Outbreak


18. The Deterioration


It was morning and Chad, the only one awake, was in the kitchen. He was busy preparing what he liked to think of as 'a feast fit for royalty' but the lack of resources made it frustratingly difficult. He boiled the water for the coffee in the ever-roaring fireplace and used far too many spoonfuls of sugar to cover up the taste of the powdered milk. The chocolate sauce smelled wrong so he settled for covering the fireplace-fried pancakes with unusually thick syrup. Everything else on the menu had to be forgotten due to the fact that there simply was none of it in the house. However, he refused to serve the breakfast as it stood looking so bland. A light bulb lit up in his head and he dashed out into the backyard. Re-entering the kitchen, he filled a glass with water and placed the handful of daisies into it. Then, he put the whole lot- a plate of overcooked pancakes smothered in syrup, a watery, luke-warm mug of coffee and an overflowing glass of wilted flowers- all onto a tray and he set off upstairs.

Halfway down the second-floor corridor, he crossed paths with Gabriella. Her hair was a mess and she was rubbing her eyes, taking just-woken-up shuffled steps towards him.

"Morning." He greeted cheerfully.

She nodded and yawned in reply. Then, catching sight of the tray in his hands, she smiled. "That's sweet." She said, stopping in front of him.

Chad felt a tinge of guilt for not preparing anything for anyone else. "I would have made some for you-."

Gabriella shook her head. "It's cool." She assured him. "I was just on my way to fix up some breakfast for me and Troy."

After the night before, Gabriella had taken Troy back to the house. At his own request, he had been locked in his bedroom alone in case he was to change in the night. Gabriella had stuck her head in his room this morning to find him sleeping peacefully, still human. His drawn face worried her, so she'd made the decision to make him a hearty meal, quite like the one Chad had made, and fill him up.

"Something funny?" Chad asked, feeling somewhat self-conscious under Gabriella's amused eye.

Gabriella bit her lip to hold back a chuckle. "You've got a little…" She reached up to his face and used her thumb to wipe chocolate sauce from the tip of his nose. "And your, um…" she considered telling him that there was a lot more sauce on his face and that there was flour or some kind of white powder in his hair but then thought otherwise. "Nevermind." She dismissed with a badly suppressed smile. "Enjoy your pancakes."

She had to walk away then, simply to prevent herself from laughing in his face. A suspicious Chad watched her go before continuing on his way. He was going to Taylor's room, anxious and excited for her reaction to the breakfast-in-bed he had cooked. He was almost there when he heard a crescendo of smashes, accompanied by her scream. He nearly dropped the tray.

Sprinting to her open bedroom door, his first and only thought was that she was being attacked by Troy. He knew it would happen. He knew it wasn't safe to have him in the house. He could only hope that he'd be able to save her in time. Because another infected friend would be too much.

He burst into the room, ready to kick Troy's ass, only to find that Taylor was alone. She was sitting on the carpeted floor clutching her ankle with a rack of tiny, shattered bottles beside her. And on her face was not fear, just pain and disappointment.

"What happened?" Chad asked, breathless from running. He placed the food on a chest of drawers and crossed the room to her.

She pushed his hands away as he tried to inspect her ankle. "It's not broken." She dismissed with irritation. "So I was trying to walk on it."

Chad nodded with sympathetic understanding. He was going to tell her that she should probably stay in bed but knew it would only upset her further. He knew she hated being bedbound. She was an independent girl who was never down for long. She had things to do and wasn't going to allow a non-fatal injury to prevent her from doing them. However, sometimes she needed to know when to stop. And now was one of those times. She needed to rest before she caused herself more injury.

"I need to get back to the library." She continued with determination, already trying to get back to her feet. "I've gotta finish my work-… What are you doing?"

Taylor could do nothing as Chad slid his arms under her and scooped her up into his hold. He took no notice to the pain of his stitches close to tearing. Nor did he listen to her words of protest. He placed her gently back into bed and carried her the tray of food.

Her stubborn scowl softened. "Thank you." She said hesitantly. "But you didn't have to-." She stopped as his warm hands gently seized her ankle. He began to rub tenderly on the bruised flesh, sending a strangely soothing sensation down her entire leg.

"So, this 'work' of yours…" Chad prompted before nodding to her untouched meal to encourage her to eat it. "You think you can make a cure?" He added with doubt.

Taylor swallowed down her first mouthful of pancake, ignoring the fact that it crunched when she chewed it. "I've been working on this for months." She said to a dubious Chad. "See, scientists just didn't have time. They were overwhelmed so suddenly. But I've been reading and-."

"What good is that?" Chad interrupted more harshly than intended. He didn't appreciate false hope. He knew Taylor could achieve a lot of things but they were aiming too high now. And the higher they got, the worse the downfall would be. He refused to believe that there would ever be a cure. Just to shield himself from the disappointment.

Although she would have been grateful for his support, Taylor understood his reservation. "I know," she sighed impatiently. "But when we went to the hospital, I managed to get what I think could be the last 'ingredients' I need."

Chad looked at the shattered bottles on the floor. "You mean that?"

