Chapter 10: Sacrificial Plans
Gumball had spent the school day silent like he had lost his voice. He wasn't talking to anyone, and at the moment was in the cafeteria laying his head on the table he was sitting at, even if people thought of him as cool due to the fast spreading rumor of him being an alien fighter, which was not far from the truth, he suddenly felt a hand on his back and saw his girlfriend taking a seat beside him. "Hey, Gumball. You okay?" she asked worriedly while putting her tray of food on the table.
"…no, I'm not," Gumball answered, the only thing he had said all day since he left Ron's office. He pulled his head off the table and kept sulking. "What's the matter?" Penny asked hoping to cheer up the depressed feline. He sighed not wanting to tell her about the chryssalid bite and the fact that he was going to die any day. "It's nothing. I just was out all night dealing with more sectoids," Gumball fibbed still not feeling much better, even if his girlfriend was trying to cheer him up. He just tried to get through the rest of the day like it was normal.
After the school day, Gumball had tried to just put on a fake smile, even though he felt terrible. Inside at the loss of hopes, he would be cured of his bite. He started to hear his cellphone ringing. A growl slipped out of his mouth as he pulled it out and put it to his ear. "Hello?" he answered angrily. "Yes, is this Gumball Watterson?" an unfamiliar voice responded. "Yeah, why?" Gumball asked. "Ron has unfortunately been critically injured," the man claimed. It was tragic, but the young feline thought of it as a well-deserved karma.
"What happened to him?" Gumball asked while standing at the steps of the school entrance next to alone. "He was surrounded by thin men and muton berserkers. He's in the hospital right now," the man explained what had occurred before hanging up. Gumball looked at his cellphone. He pulled his arm back, with the burning desire to chuck it far away from him, but he hesitated and held it back. He sighed as he put it away, knowing that now he should go visit him. He left his school and got on his bike, riding it all the way to the hospital.
A short time later, Gumball had safely arrived to the hospital, looking around while wandering the colorless hallways until he saw what he was looking for. He found Ron the Chameleon's room. When he entered he could see his practical boss lying on the hospital bed with his left leg and right arm in casts, along with a bruised and battered body. "Looks like you got what you deserved," Gumball said while going up and sitting beside him. "It appears so," Ron nonchalantly agreed, sighing and acting disappointed with himself.
"I think the ethereal won't take my body at all in this state," Ron claimed while looking at the ceiling laying back in his bed. Gumball looked at him and sighed. "I'm going to die eventually right? Just suddenly snap and become undead because of my bite?" the young feline asked. Ron slowly nodded. "The sad truth of the matter is… yes. You may have a strong resistance to the bite, but it's unknown when that will change. You could literally expire in a range of one minute or ten years," he explained to him while light shined through the window onto them.
"Let me offer myself to the ethereal," Gumball suddenly blurted out getting the attention of his practical boss. "No way, I won't allow a young boy to sacrifice himself, no matter what cause," Ron protested but the young feline sighed. "I'm going to die anyway. I may as well make my life worth something," Gumball insisted while standing up, nothing else being said before he could leave. "What are you going to do?" Ron asked. "…Just going to get last minute stuff ready" he declared. Gumball walked away with a groan of irritation while beginning to call for a ride. He knew what he had to do once the limo pulled up he was going to the driver's side window of the limo. "Take me back to the headquarters," he said before climbing into the back the limo, driving and heading straight for the government's base.
End of Chapter 10