Note: A longer chapter for y'all. I'm excited! Thank you once again for reading my stories, it means a lot! Enjoy.
Virulent
Chapter 6
She slowly opened the door and peered outside. The door was ajar by just a crack. From what she could see, her floor of the apartment was very quiet. Empty. It might be someone pranking on me, she stupidly thought. But she knew that that theory lacked credibility, especially in light of everything that had already happened. Something was eerie. It was too quiet. It felt grim.
"Is anyone there?" Edward whispered from behind Bella. Suddenly, something came over Bella.
"Hey, you're the man here. Why didn't you open the door?" she accused, visibly rattled from the ghostly thumping.
"We don't need to get all gender specific here," Edward grumbled, walking to Bella's kitchen and searching for something to eat.
She peeked to the right of the door frame, seeing Alice's door shut and closed. As she turned her head to the left, she was met with a sight that stopped her heart. For the second time.
Its bony face stared at Bella with its strange golden eyes, resembling somewhat of a human being. This one looked like it was female. There was a reddish tint to its hair. It looked like it was wet. Bella's thoughts ran wild; was it in the shower or something?
Bella thought for a minute. She wasn't too sure what these creatures were. They definitely looked vaguely human but they still looked monstrous. There was a feral growl coming from the creature, just like the one from the supermarket.
Doing what she did last time, she let out a spine-chilling scream. Edward was immediately by Bella's side.
"What on earth," he managed to get out, staring at the creature in front of them who was now trying to lash out. He quickly slammed the door shut and locked it. Bella was breathing heavily beside him, leaning on the wall for support.
"How... how did it get inside the apartment?" she gasped. Edward started to pace, looking more anxious than ever.
The thumping continued. Clearly, the invader wasn't too terrified by Bella's scream. It seemed undeterred. Its consistent thumping resonated, mirroring the rapid heartbeats of Bella and Edward.
"Shit, what do we do?" Edward said, tugging his hair with perturbation. Suddenly the thumping stopped. Edward and Bella looked at each other.
The thumping then grew louder.
"Oh no," Bella muttered. "There's more than one."
Out of the two human beings currently in the room, who were trying to do their best to cope with the creatures on the other side of the door, it seemed like Bella had more experience than Edward when it came to fighting them. Despite its grotesque appearance, Bella could actually stare straight into its eyes.
A sudden awareness washed over Bella. No, it couldn't be, she thought to herself.
That creature outside looked vaguely similar to the dying woman at the supermarket who Bella had attempted to help before she'd opened her mouth and went into a screaming fest. She remembered wanting to leave the supermarket as quickly as possible and not exactly thinking of getting updates on what had happened to the woman with the gushing, neck wound.
"There is no way. She couldn't have transformed into that," Bella said, out loud. Edward's confused eyes blinked in a cute way. He had no idea what she was saying.
"Edward, you might be right," Bella heard herself saying. "I think the woman at the supermarket is now that creature outside my door."
After updating herself with the news and every single blogger's website out there, Bella had read all the theories on the zombie-like creatures. The current name given to the odd-looking mutants was 'Skeletals', but Bella thought it sounded more like a rock band. Many of the theories correlated with what Edward had said, but she didn't think much of the plausibility behind it, until now.
"Well, did you ask Emmett about what had happened to her after that night? You said that he stayed with her," Edward asked.
"No, we didn't get each other's phone numbers or anything. I think people just dispersed after that, probably running into hiding. The police even told me to be quiet about all this. So I only told you and Alice about it. They didn't want the whole nation to go berserk. Just like any natural disaster or pandemic."
Out of nowhere, a scream was heard. It sounded distant; probably a few storeys below Bella's sixth floor.
"Are you serious?" Bella said. "I was hoping just to have sex with you all night and now we have to deal with this."
The screaming got louder, sounding more like a wail.
"Well, maybe she's fending the creatures away with her scream, just like you," Edward remarked.
Bella found herself at a loss for what to do. She could go help whoever was screaming. Or she could just stay where she was and play safe. More screams echoed around them as sirens were heard in the near distance.
"This is getting bigger than I'd thought," Bella says. "This is a nightmare."
Bella quickly switched on the television and flicked to a news channel. A news ticker was at the bottom of the screen, with words rolling past it behind a red header.
Breaking News: Stay indoors and avoid contact with the infected. Voluntary isolation is highly suggested if individuals have been in contact with Skeletals or believe that they are ill. Further investigations are ongoing to find the nature of this disease.
Bella then started to click on her remote control, urging the volume to go higher.
"Government officials are advising that people should avoid public areas at all costs. The disease is spreading faster than anticipated. We are joined by Dr Margaret Todd, an epidemiologist, working for CDC. What is going on Margaret?" the news anchor said, turning slightly to look at the woman next to him.
"Hello Martin, we're still undergoing investigations about the disease and its transmission. At this point, we believe that a host can only become infected if direct contact is made with the Skeletal. The cases of incidence have skyrocketed," Margaret said, professionally.
She continued. "Symptoms do not show up until the hours prior to the transformation, making it exceptionally hard to pinpoint who has been infected, especially when people hide the fact that they have been in direct contact with a Skeletal. That is why we are advising that if you have been bitten, please stay away from public areas. For different people, the gap of time prior to the transformation can vary. Some transform within twelve hours. Others might take a few days. Let's just say that some people have better immune systems."
"I can see why people would hide the fact that they're infected," Edward said. "You could get killed on the spot because you'd pose a threat to others."
The news anchor, named Martin, nodded his head as he continued to ask questions. Margaret replied to them swiftly. "We are asking everyone to remain calm as health officials are still pursuing answers for this disease. We believe Tacitovirus is the pathogen that is hijacking the cells of the host. Transmission of this disease is somewhat similar to that of rabies, though transmission between humans are often rare in cases of rabies. In this case, viral transmission occurs from the bite of an infected or contact with virus-containing saliva from the Skeletal."
