My name is Bonnie Mary Freeman. I am a survivor of a pandemic called the bloodhound disease. During this time, I was only thirteen years old, in the 50s. Now, we have a cure for the bloodhound disease, but we didn’t back in the day. Back in the day, we had no cure. We only had hope. Hoping that we could overcome the disease. I was living with my ma and pa with my little brothers, Jekyll and Henry, and my baby sister, Molly. We lived in a tiny house with tiny rooms. Tiny windows, a tiny bathtub, a tiny space—tiny everything. I have already started my women's cycle, so it was very hard to have my personal space. It was a pain living with two brothers, but now that I think about it, being with them right now is all I ever wanted.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx73ESyxThl
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The bloodhound disease is a deadly disease that takes over your mind in a matter of days. It will turn you into a bloodthirsty “hound”, as people call it. The disease never came from an animal or hound at all, actually. It came from a red flower. People still sell these flowers in the market now that we have the vaccines, the cures, and the medicine, which I find very257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmUsLLB2ncn
offencive. People died because of this flower, making them murder their families and eating them like a fresh piece of meat from the nearest butcher! And they are selling the cause of the whole pandemic at the local supermarket? We are in the COVID pandemic now, and a lot of people have died, and I’m sure the people who died belonged to families. What if they sold free COVID "Sprites," drinks, merchandise, or the source of the COVID illness? That is what it feels like to me.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCM74FhsHmB
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Ahem, now on with the story of “Hell" as I call it. It all started when we were watching television—me and my two brothers, Jekyll and Henry. Ma was cooking dinner while she watched baby Molly, and Pa was reading the newspaper, grumbling. Pa used to grumble a lot when he was reading the newspapers.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy5WmQfegSn
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He would make this sound if he found something to his liking: "Mm! grumble grumble.”257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7zkPERgZ0u
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And he would make this sound if he was mad about something in the newspapers: "grumble, grumble.”257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV6WWGIBYmX
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Every time he grumbles about something bad, I can’t help but be nosey.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiRM1ueLFH3
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“What is it, Pa?” I say.
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“Ah..” He coughs. "The newspaper says people are getting sick.”257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcN3DpVzrW
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“But everyone gets sick." I say this while still looking at the television.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpK4THe4FS8
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“Yeah, I know, darling. But people are getting sick.”257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2IQptOaI2d
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“With what? A fever?”257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWr65N9ugly
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“Most likely.”257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5IQ27UdTf
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Pa coughs again and goes back to reading his newspaper. Me and my family never really thought about the fevers that were spreading across the world. Until hell broke loose. There were news reports days later. Explaining that people who were sick at home had murdered their families. Of course I knew this information, but not from the adults. The adults thought it was best for us kids to not know about this bad information. But they gave me my own radio to listen to the news. The news explained that people ate their families. Cannibalism! Can you believe it? These people are committing cannibalism! Why? I questioned everything the news told me. I was afraid. But I blamed the people who ate their families. I thought it was some kind of cult, eating people and sacrificing for Satan. But no, I was wrong. These people never meant to hurt their families. But, of course, we didn’t know that until later.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtpIiQxawQ
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More and more people kept getting sick. People were getting red spots on their eyeballs. This was not a fever; doctors said that this was a disease. They don’t know what to call it, but the world was dealing with a deadly disease. More and more people died from this disease. The news said that scientists brought sick people into their experiment lab to test the disease to know if we have a cure and the stages of this sickness.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEWgeoGo3gT
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People swarmed the supermarkets as soon as they opened up. Cleaning supplies were out of stock, and food shelves were empty. Luckily, we have a friend who works at the local market. He got us what we needed, and then we went home. When we got home, Ma was crying.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgG2N0CyUUy
