Mama, I write this as they come for me

by joe mother

They've got sick masks on

4th of Harvest

They hired a cartographer yesterday. A FUCKING CARTOGRAPHER. The lab is already low on funds, and they hire a cartographer. I don't know what they need her for, but it's certainly a waste of money. Today she burst in here, saddlebags full of maps and pencils and compasses. She went into the office and worked for nine hours straight. On what, I can hardly imagine.

It does seem like a bright side that I never see her, but her presence means bad things. The money being spent on her will probably make the company cut some jobs. I'm not exactly the best scientist of the bunch, so I'll most likely get the short end of the stick.

I ate some fast food again today; it tasted like shit. I don't have time to cook anything, so whatever I get is what I get. I can't remember the last time I had a good meal. It might have been with my parents before college. After that I just ate when I could and that was it.

Tonight I grabbed my telescope and gazed at Peregrine 825B. It still glows as bright as it did nearly two years ago, and I still am fascinated on how. I've looked into theories about light and stars, but none of them had yet to become laws. The colors are rather interesting in the body.

6th of Harvest

We began working on a viral cure today. The virus has infected a small number of ponies, but it seems to be dangerous enough to require a cure this early on. Celestia herself requested funding, and we now have enough money to keep the cartographer and my job. I don't know many details on the virus, other than that it currently has a one-hundred percent mortality rate.

Unicorns have been casting spells and manipulating the disease constantly since it came in, making me worry that it's worse than they let on. The sky has started turning red, and the clouds are starting to become yellow and green, almost like they're sick. The pegasi have stopped moving them, so the weather forecast has been cloudy for the past two days, and will continue to be until it goes back to normal.

They got an Element of Harmony to come in and try to fix it, but even that didn't work. The Princesses have released an official statement on the matter, saying that they knew about as much information on the matter as we all do. No Discord, no Sombra, no evil villain from a thousand years past come to seek vengeance for his defeat.

It is rather odd to see everypony at a loss. Usually, there's some smart unicorn or somepony that knows what it is and can get information out. I guess even one of the "end of the world" street beggars could have the answer, but I doubt it.

Tonight, my telescope viewed one of the clouds, and I was repulsed by the color and texture. It reminded me of a dead body, something I had unfortunately had to see a couple of times in the lab. I hope that the issue does get fixed quickly, because having to worry about a virus and sick clouds would really hurt Equestria.

7th of Harvest

The Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle, came into the lab today. She took a look at the disease and helped us work on it. She didn't have as much experience or knowledge on the field of viral protection, but her wide scope of related knowledge helped tremendously. In the end, we managed to make a half vaccine. We tested it on a rat, and it delayed symptoms by three hours.

9th of Harvest

I don't know what to think about the virus. The rat we tested the vaccine on two days ago began to eat the other rats, and the uneaten ones developed the virus as well. Twilight was appalled and we continued trying to find a cure. We hit a wall when we ran short on supply of the virus.

It appears the virus causes the infected to become cannibalistic, and not only that, but it's contagious. I fear that the ponies working close to the vaccine will get infected. I may as well. I fear for my safety.

10th of Harvest

When I came into work today, quarantine tape had been put all along the building. Policeponies and medical unicorns in masks were outside, writing down some information. When I approached them about the matter, they told me it was none of my concern and led me out. When I went back home, I learned that Twilight was sick from the virus, and that Celestia and Luna were trying to assist her.

I am truly scared now. If the Princesses die, we will be thrown into disarray.

After I showered, I felt an itch in my throat. I coughed it out in a glob of mucus and now I will sleep.

12th of Harvest

Phillydelphia is being evacuated. Twilight died, and Celestia and Luna caught the sickness. I write this as I am ushered into a train. They are scanning ponies to check for signs of the disease. This journal is the only thing I brought with me since we couldn't bring our belongings.

I am five away from the test station. I've coughed a few times, but it's just a cold. I just coughed out another blob of mucus, and I feel a lot better.

I got past the station and I've made my way onto the train. It's rather crowded in here. The cough is back again, and this time I continue to cough mucus onto my fur. The itch in my throat won't go away.

