Apocalypse [Pentatonix AU | Kavi / Scomiche]

Chapter 53 - Distraction

Scott and Mitch had emerged from the ramshackle house hand in hand at the crack of dawn and not a second later. All night they had been awake, worried endlessly about Kevin and Avi. It had been a full 12 hours since they had last seen them, and as much as Scott didn't want to admit it to himself, he knew that the chances of their survival overnight were practically nonexistent. It was hard not to assume the worst.

Still, the two men trekked on. Scott let his hand slip from Mitch's now that they were deeper in the forest, instead placing both palms in a firm grasp around his gun. They had no direction, no idea where they were going, which only added to the anxiety of the situation.

"Can I ask you something?" Mitch finally said, causing Scott's heart to leap. They were both on edge. "I can't keep walking in silence like this, I'll drive myself out of my mind."

"Of course," Scott replied, attempting to provide a small smile but failing completely.

"The antidote, how does it work?"

"It's hard to explain." Scott pulled it out from his pocket, and Mitch's eyes landed on the clear solution, studying it the way Scott had studied it so many times before.

"You brought it with you?"

"I always bring it with me. The only purpose I have left on this world is to get this thing to the right people. If I lost it- I couldn't even imagine that."

Mitch was nodding. "So how does it work? I know it's hard to explain, but I honestly just need to hear your voice right now. Even if it all goes over my head."

Scott laughed humorlessly. "Alright. If you remember, I told you I created this thing with barely any time left. By the time I'd finished it, I didn't have time to replicate it. I made six ounces, which is the exact amount necessary for it to actually be able to stop the disease's spread. Any less, it wouldn't work."

"You keep saying it can stop the disease's spread. But can it cure it?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you inject that into someone who's already been turned, into a walker, would it change them back into a person they were?"

Scott shook his head. "No. You have to inject it into an infected person within 24 hours of a bite. After they turn, it becomes useless."

"So then how can it save the human race? How can it save humanity if it can't bring all of the people we've lost back?"

"It doesn't only work as an antidote, it works as a vaccine. If we replicate it on a grand enough scale, we can administer it to the general public, or whatever general public is left. It'll be a process, and it sure as hell won't happen overnight. Maybe not even in my lifetime. Saying that it's a long-shot is an understatement. But if we can make ourselves invincible, put ourselves back at the top of the food chain, we'll finally get a real chance of beating this thing. All diseases can be eradicated, history has proven that to be true time and time again. This specific disease really fucked us over, but we can overcome. We have to."

After a long pause while Mitch processed this information, his lips finally parted and he murmured, "I think I understand." His eyes locked with Scott's again, and Scott realized he'd just put a glimmer of hope back into them. "Can I ask one last question?"

"Anything, Mitchie."

"You said you need exactly six ounces in order for it to stop the spread of the disease. But do you need all six ounces in order for it to remain replicable?"

Scott furrowed his brow at the oddity of the question, but answered it regardless. "No. To replicate a solution like this, we only need to know the chemical and molecular makeup. We can find that with a singular molecule."

"Don't you remember the makeup yourself, since you were the one to make it?"

"Alex did the majority of the research, he worked constantly. He knew that lab backwards and forwards, so a lot of the bottles remained unlabeled. While I was working on the solution those last few days, I was so close but didn't quite have it. And Alex had this one unlabeled bottle, he called it his 'secret ingredient'. I put that shit in the solution in hopes that by wild chance it would work, and sure enough it did. I would've asked Alex-"

Scott was cut short by the sound of a gunshot that erupted less than a half mile away from them. The couple fell to their stomachs instinctively, Scott's arms shielding Mitch instantaneously. They stayed like this until their breathing had returned to normal, exchanging a knowing glance as they got back to their feet.

This time with perseverance and maybe even the smallest bit of hope, Scott and Mitch made their way toward the clearing in which the bullet had sounded.