BITTEN

Chapter 5-A trip to hell

Sometimes, you get what you do not deserve and that was my case. It didn't take long before they dragged me into the only court we had on the island.

The court was a very large one, with pictures of past Komalia heroes placed on its walls. The building was constructed like that of the Colosseum. I stood there in the midst angry people who were screaming at the top of their voices.

The screaming didn't seem to stop, until Sir Charles, the Judge signalled for silence . Slowly, he got up and moved closer to me.

"John, you got blood on your hands," he spoke, "I can smell it."

Well, I wasn't sure about him literally smelling blood, but I could surely smell his bad breath.

He continued, "And by the laws of the island, you have to face the music."

Face the music? Too bad I was a really bad dancer, I told myself, trying to play dumb.

"The zombies emanated from your mother, and as a result, innocent people have died and others have been kept in intensive care. Because of all these, the people think you are cursed."

He paused and ran his hand over his bald head. Looking directly into my eyes, he said loudly, "You can't be allowed to live."

Immediately, I fell on my knees, melting in fear and trembling at his words.

"Do you have anything to say?" he asked, knowing that anything I said wouldn't change my fate.

I was shocked to see Roman squeezing his way out of the crowd to meet me. He wanted to say something, but anything he said at this point wouldn't count. So I thought.

"People of Komalia," He said, "John's our only hope."

The crowd went silent when they heard that. What was he doing?

"I know according to culture, he should be killed," Roman said and continued, "But then think about it, we're stuck on this island with the zombies. How many of you can stop this apocalypse? If we kill John now, we'll kill our only hope of getting the antivirus. Go ahead, kill him if you want to, but don't say I didn't warn you."

Roman had spoken well, with great charisma, but I wondered if that was enough to convince the Judges. Sir Charles consulted the other Judges and they made an unanimous decision. By the way, the major decisions made in Komalia were not democratic.

"John," Sir Charles started, "the people of Komalia want you dead and we must try to respect that. That's why we have decided.."

He paused a little and watched me closely. Is this how my life was going to end? Was I really going to die because of my mother? I stood there, preparing for the worst, ready to face death.

"We've decided to spare you for now, and give you from now till tomorrow for you to get the antivirus. That's our decision." He finished.

The crowd went silent with disbelief and disappointment. Surprisingly, Roman had convinced Sir Charles and now I had only from now till the next day to find a solution to the apocalypse. Really, the countdown had begun. Alex and Nathan rushed to hug me.

"Thanks." I shook hands with Roman. "You saved me again."

"We've not got much time. The only reason my own opinion counted over the people's, was because they found out that you were the only hope of getting the antivirus. So they decided to play safe and not kill you immediately." he said.

"Where do we begin from here?" Nathan asked.

"We need to get the Antivirus. I have a plan but I'll need volunteers that are not afraid to die."