Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-35911608-20180823132725

(Note 1: So having recently watched Paranoia Agent, I felt like covering the topic of mass hysteria too. Here's a rough draft of a story I came up with. It's a bit Tell-y, but just getting the layout at the moment. Tell me what sections should be expanded more, what details I may have missed or gotten wrong, etc. Thanks guys. Enjoy.)

Ben Goodman was the origin point. His mother had come upstairs that morning to find her son still in bed, with only ten minutes before school started. She was about to yell at him that he would be late for his physics test, but then she noticed his glazed over eyes and sweating forehead. Immediately, mother’s instinct took hold, and she ran back downstairs, returning with a cold facecloth for him. Ben coughed and thanked his mother, then apologized. He said that he had been up too late studying, and there was a supposed bug going around school, so the combination had made him bed ridden. His mother told him not to fret and to get some rest. Mrs. Goodman called the high school, telling the secretary that Ben wouldn’t be able to make it due to illness. The message was delivered to Mr. Keller, the physics teacher, in front of the class. A couple of students snickered, but the majority didn’t really care, and the test went on as planned. Then, the next day, three more students from Ben’s physics class were missing from school. Their parents had also called in claiming their kids were sick with similar symptoms: fever, glazed eye look, and a slight cough. An announcement was made that day, warning students to wash their hands and keep clean as there was a bug circulating around. A few more were gone the next day, and one person had actually thrown up in the bathroom and was let home early. The announcement was made again, telling students not to share food or drinks and continue taking measures to avoid getting the illness. By this time, Ben was back in school and right as rain, but the other kids were still out. One girl was taken to the local clinic for a medical checkup, as she had been sick for a week, and cough syrup and rest had done little to nothing. The doctor examined her, and then examined her again. She checked her equipment, and tried a third time, then asked to speak to the mother alone. “I can’t find anything wrong with her,” the doctor reported. “I mean, besides her symptoms, there’s no apparent cause for what made her ill.” The doctor then speculated that it was likely just the yearly flu, and that there wasn’t much to be done other than more rest and taking it easy. The girl was made aware of this, and then taken home. That afternoon, the girl relayed a message to her group chat about her situation: “So apparently the doc doesnt know wtf is wrong me?? She said it was the flu but shes not sure”. Not long after, a few of the teachers took sick leave. Siblings and parents of the high schoolers began to develop symptoms. Even Mrs. Goodman took ill. More and more people started coming into the clinic, but none of the doctors could tell what was actually causing it. They had assumed it was the flu, but vaccinations didn’t seem to working. People that had been injected only a week ago were now coming through the doors sick as a dog. The media had caught on to the story as well, and it was reported on the news that night: “MYSTERY ILLNESS SPREADS”. It was around this time that the first person collapsed. An elderly woman was taken to the hospital after having fallen in her apartment. Her other symptoms matched that of the mystery illness. And then, another one fell. Then two more. As the clinics filled day in and day out, more people were collapsing in the streets. The hospital was starting to run out of room. Staff found themselves gaining a cough and headaches, and soon they too were stuck in bed. Local pharmacies eventually ran out of symptom relieving medicines. People began to get angry, and then they got sick, which only fed the anger more. The news reported riots and breaking windows downtown: “CITIZENS RAVAGE UNSTOCKED PHARMACIES”. The hospital had run out of room, and many were turned away by their own families, so they had taken up residence in abandoned apartment buildings.

Doctors began to get extremely worried about the crisis on hand. With no conventional medications or treatments having an effect on the illness, they were just about out of options. However, before calling up the CDC to let them know they had a new Black Death on their hands, the doctors decided to try one last idea. They began prescribing out little blue capsules to all of the infected, two a day daily. What the patients were unaware of was that the pills were merely placebos. When all had failed, the only option was to try and trick their bodies into thinking they were getting better.

Five days passed however, and none of the patients showing signs of improvement. The news continued on and on every day, keeping people up to date on new developments on the illness. “NEW GHOST ILLNESS TREATMENT A FAILURE” was the headline of the day after hearing of the five day failure for the placebos. Only three days later, a patient in the hospital died. A cover up was impossible, as a family member had been visiting during the time of the patient’s passing. It was all over the news that night, more than usual: “FIRST DEATH FROM GHOST ILLNESS”. The doctors tried to explain that there was no certainty it was caused by the illness, but it was too late.

Soon after, more people started to die. As each body was investigated, the cause appeared to simply be a heart attack. Doctors were completely and utterly baffled at what was happening. Some minds were broken. One couldn’t take the pressure anymore. His body was found in the river.

The call was made. But it was too late. Headlines of “GHOST ILLNESS CLAIMS 500 LIVES” scrolled across LED screens as people took to the streets in panic. Some tried to escape from the city; others were rioting in anger of the government’s lack of response. A building burned to the ground, and charred corpses fell from the windows. People afflicted by the illness continued to die of heart attacks.

Then, on an online forum, there was a post. It was from Ben. He openly apologized, claiming it was all his fault for spreading this disease. When the truth was revealed, it shocked those who read it, but by now, there was nothing that could stop the panic of the masses:

''I’m so sorry. This is all my doing. I was patient zero in all of this, having missed my physics test because I was sick. This was… a lie. Nothing more. I had three buddies in that class, and we planned to skip school for a day to go out hunting. I was to be “sick” first, and then they’d “take ill” right after. I never meant for it to get this out of control. I’m sorry.''

When the government finally arrived, the city was silent. Bodies riddled the streets. Only a few survivors came forward, and were taken away to be relocated to a new home. Newspapers reading “GHOST ILLNESS – THE END?” fluttered in the wind. Ben Goodman’s house was discovered. He was found hanging in his room, and his mother’s corpse was lying in bed. The cause of death had been a heart attack. 