Thursday, June 29, 8:52 A.M. Just got into work. Samantha told me that Paul Adams, the head of the entomology department here at the university, left a package for me. According to Sam, one of Paul's assistants delivered it around 8:15. Unfortunately I have a meeting in less than 10 minutes and won't have a chance to open it until later today.

7:47 P.M. Just now opened Paul's package. He sent me a female mosquito that had been preserved in amber. His note says that a friend of his found three pieces of amber at an archeological dig somewhere in the mountains of Lebanon, and estimated them to be from the Lower Cretaceous period. One piece contained a mosquito (which Paul sent to me), one contained a fly and a weevil and the third contained 3 ants. He said he would like me to attempt to extract the gastric juices from the mosquito. He wants me to examine the fluid to see if I can find anything, since he is not a biologist and does not have the proper equipment, as our department has, to run the tests. Unfortunately, Sam and I are having dinner tonight with her parents, who flew in from L.A. to see their "little girl." She insisted I come along so they could finally meet the professor who gave her an A+ in his biology class and then hired her as his assistant right after graduation.

Friday, June 30, 7:26 A.M. Sam and I started to examine the contents inside the preserved mosquito's stomach. Neither one of us had our hopes up of finding anything. As expected, we did not find any gastric juices. But, while examining the stomach under our microscope we did discover a one-celled organism I had never seen before (Sam has nicknamed it POCO, an acronym for Prehistoric One-Celled Organism).

I attempted to contact Professor Toni Yarnell, who is on vacation this week, but got no answer at her home. I would love to get her insight on our newfound friend since she is the head of the biology unit, and far more experienced than Sam and I. Hopefully, she will stop in to pick up her paycheck so that I can show POCO to her.

8:48 A.M. Luck is on my side. Professor Yarnell did come to work to get her paycheck. After discussing and showing POCO to her, she agreed to stay and help Sam and I.

9:01 A.M. With Professor Yarnell's assistance, we've discovered that POCO is in hibernation, protected by what appears to be a protein like coating, much like the way a bacteria survives as a spore when faced with starvation.

9:36 A.M. After discussing our plans, we've decided to try to awaken POCO from its hibernation. Professor Yarnell suggested that we place POCO in a drop of blood to attempt to revive it. Since POCO was found in the stomach of a female mosquito, which must consume blood to survive, we've come to the determination that POCO survives in blood and that it went into its protective coat when there was a lack of blood. Therefore, hopefully, it should emerge when we refurbish the blood supply. She would also like us to use the video microscope so that we can monitor and document any occurrences that might take place.

9:45 A.M. We've prepared a slide containing one drop of blood that we added POCO to. Now we just have to sit back, wait and hope for some sort of reaction.

10:22 A.M. While monitoring POCO, Sam witnessed it emerge from it's protective coat. We watched the video tape at least 7 times. It was amazing to see an organism over 65 million years old awaken and flourish with life.

10:38 A.M. This just keeps getting better. After watching the videotape we went back to examine POCO to find that there are now two of them.

11:40 A.M. SPECTACULAR! POCO is reproducing at a rate of five times an hour. We now have 128 individual POCOs. Professor Yarnell requested that Sam extract 5 POCOs from the original sample so they can be tested in other blood samples. Again, she would like them to be monitored with a video microscope with each one set at a different magnification.

I also sent a picture of POCO to Professor Leonard Santoro, the head paleontologist at the university. I was hoping he could tell me if he found any POCOs in any of the DNA samples he managed to collect from various dinosaur bones the university has obtained.

12:07 P.M. While examining POCO, we found something we never thought we would: "Rocky" the lab rat. No one could seem to find him since his escape about 2 weeks ago. But, after getting whiffs of a rancid stench, we searched and finally found his decomposing body wedged in the motor of the lab's refrigerator. With the smell overwhelming the lab, Sam, Professor Yarnell and I all agreed to go out to lunch while the lab aired out.

