A heavy thumping came at the door. Jumping with a start, Lucas froze in place before his laptop's computer screen, his nerves paralyzed. Before going downstairs again, he had been trying to gather as much information about the infection as he could. If he was going to try studying the zombie downstairs, he wanted to at least have a clue about what might be useful. Luckily, he saw no warnings that smell was a transmission vector. Only bites.
Now with the unexpected noise, Lucas had nervously wondered if he had locked the deadbolt to his door. If a zombie somehow managed to get into the hallway, it would have him trapped in here. And he knew they could open doors. They might follow the sound if he made the slightest noise.
The pounding returned, this time punctuated by a familiar voice. "Lucas! You in there?"
Exhaling a breath he didn't realize was held, Lucas rose from his chair and proceeded to the doorway. He kicked an old pizza box into a pile of graded paperwork in one corner. "Geeze, what's wrong?" He called through the door, hesitating a moment with the locking deadbolt. Sliding it into the unlocked position, he swung the door open. "What the hell?" Lucas exclaimed as he backed away.
"No time to talk. Rob is sick!" Evan spoke uncharacteristically bluntly as he rushed inside and proceeded towards his backpack. He hurriedly knelt to pick it up.
"Who is Rob?" Lucas felt overcome with a fresh sense of dread. There was no way to know if someone inside the dorm was a zombie. And there were a lot of people in the dorm. For all he knew, an infected could be in one of the rooms right now and there would be no way to know it until they opened the door and came out into the hallway to attack. For some reason, the thought had never ocurred to him before then. Lucas tried to ignore the concern as unlikely.
"The guy we let in." Evan hefted the backpack over his shoulder and returned to the door as quickly as he arrived, leaving without a look back and dashing down the hallway.
Lucas shut the door and slid the bolt with a click. Idly tracing his hands against the smooth wooden surface, he carefully listened for sounds within the hallway. Once he had a bit of time for his heart's pace to steady, he began to consider that his earlier thoughts were just paranoia brought on by being startled. Zombification after being bitten was certain in all known cases so far, but as far as he knew, the building had been secured immediately at the initial news of the outbreak,.
That meant that until they had let Rob inside, the dorm was still likely free of infection. The fact that it wasn't free of an infected now didn't concern Lucas that much. Trusting Evan would be capable of handling anything that might happen, Lucas concluded that he did not need to show up just to watch somene die. Besides, he didn't know where Evan had gone.
Despite his unease, Lucas felt a compelling morbid fascination with the ongoing phenomenon. Drawing a deep breath of air he gathered his nerves and the supplies to take notes, tossing clean papers and a clipboard into his pack. The unknown could be scary, even deadly for some. But it could be fascinating as well.
Sometimes, that was the unfortunate price for knowledge.
Friday, July 25, 2014
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Prognosis Negative
Simon had stopped using his large body to obstruct entrance to the room. Evan watched as he stormed down the hallway, his hand tensely gripping the blunt implement he kept a white-knuckled grip upon. Leon approached in a cautious jog, slowing to move past the larger man without making eye contact.
Esteban's bony face contorted into a worried frown as he watched the angry retreat. "There's going to be trouble later." He intoned with his mild Hispanic accent before turning to the door and using his key.
"Maybe." Evan conceeded as Leon rushed forwards with the emergency medical supply box in his hands. "But we've got more important things to worry about right now."
"Yes, we do." Esteban pushed open the door and waved Leon and Evan inside, following after and locking up once they were through. Robert laid on the bed inside, while Minoko and Evelyn sat on chairs beside it. Casilda leaned against the wall close to the door, waiting.
Removing his backpack, Evan knelt to remove the medical contents he had brought with him. By the time Evan retrieved what he had wanted and approached, Leon was already at work checking on the injury and measuring Robert's temperature with a thermometer. Robert's skin was pale and beaded with moisture visible in the shadowy lighting of the room. His eyes were partly closed, but he breathed normally.
Stepping forwards, Evan addressed Leon. "I brought these with me." He held out the container of aspirin to Leon and offered a bottle of water to Robert. Leon paused his work to accept the aspirin and placed it into the medical supply kit. Robert politely waved away the offer, so Evan placed it on top of a drawer at the side of the bed. "In case you need it."
Stepping back to be out of the way, Evan paused to look around the room. He could feel a nervous energy despite the silence from everyone waiting. Across from the entrance were several windows showing the quickly diminishing daylight outside. Placed under the window immediately across from the door was a cheap wooden desk with a computer and neatly organized books and papers.
From the entrance, the small chamber opened to the left, with the bed against the far wall. On the wall at the right a simplified wooden cross hung in the center. A few modest posters decorated the other walls, giving the place a simple, spartan appearance.
The small dorm room was a little crowded, but it was silent enough that Evan could hear a gust of wind scraping against the windows. With the clear sky, the coming night was probably going to bring a biting chill. Robert's breathing was audible, and heavy on each breath. Leon finished checking on the injury to Robert's hand and replacing the bandaging in silence.
