Crow (NoochZahHutt)

Part Thirty-Four

I can't remember what happened after that. According to Mat, I started stumbling around and mumbling incoherently before passing out.

I woke up in Mat's arms. Groggily, I observed my surroundings. We were walking through the streets of Genesis, with many members of Crow by our sides. I spotted Ashley and KJ giving orders at the front of the crowd. Choco was up with them, but looked worried.

I tugged weakly on Mat's shirt to let him know I was awake. The whole world felt like it was on fire. Everything was so hot.

"Hey," Mat said. "I know you feel like shit. Trust me, I've been through it. Just hang on, okay?"

I nodded, shutting my eyes tightly in a futile effort to lessen the pounding in my head. I tried to say "where are we going", though it came out as more of a strained mumble. Mat seemed to understand, though.

"Vaq's execution," Mat said simply. "I'm not letting you fight. You're staying with Ashley and KJ, all right? They're going to start spreading the vaccine."

"No, noIcanfightIcan..." I mumbled, but trailed off, realizing that I was, in fact, incorrect. "...I can't."

Mat smiled sadly.

We continued walking. I blocked out most of the experience, as I felt so fucking horrible that I wanted to be hit by a bus.

The familiar babble of the Genesis Arena hit my ears - though it was not pleasant, excited babble as it normally was when a fight was about to take place. All the voices were worried, curious, and grim sounding, which didn't make me feel any better about the situation.

We got inside and Mat set me down on a chair. He sat next to me and I instantly leaned on his shoulder.

A few minutes passed, and nothing happened. Then a man walked out into the arena - I couldn't see him very well, but he looked intimidating. He held a microphone to his mouth and spoke.

"Shut the hell up," he said. Everyone immediately went quiet. "You're not here for fun. I'm not broadcasting this all around the country for fun."

A gate opened. Out stepped Vaq, restrained by handcuffs, ankle cuffs, and many, many heavily armed guards. He looked terrified.

"This man has killed hundreds of you," the man continued. "He's killed your parents, your children, your spouses. And he did it on purpose. He is the creator of the Fever. He is the one who plagued the world with such a horrible sickness, and now he is going to pay for his crime."

The crowd burst out into horrified chatter.

Mat got up, leaving me leaning uncomfortably against his chair. It vaguely reminded me of when I'd woken up on the subway, with no memories, Ashley being the only one willing to sit near me.

And, exactly as I had that thought, Ashley shook my shoulder and held her hand in front of my face.

"Hey," she whispered. "Quick. Bite me."

"Wha?" I mumbled.

"I need to be infected, dude," she said. "I know you're, like, delirious and shit, but I need you to bite me."

"Oh...kay..." I mumbled. Reluctantly, I grabbed her hand with both of mine, and then bit down as hard as I could on her index finger. She stiffened and tried not to make any noise from the pain as she pulled her hand away from me.

"Thanks," she said quickly. She turned and kissed KJ on the lips. Some commotion broke out near us - I wasn't sure exactly what, I could only hear the noise.

The microphone squealed loudly. I winced.

More noise, more noise, more noise. I brought my hands over my head. Was that a gunshot? I hoped to god it had been aimed at Mat and that he'd teleported.

A familiar voice tried to speak over the crowd. "Hello? Is this thing on?" He said. It was Choco. "Listen, things are a little cra-" He was cut off, and once again, the microphone squealed.

My heart was pounding, my breath becoming short, there was so much noise...

God, I'm getting anxiety just recounting this...

...It was becoming so hard to breathe. It felt like there were bowling balls on my lungs, preventing them from expanding. Or, as though I was submerged in water.

And then the noise stopped.

Everything stopped.

For a moment, I was floating in a void. It was pleasantly cool, which was a wonderful break from the fire I'd felt before. It felt like I was submerged in molasses, though I could breathe through it - and breathing felt amazing. I was only there for a split second but I wished it could have been hours.

I woke up, back in the noise of the arena, and instantly sat up. I gasped for breath. I recognized this as exactly what had happened to Mat not all that long ago. I felt fucking amazing, like I was a butterfly who'd just come out of its cocoon.

Quickly, I took in the situation. All around me, Crow members were forcibly kissing and/or biting random members of the crowd. The crowd was clearly distressed and confused. Down in the arena, many of my friends were fighting with government officials who appeared to be on steroids (and I wouldn't doubt that they were).

I felt a redstone current flood my body reflexively. I felt like I needed to do something.

So, for the third and last time in my life, I ran forward and jumped over the railing into the arena.

~~~

Snund. That is all.

Ciao!