Author Games: Panemdemic

Rhea Charon's Reunion

Rhea was back in the barren hospital.

She found herself alone in a hallway, sensing a quiver of fear trailing her body. A wave of silence encompassed her, but the quietude was not tranquil. Rather, it was twisted with an eerie shiver, slowly devouring her body as each second ticked by. She shivered, feeling a gelid feeling of tension as she remembered the experiences she had just gone through. Images of the plagued patients crowded her brain, and she shook her head, trying to forget the horrors she had just witnessed firsthand. But, the pictures of the death flashing in her mind were too much to ignore. There was so much disease that it seemed to smother Rhea to just think about, like she could never wipe out the visions of the helplessness, of the ones so frail while their suffering choked its way into their souls. But one particular patient lingered in her memories just a little longer than the rest—herself.

Rhea couldn't stop imagining herself in that cot, weak and helpless to the disease that was sucking her life away from her. It was so terrifying to imagine herself in that same position, unable to do anything to fight against the sickness except wait for her inevitable death.

But, as Rhea soon came to realize, that even though the bustling doctors and patients were gone, the sickness still lingered. She gasped as she raised her hands, wincing harshly at the sight of the black spots lining her fingers. Gingerly, she lifted her arm, feeling pain stab her nerves as she did so, and felt terror flood her veins at the sight of boils beginning to form on her skin. Rhea sucked in a horrified gasp, unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Was she slowly becoming the version of herself she had seen in the hospital ward?

Denial drilled its way into her brain, and Rhea refused to believe the truth. She was perfectly healthy. She was fine. She wasn't about to fall prey to the plague and be relinquished by disease. This wasn't reality; she was still stuck in her mind. But, Rhea realized, that no amount of deception would change anything. Rhea knew that buried underneath her layer of lies was the cold, hard truth glaring straight into her soul, and that no matter how hard she tried to fight it, it would always be crowned victorious. She knew that something bad was taking over her body, and that no matter what, it would break down her barriers and destroy any hope she ever had. The sight of the illness surrounding her in a cage of death refused to leave her mind, and she couldn't help but feel as if her entire world was crashing down upon her, as if she was being sucked into a black hole of destruction.

Rhea couldn't think straight; all she knew was that she needed to get out from the suffocating building. There were so many corpses who had been victim of the deadly disease, just reminding her that one day, she would be one of them. Rhea wanted to scream. It was like she was trapped in a nightmare and she would never wake up. With blood rushing in her ears and a sense of panic so reckless she couldn't even hear the thoughts bombarding her mind anymore, she hurried to the hospital exit. Her heart pounded with horror, unable to escape the inescapable fear of being that patient she saw of herself, lying on the bed as death mercilessly approached her own body. She couldn't fathom the idea of herself being so weak she could barely move, so overcome with sickness and pain that she would be waiting for her very last breath.

The moment she stepped out of the room, Rhea was greeted by a biting wind of the outdoors, feeling her skin tingle with apprehension. But with each breath of fresh air, she felt her lungs constrict even more. She choked out a cough, feeling her breaths struggle to escape her throat. W-what's happening to me? Was this how she was going to die, strangled to death by the plague? Were these her last few moments on earth?

Stay calm... Rhea directed herself, despite the hysteria thrashing in her mind. Breathe...

Each raspy breath that escaped her mouth was strained, but it was enough.