Chapter 3: Seizure
"So, just out of interest, did you know Jade and Rahim before the outbreak?"
"I didn't know Jade, but I did know Rahim because we went to the same college," Libby responded as we walked down the hallway. "I found them both and Amir after we got quarantined and we pretty much stuck together ever since."
"I see." I commented, hoping to cheer the kid up as I could see she felt a bit cautious, even nervous to a degree. Trust issues? If so, I don't blame her. "What about your family, are they here too?"
"Where are anyone's families?" The younger kid countered sadly, turning her head to give me a quick apologetic look. "I have no idea if my parents are still alive and my three siblings passed away before the Outbreak, so no."
Oh, f*ck... Great job dude, she now hates you just like you feared!
"I'm... I'm sorry, kid," I replied, feeling like a goddamn idiot. "I shouldn't have asked."
"Don't worry about it," Libby said with a surprisingly positive look. Okay, I probably spoke too soon. "We're all stuck together in a quarantine and besides, it doesn't hurt to get to know fellow survivors, does it?"
"No, it doesn't." I agreed with a friendly smile, secretly hiding my mild anxiety.
You want to know why I felt cautious? It's because I was told (prior to leaving the US) not to grow attached to anyone, as it would jeopardise my mission. I didn't know what to think about Libby or Jade currently, but ... I'll admit, they were slowly starting to grow on me. Whether it was because of my guilt for indirectly getting Amir killed or the fact that they both seemed pleasant enough, I had no idea. And despite initially behaving like a little sh*t, Rahim was starting to play nice too—
You know what Crane? Put these thoughts to the back of your mind and focus on your mission. You're blending in, not allowing yourself to grow close to everyone!
"Okay, your room's just at the back." The brunette pointed out when we stopped outside 194. "I'll wait for you here."
"Thanks." I replied with another friendly grin before venturing through the living room/kitchen area to reach it. And when I did, my smile immediately dropped into disappointment because there was practically nothing in there with the exception of a blue and white zip-up bed! Gee, thanks for the hospitality. On top of the latter however, lay a yellow t-shirt, dark brown cargo pants and a pair of matching combat boots. Fair enough.
Changing into my new outfit, I folded my old clothes together and placed them in a pile on the place where I found them. "Okay kid, I'm ready." I informed Libby as I walked out of my hideout. "Let's head on up."
"Alright,"
It didn't take long for us to reach our destination and once Libby opened the door, we stepped out into a case of lovely fresh air. Dark brown tables and metal boxes were placed here and there with drinking cans sitting by a small number of white ones a few feet ahead of us. I'm assuming Rahim sits there to get wasted, considering that's one of the things teenagers usually do?
"That's where you'll usually find Rahim and I if you need our help with something." Libby told me, somehow reading my thoughts. "And before you ask, he's the only one who occasionally gets a hangover. I just look at the view whenever I join him up here."
"Good to know, kid." I responded, feeling a tad bit impressed with Libby's maturity. But at the same time, I felt concerned for Rahim because drinking too much wasn't really the best way to go— Argh, shut the f*ck up Crane! Remember what your Boss said!
"Hey, Rahim?" The younger girl then turned on her earpiece and spoke. "We're up on the roof, where abouts are you?"
"Clooose." The older boy cooed mischievously on the other end before a gigantic yellow crane suddenly drew across to connect a nearby building to the Tower. "Well, what are you two waiting for? Get over here."
"Go easy on us, Goggles." Libby scoffed, rolling her eyes with slight amusement as she gestured for me to follow her. "We're coming."
"Goggles?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow and we turned left to face a chunk of metal railing encased around the building with a yellow arrow drawn on a piece of dark wood leaning against it. It's a nickname meant to symbolise the ones sitting on his head, you dumb old idiot!
Libby however didn't seem annoyed with my questioning as she flashed me an amused grin before she climbed up the piece of wood onto the railing and onto the top of the building. I followed her with a tad bit of difficulty (which she was aware of as she stopped to make sure I was okay) and we made it to the crane shortly afterwards.
"Oooh boy," The younger girl muttered nervously, leaning over slightly to take a peek down before backing away.
"What, what is it?" I asked with a hint of concern, taking a look as well (Jesus, Mary and Joseph, we're gonna need parachutes!) before mentally kicking myself for letting my guard down again. The f*ck is wrong with you man?!
"L-Let's just," Libby stammered in a mildly fearful manner for a second. "Let's just say I'm—"
"Scared of heights?" I finished.
"Yep." She replied, flashing an embarrassed look with anger directed at herself before cautiously vaulting up onto the crane and walking across. "Don't ask why because I know that's silly."
