The infected

12. Home

Jasons eyes open slowly and the world steps out of the darkness. Above him is a very old and rotten cealing. At this point all it is a few wooden beams holding up a strap of metal. The moon is out and it's light is shinning straight through the holes in the roof. Jason lays in the moonlight, his body feels like a giant raw wound.

"You woke up. I was getting worried" Tyler says coming into view.

Jason wants to sit up but his body is too weak to allow him to.

"I got hurt"  Jason says weakly.

Tyler smiles and puts his hand on Jasons forehead. Jason can feel the weight of his blood soaked t-shirt.

"You're going to be okay. You're body is working on closing the holes in your stomach as we speak" Tyler says.

"How?" He asks.

"I don't understand it myself to be honest with you. But just lay still for a few more minutes and you'll be okay enough to stand." Tyler says.

Jason nods.

"Will you stay with me?" He asks.

Tyler looks down at him and smiles again.

"Sure" he says and lays down next to him.

At first they sit in silence watching the moon. Slowly Jason can feel the strength in his body returning. He can't sit up yet but he doesn't feel close to death anymore.

"How do you know so much about the infection?" Jason asks.

"What do you mean?" Tyler asks.

"I mean you and I are the same. But I know nothing about any of this stuff and you seem to have read some handbook I don't know about"

Tyler sighs.

"My dad. Back in my country he was a high ranking memeber of the military. When he died and we cleaned out his stuff I found a bunch of files and reports. They were redacted but still useful."

"Redacted?"

"It means all the important stuff like names, dates and locations were blacked out."

"What did they say?" Jason asks.

"Whatever this infection is a lot of very powerful people were looking for it. They thought it was some kind of renewable energy source hidden underground. But after digging it up they realised it had unforseen consequences."

"Like giving people superpowers" Jason jokes.

"Initially they didn't know about that. The infection has a very high affinity for water, it craves the stuff. So when they dug it out it almost came alive and rushed for the nearest body of water it could find. Which in my country's case was a reservoir where the towns water supply came from."

"Is that how you were infected, from drinking the water?" Jason asks.

"No. My dad stole a smaple of it so he could run his own set of tests on it. He kept it contained but when he got home it escaped into the houses pipes without him knowing. After a few days he got sick and had his pregnant wife take care of him."

"So the infection got to you through your mom?"

"According to my dads own investigation into the infection only a very selected few can survive having the infection in their body. My mom and I were one of those people. Others like my dad got sick and died." Tyler says.

"If that's true then it means my birth mom must have survived being infected."

"How much do you know about them?" Tyler asks.