2:23 P.M. Incredible! While we were out to lunch, the POCO placed in the drop of blood on the slide has reproduced to an astonishing 1,000+. The blood has also started to change color. It has changed from its red color to a dark pink which leads us to believe that POCO is beginning to outnumber the blood cells it is living in.

4:32 P.M. After further examination, we've discovered our beliefs to be true. POCO is outnumbering the blood cells and not because of its overwhelming reproductive rate. The POCOs are consuming the blood they are living in. They appear to be working like a well-trained assault team ingesting each part of the blood one element at a time till it has consumed one of each element. After which, it starts the cycle all over again.

We've increased the quantity of blood from one drop to one-quarter ounce. Professor Yarnell again requested Sam to extract 4 additional POCOs to be place in four vials she has prepared. She said these vials contain blood samples from people who have been diagnosed with AIDS, diabetes, leukemia, and sickle-cell anemia, to see how and if POCO adapts to the various diseases.

4:58 P.M. Well, everyone seems to be getting ready for the holiday weekend. Sam is taking her parents to visit her younger sister upstate. I am finally going to get in some deep-sea fishing that I've wanting to do for the longest time, and Professor Yarnell says she's just going to sit at home, barbecue, and go to the annual fireworks display at the university. Hopefully, the POCOs will rest comfortably over the extended four-day weekend in their new homes.

Wednesday, July 5, 7:00 A.M. This is weird. Sam just called me and said that her girlfriend Nancy called her and told her that numerous patients were admitted into University Hospital over the weekend. She said all the patients had attended the annual 4th of July fishing contest at Walkers Pond on Saturday. They all appeared to be in shock and no one knows why. The ambulance crews all stated the same thing on their ambulance call reports: witnesses told them the patients each suddenly broke out in a cold sweat and complained of feeling cold just before falling into unconsciousness. Apparently the ER doctors are having a hard time drawing blood to run tests. The patients all appear to be dehydrated to the point that neither nurses nor doctors can find veins to draw blood from. Guess I'll find out more when I get to work.

8:21 A.M. I just arrived in the lab. I brought in enough fresh tuna for the entire lab and a couple of shark steaks for Sam. Professor Yarnell apparently has been here most of the weekend. She is very awestruck. She said she stopped in Saturday to pick up a book and came into the lab to check on our little friend POCO. It seems the original five POCOs we placed in the blood have reproduced into mass amounts. What started out as five, have grown well into the millions, while the blood supply continues to diminish. The same goes for the POCOs in the infected blood. It appears that the more blood there is, the faster they reproduce, and the faster they reproduce, the more blood they consume.

What has her amazed is that POCO is consuming the infected blood just as fast as the normal blood. Apparently, POCO is immune to our modern diseases.

9:06 A.M. I ran into John Roberts from University Hospital. I asked him about the patients that had been admitted over the weekend and his face took on the look of a deer caught in headlights. After some prodding he finally gave in and informed me that County General had called him. They wanted to know if the doctors at University Hospital found anything concerning the outbreak of patients being admitted with shock-like symptoms. Roberts told them University Hospital is just as baffled as County General.

9:18 A.M. Professor Yarnell has just given me the results from some experiments she ran on POCO over the weekend. She took numerous POCO samples and experimented with them to see how they react to light, darkness and change of temperature. She stated that the only real reaction noted was in temperature. It seems they reproduce fastest at high and very low temperatures, just before going back into their protective coat and hibernation. It seems this would be a survival tactic. As the temperature starts to reach what can only be presumed as a critical level for them, they mass produce, ensuring a greater chance of survival.

She even froze a sample of blood containing 5 POCOs with liquid nitrogen. When defrosted, 4 of the 5 came out of hibernation and continued where they left off: ingesting the blood and reproduction.

10:17 A.M. The vial of blood that we transferred the original POCO into is now completely void of blood. Red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma, everything. The only thing remaining is a light pink colored jelly like substance made up of millions of POCOs as well as a very putrid smell. For now, we are assuming this to be a form of waste byproduct coming from the POCOs. It appears POCO is literally a bloodsucker. Sam, jokingly, suggested we rename it "Vampoco." Professor Yarnell was not amused.