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“Ma! What is wrong?" I say, grabbing Molly from her.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1DGtKcLI4s
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“Oh Bonnie! Your grandmother has died because of this awful disease! Your grandfather,” Ma cries harder, choking on her tears. “He ate her, and it left this awful mess! I had to run out before he could capture me! He grabbed me by the wrist and bit me!”257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqZ8Y5TDto
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Pa’s face was pale after hearing Ma’s story. Pa was fixing up Ma’s injured arm while I took care of Molly. Jekyll and Henry were worried about Ma while at the same time asking for details about what happened. Molly was confused. Well, of course she’s confused; she's a baby. She only turned one year old a month ago.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡonoxnbA8tt
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We got an update weeks later after scientists tested the sick people who had the disease. The scientist said that all the people who had the disease act like they are not humans anymore. They act like hounds who want meat. Blood. Flesh. Human Flesh. They called the disease, The bloodhound disease. The bloodhound disease will grow in your body until it has control over your brain. It will only take 4-6 days for it to reach your brain. If it reaches your brain, you turn into a monster. A bloodhound. You get red eyes, vomiting blood, rotting skin, and growing, nasty, sharp teeth. Symptoms Before the virus takes full control of your body, you will have these gross red spots in your eyes, and you will vomit blood.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUcYLJATV0m
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I and my family were terrified. The disease became so bad, you could see bloodhounds in the streets. Many people died and became infected. We had no choice but to hide in our home, hoping to God that none of us were sick.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTqqEj4s1Ca
Mom prayed every second of the day, Dad took care of the boys, and I had to watch over Molly. Molly’s cries pierced my ears, and I covered them. When Molly cried, it made me and the boys want to cry, so we all cried.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfaXYBOD16F
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“I WANNA GO TO THE PARK!" Jekyll cried out.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWRoFMxDJG
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We were all cramped in this tiny house, afraid.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9YQzCwwJrK
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We figured out that mom was infected, and we locked her in the room. Dad cried while dragging her into the room. He touched Ma, and now he’s infected, which means they are most likely to die. I knew this, and it made me cry in my room for hours. My parents were going to turn into bloodhounds, and there was no cure for stopping it. I had to take care of my siblings. Clean the dishes, dress up Molly and the boys, cook, and clean the house. Whatever a mother would do!257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwjsUkDuJlJ
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Molly would cry and cry because her mother was nowhere to be seen. But I knew where she was. In her room, locked up with Pa. The suspense was killing me. I knew that my parents would turn into bloodhounds, break down the door, and eat us all. Ma and Pa were so sick, they couldn’t talk anymore. It has been four days.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJIzcdm8aTQ
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I hear growling from behind the door. Molly cries, alerting my parents, and breaks down the door! I ran, grabbing the boys and running towards the front door. My parents were on all fours, their mouths dripping with blood from eating each other. Their flesh was rotten and bitten off by each other. It was a scary sight. Seeing your own parents become these horrid monsters. Molly cries, and I shut the door in time before they can get out. I felt relieved that we all got out of the house in time. But a loud bang hit against the door,denting it. I knew the door wouldn’t hold them, so I put Molly in my overalls, grabbed both my brothers hands, and ran. We didn’t know where to run, but we just ran. Molly wasn’t crying anymore; she was just confused about why we were running. A bloodhound bit Henry’s leg and made Henry fall. I stopped to save him, but it was too late, and we had to keep running. Tears fell from my eyes, and I grabbed Jekyll’s hand and began running again.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1YtSFKOQEi
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Moments later, we were safe. Me and Jekyll were crying because our brother had died. Both our parents have died. And most likely, we will all die. We were just kids! I didn’t think that we could survive. We didn’t have food or water, so the next day I left Molly with Jekyll to go back into the house quietly and get our food supplies. I left our house with a large machete I found in someone's garage and hoped not to get in the way of a bloodhound. I finally made it to our house and heard nothing. I went into the house, and I saw my parents sleeping on the floor, snoring and drooling. I sweated and wanted to cry. I didn't want my parents to be like this. They didn’t deserve it. So I got my machete and stabbed my mother in the chest, feeling a rush of adrenaline through my body. The bloodhound cried out and alerted my dad, so I slashed his face, hoping it would stop him. I stabbed my mom a few times, ending the bloodhound's life. My dad was growling at me and slowly backing me up into a corner. I gripped my machete, afraid. It wasn’t easy stabbing my own mother, and I didn’t want to stab my father either. Luckily, I didn’t need to stab him dead because a bullet shot him down through the window. I was shocked. An old man climbed through the window. He looked at me and said,257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovsSGsA1dv
