You Make Me Sane

Three

Going through that teleporter caused me to black out. When I awoke, though, I could hear the same voices, but part of me knew that these men weren't the men I had met hours before. I awoke on the ground, surrounded by the men I once knew. They looked younger, and hotter. A younger Richtofen knelt down, examining my pale body. "Are you alright?" He asked, checking my pulse on my wrist. "I'm fine. Where am I?" I asked, looking up at the others. "Excavation Site 64 in Meuse, Lorraine, France." Dempsey replied as Richtofen helped me up. "Lorraine, you say?" I repeated, my eyes lighting up with excitement, but it was shot down as I didn't recognize anything part of where we were. "Something wrong?" Dempsey asked. "I was from here, but this is not my home." I replied, looking around at the mass destruction that had swept over the city. Something wasn't right. This wasn't how Meuse was supposed to be. It hurt. The first pain I've felt in years was the heartbreak of seeing my home city destroyed.

  Richtofen kept observing me, like the actual doctor he was. "Uh, is something wrong, Doc?" I asked. "You are so pale and thin.. How are you able to function correctly?" He asked. "I'm sorry?" I was utterly confused my his question. "I've always been skinny, Doc. I was born that way." I explained as he continued with the examination. He noticed a few scratches and a bite mark. "Azalea, are you aware of this?" He asked, showing me the bite on my right arm. My heart raced. "No, I was not aware. Will I be alright?" I looked at him with worry. "We'll keep an eye on it, and on you." He replied, wrapping it in a bandage. I watched as Richtofen put the first aid away. Something about this version of Richtofen made me more attracted to him than the original. "Richtofen, we need a little help over here!" I heard Dempsey yell. I was still in no shape to fight, especially after that teleporter incident, although I was left with a pistol to defend myself. I sighed softly and looked at the bandage. How did I not notice that I had been bitten?

  Then I remembered when that zombie took me down back at the theater. I sighed in frustration and threw my head back. "Everything alright?" I heard Dempsey ask. I looked up to see him standing in front of me. "Yeah.. Just a bit frustrated is all." I replied with a small smile. He noticed the bandage, but chose not to talk about it. "I'll leave you alone. Shoot anything that moves." He said before leaving. I was honestly fearful for everyone's safety. "Shoot anything that moves, huh?" I looked down at the pistol. The gun fire soon stopped and I heard footsteps coming towards me as I reached for the pistol. "How do you feel?" Richtofen asked, checking on my bite. "I feel fine." I said, almost monotone. "We have to keep moving." Takeo said, clearing a path with Nikolai and Dempsey. Richtofen and I nodded and helped them.

   We soon reached the church. It was quite beautiful inside, to say the least. I looked over at Nikolai, who was putting boards up on windows and broken doors along with Takeo and Dempsey. I decided it was best to keep an eye on the zombies. With my pistol in hand, I scanned the area outside the church. As I started firing, I felt a sudden anger flooded my thoughts, and I had a strange hankering for flesh. As a result, I bit my hand to stop the sudden urge to kill my friends. It wasn't working. I didn't want to take their lives away. I'd rather take my own life instead. I heard Richtofen run over to me as I struggled to put the gun to my head. "Calm down, Liebe." He said calmly, pulling the gun out of my hand. "Let me end my life so I'm not a danger to anyone.." I growled as I felt my sanity slowly​ slipping away. "Get ahold of yourself, Azalea!" I heard Dempsey yell over the gun shots. I started to fight the monster I was becoming. I looked over at the others as I regained what sanity I had left. I sighed softly and stood. "I just have to fight this, right, Doc?"
  "You are absolutely right, Azalea. We just need to keep an eye on you is all." He replied with a small smile.

  I was laying down on a pew, trying to get some sleep after today's events​. I was soon startled by someone draping something over me. I shot up, but quickly calmed down once I saw Dempsey. "Sorry. You looked cold." He apologized. "Oh, no, don't worry about it. Paranoia.." I replied as I lay back down. Dempsey sat down by my feet. "Are you feeling alright?" He asked. "I'm fine, Dempsey.. Don't worry about me." I replied, starting up at the non-existent ceiling. "Why'd you come here?"
   "Well, I followed older versions of you guys into a teleporter, and somehow, I got separated from them and ended up here." I explained, sitting up. I looked down at the jacket I held close for warmth. "So what's your story, Soldier?" I asked, looking at him as he began to speak. "I was sent by the U.S. to interfere and stop Richtofen's plans with Element 115."
   "His plans? What's Element 115?" I asked. "Element 115 was used to create the zombies as one of its side effects was the reanimation of dead cells." Richtofen butted in. I looked at him. "That's strange..." I replied, looking back down. I felt the cold breeze blow in, causing me to pull my knees to my chest and nuzzle into the jacket. I took in Dempsey's scent. It was nice, menus the sweat smell. I closed my eyes. To be honest, I've never taken in the scent of a man, besides my long dead brother.

  I had fallen asleep for a while and awoken to gun fire. I grabbed the nearest gun and started firing at zombies. Although I was killing them, they weren't coming after me. I raised an eyebrow and brushed off my confusion, continuing to fire my gun. I looked around to see if anyone needed help. Takeo needed the most help getting zombies off his back, so I shot a few for him. He nodded his head towards me as a thank you and went about his business. I smiled a bit and kept an eye on the guys since no zombies payed attention to me.

  I guess this zombie bite has it's perks.