I mean, yes, he's still alive but...  That's way too strong.  Especially after doses of horse tranquilizer.  He's like...  A berserker or something.  Shit.  We need to get him bound up again and...  And lock him in one of the empty rooms for now.  No one goes in there until we have enough people ready to put him down again if we need to.  Not enough tranquilizer left to rely on that."

1 Week BZAD (Gallion, Ohio):

Georgette:  "Damn...  I hope they made it safely...  Looking like a hospice out in the halls."

Francine:  "At least the snow from the roof works just fine on the cloth Ron and I put on everyone's foreheads.  I know it's just treating symptoms, but, their fevers seem to not be as severe."

Ron:  "Lotta....  Lotta ninjas on the cots."

Georgette:  "Right, right.  That reminds me...  What was the name of the guy with the chunk out of his ear?  Will?  Phil?"

Francine:  "Phil.  Phil Barker."

Georgette:  "Yeah, him.  Did the swelling around his ear settle at all with the ice?  We used a lot of antibiotics on everyone to help out with symptoms and the like...  Everything in the apartment complex really...  But I'm worried about him.  It took four men to hold him down on that table for us to strap him in and force feed him the pills."

Francine:  "Truth be told...  I've had one of the others checking on him.  He frightens me something fierce.  Melinda said that Mr. Barker keeps grimacing and trying to get off the table, but he screamed his voice hoarse before."

Georgette:  "Geeze..."

Ron:  "Mean mouse whisperer is scary."

Georgette:  "What?"

Ron:  "The mean mouse whisperer is scary.  Always growling."

Francine:  "Oh that...  Ron saw Mr. Barker hitting one of the rats with his flute and mumbling to himself.  Something about it being broken but it looked fine to me."

Georgette:  "When was this?  Before or after he started screaming?"

Francine:  "After his ear had a bite taken out of it, but before he started screaming?  Why?"

Georgette:  "The rats are attracted to food like most animals.  These in particular seem to be beyond any sense of self-preservation.  They're also supposed to hate high pitched sounds, hence the original Pied Piper of Hamelin story.  It's just that it doesn't carry very far and they get used to the sound to the point of ignoring it.  Now...  Has our Mr. Barker or anyone else tried playing the flute at them or other high pitched noises?"

Ron:  "Very shrill lady across hall.  U-Used to ask to not yell a-at television.  Screamed at mean mice, throwing pans.  Mean mice chased her in snow.  She made a snow angel."

Francine:  "Ron...  When...  When did you see that?"

Georgette:  "Crap on a stick..."

Ron:  "Bad words, bad words..."

Georgette:  "Sorry Ron."

Ron:  "Shrill lady tried running in snow yesterday.  Fell and made a snow angel before going quiet."

Francine:  "How didn't we hear her?  How?"

Ron:  "Sleepytime, shut your eyes and go to bed, wake up early, toast from bread."

Georgette:  "Rotten way to go...  But, it means that either the rats are accustomed to noise or they don't care anymore...  There goes that idea."

Francine:  "What idea?"

Georgette:  "Adjusting the flute's pitch, trying to drive the rats into a corner to kill them easier.  Still...  Ron, why'd you call Mr. Barker the 'mean mouse whisperer'?"

Ron:  "Be-Because after he screamed and screamed till he couldn't at them, the railing gave way and he fell.  He tried to scream, but only whispered for the mean mice to go away and they did.  I saw it, I did.  His friend Huck and I, we threw him a rope and Huck said a lot of bad words, but the mean mouse whisperer got back up."

Georgette:  "And no one thought to tell everyone else about this?"

Francine:  "Ron?  Why didn't you say anything to me?"

Ron:  "Huck said it was a dream, and to go to back to bed.  But I told him it wasn't and I was going to tell everyone the mean mouse whisperer could make the mean mice go away...  And he said that if I said anything you'd be mad at me for lying and that you'd stop visiting."

Francine:  "Oh Ron...  Ron, I'd never leave you over something like that."

Georgette:  "That's...  That's impossible.  Rats and humans don't even...  Wait.  Stupid stupid stupid!"

Francine:  "Georgette!  Stop hitting yourself, you're scaring Ron."

