The Bolkov Infection had spread rapidly to all corners of the earth, no country remained untouched. It was an entirely effective way of wiping out the human race – perhaps the only more efficient way of mass destruction would have been via an airborne toxin.
However by infecting the water supply the virus ensured that the annihilation of life was complete, as everything that lives needs water to survive. The Infection not only obliterated most of humanity, it also caused the plants and wildlife to wither and die.
Within months of the initial outbreak the laws that once governed the world were methodically eradicated, as most of the population – including the law makers, no longer even recognised their own name.
The first wave of Infection contaminated around 65% of mankind - the tainted water, once ingested took around 3 hours to start working, in that time there were no symptoms. Nonetheless after a few hours the virus began to destroy their insides, causing excruciating pain and often brutal vomiting as it poisoned the blood, giving it a blue tinge. The victims then fell into a state of unconsciousness where the Infection worked on their brain, cutting it off from the rest of the body, mutilating the cells and corrupting them.
What awoke from this gruesome operation was barely even human. Savage, blood thirsty – only their basest instincts remaining.
In the following few months perhaps 30% of the remaining population were either killed or infected by those who had originally drunk the deadly water. Spreading the Infection was devastatingly easy – if you were bitten or got blood in any orifice you were infected immediately. Unfortunately it could also be spread by bodily secretions such as saliva and sexual discharge, meaning that those who were infected and didn't realise could infect others unknowingly in those few hours where the symptoms had yet to show.
The remaining 5% of the world lived in constant terror of the infected, with barely any hope for a brighter future. The sun was gradually fading away – leaving a cold and dim world behind. With no way of growing food and no water left safe to drink, any sort of future for the survivors seemed bleak.
In contrast, the infected could survive as long as they had sustenance, which was in abundance as they tended to eat each other – although unfortunately they preferred the taste of fresh meat.
Tala shifted uncomfortably in his seat. A thick, tense silence had been hanging over the room for a while now. He glanced at Mariam exasperatedly. She sat at the kitchen table angrily sharpening the various knives they had collected, the sounds echoing around the massive room as she worked with unnecessary vigour. It had once been the communal area of a fire station, with many bedrooms nearby for the firemen working the night shift.
"That's it! I'm checking on them!" Mariam threw down the knife she had been working on and stood up. "It's been over two hours, surely she must be ready to talk by now.."
"Don't do it." Johnny cautioned, moving swiftly to stand in front of Mariah's door. "They are either fucking or fighting. You know how it is."
Eye's flashing furiously she slammed her hand down onto the kitchen table. "I want to know how can she live with herself after all the trouble she's caused! She should be made to come out here where she can be held accountable for her actions, not hide away in there like some snivelling victim!"
She pushed the table away crossly and started toward the door, but Tala quickly intercepted her – gripping her shoulders. "Mariam... Cut it out. You aren't the only one that's angry with her, we all want to know what the hell she was thinking," he spoke quietly and calmly, eyes locked on hers "But all we can do now is wait. Ray knows her a lot better than the rest of us, we just have to trust that he knows more about what's going on. If you storm in there now guns blazing you're only going to ruin whatever progress he might have made."
He squeezed her shoulders gently, met with only the slightest resistance before she sagged against him, burying her face into his chest. Her bitter reply was muffled. "Selfish bitch."
Tala ran a quick, comforting hand across her back, but he was inwardly troubled. She was usually much more rational and calm than this. Of course she had a hard side and would easily bite back if threatened, but she tended to be one of the more peaceful and understanding people in the group, why was she losing her cool now? Mariah must have angered her more than he had first thought. A relenting Mariam allowed him to lead her back to the table, where she sat silently, glowering at Mariah's room.
Johnny gave a sigh of relief, moving away from the door, "He's not getting any better you know," he said glumly, looking at Michael's room. "He didn't recognise me when I went in to check on him earlier, I think he's delirious. I was delirious once. I ate a gone off burger, I was in bed for days calling for Ronald McDonald to save me..." He trailed off as Mariam turned to glare at him. Coughing nervously, he continued "My point is – he's really in the shit."
"Johnny stop talking. Kai will be back soon." Tala spoke with certainty, if anyone could be counted on to come through for them, it was Kai.
Mariam briefly dropped her head into her arms, breathing deeply, then she stood up, shaking off the hand that Tala put out restrain her. "Please just leave it Tal. I'm not going to bother them, don't worry. Ijust want to see how Mike's doing." He held his hands up submissively, and she gave him a weary but soft smile, before crossing the room towards another of the many doors that ringed the communal area.
