A World Alone (ON HOLD)

Infected

"It will be okay," Lily kept repeating, stroking his hair trying to soothe him. "You're going to be okay."

***

Malcolm didn't remember passing out, but when he woke up again the room was dark. The blinds on the window had been closed, but orange sunlight was seeping through underneath, meaning it was either sunrise or sunset. Adam was sat beside the window in a plastic chair, leaning his head against the wall.

Malcolm tried to sit up but something clammed around his wrists stopped him. There were handcuffs around both of his wrists, attached to the bed. The sound of the metal clanging made Adam jump. He stood up stood up quickly, drawing out a small pistol from inside his jacket.

"What?" Malcolm asked, confused. His voice sounded weak.

"Sorry," Adam said, flopping back down in his seat. His face looked pale and drained as though he hadn't slept. "Thought you had changed. That's what the handcuffs are for. Not that they would do much to restrain an infected."

Malcolm didn't feel any different. He still felt awful, but the pain in his arm had lessened. His head hurt and he was glad that the bright lights in the room were switched off. He thought that he would be fine until he looked down at his hands. Both of them were covered with a network of black lines where the virus had spread further.

"How long was I out for?" Malcolm asked.

"All night, and pretty much most of today. You missed a lot. Lily's trying to get Trent out of Blackacre."

"What?" Malcolm tried to sit up again, wincing at the thumping pain in his head.

"Lily and Tessa went to confront him about leaving us. Lily said that he blames him for what happened to you and that she wants him out of town, but he's refusing to leave, and he's been going around telling everyone about how Lily wanted us to bring back an infected, and he's been telling people about you..." Adam trailed off.

"What has he been saying about me?" Malcolm asked.

"He's been telling people that you've been bitten and it's dangerous to keep you here since you can...change anytime."

Malcolm wasn't worried about the other people in the town. Most of them were unable to fight and fend for themselves, most had never even left Blackacre since arriving. The only worry he had was of Trent turning everyone against his mother.

The door opened and Ella popped her head around the door. Adam turned his back to her and looked out the window. He had never been good around people who were grieving.

"How are you feeling?" she asked Malcolm.

Malcolm shrugged. "It hasn't stopped spreading. But I don't feel any different."

Malcolm had witnessed what happened to people when they became infected. The more the virus spread through the body, leaving the network of black fluid through the veins, the worse they got. They started off with flu-like symptoms, but eventually got worse. They became weaker and weaker until they seemingly died and came back as monsters. He had never seen anything like what was happening to him before.

"Okay," Ella said, undressing the bandage on his arm. Malcolm tried to read her face of any signs of alarm or worry, but all he saw was grief.

"I'm sorry about Aaron," Malcolm said.

"It's my fault," she sighed. "I should never have let him be a supply runner. But he insisted, since no one else wanted to."

"What's going to happen to me?" he asked, trying to quickly change the subject as he could see her eyes watering.

She sniffed hard before asking, "Has your mother told you anything?"

Malcolm shook his head.

"I think she should be the one to tell you, not me," Ella said.

"She's not telling him anything," Adam said, looking over his shoulder. "I've asked her, but got nothing."

She took the bandaged from his arm and he looked down at the bite. He almost retched at the sight of the wound. It had turned black, save for the part where he could see the bone.

"That must be painful," Adam said, his face grimacing.

"It doesn't hurt right now," Malcolm said, looking away from it.

"We gave you some painkillers," Ella said. "But let me know if anything changes."

When Ella left Adam too the handcuffs off so Malcolm could walk around for a while. First thing he did was go to the window and open it, wanting nothing more than fresh air. He could see Trent going into the town hall, which he thought was a bad sign.

"Why aren't you turning?" Adam asked. Malcolm could see that Adam was on edge, flinching even when Malcolm lifted an arm just to stretch. "People last usually less than two days."

"I don't know. She won't tell me," Malcolm sighed.

Lily had come in the room throughout the day, to change his bandages and check on the wound, but every time he mentioned the infection or Trent, she would just repeatedly tell him not to worry and that she was handling it.

He lifted his shirt to see that the virus had spread across his torso, so whatever Lily had done wasn't stopping it. "She keeps saying I'm going to be fine, but I think she's in denial."

"Jaime blames himself for what happened to you," Adam said.

Malcolm had seen Jaime once when looking out the window. He had seen him scurrying down the street, carrying a box of something, and running into the house he used to live in. He had also seen Mary and Sam go to the house, looking for him, but coming out empty-handed.

"I don't blame him. Trent on the other hand..." Malcolm said. "Did you or Tessa find out why he left?"

"No," Adam said. "I haven't seen him. He's been running around town the past two days. I don't know what he's doing."

"He's trying to get people on his side," Malcolm said.

"I don't understand why Trent wants to be in charge so much," Adam said. "I would hate that kind of responsibility."

Malcolm knew why. Trent had been a lawyer before the outbreak began, and a successful one While his brother, Sean, had been a builder. Malcolm remembered first meeting Trent, still wearing a suit, telling him and Lily how he was looking after Sean for their parents, despite Sean being the elder brother. When they all arrived at Blackacre, Sean used his talents to build the wall around Blackacre, and while Sean thrived, Trent's talents and once successful career no longer had a use in this new world. He started to grow more bitter and became even more so when Sean left Lily in charge of Blackacre and not him.

"He—" Malcolm started coughing so violently that he doubled over. When he finally stopped he looked at his hands which were splattered with black tar-like fluid that leaked out of the infected.

Malcolm looked over at Adam who stared at him horrified.

"See?" Malcolm croaked. He cleaned his hands and sat back on the bed, clicking the handcuffs back into place. "I'm not going to be fine."