The voices droned on as Bella's head spun. The Skeletal hadn't touched Bella at the supermarket, but she remembered Emmett wiping his hands on his pants after killing the creature. Bella thought; was he infected then?
"- but usually, transmission is from a bite from the infected. Viruses do not contain an abundance of enzymes, which are the biological catalysts needed for specific chemical reactions in lifeforms. Instead, they have one or sometimes two, helping them interpret their genetic instructions. A host cell is important for viruses as that is where they live and reproduce in. It is an understanding between all scientists that viruses are alive because of what happens when a host cell becomes infected," Margaret said.
Margaret took a breath and kept talking. "After an infection from a bite, the virus enters the peripheral nervous system by which it travels towards the central nervous system, via the nerves. It is during this stage that the Tacitovirus cannot be detected-"
"Tacito..." Edward spoke. Bella was paying so much attention to the news that she forgot she was still stranded in an apartment with Skeletals scratching and thumping on her door. She even forgot about Edward's presence.
Edward muttered, thoughtfully. "Tacito is the prefix for quiet or silent. That probably explains how the name of the virus was derived."
"- virus reaches the brain, encephalitis can occur and this is when symptoms appear, but usually these symptoms do not last for long as the Skeletal transformation would start to occur at this stage, hence that is why the symptoms are hard to detect. The acute inflammation of the brain causes the symptoms to emerge, which may include headaches, fevers, lethargy, hallucinations and seizures."
Bella stood in front of her television, shocked. She felt like she was about to fall down from the overload of information she just received. None of this was on the internet a couple of days ago. It must have just come out. But by now, the outbreak was getting worse and worse.
"We've never seen anything like this before. It's almost as if it's a biological warfare. A weapon made from aliens, who want to exterminate the human race," Margaret said, attempting to relieve the tension in the air. "In the laboratory, results have come out stating that these creatures may be deterred from sound but they are attracted to light, during nightfall. Currently we believe that these creatures are nocturnal and do not like UV rays, but they are attracted to anything that is lit up at night.
"Moving around in daylight is advised. With growing numbers, it is likely that attacks from Skeletals will be made in larger groups. The infected must be annihilated for the safety of the uninfected. But we do not advise the thrill-seekers out there to go Skeletal hunting, even in broad daylight. They may still lash out and infect you; we don't need higher numbers. There's just too much we still don't know yet about their characteristics."
"Can you describe what these creatures look like, Margaret?" Martin asked. A photo of the creature popped up on the screen behind the two talking people, before a magnified version was offered to the viewers at home.
Margaret spoke. "They look very much like skeletons, hence its current name, but they still have features that indicate a biological transformation from human beings. The color of their eyes is an obvious aspect. People are warned that a transformation may be happening if the eyes of an individual starts to look unnaturally golden. As they do very much resemble a corpse, it is likely that they may look very bloody after the transformation, which is when an inexplicable spasm occurs by which you may want to look away."
"Can you tell us more about the nature of the virus, for those viewers at home who may not have excelled in biology?" Martin said. Bella cringed at his attempt of a joke.
"Sure, Martin. The Tacitovirus follows the lytic cycle. A virus particle will attach itself to a host cell by which the particle will release its genetic instructions into the host cell with the genetic material recruiting many enzymes from the host's cell. The enzymes are then able to make new virus particles. Then, the new particles assemble into new viruses. The new particles then break free from the host cell."
"So is it safe to conclude that this is a zombie apocalypse?" Martin asked, interlinking his fingers on the desk. Looking as serious as a heart attack.
"Well, officially, we do not regard this as such. Using scientific terms and all the information we've currently got, we are referring to them as 'the infected' but just for the sake of naming them based on their appearance, we're calling them Skeletals for the time being. Many attributes are still unknown. But if individuals out there want to compare what is happening right now to a zombie apocalypse, then they can't be stopped, because quite frankly, it really does feel like one," Margaret responded.
The news anchor thanked Dr Margaret Todd for her time and went on to talk about something light, after having spent such a long time discussing the new virus and Skeletals. The news ticker at the bottom of the screen kept on rolling.
Bella remembered that after the supermarket incident, she'd noticed people looking more panicked. They gossiped more. She wasn't sure if it was because her own ignorance to the issue had been burnt to a crisp or if the rising numbers of Skeletals had also attracted the attention of other civilians.
Apart from Alice, Bella didn't really get along with any other female friends. She knew two girlfriends from college- Tanya and Chelsea- but the only reminder of their friendships was glittery, Christmas cards. After telling Alice what had occurred that fateful night, Bella was sure that Alice told another fifty people at work about everything that had happened.
The world is in panic, Bella thought to herself.
"So, I don't think you can go home tonight," Bella said to Edward. He looked reasonably calmed down now.
"Crap, we should've turned out all the lights," Bella said. She realized that darkness engulfed the outside world, except for the occasional, wavering siren lights. Red and blue flickered throughout the night as people were scared and horrified by what they heard on the news. She could hear screaming and the smashing of glass in the next few apartment blocks.
She peered through the peep hole again. She saw nothing, she heard nothing. The thumping had stopped. She hadn't even kept track of what was happening on the other side of the door. But then suddenly, something groaned, as if there was weight pushing on it. Edward and Bella looked at the door.
Suddenly, the door burst open. Bella, having stood so close to the door, was crushed to the floor instantly. The last thing she saw was Edward's appalled face.
She descended into darkness.
What does everyone think? Do you think our heroine will make it?
I sometimes tweet here and there, well I ramble mostly. (Username: loveperpetually)
Have a marvelous day as always.
Love, perpetually.