"You know, I wouldn't worry about that too much." I said with a quick reassuring grin before following her. "Just keep looking straight ahead and I'll be right behind you, okay?"
"Sure."
"Hey Lib, you alright?!" Rahim called out worriedly from the other side.
"Yeah, she's fine!" I responded for her as I could see she was following my tip and struggling to maintain her balance. Easy there, kid. I'm right behind you.
"Okay, good!" The older boy responded with relief. "Plus you ought to feel right at home, 31. A crane on a crane!"
Gee, thanks.
The two of us then made it across to Rahim who flashed the younger girl a concerned look before he greeted me with: "Welcome to our Gym, 31. First things first, you got to learn how to run."
"What do you mean by that?" I demanded, earning a completely dumbfounded look from Libby. I need to learn how to run? Toddlers do that, not grown adults!
"Just do what I say, alright?" Rahim spoke fiercely. "Now, jump down to the very bottom."
Taking a look over the railing, my mind immediately screamed F*ck that as the length down was enough to cause death if we jumped! "Are you nuts?" I demanded. "We'd kill ourselves!" Plus, your friend is afraid of heights! Have you considered that at all?
Hearing this, the older boy simply smirked and began walking over to the ledge allowing us access to our destination. "Don't be a wimp."
Really?! "C'mon, you can't be serious!"
"Watch this."
And in a sudden flash, Rahim jumped off, whooping with excitement, before crashing into the bottom with a yell of pain. "Argh! My leg!"
"Rahim!" I called out worriedly, unaware that Libby was shaking her head with annoyance. "Jesus, don't move! We'll get help!"
"Ha! I was just f*cking with you!" Rahim shouted with amusement. What?! Aaaaargh!
"Son of a b*tch!" I groaned with anger.
"What?! You can't take a joke?!" The older kid demanded. "Come on! Get your a** down here and make sure Libby gets down okay too!"
"Christ on a crutch..." I growled.
"Crane, Rahim pulls pranks on us 24/7." Libby spoke with a sympathetic look, walking over to join me by the ledge and steeling herself together as she took a peek down. "Maybe you could play along or get revenge by pranking him next time?"
"Point taken." I responded, mildly calming down before flashing her a concerned look. "How do you want to play this then?"
"I-I have no clue, honestly," The younger girl revealed nervously, quickly taking a breath before squeezing her eyes shut and reopening them. Oh... Alright Crane, stop f*cking around and think of something.
"Okay, how about this? We both jump down, same time?"
Libby gave me a confused look before gulping and answering with: "Fair enough."
Hearing this, I took a step back and gestured for her to do the same which she did. Okay, here we go... "You ready?"
"Yep."
"Alright, on three," I said as we both prepared to jump. "One, two," Another nervous gulp from Libby and "Three." leaving my mouth later, we were taking a running start and jumping off the crane. She squealed with terror and I yelled out ... before we were cut off by landing on piles of blue bin bags.
"Holy sh*t, holy sh*t!" I choked out, struggling to steel myself together as a shocked Libby managed to pull herself up with shaky breaths and offer me a hand which I accepted.
"Yeah, it's a rush isn't it?" Rahim spoke from an exit to our area. "But don't blow your head just yet, 31. There's more." You're kidding, right? "To survive outside, you've got to take advantage of the terrain. Most eaters suck at climbing but the harder the terrain is, the better for you. I've got some typical situations set up for you. Stay on my a** and let's see how you handle them."
With that, the older kid jogged off which left the younger girl and myself to follow him. "Can't miss it." Libby commented in a snarky and unimpressed manner, earning a look of surprise and amusement from me. Oooooh, I like you!
"C'mon kid," I responded with a chuckle, secretly feeling just as unimpressed as she was. I swear so much batsh*t has happened in the last couple of seconds, I can see the headlines now. Stupid agent gets thrown into Harran, gets a woman's friend killed and finds himself in a parkour torture device situation with an innocent kid.
The two of us quickly caught up with Rahim, who showed us a bunch of boxes stacked together and on top to reveal a gap through. "Sometimes, it's better to crawl through narrow passageways and because of that, eaters will have a tougher time following you."
Okay, understandable. Both Libby and I crawled through the passageway after Rahim who led us by ascending a staircase and vaulting across a medium-sized gap to meet another slightly larger gap encased with metal railing.
"Alright," Rahim continued to explain. "Try not to slow down when you start running. Because if you stop, you're probably dead."
No sh*t, Sherlock.
