Dead But Not Gone

The Epidemic

Hazel

I didn't realize I had fallen asleep til Aless woke both Star and I. The sun beamed into the tent, causing me to squint my eyes. I let out a yawn and stretched.

"I thought you guys would be in your tent." Alessandra started. "Then again, you both spend so much time in here that this basically is your tent."

"I guess we got so involved in our work that we kinda forgot to take a break and just crashed here." I replied as I rubbed my eyes.

"Don't push yourselves too hard. Its good that you're helping people but don't forget about yourselves too. Your health is as important as anybody else's here. Now get up. Your breakfast's getting cold and it took a long time to get what we have now according to Derek."

Alessandra walked out of the tent and I swung my legs over the bed. I got on my feet and nudged Star.

"I'm not feeling to good." She said softly. "You go ahead. I'm just gonna lay here for a bit and hope that I feel better later."

I leaned over and gave her a small hug, then made my way over to the table. As I approached my friends, Derek pulled a seat out for me.

"There's the sleepy head." I accepted the gesture and took a seat. "I went by your place last night but saw that you and Star were sleeping so I didn't wanna disturb your rest."

I looked down at my plate and saw bacon with waffles. My mouth watered as I took a bite out of the savory pork. "Holy shit Derek, where'd you find this?" I said with a mouthful of both waffle and bacon.

"We got the bacon a week ago maybe? I'm not sure but it was a hell of a journey. We were surprised that it was still fresh. And the waffles, well, they're homemade. Courtesy of moi." Derek kissed his finger tips mocking an Italian chef.

"Where's Star?" Stella asked.

"She wasn't feeling good. I guess we worked too hard last night." I shrugged.

"Speaking of which, what were you two working on anyway?" Wondered Xander.

"Well we looked into our wiz touch and compared it to the mock wiz touch which I named WTV2. So basically, our wiz touch contains a cell that was spliced into the red blood cells and created an almost super cell, allowing us to heal any wounds easier. It grows stronger and can fix some fractured bones if needed. It makes the healing process way faster and at the same time, causes no harm to our body. Too much of it however can potentially kill you, as seen with Derek when he had an overdose and had to scoop most of the cells out. WTV2 has the same effects. But, some blood cells get destroyed, allowing the green cells to destroy our immune system making it possible to catch an opportunistic disease. Think of it as AIDS without the sex part. Therefore, unhealthy amounts of WTV2 can be lethal to the user's body." I explained between bites of waffle.

"Damn Hazel, when'd you get so good with doctor talk?" Derek admired my knowledge.

Before I can answer Derek, Stella interjected saying, "Wait, if this WT-whatever can kill its patients, why are you still giving it to people?"

"Because it doesn't kill the user unless he/she overdoses. That's they keyword sweetie. Our immune system is strong enough to handle one injection every two weeks."

Stella huffed and crossed her arms. I looked at Derek and answered his question. "Anyway, Alex taught Star and I some things back in Gunther. When she'd feel lazy or whatever, she'd tell us what to do and we'd learn. We have Alex to thank."

Derek nodded slowly and finished up his plate of food. We all got up and went to check on Star. But before we can walk over to her, an alarm blared on the outside speakers. Maria's voice followed.

"Attention: Many survivors here have been infected with an unknown disease and are now contaminated. Symptoms of the sickness include, but are not limited to: nausea, fever, vomiting, violent coughing, paranoia, and fatigue. Please be cautious of any sick person and we'll harbor every person that is experiencing these symptoms. I advise that anybody who knows of any sick friend, or relative, please move them to our quarantine zone located in room 126."

I gulped and thought about the symptoms. I was confused. Survivors hurried to the quarantine area, carrying sick people with them. I saw TJ be carried by his boyfriend and looked past the growing crowd. I pointed to the medical tent, signaling that Star was in there. We rushed to the tent and saw Star laying in bed sweating profusely. She looked up at us, her glasses reflecting the sun, and managed to smile weakly. Xander and Derek helped her off the bed and I followed them as we went to drop her off at the sick center. My heart was racing and terrible thoughts swirled through my head.

Was this my fault? Did I-did I do this?

I shook my head and snapped out of my thoughts. I wanted to make sure that Star was safe. We entered the room and there were stretchers spread around. Doctors rushed from patient to patient, giving them whatever they could to try and help. Xander held Star in his arms and looked for a place to set her down. Maria noticed us and motioned for us to follow her. We rushed to the room and saw that there was nobody else in the room. Xander set Star down on the medical bed.

"What the fuck is going on?" Alessandra angrily shouted.

"I don't know but since Star's a doctor, she can get this room. But for now, we're separating the ones in bad condition from those who aren't as bad. Listen, we don't know what's happening but its bad. The Revolution is coming tomorrow, and if they see this they'll probably refuse our trade offers."

I stared at Star as she laid in the bed. My heart raced rapidly and I couldn't think straight.

"Maria, do you think these people will live?" Stella asked as she hugged herself softly.

"At this point, we don't know how bad it can get." Maria sighed. "Only time will tell."

Derek's face softened and he winced at the thought of something. He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked at the ground.

"We'll figure this out. When The Revolution comes tomorrow, we'll look more into this epidemic. For now, we'll leave Star here. She needs to rest up." Xander walked over to Star and hugged her. We did the same and left the room.

I still couldn't stop blaming myself. Alessandra noticed my gloom mood and confronted me. "If you think this is your fault, it's not. Everything will be okay."

I didn't reply. I stood quiet and endless outcomes played out in my head. My self hatred overcame me and I thought about cutting open my flesh and bleeding out.

And I was gonna do just that.