Stranger- Based on Clare Siobhan's Sims 4 StrangerVille Series!

Chapter 23: Vaccinated and Ready to Battle, I Think (Cody)

Cody watched as Seb's army truck pulled up at the back of the lab. Sloane got out of the passenger side and they both rushed into the lab, concern sparkling in both of their eyes.

"What is it?" Seb asked, his shoulders held high and tense.
"Um... It's in the basement, but stay up here for now. It's not safe..." Cody cautioned.
"I'm the military, I can--" Seb started, but was cut off by Cody.
"No. Stay up here. Just trust that I know what I'm doing for once."
"No! You don't have a very good sense of danger, given you came here multiple times despite this being very obviously restricted!"
"Yeah, well, if I don't think that's dangerous and I do think this is, what does that tell you?"
"You idea of danger is obviously very different than mine!"
"Guys! Can you not fight?! We're trying to save the town from a giant plant--" Sammy said, then stopped himself, realizing that Cody was obviously avoiding saying what the danger was. Seb, conversely to the dire subject, began laughing.
Between fits of laughter, Seb asked,"You mean to tell me... That this evil, terrible, dangerous thing that we're trying to save the entire town from... Is a plant? Cody, you really have lost your mind."
"I'm serious, Seb! This is a monster, not just a plant!" Cody yelled, enraged.
"A monster? You're telling me a plant is a monster?" Seb asked, still laughing.
"Get your head in the game, Seb! That plant is gonna kill us all if we're not careful!" In an impulsive moment of anger, probably not the best timing, Cody pulled out his vaccine and splashed it in Seb's face. Seb reached out, probably to use some form of violence towards Cody, especially since the look on Seb's face was pure fury.

Suddenly, his face softened. His hand slowly retracted and Seb's face was a picture of regret and guilt all fused together. Sloane looked mad now, and she lunged for the bag Cody kept his vaccines. Ok, so, Cody thought, apparently, possessed people do NOT like their fellow possessed people being un-possessed. In a rush, Cody splashed the vaccine into Sloane's face. Sloane jumped back with an inhuman screech and started clawing her face.

What's weird, Cody observed, is that every person had a different reaction to the vaccine. Sloane clawed at her face, Seb looked like he was about to literally kill Cody, and Sammy had just reacted in a bit of an annoyed surprise. Cody suspected it had to do with how long they had been infected. Sloane had probably been infected for a while, so maybe the disease slowly drained humanity. What if, once you had it long enough, you stopped having humanity? What if, at that point, you just became possessed all day every day? That would explain Sloane's utter loss of a human reaction, hers was more of an animal-like instinct to get it away. Seb's was more human, but slightly overruled by violence. Sammy's reaction was more human than either of the other's, just annoyance at having something thrown in his face. It was a decent theory.

Once Sloane calmed down and returned to humanity, she stared at her hands in an odd mix of disgust and awe. Seb looked at her face for one second then hugged her. Cody didn't understand why, but Sloane did. She melted into the hug and wrapped her arms around him in return.

"Hey," Cody said, "hate to ruin the moment, but um, we have a town to save."
"Oh... Yeah, um..." Seb stuttered, pulling away from Sloane. Sloane muttered something to him.

Suddenly, a tall blonde burst into the room.
"What the--" he started, upon seeing everyone.
"Um..." Sammy said, at a loss of words to explain.
"Well? What's the big deal?" The guy asked, and Cody assumed he was Micah.
"Uh... The Mother," Sammy informed him. Sammy was short, but not super short. He looked like an ant next to what Cody assumed to be a few inches taller than 6 foot Micah.
"The Mother? Sammy, why do you have to get involved in this?" Micah snapped.
"It's my town just as much as it is yours," Sammy countered.
"It's not about pride for the town! This is about me asking you not to get involved! It's about you!"
"I don't need your protection! I'm a legal adult and I'm perfectly capable to protect myself!"
"Whatever. I guess you're right, it's none of my business." Still, something told Cody that wouldn't stop him from trying to... protect? Sammy.
"It's not. I don't even know you. Stay out of my life."
"Will do."
Cody stepped in front of the massive dude, feeling self-aware as he splashed the vaccine into his face. He looked annoyed.

"What the heck was that for?" He asked, sounding furious.
"Um... It was a vaccine. For uh, y'know, the possession going around," Cody muttered.
"Oh. Um, thanks, I guess. A warning would've been nice though..." Micah said.
"Sorry," Cody apologized, "at least you won't be suspectible to it now."

With that, the final member of the group walked through the door.
"Hey Sammy, Cody, Seb," Braylen greeted, hands in his pockets, looking casual as ever. He didn't get very far, though, before he was splashed with a vile liquid.
"Thanks," he muttered sarcastically, wiping it off his face, but not in the same inhuman way Sloane did.
"Sorry. Precautions. It's pretty nasty out here. Lots of... Um... Sickness going around," Cody reasoned.
"Yeah, but did you have to splash it in my face?" Braylen asked.
"Sorry," Cody apologized again.
"It's fine, I guess," Braylen said, continuing his greetings. He hugged Sammy, then stood beside him. The rest of the group looked at Braylen, puzzled. He was acting so casual for having to save the town. Cody shot a what-did-you-tell-him look towards Sammy. In return, Sammy gave Cody a small shrug. What in the world did Sammy say to make Braylen so casual about coming to a secret lab?

"So..." Cody started. He figured he had to give some kind of pep talk, a reveal about why they were here. "I figure you're all kind of confused about why we're in a lab--"
Seb cut him off, not meaning to be impolite, with an, "I'm sorry for giving you such a hard time about that. It was a stupid impulse. I should've seen that you were doing things for the greater good all along..."
"Seb, it's fine. You weren't... You. Anyways, the reason we're here is that... Well, I've chosen you to save the town of StrangerVille. So basically there's this giant evil plant downstairs and its goal, I'm pretty sure, is either to put the entire town under her twisted control or murder everyone."
"What?" Braylen asked, a tinge of fear in his voice.
"Um..." Cody replied.
"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Braylen asked, rightfully skeptical.
"Ask anyone else in this room," Cody said.
"Sammy?" Braylen asked, looking up at him like a scared child. Sammy nodded.
"Seb?" Braylen said, and in return Seb nodded slowly, his eyes saying "he's telling the truth". Braylen just stared at the far wall, trying to soak it all in.

"So, we're gonna have to fight her. You guys are my recruits. Who's in?" Cody asked. Everyone in the group responded with a "me".
"Ok, well... I've already vaccinated you all. So... I guess all that's left is to defeat the mother." Cody pointed out.

Well, this was it. They were going to finish her off. All of Cody's work had led up to this moment.

He felt ready.

A/N:
Hello all you wonderful beans💖 I finally finished this chapter, so here yall go✨ friendly reminder to vote if you enjoyed :D i'm sorry for being so bad at getting chapters out, but i'm so close to finishing this and a lot was going on with school ending and stuff but its finally summer break! 🔥🔥 I'll probably be able to be more consistent and I'll try to be!

Byeeeeee,
💖newbloodred✨