There was a moment of brief silence before Taylor said regretfully; "Some of it." Then added; "But, thankfully, most of it's already in the library." She was going to continue on the intricacies of creating medicine but Chad cut her off before she could begin.

"He's gonna end up like the rest of them no matter what we do." He stated suddenly with a dismal grimace. He glanced down at the tray of unfinished breakfast and almost laughed at himself for thinking that the preparation of a pathetic meal would take his mind off of things. He'd got up that morning thinking that today was a new day. A different day. But there was no changing what had happened. The past was irreversible. And no amount of feeble cooking or hopeless talk of cures would solve it.

Taylor opened her mouth to defend herself, the lack of support quickly becoming upsetting, but Chad spoke first.

"Your cure's more likely to kill him than save him." He finished in way of bleak conclusion to their conversation. And, with that, he stood from where he had sat on the edge of Taylor's bed, took her tray of half-eaten food and left the room.


Troy awoke from his twelve-hour sleep, feeling as if he hadn't slept at all. His mind was in a constant state of unbearable buzz as his brain futilely demanded him to fill the bottomless pit that was his stomach. He could smell them. His friends. He could smell the ripe, juicy meat that clung to their bones, begging to be devoured. If he could only quench this agonizing hunger…

"Hungry?"

He was alerted suddenly to Gabriella's presence, looking up to the sound of her jolly voice to find that she was sitting on the other side of the room and watching him avidly. At first, he had the wild thought that she might just have been reading his mind, having pinpointed in one word the single thought that ran through his brain. Then, as he shook off the final dregs of sleepiness, he began to consider more logical solutions. Gabriella wasn't a psychic. He obviously just happened to look as hungry as he felt, which was understandable.

"I made you some toast." She added, having received no reply. The way he was just sitting there, staring, was sadly unnerving. "I, um… made the bread… from scratch."

Troy was confused. He saw no toast. In fact, now that he thought of it, he could see nothing but Gabriella. And even she looked different. She was almost faceless. Just a shell with his girlfriend's voice. Surrounded by grey haze.

"A-are you alright?" Gabriella got to her feet and considered leaving. His dimming eyes were drowning her in their fervent gaze. She could no longer deny the fact that he was quickly changing. She even wondered if he had already made the transformation.

She moved slowly to the door as nothing more than a blurred shape. Although her feet were bare, Troy heard each step she took. He heard the material of her cardigan brushing against the t-shirt underneath as she moved. He heard her swallow the build-up of saliva in her mouth.

"Don't go." He spoke softly. His voice was calm and yet full of plea. He didn't want to be alone again. The last thing he wanted was to be left to the smells and the sounds and the non-stop thoughts of starvation. "Please… stay."

Gabriella stopped with her hand on the doorknob. As much as she hated herself for it, she felt unsafe with him. It was wrong, she knew, because love should withstand such things as that. But she had to constantly reassure herself that, as long as she kept her distance, she'd be alright.

She complied with his request and returned to where she had previously been seated. "Just," she began with disapproval. "Stop staring. Okay?"

It broke her to see him like this. It broke her to see all of them like this. They were just teenagers. Through no fault of their own, life had turned on them and now each day was a struggle. It wasn't fair. They didn't deserve it. They should have been out having fun, watching movies and loving life. Instead, they were hurt and afraid and dying. Gabriella could see it in all of them.

Chad was a master of denial but his true emotions always had the ability to shine through no matter how he tried to hide them. He thought he had to be strong for Taylor but deep down he had no clue what he was going to do or what was going to happen. He was so used to things being planned out for him, to being told what to do, this curveball had knocked him clean over. His entire world was clouded with uncertainty.

It was the same for Taylor. She put on a brave face because… well, what else could she do? A breakdown would do no good for anyone. She prided herself in her ability to solve problems and fix things. Now, she struggled to come to terms with the fact that she could do absolutely nothing as those closest to her suffered. It was that which kept her up at night. That which spurred her on to create this miracle cure that was so unlikely that even Gabriella failed to believe it could happen.

Troy was one that Gabriella couldn't quite put her finger on. Clearly, he didn't like what was happening to him. But he didn't seem to be resisting. He seemed more intent on having something happen- the change or death- than making the most of the short period of time he had left. All Gabriella wanted was to relish in the final moments with her human boyfriend before destiny changed him forever.

But life wasn't fair like that. Instead, they were hurt and afraid. And dying.


A/N: What a dismal update, eh? Sorry guys. I'm gloomy, I know. Nothing really happened this chapter but I just thought it was necessary to take a break from all the action and just make it clear how people were feeling. There are two or three chapters left so don't forget to review and let me know you're still interested. Prepare for an action-packed finish!

Next Chapter; The hint of worry inside both Chad and Taylor escalated into a sudden, full-blown panic. In barely a millisecond, the dregs of sleep vanished and they were on their feet. As Chad scrambled in the semi-darkness in search of a t-shirt he knew he'd discarded somewhere on the floor, Gabriella took hold of the torch and hurriedly led a limping Taylor out to the hallway.

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