Cells at Work: Ebola

Chapter 3: Heroes and Villains

"Useless old shits!"

NK smashed her fist on a wall, instantly pulverizing a portion of it on impact.

She was currently taking a quick break on one of the cervical lymph nodes found in the neck. After exiting out from the hypothalamus, the other immune cells went out in their separate ways. Helper T and Regulatory cell went back to the Thymus headquarters, while Lady Macrophage returned to the bone marrow. She didn't know where Dendritic Cell was going, and frankly, she didn't care about him at all.

Her shoulders rose and fell as she heaved lungfuls of breath to calm herself.

So much of her precious time wasted, and the worse part of it was that they were insulted and even taken for granted. Were these old windbags really benevolent cells or just plain senile?

"Here drink this." A deep, masculine voice offered from behind her.

She glanced to her right and saw a cold can of coffee being dangled near her face.

"Thanks."

She took the coffee can from KT's hand and then proceeded to open the lid with her thumb.

"Told you they have giant metal sticks stuck up their behinds," KT grinned.

"What the hell was their problem?" NK groused before placing the lid of the can on her lips to take a quick sip. "I mean, did you get what they were even saying?"

"Not a damn clue," he muttered.

"Yeah, me neither," she concurred. "They always teach us in the academy that the neurons are some wise ancient beings and that we all need to serve them, but they all just turn out to be a bunch of crazy old cells."

She took a longer sip from her coffee.

"I guess getting locked up in the brain and doing nothing but communicate with the Consciousness could end you up all insane."

"Mmm," she grunted an affirmative.

She didn't understand anything about how the cells in the brain work, but from what she'd heard, the old farts all gather up inside the great lobes of the brain to meditate in order to form a link with the Consciousness that rules over their world.

"Whatever the Consciousness is, I hope it could help us with this war," KT sighed as he stared blankly toward the far side of the corridor.

NK's expression perked up. She pursed her lips as a sudden realization dawned on her. "Hey, big guy, you look kind of... down?"

KT gave her a quizzical expression as if she just said something idiotic. "Uh, what?"

"Nevermind," she drank another sip from her coffee. "For a moment, I thought you were depressed about this enemy we haven't yet figured out."

"I'm not depressed," KT crossed his arms defensively. "I'm just sort of tired and wary is all..."

NK's lips formed a wide grin. She placed her can on a table as she leaned closer toward him.

"I didn't know brutes like you get tired," she chuckled. "You lot always have an endless source of energy."

"Well, I am tired," his muscled companion admitted. "Waiting for an enemy that doesn't even show its face is tiring. I just want it to just show itself up, so I can rip its insides out with my bare hands."

For a moment, NK didn't respond. She just stared at the squad leader's face. He had blond curly hair, a sturdy nose, and a well-off chiseled chin. A barely visible scar ran down his left cheek, though she suspected that in time, it would be healed completely.