Virus

If tomorrow never comes

Mom, why are we here? One day, I want to see the sun.

I pushed into the can to muster the last of the peaches out into my dry mouth. We were running out of water supplies, so we would have to ration it. But, it was simply another day in the Krack cut hospital. A lot of the sick here have thought that the doctors forgot about us, those who remained, were either sick themselves, or had felt pity for our lost souls. Nearly seven years ago, a new virus swept the land, more painful, more slowly then any other. They called it the zombie virus, because when it was done with you, there was nothing but an empty shell, and you'd lose your mind. Madness, was only the first symptom of your death though. My father had been the first one to be diagnosed. I was five then, and he died last year. It was painfully, painfully slow. It took six to five years to settle in. After that, it was all hell. Friends, families, pets, they were all quarantined in Krack cut in our town,  where I haven't seen the sun once since the day my family was brought here. 

I didn't have the virus, not yet at least, but many here did. Those who were not sick, somehow managed to muster up supplies. The outside world would ever now and then, give us cases of supplies. But every year, it had gotten slower and slower at getting here. People were dropping by the second, and we looked after our own. I was merely a twelve year old girl, there wasn't much I could do, but I did my best to support others. I leaned against the peeling wall of the hospital as people walked past. One of them a sick doctor, forcing himself to try and do what he could for the other sick patience. The sight sickened me, but, after being here so long, the only thing I had hoped for was death. 

Dragging my finger into the paint chips on the ground, with little grains of sand, I mildly entertained myself that way. If not, then I was reading the books from the small library we had. My mother,  before she had died of the virus the same time my father did, had taught me to read and write. Most of the people here helped teach the small children, it wasn't the best education, but it was enough for when we got out of here, we could make it in the real world. I stood up and sighed, making my way down the hall past the people, some coughed, others slept, some just kept their hands together praying, hoping for something to happen. I stopped when I came to a door at the end of the hall, right near the barricaded door, where the cdc had decided to lock us in. What a dark day that was, a memory I had long since wanted to block out. 

"How is she doing?" I asked as the doctor coughed and looked up at me. I leaned against the doorway as he beckoned me in. In the bed was one of my best friends. A little two year old child who had been locked up with her family. After her mother died, her father had gone insane and shot himself in the head with a gun he had stolen from the cdc guards. Since then, my family took care of her, and now she was nine years old. Last year she had contracted the disease, and was bedridden because of it. 

"The same. Nothing has improved, but she hasn't gotten worse either. She's only a year in after all" He rasped, the doctor was in his late fifties, with long uncut brown hair, and green eyes. His clothes were ripped in various places, most of our clothes were. As he sat down in a chair next to her. "Though, if we don't get water soon, she could die." I sighed and walked over to the bed. Placing the little girls hand in mine. Her name was Vivica, she had long blonde hair and blue eyes, her family had been foreigners from england came here to the us in hopes of a better life. 

"What  about you Alec?" I asked looking over at the doctor. Alec brushed his hand through his hair.

"I'm fine Jace, just have a mild fever. I still have a few years to go through this hell." I smiled and nodded. As I walked over to him and felt his forehead, it was definitely warm. I pulled a small half of a candy bar out of my pocket. 

"Chocolate always made me feel better" I pulled off a small chunk of the chocolate and placed it into his mouth. He had no objections, but placed his hands on my wrist. 

"Careful, you may catch the virus too you know." I shook my head, that didn't matter anymore.  After my parents death, I had found it was better to protect the living, then the already dead. I hopped off of him and looked over at Vivica.  

"Regardless, we need to get water soon, for everyone. Hopefully the cdc give us a....." there was a sudden scream out in the hallway. Me and Jace ran out to see what it was, and a young woman was scratching her face furiously. Screaming bloody murder.

"Get them off of me, GET THEM OFFF!" she screamed as she ran towards us. Alec pushed me to the side as she ran into him, looking at him with a bloodied face where she had begun to rip off her skin. She put her hands on his shoulders and begged. "Please, their eating me from the inside out. PLEASE THEIR KILLING ME" but there was nothing there. Just her fingers. As I starred, I looked away knowing what was going to happen, as someone came behind her I shut my eyes. There was a sickening crack in the air, mixed with the ripping of tendons, then a thud. I opened my eyes and looked as the man was already hauling her body off to the dead room on the bottom floor, where all the dead were locked away. In hopes of giving them a proper burial eventually, even though by now I bet some of them were skeletons.

I slid down the side of the wall, and tried not to think about it. As Alec came over and put his hands on my shoulders. 

"Come on, let's check the shoots for supplies." I nodded as he helped me up and took hold of my hand. I walked then alongside him as we headed to the third floor. Once we were there, the empty halls made it even more desolate. The people who lived here were always confined to their rooms. They were the one's on the brink of dying. Where there was as many as six to one room. The supply shoot were at the very end, small containment tubes the shape of suitcases dropped supplies down, where we could only pry them out. But, to no surprise, there was no supplies there. 

I dropped down to my knee's and felt against the wall, d****t, why were they doing this to us? Had they all just lost hope in that we were alive. Not once had they tried to ask us if we were alright. I promised myself since my father had died, I would not cry, so I sure as hell wasn't going to do it now. There was barking behind us, making me turn around and see a Labrador, bringing me a small case of water. Where an elderly woman in a cane limped towards us. She had come from one of the rooms. A smile upon her face Alec looked towards her.

