DIsEased

Everything was still. The room dark and everything was silent. All of the doors and windows had been boarded up. Fear hung in the air. Ever since the outbreak of the virus, nothing had been the same. There was an accident in a lab near my town and it had released the disease. Now nowhere is safe. No one is calm. Even if you look just a tad bit sick or cough just once, you're killed on the spot. Doesn't matter who kills you either. Your family would kill you just to keep themselves and others safe. No one trusts anyone anymore. Everyone just stays locked inside. That's what I'm doing right now. My friends and I have been locked in here for the past 24 hours. The sun had gone down by now, and the only thing that lit the room was the candle that had been lit and placed on the floor. All six of us were gathered around it; holding our knees up to our chests. There were four girls and 2 guys including myself. To the left of me was one of my closest friends, Anna. To the right; Samantha. Next to Samantha was David then Grace and Olivia. Lastly, there was me; Scott. We were all shivering; the light from the candle flickering on our faces. There we were; sitting in silence on the floor of an abandoned house when we heard something.

A cough.

Everyone's head lifted up; searching for the source. It had to be one of us, but who? We all started to panic.

"W-Who was that?" Samantha said.

"Wasn't me" David replied.

"Ditto." Anna said.

"Or me" Grace and Olivia said at the same time. They all turned to face me.

"I-It's wasn't me either!" I shouted; sweat dripping down my face.

"It had to be one of us. Please just admit to it for the safety of everyone else." Samantha spoke calmly. I looked over and saw Grace and Olivia fiddling with their hands until Olivia stood up.

"I-I'm sorry. I-It w-was me..." Her voice trailed off and tears slid down her face. Everyone had their eyes locked onto her as David stood up and walked over to where she was standing.

"You know what has to happen." David said in a dark tone.

"I-I d-do..." She stuttered. She turned her back, walked towards a far wall, and in a flash, David had snapped her neck. She screamed as her body feel over and blood started to pool from her mouth. David walked back over to us; tears brimming his eyes.

"I-It's ok. N-now everyone is safe." We sat in fear for a while. I tried not to think about what had happened to Olivia, but her scream filled my mind. I started to shake, but then it happened again.

"S-She was lying?!" Grace screamed; Tears starting to fall. David stood up.

"ALRIGHT! WHO THE HELL COUGHED?" His face was full of anger as he peered from Grace to Samantha to Anna and then to me. We were all shaking in fear.

"THIS ISN'T FUNNY! TELL ME WHO COUGHED!!!" He stomped over to Anna who had backed against the wall; tears falling as her whole body shook.

"It was you, wasn't it?" David growled. He kicked her in the stomach while she screamed in pain. He kicked her a few more times until she had become full of cuts and bruises. A few seconds later, she was dead as well.

"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR???!!!!" Samantha yelled standing up and walking over to David.

"CLEARLY SHE WAS THE ONE WHO HAD THE VIRUS! INSTEAD OF YELLING AT ME, YOU SHOULD THANK ME FOR SAVING OUR ASSES!!!!" David yelled back. Grace had crawled up next to me and was now gripping my shirt tightly.

"I-I'm scared." She whispered to me.

"Same." I said back. I turned to face where the two were arguing when I realized that Samantha had David pinned to the hall; a knife pressed up against his neck.

"As far as we know, you could be the one who coughed. You were just waiting for someone to admit it so that you would seem innocent." Beads of sweat started to appear on David's forehead.

"I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't kno-"Samantha cut him off;

"YOU LYER!" She yelled; slashing David's arm with the knife. David screamed and hissed in pain as blood started to trickle down his arm.

"S-S-Samantha.... S-Stop... P-Please." He wheezed. Samantha just out the knife back up to his throat.

"Then admit that you coughed."

"B-But I-I didn't..." Samantha's eyes were full of rage.

"I see..." She stepped back and turned away giving David the chance to clutch his arm. All of a sudden, Samantha turned back around and stabbed David in the throat. He screamed in pain as he put his hands up to his neck. Samantha pulled out the knife and David feel on his knees to the floor. Behind me, Grace let out a gasp and her eyes were wide in terror. David let out a few more gasps before falling over into his own puddle of blood; dead. Samantha turned to face Olivia and I; blood covering her shirt. She walked back over to us; her eyes wide in fear.

"I-I-I...." Her voice trailed off. "W-What was I t-thinking..." She looked down at her hands which were crimson red. "What d-did I d-do...? I've killed one of my friends. He was probably innocent too... WHY DID I DO THIS????!!!!!" She screamed. She held the knife up.

"I-I'm s-sorry..." She whispered.

"DON'T DO IT!" I screamed; but it was too late. She raised the knife and slammed it into her chest. Blood spilled out of the wound and she screamed in pain. She fell over and started to scream and cry some more before she too was dead. There we were; Grace and I alone in the dark room; the smell of blood filled the air. Grace was curled up in her knees; crying quietly. I too had tears in my eyes, but it wasn't just because my friends were dead. It was because our once peaceful town had turned into a living hell. I too buried my head in my knees and then tried to think back to when I last saw my parents. I remember I was playing outside when I heard shouting coming from inside the house. I stepped inside only to find my mom yelling at my dad about something. My dad stepped back and started to cough spastically. My mom started to cry.

"I'm sorry, Jeff. It's for the sake of me, Scott and everyone else" She cried. She grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed him in the chest. He screamed in pain and then died; me watching the entire thing. The image of his blood and screams buried deep in my mind. My mom went missing a few days later and then I went to live with Olivia's family. Sadly, her parents went missing too and we went to live with Samantha's family. It goes on like that for a while; parents going missing or killing themselves and us kids being forced to keep moving; until we couldn't anymore. That's where this room comes in.... We decided to stay here. We thought it was safe... I guess it wasn't. Tears started to fall down my face. I looked up; only to find that Grace was nowhere in sight. I heard a soft "Splish" behind me and I turned to face the noise. Grace was just a few feet behind me; carrying the knife over her head.

"It was you, wasn't it..." she said. "You lied to us all." I stood up to face her.

"I swear it wasn't me! You know, it could've been you just as much!"

"But it wasn't me!" She said back.

"Likely story." I said sarcastically.

"IT WASN'T!!" She shouted. She started to run towards me; knife in hand. I dodged her attack, but she accidentally slipped and feel on a pool of blood. As she landed, the knife had impaled her in the stomach. She didn't scream or cry though. I ran over to her and cradled her head in my arms. She wheezed then looked up at me.

"I'm sorry Scott... I just thought.... If it wasn't me... Than...." She suddenly passed out from the blood loss. I dropped her slowly and then started to cry myself. I sat there in silence for a few hours more; remembering the screams, the blood, the tears. I'm sorry, everyone. I thought to myself. My family, my friends... They're all dead... As I sat there, it happened...

I coughed.