Infected

| Chapter 5 |

Ash took a sharp breath, his eyes snapping open. He sat up, his hands gripping whatever sheets were beneath him. He was trembling, his eyes staring distantly at his legs. What had happened? He squinted his eyes shut again, trying to focus his memories. Nothing came to the front of his mind.

"It's good to see you awake."

Ash jumped in fright, his eyes shooting back open. He looked around the small room he was in. It looked like the walls of a tent, fitted with a few makeshift shelves filled with medical supplies like bandages and alcohol. Otherwise, there was nobody in the room except for Suicune and Pikachu, who sat close to Ash's side.

Ash blinked, looking at Suicune in confusion. Suicune was looking at him with Pikachu sleeping quietly between its front paws. It's cool, blue eyes watched Ash with relief.

"You seem surprised," Suicune said, his eyes gleaming. Ash blinked again in shock, a dull memory surfacing. Hearing Suicune's voice seemed familiar, almost normal, but Ash wasn't sure why. He held his head in confusion and exhaustion.

"I-- Why does this all feel so familiar?" Ash asked, "I feel like I should be shocked that you can use telepathy, but I'm not..."

Suicune sighed, bowing his head, "It's to be expected. I will explain later. Somebody's coming."

Ash turned back to the entrance of the tent he was in. A woman in a white medical dress pushed her way through the flap, his eyes widening upon finding Ash staring back at her. She smiled sweetly, bowing slightly.

"Sorry for interrupting you without permission. I thought you were still asleep." She said, walking closer and crouching beside Ash. She looked down at his arm, then pressed a stethoscope to his chest.

"You seem a lot better. How do you feel?" She asked, stepping back and writing something on her clipboard. Ash smiled.

"I'm just tired. What happened?"

The nurse continued to write on her board, "Well, I'm not sure. Your friends brought you to me a few hours ago," She explained softly. Ash frowned. His friends, they must've been so worried when he didn't meet with them.

"Were they okay?" Ash asked. The kind woman tilted Ash's arm to look at a scab along his wrist. Ash recognised the fresh pink looking scar almost immediately. It was where the Eevee had bitten him a few days ago. He stared in confusement, tilting his arm of his own will to look at it. Faint, pulsing blue snakes seeped slowly from it, like veins, fading into his skin further up his arm. The nurse frowned.

"Has this always been here? Like this?" She asked, completely ignoring Ash's previous question. The trainer shook his head, setting aside his worries for his friends and instead focusing on the bizarre event occurring in his arm. The Nurse hummed, pressing her hand to the spot where the veins originated.

"Hm...Not hot to touch anyway, and it doesn't look like blood poisoning. Does it hurt?"

Ash shook his head, "I didn't even notice they were there." 

The woman frowned again, "Well, I'm going to cover it. Just in case." 

The nurse stood to her feet and made her way over to one of the makeshift cabinets, grabbing an unopened roll of bandages and taking the fim off. She returned to Ash and began to wrap his arm up again, except this time she included his shoulder and neck. ("Just to be careful")

Ash admired her work once she was done. It was a nice bandage. It wasn't too tight either. The girl smiled once again, bowing and lowering the clipboard to her side, "You're good to go, just take it easy. Oh! And make sure to come back to me if the veins spread or get any worse."

"Thank you." Ash smiled in gratitude. The nurse bowed again, before leaving the small tent. Suicune stood to his feet, waking Pikachu as he stood. Pikachu rolled out of the dogs paws and awoke, drearily lifting its head. It looked around for a moment before noticing it's trainer. His eyes light up in delight as it jumped forward and into Ash's arms in a yellow flash.

"Heya Bud, it's good to see you all better!" Ash smiled, letting Pikachu run up and along his arms before scratching him. Suicune smiled as Ash stood.

"It's thanks to you he's alive, y'know. He would've died back in the Pokémon Center if you hadn't healed him." Suicune explained, gesturing for Ash to follow. Ash blinked, finally finishing scratching Pikachu.

"What do you mean? Pikachu was fine, just...tired. Right bud?" Ash responded, looking up nervously at his partner. Pikachu smiled, unsure.

"Don't lie to yourself," Suicune scorned, "Even Pikachu knows it was about to die."

"Well, he's fine now. Let's just move on." Ash snapped, trying to forget the sight of Pikachu's lifeless body on the ground under Grovyle. Suicune sighed, bowing its head as it left the tent.

"Whatever you wish."

Ash shielded his eyes from the harsh sunlight as he left the tent. He was in some form of camp, filled with hundreds upon hundreds of tents and people. He blinked, shocked. Suicune huffed.

"After you passed out, a city-wide evacuation was ordered. This camp was set up quite some distance from the main city, but it's secure." Suicune explained, lowering himself close to the ground, "Get on. Your friends staying in the South of the camp."

Ash climbed onto Suicune's back, "What do you mean by evacuation? Why were they evacuated?"

Suicune began to trot in-between tents, heading towards what Ash guessed where the others were, "Pokémon are attacking anything that moves. Anything touched, or scratched by them are turning rabid. People are calling them The Infected."

"So, they're like zombies?"

"I suppose so. Pokémon Zombies that can use powerful attacks."

Suicune began to run once they were in a clearing. Ash couldn't believe the sheer size of the whole camp. It must've been half the size of Luminose, at least; Filled with crying children and  injured adults. Ash could've sworn he saw people with guns walking around, which was an unnerving sight to see. They were serious about this.

"Do they know how it started?" Ash asked Suicune as the legendary began to slow down. Suicune shook his head, his eyes gazing into the ground.

"No, and it's making people uneasy. They believe the virus will spread to humans."

Ash frowned, "Can it?"

Suicune looked back at Ash, "No, I believe the infection would be too weak to gain control of a human and have it mindlessly attack. Pokémon have different biology then humans. But, the illness the infection is causing in humans is just as deadly as the pokémon virus."

Ash looked across the sea of people, suddenly more aware of the amount of sick people. Bodies lay in blankets, coughing and shivering as they tended to wounds. Doctors were wearing tight masks around their face.

"How far away are we?" Ash asked nervously, a growing pit of concern and anxiety growing in his stomach. Suicune turned back to the bath.

"Not far."