This Isn't A Game Anymore (VenturianTale fan fiction)

Chapter 24- Change

Isaac's head was screaming.

Isaac's heart was pounding.

Isaac's vision was fading.

Isaac's cries were sounding.

Flurried screams and muffled pleas and

Bleed

Bleed

Bleeding

Red stained walls and desperate calls and

Lose

Lose

Losing

Control was ending

Control was fading.

Control was falling.

Control was almost gone.

"KID!"

Isaac's face lurched upwards, eyes a bright green. The pupil was thin, nearly a slit at this point. He was cowering in a corner, shuddering in a pool of blood. Whether it was his own, he didn't know nor cared.

Nick's eyes were stern. "You need to calm down."

He took a shaky breath and nodded slowly. "T-trying..." He muttered, pausing in astonishment at his own voice. It was laced with the same groveling, snakelike tone that was in the infecteds, particularly the one that bit him. This revelation only made him more frightened, and he wrapped his arms around his legs and drew them up to his chest.

Rochelle stood adjacent to a sloppy painting on the wall, made to look like a window. In the absence of one, Isaac supposed it was calming. Ellis was tossing a ball-snaped rock into the air and catching it, every now and again letting it fall. He let out a snide comment to Coach once in awhile, who was cleaning and organizing the weapons. Coach sent him a glare and continued his ordering. Nick was the closest to him, kneeling down.

"W-w-what's going on?" He asked, voice low.

Nick opened his mouth as if to respond, but Rochelle answered for him.

"You're changing." She said grimly. "You're a time bomb waiting to go off, and now the countdown's started."

Nick turned, giving her a look. "We can help."

Rochelle scoffed, whirling around with her arms folded. "When the bomb goes off, he'll kill us all. Which is why-"

"We will help him until it does," Nick insisted sternly. "We would want someone to do the same for u-"

"It wouldn't happen to one of us," She growled, venom in her voice. "We're immune to the Green Flu. That means that it's our job to fix this mess."

"This world is doomed," Ellis cut in, catching the ball again. "We ain't gonna save it. We'll put off its imminent death, but this outbreak's gonna finish it off 'fore we can even figure out how to start."

Rochelle narrowed her eyes, turning away again. "Fine," She said quietly. "Get yourselves killed by harboring an infected. Maybe we can't save this planet, but we're going to save ourselves. The moment he turns, I'm putting a bullet in his brain."

Nick nodded slowly. "Fine. Coach?"

He nodded. "I'm with Rochelle. This is dangerous, and we can't risk every life here for one infected who probably wasn't going to last long anyway."

Nick sighed. "Suppose Ellis and I are alone on this one."

Ellis began to protest. "I never said th-"

"As I was saying..." Nick eyed him. "We'll take care of the kid until he turns. You won't have to worry. All we have to do it take an extra day in the safehouse-"

Rochelle scoffed. "An extra day? This is a huge risk that I'm unwilling to take-"

"Rochelle, calm down," Coach urged. "We;ll be fine as long as we're still quiet."

Nick nodded his approval. "We'll be fine. Don't worry."

Rochelle glared but said nothing.

"Don't stress, kid." Nick told Isaac with a slightly smile. "You're going to be alright."

Isaac hung his head, slipping back into the unconsciousness that he had become so accustomed to.

"Okay."