A&AvZ

First Cure (15)

(Third Person POV)

Blue spent the rest of the night and the whole next day studying.

What he discovered started to piece together his question.

Firstly, what the infection is.

It was a parasite type virus. The mutation is caused by a microscopic metal bug that is able to alter code and DNA, adding new code/DNA to the mix if needed. Next, it targets the brain and allows itself to reproduce several times. It's able to escape through bites because of its microscopic size. The only way Blue was able to get the bug out in the first place was the fact that the parasite was magnetic. There were two types of parasites in one body. The manager parasite, and the reproductives. The manager was the one that did the dirty work, changing DNA and whatnot. The reproductives were the ones sent out from the host to infect others. Thankfully, it wasn't able to go airborne, only being spread through saliva. Blue pulled out one of the reproductives and determined the two types. Removing the manager would cause the whole thing to die.

The zombie they picked up wasn't exactly what Blue was hoping for. The thing seemed to already be dead before the apocalypse because of its decaying color. The parasite was able to bring it back to life.

Though, after hours of studying, Blue created a cure. He wasn't expecting to make it this early on, but he did it. The only problem was, it took a lot of materials. Thankfully, he was able to research and get a little bit of everything he needed to blend together into a liquid cure. The liquid was a light yellow.

11:07 pm. Carefully, he poured it into a syringe. According to his calculations, it should kill the parasite and safely revive the body. The mutations may be permanent, he wasn't sure. Writing down the ingredients and process to make it, he saved the drawing in a folder.

Second approached him. "Anything?"

"Yep. First cure."

"Already?"

"Yeah, but I need to test it out first." Blue looked over to the zombie in the cage, who was still trying to escape.

"Need any help?"

"Yeah, could you hold one of its arms down?"

"Got it." Tiredly, Second walked over and gripped its wrist, dragging it by the arm towards the side of the cage. It growled and tried to reach for him. Carefully, Blue stuck the needle in and injected half the liquid into the stick. Once he finished, both Blue and Second backed up. The red on the sticks started to glow yellow themselves as the stick's colors started to become more vibrant and alive. It calmed down and passed out, and it was breathing.

The two watched and waited intently. At least half an hour passed before it started to stir again. The stick rubbed her eyes and opened them.

"Ugh.. hm? Where..? When..?" She was immediately confused, which was to be expected.

Blue and Second stood shocked. She was alive. She was missing her legs, and used to actually be dead, but she was alive, and moving, and thinking comprehensively.

Blue was the first to move, walking toward her and sitting to match her height. "Hello there."

"What's going on? Where am I? ..who are you?"

"My name is Blue, what's yours?" He spoke softly.

"I'm.. I uh.." She paused. "I don't.. know.. I know I had one before.. but my head is just fuzzy right now."

"I guess that's to be expected.. can you tell me anything about yourself that you can remember?"

She looked older than most of the sticks. While the group was in their early 20s (excluding Alan and DJ), she looked to be more middle aged.

"I remember.. dying once..? ..that's about it."

"How did you die?"

She shrugged.

"Hm.. well. Let's give you a name. How about Bubblegum? Or maybe Bubbles for short?"

Bubbles smiled. "S..Sure.. I like that name."

"Good. Let's get you out of there and taken care of."

Blue opened the cage and helped her to a comfortable place to sleep, and cooked something quick for her to eat. She was very appreciative of the help, but she didn't really sleep. She was well rested enough.

"That went so much better than expected. I thought that would kill her." Blue stretched, walking back over to Second.

"Yeah.." Second looked out past the desktop. His mind wandered back to DJ, and got concerned when he saw that he wasn't in his bed. Second assumed he was in the bathroom, at least that's where he hoped he was if he wasn't in the main room.

"Is something wrong?"

"How long do you think it would take to transfer that cure into reality?"

"Uh.. 3 months maybe? Why, are you worried about them?"

"That and.. nevermind."

"And what?"

Second cursed himself. His tongue slipped.

"..Second. And what?"

He sighed. "Look.. I'm not supposed to tell anyone this but.. come here."

Blue walked over and let Second whisper in his ear. He told him about the deal with DJ.

"Oh.. oh geez." Blue stepped back. "..look. I'll start on it as soon as I can tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll try to find some preventatives so he'll last longer."

"Thanks.."

"It's nothing. We should probably head to bed."

"I'm waiting for DJ to get back." Second sat down.

"If that's what you want. I'm hitting the sack. Night."

"Night."

Blue left.

Second sat and waited.

Hopefully he would come back soon.