ANGEL FACE ➵ DARYL DIXON [2]

Chapter Fourteen: Red Flower

Chapter 14

"THEN HE LOOKED AT HER AS IF SHE WAS THE SUN, THE MOON, AND THE STARS COMBINED."

***

"I know a cure," is the words Eugene spat out of his mouth, everyone agruing about if the rest of the group don't make it back.

It surely shut their mouths, attention on the man who has just formed a sentence they never thought they would be hearing. Ever. Cure? What cure? So many questions multiplied, becoming bigger and bigger. Silence lingered for a moment, then Kenny spoke.

"What are you yapping on about?" He says with harshness, Abraham and Rosita even having a reaction to Kenny.

The group were sat quietly, only listening to the destruction that was happening outside of the train car. It was like you where at the movies, the red curtain still covering the screen while it played in the background due to technical difficulties. Eugene was fiddling with his thumbs, his legs bobbing up and down trying to keep his stress low because of his anxiety attacks he sometimes gets. He hasn't had one since he was a young boy, having a weak heart and he was made sit out during soccer or any other physical activities.

The apocalypse? If he didn't have one when he first heard about it on the news (which happened), then he thought to himself he'll never have one.

When he was a young boy, the first one he had was when his father died. He hasn't been the same since. It's left a tattoo on his skin, literally, the cursive writing on his shoulder reading, "Paul."

His mother, god rest her beautiful soul too, tried to calm him down, Eugene absolutely hysterical. He didn't understand. He didn't know why his father had his eyes closed and wasn't moving. He began to tremble, sweating profusely, and eyesight dimming. His heart felt like it was on fire, then he hit the floor, his mother crying out for someone to help her - at her husband's funeral.

Now, he was starting to get the same symptoms as his first attack. Overthinking, it makes it worse, not knowing what to reply to Kenny as he stares at him with his one eye. He can feel the frustration build and build. Sighing, he turns his head, nodding with his back turned to allow Abraham, his only friend in the world, to elaborate.

"We have to get this man to Washington," he simply says, but it was far from simple. He turns his face that could be made of stone over to Eugene, encouraging him to continue.

"I was part of a ten-person team at the Human Genome Project to weaponize diseases to fight weaponized diseases," he begins to explain, "pathogenic microorganisms with pathogenic microorganisms. Fire with fire. Interdepartmental drinks were had, relationships made, information shared. I am keenly aware of all the details behind fail-safe delivery systems to kill every living person on this planet. I believe with a little tweaking on the terminals in DC, we can flip the script. Take out every last dead one of them. Fire with fire."