The Unknown Virus

Chapter 12

I spent most of my days in my tent, not wanting to leave. Ash came and visited me often, but no one else bothered with me. Maybe they were afraid of me, which would be a different change of pace. No one had ever been afraid of me before. I was too sweet. Too calm. But lately, things were different.

The apocalypse was turning me into a monster.

"Raven, you can't stay here forever." For the first time since I came back from the woods, Salem came in, scolding me. I pulled my knees to my chest, one arm around them, the other right above my ankle. I couldn't stop rubbing it. The indents of teeth, molars and all, marked the pale flesh there. I hated the scar, but I was also fascinated by it. "Raven, are you listening to me?"

"Mhm." I murmured, not really listening. He was just going to go on and on, scolding me about whatever I had done wrong. I let him talk, rubbing the scar, thinking back to the zombie's I had controlled. Or maybe I hadn't controlled them, they had just been influenced.

I thought farther back, to the start. Now that I thought about it, Alice's mom hadn't come at me. She had been eating Alice. But maybe she was too into her meal to notice me. And then there were my parents. They, I was so sure, had attacked me, trying to eat me. They had grabbed at me, their mouths open, ready.

But what if they had just been trying to speak. They had pulled my closer, but my arm hadn't gone to their mouths. They had just pulled me closer.

And all the others? They had come at me, but had they attacked me? Had they really tried to take a bite out of me, or was what Anne had told me about zombie's clouding the truth of what I saw? I rubbed my scar harder, trying to think.

"What are you scratching at?" Salem asked, moving my hand away to look at my lower calf. Too late I realized this, so when he saw the bite, I could do nothing but watch as he backed away from me. "You're bit!"

"Salem, this is not what it looked like! I swear!"

"Really, Rave? Because it looks to me like you've been hiding the fact that you were bit from me! You put us all in danger with your carelessness!"

"Salem, this is over a week old! And I haven't been feeling sick or hot or anything! I feel like me!"

"Liar! Raven, just because you read about immunity, doesn't mean that its real!"

"Salem, it's true! I'm immune! I swear! Look at it! Feel me! No symptoms!"

"Don't move!" Salem ordered, leaving the tent. Tears filled my eyes as all the things that could happen now filled my mind. He could have everyone pack up, leaving me behind. He could bring everyone I knew to me, putting me down like a stray dog. He could come back and just kill me, too, no audience, no witnesses. Who would accuse Salem of killing his little sister? No one! He'd blame it on Anne or Jay or even Ash. He was going to kill me in some way, because of a week old bite.

He came back with the whole gang, Damian, Jay, Ash, Anne, and Brander, and a gun in his hand.

"Raven, tell us, what happened. Now." He said, swallowing.

"You're going to put me down like a rabid dog?" I cried, backing away.

"I don't really have a choice!" Salem exclaimed, swallowing hard. "You're bit."

"I'm haven't turned! It's been over a week!"

"That's not possible! You are bit!"

"But she's not turned." Anne said, huffing. "I may not like her right now, but she's right. She's had that bite for over a week and she hasn't turned yet."

"Anne, I am not in the mood for you to pull me around right now." Salem growled, cocking his gun.

"I'm not pulling you around jackass. I was with her the day after she was bit, and I was with her ever since. She hasn't turned. She hasn't even broken out into a fever yet."

"That doesn't mean she won't turn." Salem said, looking less convinced with himself.

"Salem." Ash said, taking the gun. "If Anne says she isn't going to turn, then she isn't."

"But, what does it mean?" Salem said, swallowing. "What do we do now?"

"We go to DC." Jay said, thinking. "In every book, the majority of facilities are in DC, which makes sense. The president is in DC, and the best scientists would be called there to help protect the president and find a vaccine."

"It's so hot when you talk like that." Anne purred, pushing up against Jay. Jay laughed nervously, looking around at his friends.

"Whipped." Damien chuckled, shoving Jay lightly. The others laughed, forgetting about me momentarily. I tried to move around them, still not certain that they weren't going to kill me. I was sure they would, the savages.

"Rave, don't you dare." Brander said, pointing a finger at me. "You are not going anywhere. You are the key to the cure, and you're going to come with us to DC to fix this shithole of a world."