Not Part of the Plan

Chapter 5

"J̶̤͎͈͓̒̏e̷̦͇͛͗̔̊ş̶̖͉͛̓̀̿ǔ̵̳̻̩͆̄̔s̶͇̙̞̫̿, doc, watch where you're poking that thing, would you?" Anti flinched as Henrik continued to stitch up the gaping hole in his ankle. Truth be told, it wasn't working very well, but Henrik was stubborn- he wasn't letting himself get beat over a bite wound.

"Yes, yes," he dismissed. "Almost done, mein friend." Lie.

"No more going out until this heals," Chase said in his fatherly tone. "You're already in a state with that bite as it is. You need to rest up if you're going to fight this thing."

"Chase, I don't need babied-" Anti began, but seeing his stern stare and Jameson's concerned featured behind him, he softened. "Fine," he agreed reluctantly. "Just... don't leave me alone too much, please?"

His sudden shift in tone made everyone a little concerned, but they agreed nonetheless. Jameson discreetly gave Anti a small smile and a little wave, which Anti appreciated a lot. Jameson was like a lifeline to him right now. When had he grown so attached?

Jackie caught this. "Maybe Jameson should take first watch," he suggested. "Chase can watch over Marvin while Henrik checks me over, then we can switch, and Henrik can finally get some proper sleep. How does that sound?"

Everyone gave some sort of approval except Henrik, so was intensely focussed on trying to stitch up the wound on Anti's ankle. Clearly, it wasn't working.

"I may need to patch zhis Anti, zhe stitches are not enough. Zhis bite... it is doing somezhing to your skin," he explained. "Don't move, I vill be right back." With that, he stood up, abandoning his tools on a banged-up metal tray that was on the floor beside him, and walked out of the tent.

"We should go too, bros," Chase said. "We don't need to crowd doc while he works, and someone has to go check on Marvin," he reasoned, then turned to Jackie. "And you need to go rest. You took some hard hits out there," he said, his fatherly tone setting in.

Anti subtly reached out for Jameson, who felt his touch and nodded curtly. It was a small gesture, but it reassured Anti that he wasn't going to be left alone again, and for that he was grateful. There was also the matter of the talk he said he wanted to have with the mute, but at this point in time that was pushed to the back of his mind. He just wanted some company, and reassurance that he wasn't going to die.

Not like this.

Henrik came back just as the others were leaving, a big white gauze patch in his hand along with some more sterile stitch strips and thread. "Alright, Anti, let's get you fixed up, ja?"

***************************************************************************

Around forty minutes later, he was leaving Jackie's tent. He was ordered bed rest for the night to let his bruises and scrapes heal over properly, and Anti was ordered indefinite rest. He wasn't allowed to leave is tent for anything strenuous, which he hated, but Henrik assured him it was for his own good.

Jameson will make sure he stays in that bed, he thought to himself. He yawned. Perhaps I should head to bed myself...

But Rick's sample...

He didn't go and rest earlier when Jackie told him to at all. He walked past his lab where the zombie Rick was caged and couldn't resist, spending hours extracting tissue and rotten teeth and hair, all for a chance at maybe finding out what sort of disease this "zombie virus" really was. He still had a few more samples to test before they decomposed completely.

It will be a waste of time if I don't...

But you need sleep.

But I could save everyone!