Snippet #1753745

Dr Alex McDonald
Uptown
Day 6

"God damn it!" Alex yelled, throwing the copy of 'Rare and Neglected Diseases', the last of the books he had managed to scavenge, across the basement into the corner, where it landed heavily atop a pile of other, similarly titled books.

Alex had read every book he could find about obscure and rare diseases in the past three days, and not a single one contained any disease that matched the one which had swept River Glen in the past 6 days, in the vague hope that he would be able to discover what had caused the epidemic and make some sort of medical intervention. Yet despite his best efforts, it was becoming increasingly clear that whatever had caused the horrors on the streets above, it had never been seen before.

With a sigh, he got to his feet and walked across the darkened basement to look through the small pile of food he had left. Picking up the last bag of crisps, he opened it and began eating as he looked through the rest of the food. A can of sweetcorn, two chocolate bars and an unappetising apple were all that remained of the food he had managed to scavenge.

'Well' Alex thought to himself 'Looks like it's time to move on..." finishing his crisps, he began packing his large rucksack, arranging the wide variety of medical supplies carefully so they would be easy to access should he need to use them. He placed his remaining food in the side pockets and after a moment of thought decided to leave the books behind - they would be of no further use. Picking up the two large butchers knives from the small table in the centre of the room and gripping them tightly, he moved towards the basements exit carefully pushing the hatch open just a crack.

Peering out tentatively, Alex scanned the above coffee shop for signs of movement. Apart from the cool, gentle gust that blew in through the open door everything was silent. Pushing the hatch entirely open, he crept out. The eerie stillness disturbed him. This wasn't what he had had in my when he moved out the Big City to live somewhere quieter.
Walking to the door of the coffee shop, he leaned out just enough to get a view down the street.

Again, there were no signs of movement. Still, Alex was not willing to relax just yet. Exiting the shop, he paused for a moment to decide his next course of action.

"Somewhere with a public telephone..." he thought, hoping that if he could manage to find one, he would be able to make contact with someone who could help. Looking up and down the road, he cursed himself for not knowing the area better. There were no phone booths in the immediate vicinity and he was struggling to think of anywhere he might find one.

'Hmm,' he thought 'Where do you usually find pay phones? The Library?...no. Gas station? I suppose, but where the hell is the gas station?'

With a sigh of frustration, Alex set off walking along the street, in the direction he vaguely remembered as going towards the gas station.