Whatever It Takes: Mutations

Chapter Four

The Journal

Fallout: September 30th, 12:23pm

Current Location: Baltimore, MD
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Navarez was probably the one that was affected the most by Sgt. Brown hiding his bite. I kept an eye on him without making it too obvious. He stopped talking, he stopped making the small jokes that made us smile. He didn't even ask me if I wanted to work out in the facility with him this morning (which I almost always did). Navarez claimed that he wanted to be by himself, which I respected. I didn't tell him this, but he started to worry me a little. I could only stay back and help Dad inspect the bite on Sgt. Brown and keep an eye on the kids.

"Here Jeremy, use this to rip his sleeve off," Dad said as he struggled to lift the sleeve. He started to hand me a knife, but he took it back. "Better yet, just unbutton his shirt. It'll make it easier."

I started to unbutton his shirt, trying not to feel super awkward about it. Dad lifted him up enough to where he could rip it off of him. Sgt. Brown was definitely in shape, besides the scratches and scars littering his body. The bite absolutely stood out among the other smaller wounds he had. Dad sighed and shook his head. "Why didn't he tell us? We could've helped him."

I remembered something he said a couple of hours ago. "Maybe this happened before we met him, I'm not sure."

He was quiet for a while before he picked up the rubbing alcohol and a cotton ball. Dad poured some on it and gently placed it on the bite. It started to fizz up as Dad continued to clean the wound for infection. It was surprisingly satisfying to watch.

"I still don't understand, though," I said, going back into thought. Dad glanced at me. "If he was bitten a long time ago, why isn't he already a Regular?"

He shook his head and sighed. "I wish I had an answer. The only thing that comes to mind is that there's a chance he might be somehow immune to it. I'm not sure."
He sighed and stood up. "Let him rest for now. When he wakes up, we'll get some answers, I promise."

He said that as if he was completely sure of it, which I knew he probably was. I followed Dad out of the bedroom and back into the living room where I found the kids, who seemed to be reading something. Mostly out of curiosity, I walked up to them to find out what it was.

"What're you two reading?"

Olivia looked up at me with a thoughtful expression. "One of Sgt. Brown's journals. It talks about a lot of Air Force stuff and fights with people and zombies."

Braxton nodded in confirmation. "You should read it if you're still trying to figure out where the bite came from."

He closed it and slid it over to me. I picked it up and examined the cover. It read: "Vol. 1."

"Huh, so there might be more of these," I mumbled to myself, but something came to mind. "Should we really be reading this? It's kind of personal invasion of privacy..."

"Do you want to find out where that bite came from?" asked Olivia. "That's how you find out, I'm sure."

I sighed and nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

Opening the book, I took notice of a few pages being torn out, and some even with dried up blood on them. That made me even more concerned. I silently began to read the first page.

"I'm currently in Savannah [Georgia] right now on a evacuation mission. It's extremely hot and humid, and I'm already exhausted and tired. Nothing too major has happened so far, and I hope nothing bad will happen. As of now, the zombies are still contained in Florida, for all I know. I have to sign off, wish me luck."