--- Breaking News - Sunday ---
The muted image of anchor woman Loren Burn, showed on the television. The caption read --- Police Fear LSD, Bath Salt" Trend --- and in smaller font below that it said --- Face-eating attack blamed on drug use --- Someone raised the volume:
"The gruesome face eating attack in New York could be part of a trend." Loren said. "An example of something large and much more dangerous. NYPD say they've seen similar cases lately of people behaving strangely and showing what appears to be superhuman strength."
The head shot of a young color man popped on the screen. "Over the weekend Eddy Eugene attacked a 65-years-old homeless man, chewing off most of his face. Police say he was probably high on a drug known as bath salt. We have to warn you now we have new pictures in tonight. They are disturbing."
The image changed once again, revealing the naked body of Eugene faced down on the bloody concrete, a blurry dot covered the private parts. Not too far, alongside the body, was the body of the homeless man curled up like a baby, seemingly dead, and another blurry dot, but this one covered the man's half eaten head.
"Police say Eugene was naked, that he was growling like an animal. He was shot and killed by police when he refused to stop, but it took multiple shots. That's leading to the descriptions of what seems to be superhuman strength…."
Someone changed the channel to NY1 News -- Adam Christ, NY1's health reporter was speaking.
"…That frightening level of reaction is happening here, in our own backyard. There are at least 102 reported cases in NYC alone. This morning, a spokeswoman for the CDC said that the U.S. is likely to see more cases."
The camera expanded and seated alongside Adam were a blond-hair woman sporting a bob cut, and a clean cut, glasses wearing well-dressed man.
"Joining us on this topic is the head of Mount Sanai' Office of Epidemiology and Infection Prevention, Elsie Parks. And Dr. Robert Caraballo, professor of pediatrics and infectious diseases at Mount Sanai Icahn School of Medicine . Thank you both for being here. Let me start with you, Elsie." Adam said, turning now to face the woman. "This year's predominant strain is the H3N2 virus, which caused harsh flu season as recently as two years ago. So why aren't we as protected by the flu shot as most years?"
"This year's influenza season is unprecedented with the number of people catching a flue so early in the season. What we're finding is in the predominant virus -- at least, early on -- it has drifted or become different from what was predicted," Elsie explained. She looked quite calmed and not as alarmed as Adam seem to be about the issue. "By the time it was learned that it had mutated to this extent, it was really too late to change the vaccine. This was figure out around March. That's too late for a vaccine that really comes out in October."
"20 states, 452 cases, 17 death, mostly children and the elderly. The summary of the CDC's weekly report says more states will likely fall into that high activity category soon and rather bluntly advises vaccination. Knowing what we know how effective is getting vaccinated now, Robert?"
"If you have not been vaccinated yet this season, get vaccinated now. You'll be hard-pressed to find a medical professional, who will say skip it when it comes to getting a shot because some coverage is better than no coverage. Anyone getting a shot now are in essence protecting those that are vulnerable..."
--- Monday Morning - The Savatier Apartment ---
The alarm jolted Sylvie awake. She sat up, gasping for breath. She had been dreaming, but she didn't remember the dream. She had a vague notion that it had something to do with her father, but she couldn't be sure. It probably had to do with him. Most of her nightmares did.
Sylvie flopped back down onto her bed and lay there despite the howling alarm. Long moments passed while the alarm automatically increased volume. Finally she reached over and slapped it, hard. The alarm's cry finally ceased, allowing her a few more moments in bed. Another person might have been tempted to roll over and return to sleep, but that wasn't Sylvie. All she had needed was the jolt to wakefulness; after that, she was good to go.
She finally sat up, rubbing her face. She glanced out the window, to get a feel for what the day was going to be like. Of course, bright sky or pouring rain, it made no difference. She was going to school. It didn't mean she was looking forward to it, though, and when she looked outside and saw that the day promised to be cold and wet, she gave a silent protest to the powers that be. It was still dark outside, but from what she could see, it looked cold with a minor drizzle. Not a good outcast for a Monday morning.
For a moment she allowed herself to drift back to her dream. Her recollections were vague at best, but she was reasonably sure that she'd been dreaming about that awful day from a year ago when she had hidden from her mother, the day her comatose father was unplugged and killed.
The notion that she had done so -- that she had relived the deep guilt that still festered within her -- was one of the hardest things for her to handle. She dreamed of it with a frequency that was almost sickening. She did her best to brush away all recollection of it, yet that never seemed to work for very long.
The sixteen-year-old rolled out of bed and stretched. She then crossed her room to the hallway and walked to the bathroom. The door was ajar. She quickly relief herself of the pressure in her bladder and jumped in the shower soon after. Minutes later she had toweled herself off and had begun to dress for school.
Sylvie heard the rest of the house start to wake up. She heard the soft steps of her brothers running back and forth down the hall. And someone had turned on the television in the living room, probably Lucas, as he usually liked to watch cartoon network. As she stepped out into the hallway she could smell breakfast -- this also meant Adele was up.
She walked into the kitchen checking the messages on her cellphone. Already, her best friend had texted her. She replied and put down the phone on the kitchen table. Adele was there, making breakfast. She said good morning and walked to the cupboard to grab a tall glass, then over to the refrigerator. She served herself some orange juice before saying, "I have a study group after school today I can't pick up the twins, Mom."
