A&AvZ

Patient Zero (3)

(Third Person POV)

After a rough landing, Red, Blue, and Yellow finally got to land and walked to Chosen's house. Thankfully, they had a pretty good idea of where it was because of last time. Just a few miles away from the shack they had hidden in at the Showdown.

The three came to the front door and out on their masks. They couldn't be too careful around an unknown disease. Yellow had a bag full with everyday items along with books with studies of different diseases and lab supplies in case they needed it. Blue, along with his everyday items, packed any herb, beneficial chemical, and medicine that he had. You never know what you need.

Arriving at the door, Red knocked. A voice came from the other side.

"Who.. *cough* who's here?"

"Red, Yellow, and Blue, Chosen. We're here to help."

"..come in.."

The door opened and the three stepped inside. Chosen was still in bed, but looked a little more gray than usual. Red smiled and stepped towards him.

"Hey. You don't feel too well, huh?"

"Yeah."

Blue walked over and felt his head. Chosen flinched a bit at the sudden touch.

"Blazing hot. Feels like a fever, maybe more."

Yellow came up beside him.

"So what symptoms have you been experiencing so far?"

"Coughing, sneezing, headaches, body aches, joint weakness, vomiting, loss of appetite, nausea, and well.. *cough* power loss."

That was a lot worse than they expected.

"Hmm.. got it. Well, me and Blue will try to make you some medicine so we can get you healthy. Red will bring you what you need. You'll just have to stay in bed, but don't worry, if you need anything, just call for Red."

"Alright."

...

Over the week and weekend, despite the sticks' best attempts, Chosen just got sicker. He started getting greyer and greyer every day, and the weirdest thing was that the tips of his arms and legs were turning bright red.

His voice was gone, and he couldn't move at all, being paralyzed from the neck down. Everything stung and burned. The only thing he could do was breathe, and even that was hard to do because of the coughing and hacking.

Red walked into Chosen's room on Sunday afternoon, bringing him the soup he hoped would help soothe his throat a bit. He tried to bring Chosen different types, but from how sick he was, he doubted he cared.

"Hey, Cho.."

Chosen was laid over on his side, his blanket completely covering him. Red set the bowl down on his bedside table and shook Chosen a bit.

"Pst.. hey.. Chosen."

Red turned him over to face him.

"Chosen, hey, wake up."

Usually, Chosen would move his head a little, but this time he was dead still.

Taking a deep breath, Red slowly pulled the cover off of him. He lost his own breath as he felt Chosen's arm. Cold, completely.

Panicking, he flipped him to his front and felt his chest.

"BLUE!! YELLOW!!"

As soon as he yelled, they both came rushing into the room.

"What's the-" Blue started but quickly stopped as he saw Chosen. The two quickly ran over, but it was all too clear. He was already dead.

"Shit.." Yellow felt his pulse. "He's gone."

...

Just as he and Alan were in the middle of taking a break, Second received a call from Blue. Yawning, he picked up his phone and answered.

"Hey Blue, what's up?"

"Nothing good. Nothing good at all."

"What's the matter?"

"Chosen.. Um. He died."

"Oh, shit."

He wished he could be more sympathetic, but he and Chosen were never really that close, neither was anyone else except most likely Alan. Maybe, maybe not. He couldn't tell.

"Yeah. We're uh.. burying him at dusk. Tell everyone else."

"Even Alan?"

"Yeah."

"Ok. Well, I'll see you then."

Second was the first to hang up. Of course, Alan had just come back and sat down with a drink.

'How do I tell him..'

He looked at Second with a smile and dragged over a textbox to him.

"had a nice break?"

"Kind of, uhm, Alan.. I just got some news I think you might wanna hear."

"oh?"

"Yeah.. you remember Chosen, right?"

Alan nodded.

"Well, he got really sick just a week ago, so we sent out Blue, Yellow, and Red to help him but.. I just got a call and well.."

Almost immediately, that smile seemed to just melt off Alan's face and was replaced with shock just as Second muttered the last words.

"..he died.. and they're burying him at dusk today."

Alan lifted his hands off the keys and rested his head in them, rubbing his still tired eyes. Only after a few seconds did he look back up. He was just out of words. The only thing that spoke was silence.

...

Of course everyone showed up, even Alan himself, despite him being in third person. It was a crudely made grave, but it was a grave nonetheless.

They gently laid him in the ground, buried him with little words, then went home.

Though before they left, Second though he saw the ground rumble a little.