A faint alarm from the thermometer triggered, prompting Leon to check the result. He set it aside and spoke in a reassuring voice. "You are running a bit of a fever, one hundred point five. But I think if you take this, it should bring that down a little." Shaking a couple tablets from the bottle, Leon placed it on the drawer beside the bed and the water bottle.
Robert opened his eyes and inhaled deeply before speaking. "Okay." He sat up, aided gently with Minoko's support. Moving as if his muscles ached, Robert accepted the pill given to him by Minoko and chewed upon it with a bitter scowl.
"Drink plenty of water." Leon added as he replaced the tools of his kit back into its container. "Don't forget that."
Evan frowned, noticing Leon's apparent eagerness to leave now that his task was complete. Not that he could blame the guy- they all had to be thinking the same thing. He wasn't sure how long it took for a bitten victim to become a zombie, but a fever that bad after what couldn't have been more than a few hours was a pretty bad sign.
Leon got up and walked past Evan, glancing at those remaining in the room while advancing to the door. "I'll come back to check up on things in a few hours. If you need anything before then, come to the common room." Esteban graciously unlocked the door as Leon approached.
There was a period of silence after Esteban latched the lock once more. Robert took a few noisy gulps of bottled water in the interval, a morose feeling pervading the atmosphere.
Evan closed his eyes briefly, resisting the urge to sigh. This wasn't going to be easy, but it was the responsible thing to do. He just didn't know how to broach the subject tactfully. "We need a plan to keep everyone as safe as possible."
Esteban's bony face contorted into a worried frown as he watched the angry retreat. "There's going to be trouble later." He intoned with his mild Hispanic accent before turning to the door and using his key.
"Maybe." Evan conceeded as Leon rushed forwards with the emergency medical supply box in his hands. "But we've got more important things to worry about right now."
"Yes, we do." Esteban pushed open the door and waved Leon and Evan inside, following after and locking up once they were through. Robert laid on the bed inside, while Minoko and Evelyn sat on chairs beside it. Casilda leaned against the wall close to the door, waiting.
Removing his backpack, Evan knelt to remove the medical contents he had brought with him. By the time Evan retrieved what he had wanted and approached, Leon was already at work checking on the injury and measuring Robert's temperature with a thermometer. Robert's skin was pale and beaded with moisture visible in the shadowy lighting of the room. His eyes were partly closed, but he breathed normally.
Stepping forwards, Evan addressed Leon. "I brought these with me." He held out the container of aspirin to Leon and offered a bottle of water to Robert. Leon paused his work to accept the aspirin and placed it into the medical supply kit. Robert politely waved away the offer, so Evan placed it on top of a drawer at the side of the bed. "In case you need it."
Stepping back to be out of the way, Evan paused to look around the room. He could feel a nervous energy despite the silence from everyone waiting. Across from the entrance were several windows showing the quickly diminishing daylight outside. Placed under the window immediately across from the door was a cheap wooden desk with a computer and neatly organized books and papers.
From the entrance, the small chamber opened to the left, with the bed against the far wall. On the wall at the right a simplified wooden cross hung in the center. A few modest posters decorated the other walls, giving the place a simple, spartan appearance.
The small dorm room was a little crowded, but it was silent enough that Evan could hear a gust of wind scraping against the windows. With the clear sky, the coming night was probably going to bring a biting chill. Robert's breathing was audible, and heavy on each breath. Leon finished checking on the injury to Robert's hand and replacing the bandaging in silence.
A faint alarm from the thermometer triggered, prompting Leon to check the result. He set it aside and spoke in a reassuring voice. "You are running a bit of a fever, one hundred point five. But I think if you take this, it should bring that down a little." Shaking a couple tablets from the bottle, Leon placed it on the drawer beside the bed and the water bottle.
Robert opened his eyes and inhaled deeply before speaking. "Okay." He sat up, aided gently with Minoko's support. Moving as if his muscles ached, Robert accepted the pill given to him by Minoko and chewed upon it with a bitter scowl.
"Drink plenty of water." Leon added as he replaced the tools of his kit back into its container. "Don't forget that."
Evan frowned, noticing Leon's apparent eagerness to leave now that his task was complete. Not that he could blame the guy- they all had to be thinking the same thing. He wasn't sure how long it took for a bitten victim to become a zombie, but a fever that bad after what couldn't have been more than a few hours was a pretty bad sign.
Leon got up and walked past Evan, glancing at those remaining in the room while advancing to the door. "I'll come back to check up on things in a few hours. If you need anything before then, come to the common room." Esteban graciously unlocked the door as Leon approached.
There was a period of silence after Esteban latched the lock once more. Robert took a few noisy gulps of bottled water in the interval, a morose feeling pervading the atmosphere.
Evan closed his eyes briefly, resisting the urge to sigh. This wasn't going to be easy, but it was the responsible thing to do. He just didn't know how to broach the subject tactfully. "We need a plan to keep everyone as safe as possible."
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