Cells at Work: Realisations

Well Known Secret | Part 2

AE 3803 glared at the map in her hands, as if determined to make it talk and tell her the way. She had to be near the pharynx surely, but which way to get to the tongue? Five streets diverted from this crossroad, neither looking particularly promising. Defeated the red blood cell sighed. And the last few days had gone so well.

Eventually AE picked one, though she had little faith in her decision.

Still, things looked good initially; a nice road with little traffic, however only a few minutes after leaving the crossroad AE heard some commotion. At first she thought it came from somewhere ahead, but when she stopped on a bridge, leading across another street, she realised that the noises originated somewhere below.

The dozen or so other erythrocytes around her noticed this as well, some slowing down, while others were actually hurrying up to get away. Was there a battle going on? Well, she was near the mouth, probably, so that wasn't unlikely. A lot of germs entered the body that way daily.

Curious, if a little worried, she approached the balustrade, hoping to find out what exactly was going on, when suddenly the bridge began to tremble. AE lost her footing and grabbed on to the railing, as cracks appeared beneath her feet. She saw others try to run and stumble, a few already on the ground when she looked around.

Pieces of the bridge started to break away and the redhead's eyes widened with fear as she saw that the entire construction was about to collapse. Even if she ran right now, and didn't stumble again, she probably wouldn't make it to either side! AE closed her eyes shut and braced herself for the worst, curling into a ball. And felt herself falling.

The bridge collapsed, stone tumbling with the sound of thunder. Others shouted or screamed, the redhead hearing her own voice crying out as well, as she shielded her head with her arms. Her body quickly hit stone again, a sharp pain rushing through her shoulder as she landed on her side, while small pieces of debris bounced off her back. She heard more coming down around her, but thankfully the largest pieces were already on the ground.

Groaning AE 3803 pulled her arms away and looked up.

Dust surrounded her, but she could see that she was pretty much on top of the pile of rubble that had been the bridge, having only slid a little downhill. AE waved her hand, hoping to clear the air that irritated her throat. "What is going on here?" she wondered aloud between coughs, as the dust slowly settled.

"Sekkekkyū?"

A familiar silhouette suddenly appeared in the brown cloud, until 1146 emerged from it, knife in one hand, clearly as surprised as she was. "Hakkekkyū-san?"

He didn't immediately reply, only grabbed her by the shoulder, and pulled her behind a large piece of debris. She could still hear the battle close by as she cowered down, the neutrophil crouching next to her, his expression turning serious, even grim. "You need to get out of here!"

"Bacteria?" He was already quite bloodied and looked like he'd been fighting for a while.

1146 shook his head. "No, Adenovirus. It won't harm you, but you might get caught in the crossfire. Stand back, or find another route. I can't assure your safety here."

Adenovirus

A virus with double-stranded DNA that derives its name from the initial place it was found/isolated from, the human adenoids (pharyngeal tonsils). Being a rather resilient pathogen it most commonly causes respiratory illnesses, such as the common cold, pneumonia or tonsillitis, but can also affect other areas of the body, where it among others can lead to gastroenteritis, urethritis or conjunctivitis.