13th of Harvest

Everypony on board is coughing now. The entire train is a herd of hacking, wheezing, sick ponies. I am constantly light-headed; writing this is a chore. We received news that Celestia and Luna have died along with the rest of the Elements of Harmony. Coupled with that news, we learned that the entire village of Ponyville was wiped out.

The good news is that experts in Canterlot began working on a cure in a safer environment where they could not get infected. I will have to stop for now, my hooves are beginning to bleed.

13th of Harvest, sometime late

My teeth hurt, and my hooves are soaked in blood. I feel no urge to eat or drink, and the ponies around me have started keeping their distance. My inkwell ran out, so now I am using my blood to write. It's hard to keep it from smearing or dripping on the page, but I have kept it from doing so.

The train is stopping now.

14th of Harvest

They've dropped us off in Ponyville, where a bunch of soldiers are watching us. They've got sick masks on, so I guess we've come down with the virus. Well, now it's more like a plague. My teeth have started loosening, and a lot of other ponies have bleeding hooves. My arms are heavy and weak, so I try and write sparsely.

The wind is heavy here. I noticed that. I noticed that my nose is bleeding. It's painful, but I don't care anymore. The soldiers are coming closer. Their horns are glowing, and I watch them kill all the plague victims. I don't care. I just want there to be death, only death, whether it be my own or everypony else's. I wan

Comments

[Dusty Sage]

Genuinely creepy. Might even be realistic, though who knows until the plague comes?

Thumbs up for creating something horrifying yet compelling.

[joe mother]

4940598

Thank you! I am legitimately surprised by the sudden influx of likes. I did intend for it to be a one-shot with the first letter being the only chapter, but I decided I wanted to have a full narrative told in a disjointed way.

I want the reader to piece together the virus' spread and how everything was affected at different times.

[Jman14102]

The journal entry style for this story works perfectly with it. Keep up the good work!

[joe mother]

4940895

Thanks. That's what I thought too. I do think that someone will get turned away by it though, as well as the order of events. I mean, I basically had the end as the beginning, and the outcome of the plague is already established.

However, to contradict myself, the journey for this is rather fun and carries on to the end.

[Luyten]

This is a really cool writing style.

[joe mother]

4940945

It is an experiment for me. I do like writing in journal format a lot, since you just have to write thoughts and actions and details of everything aren't important.

[Luyten]

4940955 i'm gonna definitely try that out sometime

[joe mother]

4940972

You should. It's actually difficult to fill up the chapters with content since you leave out all the actions and most detail. It's a single character's thoughts on the important things in their day, so it becomes an exercise in writing with the icing of a story (since character thoughts are the icing of a writing cake, and details are the cake itself).

[Luyten]

4941034 Is that a challenge?

Accepted!

[joe mother]

4941037

Have fun!

[Luna Aeterna Solutae]

I really like this.
It's the fic I've been waiting forever for.
A "World War Z" fic / fic like WWZ that stays accurate to the feel and storytelling of the book.

[STYLE-95]

I can't tell you how much I love these Plague Inc.-esc Stories!!!

[joe mother]

4942902

Um.. no? I'm not sure what you're asking.

4943025

Not a WWZ crossover. I've never read it or seen the movie so I can't disagree with your statement on the similarities about writing. However, I know the book has gotten good reviews, so I'll take this as a compliment.

[Luna Aeterna Solutae]

4944560
The movie is garbage.
The book is a series of stories and documents that tell the overarching story of what occurred and humanity's reaction to it, what we lost, how we adapted, and how we won "World War Z".

[joe mother]

4944613

Sounds like something I'll add to my "Read it when I finish everything else I'm reading" list. I didn't plan on having documents, but now it looks like a new prospect has emerged.

[Luna Aeterna Solutae]

4944702
I don't remember specific documents, it's mostly interviews.
Like one is from basically a requisitions officer who reads off a root beer bottle label and where each ingredient was sourced from to underline how fucked the US was (would be), and what his job was, making do with what was at hand (implementing the "RtK" (resource to kill) ratio).

[Luna Aeterna Solutae]

So in essence you have a similar premise (stories disconnected from one another but providing a timeline of the "war" and a more global storytelling) but using the stories of the ddead instead of interviews with the living.