Can You Survive the 1918 Flu Pandemic?: An Interactive History Adventure

By Matthew K. Manning

The year is 1918. World War I is nearing its end. But the world is just beginning to suffer from a deadly pandemic. Within months, the deadly flu virus has spread around the world, infecting and killing tens of millions of people. As you return from the war, will you go to see your family and friends or quarantine to keep your loved ones safe? Will you shut down your small store to avoid spreading the virus? Will you quit your job as a teacher in order to stay safe, or continue going to school? With dozens of possible choices, it’s up to YOU to choose how to survive through one of the worst pandemics in history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
• Release date: Jan 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781666390995

Matthew K. Manning

The author of the Amazon best-selling hardcover Batman: A Visual History, Matthew K. Manning has contributed to many comic books, including Beware the Batman, Spider-Man Unlimited, Pirates of the Caribbean: Six Sea Shanties, Justice League Adventures, Looney Tunes, and Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? When not writing comics themselves, Manning often authors books about comics, as well as a series of young reader books starring Superman, Batman, and the Flash for Capstone. He currently resides in Asheville, North Carolina with his wife Dorothy and their two daughters, Lillian and Gwendolyn. Visit him online at www.matthewkmanning.com.

Book preview

About Your Adventure

YOU are in the middle of the worst pandemic in the modern world. The influenza outbreak of 1918 threatens every person on the planet. Soldiers fighting in World War I have helped spread the disease. Soon everyone you know will be touched by it in some way. With the virus quickly traveling across the world, YOU must decide how to avoid it. Will you and your family make it through the pandemic alive?

Chapter One sets the scene. Then you choose which path to read. Follow the links at the bottom of each page as you read the stories. The decisions you make will change your outcome. After you finish one path, go back and read the others for new perspectives and more adventures. Use your device's back buttons or page navigation to jump back to your last choice.

CHAPTER 1

Deadlier Than War

It is 1918 and the world is at war. They call it the Great War, but in time it will be referred to as World War I.

While the war has raged for four years, the fighting still feels new to the United States. U.S. soldiers didn’t enter the conflict until 1917.

U.S. troops are now training at military bases. But they’ll soon be facing an enemy unlike any they’ll face in Europe. At Fort Riley in Kansas, the deadly influenza virus is spreading.

Many sick soldiers from Fort Riley, Kansas, lie in dozens of beds lined up in a large open room of an emergency hospital.

In March 1918, several hundred soldiers suddenly became sick with the flu at Fort Riley, Kansas.

No one is sure how the outbreak began. Scientists do know that influenza, or the flu, got its start in birds. While ducks and geese aren’t affected by the virus, it can be deadly for humans.

Normally, the flu can’t be passed directly from birds to humans. But in 1918, it’s thought that an infected duck or goose flew over a pig farm and left its droppings in pig feed. The virus infected the pigs, mutated, and then passed on to a human.

Now, soldiers aren’t just getting sick in Kansas. They’re being shipped out to France to fight in the war. What could have been a contained epidemic is now becoming a global pandemic.

As the disease spreads around the globe, there’s no vaccine to stop it. Doctors at the time understand little about how the flu is passed from one person to another. The general public knows even less.

By May, the virus reaches Spain. Nearly eight million people in that country suffer from the flu’s effects. Although the disease likely started in the United States, Americans soon begin to incorrectly call the virus the Spanish Flu.

How are you going to manage in a world filled with disease? Will you be able to avoid getting sick? Your every choice might be the difference between surviving and adding to the flu’s growing death toll.

To be a U.S. soldier returning from France, press here.

To be a shop owner in Asheville, North Carolina, press here.

To be a schoolteacher in New York City, press here.

CHAPTER 2

Home from the War

When you enter the apartment, you notice the smell first. There’s a rose scent in the air that you’d forgotten about. Your mom must have put out her special soap in the bathroom. She only uses it when a guest is coming to visit. You haven’t been back home in Boston for months. You must seem like a guest to your own family.

Then you notice the framed newspaper on the wall. The headline reads Red Sox Are The Champions. The Sox won the World Series. You can’t believe you missed it. At least you saw them in the 1916 World Series. You’re not too worried. You’re sure they’ll win again soon. It’s November of 1918 now, but you’re already looking forward to spring and baseball season.

Many people gather together in Times Square in New York City to celebrate and hold up newspapers with the headline 'Germany Surrenders' at the end of World War I.