The older boy then vaulted across the metal gap and he was followed by Libby after she took a running start. Oh, I see she's taking earlier events to mind. Nice. I vaulted across to meet them afterwards, mentally telling myself to remember my GRE training as I had a gut feeling that this parkour-test was gonna become even more batsh*t insane.
"Not bad," A smirking Rahim commented. "For a noob!"
"Stop being a donut, mate," The younger girl chided, coming to my defense. "He's trying his best here, you know."
"Please," The older kid scoffed, grinning with amusement. "You love it, really."
"Alright, you want to get pelted with nerf-gun bullets again?" Absolute silence from Rahim and a teasing smirk from Libby. "See? Two can play at that game."
Ooooooh f*ck! Sense of humour's good, I like it.
Moving on from that, the older boy led us into a broken down elevator shaft with yellow arrows pointing to matching ledges and up to an exit. Rahim grabbed onto the closest ledge, hauled himself up onto the one above, moved across and with a grunt, vaulted over to the exit. As soon as he got to his feet, Libby followed with mild difficulty and finally, it was my turn to head up.
Once I pulled myself to my feet on the exit, the three of us were greeted by a series of ledges with black arrows pointing where to go and a big a** scaffold. Kid, how the hell do you expect us to climb across that?!
"Okay, 31." The older boy spoke, somehow reading my thoughts. "Get up on that scaffold and don't fall, because there's sure as hell ain't no net." He then flashed Libby a concerned look. "You doing okay so far Lib?"
"I'm alive." The younger girl responded with an appreciative grin. "You don't need to worry so much, Rahim."
Upon returning her gesture with relief, he jumped onto the scaffold and vaulted towards the ledges, grabbing hold of one and ascending the others until he pulled himself over to the other side. "This is my favourite," He called out during his climb. "Cat grab and muscle up, you won't survive outside for ten minutes if you can't do that."
"Point taken," I responded. What's batsh*t insane + 100? Batsh*t nuts!
Libby followed nervously (understandable because of her fear) and when it reached my turn, I climbed relatively with ease due to my training.
"Good job." The older boy complimented, surprisingly impressed. Wow, alright then. I'll take that.
Seconds after the three of us dropped to the floor, the location we were greeted with was one hell of a surprise. Why? Because it seemed like it was the final most difficult part of the test. A huge set of brown boxes were stacked on top of each other with a ledge connected to the left side and matching ledges were pinned against the white wall on the right.
"Okay, time for the real test - Get back to the crane. Make use of anything and everything while you run." Rahim explained eagerly.
"Alright, let me think." I replied. This should be easy enough. "We climb those ledges, vault over to the boxes and back where we started?"
"Nice one." The older kid commented, smirking. "Let's see how you handle it then."
Challenge accepted.
With that, I took over the lead and grabbed hold of the nearest ledge, pulling myself across and up until I was within reaching distance of the boxes. I then vaulted across on top of them and maintained my balance as I walked across to the left side. Huh, so far so good. That is, until I saw how much distance it was between me and the final ledge which was painted in yellow.
F*cking sh*t McNugget Brand, what have I gotten myself into?! ... No, you know what Crane? Stop acting like a pu**y and jump!
Pushing my thoughts to the back of my head for now, I steeled myself together, took a running start and vaulted across ... only just managing to grab the yellow ledge with a grunt and hauling myself over. Holy f*ck!
"Bl**dy hell," Libby called out, impressed. "That's some sweet parkour moves!"
"Thanks, kid!" I said, allowing a fleeting smile to paint my face. I could get used to the whole parkour thing. As long as it doesn't go into batsh*t territory again.
"Okay, that's enough." Rahim butted in, shortly following Libby and I up. "You got some serious natural talent, man. Either that or you done this before, you done this before?"
"Hardly," I panted. "The closest I ever came to this was running track in high school."
"Well, you're a f*cking prodigy!" The older boy complimented. "Never seen anything like it!"
"Thanks again."
The kids shortly joined me and we walked to a ladder which connected to the crane. Upon ascending both, the short journey across began and during so, I kept a close eye on Libby who followed my earlier tip again. Easy there...
Should the younger girl accidentally lose her balance, I was prepared to reach out and grab her to stop her from falling... But a sudden flash of agony struck me like huge a** thunder and convulsions slowly tore into me! The f*ck?!
"What?!" I cried out in pain, noticing that my vision turned into a mix of blurry and yellow. "What is happening to me?!"
"Crane?" Libby, worried.
"31?" Rahim, concerned.
"Sh*t, sh*t!" I gasped, struggling to hold my convulsions back. "Oh sh*t!"
"Crane, talk to us!" The younger girl demanded. "What's bothering you?!"