11:51 A.M. Professor Yarnell has just given me good and bad news. She received a report from her friend Bill Johnstone at a nearby lab. After I left Friday night she sent him a sample of the POCOs. She asked him to place six rats in a cage, three of which she wanted injected with POCO, and to let her know what happens. The good news is that the three rats not injected were not affected by the three that were. This means that POCO cannot be transmitted via air. The bad news is that the three rats injected died. His report said that he did a mini-autopsy on the three rats and said they died from what appears to be a loss of blood. What seemed strange to him was that when the rats died, they appeared to have blown up like a balloon. When he made his first incision to perform the autopsy, a rush of air escaped the rat's body along with a very foul odor. What seemed even stranger was that although there was no blood in the rats, there was a reddish slime in its place.

2:49 P.M. Sam, Professor Yarnell, and I just got out of an emergency meeting with the universities board of directors. We told them about POCO and what we have discovered. The decision was unanimous that we discontinue any further experiments with POCO and notify the Centers for Disease Control in Georgia of our findings.

3:46 P.M. I just got off the phone with Jerry Hansen, a member of the CDC. He told me that his people would be here first thing in the morning to collect all of the data, samples, and experiments we performed on POCO.

Thursday, July 6, 11:04 9:07 A.M. I had just finished packing up the last of our experiments with POCO when the CDC people arrived. They told me they would keep us informed as to their findings after all experiments had been completed. Sam was kind of upset that we were handing over this astonishing find to the CDC, but knew it was the right thing to do.

3:13 P.M. Sam asked me to take a look at one of the videos of POCO she had dubbed before the CDC came. On Friday afternoon while we were out to lunch, there was a disturbance in one of the blood samples that POCO was living in. While watching the video with the least magnification, she noticed a black line appear in the blood. She sent a copy of the video to a couple of friends, asking them if they could determine what the disturbance was.

3:35 P.M. I just met John Roberts in the cafeteria. Apparently, between Sunday and this morning over 450 people have been brought in between County General and University Hospital with the same shock-like symptoms. Both hospitals seem to be stumped as to what is causing this. And, of all the people who were brought in, over half of them have died within the first five hours. The rest are not expected to survive the remainder of the day. He suggested to the mayor's office that they issue a public safety advisement but they're refusing to do so due to rumor control. He said the mayor's office got wind of a rumor coming out of the coroner's office. Apparently this morning, the coroner nearly passed out from a nauseating stench that escaped the body of the first victim he started to perform an autopsy on. He also said that a rumor has started that the insides of the victims are being taken over by a red blob-like creature. I told him if he liked, and if possible, he could send over a few samples of blood taken from various dead bodies and I would examine them. He thanked me for my offer and told me that that he would send over a few vials first thing in the morning.

4:43 P.M. Professor Yarnell just came in with some very disturbing news. Her friend Bill at the lab called and asked her about the sample of POCO she sent him last week. He said the local police stopped by and asked him to examine a few pieces of evidence for them. They said they found dozens of dead frogs at Walkers Pond. After examining some of the frogs, he said that their blood seems to have been sucked dry and replaced with the same reddish slime he found in the three rats he injected with POCO. He also told her that he hasn't informed the authorities about his findings yet, but would have to very soon. He said he wanted to give her a heads-up before sending over fluid samples for her to examine. I also showed her the video and the black lines that mysteriously appear. She's just as puzzled as Sam and I.

Friday July 7, 9:03 A.M. The messenger arrived from Bill's lab with the samples from the frogs. Professor Yarnell is checking the fluid for any connections between these strange sudden deaths of frogs and the outbreak within the human population.

1:30 P.M. I just got back from bringing a copy of the video to Paul Adams' office. Unfortunately, his secretary told me that he was out to lunch. I asked her to page him with my number and to put in a 911. Hopefully, he's at lunch and not playing golf somewhere.

