Immune

2. The Sibling's Death

Krystal's arm was as black as her hair. Blood supply had been immediately cut off. After the ISC virus had completed its week of dormancy, its symptoms were immediate and usually caused death within a day. Jessica widened her eyes in horror and screamed. Her sister, frozen in shock, stared at her arm, unable to move it. 

"Krystal!" Jessica screamed. She started to back away from her sibling. "Y-you have ISC!"

Krystal stared at her retreating sister, tears filling her eyes. "I-I don't know how I got this!" She ran away from Jessica to get as far away as possible. "D-Don't come near me! You might get it!" Krystal's black arm drooped to her side, unusable. The toes of her feet were already starting to blacken. 

"Krystal! We have to call the officials! Now! They might be able to cure you!" Jessica screamed and ran for the phone.

"No!" Krystal stumbled and fell, the blackness slowly creeping up her legs. "The officials...can't...do...anything..." she muttered, struggling to breathe. "It's too late...Jess...I'm sorry...I love you..." 

Jessica frantically grasped her dying sister. She didn't even care that she might contract the virus, her sister was on the brink of death. "No! Y-you can't leave! You're not going to die! Krystal!"

Krystal's eyelids were barely open and her eyelashes fluttered. "Jessica...you've been a great sister...but if...you could find...a cure...I...would really...appreciate it..." Her chest heaved and when Jessica put her hand on Krystal's chest she could feel the rapid beatings from the panicking heart. Krystal's lower torso was completely black; Jessica tried to avoid looking at the gruesome limbs. Jessica desperately hugged Krystal when somebody started to bang on the front door. 

"Jess!" Krystal cried out. "It's the officials! They're going to take me away! You need to go! They're going to take you too because you might be infected! Run!

Run Jess, RUN!"

Jessica ran out the back door, tripping over her long dress. She could hear the sirens behind her, approaching closer and closer. She sprinted across the road and into the dense forest that loomed before her. It was daytime, but the clouds covered the sun and she blindly ran into the awaiting mass of plants. Twigs snapped at her face as she ran faster. She hastily wiped blood from a cut above her eye and continued to dash away. Plants continued to slap her face and blurred her vision. She suddenly tripped over a tree root, sprawling down a steep hill. Branches snapped at her face, creating stinging cuts. Dirt fell into her mouth as rocks pummeled her body. She stopped rolling and collapsed into a large pile of dead leaves, then got up and started to run again, slipping in the decaying matter. Her muscles were burning and she finally stopped to realize that there were no sirens. It was completely silent.

Jessica leaned against a tall tree and stopped to gather her breath. Her shallow breaths echoed loudly through the forest. Just as she was about to close her eyes to rest, she suddenly heard the crunching of leaves behind her. Alarmed, she swung around, grabbing a fallen tree branch as a weapon, to see a gun aimed at her chest.