Harry was bored out of his mind. Being stuck at home wasn't that exciting, but he didn't have a job or anything else to occupy his time and he didn't really want to go see anyone that he knew. Vicky had went back home because she had to get cleaned up and go to the doctor for an exam.
He flipped through the channels, but even the entertainment industry hadn't escaped the virus and a lot of the stars were in various stages of the infection.
"Latest WHO reports suggest that the Equine Virus Pandemic has continued to spread worldwide," the anchorwoman (anchormare?) a stage 4 appaloosa woman said as she read the news reports. "With every country reporting the virus worldwide, governments are shutting down as they try to escape the virus. The President recently made a press conference in Washington after having entered Stage 5, saying that funding to research into a cure will have to be re-considered and the focus should instead be on preserving what is left of humanity."
Harry turned off the TV, the disease was too widespread to contain it now and it seemed like humanity was doomed to an existence of being equines forever. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, being a horse wasn't that bad, it was just too bad that he couldn't share it with...
And then the phone rang. He blinked a little and after some struggling with his transforming fingers managed to answer it. "Hello?"
"Hello, is this a Mr. Harry Parker?" A woman said on the other end.
"Speaking, what's going on?"
"This is Doctor Abernathy from the Acclimation Farm outside of town," the woman said. He blinked a little, that was the name given to the place that some of the infected were sent after entering stage 6 so that they were able to get used to their new bodies. "Do you know a Ms. Chloe Sanders?"
"Uh, yeah, she's my ex-fiance," Harry said in surprise, why was someone from the farm calling him about that? "Why do you ask?"
"Well Mr. Parker, Chloe recently arrived here with us after entering stage 6," the doctor said on the other end. "You were her contact in the event of a full transformation and I felt you should know. Are you currently infected?"
"Umm, yes, I'm in stage 5," Harry said and blinked a little. "How did she become infected? How is she in stage 6 already? She wasn't infected when I saw her last."
"Well, from what we understand she volunteered for some, special experiments to try and slow down or even stop the viral progression," the Doctor said with a sigh. "It backfired however, instead of slowing it down it sped up, a lot. We're not sure if it was an accident or if the doctor wanted to accelerate the virus for some reason."
That didn't make sense, why accelerate the virus? "So, what do you want me to do?"
"Well, we were just informing you, and since you're already infected you can come visit her," the doctor said. "If you want to of course, but I think it would help. She's, not doing well acclimating and if you were both here you might be able to help each other.
"I'll, think about it," Harry said with a sigh. "Is there anything else?"
"No, that's all, thank you for your time," she said and hung up after that.
Harry hung up and sighed a little as he looked at the phone. He had hoped that Chloe had escaped the virus, but it sounded like it had gotten even worse for her. Who else was going to be affected by this acceleration drug?
Now he had to decide what to do.