The Green Flu

Chapter 24 - Devon

We called Stella and it turns out she came from the Eastern Streets. She claimed to not have taken many turns and she says she thinks we might have the right idea.

"I'm sorry I can't be more help, but I just don't know where Peter had the fuel." Stella had told us. "Good job with figuring out where the fuel is though. I definitely wouldn't have come up with that."

We all gave Micheal a pat on the back before we turned around to go find the fuel.

"I'm sure it's just around here somewhere. This mall is mainly just four halls with two floors on top of it." Micheal explained as he lead the way.

"Man, I didn't know you were such a mall geek." Alexis teased him.

"Not a mall geek. I'm just passionate about my games, clothes and the food court." Micheal corrected. "I know where all the best stores are."

"Hey, guys! Over here." Swindle got our attention. He was standing by a corner leading into some clothing store and he kept glancing in.

"What is it?" I asked him, craning my neck to see inside.

"The fuel. There's four or five cans of it, but unfortunately..." He didn't need to finish the sentence as we all could see what he meant. The fuel was surrounded by Infected. There was 7 or 8 of them, but the number didn't really matter. If it was any more than two there was no way we could get rid of them. Not safely, not in a way that we know we'll all be walking out of here okay.

But I wasn't about to let those creatures win. There had to be some way to get that fuel.

"Alright everybody, ideas?" I asked them all, glancing back inside. This seemed to be a formal wear store. The walls were covered in tuxedos and fancy dresses. As far as I could see there wasn't any weapons around. Damn it, that would've been handy.

"How many of those cans would Stella need?" Micheal wondered aloud. "I mean, those things are explosive. Maybe we could spare one and just blow it up? An explosion would probably attract any more infected in the mall to this store and they'll be out of our way."

"That's a really good idea, Micheal." Alexis shared a smile with him for a moment.

"But how would we separate them? We can't just blow them all up." Blake pointed out and the smiles faded.

"We could have someone run right in and grab four of them." Swindle spoke up. "We could grab the ones we need and run, then shoot the last one on the way out."

"But how would we get close enough to grab them without being spotted?" Blake asked, resting his hands on his hips. He looked like he was thinking hard. Man, who would've guessed we would need so much brain power to get onto a plane?

"Devon, over here." Swindle grabbed my arm and lead me away from Micheal, Blake, and Alexis who were having an argument about how to sneak into the store.

"Listen, I haven't exactly been feeling very good since I met you." Swindle told me as he twiddled his thumbs. He was distracted and he wouldn't look at me in the eyes. "And it certainly hasn't gotten any better since we've run into Micheal."

"...What are you saying, exactly?" Oh no, this better not be going where I think it is.

"Remember when I told you that we don't know what the infection is targeting exactly?" Swindle said, looking a little shaken.

"Yeah. Then you said that I was immune." I responded, really not liking where this was going.

"Well, its airborne. Which means that you and Micheal are more likely than not infected."

"But you said we wouldn't turn. What the hell are you talking about, Swindle?"

"I'm saying you gave it to me!" For the first time during this entire conversation Edward Swindle looked at me. And he looked afraid. This man took an illegal bribe from the military, he might even be a little crazy, and he created the end of the world. But right now all I saw was a mad scientist afraid to face his greatest creation. And his worst nightmare.

"...Is that even possible?" I asked, trying not to think about what this meant.

"Yeah, it was supposed to be contagious." Swindle then returned to staring at his feet.

"But then why aren't Alexis and Blake getting infected?" All my question got was a shrug from Swindle.

"Maybe they're immune too. There's just too many factors that we don't have the time to figure it out." I heard what he said and understood his meaning, but I really didn't want to think about it. Don't have the time.

"But then why aren't Micheal and I turning into those creatures? Or at least feeling the effects of it?"

"You're a carrier. Both of you are. You're still infected, but it doesn't affect you. Be careful with that, any non-immune people, like me, could get the infection from you and Micheal." Swindle explained then looked up at me. There was nothing else to say. He said his piece, now there isn't anything else to wait for.

"So this is it then? You're just going to... to die? To turn into one of those creatures?" I felt numb as I asked, my mouth moving but I wasn't really there. This was like back at the lab. I knew what was going on, but I didn't really understand it until now. Swindle is infected, he's going to die.

"No. I'm going to help you." He turned around and walked back to the group, leaving me to follow behind. What do we tell the others? How do we tell them? I was never good with dealing with death. Though I guess nobody really is, there isn't really a right way to deal with it. You just do.

"Okay, here's whats going to happen." Swindle told everyone. "I'm going in there and I'll grab the four cans. I'll run as close back to you guys as I can, then I'll throw them to you. Once you have the fuel and are far enough away, you need to shoot the last can. Got it?"

Everyone just looked at him in silence. Alexis was the first to break it.

"You know that's suicide. There's no way you could make it out of there." She wasn't asking, but Swindle nodded.

"Here." The handed the gun to me. "Now you have three guns. One of you will have to shoot it."

I sighed and looked down at the gun, knowing there was no other way. If we wanted to get that fuel one of us had to go into that store. But they wouldn't be able to get out. And Swindle is going down anyway, so he wants to go out helping us.

When did the world become so hostile that someone had to sacrifice themselves in order for us to carry on?