AM13 Outbreak Shorts

Quarantine - Seventeen

My hands try frantically to grip the wall behind me as I snap my mouth shut to stop myself from screaming. Panic has a full grip on me right now, and I need to shake it off. Worrying won't get me anywhere, I need to gather up my brain to ensure I get out of here alive.

Some of the infected are roaming through the room, looking for prey. I guess if I think about it logically then one of the other medical professionals must've stopped killing them and set them free instead. I can't think of any reason to do that unless it was a rebellion against the idiots made this decision.

I hate it too, but I don't know if this is the right way to go about it!

It isn't just the infected being freed, it's the ones that don't seem to have the virus, including the poor teenage girl that I almost killed. As I watch her rushing past me I squeeze my eyes shut to close the world out for just a moment. I can't believe I almost murdered someone who's fine, someone who was talking to me, telling me that she was okay.

What sort of monster am I?

I thought I was one of the good guys, but I acted like another mindless drone in that moment, following orders to save my own life. I put myself before everyone else. Not everyone did that, someone created this chaos. That person is the hero.

Maybe.

As my eyes remain closed I wait for death to come for me. I figure that looking out for myself made me act in a way that I don't like, so now I need to just let go of life. If the world is done now, which I truly suspect it might be, then it's best to go now. The one's who die in the early days are the lucky ones, right?

Or maybe I'm just thinking that way because I'm too afraid to move.

The tension builds up in my stomach, anticipation courses painfully through my veins, I almost don't want to know which way the fatal bite will come from as my shoulders tense. I don't know how it'll feel to be bitten, or what it'll be like to turn, so I just wait expectantly for it to happen...

And then it comes.

Actually, it isn't as agonizing as I expected. I don't even know if I can feel teeth, but since this is all such a new and crazy thing, I suppose that's to be expected. It isn't going to be like anything that's come before.

It's the end now, I suppose it's time for me to experience the AM13 process for myself.

The memories of my life take a turn for the worst as the virus starts to work its way through me. I regret everything. I spent such a long time focusing on making a name for myself that I didn't think to have a life. I spent less time with Mom than I would've liked, I stopped talking to my old friends, even missing out on a potential relationship with Ryan...I have no one to blame for that but myself. Maybe if I'd just told him how I felt we could've actually had something.

Not that it matters anymore.

Now that I have nothing left to lose, I flicker my eyes open to see what's going on around me. I don't have to make any decisions, now that I'm dead, which makes it a lot easier to process things. Noise zooms back into my eardrums as if I managed to shut off all sound as well as sight, and the volume of it is almost overwhelming. I suppose this could be just another, unexplored side effect of the virus. Anything is possible.

"Stop!"

"...it's too late for that..."

"What now?"

Eventually, voices become clear, but I still can't quite work out where they're coming from. That is until one of them overshadows the rest.

"Miss?"

It's a deep male voice, possibly close, but who it relates to I'm not quite sure.

"Miss?"

It isn't to the left of me or the right. Maybe I need to force my aching neck to twist my head upright. I do, but it kills me.

"Miss?"

Oh...my...God.

It's a cop, looking directly at me with sheer concern in his eyes. Only that isn't the most terrifying thing about the scene above me. It's the shiny, metallic gun in his hand. The one that's pointed directly at my forehead.

"Miss, I really need you to answer me right now."