Patient Zero ➸ Rogers

one.

one,  alice!

THERE WAS SOMETHING DAUNTING about the Center for Disease Control. Bright lights contrasted against pure white walls, and doctors paid no attention to their surroundings and rather the cultures in front of them, and the soft whirring of machines floated through the air. It smelled clean, sterile, similar to hospitals. Besides, the security guard that escorted Katie and Steve was sketchy, and Katie wasn't the only one to think so. Steve had been tense since the moment they met with the guard. Katie only kept her fingers creeping over her gun.

She took her eyes off the guard for a moment, her attention on the doctors that she watched through the glass. It was interesting, to say the least. Katie hummed softly as she looked back to the guard, staring at the back of his bald head.

God, his head was brighter than her future.

He stopped at the end of the hall, and motioned for them to enter through the door. "Dr. Walker is in his office and expecting you."

"Thank you," Steve nodded and pushed the door open to allow Katie in first. She slipped past him, but his remained on the guard as he walked down the hall, and Steve narrowed his slightly. He turned back, and closed the door behind him as he entered the office.

Dr. Walker's office was very different than the halls of the CDC. His walls were colored with pastel orange paint, and along his bookshelves were photographs of microscope organisms. His lights were softer, rather than the harsh lights outside. Immediately, Steve felt less tense, but he still chose to keep his guard up— he was still judging the dangers of this new world.

A man stood up, and his face was now visible over the computer screens. He gave a goofy smile, which made Katie and Steve exchange glances between on another.

"Mr. Fisher means no harm," Dr. Walker started off with a smile. "He's awkward around strangers. I'm Dr. Walker," he introduced, and glanced between the two agents. "Agent Goldman and Captain Rogers, am I correct?"

Katie took a step forward and nodded, "Yes. We're here about the mystery virus."

"Ah, Alice!" Dr. Walker exclaimed, and he came around his desk. "It's fascinating, unlike anything we've ever seen here at the CDC. Follow me."

Katie blew out a puff of air as the bubbly doctor squeezed past her and Steve. She sent him another glance, but moved to follow the doctor anyway. Steve followed behind her, subconsciously watching her six. Force of habit, he reminded himself.

Dr. Walker led them out of his office and back into the harsh lights, but he quickly led them into a laboratory. Still, the lights were harsh and bounced off the pure white walls. Black countertops balanced the brightness of the room.

"You called the virus Alice." Steve mentioned as he and Katie stood at a counter while Dr. Walker bustled around the room. For a CDC scientist, he was rambunctious and it made Steve anxious. "Why?"

Dr. Walker set down the numerous plastic cultures on the counter and scooted over a microscope. He glanced up at the man, and grinned. "You've heard of Alice in Wonderland, right?"

"My mother used to read it to me as a child."

"Yes!" Dr. Walker shouted excitedly. "It's unlike anything we've seen. So, naturally, I'm curious about it. This organism, this virus, is something spectacular and from what notes I have collected, the symptoms deviate from we experience in modern medicine with the types of Influenzas and colds."

Katie nodded silently, her fingers tracing the edge of the counter top for a moment as she processed this new information. She bit her lip, and looked up to Steve. "We're gonna have to take a trip to the hospital later. I've got questions." Katie then glanced back to Dr. Walker, her eyebrows up in question. "Do you have a list of patients and doctors who've seen this?"

"I do," Dr. Walker answered, "But that list is growing by the day."

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BEFORE THEY DECIDED TO take a trip to the hospital, Katie decided she was hungry and forced Steve to stop at a little roadside diner. It was practically empty when he followed her inside the restaurant and towards a corner booth. Steve sat with his back to a wall as he watched the door. A waitress brought menus, but he only ordered a single black coffee while Katie ordered a full breakfast.

Their waitress seemed unfazed by the quick orders, but nonetheless took them, and left the two agents alone. As soon as the woman was gone, Katie pulled the case file from her bag and laid it all out on the table before her and Steve. He watched as her eyes scanned the papers before her and her hands dug around in her bag for another object, but he wasn't sure what she was looking for for.

Katie hummed in victory when she pulled a highlighter from her bag. Steve furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. What else did she have in there? He continued to watch as Katie colored the page with the bright green marker, and took little side notes.

"What else is there to study?" Steve questioned, and he glanced up as the waitress came back with his coffee and her orange juice. He smiled softly at the woman, "Thank you."

Their waitress said nothing, and left.

"Dr. Walker mentioned the symptoms," Katie stated with a soft shrug. "I mean, we're seeing fevers, swollen lumps and joints within the first three hours of admissions and starting of medical treatments. But with autopsies, we're seeing internal bleeding, flooding of the lungs. The longer the patient survives, the more symptoms we're seeing. It goes on into pain, everywhere from headaches to chest pains to body aches. Because we're seeing flooding of the lungs, the cough is nasty too."

Steve shook his head before he took a sip of his coffee. "I remember when I had at least ninety-five percent of those symptoms as a child."

Katie sighed, and tilted her head into a deadpanned expression. "Well, we don't experience these symptoms in modern times. Medicine's come a long way since the forties, Rogers. It's grown exponentially since the Polio vaccine."

"They've got a vaccine for Polio now?"

a/n → yes, I finally had some inspiration for Patient Zero!! let's do this, y'all!