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Drew Colt had always been a talented athlete. Almost from the moment he could run, if it involved hitting or kicking a ball, he'd either tried it, thought about trying it, or was still playing it. After graduating from high school, he chose to concentrate on AFL football. Seeing his abundant talent, the West Coast Eagles drafted him without hesitation. Over the years, he soon rose from the rookie to the captain. While he didn't win every game, his contribution to each game was hard to ignore.

As often happens with high profile athletes, he started to gain an ego. In some ways it's not their fault, but in others it's all their fault. Humility is a trait to be respected; a bad winner is just as bad as a sore loser. Someone that starts to think he's better than the "plebs" whose team memberships pay his salary makes for a dramatic fall when the party ends.

When the Black Widow virus first landed in Australia, it did so via an international flight from Taipei to Melbourne. One infected passenger went unnoticed as merely "someone with a cold." By the time the Airbus A380 landed, it turned all 522 people aboard into carriers in one way or another. Some were asymptomatic, oblivious to the death sentence contact with any man may deliver. It so happened that two of those passengers went to the Melbourne Cricket Ground had bought tickets to an AFL game between Collingwood and the West Coast Eagles.

One of the worst aspects of this virus was its ability to carry in the air. Just being within 4 metres of someone infected could infect others. The MCG has a capacity of 100,000 spectators. To describe this is a "super spreader" event was to state the blindingly obvious. Its infection spread as if it were released from a crop duster. Almost everyone at the game, from spectators in the top row to the players all contracted a dose of it. Its incubation time of four weeks guaranteed that by the time health authorities knew about it, it would be too late

.

Two weeks after that fateful game, Drew noticed his team mates come down with a mysterious virus, a lingering flu that put many of them in hospital. He himself had suffered for a week with what he assumed was a bad flu. It was only after he asked to see the team doctor that he discovered the seriousness of his situation. He'd heard of the Black Widow virus, but not how bad it was. Tina Fraser, the team doctor ordered him into quarantine. He weakened, but much to his surprise, he recovered within a few days. This virus stood out as the hardest his immune system had ever faced.

Drew had been in quarantine for a month as a precaution, both for fear of infecting others and being infected a second time.

When told he was to go into cryo stasis, he had to be sedated. He may have been fleet of foot and quick in reflexes but the same could not be said of his intellect. All it took was an attractive female doctor to talk him into it. Then again, when told the true lethal nature of this virus, her task proved easier than expected. Seven years later, Drew awoke alone in a stark white hospital ward. A doctor with dark hair, dark eyes and equally dark skin walked in, a broad smile highlighting her gleaming white teeth. "You're finally awake sleepy head," she said. I'm Dr Paula Knight, and I'm the one that's been charged with keeping an eye on you."

"What's the time?"

"3:30 PM, exactly."

"What's the date? I know I've been out for a while."

"November 11th, 2030."

"2030?? 7 Years?!"

"It was very necessary," Paula continued, "you are only one of .001% of all surviving males on the planet. You won a genetic lottery of sorts."

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Profile for Towtruck 73, incl. 14 stories Email: othello551183@hotmail.com Add this author to your favorite author list Add this story to your favorite story list Send this story to me through email Recommend stories for further reading

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