Georgette:  "Sorry, it's just...  Scent!  Rats in the same pack share the same scent and won't attack each other unless desperately hungry, or they're still infants.  These rats are...  Insane is the best way to put it.  Driven to attack humans by something.  Ravenous, but they wouldn't eat the dead rat someone threw back at them.  Why?  Because they smell the same!  Now, I know we all smell from lack of proper showering and whatnot, but even so, humans don't smell the same as rats.  Ever.  Not naturally at least.  So there has to be something else...  Something the rats have that they've associated with one another.  Mr. Barker was bit by one...  Something in the bite?  Bacteria?  Not the bubonic plague itself...  We've definitely got the symptoms of that in Jana and the others, but...  There's something else alongside it.  At least in the rats themselves.  It might be why Mr. Barker is so agitated and violently trying to get free.  If I had the right equipment...  We might be able to mark ourselves as one of them and just march right out."

1 Week, 1 Day BZAD (Gallion, Ohio):

Georgette:  "Now, Doctor Killian is maybe still at the hospital if she got snowed in like we did, but if she isn't then one of the other doctors might still know what they have available.  I don't have the proper equipment to test Jana's blood, but due to a slight nosebleed at least we have a sample.  If the hospital's generator is working they might be able to verify Francine's suspicions or find out what else it might be infecting Jana.  If it is the bubonic plague, we're all going to need some type of doxycycline.  If the hospital is out, you're going to need to make a run to the pharmacies around town, and the hospital can make you a list of what ones will work.  Either way, you're also going to need to stop by the pharmacies to get some flea killer treatments.  Please stay safe out there and if you see any of the rats use whatever you can to keep them from biting.  I don't know what else they might be infected with, but they're not acting normal."

Cal:  "Right.  Got it."

Alex:  "Plenty cans of deodorant and my lighter, so I'll torch the bastards if they follow."

Jake:  "Now, you're sure you've got things handled here?  That you're not infected yourself from being so close treating Jana?"

Georgette:  "I'm fine.  As soon as we saw the fleas I started keeping some of your cedar grilling chips in my pockets."

Cal:  "Wondered what the hell that smell was..."

Alex:  "Why?"

Georgette:  "Fleas hate the smell, so they don't try to jump toward me.  Grab some more of that too while you're out if you can.  Oh, and some food.  We're running low.  Now, this is all the cash I've got on me and if power is still down throughout downtown and not just this neighborhood, then credit cards won't work."

Jake:  "Gotcha.  Time to test out the snow I guess.  Hopefully the temperature has made it thick enough to stand on without being ice..."

SFX:  Crunch!

Cal:  "It's good!  Let's go before any rats come out!"

1 Week, 2 Days BZAD (Gallion, Ohio):

Ron:  "Angry girl not look good."

Francine:  "No, she's not."

Ron:  "Did the mean mouse hurt her?"

Francine:  "I'm...  I'm not sure Ron.  I didn't quite understand what Georgette was saying before."

Ron:  "Something about fleas?"

Francine:  "Yes, well, I got that much, but...  Something the fleas are carrying?  They're annoying, but mostly just stinging bites and crawling around I thought."

Ron:  "Oh oh!  What about that thing with the castles and shiny knights?"

Francine:  "What?"

Ron:  "It was on tv in the summer.  Very sad times.  People locked in houses and people wearing bird masks and things."

Francine:  "What?  Ron, what are you-Oh my.  Oh dear oh dear.  Ron, Ron, I need you to stay in here, okay?  I...  I need to talk to Georgette, alright?"

Ron:  "Francine...  You're scaring me."

Francine:  "I know...  I know Ron.  Just, trust me."

Ron:  "Okay Francine."

SFX:  CLICK

Francine:  "Georgette...  We need to talk."

Georgette:  "Fran, unless it's telling me where there's ice to compress these lumps, I don't want to hear it."

Francine:  "No, it's...  I think I know what's wrong with your friend there.  Ron helped me-"

Georgette:  "RON?!  Ron can barely even-"

Francine:  "Please!  Please just...  Be quieter.  I don't want to scare him.  He doesn't realize what...  What it means by what he said.  Where are the others?"

Georgette:  "Sleeping, and they need it.  We all do, and I'm not waking them up until you explain what the hell you're going on about.  What did Ron say?  What do you think Jana has?"