"I know the people on this floor don't usually share, but I don't have much time left, share the water with those who needed it." The old lady didn't look well, as I took the container, it was the size of a cereal box, filled to the top with water. Giving the dog a pat on the head I stood, and wrapped my arms around the old woman. Thanking her for the water.

It was a month before supplies came, and more people were dead. Even I was at my limits, but Alec, for being infected with the virus, had begun to feed me and Vivica who were confined to the same room, and same bed. As I had begged him to. He pulled water up to my lips and pulled them down my throat. As I looked at him, wiping his forehead free of sweat.

"I'm going to die, aren't I Alec." He looked at me and then smiled smoothing back my long black hair. 

"Don't say such things Jace, you'll be fine, I'm sure they'll let us go soon. They just needed time to work on a cure." I laughed, yeah, of course he'd say that. He didn't want to make me worry. It was soon after, that I fell asleep, and dreamt, of a time with my family when I was a little girl.

I woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, and everything was quiet. I stood up dizzily, and wrapped my cloth around my frail body. As I walked through the hallway, but there was no one there. My hand trailed the wall as I walked along it, Alec was in the room at the end of the hall. But, something was off about it. I heard a sickening crunching noise. And when he turned he was covered in blood from head to toe. In his hands were what seemed to be rib bones. He tilted his head.

"Jace, your awake, I was just giving this patient a hand, he seemed to be having trouble breathing, so...I made more room for his lungs" He showed me  the bones, covered in blood. The smell was disgusting as I let out a small noise falling on my butt. I fought to keep the food in my stomach as I lunged over. I got up as Alec dropped the bones and grabbed onto my shoulders tightly. "What's wrong Jace, you didn't think it helped. Well what about you, are you having trouble breathing?" I was terrified. But, I didn't have the voice to yell or scream for help, as he pinned me to the wall. I struggled against his grip as he looked at me. He really had lost it. 

"Alec, stop it, your hurting me" was all I could say. As he let go of me. And sulked,  going back to the guy he had just killed.

"I'm sorry" He began to sob. As I rubbed my shoulders and looked up and down the hall. I didn't want Alec to die. I slide down the wall, and tears fell from my eyes. I cried, and pulled my face into my hands. My sobbing began to stir some of the other people in the rooms. The man who had killed the woman not a month before place a hand on my head.

"What is it Jace" I shakily lifted a finger and bit my lip, pointing towards Alec. One of the women screamed, and a toddler started to cry. As Alec raised his head with a smile. I shut my eyes and covered them with my hands. As the man's footsteps got closer and closer to Alec. There was lots and lots of screaming, that was all I could hear. And then there was silence. 

When I came to, me and Vivica were leaning against the wall on the first floor. The horror in front of me made me open my eyes wide. Skeletons, dead bodies, piles for as far as I could see were there. Vivica moved her head in her sleep. As I weakly pulled my hand to her eyes when she opened  them. 

"J..Jace, where are we."

"We're going to be okay Vivica, I promise" I said, they had obviously thought we were dead, or that we were a lost cause without Alec. I didn't have anymore energy to cry, I was hungry, I was hurting all over. This wasn't fair, why did it have to be us. I was in so much pain, I didn't want to die. Why couldn't someone come to save us, why not, it wasn't fair! I looked at Vivica and bit down on my dry lip, there was silence. 

....Then, a noise

A noise, that sounded like a door being opened, a garage door, and then there were people yelling screaming. My eyes opened slightly, just enough to see, light. There was a light and people coming through the light, masks on with guns. 

"JACE, JACE, we're saved, they've come to save us!" Vivica was standing over me, as I pulled my  hand up to her face. 

"Thank...goodness" But I could already tell it was too late for me, I felt myself beginning to drift away. Dark splotches were coming over my body, and I felt cold, dropping my hand, I could hear Vivica calling out my name, but it was distant. As I put out one last smile, I felt nothing, and vanished in the night. 


That night, all of them were saved, and Vivica and those who were alive were treated. There was a total of two hundred dead, fifty more  died at the hospital. Of those dead, it included Jace, and her family. Jace hadn't survived long enough to see Vivica get better. As soon as Vivica recovered, she committed suicide, overdosing on pain killers. Unable to fathom a world without her family, or Jace. Her suicide note was 'I hope I can finally find peace'

Author's Note

This is a story from 2012 I haven't rewritten it. I don't think I ever will but figured I'd share it xD. Have I improved any since then if you've read my most recent works?

Reviews

[AliciaB]

Wow. Yikes. Intense. Interesting setup, especially with the CDC stationed outside to quarantine the people infected with the virus, but otherwise not doing much to help. I would say that you have improved quite a bit since writing this. Your pacing is much better now, as well as all-around grammar, spelling, plot development, etc. But your imagination has always been vivid. :)

[TheRaven]

You've definitely improved! So much zombie stuff out there, I like that you made it somewhat different. Seems like they're not attacking and eating other people so much as they scratch their own face and go insane. Cool little addition to the zombie mythos, hell it doesn't even have to be zombie virus: you should call it something else if you ever wanted to do another work based off of this. The super depressing ending was forced, rushed, not explained well, and simply told to us. Far too jarring and a shock, and of course we didn't spend enough time with the characters to be extremely invested in that kind of ending. But yeah, unedited, from four years ago. Improvement is there.