apocalypse

Trust

"Back away from her!"

"There's nothing wrong with her!"

"She got bit. We all saw it happen."

"But she's not turning..."

"Still, the mental changes could still be catastrophic!"

Feeling sluggish, I open my eyes. Jimmy is looking over Ethan's shoulder, staring at what looks like a graph. Wesley is pacing back and forth, and Kazuki is standing near the door. "What..?" I mumble.

"Don't try to sit up. I.. we don't know what it did to you." Jimmy says, giving me a glance. "So these are the test results?" Jimmy asks, pointing to the graph.

"From what little info we have." Ethan replies. The memories start to come back. The soup leader. The teeth as she lunged for me. The pain. I notice that my shoulder is heavily bandaged. "We do know that it caused some considerable damage, physically. Do you feel alright?" Ethan says, walking over. "I.. I feel a little lightheaded..." I mutter. "How long have I been out? What happened?" "Only a few hours. After you got bit, we dragged you inside. Some of us" Ethan glared at Kazuki. "Thought that it was best to leave you out there to rot. The rest of us thought otherwise. I swallowed. "So, when will I be okay to leave?"

"I'm afraid that we'll have to run some tests. We don't know what being bitten would have done to you, especially from a Soup."

"But I feel fine..."

"I know. But you should still get some rest." Looking at everyone else, he said "C'mon. Let her rest." Kazuki was the first to leave. No surprise there. Ethan unwrapped my shoulder, and gave me the medical rundown of what happened. It was rather boring and I tuned most of it out. What was a surprise was how Ethan ended his talk by saying that I was allowed out. I wandered into the Main Room, to about the same reaction (perhaps a little calmer) as from when I told them I was half-zombie. Kazuki got up stiffly and left, Wesley said "Nope. No way." and walked out of the room, and Jimmy stood up and yelled "Who let you out?!"

"Ethan. Is there anything to eat?"

One mildly stale PB&J later, Jimmy called everyone back in the room to discuss me. I had no say on the matter while they sent me looks ranging from disgusted and bewildered to worried. Eventually, I couldn't stand it anymore. "Why won't you tell me anything?!" I yelled. They all looked at me. I felt someone put a hand on my shoulder. I spun around to see Ethan. "Come on.. Let's go up to the lab." He led me away.

"Please try to avoid another outburst. If my theory is correct, keeping your emotions in check is vital as of now." He said once we were in the lab, but didn't elaborate. He was busy on his computer, looking up what looked like statistics. "Please, sit down."

"But I don't understand why they don't just treat me like everyone else! They act like I'm some sort of monster." I say, sitting down on the exam table in the center. "Physical changes... Mental changes.. Zombification..." Ethan is muttering.

"Well, they are probably worried for your well-being, as well as being scared for themselves. We have nearly lost people to the zombies. There have been many close calls. Oh, and apparently whole groups have been wiped out. Or so Jimmy said." I gripped the side of the exam table. "I get that, but-" I gasped. There was a sharp pain in my shoulder. I turn around, but the world is already getting fuzzy. "I'm sorry to have to do this," Ethan says, holding a syringe, "but we need answers." I try to attack him, but I miss and fall back on the exam table. "Don't worry, it's just an anesthetic." It's all I can do to close my eyes before it knocks me out.