Francine:  "The rats had fleas on them and whatever the rats were infected with could be on them, or a separate infection from the-"

Georgette:  "FRANCINE!  Spit it out already!"

Francine:  "I....  Georgette, you have to understand, I'm just guessing...  But...  It might make sense."

Georgette:  "Grrrr....  Tell me already."

Francine:  "Let go, you're hurting me...  I'll tell you, I'll tell you.  Georgette, I think Jana has the bubonic plague."

1 Week, 3 Days BZAD (Gallion, Ohio):

Georgette:  "Look at the pickle jar...  Wow.  Nasty fleas on that rat...  Good thing I decided to sterilize it.  The vinegar and alcohol made them just drop off of it."

Jake:  "They just keep...  Moving.  I mean, we didn't know there were any on them, but aren't they supposed to drown?"

Cal:  "Doesn't work like that.  Bathed my dog once and those bastards kept moving in the tub until I let them down the drain."

Georgette:  "A lot of insects can survive for days, even weeks underwater, and some spend most of their life in it.  Fleas are less tolerant than that, but yeah, they'll probably be in that jar for weeks before they stop twitching.  I'd normally say we should just flush them, but we blocked the drains to keep more rats from coming up them."

Jana:  "Well, we could flush them the next time one of us needs to use the toilet."

Alex:  "Tell me you're kidding."

Jada:  "Huh?  No...  What do you mean?"

Alex:  "None of us have used it since we sealed it up."

Cal:  "Francine even got Ron to understand that.  I thought you did to.  Have you been...  Opening and resealing it?"

Jana:  "Well..."

Georgette:  "Jana, just...  give me a moment guys, I'm going to have a talk with my friend, we're going on the balcony for a bit."

1 Week, 4 Days BZAD (Gallion, Ohio):

Ron: "Sing another song with me Jana."

Jana:  "No Ron, I'm tired of singing, everyone's tired of singing right now."

Cal:  "Yeah, please, I know you like it and shit, but my ears still hurt from the last time you joined the chorus instead of humming along."

Jake:  "Cal...  Just..."

Ron:  "Ooooh!  You...  You said a bad word.  Francine!  Cal said a bad word!"

Francine:  "I heard Ron, I'm sure he's sorry, why don't we go sing in the bathroom, hmm?  You like how it echos, right?"

Cal:  "What?  Just because he-"

Alex:  "He doesn't know any better man.  But you and Jana are right, it gets stale after a while."

Georgette:  "This would be so much easier with the power on..."

Jana:  "You've said it a hundred times, but we've just got the sunlight and candles.  Since it's just windy and not snowing today, better save the candles."

Ron (Distant):  "You-You ain't never caught a rabbit!"

Francine (Distant):  "Shh shhh...  That's right Ron.  What's the next line?"

Georgette:  "I know, I know...  Still, I could find information with the internet to verify what I'm looking at...  These were the best sketches you could do Cal?"

Cal:  "Yeah, you got a problem with them?  Something to say?"

Alex:  "Dude, settle down, seriously, she's trying to figure out how we can deal with the damn rats."

Cal:  "Right.  Because a pre-med student is going to know what to do to make the psycho rats chill the fuck out."

Jake:  "Uncalled for."

Jana:  "Cal you little piece of-"

Georgette:  "All of you shut up!  I can defend myself.  Cal, I'm no artist, but I can't tell if this is a scar or part of the discoloration Jana mentioned.  Since I lost my glasses getting back up from the ground floor I can't take a look myself.  That's why I asked you to use the binoculars and draw what you saw."

Cal:  "Oh.  They keep moving around too much for me to be able to tell for sure.  I think it's a scar, but there's no way I'm getting closer to find out.  Don't think anyone else is going to either any time soon."

Ron:  "When they said, you was high-Ahhhh!"

Francine:  "Oh my lord!"

Jake:  "What the hell?"

Ron:  "Mean mouse!  Mean mouse!"

Alex:  "The fuck?!"

Jana:  "Holy crap, it's squeezing out the drainpipe!"

Cal:  "Out of the way!"

Jake:  "Francine, get Ron out of the way, it's almost out of the-"

SFX:  WHAM!  WHAM!  SQLUIK!

Cal:  "Hfff...  You white boys got any rubber gloves in here?  We probably  need to seal that off now, but once it's pulled out, Georgette, I think you've got your specimen.  ...  Georgette?"

