Virus: Insanity

~7~

Luna sat on her bed, watching an old YouTube video on her phone. Two of her favorite vloggers were playing Sims 4, a game created before the virus spread. They couldn't stop laughing, making a roof like a skate ramp. Luna couldn't help but smile. They were hilarious. They and people like them were her link to the past and her therapy, distracting her from the throb in her heavily bandaged arm. Stephen kept slipping into her mind, though. He was something that laughter couldn't solve, whatever he was. She hit replay when the video ended, wanting more release. When none came, she pressed the lock button on the side of her phone and dropped it, falling back onto her pillow. She missed Stephen, as much pain he had caused her. She missed the old Stephen, not the berserk, violent one. She closed her eyes, squeezing out tears. She wanted her partner back.

Stephen sat with his back to the wall, staring into the mirror. He was the bridge. The path. The way out. He was a half-mutant; half of his body that of a normal human being's and the other of that of a grasshopper. He was the perfect blend of mutant and human. Yet, they seemed to have forgotten the human side was still there. He pulled out his phone, unlocking it and opening up his notes. He opened the file titled "Insanity" and scrolled for a good two minutes to get to to the bottom. He typed in the date and hit the enter button, beginning to type. He poured himself out into the note, easily typing an essay-length entry. This note acted as his journal and his outlet, letting him be himself. When he had nothing more to say, he opened up a different app, a video streaming one, and started playing the next episode of his favorite TV show, Arrow.
"Stephen Insanity," he mumbled to himself, "you have failed this city." The whir of an arrow on the screen surprised him and made him flinch. Why couldn't he be like a superhero, leading a double life? He already had a split personality. If only he could get out of this death trap. Naia walked up to the door, sliding a plate full of mac and cheese topped with bacon through the opening in the bottom of the door. He smiled at her and she gave him a quick smile back before walking off. He absentmindedly ate his lunch as he watched Arrow, as content as he could be locked in a glorified jail cell alone. Well, he wasn't really alone. He had all of the characters from the TV shows he watched to sympathize with. Sometimes Naia would come in and talk, but she rarely ever did anymore. There had been breakouts recently, and everyone had been working double-time to find the four girls that had escaped. He had looked them up in the database, and he understood why. The first girl, the leader of the operation, was named Tori. She had poofy black hair, dark skin and shimmering green eyes. Her power was that she could draw certain designs and shapes in the air and create real things from the drawings. The second girl was Ellie. She had thick brown hair cut to her chin with long bangs that covered half of her face, her brown eyes like a chocolate bar. Her power was that she couldn't die, turn into a zombie at will, and infect people and make them her slaves. The third was Vera. She had a powerful singing voice that could control people, make them fall asleep, or perform a range of attacks. She had curly brown hair that was pulled back in a tight in a tight bun and bright green eyes. The last girl was Madison. She had chin-length blonde hair with side bangs and icy blue eyes. She could turn any part of her body to solid ice and back again, as well as shoot ice blades and blow cold air onto anything to freeze it. These girls were dangerous. All of a sudden, the roof above him shattered, falling all around him. He jumped up and flew back, wings instantly reacting. A zombie girl fell through the roof, her right arm falling off. She got up and put her arm back into place before looking Stephen dead in the eyes.
"Come with me," she groaned, "if you don't want to end up like me."