Cells at Work: Ebola

Chapter 8: Duty

For the first time in his life, he finally tasted fear.

Looking at the blood vessel entrance, U1146 watched a surge of red blood cells all rushing toward the adjacent exit veins. Panic had ensued through their ranks, and a stampede could happen at any moment. His eyes darted from one red blood cell to another, desperately trying to find a redhead carrying a little platelet in her arms.

Where are they? RBC-san, where are you?

A few seconds ago, he dismissed all thoughts that distracted him from entering the frontlines, but now that he had finally entertained the gut-wrenching worry that had immobilized him, another part of his psyche protested.

His instincts screamed at him to go back to the battlefield and do his duty, but he couldn't. His rational side assured him that the two were safe and had already escaped into the veins, as per his instructions, but still, he couldn't go back.

True, he wanted to go into the fray, he wanted to fight alongside his adaptive immune cell comrades, but he couldn't stop worrying about RBC-san and Platelet-chan. He figured it was already enough for him to just tell the two to find safe shelter, but now when all hell broke loose, he realized he couldn't handle the anxiety of not knowing about their whereabouts.

He didn't like to admit it, but he was torn between his sense of duty and his feelings for the two cells he cared the most.

"Neutrophil? What are you doing?"

He turned around and saw the helmeted KT cell waiting for him to join the fight. The rest of his squadmates have already gone ahead to engage the traitorous maids.

"I, uh," U1146 made a quick glance toward the sea of frantic red blood cells before looking back at the lymphocyte, his expression unsure and anxious.

"What the hell..." the helmeted KT seethed. He strode back toward him, grabbing him by the collar. U1146 didn't resist. "I know neutrophils are some time odd and unpredictable, but I've never heard your sort to be a bunch of cowards!"

The ground trembled, and an explosion somewhere in the heart of the battlefield boomed.

"No! I'm not a coward!" U1146 snarled, a moment of defiance against an insult to his honor. But then, his expression soon wilted away when he realized his reason for doing what he was about to do was in direct conflict of everything he stood for.

"I'm not running away," U1146 stammered, gone was his sense of defiance, now replaced with an expression of a cell about to go rogue. "It's just that... I need... I need to find someone."

He winced. He finally blurted out the real reason, bothering him. He knew his reason was irrational. It was outrageous for anyone to even consider valuing the life of an individual cell more than the overall safety of the world. The death of one or two cells was of no consequence, but when the world dies, everything else dies.

He knew this, but he still chose the two.

"Are you insane?" growled the helmeted KT. "Will you abandon your duties, your oath, just so you can find someone else?"

"I'm not abandoning my duties!" U1146 shot back, but his words again sounded hollow even to his ears. "I'm a neutrophil, my mission is to kill. It's just that..."

"It's just what?" the helmeted KT asked. He raised a hand to point at the raging front lines. "You see that? We are dying against the macrophages! We are sacrificing our lives for the world! We die for the world!"

"You don't understand!" U1146 countered, his voice sounding exasperated. He could feel anger boiling his cytosol as he started to clasp the helmeted KT's arm gripping his collar. "I'm not steering away from my duties, it's just that I want to fi-"