Vial #127

Chapter 36: Signs of the End

"Will, Will?" Sadie shouts, pulling her mask tighter around her face.

"I'm fine, really," he sputters between coughs. Sadie places her hand on his forehead, pursing her lips.

"He's got a fever and a racing pulse," she gets a bottle of water and places it on his head to cool him down but the room temperature has warmed it up. Immediately after he started to show symptoms, the air in the room seems to suffocate me, taunting with the poisonous particles.

"Jamie, I want you to come in the bed with me," he slowly gets up, holding his breath. "Faster!" he jumps up onto the bed and I pull the sheets over our heads, like an airlock. I feel like my mind is separate from my body; my mind is safe but the body it is in, can be hurt.

I hold Jamie's face close to my body, sheltering him from the outside air. "You guys can't stay in there forever, " I hear Jackson say, and then he adds, "but we can't stay in here forever either. The next time he comes, we're getting out," he concludes with the plan.

"But Will is going to infect us all," I slowly sit up while adjusting the sheets over Jamie and my nose and mouth.

"It's fine. I'll go first, back to the jail and find an exit. I'll wait for you there," I nod, Will's idea seems fair enough to me, besides he's the one who is infected.

"We can't just leave you to go on your own, let alone now when you're weak," Sadie fusses over him.

"Somebody needs to get the others," I remind them all, thinking of my Father and Aiden, just locked away in isolation.

"Well Emma, how about you tell us how you're getting the keys for the cells?" Jackson's tone is sour, eliminating any aspect of a calm atmosphere.

"A guard or something," I say brainstorming on the fly, "we'll figure it out," I try to prove my point but his deep gaze is stabbing at my body and I back down with lack of confidence.

"She's right," Sadie tries to support me, "we'll just figure it all out, we always do," she finishes.

But time goes on and no one comes to unlock our door to provide food. I feel like we are the last ones alive in the building. Will just seems to be getting worse, shivering like he was in the arctic. His sputtering coughs echo throughout the room. I try to not focus on it but his groans are too loud. It's obvious that his body is shutting down.

It's midway through the night when I hear him shouting, "Stop it! Just stop! Help me," he's delusional, imagining what isn't there.

"Will, I'm right here, it's going to be fine," Sadie dabs his forehead with a piece of cloth. He trembles, a cold and shiny sweat still constantly blooming on his skin. His deep coughs are distorted and threatening, not only to him, but everyone.

I see no future for my family. What is yet to come is an empty black hole of problems; just another to face every day. I'll get up, eat, scavenge, kill and sleep. I feel like a ghost, not really here in the real world, just fading away into a blank space. For once, I feel completely alone, knowing that I can do nothing to stop what is happening.

When morning comes, I can see Will; a tiny dribble of blood forms at his mouth. I can hear his breathing catch in his clogged throat. When he exhales, a tiny splash of the crimson liquid sprays into the air, then falls onto his clammy face.

Sadie tentatively tends to him but we can all see that his condition is worsening. "We need to get out of here, we need proper food and water for all of us to get and stay healthy." I say to the rest. I get up, issuing Jamie to the far back wall, assuring that his face is still covered.

I grab a chair, standing up on the bed and swing it against the glass but it bounces off without a dent. "Here, let me try," Jackson offers. I gratefully hand over the work to him and head back to shelter Jamie.

The thundering pounding against the glass makes me jump with every hit. A tiny crack forms, spreading through the material instantly. With one more hit, it collapses. Glass goes flying all around the room, the shards burying themselves in the walls and clattering on the floor. Jackson pounces down to protect himself but I can see chips puncturing into his hands as they fly up to protect his face. Within seconds, a massive hole has formed in the window; glass covers the floor. I am careful to avoid stepping on the dangerous pieces.

"Come on," Jackson urges, still wincing at the slit skin on his hands. I push Jamie forwards and Jackson helps him up and over the protruding pieces of the fractured window. Once he is down, I head back to help Sadie support Will. His feet aren't coordinated with himself and we have to carry him. It takes all of us to carefully float him through the window. I am the last one to exit, taking one last look at the shadowy room, then jumping free, while taking Jackson's hand.

Around the Atrium, I see the pile has gotten larger. There are more bodies on top of each other in an unorganized manner. This was not what these people deserved. Each one of the corpses is a dull, yellowy white. Some of their eyes are still open, staring blankly at the empty ceiling, petrified in their last living moments with fear.

I head in the opposite direction, back to the prison, still bracing Will. We pause at the blind corner, allowing Jackson to peek his head around. He wheels backwards, hard against the wall and we all mimic his movements.

"There's a biter," he whispers. We are still defenceless with no weapons and one man down. I hand off Will to Jackson and peer around the corner. At the wall, with their back to us is a biter; a short girl, definitely a kid. Was there a breech in the walls? Was this just the beginning of an attack?

Slowly and surely, the tiny biter turns around. Step by step, her nose picks up the scent of food. Her arms are crooked, her eyes sunken in and a deep green-grey pigment of skin has be painted over her natural tone. The once living eyes inside of her head are dull and clouded over, framed by the bloodshot whites. This girl did not deserve this. These people lied about our safety. As the others round the corner, each one of them gasps at the familiar sight. Finally, out of the silence, it is Jamie who makes the first noise; a deep guttural groan of mourning, the realization that the young biter is Diana.