Watch Your Back

Chapter 5 : Infected

Chapter 5 : Infected

"Grab some wood from the sunroom."

"Is there any matches?"

"Search the drawers, I'm sure we have some." Erica said.

"Got any newspaper?"

"Yeah in the crawlspace over there." she points down the hallway.

As we gather stuff for the fire, I hear the others moving stuff into their own rooms. We all meet back in the living room and watch Kayla light the fire for us.

The crackling of the fire broke the silence that filled the air. The blinds were closed so no one could see inside. I sat with my back up against the bottom of the couch. We all sat on the ground, in a semi circle around the fire place.

"What's the plan for tomorrow?" Brooke questioned.

"Sit. We can walk to the water maybe, if it's clear." Kaitlyn suggested.

"I'm gonna sleep. As long as I can because we never know when we have to get up." Erica added.

"Sleeping sounds good. We should all turn in soon." I spoke.

We stayed up for an hour longer before each going to our rooms. I felt sleep take over me, so I closed my eyes and went to bed.

The following week we didn't do much. Mostly just sat and watched the world around us from the safety of the cabin. Mac hadn't been feeling as well as she should have been, which worried me just as much as the others.

Wednesday we tried controlling the fever with medication. I sat at Macs bedside, watching her struggle to fight off whatever her body was fighting.

"Augh!" she groans.

"It's so hot." she says her voice raspy.

I bring my hand to her forehead to feel her temperature. We don't have a thermometer but I would guess she is far above 100 degrees.

I grab my washcloth from the bucket of ice cold water it was sitting in and squeeze it out before laying it on her forehead gently.

Her body relaxes as the icy temperature cools her down. For now.

"Are you hungry? Cause I know I am."I ask her.

She shakes her head and I trade places with Kaitlyn, its her shift now. All of us have been taking turns watching Mac, we gotta be super aware and make sure we take care if her properly as we don't really know why she's sick.

I walk over into the sunroom and look outside. The sun is setting soon so it's time for dinner. I go back to the kitchen to start dinner. After opening the cupboards another weight is lifted onto my shoulders. We're running out of food. I grab 1 of 3 cans of soup left and set it on the counter.

I bend down and pull out a pot from the cabinet below. I use the hand can opener and open the can. I dump our Campbell's chicken noodle soup into the pot the hang it on a hook in the fireplace above the fire.

"We're running out if food." I inform Erica.

"Oh shit." she mutters under her breath.

"Well?"

"We will have to go check out the corner store, how much longer do you think we can go?" she wonders.

"I'm not sure. At most I think maybe, 4 days, with only breakfast and dinner like normal." I guess.

She nods and goes to check on the soup.

I hear a scream and run over to Mackenzie's room. She doesn't share with anyone anymore. Brandon and Brooke share leaving Mac by herself for safety precautions.

Kaitlyn is standing next to Mackenzie while she looks absolutely mortified. She is gripping the thin blanket covering her like its the only thing keeping her alive.

Kaitlyn finishes calming Mac down and walks over to me.

"What?" I ask keeping it short to the point.

"She said that she fell asleep and saw herself as one of them. Walking around and biting people."She explained. No wonder she screamed.

"Do you know what's wrong with her?" I whisper so Mac doesn't hear.

"I'm not sure but the first night here, before she went to bed, she wrapped up her scratch. I was just about to look at it when she woke up." she says worrying me more.

"Soups ready!" Hailee calls from the living room.

Kaitlyn goes back to the bedroom and I go to the kitchen. Erica, Kayla, Brandon, Brooke, Hailee and I eat in a comfortable silence. Brandon gets up and pours us some well water we earlier purified. We say our thanks and continue eating.

When we're done Kayla pours a bowl for Kaitlyn and seals the top of the pot with suran wrap. It's Brooklyn's turn to do the dishes so we pile them in the sink and let her do her job.

I walk to Mac's bedroom passing my sister reading one of Erica's old books. I smile when I see the title. The Wizard of Oz.

I continue walking, when I get there I see that Mackenzie is sleeping and Kaitlyn is unwrapping the goz off of her arm.

"Hey." I say hoping not to scare her.

She turns around and ushers me closer before going back to untying the goz.

As she slowly pulls the last bit off I can't help but gasp. Her scratch has gone from bad to worse. It looks to be infected and has a yellow-ish green outline. It also seems to have spread and gotten deeper. It has a grossly dark red center then it goes green near the edges.

I look away.

"Oh gosh Katy." I whisper.

"It's worse than I thought." she agrees while wrapping it up in new goz.

Mac's face is pale and she's sweating buckets. I'm really starting to worry. What if she tur... No no don't think like that everything will be fine.

I walk out to inform everyone else of the situation.

"Guys." I walk into the living room, where everyone is sitting and letting their dinner settle.

"We've got a slight problem."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dun Dun duuuuuuuuuuuun

Two_Blonde_Chicks