Jana:  "Oof!  Careful there Georgie.  A little help?  For such a scrawny girl she's heavy as fuck."

Alex:  "What?  Again?!  How the hell is she planning on being a doctor if she faints at the sight of blood?"

1 Week, 5 Days BZAD (Gallion, Ohio):

SFX: SLAM!

Georgette:  "Please...  Keep it down Jana...  Francine finally got Ron to sleep."

Jana:  "Oh, sorry.  Just...  Those damn rats are still down there!  I thought maybe after a few hours they'd just eat each other or go somewhere else..."

Alex:  "Nnghh...  What's happening?"

Georgette:  "Jana just got back from checking the stairwell.  The rats still haven't given up."

Alex:  "Really?  Same at the other two stairwells?"

Jana:  "Yeah, the others hadn't done as thorough a job as us so they had to hit the rats back down as they leapt from the floor up to some of the stairs a bit higher up."

Alex:  "Shiiiit.  They got that bit hacked off now though, right?"

Jana:  "Believe me, after one of the rats almost gnawed someone's ear off they made damn sure at the central stairs that they wouldn't have that problem again.  Killed a few of the rats and threw them at the rest.  Damn things completely ignored them despite how sickly they looked..."

Georgette:  "Sickly?  How so?"

Jana:  "You haven't been down to look at them again while I was sleeping?  Huh.  Thought everyone else had."

Alex:  "Well, I haven't either, but having to haul myself up when the ladder tipped over kinda made me not want to go back down there."

Georgette:  "So, sickly?"

Jana:  "Okay, okay.  Well, like...  I've never seen one up close before, but...  These rats seemed to be losing a lot of their hair, and there were these...  Splotchy patterns underneath."

Georgette:  "Huh.  Curious and curiouser..."

Alex:  "What?  Aren't rats very territorial?  Fighting and pulling out hair should be pretty normal, right?"

Georgette:  "Well, yes, but they don't usually swarm a body like they did that person outside or stay put when they can't get at their food...  Whatever's making their hair fall out and skin underneath look like that might have something to do with their behavior.  Some kind of infection like rabies but not quite?  It might be something no one's seen before..."

Jana:  "So then you'd get to name it, right?"

Georgette:  "Perhaps...  But I think more study would be needed then, and beside that, I think we need to figure out how to deal with the rats safely before that could happen.  After all, what'll happen when supplies dwindle below what everyone in the building can ration?  Who would make the run for food, knowing those things would be waiting for fresh meat?"

1 Week, 6 Days BZAD (Gallion, Ohio):

Georgette:  "The other tenants have taken out the central stairs and the ones on the far end, starting to take out begin collecting up everything and anything that could be used as a weapon just in case.  Rats don't usually try to climb smooth walls like the building has-"

Jana:  "But fucking rats don't usually gang up on people in their homes either.  Right.  Glad Georgie here knows something, 'cause I know jack shit other than they're big and ugly and smelly and freaky even when alone."

Cal:  "Yeah, well, at least we can board up the stairs afterward to keep them from climbing up, right?"

Georgette:  "Well...  Rats can fit in some tight spaces and chew through concrete and even a small amount of steel..."

Alex:  "Fucking hell..."

Georgette:  "But they don't-"

Jake:  "Usually do that.  Right.  These rats aren't usual, so what do we do?  Ron, something on your mind?"

Ron:  "What about, like, a line of, like, fire or something?"

Jana:  "And burn the fucking building down with us in it?!  What are you, a moron?!"

Francine:  "Jana, calm down, we're not going to set fire to anything.  Right, Ron?  Ron!"

Ron:  "Huh?  Oh, right.  Whatever you say Francine."

Alex:  "I'd say we could setup an electric fence or something, but the power is still out and no clue when it'll come back on with the snow and wind being as bad as they are.  Thought they would have fixed it already to be honest..."

Cal:  "Enough about the power already.  I know you want to go check it out, but that place is high security and we'd get nowhere near there."

Jake:  "Not to mention that whatever happened might need the snow to be cleared to get fixed."

Alex:  "Fine, fine.  But what do we do about the rats?  Can you lower the ladder down for us now, Jake?"

Jake:  "Almost done there, then?"

