BRRRRRRIIIIIIIINNGGG!!!
Nyla cracked her eyes open in disdain as grey light poured into her iris, her brow scrunched in discomfort as the provoking sound of the alarm rang in her ears, the apartment and rooms resounding off the walls and into the deserted hallways were activity had ceased months ago.
Nyla could hear the shuffling of feet of other occupants on her floor as they too were roused by the blasphemous sound. Nyla took comfort in their awkward shuffling and mumbles.
Sometimes it was easy to forget that there were others.
It was always just her in her room.
After all, going outside without permission was forbidden.
Bzzt.
The flatscreen on the wall turned on automatically, the screen turning white as a woman in full protective gear and a tablet appeared, the image solemn regardless of the bright music.
"Goodmorning America! This is Government funded CBC19 Channel with the latest news about the SCRTS virus! the cure development for the virus has finally kicked off again after the 1 month-long hiatus due to one of the researchers getting infected and other self quarantining themselves due to saftey procedures. Scientists say that the cure is on the way and for citizens of the world to stay put and stay safe! Current government restriction of outdoor activities is the best way to make sure that the virus doesn't spread any further."
Nyla sighed, its been over half a year, how much longer would she have to stay in her room, she hasn't seen her dad in ages. Is he okay with mom gone? She was one of the first cases. Nyla could still remember it as if it were yesterday.
What seemed to have been a normal seasonal flu turned so much worse. It had already been har, hearing her mom cough like there was no tomorrow.
Then came the look of horror and dismay her father showed over the face time when blood trickled out of the corner of his wife's mouth and the frantic screeches of his daughter as she cut the call to call an ambulance.
He always seemed tired in their calls now. Smiling but not really there. Nyla was glad he wasn't there to see his wife's last moments.
Nyla wished she wasn't either.
She was okay in the beginning. They never let Nyla enter the room and had her talk to her mom through a glass partition. Every time she went to visit, there was something missing. First, it was the little brow quirk that her mom was famous for, then came the little lift of her lips when she smiled, the tiny dimple at the bottom left corner of her mouth, the nose scrunch when she laughed. Then finally, one day, she wasn't there at all, eyes glazed over, looking and staring right through everything, not saying a word. It was no longer Nyla's mom, no longer John Marx's wife, and no longer Emily Marx.
Acacia, they said, as if it was the answer to everything. Apparently it attaches itself to the brain like a leech and makes the host do its bidding. Emily Marx was gone, only the damned plant left with her body, her face, her hair, her eyes, her smile.
Then the plant started behaving weirdly, weird jerks here and there, words blurred and rigid as if it was trying to understand speech. It would do anything to survive said the researchers who came in to examine it, because Emily Marx was no longer a 'her'.
Nyla was examined too, but they couldn't find anything, her dad was restricted from getting into contact with her or the plant and he had to cancel his plane tickets. At least he got a refund for those.
The hostess cleared her throat before continuing," Unfortunately, there are a total of 15,000 new cases worldwide in the past 6 hours, most of them being centered around a small city in north-west Italy. In an unprecedented accident, an infected has escaped from a treatment facility in downtown Harrington. Residents of Harrington, Iowa are asked to keep their windows locked and ventilators on safety mode..."
SKSKSKKRTTTT!!!!!!
Nyla jumped, ran over to her balcony window, turning her ventilators on safety mode on the way. She quickly clicked all of her locks into place making sure that none of them were open. The pipeline to the side of her balcony rattled.
Breathe, Nyla, Breathe.
A pale hand shot into her plane a sight grasping the edges of her balcony, flaying around trying to get a better grip. Nyla shuddered, turning away.
A shadow loomed in front of her she slowly turned around, a young man was eating off of her dead plants, it turned around to look at her and walked towards the french doors before wrapping at the glass, tilting its head in what seemed to be acknowledgment breathing a small puff onto the doors before hopping on top the railing and jumping off.
Thud.
Nyla sighed before going into a fit of coughs. She gasped, trying to calm herself giving a little laugh. She walked towards the table grabbing her phone calling 911.
'Hello?'
'Hello, this is *cough* a resident of Fornwall street in Harrington, I would *cough* like to report the infected to have been in this location."
'Thank you for your information miss, our team will be in the area in a few minutes."
"Yes *cough*"
Nyla sighed, coughing into her hands a few more times frowning at the wetness the applied itself onto her hands. She reached out to get some sanitizer before freezing.
Red.
Her hands were covered in red.
