Terry stared at Bruce, "So Dana… Matt…? I need to call Max…"
"What?" Bruce looked at Terry, had the fever gone to his brain?
"She lives alone… if she's sick then I need to make sure she gets to the hospital…" Terry said dialing.
"Hello?"
"Max?" Terry felt his breathing relax, slightly.
"Uh…. Yeah? Terry, you sound… is everything okay?"
"I was calling you to ask the same thing, are you feeling alright?"
"Yeah, fine, why shouldn't I be?"
"Max, haven't you seen the news, everyone's sick."
"Sorry, I've been doing homework all day, haven't watched TV."
"Well, I'm glad your okay… wait, why are you okay?"
"Huh?"
"Apparently everyone is sick… and you're not."
"Neither are you!" Max shot back, "Maybe cause we didn't eat those nuggets…" She joked weakly.
"Max, you're a genious!"
"I know, what did I say?"
"Do me a favor, call Howard."
"What? Why?"
"If he's sick, then I know it's the nuggets."
"Why can't you call?"
"I need to get over to the school."
"Alright, fine."
"Bruce, I have a lead!" Terry said, pulling on his bat suit.
"Terry… what?"
"The virus was spread through the schools, that's the only way it would be hitting all these kids. I think it might have been through our lunches. Max and I are the only ones who didn't eat the chicken nuggets today at lunch. That's why she…" Bruce gave him a look, "isn't sick, and I'm not as sick as most kids."
"With this virus oral injection would cause more of a reaction than airborne…" Bruce muttered to himself. "Alright, go, but be careful!"
"Right," Terry got into his plane and shot off into the early evening. Bruce looked at Terry's vitals as they registered on his computer, and tapped his fingers nervously. The boys fever was climbing, and his pulse was high. The virus was taking its toll.
Terry let himself into the kitchen at the school, it was far cleaner than he had expected, and he found it heartening, until he saw a rat skittering across the floor, "think is can get school closed for a couple of weeks if I report rat infestation?" Terry asked over the com link.
"Stay focused!" Bruce ordered, he wanted Terry to be in and out as soon as possible. Maybe he could give Terry a fever suppressant, keep the virus from frying his brain, the boy's fever had started climbing fast. He must have taken something this morning, that was now wearing off. He'd soon be feeling the effects.
"I'm going to look in the freezer," Terry said, "see if I can find today's leftovers, I don't really want to go through the trash." He pulled open the large metal door, and sighed when he saw piles of boxes lined up, "this could take awhile." He began going through the boxes as quickly as possible, but he soon began to shiver violently. His suit was trying to regulate his temperature, and with a high temperature from within, it was drawing in the cold hoping to cool down his core temperature. Terry didn't want to admit his discomfort so he just moved as quickly as possible. Finally, he found a box with the correct label and did a scan, using the sample collected off his suit last night. "I'm getting a weird reading off these…" Terry said, trying to not let his teeth chatter as he spoke.
"The cold must have killed the virus… or the virus needs to be heated to be activated."
"Right," Terry sighed, "Dumpster diving it is?"
"'Fraid so…"
"Well?" Bruce asked, as Terry scanned several nugget bits he had managed to find in the trash.
"I'm getting the same reading off these as I was from the ones in the freezer. Is it possible the virus needs to be at body heat to be activated? Or maybe the process of digestion? The virus seems to take several hours to take over the host, which would mean…"
"Terry, don't even think of eating one of those!"
"What choice do I have? If it needs the human body…"
"Right, well come back here with one, and get one from the freezer."
"I was going to do that!" Terry said, immediately feeling immense relief that he was not going to have to eat his dumpster food. He had been dreading that, but for Matt and Dana…
Terry looked at the nugget with trepidation, he wasn't sure he was really ready to go through with this, "So if I get sicker within the next three hours, we'll know."
"For you, it will be shorter, the virus is already in your system. Terry, this could kill you… Maybe it's better if I take it." Bruce offered.
"No, I need to do this. For my brother, you might come up with an antidote. I know I can't do that."
"Right, but the antidote might be not be made in time for you."
"I know…"
