AM13 Outbreak Shorts

Quarantine - Eleven

This situation is impossible, I cannot stand it. The more I try to come to terms with it, the worse it becomes.

It quickly became obvious on that first day of the Lockdown quarantine that we couldn't let anyone out. There isn't anywhere for them to go anymore. It isn't just us that are stuck here, it's everyone. The only problem is we don't have nearly enough room. The people who are very clearly infected are strapped to the beds like animals, and everyone else is simply lost with nowhere to go.

It's a nightmare.

We've even had to give up most of the on-call rooms. We're all sharing one now, getting in naps whenever we can.

"Okay, I'm going for a sleep," Hannah declares wearily at me. "I don't know the last time I got any rest."

"Yeah, sure, I'm going to the bathroom myself."

This is a newer habit of mine, locking myself in a cubicle for twenty minutes just to get some space. It gives me time to think and to occasionally take notes. Now that I'm resigned to remaining here until the quarantine is over, I have decided to continue on with my plan to find a solution here.

Secretly, of course.

"Help, someone, help!"

"You go." I roll my eyes at Hannah. "I'll deal with it, you know how quickly everyone panics these days."

"Thank you," she replied gratefully, before skulking off quietly. She needs this rest, there isn't any point in her getting involved in yet another round of drama.

Yet, as I stumble across the actual problem I instantly regret my decision. This is a problem that could've used as many people as possible.

"Do something!" Dave screams as he tries his best to restrain a very young girl. She must be about five-years-old and she's adorably cute; all blonde pigtails and sweet round cheeks...but she isn't human anymore. Her irises are white, her teeth are bared, her skin is greying...she has all the telltale signs of someone who has succumbed to infection. "Katie, do something?"

"What happened?" I ask as I glance my eyes side-to-side, desperately searching for someone else to help her out. This was too much.

"She's infected, what do you think happened?" Dave sneers while struggling to keep her teeth away from him. "Now do something before she gets me."

"Like what?" I haven't been involved in any of the killing before, I've always made sure that I'm nowhere to be found when that happens. I don't want my first time to be this girl, it isn't right. "What do you want me to do?"

"Kill her...stop stalling."

Dave can see through me, which makes my face flame with humiliation. My heart hammers noisily in my chest, I start to shake with pure terror, but I really need to shake that off. I have to help Dave somehow.

"What can I do? Give her a sedative? Knock her out?"

"No, no, that doesn't work. We need something heavy, you need to smash her round the head. You have to kill her."

I can't do it, I know I can't, but I try anyway. I spot a paperweight on the side and I charge towards the girl as if I'm actually going to do something with it. Deep down in my mind I know I won't, but I continue with the pretense anyway.

It isn't until I reach the girl that my brain kicks into gear and I shove her hard to the ground instead. She tumbles and falls pathetically to the ground like a pitiful rag doll and I feel utterly awful inside. I want to weep at the image of this poor girl lying there, helpless, with the nasty AM13 virus coursing violently through her veins.

It isn't fair, this isn't right.

"Give me that!"

Dave angrily snatches the paperweight from me and he smashes down into the girl's skull. Blood splatters everywhere, covering me and Dave, and the awful guttural groan that falls out of her mouth makes me want to die.

I stumble back and fall to the ground, hitting the cold, hard floor as hard as the poor girl did. The only difference is no one is bashing anything into my brain, I get to live.

No, no, no, my brain goes wild. I cannot let this continue, I need to put an end to it. This is too awful.

After seeing what I've just witnessed, I know for a fact that I need to step up my game. Things cannot be allowed to go on the way they are.

Crunch.

Splat.

Crack.

As I try to block out the sounds of Dave absolutely destroying the monster who used to be a girl, I need to invent my next step, just to make me feel more positive.

Brain scans...I need to conduct brain scans. I thought that already once, didn't I? I'm not sure anymore, but somehow I need to make that happen. No matter what.

"She almost bit me," Dave spits out in a rage as if that justifies his insane outburst. He definitely went too far then. "This is getting out of control if we don't put an end to all of this we'll end up dead. All of us."

"What are you saying?" I ask him anxiously. "What do you mean?"

"I mean." His black angry eyes stare deep into my soul, sending a chill up and down my spine. "They all need to die."

We stare at one another, panting heavily, neither of us knowing what to say next. He is filled with rage and I'm torn up with remorse. We could have an argument right now, we could both put across our points of view but it wouldn't go anywhere. Neither of us intends to change our minds.

"Hey," a voice calls out, shattering the tension of the moment. "What did you do to my sister?"