• Chapter 1

    The epidemic started on September 21st, 2008. It was approximately 1PM when Katsu Yagami stepped out of the plane. He took three long, shaky steps onto the concrete, and spontaneously exploded into millions of ashy gray particles. His wife, Yumi Yagami, sat beside the pile of dust, and wept. She did not notice the wrinkles imprinting on her face, the gray highlights growing in her hair, or the ache of her bones. Almost 5 minutes after her husband’s peculiar death, Yumi was nothing more than a pile of dust.
    While this enigma of an event was unraveling, Samantha was sitting on her bed, listening to her iPod. She had nothing to do, it was thundering, her friends were at church, and her computer was broken. She put her long red hair into a bun, placed her glasses and iPod on the table, and fell into a deep sleep.
    She had vivid dreams of looking around her, the air musty, observing the deserted town around her. It was similar to an old western movie, but with modern buildings. The skyscrapers were shattered, the windows smashed, and some of the ceilings ripped of the tops. The floor was scattered with a sand-like gray substance. The wind was blowing it into the air, adding to the musty smell, and it was making a very loud whistling sound against the buildings. It seemed to be saying her name, in a loud, sharp noise. “Sam! Samantha!”
    Sam woke up with a start. Her mother was calling her from the living room, indicating there was something interesting on the TV. She turned on her television, and the Channel Five News popped on. It was talking about the mysterious disease that had hit Japan. She heard about it a couple of days ago, when she was listening to her friend, Sakura, who was also from Japan. She said her relatives have died from it, but the whole country had been quarantined. Sam continued to watch the TV. “In other news, ‘The Disease’, also known as ‘The Dusty Death’, has gotten the whole of Japan. The disease speeds up the aging process, it takes only seconds for the effects to take place, and it spreads in seconds. There are no survivors, except Mr. Katsu Yagami, and his wife, Yumi Yagami, who claim to be immune to the Dusty Disease. They have been rushed to a small island, just west of California, where a specialist team will study there immunity, and hopefully find a cure.”
    Sam was shocked. Were they really immune? She hated the fact that an entire country has been wiped out of existence, and the newscast seems so happy. “News just in, both the Yagami’s have just died. Does this mean the disease is in the United States? Hear the story, and more at ten.” The Dusty Death in the US? No, it can’t be! Sam lived in California, does this mean she could die?
    Once the clock rang 10, Sam turned on the TV. She was in the living room, with her mother, father, and brother surrounding her. The news, again the same channel, flickered on the screen. “Just as we have just said, the disease is in America. The epidemic has taken all of southern California, and most of west Nevada. We still do not know how it got from the island to main land, but we are sure that it will spread. We have figured out that it spreads from the dust that the people turn into. So if you are anywhere near contact with any leftovers from the deceased, we urge you to move away from it as fast as possible. Also, if you are anywhere near the infected area, get as far east as possible. Contact any relatives living there also.” Her Dad reached for the remote, and the screen returned to a black rectangle. “So, where are we going to go?” asked Sam. She was concerned, it was bound to head north by tomorrow. Almost spontaneously, the phone rang. Her Mom answered, and passed it to her Dad. She mouthed ‘Who is it?’ to her Mom, and she replied ‘Your grandmother’. There was a bunch of yes’s, no’s, maybe’s, then a very loud ‘Thank you!’ “Kids, pack up all your stuff, we’re going to Granny’s!” Sam’s Grandma lives in Ohio, so it was out of the way. So they packed up, shoved it into the large SUV, and head of to Ohio, which Sam didn’t approve with. She was wondering what her dream was about. The city seemed so familiar, but she couldn’t remember where it was. She got tired of thinking too hard, and fell asleep, only to have the same dream again.