Given the difficulty that using vitas causes you might consider a different source for the pandemic? Or just redefine how vitas works to produce an effect that works better?

One the problem with a disease such as you have defined that essentially everyone catches and spears like a widlfire is that there is no particular fear with dealing with the victims. You either lived or died and you can't get it again if you lived. People will assume it is something else, but in a few weeks it will have burned out and given the Internet people will be pretty aware of what is going on, far more than in any previous lethal pandemic.

The problem with writing something novel is that it takes you a while to wrap your brain around it, to internalize it enough to understand not only how it works, but how a person living at the time would experience the event.

What would it be like to live in 2010, with VITAS in full swing? Here's my answer:

--begin file--

VITAS, when it kills, is a sudden killer. A person is doing what they always do, working at a bank, driving a bus, walking their dog. Then, for no apparent reason at all, they begin to cough or choke, or have sudden heart pain. After a few minutes, they just die.

Out of the blue. For no reason at all.

You’re at a bank, flirting with the pretty teller. She starts to scream, and her lips turn blue. She falls to the ground, and by the time the manager has reached her, she’s dead. Any nobody can say why.

You’re on a bus, going to work. The driver begins to choke, then falls unconscious. The bus crashes into oncoming traffic. If you survive the sudden impact—being thrown against seats, the ceiling, or other passengers—you find out the driver had a heart attack, for no apparent reason.

You’re out for a smoke. The nice elderly lady who lives above you is coming in, leading her Lhasa Apso. Yappy dog, but harmless. You pass a few words. She smiles, but as soon as she breathes the smoke, she begins to suffocate. Her throat swells. You took CPR, you begin chess compressions and mouth to mouth. Her throat is sealed, and she suffocates despite all you can do. For no apparent reason.

That’s how VITAS kills. Like a bolt of lightning out of a clear blue sky. No cause that can be predicted, no reason that an autopsy can confirm.

And this begins to happen in LA, New York, Seattle. 1 out of 5 people begin to just drop dead.

Rich or poor, white, black, asian, or hispanic, rural or city. Everyone died.

And it goes on for two weeks. “The Red Days.”

You can’t predict it, prevent it, or or protect against it. So, in many cases, you either flee or lock yourself up. You grab supplies, get a gun or other weapon, and quarantine yourself behind closed doors.

You got a job? F*** the job. You’ve got a family.

Some people buy those masks, hoping they’ll protect against whatever’s out there. Some people buy megavitamins or get a prescription for antibiotics. They take both, in massive doses. It doesn’t help.

Nothing helps.

That was VITAS. And it did a number on just about everything.

--end of file--

People feared the victims, because they just didn't know what caused it, or what could prevent it. There was a dearth of information, and a lot of fear. That fear made people draw back, turn to useless prophylactics, and even religious ceremonies. (Which, as the Awakening was looming, actually had some effect.)

Part of that comes down to the survival of the infrastructure (Internet and/or power), part to whether or not you personally own an Internet capable device, but part also comes down to the nature of Internet information. There's a lot of garbage out there, a lot of contradictory information. Even were the truth known, it's hard to winnow out sometimes.

And the truth about VITAS wasn't known until a year or two after the disease had burned out. Accurate information about what caused it was unavailable. The best the government had was from units stationed in other countries.

"Once the deaths stop, they don't start up again." That's enough for the army to work with, especially in a national crisis, but are common people going to treat it as gospel? Some will, of course, but there's going to be a lot of panic and paranoia. Many people will be so afraid, they simply won't take a chance.

I've considered it. It would be a lot easier if I based it on a less-lethal superflu ("The Stand"), on Contagion or Outbreak, H5N1, or even the vague "swelling of the lungs" canon VITAS. There's widely known progression, prophylactics, whatever. A lot of source material.

Easy. But boring.

I like the fact that VITAS is a novel plague. That it causes new symptoms that match the name. That it kills in unexpected ways. That it has an unexpected effect on society. It's original and different, and I like that.

It means I have to work harder to understand and explain the disease, then link it to the history I desire, but that's alright. I think, once I've done so, it'll be something cool and unusual. And that's not a bad thing.