Geeze, I wish this thing asked some questions so I'd know what to write. First thing's first I guess... I seem to have a morbid obsession with viruses, bacteria - all kinds of disease. If you have read 426 Dead Birds, or if you have even glanced at it, you could probably tell.

Currently, I am attending classes and majoring in microbiology (and minoring in graphic arts. Like for video games? That would be sweet) at the local university.

I have read many, many books and stories relating to pandemics, horrible plagues, and post-apocalyptic stories of a disease-ridden world; everything from Matheson's (now famous) "I Am Legend" to Simon Clark's "Blood Crazy" to Lewis Perdue's "Slatewiper" to Chriton's "Andromeda" series. Of course, I am an avid fan of Capcom's "Resident Evil" series (let's not discuss the movies -.-') and Konami's "Silent Hill" series (we can discuss that movie!) Zombies are another horrible weakness of mine. If you really, really want to get me going, just ask me about 'em. This brings me to Romero's "Dead" series. Ah, classic! And of course, how could I leave out "28 Days Later" and "28 Weeks Later?" Well, this list could go on for a couple hundred pages so I'll leave it at that.

Feeding from my obsession I decided I would have to write one of those stories myself. So... I did.

I have done a lot of research for my stories. When I say a lot, I don't mean that lightly. A lot. An unhealthy amount. No one should know this much about either puffer fish or fleas. Especially both...

"The mind is a place you can retreat; a place you can go for shelter wherein you will always find someone who will listen, someone who will never turn away, someone who will focus solely on you. The mind is a place you can go for silence. A place all your own. Make it up, disguise it, decorate it how you wish! Whether that be the 60s style with lime green sofas and a disco ball hanging from the corner or be it a futuristic theme with titanium chairs and a bouquet of alloy daphodils. Make it a combination of the two. It's your world. Remember that no one can take your world away. Remember that, and your life will forever be a happy one."

All right, enough about me. Let's talk about what we're all here for-- writing.

Flowery Eyes

This is a poem. Yeah, I said it, a poem. Grooosss! It was something that I wrote my junior year of high school. My grammar teacher sent it off to some contest and I won first place. The ribbon has ran off somewhere, but that's OK! Anyway, it's a poem that compares the eyes of an elderly woman (I had my own mother in mind) to a dying seasonal flower. Aww.

- Update 6/18/08 -

Finally gave this little diddy a title. I was just calling it "Poem 1," but since my single, lonely reviewer said that I should title it, I did. Thanks reviewer!

426 Dead Birds

This is an original fiction. It's the story of a mysterious outbreak that occurred in a suburban laboratory. It was a medical research facility specializing in concocting cures for illnesses and ailments that previously had none, while also performing a lot of illegal studies. Things like cloning, genetic research, etc. The outbreak seemed to have been contained within the lab, yet, when the bacteria was discovered to be the cause of death of a family hundreds of miles away, it was evident that someone, somewhere had severely screwed up. Soon, the disease reaches other towns, other states, other countries. The world's population is devestated. When one man finds himself alone in the world of rotting corpses and decaying memories, what will he do? What can he do?

- Update 8/10/08 -

And there you have it. All done! I must admit that I got a little hasty there toward the end... so I apologize if it seems that way. When I originally wrote it, I had the same problem and now I can't seem to make it right. -.-' Ugh... I'm STILL trying to get that fixed. Periodically I'll probably update the chapters, fix some things that still bug me, ya know. Good news is that there's a second part on the way. That was just "part one," duh. Anyhow, the only problem with that is that I haven't completey written the second part. That first part I already had completed, but I'm going to have to write this second part. So, it may take a bit longer.

- Update 7/24/08 -

We're nearing the end... ready?

- Update 6/30/08 -

Fixed some of the timeline issues brought up by Literate Barbarian. I changed some things in Chapter 11 that may have made it a little rough to read. I believe it should be a lot smoother now. Re-read it if you wanna, but you don't have to. I didn't add or take away any important information.

- Update 6/29/08 -

Thanks, Snaffle. Fixed the "dried/slimy" situation. '-.- Hadn't noticed that... it didn't really make much sense. Oops. But, although I really appreciate the review and I appreciate the nitpicking even more, I write in LONG and WORDY sentences. Read the rest of the story, you'll see. If I cut the ones that you suggested, I would have to cut them all. Because, they're all too wordy and they're all too long and they all contain WAY too much information for one, single sentence. Like that one. And I know that being long and wordy can cause confusion and lose the reader, but... that's just how I roll, yo. Oh, also, I fixed the "popularity" situation brought up by Literate Barbarian. I totally see what you were saying... good eyes o.O

- Update 6/25/08 -

Haha, OK guys. Many of you are mentioning the similarities between my story "426 Dead Birds" and the movie "I Am Legend." . Dually noted. But! Let me first say that this story is completed, and I just go through and edit chapters and update accordingly. Second, my story was completed a year or so ago, before the movie came out. If you've ever read the book, you'll know that the movie and the book are TOTALLY different. And third, if anything inspired my writing, it was Stephen King's "The Stand." I just wanted to say for further reference that even though my story and the movie are alike, it's by coincidence (or however you are suppose to spell that stupid word), I promise. But damn, it is a good movie! Of course, anything with Will Smith is a good movie! Mr. Smith and Samuel L. Jackson. Great men. Anyway, OK that's it for now. Thanks.

- Update 5/30/08 -

I've changed some things in Chp. 1. I suggest re-reading the first section. It's not long but I've added some details important to the story's plot. I know, I know, how lame am I? I'm sorry! But I'm not done and I keep thinking of things I need to add or get rid of or change. Sorry guys! If you don't wanna re-read it, just PM me and I'll explain it all, haha.

- Update 5/29/08 -

I've just gone through and corrected some minor errors that Literate Barbarian pointed out to me. Thanks again for the pointers. I'm sure you've all noticed them. There were a few things in each chapter. Nothing big, just a few typos here and there. Anyway, they're fixed now.

Plague

This is just a correspondence to my story, "426 Dead Birds." It's not for entertaining... in fact, it's quite boring. It's an essay about the disease that my story is based off of. I wrote it so I could clear up some popular myths about the disease and also about the Black Death. I know, right? Man, I'm cool. Anyway, I just thought that this could make my story more interesting. I suggest taking a peak... just skim it!

- Update 7/14/08 -

Completely re-wrote the entire essay. Should be ~xX flawlessXx~ See the word sparkle?

Poem 2

This is my second poem. (Ugh, another one??) It came from the same batch that "Flowery Eyes" came from, so, they probably sound alike. It's just a poem about wind and stuff.