[color=7ea7d8][center][h2]|Josephine "Joseph" Smith|[/h2][/center][/color]

Joseph felt an alarming chill run down her back as the TV went to static. Biting her lip, she pulled out her phone and dialed the familiar number to Big Mama’s house. She pressed the phone to her ear and listened to the annoying ringing sound until, after a long second, it stopped.

“Hello, who’s this?” The gruff voice of the older woman snapped.

“Big Mama, its Joseph. Did you see the news?” Joseph tapped her fingers incessantly on the table, glancing outside where Orion was sleeping. A deep instinct in her warned her that something bad was going to happen and Joseph could feel her lethargic muscles tensing.

“No, why? Somethin’ about them Kardashians or whatever?” Big Mama chuckled to herself and Joseph could hear the sizzling of something cooking. Her patience was running thin, as it always did with Big Mama, and she wished that someone else had picked up the phone.

“No, Big Mama, someone died at the hospital – they had [i]flu like symptoms[/i]. He attacked a nurse. Big Mama, it’s an outbreak. I need you to get everyone inside and lock the doors, alright? I’m goin’ to head home soon.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone, then distant talking until Big Mama started talking again. “Okay, you be careful, honey. We’ll be waiting.”

Big Mama hung up the phone, not even bothering to say ‘I love you’ - in all her life, Joseph has never heard Big Mama say she loves someone; it wasn’t her style. Joseph slid her phone into her pants and stood up. The disbelief and worry over the outbreak must have triggered some adrenaline reaction, because the loopy sluggishness that once possessed her limbs had left, replaced with an energy that vibrated. Joseph sped walk to the door, glancing once more behind her into the shop, before walking to the outside. 

The cold seemed to bite at her skin as she sidled up to the truck, peeking in at Orion. Orion was no longer asleep, instead wide awake with his floppy ears perked, sniffing curiously. Joseph tapped on the glass window and Orion lept to the driver’s seat; Joseph smiled, unlocking the door and allowing her hands to run over Orion’s fur. The foxhound’s fur was slightly cool to the touch and his wet nose nuzzled her cheek. She patted his head before moving to the truck bed, peering at her bow to make sure it wasn’t damaged in its cover.