PLAGUED

Infected

*********

I woke up to the sound of pots clanging and knives flying as they made their journey around the room. At first, I thought my neighbors dog had found its way into my apartment.

Until I left my room and moved to the living room where Ruby was, only to find the sofa deserted.

'Ruby', I yelled, moving around the house in-between quick successive steps.

A whimper attracted me, I turned around slowly to see Ruby in a corner, assuming the same position she was in when she was on the pavement.

'What happened to you? '

'You look all pale', I said, trying to touch her.

'Don't touch me. I don't wan...wanna...hu...hur...hurt you'

Dark veins were now visible under her pale white skin. Her sunken eyes were raised and suddenly, she wasn't there anymore.

The silence prevailed temporarily until a knife wheezed through the air, nearly missing me.

'I'm sorry! ', she yelled, holding her hair, ripping it off as she let out a loud yell, 'LEAVE ME ALONE'

Moving as fast I could, I ran toward my room, she followed suit but, at a super human speed.

'Be mine'

'Be mine', she said, with a smirk on her face.

Locking the door behind me, I assembled an army of heavy objects behind the door to prevent a forced entry.

The telephone in my room rang,

'This is Brian from the Department of Anomaly Containment, am I speaking with Vanessa Anderson? '

'Yes', I managed to whisper through the entire panic.

'Professor Britney is dead and we discovered he was infected by a corpse that bit him earlier today. We got info that he had an assistant but we have no information about where she is'

The silence on the phone was broken by my sobbing voice, 'She's here. She's right here. Help me. Please, help me', I cried into the phone, with a feeling of uneasiness running through my spine towards my quaking knees.

********

Good day, inhabitants of Nashville. There is a new virus in town. Mode of transmission is through bites, entry into openings on the skin e.g. wounds. Rate of mutation is rapid hence, making the extent of it's damage difficult. Symptoms of this virus include: constant shivering, pale-whitish skin, sunken eyes and dark veins under the skin. Ensure you protect yourself and report any of these symptoms to the local health authorities.

********

Nothing seemed to hold Ruby now. Not even my arsenal of chairs, tables, cabinets and shelves which were all assembled against her. I prayed silently in my secluded corner. The door finally gave in to the impact, the furniture henchmen collapsing behind it.

Her eyes were sunken now, her skin all dark. Her sweater arms now rolled up, as black goo oozed out of the wound shaped like a bitemark. I hurriedly crawled to the corner as she approached me swiftly. Stopping abruptly in my front, she stopped slowly.

'I'm sorry, this is not me. The more I fight it, the more it reconfigures my brain, just like a personality that has forcefully become dominant'

'Its okay', I said hugging her lightly

'Don't play games with me', the voice growled, squeezing me tightly as it dug it's nails into me. The knife I held fell off my hands which quaked greatly.

'Kill me', Ruby said through the series of taps on her thighs as she spoke but, he could decipher.

The sudden launch across the room occured in a split second. The explosion ruins lay everywhere with armed men moving Ruby's lifeless body.

'Freeze', the deep voice said as I tried to move.

'Freeze?', the unknown voice said.

'He's going to kill you, they can't take risks, let me handle this.'

'No, he can't. I'll turn myself in.'

Making a move to put my hand on my head wasn't the best idea. The portable dragons spat out fire with tranquilizers raining endlessly.

'You fucked up, I'm going in.'

Chin up, head raised, fatigue went into hiding as adrenaline surged through my body. Surging through the air, I took a backflip before landing on the ground, sharpened appendages emerging from my back.

A smirk was the reaction to the commander's, "Contain her" order.

Then, the bullets spark illuminated the dark night.