Hans had gotten in on a late night 'red-eye' flight from California, thoroughly grumpy all the way. His seat had been too small (as usual), and with a full plane load, he hadn't been able to tilt his seat back any. He got off the plane with cramped and sore legs, and the irritable boredom of the rental car attendant hadn't helped any. She had tried to give him a tiny 2-seater Honda, despite his having specifically arranged for a car with extended leg room. Finally, he had managed to get the keys to a Volkswagen Beetle, which fit much better; the Honda would have been like driving a clown car. He didn't make it to the motel until almost 3AM, and even for the price, it was a dump. Unlike many of his colleagues, though, he had never been bothered by staying in low-grade hotels - after all, hadn't Christ been born in a stable? Hans just wanted to sleep, and had curled up on the too-short bed immediately upon checking in.<br/><br/>He woke up slowly half a day later, venturing out to a nearby burger joint for food before returning to his room to eat. Now, though, remnants of the second double cheeseburger lay forgotten on the bed as he watched the television updates fixedly. Riots had been one thing, and he found himself amused at the concept of a virus - if it were so, of course it would emerge a day before the year's largest general physician's convention in America. Now, though...he simply stared at the screen, eyes solemn, and whispering under his breath.<br/><br/><em>"Und sollen sie in diesen tagen mannsuchvorgangtod und wird ihn nicht finden; und wünscht zu sterben, und tod flieht von ihnen..."</em>*<br/><br/>The dead simply did not return to life. Violently or otherwise...it didn't happen. Only in bad movies...and Judgement Day...<br/><br/><br/>(*Revelations 9-6, cheerfully butchered via Babel Fish because I can't find a German Bible translation online)