contagion
The widespread communication of a disease (or a more abstract concept like an idea) across large segment of population through infectious contact of one person at a time.
immunity
A protection of invulnerability to the spread of the contagion.
symbiosis
An interdependent relationship between two separate entities in which the survival of one depends to some extent on the other.
quarantine
Confinement and isolation from others for the purpose of containing the spread of a contagion.
sterilization
The process of disinfecting, decontaminating and purifying for the purpose of rebirth, renewal or regrowth.
clandestine
Secretive and concealed, often within the context of illegal activity, but not axiomatically.
abscond
To furtively make off with; flying the coop and making a break for daylight, often in possession of something that may or may not have originally belonged to you.
post-apocalyptic
The period which takes place after a global catastrophe which has severely reduced the population and returned lifestyles to a more primitive state.
immortal
Incapable of being killed or dying; god-like in the ability to exist forever.
despair
A sense of misery and hopelessness accompanied by an emotional state of continuous anguish and sorrow.
Ivy League
The collective name given to a group of esteemed institutions of higher learning along the East Coast that are among the oldest in America and which includes Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, and the University of Pennsylvania.
harebrained
Crazy and unlikely to work out as planned.
shimmering
A glistening, sparkling and beaming glow of light.
submission
Obediently compliant to the authority of others either through, force or coercion.
FEMA
Acronym for Federal Emergency Management Agency, a United States government agency charged with overseeing disaster response.
dystopian
The opposite of utopian; an imaginary society--usually set in the future--where all plans to improve life for the bulk of the human population have turned out badly and the evolutionary state of progress has degraded, been obstructed or reverted to a previously less civilized state.
disorient
To cause a state of confusiong and bewilderment in which normal expectations are confounded.
