ʏᴇʟʟᴏᴡ ∆ ᴄᴀᴇsᴀʀ ᴢᴇᴘᴘᴇʟɪ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ∆

∆ᴛʜɪʀᴛʏ∆

“Where the hell is he?” I demanded, storming towards Speedwagon.

“He’s down here. But you can’t-” Speedwagon was cut off when I grabbed him and shoved him aside. I’d have to apologize later. Right now, my little brother was more important.

“Y/n! Stop!” Caesar yelled after me, racing to catch up to me. I looked through each room, searching for Daniel until I found him. I went to open the door but was stopped. I looked down and saw a keylock above the handle.

“You can’t go in there, Y/n,” Speedwagon said.

“Open the door,” I said, glaring harshly at me. I saw Daniel sit up in the bed, his gaze drifting towards us.

“I can’t.”

“It’s too dangerous for you to go inside,” Caesar said, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off and ignored his hurt look.

“Open. The. Goddamn. Door,” I said through grit teeth. “Or so help me god, I’ll break the fucking thing down.”

“Are you trying to get yourself fucking killed?” Joseph yelled, pushing my back against the door. I heard Daniel bang on the window. “If you go in there, there’s no telling what he’ll do. He could attack you.”

“He’s my brother,” I spat, grabbing Joseph’s wrist in an iron grip. I saw his eyes widen briefly. “I’m going in there.”

“Wha-” Speedwagon gasped as I swiped the keycard from his belt and swiped it across the pad before rushing inside and pulling the door shut. I heard Caesar yell my name before he pounded his hand on the door.

“Y-y/n,” Daniel gasped, backing up.

“Don’t even try with that, Daniel Lee,” I said, grabbing his face. I felt my heart sink into my chest when my hands touched his cold flesh.

“O-oi!” He yelped as I grabbed his upper lip and pulled it back, frowning at his pointy canine teeth. They weren't sharp yet, just curving to a point more than normal. “Y/n, could ya cut it out?” He asked as I looked into his eyes.

“Are you feeling okay?” I asked him.

“I feel fine,” He said, placing his hands into his jacket pockets. “Caesar just said that I had to stay in here until they could figure something out. I don’t feel any different than what I normally do.”

“That’s a good sign,” I muttered. “What about your appetite? Are you craving anything?”

“Not really,” He shrugged. “I’m not even hungry.”

“Have you eaten anything?” I asked him, to which he shook his head. “Here, sit down. I’m going to do a wellness exam.”

“Seriously? Right now?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes,” I said, searching through the cabinets. Thankfully, the room was set up just like a hospital, and I still had my stethoscope around my neck from work earlier. I grabbed a clipboard from the counter and took the pen from my pocket before walking to my brother. “I’m going to record your vital signs and keep track of them.”

His pulse was higher than normal; not enough to send him into cardiac arrest, but enough to know it wasn’t beating at a constant or relaxed pace. His blood pressure was high, the normal rate is anything lower than 120 over 80. Daniel’s was 109 over 57. This was in a hypotension state. His lungs also didn’t seem to fully expand when he took a deep breath. His oxygen levels more than likely fell around 85-90% at the moment. His skin was pale, unlike the normal tan he kept throughout the year, especially from working in the sun all day. The veins along his arms were visible, the green, blue and purple strings twisting up his arms.

“Y/n,” Daniel said softly, making me raise my head from where I’d been writing. Immediately, I felt my stomach swirl when I saw his face. His eyebrows were furrowed together, bottom lip trembling as tears pricked the corners of his eyes. I could see his hands shaking. “Am I going to die?”

“No,” I said quickly and harshly. “No, you aren’t. Don’t even think that for a second.” I walked towards him, sitting on the bed beside him as I pulled him into my arms. He turned and put his head on my shoulder, his body trembling as he clung to me.

“I...I don’t wanna t-turn,” He whimpered. “I-I don’t wanna die, Y/n.”

“You won’t, I promise,” I said to him, wrapping my arms around his shaking shoulders. “I swear to everything, Danny, I’m not going to let you die. I’ll reverse this damned curse, and I’ll get you back to normal. I’ll kill someone if I have to. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I don’t wanna turn into a monster,” He whispered, making my eyes widen, before softening at him.

We stayed like that for...I don’t know how long. But, Daniel had fallen asleep in my arms, tiring himself out with his tears. He quite literally cried himself to sleep. I slipped from his grasp, checking his vitals one last time before slipping from the room. I wandered through the halls in search of the others. I found them in a room, discussing something over a paper, pointing to different places.

Caesar looked up when he heard my footsteps. He pushed from the table, walking towards me. He didn’t say anything as he grabbed my arm and brought me into his chest. He placed his chin on the top of my head, heaving a sigh as he rested his arms around my waist.

“I’m sorry this is happening to you, Y/n,” He said.

“You don’t get it,” I whispered, narrowing my eyes into his chest.

“You’re right. I don’t,” He sighed. “But, I’d like to think I’d react the same way if something like that happened to my younger brothers or sisters.”

“I’m going to monitor him,” I said, pulling away from Caesar. "His vitals are abnormal. I thought he was given the antidote?"

"He was. It didn't work," Speedwagon said. "It worked on his friend, but not on Daniel."

"That doesn't make sense. Four years ago, I got the same antidote and it worked on me," I frowned.

"The antidote is only good to destroy the cells early on," Speedwagon said. "If the cells are already tainted and developing, then the antidote is virtually useless. The cells rebel against one another, spreading to the healthy cells like some sort of disease."

"We're pinning places where most sightings have been. Caesar and I are going to check out the most sighted place," Joseph said.

"I'm going too," I said.

"Cara, you're tired. You just got back from work," Caesar said.

"I'll be fine," I said.

"Don't fight with her, Caesar. It's no use,” Joseph said, digging into the pocket of his coat. “You spend a lot of time with her, you should know that.”

“Usually, it was you who didn’t want her doing any of this,” Speedwagon said.

“Y/n isn’t as helpless as we all thought she was,” He said, tossing something at me.

I quickly realized what they were, and caught the blades by the handles. I turned them in my hands, looking down at the shiny silver blades. Hamon sparked in my hands and washed across the surface. Markings, identical to the ones on my old blades, glowed across the silver blade.

I looked up to Joseph, tightening my grip on them. “Thanks,” I breathed, my shoulders relaxing.

“There’s more in the equipment room. I have some straps for them as well,” Speedwagon said, to which I nodded. I followed after him, pausing in the door when Caesar said my name. I looked over my shoulder at him.

“Prove me wrong. Prove to me that you aren’t helpless,” He said, green eyes flickering with the competition I’ve seen plenty of times before. I grinned widely.

“I plan on it.”