Only Human

Wandering

In the morning when they both woke up the meatball cat was still there. It-Jake- was packing up his hammock and the cat was laying on the grass grooming itself. Will realized that not only was the cat filthy, but it looked like it was rotting as well. One of its eyes was a cloudy gray color and the entire left side of its face seemed to be slanted downwards.
"Hey, um, Jake?"

"Yup,"

"Is your cat infected too?"

"Yeah," Will didn't say anything for a long time, and then said,

"How did you get infected? Like, what happe-"

"We don't really have to get to know each other. I'm just here to make sure you don't die," Jake snapped. Yeesh. Will made sure to shut up so as to not possibly get himself killed. Although Jake hadn't killed him yet, he still has every opportunity to.

And so they continued on their way of aimless wandering in the hopes of finding Camp 35c. Jake suggested that they go back to Mrs. Lewis's house and see if Will remembers the surrounding area. When they finally got there, Will did find some things familiar. So he led the way with Jake and Meatball following closely behind. After a day and a half of anticipation, Will finally saw the front gates of his home. He ran to it and found one of the gatekeepers in the watch watchtower. Stanley. Will knew he was in his late 20s and already balding. Beyond that, they had never really interacted.

"STANLEY!" Will yelled, excited to see someone other than a rotting corpse. Stanley looked up from his book, startled.
"Woah, Woah, who are you?"

"It's me, Will! I-I work in the kitchen! I gave you an extra pudding cup once?"

"Oh, hi Will," Stanley recognized him and said something into his radio that Will couldn't make out. He looked behind him expecting to find Jake, but to his surprise, there was nobody there. Not even Meatball. After a few minutes, he saw Heath and a couple of other guys that looked like scavengers approach the other side of the fence. They were muttering something out of earshot.

"Are you guys gonna let me in?" Will asked. Heath looked up at him.

"We have to make sure you weren't infected," he said. Infected? Will? That didn't make any sense, of course he wasn't infected. His skin was rosy with living, breathing blood. "Susan says she saw you last with a spore right behind you. And it touched you," Heath continued.

"No, but I wasn't infected," Will said, worried. He was beginning to get the frightening idea that they wouldn't let him in. But, to his relief, Heath whispered something up to Stanley and he pressed a button that opened the gate. But when Will walked forward to go inside, the two other scavengers that were with Heath pushed him back by his shoulders and he landed on his knees. 

"Woah what are you-," Will said, before he felt Heath's hand just under and behind his ear, pressing lightly. Feeling. He felt Will's chest next, presumably for a heartbeat, and then his forehead. 

"Okay guys he's clean," Heath said. But their grips on Will did not cease. Heath walked out of earshot, spoke something into his radio, and then walked back over.  Nothing was said for a few moments.

"What are you waiting for?" Will asked, cautiously. Heath didn't reply. Which was probably okay. After what seemed like forever, a pasty-looking man that Will recognized as one of the med bay physicians. He had what looked like a pen, no, a syringe. What?

"I-is that like a cure or s-ss-something?" Heath didn't say anything, but the scavenger holding Will's left shoulder leaned down to his ear and whispered,

"It was nice knowing you,"  That didn't sound good. Will watched as Phil approached with the syringe.  As he got closer, he heard him say under his breath to Heath,

"Do we really have to euthanize this one? He always gave me extra canned peaches at dinner,"

...what?

"You know the rules," Heath replied. The doctor looked at him, almost annoyed. He knelt down behind Will. 

"Wait, wait, wait! You guys I wasn't infected!" Will pleaded. His heart started beating faster as Phil stepped closer and closer.

Will felt his hand on his back and was swiftly forced to the ground. There was a stream of sweat coming from Will's forehead that slid all the way down his face and under his chin.

The doctor lifted the shirt on his back up to his head so his spine was exposed. Will started bucking his hips and kicking his legs, but the other two scavengers pinned them to the ground, and the doctor pushed his  knee down on Will's waist.

"No-NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS!" Will screamed, hoping it would be loud enough for someone inside the camp to hear and realize what they were doing in time to stop them.

"This might pinch a little bit," the doctor said. 

Will felt his cold hands on his back. He sucked one last breath in and accepted it as his last. He shut his eyes tight and prepared for darkness.