Outbreak

Chapter 18

Ivy

I shove my way through murmuring, worried people, and eventually burst through the crowd.

The people have formed a ring around someone lying on the floor, and its... Quinn. She's clawing at her arm desperately, screaming through gritted teeth. Her face shines with sweat. I kneel and grab her arm, forcing her sleeve up to see what's wrong, and cold dread fills me. 

She's been infected - I'm sure of it. No other disease can turn flesh that color. Her entire shaking arm is pale yellow-green - the shade of a zombie. Dark green-brown splotches dot her arm as well, and her fingers are lifeless. 

"GET AWAY!" I frantically shout to the crowd, inching away from Quinn. "AND SOMEONE GET A DOCTOR! NOW!" 

"What's wrong with her?" A worried man asks me. I shake my head, terrified. "She's been infected by a zombie." 

I regret speaking the words as soon as they come out, because the effect is immediate - people scatter, trying to put as much distance between themselves and Quinn. People shove others out the way as they flee to the elevators and the stairs. 

Everyone is gone within minutes.

When I turn back, Quinn's struggling has slowed, her eyes half closed, her breathing is shallow and uneven. The rest of the group appear at my side, shock on every one of their faces.

The doctor from last night appears next to Quinn with two male doctors, and together they cautiously lift her onto a stretcher. I stand with the group, hands shaking, watching as they carry her away. 

Ezran turns to us, eyes wide. "Did you guys know?" Everyone except Emmett and Michael shakes their heads. Ezran narrows his eyes. "Guys?" Emmett looks up at us defiantly. 

"Ok fine, I knew. Quinn told me a few nights ago. But she wanted to keep the news quiet; she didn't want anyone to worry. She just wanted us to go through with the mission to get here, and didn't want to create any more problems--" 

Angrily, Ezran starts to say something, but Emmett cuts him off. 

"And it's not like it would have made any difference with you knowing; she only told me because I've been working on the cure." Michael nods sheepishly. "And I knew because I accidentally grabbed her bad arm, and, well, she couldn't hide it." Ezran shakes his head, almost trembling with fury. 

"You knew, and you could have told me. You could have told me!" He storms away, in the direction of the medbay. 

I look to Emmett. "Anything else we should know?" Emmett nods. "Yes, she got infected when--"

"It's a small detail," Michael interrupts, looking scared. "It doesn't matter, really, it won't help at all." Emmett narrows his eyes at him. "They should know." He turns back to us.

"Quinn got infected when she was fighting Michael." 

Everyone turns to Michael, and he hangs his head. "I'm sorry," he whispers. I shake my head. 

"It doesn't matter," I say hesitantly. "Just... don't tell Ez. Not for a while." Everyone nods, but Taylor starts trembling.

"I recognized the signs," she whispers. "She was acting like... Jake was before he... but I couldn't put my finger on it. I could have saved her!" Mal's expression hardens. 

"You make it sound like she won't make it. She will. She has to." Jason nods. "You're right. We need to go to the medbay, tell the doctors everything we know about the zombies. Emmett, you worked out the cure yet? Because we need it now."

Eric

Ugh, my head is throbbing. 

What happened? I barely remember anything from yesterday... if it still was yesterday. 

How many days has it been? The last thing I remember was a haze... running from the zombies, through a forest... then... nothing. I must have fallen. 

Then we must be at the Air Base by now! 

I try to open my eyes but my eyelids seem too heavy. Suddenly I hear doors open and what sounds like twenty people shouting. With some effort I manage to open my eyes, and see that I'm on a white hospital bed, and a white curtain is pulled around it. 

I sit up and clutch the sides of the bed, immediately feeling nauseous. Shaking it off, I quietly take off the heart rate monitor and slowly stand. Limping over to the curtain , I sweep it to the side, and take in the scene before me. 

A crowd of doctors wearing gloves and full-face masks are arguing around a hospital bed, and my friends are standing in a small huddle nearby, looking worried. Jason catches my eye, and his face breaks into a weak smile. 

"Hey Eric! How are you feeling?" I shrug as I walk over to them, occasionally glancing over at the doctors. "Like crap. What's going on?" Jason glances over at the group, and Ezran steps towards me. 

"Quinn was infected by a zombie a few days ago during a fight. The doctors... don't know if they can cure her." 

I stand there, shocked. 

What?

"She was infected? How? When?" "We don't know," Ezran says, but the others don't look too sure, like they know something he doesn't. I decide not to bring it up. 

"Emmett's working on recreating the cure, but he doesn't know if he can finish it in time," Mal says worriedly. "The infection's spreading faster and faster." 

Two men that look strangely alike enter the room, and doctors swarm them like moths to a flame, bombarding them with questions. "Who are they?" I ask.

"Lenny and Max, the leaders of the Grissom Base," Ivy answers. "They're brothers; Lenny has the brown buzz cut and Max has the ponytail." When one of the doctors asks Lenny a question, he starts to answer but Max stops him, saying something. The two begin to argue, and soon the doctors are arguing too. I walk up to Lenny and tap him on the shoulder. He turns, and raises his eyebrows in surprise when he sees me. 

"Oh, hello. Eric, is it?" 

"Yeah, yeah," I say impatiently. "What's everyone arguing about?" "Well, my brother Max here thinks that the best way to handle the situation is by murdering your friend without even trying to--" 

"Lenny, I don't think you understand what it would mean if we let it live!" Max says angrily. "It would be jeopardizing the entire civilization we built, maybe even what's left of humankind itself." "You don't even want to try saving her?" Lenny says, raising his eyebrows. Max gives a short laugh. 

"I think it is way past saving. We should kill it while we have the chance." 

The two begin arguing again, and when I look back at Quinn lying on the bed, I don't see my friend, I see Jake. I see him turn his sickly face towards me, and Taylor pleading with me not to shoot him. I blink, and the vision is gone. 

I won't make the same mistake again.

I turn to the brothers.

"I won't let one of my friends die again. Not while she still has a chance." 

Suddenly Emmett bursts through the door, carrying a piece of paper. He holds it up, breathless from sprinting. 

"I think... I've... done it."