The land was covered in a thick, tangible fog. All of the wildlife had died, and the streets of the small town, Bostonia, were barren and colorless. As Nova looked out her dusty living room window, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of depression sweep over her cold body. Her long black hair lie lazily on her shoulders, lacking the basic necessity to be brushed. She didn’t see the point in anything anymore, after all...it had been almost a month since the plague had hit, and still no cure had been discovered. Barely anything was known about this plague, the only thing that was known, was that it was very, very contagious. Any carriers of the deadly plague had to be killed immediately, though luckily, the case of outbreaks had slowed. Despite all of that, Nova had to be isolated in this small cottage, waiting and hoping for a cure. She was put in the cottage with seven other females, and she was dreading every moment of it. Nova had always been the quiet type, but experiencing the death of her only sibling had traumatized her, and made her even more silently resigned than normal. She counted the hours as they seemed to pass by faster than a simple minute.
“One…two...three…” Nova counted in her dull, raspy voice.
She looked at the old clock pinned to the black wall, she could barely make out the numbers 1:30. She lay down and decided to try and get some sleep. Then, out of the darkness there was a cough.

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“Who was it!?” I call out into the darkness desperately. The other girls appear to be asleep, but in reality, I can hear their short, stifled breaths.
“WHO!” I holler at the girls as they sit up.
“Nova, calm down… I’m sure it was just dust.” One of the girls murmurs almost incoherently. The girl turns over, and I heard muffled whispers being exchanged throughout the small group of girls. I start to panic as I try to reason with them desperately.
“Girls, I don’t think you understand the importance if this situation! If one of you guys DOES have the---” I was cut off mid-sentence by the group of girls standing up and starting to walk away from me.
“GIRLS!” I cry out to them sadly with fear in my voice.
“Oh grow up!,” one of the blonde post-cheerleaders says sarcastically. I heard the other girls giggle in response as I crumple to the ground pathetically. My head is spinning as I become more and more confused as to what I should do. I knew the possibility of death was inevitable as I covered my head in fear. All I could hear was the clock ticking away. The uncanny feeling of stress overcomes me. Before I could do anything, I felt myself drifting to sleep, the thought of death leaving me terrified, as I slipped into a deep slumber. I was awoken by a long series of coughs and wheezes followed by a few gasps. I covered my mouth in realization what had just happened. I sat up and saw the slender blonde cheerleader stifle a few coughs and lie back down. I figured it out, now, I finally knew who had coughed. After the feeling of triumph started to perish, it was replaced with the feeling of dread once more. I knew what I had to do, but I didn’t know if I could do it. I slowly sat up in my bed, and as my eyes wandered to the opposite side of the room I was at. I saw a long old wooden handle with a shiny metal axe head attached to it. It was our only form of defense, and my only hope of living through this disease. I slowly got up and walked over the the axe, careful not to disturb the girls. I gaze at the large axe with a looming sense of guilt as I picked it up slowly. I admired it’s silver blade and held the axe in my right hand. I slowly walk over to the blond cheerleader, who now appeared to be sleeping peacefully. I stand above her, as everything seems to move in slow motion. Finally, I took one last look as I felt a hot tear stream down my face.
“I’m sorry…” I murmur into the darkness as I attempt to bring the sharp blade down on her slender neck. Before I could bring the axe down, I saw the girl’s eyes shoot open as she realizes what is happening. She looks at the axe in horror as she opens her mouth in an attempt to let out a scream. Before she could muffle out a sound, I bend down and cover her mouth dragging the axe down with great force with me. As the cold silver blade digs into the girl's stomach, I hear her scream in anguish. I quickly bring the axe up again and swing twice more, hitting her in numerous places. To my surprise, the female's eyes were still open, flooded with tears and bloodshot. She wasn’t making anymore noise, but she was twitching violently. I let go of the girls mouth and stand up. With darkness clouding my mind, I lift the axe above my head and strike her in the head, leaving a gash in the middle of her lifeless face. I turn around only to see another girl staring at me with the same terrified look that overcame the cheerleader, before I brought her out of her misery. I stared at the brown haired girl with guilt and without thinking, I pounced on the girl. As my left hand slowly wrapped around her neck, I brought this girl to the same demise as the other. I swung more this time. Once, twice… I could her her muffled but mortified screams slip from her throat occasionally. I kept swinging,  three times, four times five times. By now, she was far from gone. Taking note of this, I stop swinging and stand up. As the dark, red, blood drips from the axe onto the girl’s face I could feel my hands starting to shake, more and more. I back away from the corpse and slowly walk across the room to the axe’s original resting place. I lay the axe down slowly, taking great care that it was in it’s original position. Ever so slowly, I lean down and stare into the dull, silver blade and a terrified girl seemed to stare right back at me. By now, I could feel my whole body shaking, twitching, compressing. I stood back up and walked back over to my bed, eyes wide and hands covered in blood of now, two seemingly innocent girls. What if they were innocent? What if you didn’t have to kill them, what if…  what if…… w h a t  i f? I felt sick, guilty, unsure. I didn’t know what to think. As I cried silently as all of these thoughts seemed to scream out, and contort my mind in the worst ways. I slowly crawl into my bed and lay down. Soon I felt myself curl up into a little ball, rocking back and forth...holding my arms to my cold, almost lifeless, sides. I rocked and rocked, trying to calm myself down as I wept uncontrollably… and when I thought it was all over, out of the darkness, there was a cough.

-end