The Unexplained Epidemic

In 2015, an unexplained epidemic broke out all over the United States. People were dying of a mysterious disease, and no one knew the cause. There were many symptoms, all shown in a pattern. First, the person would show a distance from other people, they would no longer engage in conversations, and would often stare out into space. Then, they would seem more distant, and things that usually made them happy would produce no delight. Soon after this, their eyes would turn a dull gray color, and they would blink very rarely. Their skin would turn yellow, and their fingers and toes would turn black and fall off as if they were suffering from frostbite, even in ninety degree weather. Finally, the person would commit suicide, often in a gory fashion. They could not be stopped. Many people who noticed the pattern of symptoms that the victims went through assumed they were suffering from depression. And, for a while, that explanation sufficed. Victims were taken to the doctor, and were prescribed with psychiatrists, and depression medication. However, when the victims began to act zombie-like, and the last few symptoms were revealed, it was clear that depression was not the culprit. For a long time, no one knew where the disease came from, or how to stop it. Finally though, a brilliant scientist finally cracked the case. He discovered that people were getting sick from chemicals found in people’s rotting corpses in the ground. These people had died of natural cause, but they were causing people to die abnormally. He did not at first know what to do with this information; all he could think to do was to try to get rid of the bodies. He told the President of the United States about his knowledge, and the president immediately ordered all bodies to be dug up and cremated. After this, all the sick died, and many less people got sick. No one knew how to completely solve this disease, but they knew how to solve the biggest problem it presented. In China, reports of this disease were reported, then in countries all over the world. The disease was a pandemic, and it had spread.