Vial #127

Chapter 11: No Home for Tomorrow

"Oh, my God!" I shriek. Darryl comes rushing in at the source of the noise. "You're awake!" I express my gratefulness and help Olivia gently sit up.

"What happened?" she asks, her voice genuinely unaware of the recent events.

"You were bit," her eyes widen scanning her body for the puncture wound.

"But we gave you the cure." I say, her face contorts in confusion.

"There's a cure?" her eyes widen in hope that other loved ones can be saved.

"It's still in testing but you're the first to have it ever work. You came back." Tears spring up in her eyes after Darryl tells her the news. It's amazing just to see her eyes alive and human once more. I can't even imagine what she's feeling. The first ever to be brought back, to survive.****

Darryl places some antibiotics on the wound, disinfecting it from a reoccurring infection. We still have no idea that after you have been cured, if you can get infected again. Olivia asks for some water and a moment later Darryl comes with a small cup, tipping it up and into her mouth.

"Where's Zoe?" Olivia asks. Her voice is frantic. I'm guessing that Zoe is a close friend or sister.

"When our group found you, you were alone, no one else was with you. I'm sorry." Her face falls and she tries to cover hold her emotions in check. Instead she lets out a ragged sob. Her breathing is forced and uneven, leaving her gasping for air. I wrap a hand around her shoulder and try to comfort her until the crying stops.

I ask permission to go back upstairs to talk to Aiden. Darryl nods and I hurdle up the steps, and back down the hallway to find Aiden reading a book. "If I had know the world was going to end, I would've packed better books," I say, the novel he's reading was one I had with me the day everything fell apart in my neighbourhood.

"It's fine, anything nonviolent is nice these days." We all just want to escape from this life. He smiles and I walk over, sitting next to him, "Where have you been?"

"Well," my voice cracks with excitement. He looks at me with anticipation and I continue. "Darryl and I were down in his lab and we brought someone back. Her name is Olivia."

Aiden's face turns to disbelief. I nod to confirm that it is true. He wraps his arms around me in a friendly way, expressing his emotion. For once I let myself reflect on what has just happened. I don't fully trust it. It can't actually be happening. There can't be a cure; I couldn't have helped in the making of this. Could this really be the end of biters?

Just as I start to finally relax and trust the events, there are shouts from down the hall. I get up, alarmed at the abrupt yelling of panic. "Aiden, grab everything, be ready to go." I pull open the door in confusion. A hoard of biters is rushing down the hallway. They just passed our room and I step out.

Sadie, Jackson and Will soon stumble out of a crammed supplies closet. "Come here," I mouth to them after checking either end of the hallway. When they come in, I explain the situation to Aiden.

"We're under attack."

"There are nearly a dozen biters."

"Stephanie and Michael were bit. There was nothing we could do," The three survivors each give their report agonizing over the losses.

I pass out weapons to all three of them as well as to Aiden and myself. The stench of rotting bodies soon wafts into the air and I cover my mouth with the bed sheets, trying to cleanse the air.

"We have to leave. Take what you can carry and only what you need," I order. The group reorganizes and soon everyone is weighed down with weapons, water and food.

Cautiously, I open the door; the hallway is empty. My hand raises up to issue the group forward. There are puddles of blood splattered on the floor next to ripped flesh. There's a smear where a biter dragged a half eaten person. I stay close to the walls and strategically pass blind corners. Just as we near the exit, there's a faint call coming from the other direction. I order the group to stay back as I investigate.

When I turn the corner, Darryl is lying on the floor. His torso is bitten open, revealing his internal organs. His legs are merely bone connected to his waist. "Take this," he holds up a black leather journal and a metal case, "Use it wisely." His voice breaks down a level.

"Darryl, I- I can use the cure on you, just wait," I plead, recognizing that what he is passing over to me is all his scientific research. Without him, there would be no cure.

"Emma, look at me; I'm already half eaten. Even someone who has had as much experience in medicine as me couldn't save anyone in my condition," he looks up to me, his eyes glowing like always. "Emma, you have to finish the cure. Without you, humanity has no hope. I've written down everything in that journal." He grips my hand, looking up at my face, "Shoot me... do it, right now!" I nod, realizing that he has no chance of surviving. I quickly raising my gun holding it up to his forehead.

"Darryl, I have no idea how to do this," he closes his eyes peacefully.

"You just do it. Don't worry; it will be fast. I'll go to a better place." He assures me resting his hands over his chest, evening his breathing. His skin is bleached from the lack of blood. His heart beats and crimson liquid pours out of his torso in a pulsing rhythm.

"Is there anything else that I need to know?" I ask, my eyes fill with tears causing his to do the same.

"Just stay strong, keep going, there's always light at the end of the tunnel." With that, he closes his eyes, mouthing, "just do it." I pull the trigger and a loud bang echoes through hallway. I don't have time to reflect on what I've just done.

Immediately, a swarm of biters emerges from around the hallway. I attempt to slide Darryl's body into a safe zone where he'll pass in peace but the hoard is coming onto me too fast. Instead, I force his body into the crowd. Aiden rushes around the corner and for a brief moment his face is frozen in shear astonishment. I turn away from Darryl's body and grab Aiden's hands, rushing back to the group. I feel awful knowing that I have distracted the biters from my living flesh with his body. I turn around, ignoring the violent sound of Darryl being ripped apart by soulless, mindless biters.