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“Hey little girl, Are you okay?"257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPveXOILVM5
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I nodded and said, "Are they dead?”257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKLWxp9eHuy
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“Yes ma’am. These sons of bitches don’t stand a chance with my shotgun here.”257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7nyqIR84tM
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I stood still for a few seconds and started crying my eyes out. The old man rubbed my back and comforted me. I got the food and supplies we needed to survive and told the old man that the bloodhounds were my parents. He helped me bury them in the backyard and put flowers on their graves. Then we walked back to where my brother and sister were. The old man had a dog; it looked old with droopy ears and wrinkles on its face.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf3SoHAPcE7
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“This is Charlie, my dog; he’s a bloodhound. A bloodhound is a type of dog."257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QAEFNRDTa
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“Oh, that’s unfortunate for Charlie to be a bloodhound.”257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGI7WUAKyub
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We saw Molly and Jekyll together, hiding in an empty building. We eat, get dressed in new clothes, and sit down on the floor.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSikaXJMp54
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“What now?” I ask the old man.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr9feyyTOmC
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Molly was playing with the dog, poking his nose and biting his ears. The dog didn’t mind it, though.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqa9TmHHRH
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“We survive.” The old man says257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9aKIdy5j67
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Jekyll was asleep already, and Molly was asleep by the dog. I looked at Molly, Jekyll, and then my hands. And I remembered what I was thinking at that moment: If another one of us is going to die, I have already lost my parents and Henry. I don’t need to lose Molly or Jekyll.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHDT9vudKIN
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We went on for a few years, surviving. One,two,three,four, five, and six years, trying not to die. The old man was raising us and teaching us how to defend each other and how to shoot a gun. I was nineteen, while Jekyll was twelve, and Molly was seven. We learned how to stay on high alert for bloodhounds and to kill people who have the sickness but haven’t turned into bloodhounds yet.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOaFfnrp14n
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One day, the old man told me that the government had found a cure to the bloodhound disease and that we needed to evacuate as quickly as possible because they were going to nuke the world. When I heard this information, I was confused. Nuke!? The world?! We’ll all die! We all ran out of town, which took several days! Until the day the bomb hits the world. Molly stared at the sky and pointed at a big bomb falling from the sky.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtY9kqTf8hE
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“RUN!!” Jekyll said hopping on Charlie’s back and making Charlie run. I picked up Molly and ran. But the old man couldn’t run fast enough! I put Molly on the ground.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ92RxiBbgrG
“RUN MOLLY! RUN!” I screamed.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGRTHh5flk
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Molly ran away while I helped the old man. “Come on! let’s go! We don't have much time!” I said while tears fell.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWStHIApqs
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“Bonnie! Bonnie, it’s okay. Leave me here. Go live your life; take Charlie with you!” The old man said this, pushing me away and coughing up blood.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR69Qn6WFiI
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“Your..infected..you touched me!” I said, crying more.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz62dtlX3h4
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A big bang erupted. It felt like everything was in slow motion. And then there was black.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaliwRWt7kq
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We didn’t die. But we heard later on that the government didn’t bomb an explosion. They bombed the cure all over the world. We all survived.257Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt7AEiaE22I
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Now we're all old. And I’m here telling you this story about how I survived. My time here on earth is nearly done. So I want the reader to remember one thing: Don’t smell red flowers.
