A New Virus

Four

Once back in the city, Briella instantly took me to the small clinic near the middle of the city to get me checked out. After all...they knew I was alone and most likely sustained some kind of injury. They also saw the scratches on my arm and questioned me about them. I lied. I had said that they were caused by me climbing up the tree...although there's no telling if they actually believed me or not. Once they left, one of the nurses escorted me to a small room and I sat on a bed.

"Good evening, Anya." The nurse told me as she walked into the room.

"Evening, Ninetta." I told her back, calmly as I tried to hide my slight headache.

"Someone told me you fell out of a tree...?" She looked throughly confused as to why I'd even climbed up a tree this time of day. As she said that, she seemed to come closer to me and checked out my head.

I seemed to flinch away as she touched a seemingly unknown sore area on the side of my head, no doubt the cause of my headache.

"It's just a small, shallow, scratch. Nothing much to worry about unless it were to get infected." The nurse seemed to tell me before she went over towards a shelf and pulled out a cloth, some bandages, and an antibiotic cream. She ran the cloth under some water from a nearby sink before she came back over to use it to clean the wound she found on the side of my head.

Slightly flinching away at her contact once more, I forced myself to still as she cleaned it. The force of her hand took on a light and gentle pressure, as if she didn't want to cause me any needless pain. Once she finished cleaning the scratch, she went to put some of the antibiotic cream along it before she also placed a bandaid over it. After that, she also examined my arms, finding the scratch Emma made.

"This is a nasty little thing." She told me as she examined it. "But it doesn't look so deep that it needs stitches, luckily."

Scratches might not be the worst I'm looking for as I looked at the wound on my arm. It looked like a long scratch...maybe caused by Emma's thumb with the way she had grabbed my arm. It ran across my arm diagonally, about a little more than three inches long and about an inch wide. It started along the inside of my forearm, near my elbow, and ran across to the other side of my arm. From the left side of my arm to the right with a slight curve to the left like some kind of smushed rainbow.

Without much else to say or do, she quickly set about cleaning the wound before she applied some of the cream and then lastly a bandaid. She didn't keep me long, letting me go almost as soon as she made sure I wasn't hiding any more cuts or scratches under my shirt or jeans.

After my checkup, I decided to go back home. As I unlocked the doors and went in, I was slightly relieved to not find my parents in the house. I closed the front door before I went into my bedroom to sit on my bed as I thought about the day's events but not before I changed out of my still soaking wet clothes.

Today wasn't anything special...at least starting off. I had gone to school...it had been completely and utterly boring.... And then there was the forest and excitement and fear...Emma...the Zombies. I brought my knees to my chest as I sat there...thinking about Emma.

She went into that forest six years ago...she's been alone for six years! Everyone thought she was dead. I suppose she is now.... I silently told myself as I thought back to her red eyes. The way she acted. She was a zombie.... I didn't want to believe it but it was right there in front of me...I couldn't overlook it. I looked down at the scratch which hid itself under my bandaids...and soon I will be as well.

That was a dark thought. Wait...? Just how long will it take me to even turn...? I felt fine...other than my headache and the slight discomfort I felt within my veins. I felt fine...I felt like me. Which only seemed to confuse me even more as I didn't know. It was an unknown...an unknown which scared me.

My mind quickly switched back over to Emma as if to keep my fear at bay. As I thought about it, her...the more I thought that something didn't really add up. Emma didn't really act like a zombie...like the other ones I had seen. Which so far included three, two if I don't count Emma. Sure...she terrified me but she never tried to attack me like those other two zombies had. She didn't try to chase me either. She left on her own accord while I was powerless and within her grasp.

She was different....

She responded to her name.

What zombie would do that...?

She wasn't as mindless as she appeared to be.

That was that....

I was going back to the forest.

Even if that thought terrified me.

I just had to see...I had to find her....

A yawn escaped my lips as I realized just how tired I was. I felt completely and utterly exhausted. I laid down on my bed, sleep seemed to come easily. However; it wasn't a restful slumber. I tossed and turned as I slept. By the time I awoke, the first rays of sun were shining through the room from the window. I still felt tired...like I didn't get any sleep at all. I closed my eyes yet again but sleep didn't come. I groggily got up, one sour thought seemed to fill my mind.

I had school today.

Just great....

I slowly rose from the bed before I stalked over to my closet. It had a nice little full body mirror on the door. I stopped dead in my tracks as my gaze met that of the mirror.

I looked at my reflection.

I can't go to school today....

I can't go anywhere....

Not looking like this.

I stared at myself in the mirror, at my reflection. My hair was a shade or two lighter, a barely noticeable change. My skin was a bit paler but not a sickly or unhealthy pale.... My eyes.... They were by far the most noticeable. My once light blue irises were now a startling shade of amethyst with a thin light blue ring around my pupils.