2:05 P.M. I just got off the phone with Bill from the lab. I asked if he could look at the dead frogs the police brought him, and told him what I needed him to look for. I begged him to let me know as soon as he found anything.

2:12 P.M. Paul finally called. I told him all about POCO, the experiments, the video, and my theories on how they all tie into the mass outbreak of deaths in the city. He said he would apologize to his luncheon date and head back to the university to have a look at the video and get back to me as soon as he was done. He also instructed me to reexamine the mosquito he sent me. He told me what to look for and that if our instincts were correct we could have serious problems.

No sooner did I hang up when an intern from the hospital entered my office. She told me she had fresh vials of blood samples taken from patients this morning. But when I opened the container, both the intern and myself noticed the color of the blood samples: light red. She apologized and said they must have been contaminated, but was confused as to how this happened. I told her not to worry since the last thing I needed to do was panic this young woman with my theory.

2:45 P.M. The news just reported that over 600 people have died from the mysterious epidemic plaguing our area. Reports are coming in of people being rushed into hospitals with the epidemic from as far as 500 miles away. The mayor has finally called the governor, who has called out the National Guard. A lot of good that'll do.

2:54 P.M. I just listened to my phone messages. Professor Santoro called regarding the picture of POCO I sent him. He told me that he showed the picture to some colleagues. He said the cells seem to be the same type they found in every dinosaur sample from the Lower Cretaceous period on which they performed tests, but could not be sure since the picture is of a living cell and they've only seen them fossilized.

2:57 P.M. While I was reexamining the mosquito Professor Yarnell came in to give me the results of her tests on the fluids from the frogs. From the moment I saw her I knew it wasn't good news. She was white as a ghost and shaking. She handed me her notes to read because she was too upset to talk. Her results were not what I wanted to see. POCO! In every sample of fluid sent over by Bill, POCO was found. I wanted to tell her about the blood samples sent over by John Roberts, but could see that in her current state she wouldn't be able to handle the possibility of POCO being the cause of the outbreak.

3:08 P.M. I called the other lab to ask Sam to come help me but the student who answered informed me that she wasn't back from lunch yet. That is definitely not like her to be late, especially without calling. Guess she got caught up talking with her parents. Her mother sure can chatter.

6:19 P.M. My worst nightmare has just come true. Paul called with his results of the video. He confirmed what Sam's friend could not. Paul said that without a doubt in his mind, the black line that appears on the video is the feeding tube of a mosquito. He asked if I had completed my examination of the mosquito and what I found. I told him that, just as he suspected, I discovered a POCO buried approximately three quarters of the way through the stomach lining as well as one in the salivary glands. This confirmed his theory. To avoid being treated as food, POCO bores its way out of the mosquito's stomach, avoiding its potent digestive enzymes. Once out of the stomach, it proceeds to the salivary glands, where it waits to be transferred to another host.

7:22 P.M. I can't believe this. Not only has my worst nightmare come true, but also my worst nightmare's nightmare has now come true. Just as expected, the blood samples taken from the patients at the hospitals ALL contain POCOs. Millions upon millions of POCOs contaminate each vial of blood, or should I say are devouring each vial of blood.

8:34 P.M. Sam just called me from County General, crying hysterically. She said that during lunch both her parents became very sick and were rushed to the hospital. The doctors there told her it appears they have contracted the same disease that, now, has claimed more than 1,000 lives. I told her to try to stay calm and to be strong, for her parents' sakes. I didn't have the heart to tell her that she, Professor Yarnell and myself are responsible not only for her parents' fate, but possibly for the fate of all mankind.

9:11 P.M. My God! What have we done? Three very intelligent people making one very fatal, stupid mistake. Forgetting to close a window while we went out to lunch. And while we dined on our steak, one mosquito feasted on our stupidity. Now the world will have to pay for our wrong. At the rate people are dying, in a matter of weeks it appears the entire human race could share the same destiny as those massive creatures of millennia ago. And there's nothing we can do to stop it.