"Careful!" Kyle Broflovski didn't mean to shout when he faces his assistant. Her round, doe eyes shine in shock and her chubby cheeks shrink as she bites the inside of them. Slowly, she tucks the strand of hair, which fell from her ponytail, back.

"I'm sorry Kyle, but you don't have to shout at me." Heidi Turner replies, still getting over the initial shock at Kyle screaming at her. Sure, he had a temper, but he never used it toward her. "You know I don't like it when people shout."

Kyle bites his lip. Yes, he did know this. He knew that Heidi narrowly escaped a verbally abusive relationship. He knew that ever since, Heidi has had a thing about people shouting.

But this is important. Something as little as a single strand of hair could fuck the whole thing up, and Kyle was not willing to risk that.

"I'm sorry, Heidi. But, you know that a single ounce of your DNA could contaminate it." Kyle motions to the table, and Heidi takes a step back.

On top of the clean, crisp surface is a simple petri dish. A dish which could possibly hold a cure to whatever had wrecked havoc in the rest of the states.

A few days ago, news stations had made emergency broadcasts about a dangerous disease. A disease which took human's host, and mutated their bodies in horribly bizarre and disturbing ways. It twisted limbs, blackened tongues, melted skin and a whole load of other things too disgusting to even comprehend. It was extremely contagious, and news stations warned towns that it would spread to them.

Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow... but it would spread.

So far, whole states had been wiped out. The few stations still playing displayed maps, huge portions of the country scribbled out in black ink. While the threat was obvious, no one in the town of South Park believed it would even attempt to come here.

There was a few reasons for this thought.

One was that people decided that the virus would hate it here. It was a boring town, with very little to offer. Another was that it was practically invisible; South Park had not been marked on the maps, and to anyone studying North America from one wouldn't even know the town existed. More reasons included the lack of intelligence in the people, and some were so stupid that they didn't even need thinking about.

"I doubt that a single hair could ruin anything." Heidi sighs, glowering at the substance on the dish.

It was a murky black, catching the light and gleaming. If it was anything else, Kyle would call it pretty. But... it wasn't. It was practically a replica of the disease which escaped the labs of other cities. A replica which Kyle and Heidi were experimenting on, attempting to make a cure.

Because instead of sitting around and doing nothing - which most of the town was currently doing - Kyle wanted to stop the disease, ensure that it wouldn't even touch their town.

Heidi was still peering at the disease, face inching closer and smile quirking at her lips. She and Kyle had done this, together. They'd made something together, and it was causing her heart to race and her mind to swim. She'd made something with Kyle! Something that was a virus, something that was deadly and dangerous and disastrous.

Something that...

Heidi's thoughts were instantly swept away.

"It fucking moved!" She hisses, jumping back and latching onto Kyle's arm. The redhead flinches at the sudden contact, Heidi's hold horrible strong and firm on his upper arm. He shakes her off, fixing his partner with a sharp glare.

"No, it didn't. It's a substance. Substances don't move on their own."

"It fucking did." Heidi gapes at the ink like liquid, kneeling down and slowly shuffling closer to the table.

Maybe if she just looked a little closer, she'd see it again...

"Heidi, come on, don't be an idiot." Kyle was shaking his head at her, curls flying back and forth on his forehead. Heidi could be so annoying sometimes, that he felt like letting his anger get the best of him.

"I'm never an idiot." It was such a lie, and Kyle felt the need to point it out. She was closer now, nose mere centimetres from the sticky looking substance. Kyle rolls his eyes, crossing his arms. "See! Again! It-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence.

The scream was blood curdling, bone chilling, heart stopping...

It was loud and horrible, ringing in the lab and bouncing off of the walls. Kyle's hands flew to his ears, pressing down on them and staring, wide eyed at the thick, disturbing liquid pounces Heidi.

As her mouth widens with the scream, the substance charges. It flows down her throat, causing a disturbing, choking noise to leave the shuddering girl. Another choked scream and paired with a shaky sob erupts from her body, and Kyle can do nothing but watch in complete and utter horror as the thing takes Heidi host.

Her body contorts and twists, slamming into the ground again and again. She's foaming at the mouth, blood gushing from her nose and seeping from the corner of her eyes, mixing with tears and sweat.

Kyle's shaking, knees knocking together and heart swimming in the acid of his stomach. His hands are still clamped over his ears, bottom lip captured between his teeth and... oh god, did he just piss himself?

Heidi screams again, and that's when the door bursts upon.

Kyle doesn't know whose hands are on him, but they're comforting and gentle. He doesn't know who or what is racing toward Heidi, but as soon as they touch her something happens.

The thing squirts from Heidi's mouth, attaching to the other's cheek. The sizzle and pop is loud and nauseating, and more screams erupt in the room.

Kyle's crying now, watching as his partner withers and screams on the floor. Her fingers crack, break and fall limp. Her eyes roll back, a large, tumour like lump is visible in her throat, skin straining against the gargantuan circle.

The scientist with the sizzling cheek is wailing now, clutching his cheek as he is escorted out of the room. Kyle doesn't care to look at him, only watching as Heidi slowly falls dead, no longer moving.

That's when he can finally speak.

"Sh-she needs quarantining!" Tears are still flowing down his cheeks, and he watches as more staff wander toward her unmoving body. "No! Don't touch her!"

He's blubbering through the tears, voice cracking and heart burning. Heidi is dead, she's been attacked by the virus. It's his fault... it's his fault...

It's his fucking fault.

The urge to scream builds in Kyle's mind, and he tries to fight the arms closing around him as another scientist kneels beside Heidi, touching her cheek and swiping away at the mixture of blood, sweat and tears.

"Stop it! St-stop it!" Kyle's breathing is irregular, and the arms around him begin to feel more like a cage than an attempt at comfort. "Don't! You could-"

The scientist knelt beside Heidi turns, fixing Kyle with a sharp glare. "Get him out, he's a mess. Ensure that he didn't touch the substance, and-"

She stops speaking as Heidi begins to breathe.

The arms fall from Kyle, and all of the staff in the room crowd around Heidi.

"Miss. Turner! Are you okay?"

"Do you need help standing?"

"Someone call medical!"

But then they're no longer trying to help her stand or wipe her face, as they're screaming as she's attacking them. Kyle doesn't see the whole thing, but he does see as Heidi's clouded gaze snaps to a scientist, and her blood stained teeth sink into her shoulder.

Then, he runs.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Where should Kyle run to?

1. The police. He should report that the disease has broken out in the lab, even if that leads him to admitting he's at fault for it.

2. Home. He should run to his house and stock up, keep to himself and ensure that he survives. After all, it is every man for himself.

3. Take to the streets. Let everyone know that it's no longer safe in South Park, and that they should start getting ready to survive. However, people may not even believe him.