Francine:  "Ron, did you remember to take your pills today?"

Jana:  "It's barely hanging on now.  It'll drop off once hit enough times."

Ron:  "N-No...  I couldn't get cap off...  Maurice wasn't there to take the cap off..."

Jana:  "Oh, crap.  I'm sorry Ron.  I...  I didn't know you were...  I mean..."

Francine:  "Differentially intelligent, Jana?  No one would expect you to know, you don't live in the building.  Still, would you mind helping me make his soup later?  His caregiver sometimes lets me help, sometimes."

Jana:  "Um.  Yeah.  Sure, I'll help."

Cal:  "If we could focus back on the rats?"

Georgette:  "Electricity and fire won't work without more danger to us than them currently...  Flooding wouldn't work either."

Alex:  "Doubt there are enough rat traps to take them all out in the building..."

Georgette:  "Right.  I'm trying to think, I'm not sure..."

Ron:  "Nn...  Francine..."

Francine:  "What is it Ron?"

Jake:  "Is that...  Do you hear gunfire?"

Ron:  "Mean...  Mice outside."

Francine:  "What?"

Jana:  "Shit... Look at the windows."

SFX:  Distant gunfire repeating.

Alex:  "Fuck...  That one was closer... They're getting in by the other two entrances.  Everybody up the fucking ladder!"

2 Weeks BZAD (Gallion, Ohio):

Georgette:  "Alright, um...  Call and raise you a Kit-Kat."

Alex:  "Call."

Cal:  "Call and raise a snickers."

Jana:  "Read 'em and weep!  Royal flush bitches!"

SFX: Collective groan.

Jake:  "Woah."

Alex:  "Huh?  What do you see Jake?"

Jake:  "Someone just jumped out their window into the snow."

Cal:  "Gimme room to see."

Jana:  "Did they not have a balcony like you guys?"

Jake:  "No, there's a balcony on each floor...  And they jumped out the fourth floor."

Georgette:  "What?  Are they okay?"

Alex:  "From that height?  If not for the snow they'd be a pancake."

Cal:  "Here, Jana, see for yourself?"

Jana:  "Shit, that's pretty ballsy or stupid...  Hey!  I see them moving!"

Georgette:  "Should we go out and help them?"

Alex:  "Someone that crazy?"

Jana:  "What the hell is...  Fuck!  What's that pouring out of the building?"

Jake:  "Huh?  What're you-Oh damn.  It's like...  A sea of something moving."

Georgette:  "Here!  Use my cell's zoom."

Jana:  "Thanks.  Looks like the dude is trying to limp away and the mass is...  Fucking shit!  there've got to be a few hundred rats out there!"

Alex:  "Rats?!"

Cal:  "What the fuck are they doing out in the snow like that?"

Jake:  "Looking for food I guess."

Georgette:  "They normally just burrow and try to eat bugs, even with this much-"

Jana:  "Guys!  They're swarming him!"

Jake:  "Guess they found their food..."

SFX:  Distant scream.

Georgette:  "I...  I think I'm going to hurl."

Cal:  "They're spreading out...  Disappearing in the snow."

Jana:  "Uh...  How secure exactly are the lower levels right now?"

Alex and Jake:  "Fuck me..."

2 Weeks, 2 Days BZAD (Gallion, Ohio):

SFX: "BAM BAM BAM!"

Jake (mumbling):  "Nnnghhh?  Time for work already?"

Alex:  "Open up Jake!"

Jake:  "Oh!  Alex!"

SFX: Locks being undone, door being opened.

SFX:  "Whooooooooosh~"

Alex:  "Fucking windy as shit!  Move!"

Jake:  "Sorry!  Alex, what happened, who are these people?"

Alex:  "Let us in and setup the propane heater, then I'll explain."

Stranger:  "Wanna give my friends a hand?  Had enough trouble packing down the snow to get the heater below your balcony."

Jake:  "Right, right.  Um, I'm Jake."

Stranger:  "Yeah, Alex told us about you.  I'm Cal."

Female Voice:  "Enough chit chat already!  I'm freezing my tits off!"

Cal:  "Hold your horses Jana!"

Jana:  "Fuck you Cal!  Georgette and I are the ones holding up this damn thing!"

Cal:  "Fair enough.  Jake, you got a good grip?"