"Something went wrong..." I panted in response. "What just happened to me?!"
"Oh sh*t, you're having your first seizure! Just follow us!" Rahim instructed, feeling just as concerned as Libby.
Okayokayokay, take it easy Crane. Take it easy, follow the kids.
Taking this to mind, I continued walking across the crane and once the three of us jumped down to the building leading into Floor 20, I immediately turned to address the kids.
"Guys, what the f*ck was that?!" I wanted to know, shortly managing to shake off my seizure. "Does this mean I'm turning?!"
"Most likely no, at least not yet," Rahim answered. Oh thank f*ck! "Seizures remind you that you're infected. You better go see Dr. Zere, he'll check you out and give you a shot of Antizin."
"We have a doctor with us," I pointed out, turning to address the younger girl. "Don't you guys have any more shots in the sickbay?"
"No, we don't." Libby said apologetically. "But Zere keeps an extra stash with him and as much as I hate to say it, he's running low too."
"Anyway," Rahim interrupted before I could launch into a tyraid of even more questions. "Before you head out to see Zere, talk to the Quartermaster or if you see Jade, talk to her as well. They'll gear you up so you won't get your head bitten off."
"Gotcha," I responded, calming down. "Thanks for the heads up, both of you."
"You gonna be okay out there?" Libby asked worriedly.
I flashed her an appreciative look. "Yeah, I'll be fine. See you guys around."
With that, I descended down to the entrance and entered Floor 20, descending a staircase until I reached 19 and managing to make my way towards the elevator.
Alright so they've given me an actual job and so far, nobody suspects that I'm not who I say I am. So far, so good. And once Dr. Zere helps me with these symptoms I'm dealing with, I'll be even better.
(Floor 1 - 18:39pm...)
"Oh, you're the new scout!" A brown haired bearded dude, clad in a cream coloured shirt, yellow and grey jacket, dark jeans and boots, sat behind a desk with multiple weapons called out. "Rahim just radioed me about you."
"Yeah, that's me. Name's Crane." I replied, walking over to him and taking in my surroundings briefly as I did so. Floor 1's walls were painted in a very similar colour to 19 but with the bottom half painted in blue. And furniture-wise, it was a stark contrast. A notice board pinned with multiple yellow notes pierced the right side whilst the man's quarters was on the left - close to the entrance? Three dark skinned and black haired guards, clad in yellow outfits and brown boots, also stood nearby with automatic rifles.
My new acquaintance scoffed upon hearing my words, reaching behind him to grab a brown table leg. "I'm not gonna bother learning your name until you survived a few days but here, this is for you."
"Thanks." I responded, taking the weapon. Fair enough choice for a beginner, I guess.
"Oh by the way," He continued. "Word around the Tower is, you're just another deadbeat in line for food or Antizin. By which I mean, the people here don't much like you." Well, at least I'm on positive terms with one of your doctors and possibly one of your runners. "But don't blame them, it's easy to get paranoid when you're isolated. And since someone's jammed communication to the outside, there's plenty of paranoia to go around. Whole damn city with nobody to help but ourselves."
Trust issues, I got it.
"You bring me some supplies from the airdrops though, and you'll see people change their tunes in a hurry. That sh*t's a game changer!"
"Okay thanks, I'll bear that in mind." I said appreciatively. "Is there anything else? I'm in a bit of a rush."
"Also, if you're looking to be in people's good books, you can try and do missions with our scouts and runners, do a few favours, they might like you more. Might even find a woman," The Quartermaster finished with a chuckle. "Keep you warm at night."
I don't know about that, since Jade understandably hates me still...
"Nice to meet you, pal." I spoke, giving him a nod before gripping my new weapon and heading down for the entrance. F*ck, he was a barrel of laughs...
Upon vaulting to ground level, I took notice of a dark skinned and black haired man clad in an outfit similar to the guards' standing by a pair of brown double doors. "Going outside, huh?"
"Yep." I answered.
"Okay, be careful out there, new guy." The dude replied, taking a set of keys and unlocking the doors. "We don't want to lose any more of our runners."
I gave him a nod in response and once my route was clear, I stepped out, holding a hand up to shield myself from the sun, into a case of pleasant warm weather. Oh wow, interesting sights here. A staircase descending in front of me gave way to a path ahead encased by grey stained walls and a range of small and tall buildings (one with green leaves plastered on its' metal wires) stood on the left. A path on the right lead to another set of smaller buildings, all of which were painted in different dirt-stained shades of brown and grey. The final touches were numerous palm trees everywhere and this huge a** tower I could see in the distance, which had some parts painted in yellow and looked like it was still under construction.