She knocked gently, listening for any sounds from inside. When none came she shot the others a worried glance, quietly opening the door. The room was lit dimly by a single candle, and she couldn't help but wrinkle her nose as the smell of illness hit her – stale, sweaty, unpleasant. She cautiously approached the bed in the corner of the room and knelt beside it, picking up a bottle of water from the bedside table.
"Michael..." She looked down at him miserably. Johnny was right. He was getting worse. His skin had grown waxy and pale, breathing coming in short hitching gasps. His eyelids fluttered slightly in response to his name, but that was the only sign he gave that he had heard her voice.
She lifted the bottle to his mouth, trying to get him to drink, but when he only managed a few meagre sips she sighed sadly, putting the bottle back on the table. Leaning over him she gently lifted the sweaty blanket, pulling it back to peer underneath.
It wasn't a pretty sight.
A ragged, deep gash stretched grotesquely up his left side, from hip to armpit. Smaller lacerations covered his chest, arms and hands. Brooklyn had tried his best to stitch up the wound but he had already lost a lot of blood, and it was beginning to look infected despite Brooklyns meticulous efforts.
She gritted her teeth angrily. This was all Mariah's fault. Naïve, self centred, attention seeking Mariah.
Mariam had even tried to be sympathetic to her when she had woken up overexcited after that stupid dream, after all it was never a bad thing for any of them to feel some form of positivity these days. But why on earth would she actually believe that her own dream was some sort of prophesy? When it dawned on her that Mariah was serious about going to find Lee she had taken a step back from the situation – let Ray handle it.
In hindsight she wished she had taken a firmer stand, Ray was too involved and could be a soft touch when it came to Mariah, but in truth she had felt sorry for her – one of the things that had originally bought the two girls together had been the loss of their brothers.
Joseph.. Fighting back the tears that had been threatening to fall all day, she turned her attention back to Michael. Tears could wait.
Covering him up again she wondered whether Kai would be able to find anything to help him. He had been gone a long time now, although these days time was a difficult concept, day and night all but merging into one dismal colour.
"How is he?" Tala's voice spoke softly behind her and she turned and went to him, burying her face in his chest once more, stifling a sob. He kissed the top of her head, stroking the small of her back comfortingly.
She was glad she had Tala, he was her silver lining in all this shit. She had been wary of him at first, his cold, steely exterior frightening her, plus his murky past wasn't exactly endearing - but friends and enemies had had to put aside past differences once the Infection hit. They had bonded quickly, their calm, collected personalities gelling easily, sure he could be a little cocky and rude but he had a warmth to him that she hadn't expected, she had found she could open up to him.
It wasn't long before she had started to notice cute little things about him that hadn't seemed important before – he would open doors for her, bring her food when she was feeling low, he had even started sticking up for her when Johnny was a dick.
He had been surprisingly shy about making a move, not wanting to spoil what they already had, but there had been no avoiding the inevitable. Their first kiss had been tentative, gentle, both enjoying being so close to one another. For Mariam it had been the happiest she had felt since the Infection started..
"He's not good," she whispered, leading Tala to Michaels bed "He's pretty fucking awful actually."
Tala bent down to examine the wound, frowning at the puffy skin around the edge. "That's definitely getting infected. Shit. Kai will find something, he knows what needs to be done." Mariam smiled slightly in spite of herself, Tala's faith in Kai was sometimes poignant, especially given the history between them. "Look on the bright side Mariam, it's been well over three hours since we got back, he's not properly infected."
She nodded silently, that was true, they were lucky in that sense, but as her eyes fell to the huge gash again she found it hard to be positive. She still had the memory replaying in her mind of Michael crashing through that car window – he had been forced to jump off of a roof to escape the masses of the infected who had followed him up there. He was a hero, drawing them away from a petrified, cornered Mariah who had been cowering on top of a cupboard in the hospital. He had lured them up to the roof whilst the others had rescued her. He had been so brave, he didn't deserve this pain.
The most bitter and furious part of Mariam wished they had just left her there. Now Michael might die, all because of her stubborn, childish refusals to see sense and not go off on some wild goose chase.
No, it wasn't fair. She needed to speak to Mariah and get a few things off of her chest. Now.
She moved swiftly out of Michaels room and towards Mariah's, and before Tala could reach her she was banging on the door with her fist.
Hey, sorry I know this is quite a slow chapter but it's more just setting the scene and introducing a few characters – I know I promised action in the this chapter but I guess I got a bit hung up on the introducing :P
I want to reveal bits and pieces about the past as I go along, sorry if any of it's confusing..
Thank you to the people who reviewed the first chapter, its really nice to know people like it! Any ideas are welcome :)