Jake:  "Yeah, I think so.  Let's give it a try."

Georgette:  "Do or do not there is no-Hey!  Watch it asshole!  You almost hit my glasses off!"

Alex:  "Great company, aren't they?  Scooch over so I can help."

SFX: Collective grunt and scraping.

Jana:  "Finally!  Come on Georgie, get your ass up here, the snow will hold you over here."

Georgette:  "Just... Give me a second.  Hff...  Alright, I'm coming."

Alex:  "Put it over in the middle, good, good."

Jake:  "Man, the carpet is getting soaked by all the snow coming in."

Cal:  "It'll dry when we get the heater running and clear some of the snow out."

Jana:  "Alex, we going to get the rest of the stuff?"

Alex:  "We'll head back down after we sleep.  We had a long walk hauling this, and the rest is locked up with Cal's sister for now."

2 Weeks, 4 Days BZAD (Gallion, Ohio):

Alex: "You want to go to the hospital?  You don't look so good."

Jake:  "I'm fine, it's just-ATCHOO!  Snnfff."

Alex:  "Gross."

Jake:  "Just a cold, man...  Snnf.  I'll be fine after a couple days bundled up on the couch instead of my freezing room.  Beside...  Snnrrk.  The doors are frozen shut downstairs."

Alex:  "Yeah, yeah...  Fucking piss-poor time for the power to go out.  At least we've got plenty of blankets and food."

Jake:  And...  And...  Atchoo!  Ngghhh...  And we've got the emergency plows out in full force."

Alex:  "Snow just keeps falling faster as fast as they're clearing it though, and they're not shoveling the walks or freeing up door..."

Jake:  "Be a bad idea to...  Snnff...  Drive a plow up to a door."

Alex:  "You know what I mean."

Jake:   "Right.  Snnnrrk.  Guess I'll take another nap."

Alex:  "Think I'm going to chance lowering off our balcony and trying to get something to keep us occupied.  If I have to play one more game of texas hold'em or go fish I swear I'm going to strangle you."

Jake:  "Snnfff...  There's all my books dude, just pick one."

Alex:  "Ha!  Yeah, right!  I'll try to be back with something less dweeby."

3 Weeks BZAD (Gallion, Ohio):

BBC News:  "-polar vortex has driven down freezing winds through much of the northern hemisphere, surprising analysts in Wales who had been expecting a thaw earlier this week.  Unfortunately for us, it doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon.  Meanwhile, natives of Peru have been urged to lay lines of salt along their windows, doorways and edge of walls as ant invasion has crippled food supplies and-"

SFX:  "Click"

FOX News:  "-MTA has shut down all traffic after more corpses were found, making many commuters question if a serial killer is at work.  The MTA and NYPD declined comment, but are denying access to the bodies, citing the nature of the ongoing investigation as needing-"

SFX:  "Click"

Alex:  "Okay, okay, so, any woman in the world I could have in here with me instead of you?"

Jake:  "Right, but just one.  And they're not drunk or anything, just trapped here with you."

Alex:  "Olivia Wilde.  No, wait, Milla Jovovich."

Jake:  "Like either of them wouldn't risk the storm rather than being stuck with you."

Alex:  "Ha ha, fuck you.  What about you?"

Jake:  "You know what, you're right, this was stupid..."

Alex:  "What?  No.  You kept bugging me to play along to ease the boredom.  So who would you pick?"

Jake:  "Yeah, but this isn't really helping and-"

Alex:  "Pearl?"

Jake:  "I said I didn't want to play anymore Alex."

Alex:  "Shit, you really would, wouldn't you?  Any girl in the world-"

Jake:  "Drop it."

SFX:  "Creeeak"

Alex:  "-and you'd pick Pearl Mandel?  Hey, wait, come on, don't be like that."

SFX:  "SLAM!"

Alex:  "Five...  Four...  Three...  Two..."

SFX: WIND HOWLING.

Alex:  "One."

SFX:  "SLAM!"

Jake:  "Fuck it's cold in there!"

Alex:  "Uh, yeah, dumbass.  You never did fix the hole by your window."

Jake:  "Shut it."

3 Weeks, 2 Days BZAD (Galion, Ohio):

Jake:  "You need help with that?"