"Okay, 31." Rahim suddenly spoke on the other end of my radio, allowing the latter to brim with static. "We got Dr. Zere set up in a semi-trailer on a fenced-in playing court. When you leave the Tower, hang a left and head due south, you can't miss it."
"It's Crane, kid." I growled with annoyance. How many times do I have to repeat myself? I'm not an object!
"Alright, alright, Crane!" The older kid shot back. Finally! "Just keep moving, there's no time to take in the sights! And try not to make so much noise, sound attracts those f*ckers."
"Got it."
Taking Rahim's directions to mind, I followed the route he informed me of and it didn't take long for me to spot a white semi-trailer on a fenced-in playing court. Ha, jackpot! I then vaulted off a ramp onto one of the taller buildings and decided to see if I could make a perfect landing on a small white truck below near my destination. Reckless idea, I know. But at least it won't mean instant death. Taking a running start, I vaulted off the building and just about managed to land on the truck with a grunt. Phew!
I then descended a staircase down to a piece of metal fence hanging out from the playing court and upon grabbing it, I hauled myself up and landed in my destination.
"Evening." One of many guards spoke. Evening yourself.
I gave him a nod in return and walked towards the back of the semi-trailer, taking notice of a ramp leading up to a door. Bingo. Knocked, no answer. "Doctor?" I called out, pushing it open. "Hello? You in here?"
"Camden, are you there?" An elderly African-American grey-haired, bearded and brown-eyed man in his mid sixties, clad in an outfit which consisted of a blue hoodie, black pants, dark boots and a yellow apron with medical instruments, spoke worriedly into his radio. "Damn it,"
"Hi, I don't mean to interrupt," I said politely. "I'm supposed to find a vaccine?"
"What? No, suppressant." Zere answered, gesturing for me to sit down on a grey office chair and handing me an injector. "It's called Antizin, suppresses the symptoms. Here, sit. Antizin prolongs the inevitable, best the GRE could do."
As Zere rummaged for a torch, I took a quick peek at his lab and I'll admit, I was impressed. The walls and furniture's painings were a stark contrast (blue and white) to the Tower and a note board was pinned against the wall in front of us with hundreds of notes plastered there and sitting on the set of shelves Zere was currently rummaging.
This guy's been busy, I'll give him that.
"Inevitable, so there's no cure?" I asked as he shone the torch quickly into my eyes for obvious medical reasons.
"It's a variation of rabies," Zere explained. "There's no cure right now but you see, I've been running tests on both Antizin and infected tissue. A cure is possible, definitely possible."
"No sh*t, you really think you can figure it out?"
"With Dr. Camden's help, yes. I believe so." My new acquaintance confirmed, turning to rummage the shelves again and murmuring: "Now where did I put that injector?"
"Here," I said, holding the instrument which he took appreciatively. "So, who's Dr. Camden?"
"A colleague trapped in Sector 0 where the outbreak first well, broke out," Zere answered, injecting the Antizin shot into my left arm and influencing me to clench my fist upon impact. "We've been collaborating via radio, though we would have made more progress if the connection were better."
As he continued, he turned to type onto his laptop and upon closer inspection, I took notice of images revealing x-rays and an infected's jaw. "Also if my earlier experiments had borne fruit, I tried injecting recombined of the virus into chunks of meat and I enlisted a young lady who works in the Sickbay to leave them around the city, which she did." Libby? "Hoping that some of the infected would eat them, so I could observe and document the results."
"But they didn't?" I asked, feeling bad for the poor guy.
"It bore no fruit," Zere responded sadly. "I am ashamed that I wasted so much time on it and I believe that the young lady's time was wasted too. No reason to hold any Antizin in reserve now."
Jesus.
"Alright," He finished before I could attempt to cheer him up. "I'm quite busy, so on your way now."
"Okay, thanks for helping me and good to meet you," I replied before turning and exiting the truck, managing to hear Zere mutter in annoyance: "What was I doing?"
Again, trust issues. I get it.
Once I stepped off the ramp, I switched my radio on. "Hey Rahim? Do you copy?"
"Loud and clear." Rahim answered from the other end.
"Zere gave me another shot."
"Great, that would ought to hold you, for a while. Which is good, because I'm starting to get used to the idea of bossing you around."
Gee, thanks kid.
"So, time for a real trial." The older boy continued. "Go talk to Spike. You'll find him in a building next to Zere's truck and he's got your first real job for you."
"Okay, thanks for the heads up." I responded, finishing our conversation and walking towards the building in question.
I wonder what this Spike dude has planned for me?