Prologue

This prologue is simply a brief retelling of the events of Cabin Fever that are relevant to the actual fanfic. This is here for the benefit of people who aren't familiar with Cabin Fever as it is not a well known movie. If you have seen Cabin Fever, you should be able to jump right in to Chapter 1, as this prologue won't tell you anything you don't already know.

These were dark days. And they had fallen so suddenly upon lives so young; young adults who had yet face the world beyond college.

This was meant to be a fun break from the drudgery of study and exams; a nice private getaway to a cozy little cabin in the middle of the woods. How had it gone so terribly wrong?

Marcy reclined on a double bed, staring ruefully out the window, too broken to even cry. She was an exceptionally attractive girl; tall, slender and busty, with long dark brown hair and a beautiful face that had an exotic European quality to it.

In a dark, run-down old toolshed close by, Karen, Marcy's ever-bubbly best friend from college, lay dying. She was covered from head to toe in bleeding wounds that had appeared quickly upon her body. 16 hours ago, she had been fine! But now, she couldn't walk or even stay awake.

While the rest of the group had all taken precautions once they realized Karen was so seriously ill, it seemed likely that it would only be a matter of time before they all began to show similar symptoms.

As if the disease wasn't bad enough on its own, there was also a large aggressive dog roaming somewhere around in the surrounding woods that seemed intent on attacking anyone it came upon.

Gazing at nothing in particular, Marcy sighed as the last words her now-ex boyfriend Jeff had yelled at her echoed bitterly in her mind.

"You can stay here and fucking rot! But not me! No fucking way, not me!" he'd told her, before running off into the woods alone.

He was a handsome guy, in the same way that a brand new display car in the dealership is handsome. His exterior was nice and shiny because the world had always treated him rather delicately, but it had no character; no masculine grit. Marcy now realized all too clearly that it was an affliction that ran more than just skin-deep.

Jeff had been a complete pussy since the moment Karen's first sore appeared. He made a point of keeping his distance from all his friends, even Marcy, just in case one of them had also been infected. The final straw came when Marcy heedlessly went to clean Karen up after Karen had been violently ill. Marcy may have been willing to expose herself to the disease to help her friend, but Jeff was not. He stormed out of the cabin in a rage, but not before chastising Marcy for her foolish sympathy.

"You can stay here and fucking rot! But not me! No fucking way, not me!"

Marcy's painful thoughts were momentarily disrupted by the sound of the bedroom door gently closing behind her. She didn't turn to see who it was; she didn't need to. There was only one other person around who was healthy enough to walk: Paul.

Paul was an old childhood friend of Karen's; an archetypal nice guy with curly brown hair and boyish good looks. His light moustache and goatee had grown distinctly darker and messier over the past couple of days as he hadn't been shaving.

It was an open secret that Paul adored Karen, but he'd never been able to pluck up the courage to ask her out. It was a shame, as Karen seemed interested herself in exploring a romantic relationship with him.

"We're all gonna get it," Marcy solemnly declared in scarcely more than a whisper. "We're all gonna get sick. And Jeff's in the woods getting drunk!" she added scornfully, referring to the case of beer Jeff had carried off with him, to drown his sorrows in.

The bed creaked as Paul sat down on the mattress beside her. He place his hand gently upon her thigh in what was meant to be a comforting gesture.

"No. Bert's gonna get help. Karen will be fine," he insisted.

Bert, the fifth member of the group, had driven off in the group's pickup truck earlier, leaving everybody else stranded without transport. The plan had been for everyone to leave together. But Karen became violently ill as they attempted to load her into the truck and it became clear the she couldn't travel. An argument ensued and Bert, who was unwilling to wait around any longer, ended up driving off alone.

Marcy could hear the doubt in Paul's words, even though he tried his best to conceal it. But the sincere kindness in his voice was actually a little comforting. Things probably were going to get really bad, but at least it was nice she had someone with her; she wasn't alone.

But for how long? The disease acted quickly, but not as quickly as the tension and fear that had quickly whittled the group of four healthy people down to only two. Was it only a matter of time before Paul turned against her like Jeff had? Then there was the disease itself, either or both of them could succumb to it at any moment. One way or another, it seemed probable that Marcy would soon lose Paul, or perhaps even herself. Then she would be alone. That, above all else, terrified her.

Chapter 1 »