The Infection

Chapter 5~Sage

I heard footsteps thunder up the stairs. Again.

Ryder stormed in uninvited for the second time today, that entitled little asshole.

"What the hell could you possibly want now?" I asked him, slamming my palm on the counter and causing chemicals to splash over the side of a beaker. Ryder flinched.

"I can come back later. I just thought I'd come help and see if you made any progress," he explained.

"Do I ever make progress?"

Ryder sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "No," he muttered.

"Exactly," I said, snapping my fingers. "And even if I had, why should I tell you? I work alone, Ryder. That's never going to change and you know it. Now shut the door behind you, it's drafty outside."

Ryder ignored me and began to read my disorganized notes. He flipped through my notebook, brow furrowed with concentration as he analyzed my day's work.

"Did you try-"

"Yes. No success."

"But it seems like-"

"I thought so too, but when it combines with stomach acid it creates a highly toxic substance that will burn through the stomach lining if it's in there for too long," I explained.

"So basically..."

"Take a shit or you die."

"Explosive intestines or explosive diarrhea?" Ryder clarified.

"Exactly."

"Fantastic."

"Very," I replied, only mildly interested. I pushed past Ryder to fill a few vials with the toxic solution before disposing of the rest. "I was thinking I could test it on prisoners tomorrow. See if different immune systems process it differently."

Ryder's head snapped up. "But they'll die," he pointed out, as if I hadn't already considered that.

"Yes," I said, enjoying the satisfying snap of rubber gloves coming off my sweaty hands. "And?"

Ryder shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder if you're Infected," he thought aloud. "You're so emotionless all the time. Unsympathetic, you know? You're not even human half the time."

I froze for a millisecond. In the back of my mind, something clicked. Pages flipped and time slowed down. Research Diary Seven, page 29. Infected persons show characteristics describable as none other than superhuman. Absence of emotion or conscious thought have been a common thread. Outstanding health is also an apparent symptom, as is an accelerated healing process. Tomorrow: assess rate of cellular regeneration at the sites of small wounds.

I turned back to the sink silently, my mind whirring as the cold water came in contact with my skin.

"Sage? Are you even listening to me right now? I'm pouring my heart out here," Ryder said.

I held up a hand to silence him and I closed my eyes.

I picked up my mental pen and began to visualize my thoughts as words so I would remember them later: External wounds heal faster as a side effect of the Infection. But what about internal wounds? Such as, perhaps, a tear in the stomach lining? If the prisoner was given the solution and they survived, they would be Infected.

I didn't develop a cure. I developed a test.

"Ryder," I gasped.

He raised his eyebrows.