Run.

[ patient zero ]

┌── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──┐

i'll be honest. these days, we all spread her name around like a curse. the girl who the virus was named. LC21. leslie cooper; age 21; from birmingham, alabama. the "patient zero" of this whole mess.

i remember the day it all went to crap quite vividly... march 17th, 2020: 

i was running. but everywhere i looked, every turn i made, every step i took... there was no change. it was darkness. the void. pure nothingness. i panted exhaustively. i have to get out of here. i have to. i mumbled to myself. my voice distorted with each echo as it bounced around my head. but i kept running and running until... SMACK. the ruler hit the front of my desk, snapping me awake with a start. 

"ms. madden," the teacher, mrs. walton, declared disappointedly. "asleep in my class again?"

"sorry," i mumbled a meek apology, tucking some hair out of my face. the class around me laughed quietly at me before mrs. walton shut them up to continue her boring monologue about viruses, oh the irony. 

mrs. walton continued droning off about whatever the hell she was on about, but it was incredibly hard to focus when someone was practically suffocating right next to me. lexi williams, 17 years old, the youngest girl in the class. lexi wasn't the type of girl to make friends, but neither was i, so we got along decently. 

lexi had beautiful, curly, completely natural, copper red hair that always seemed to be tucked into a ponytail, braid, bun, or under her signature black-and-grey beanie. her bright green eyes reminded me of my mothers emerald earrings shining in the sunny summer sunlight. however, today, her skin was unusually pale and the whites of her eyes were bloodshot. her coughing was wet and choked out in loud heaves. with every hack and wheeze came more and more spit out phlegm, shooting straight out her mouth and onto her desk, until the phlegm wasn't green anymore. it was red.  

my stomach churned uncomfortably in my stomach as i stared, mortified, at the drops of thick, mucusy blood on lexi's desk. the odor was more powerful than it should've been, attacking my nostrils with a nauseating sent. i shot my hand into the air, "yes, ms. madden?" mrs. walton glared at me, annoyed at my second disruption of her precious class time.

"may i use the restroom?" i asked quietly to which i received a nod.

i exited the classroom, pacing quickly throughout the tangled mess of hallways that made up my school.

i slammed the door to my stall shut with a loud clank. i hid my face in my hands, finally letting the burning embarrassment from earlier leave my body in the form of salty tears. 

my body shook with each choked back sob, in fear someone would catch me. 

little had i known at the time that this attempt to keep myself hidden had saved my life.

as my boiling emotions cooled, calming me, i began to pull myself together. with each quiet, deep breath my surroundings began to clear. everything was normal... the last time that i'd ever see that kind of normal ever again.

a small drop of a thick red liquid shone on the floor in the crappy bathroom lighting, catching my eye. the suffocating metallic aroma got trapped in my nose. the reeking sent that i knew all too well. blood. 

"what the-" i started, but i was cut off by a low growl, or perhaps more of a pained grimace. 

one footstep. two footsteps. three footsteps. a desperate, breathless rasp caught my attention. "help me..." i heard as two hands pounded on my stall door. i was defenseless... so i went for the logical route. i crawled under the stall into the next and the next until i got underneath the sink.

that was the first time i'd ever seen one of them... paled skin, red eyes replacing the white and  dilated pupils covered any sort of color that may have been in their eyes, their mouths were covered in blood. fresh blood. the intoxicating smell was suffocating me, burning at my throat. with every second i stared, the more i recognized who it was. 

"lex..." i whispered too quietly for even me to realize i'd said it. but lexi's head swiveled around, searching for whatever had just made the wisp of a noise that aleted her.  my cover wouldn't last for long.

i stared at my only exit option, the bathroom door, but what if i was worse out there? spoiler alert. it was.

as i bolted out i was met by more of the things. they did not seem friendly.

i went with my instinct and ran. the best option seemed to be simply exiting the school, so i did. i pushed through the front doors, not looking back. not once.

└── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──┘