I'm Not Dead

[ C H . 1 6 ]

Casting update: 
Willa Holland as Meredith Culver 
Matthew McConaughey as Greyson Maneli (Dad)
Lena Headey as Nora Thompson-Maneli (Mom)
Kit Harrington as Gabe 

~~~~~~

Eleanor got the first fever.

Evie began burning up second, followed by Lorenzo thirty minutes later.

Mateo and I got ours last.

A doctor drew a sample of our blood upon arrival.

He took a large syringe's worth from four of us, but took only a small sample from Eleanor because needles make her faint.

The ride in the chopper had been hell.

We were crammed in with twenty other people, mostly soldiers, and they cuffed us. My mother did her best to comfort us, especially Mateo, but the five of us were destined for a fate no amount of hugs could deter. We were going to die. The Commander, Commander Davis as we shortly found out, made sure we understood that. According to their reports, every single person had died within a day of getting bitten.

An unbreaking fever was the first indication your downward spiral had begun.

Since none of us had fevers until we got to the CDC facility in Harrisburg Pennsylvania, Commander Davis gracefully decided not to muzzle us. I was glad he came to that decision on his own because I had no doubt my mother would push him out of the chopper if he tried. I could tell by her sharp intakes of breath she was fighting to bite her tongue. I think she was trying to maintain her composure for Alice, who slept underneath her arm for the duration of our hour and a half trip.

She woke up for a short time when we landed a few miles away from the CDC only to fall asleep again on the car ride. I wanted to hold Alice, to comfort her, to make her promises that she'd be fine without me but all I could do with my bound wrists was look out the window. 

Harrisburg wasn't as bad as Manhattan, however, plenty of precautions had already been implemented to halt the spread of whatever was coming. Whispers about Philadelphia having been compromised passed through the car, as did murmurs about other large cities getting overwhelmed.

I couldn't stop thinking about those hushed whispers as I adjusted the pillow behind my back. Two hours after landing, we were all finally in a bed, but sleep wasn't coming for any of us. After getting stitches (which I thought was a waste of time), water, a decent meal, and a change of clothes, they stuffed all of us into the five beds they set up for us in the isolation room.

My fever made me warm from the shoulders up, while the rest of my body was cold. Even with the incredible amount of pain killer they gave me for my bite, I still felt my swollen skin throbbing. Or maybe I was imagining it? I couldn't tell. I wanted to ask my mom if I might be hallucinating, but she was in a different part of the building with Alice, probably trying to explain what was happening. She should be back soon though.

Hearing a faint whimper, I looked over to see Mateo weakly sitting up in his bed, tears streaming down his red face. "I'm scared, I don't want to die," he sniffled. "I want to finish Final Fantasy. I'm almost done with it, I had a lot of trouble with it but now I'm good at," his heavy breathing shifted to hiccups from him choking on sobs. "What if hell is real? I don't want to go to hell."

Sitting up weakly, Eleanor kicked off her blue covers and white sheets before slipping out of her bed. "You're not going to hell Mateo," she said, staggering over to him then. "Move over."

After Mateo scooted over on his bed, Eleanor laid down next to him and wrapped an arm around him. She was quiet then, attempting to catch her breath as Mateo curled into her side. Even though his tears didn't cease, I could tell the gesture comforted him. I didn't blame him for being scared, I was scared to, but I couldn't process it. My mind was foggy from my increasing body temperature, sleep deprivation, and my worries about Alice.