Alex:  "Fuck it's cold outside.  Yes, please!"

SFX: Jake grunting, slam of heavy items on counter.

Jake:  "Geeze, what the hell did you pack in here?"

Alex:  "A couple cases of beer, a loaf of bread, big-ass ham, few peanut tins, lettuce head, few cans of beans, soup, apples..."

SFX:  Bags rustling, items set on counter, fridge opening.

Jake:  "You really think we need so many cans?  I mean, you've gotta have close to half their stock.  And no junk food?"

Alex:  "Ha ha.  Seriously though, that was what I was able to grab.  When the forecast called for a massive blizzard everyone else must have had the same idea as us.  Prices are going up, no idea if power will go out, people are going into a panic."

Jake:  "It's just a blizzard, it's not like it's the end of the world."

Alex:  "Tell that to them.  If you want to brave the snow.  I'm not heading out there again until it's died down."

Jake:  "That bad?"

Alex:  "The snow was up to my crotch man.  Going to have to check for frost bite."

Jake:  "Ha!  Well, at least stuck inside you'll have blue balls to go with your-"

Alex:  "Shut up!"

3 Weeks, 5 Days BZAD (Galion, Ohio):

SFX: Kssssshhh

Radio: Voice: "-Thank you for that weather update Marcy!  Now, I don't know about you Phil, but all that food scare made my wife spending twice as much getting local produce and stocking up with canned soup and the like."

Radio: Phil: "Yeah, my mother escaped her nursing home and called me on a payphone, telling me to get the bomb shelter under the barn. We sold that property almost thirteen years ago now, and she was there too, Mike."

Radio: Mike: "A shame about her memory. Well, speaking of memory, recent studies from Kent State University have found a way to implant a genetic marker from one species of ant into another, coating it with pheromones from the second colony. This allowed the ant, get this, twice the size of the other ants in the colony-"

Radio: Phil: "Whhhhaaaaat?"

Radio: Mike: "-to blend in and aid in not only expanding the colony tunnels but also defending the colony from other insects, including, are you ready? Defending the colony from the colony it was extracted from while still an egg."

Radio: Phil: "That is just some Twilight Zone stuff there."

Radio: Mike: "Couldn't agree with you more Phil."

Radio: Phil: "Well, if you're looking for weird, scientists across the globe are still puzzling over the migratory change of over three hundred species of birds that had stuck around through winter, but suddenly have started flying toward the equator where ornithologists have found great flocks fighting over territory with one another and even attacking the scientists that got too close."

Radio: Mike: "Somebody pull Alfred Hitchcock out of his coffin and get him to make a sequel."

Radio: Phil: "Speaking of birds, this has been WFXN 's Morning News with Mike and Phil, let's get Garth on deck, bringing you Songbird by Oasis!"

Radio: Music:  "Talking to the songbird yesterday, Flew me to a place not far away, She's-"

4 Weeks BZAD (Galion, Ohio):

CNN:  "Food prices on the rise as FDA inspections have dramatically increased.  Some experts cite the recent strains of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella cropping up as a possible reason, while others believe it has something to do with the discovery of a new type of fungi discovered recently in some imported coffee beans from Brazil and Bolivia.  In other news, a maintenance worker employed by the MTA found four disfigured corpses when checking on a lighting malfunction on the 7 Line underneath the Queensboro Plaza..."

SFX:  "Click"

FOX NEWS:  "Sixty cases of death by Yersinia bacteria found in New York, Shanghai, Canberra, Amsterdam, Cairo and fourteen neighboring cities.  The CDC, World Health Organization and other health agencies have publicly denounced claims of a wide-spread plague resurfacing, pointing to constant statistics over the past decade..."

SFX:  "Click"

BBC NEWS:  "Cattle mutilations across the countryside have South Wales Police baffled as little other than cracked bones and blood were found where only days before large herds had been seen grazing.  No comment was given as to any potential suspects or explored leads..."

Voice:  "Come on Alex, shut that off and come outside!  You have to see this!"

SFX:  "Click"

Alex:  "Alright, alright, I'm coming Jake."

Jake:  "Look at all of them go!"

Alex:  "I thought all the birds had gone south already..."

Cat:  "Mrrr?"

Alex:  "No Faust, none for you.  Sheesh though...  Where are they all going?"