CORONA

Day 5

Day 5

KIANA

The sounds of high pitched screams sends me running blindly out of my room.

My eyes fully snap awake when I turn the grey, rounded walls, unsure of where to go. The screams have stopped. Bright lights from a room on the left guides me and I run inside before coming to a halt.

Tiana is holding a long metal rod against Charlie's neck, who's choking on the bed and clawing at Tiana's face. Somehow the scratches doesn't faze her as she leans further in and presses the weapon further down.

I run and shove her aside, sending the rod clattering to the ground. "What the fuck! You're good?" I ask breathlessly. Charlie is still clutching her throat, trying to regain breath again. She squeezes her eyes shut and nods quickly, her chest heaving rapidly.

Suddenly, a sharp pain erupts from the back of my head and it takes me a second too long to realize that Tiana had hit me while I was distracted. I stumble to the side before righting myself.

I turn to face her. "What the hell?" She has the virus. It must be. Her eyes are glittering strangely with excitement and intensity, her breathing ragged despite only hitting me with a metal.

She swings at me, but I grab the rod on either side and try to push her off balance.

Tiana yanks it towards her instead, sending me stumbling into her. She grabs my hair and pushed me against the wall and the pain of He impact shoots up my spine.

The look in her eyes freezes me in place. She's smiling, but her eyes are cold and empty, almost hallow. Before I can speak, the iron bar presses up against my neck and I choke out in surprise.

She's stronger than she looks. I feel the heels of my feet slightly lifting off the floor and I hit her face in an attempt to derail her; she barely responds to my fist. I try to pry away the bar from my neck, but her grip tightens and I feel my throat closing in on itself.

Tears spring to my eyes as I thrash against it, the need to breath at the fore of my brain. My mind knows it's only making it worse, but my body has gone to survival mode and has forgotten to listen to orders.

My breathing turns erratic, to deep, and then shallow. My grip against the rod loosens involuntarily, my body writhing to be free or shut down entirely.

The sounds around me starts to fade and my vision appears saturated, slowly turning white.

Suddenly, I'm on the floor trying to gasp for breath, but the ghost of the bar slowly squeezing against my throat makes it impossible. My head hits the floor as I clutch my throat. Charlie appears and visibly takes a deep breath, and I'm reminded to do the same.

When my vision clears and my breathing becomes somewhat less ragged, I look up to see everyone crowded around the room, those who aren't in direct view of the doors peering through the glass window. Jared's arms are around Tiana, who's fighting against him despite his strong grip.

"She's infected!" Elijah yells. "Kill her!"

"Are you crazy?" Jared yells back. Tiana is struggling to loosen his grip, but Jared isn't budging.

"What do we do with her, then?" Someone asks.

"Let me go," Tiana growls. Without warning, she starts scratching at her arms viciously in deep concentration.

It takes us a few seconds to realize what she's doing when the first drops of blood appears on her arm.

"Jared, kill her! Kill her!" Charlie yells, scrambling back behind me. I stand to my feet and walk backwards, but the mass of bodies doesn't allow me to get far.