Vial #127

Chapter 18: Invasion of the Mind

         "She has to wake up," a desperate voice sounds out. My body feels weak, sweating out all of its power in a raging fever. I can feel my chest rising and falling at an unhealthy rate.

"Aiden!" I yell. I can't feel my leg. It's gone; the feeling is gone. My whole body feels puffy, inflamed.

"Emma, it's okay," I can feel Aiden's hands wrap around my neck.

I squeeze open my eyes but it's not Aiden who is looking down at me.

"Mommy?" I whimper. Wait... she's dead... does that mean I'm dead too? "Am I dead?" I widen my eyes as I look up to her.

"No you're not, I'm right here," suddenly her figure fades into Aiden's and she's gone. 

I'm in the back seat of the car, someone is driving, and Aiden is sitting in the back with me.  "Where's Stef?" I ask frantic. 

She saved us from that evil monster but now she seems to have disappeared. Aiden doesn't speak, translating to the worst. She must be dead. "How?" I manage to croak out.

"The mob that was after us, took her down. That's how we got away," he explains. I feel sadness in my heart. It all seems impossible. Someone that I knew, someone I saw only days ago, someone who made it possible for me to live, was dead. A piece of myself is missing. Stef was strong. She could've made it to the end; instead, my stupid mistake made her die.

I close my eyes in fear. What is happening to me? My mind is drifting onwards, yet going nowhere. I am stuck in a dark eternity. Then I fade out of consciousness.

* * *

When I resurface, my mind is clearer but still confused. I peel open my eyes and gasp. My skin is white, marked with blots of red from under the skin. My leg is still attached but the flesh is a deep crimson. It has dabs of light red, blue and purple, like an abstract artwork.

My eye's fill with tears. I cannot loose this leg; without it, survival is doomed. We're always running away and for that, I need two strong legs. My eyes are intent with focus, ordering my brain to function, to save my leg. 

The flesh is swollen, filled with bacteria, blood poisoning. I read of this in a book once. If it reaches the extreme stages, it can be lethal. When I try to wiggle my toes, pain shoots up my nerves like lightning, and the toes don't budge from its position.

"Aiden," I say. He turns his head from the window to look down at me. I smile and take my hand into his. "What happened? Weren't you bit?" I ask confused.

"No, you were hallucinating, shrieking like a mad woman, attracting all of the biters but I ran on and got you to the truck. You looked like you were hanging in this world by only a thread." He shakes his head, squeezing my hand in relief.

"Two days ago Will and Jackson made a run to get some antibiotics. Looks like they're working," he continues and my eyes widen.

"How long have I been out? I scan my abdomen; I can clearly count all of the ribs.

"Well, today is day four," I cannot believe that this is happening to me. 

"How was I infected, and how was it so fast?" I ask, curious to find an explanation for the chaos.

"The logs you tripped over, I think maybe it had some sort of bacteria growing on it and it entered your blood stream and spread everywhere. Besides you were already pretty beaten up from that..." he trails off and looks down at my leg, "That's looking better."

I glance back at the horribly infected leg. The colour is still turbulent; the deep pigments bulging together. "This," I point a finger at the wound, "looks better? This looks like I'm freaking gonna loose my leg." I say terrified.

"Emma, calm down, it'll be okay; we'll make it through," he grips my hand and I begin to relax, cozying up against him. I feel weak; my bones like toothpicks, ready to falter at any moment.

Suddenly my heart rate speeds up, convulsing my body. "Emma, Emma, look at me," I attempt to control my muscles and face him but spasms take over. "Jackson, pull over!" Aiden yells. The truck abruptly turns off of the road, stopping.

Aiden calls for help, holding me down. "Emma, speak to me, please," I try to move my mouth but all that comes out is the sickly sound of gurgling. Foam bubbles up and over my mouth; the infection must still be spreading.

"We need someone professional," Aiden yells, then orders Jackson to keep driving again. We need to get to some city to find help.

My muscles are tight, uncontrolled because of the violent bacteria. The blood in my veins seems to expand, my body filling up. I shut my eyes, hoping to leave the scene, and come back when it's all over.

The microbes have spread through my body, igniting a powerful fever, I'm loosing this battle, I'm fading. "Help her," I can hear Aiden shouting in frustration. I peel open my eyes, aiming to find his. Eventually, through the jerky movements, I lock sight with him and he falls silent.

"Emma, just hold on, we'll find somebody, just wait," I widen my eyes to try and tell him that I heard his voice. My lungs expand and contract rapidly, deep breathing. I can hear the air flowing in and out of my swollen throat. The world seems to spin on an everlasting carousal. Eventually I loose my target, my vision swirling around at different perspectives. What is happening? Trying to control my body, I tighten my limbs, to stop the spastic movements. The effort I need is too much. I smell blood as it rolls up, around my tongue and over on to the car seat.

The car stops abruptly, sending my body flying into the front seat with an earsplitting crunch. The world around me stops, each second turning into a million. I see Aiden's face of surprise, my limbs flying backwards with the impact, Jackson turning around to see what happened. A figure walks outside, coming to the window and peering in. It's my father again but this time, he seems less dreamlike, as if I was actually leaving this world to join him and my mother. He bangs on the window until the car is unlocked. He comes in, placing his hand around me. Was this real? What was happening? 

Tears form around my eyes. Was he actually here with me? He reaches my hand out into his and his eyes go glassy, I can see my wrecked body in the reflection. 

After that brief moment, he picks my body up, running into an open field; running, hopefully somewhere safe, with him where I can recover.