Cells at Work: Ebola

Chapter 4: A Teamless Little Leader

Day 6

The world was burning.

Still, no raging fires though, but it had been two days since the hypothalamus raised the temperature a couple of degrees higher to fever levels. This was, according to official reports, a necessary measure to weaken those who seek to do harm to the world. Immune cell patrols have doubled, and a lockdown had been in place on all major organs. No one comes in or out without getting inspected.

AE3803, or RBC-san, as her White Blood Cell friend called her, had been walking for hours under scorching temperatures and was still nowhere near her destination. From the note in her hand, she was supposed to deliver a package of oxygen to the gallbladder, but alas, the path to said organ still eludes her.

"Hot, so hot..." she moaned. Her black shirt, red jacket, and shorts were all covered with sweat as she pushed herself to keep on walking toward the exit of the blood vessel tunnel she was currently inside. "Water... Need... Water..."

The lights on the tunnel flickered, and she suddenly felt a faint tremor, shaking the ground. It happened for a couple of seconds before the shaking subsided.

It had been like this for the past few days. She could sense that something wrong was happening in their world, but nobody actually knew what it was. She could see that everyone also felt the same way, but no one even dared to speak of it. Her fellow Red Blood cells still roamed around the circulatory system doing their duties, but their enthusiasm and usual fervor for work had all but disappeared.

The world had descended into a miasma of lethargy, and nobody knows exactly why.

AE3803 forced herself to move her legs one step at a time until finally, she had exited the blood vessel tunnel, arriving into an open plaza adjacent to a major organ building.

"Finally..." she panted, taking in deep breaths. "I've arrived in the... Oh no, not again..."

Her expression turned into horror as she saw the big sign above the entrance of the major organ that says in giant-neon letters, 'Liver.'

"Arrghh! This is the liver, not the gallbladder!"

Unable to endure the heat and exhaustion, she dropped her package of oxygen down as she hunched over to catch her breath.

"Senpai..." she mewled as tears started to form in her eyes. "Why am I such an idiot?"

It had always been like this. Even after months of being mentored by her senpai, she still gets lost on a regular basis. Even when she got a kouhai to look after, she still ended up depending on her junior rather than the other way around.

"I'm such... " she sniffed. "I'm such a fail-"

Then her expression perked up. Something in the corner of her eye had caught her attention.

She turned her head to her right and saw squatting on the side of the tunnel entrance was a little Platelet with long caramel-blonde hair sobbing silently with the occasional hiccups.

Platelet-chan?

AE3803's brows furrowed with confusion. She actually knew the little platelet as they both kept on bumping with each other. Usually, she was with other platelets leading them as their designated leader. However, today she was all alone with no sign of her team.

AE3803 turned around watching at her fellow red blood cells if they'd taken notice of the lone crying platelet, but everyone seemed to be too busy or simply couldn't be bothered to help her.

The little platelet had her knees and hands covering her face, and her oversized teal shirt was covered with a lot of dirt and grime.

Finally, unable to resist her big-sister instincts, AE3803 strode toward the platelet and knelt in front of her.