irene was busy typing away in a dark room.
nothing else illuminated the emptiness except the bright screen of the computer, where various letters and numbers flew across. fingers moved across the keyboard quickly, dancing to a rhythm that only she knew. loud music blasted through her headphones, drowning out whatever sounds was in the room, immersing her more in her work and focusing on nothing else.
but all this was starting to take a toll on her. her head ached, eyes hurt, fingers sore from all the typing, but she didn't mind it. she was used to it anyway, what she was doing was more important. even though she wanted to take a break so badly, her body wouldn't let her. so she didn't.
she blows the stray strand of hair from her face, and continued working.
but the lights suddenly turned on, flooding the previous dark room with bright light. irene squinted, her eyes used to dark. she removes her headphones and places it down beside her laptop, "who the fuck turned on the lights?" irene hissed.
"ugh, it's so dirty here, how can you stay in a place like this?" a voice called out in disgust. irene didn't need to turn around to know who it was, she knew him well enough, unfortunately.
"val, i swear to god, i'll kill you the next time you barge in here." irene threatened, turning around to try and face the boy, but the lights still burned her eyes.
"kill me? yeah right. you'll die first with how dirty it is in here." val retorted. another voice joined in,
"dwight wanted us to check on you, in case you already died in here." it belonged to a girl, and irene even smirked when she recognized it.
"pinky? is that you? why are you here?" she snickered, and she could also hear a chuckle come from val.
the girl groaned, "i told you not to call me that. for the last time, it's kriztin! it doesn't mean i like pink, you can call me pinky!"
"sure, pinky." val teased.
irene's eyes finally adjusted to the light, and they were right, the lab was a mess. empty cup noodles littered the counter, some falling on the floor. half-finished water bottles cluttered her desk, and coffee cups from all nights she stayed up working were strewn across the floor. she was surprised herself with how much rubbish was in here.
"how long were you holed up in here?" val asked, treading across the trash on the floor to get to irene, with kriztin close behind him.
irene shaked her head, "i don't know, a week?"
val finally reached irene, standing beside her. "a week? it looks like you were here for a month. it's like the room of a shut in weeb." he scoffs.
irene flips him off, rolling her eyes. "if you're only here to insult me, then you can leave. i dont need people interrupting me on my work."
kriztin finally stood next to val, successfully not tripping from all the trash. "like i said, dwight wanted to ask how's it going."
"how's what going?" irene raises her eyebrow.
"you know what i mean, the vaccine."
"right, the vaccine." val crosses his arms, "i can't believe that even though this fucking shitfest just started, we already have a cure for it. damn, thank god that this girl right here is a fucking mastermind." he grins, slinging an arm around irene. "anything i'll give so i can be as smart as you."
irene falls silent, looking down on the floor. suddenly becoming interested on the candy wrapper on the floor and fiddling with her fingers anxiously. val looks at irene, only to see her crest-fallen expression.
val frowns, removing his arm from irene, "why are you suddenly all quiet? is the vaccine on the floor?"
"no- it's just that..." she trails off, hanging her head lower. she mumbles something under her breath, but it was barely audible.
kriztin looks at val worriedly, who shared the same expression back. she turns back to irene, "what happened?"
"aykwanfyinavecsin-"
val laughs, "dude, we can't understand you-"
"I CANT FIND A VACCINE!" she bursts in anger, the other two jumping in surprise. irene turns in her swivel chair, facing her laptop, refusing to look at the two anymore. the other two froze, certainly not expecting the grim news.
"you're joking right?" val chuckles, refusing to accept the announcement.
"what do you mean you can't find a vaccine? i thought you just had a breakthrough?" kriztin steps closer to irene.
"well, i apparently didn't." she says, clenching her fists on her lap tightly. "i didn't, okay? reverse engineering a vaccine from the virus itself didn't work. i tried everything to make it work, but it won't. i stayed up all for- i don't even know how long anymore- and nothing works!" she throws her hands in the air in exasperation.
"im fucking screwed. dwight invested so much into my research, and if he knows that i fucked up, then i might as well be dead." she grabs her head in frustration, tears threatening to spill down her face.
she wasn't angry that she couldn't find a vaccine, she was even angry at all. she was scared. scared of dwight, scared of what he'll do when he finds out that she turned up with nothing. scared to face him and explain to him why she failed. because the last time someone failed him...
irene looks up to the figure encased behind the wall of glass. she forgot that it was even there, because she was too caught up in her work. the figure that was moving slowly, dragging its feet as it wandered around the room. its hands jiggled rapidly, fingers that were like leaves in the wind, rustling wildly. its eyes that were milky white, that you could be sure that it couldn't see anything. and its mouth, opened wide, but you couldn't hear if any sound was coming from it through the glass wall.
val and kriztin follow her gaze, and their look darkens as well. especially kriztin, who covers her mouth with her hand to prevent a scream from coming out, tears starting to from in the corner of her eyes. she looks away from the shambling corpse or she might vomit her lunch right there.
val walks up next to irene, "im going to take kriztin outside. but before you we do, i want to tell you something."
she didn't say anthing, so he took this as a sign to continue. "leader told us that we were going for a supply run to the city, the one near the residential neighborhood. so, um, if you want to come with us, i'll ask him. im sure he'll allow it. plus, i reckon you could do some fresh air."
irene nods, "i'll think about it."
val takes kriztin out of the lab, and irene swear that she could hear her crying. when they were finlly out, irene gets up from her seat, she didn't know why, maybe to get a closer look on it, she wasn't sure. it definitely noticed her, because its eyes locked with hers, and it ran towards irene, but was blocked by the glass. she jumped a little, still not used to a corpse running to you.
she was close enough to hear the low guttural groan from it, and it sent shivers down her spine. it clawed on the glass, trying to bite through the glass and get to irene. she felt scared, but she also felt pity. her chest clenched at the once human before her. irene believed that even though it was trying to eat her, she thinks that there must be some humanity left inside it. some spark that was still trying to keep itself alive through the darkness.
it was a gift from dwight. he told her that it was going to be her test subject for the vaccine, to help her make it. but irene could feel nothing but dread everytime she looked at it. because it wasn't a gift to her, it was a warning. that if she failed, this was going to be her fate. it was a reminder of her future.
irene placed her hand against the cold glass that was smeared with blood, "im so sorry he did this to you."
it continued to bang against the glass, and irene was scared that maybe it was going to break it. several cracks were already forming, but she didn't mind it. maybe, she'll be killed by it instead of a bullet through her head.
"im so sorry, kriztel."
