I am so, so sorry, I forgot to post yesterday, it slipped my mind. I don't think anything too remarkable happens in this chapter, so, without further ado, please enjoy, and I hope you have a good week!

Chapter Fourteen

Virus

Montreal Ski Resort

Montreal Quebec

January 2st

1200 hours

"Erica?" I said quietly, kneeling by the side of her bed.

"Where were you?" Erica asked me.

"It was late. Sitting watching a pot boil is not necessarily amusing,"

"Okay… Do you have my tea?"

"Here," I handed her the navy blue mug I had put the tea in. "Charlie got you a hot compress if you want it,"

Erica smiled slightly, and sat up, propped against her pillows. I placed the popcorn bowl full of hot water on her bedside table. I hung the cloth over the edge of it so she could use it if she wanted.

"Where is Charlotte?" Erica asked.

I didn't answer.

"Ben?"

"She's downstairs explaining to everyone who she is," I said quickly.

"What?! Why didn't she leave before the morning?!"

"Because we lost track of time," I said sullenly.

"Ben," She didn't finish her thought. She seemed not to know what she was going to say.

"It's okay, she seems to be doing a good job of it,"

"I'll trust you this time,"

"Zoe wants to talk to me, so I'm going to go find her. Call me if you need anything,"

Erica nodded, so I left the room quietly. Guilt was quickly approaching, and I knew this was going to be harder to get out of than before.

I called Zoe as I was putting my boots on.

"Hey Smokescreen," She said after the first ring. "What's up?"

"Where are you?" I asked her.s

"In my room, why?"

"Meet me on the front porch in five,"

Before she had the chance to reply, I hung up.

"Ben!" I spun around to find Charlotte running after me. "Where are you going?"

"To see my friend," I turned and continued walking, but she stayed by my side.

"Who's your friend?"

"Her name's Zoe,"

"Which cabin is she in?"

"Why do you want me to answer these questions?"

"Because, I'm curious,"

I stopped walking, took a deep breath of annoyance and told her the whole story of Zoe.

"She is a spy in training at my school, she was the second kid there to become my friend, she keeps in touch, she named me Smokescreen, she goes on almost all the missions I go on, and she is dating my best friend Mike," Then I continued walking. She faltered for a moment, but then ran up beside me.

"Who's Mike?" She asked.

"A human," I replied.

"I know that, but who is he? Tell me his story!"

"No. That's Zoe there."

I pointed at the porch on the next cabin. Zoe was wrapped in a parka, leaning over the rails, and I could only see her knees.

"How do you know?" Charlotte asked me.

"Because that's what Zoe always looks like."

I ran up to her, and she turned her bright green eyes to me.

"Hey Zoe!" I said, joining her on the porch.

Charlotte wandered behind me.

"Is this Charlotte?" She whispered to me.

"Yeah." I replied dully.

"Why'd you bring her with you?"

"I didn't! She followed me."

"Well I saw something between you two last night."

I looked at her with shock.

"Hey, don't give me that look! I'm a spy, it's my job to know things!"

"I know, I know," I muttered.

"Anyways, what were you doing in the kitchen?"

"Making Erica tea."

"Sure didn't look like it."

"We were talking about our lives. What's the issue with that?"

"Erica was sick upstairs. You were supposed to be helping her, but instead you forgot about her."

"I know, and I feel super bad!"

"Well you better watch out. Friends before relationships, understand?"

With that, she got up and went back inside, shivering like an electrocuted wasp.

"Why do you care what I do with anybody?" I asked loudly, walking after her, but not into the house. She didn't turn back. "She sounds like my Mom." I told Charlotte.

She placed a sympathetic hand on my shoulder, and I felt warmth fill me.

"Let's head back to Erica. She probably needs us." Charlotte told me. So we turned back, and left Zoe's cabin behind.

? ゚メᆪ?

"What did Zoe want to talk about?" Erica asked me, as I flopped onto the end of her bed.

"Same thing you talked to me about with Sophia."

"Ah, gotcha. See what I mean? We look out for you Ben,"

"More like becoming my second parents." I muttered.

Erica grinned. Charlotte wasn't in the room, because Erica had told her to leave.

"Let's see those papers she left here." She said, pointing to her desk in the back corner of her room.

I scrambled up and grabbed them and then brought them to Erica.

The fourth paper had the same messy handwriting covering it, and at the top there was the words 'My bedroom'

My Bedroom

First chatter bug: Clarice apparently likes punk rock music; nothing else of interest.

Second chatter bug: James is talking to Josee about the essays we wrote. Charlie-may didn't do very well…

Third chatter bug: Brane and Dane are arguing about who will go with Leo to China… more investigation required.

Fourth chatter bug: Leo is talking to someone unheard, probably over the phone. Jessica is her name. Leo is trying to make himself sound like a good father. Jessica doesn't seem convinced.

"So… Jessica is still in the picture." I said.

"Jessica hates me," Erica said.

"Still. Okay, so Leo is going back to China, and Brane or Dane is going with him. Leo is fighting with Jessica as usual. Next,"

"Now hold up, Leo is going back to China with one of Clarice's sidekicks?"

"Yes, that's what she wrote,"

"Well it's strange. We will have to find out more about that,"

We looked at the fifth paper.

Croatoan hq

- They (all the higher ups at croatoan) keep bringing in carts after carts full of boxes and bringing them to the room at the end of the hallway.

- Clarice keeps saying when they get there, 'masks on!'

- Leo calls Clarice, and Clarice yells at him through the receiver and then hangs up

- Brane trips and his cart rolls over, and while Clarice yells at him too, I found out what's in the boxes. Needles. I got a few to examine.

"Ben, get me my bag with the needles in it," Erica ordered me, once we had finished reading.

I got that too, and handed it to her. We both started emptying the bag, and needles after needles fell out.

"This one has the letters... C and V and the numbers 19…" Erica pondered aloud.

"Same with this one." I told her.

We looked through all of them, and we verified that all of them had the same writing.

"I'm going to inject myself," Erica told me, taking an alcohol swab from her utility belt. Then she started wiping a small patch on her upper arm clean.

"No, Erica, don't! You don't know what's in it!"

"Exactly the reason I'm trying it. So we know what's in it."

I groaned, knowing I wouldn't be able to convince her otherwise. So I occupied myself with the sixth notes.

Gatineau research lab

(recap) I found this place where they examine anything if they can, and it wasn't too long of a hitchhiking, so i decided to go examine the needles.

A girl named Ashley helped me, and when she got back, she told me it was unlike anything she'd ever seen before.

Apparently its a virus of some sort

She told me to throw it out and never look at it again - sweet chance

I left with it injected into my skin, and now i hope for the best

Erica had prepared the needle, getting the liquid to the right amount, shaking it to mix it up a bit more, and she placed it against her upper arm. I tried snatching her wrist, but her foot moved faster, landing with a smooth kick to my jaw. I groaned, my hand whipping up to the already forming bruise.

"Stop!" I said as loudly as I could, despite the pain screaming at me to stop.

"Let me try," Erica said calmly, still hovering the needle over her arm.

"Erica!" I cried. "That's a virus you're injecting yourself with!"

She looked up suddenly, her eyes full of surprise and fear and horror. But it was too late. The needle was already in her arm, and she was pushing down on the syringe.