AM13 Outbreak Shorts

Quarantine - Fourteen

"Miss?" There it is again, that voice. It's like a fly buzzing around me, irritating me when all I want to do is be left alone. I wish I could swat it away, but I don't have the energy to do so. "Miss?"

"Nugh," I gurgle as I turn onto my side. I am trying to sleep, can they not see that?

"Ooh, look! She's coming around. That has to be a good sign."

Hmm...was that Hannah? Maybe I do need to open my eyes, just in case. If she's concerned about me then maybe there is actually something to worry about.

"What's going on?" I murmur to the shadows above my head. "What happened?"

"You fainted," the first voice, which seems to belong to a male, replies. "You got into a state of panic and I guess your body overheated. I think we might need to check you over, to make sure that you're okay."

"Oh no." I push myself into a sitting position. The last thing I want is a whole bunch of fuss for what was effectively a massive panic attack. "No, I feel fine."

"No wooziness?"

Yes.

"No. None."

"You don't feel dizzy or sick?"

Yes.

"Nope."

He gives me a disbelieving look, which actually I know I deserve, but I stare him down until he backs away and gives up. He's a doctor here, someone that I've distantly been working alongside for the last few weeks, but I have no clue what his name is.

Still, I'm glad that he's clearly far too busy to worry too much about me.

"So, what's going on?" I force myself to stand, despite the fact that it makes me feel even more nauseous. I need to act as normally as I can if I'm going to pull the attention off me.

"Well as I'm sure you're already aware, we have been inundated with lots of new people."

Of course! That's what sent me into a panic. "Erm, yes, I know. What are we going to do about them? There's hardly any room."

He rolls his eyes at me, which is fair since I've just stated the obvious. "I don't know. Some of them are very infected, some of them are passed out, some are fine...everyone has different needs and we simply do not have the resources." He sighs loudly and wearily. "We need some direction, but I don't think anyone is aware of what we should do. It's chaos, any minute now it'll all go to hell."

That scares me, this place is in a bad enough state, if everyone loses it then we're in a desperate amount of trouble.

"We need to plan," I insist rapidly. "Let's go somewhere quiet and plan."

"Is there anywhere quiet?" Hannah asks as she makes a sweeping gesture around her. "Look at this place."

"I know a room, follow me."

Considering how busy the hospital is it's surprisingly easy to slip away unnoticed. As we move towards the office I feel positive that I'm actually taking steps to make this a better place for us all. All the missions I take on are damn near impossible, I have noticed that about myself, but again someone needs to do it. Might as well be me.

"We won't be disturbed in here..."

As I push the door open and I notice a shadowy figure sitting in the corner, my heart leaps up into my throat. Of course, I forgot that I told Eric he could wait here. Now I'm going to have to disturb his peace as he grieves for his sister.

"Eric?" I cringe as I say this. "I'm sorry to do this to you but do you mind if I have the room for a while? It won't be for very long, only while we sort this out?" He doesn't answer. I can feel the doctor bristling behind me. "Eric?"

I step closer into the room, feeling increasingly horrible with each move of my foot. I'm about to turf this poor boy out, just after giving him a safe haven. If there was any other way I would do it.

"Eric...oh my God."

My hand claps against my mouth, my feet tumble backwards, my spine freezes in ice. Eric...he's no longer human, somehow in that short space of time AM13 has claimed him completely and he's already a monster. I have never seen it happen so fast anymore.

"He's infected," I whisper to the others. "What are we going to do?"

"Kill him."