A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 79

Diane sighed as she looked at me, "The bite broke the skin. If you want, I can try to transmit the Heartfire virus to you. It will cause a lot of pain over the next few days, just like when Don was bitten."

Living versus dying? It was the only hope I had. The pain that came with the Heartfire virus scared me, but the approaching pain of turning into a zombie was also on the distant horizon. I was scared of what the future could hold. I looked at Diane with wide eyes. I trusted her to get me through whatever the Heartfire virus may do to me.

My voice was barely a whisper and shook, "Yes please, I don't want to turn into a zombie."

She exhaled and closed her eyes, "Give me a moment."

I waited as a look of concentration and concern crossed her face. Her muscles shuddered lightly before goosebumps spread across her skin. Her eyes opened to reveal a glowing silver as she unsheathed her belt knife and cut her palm more deeply than I thought necessary. Her glowing silver blood flowed freely out of the deep cut like a tickle of water out of a glass.

"Hold still, this is going to hurt."

I closed my eyes and nodded as I braced myself. I felt her press her palm against the bitemark. I clenched my teeth to keep from crying out. It hurt so bad. Her blood felt cold though, which eased the pain a bit.

I started counting the seconds as I tried to wait out the pain. 44, 45... Diane let go of my leg and I opened my eyes. My muscles were shaking, although I wasn't certain if it was from my earlier fright, shock, or the pain. Diane moved to sit beside me.

Just like the first time, she was out of breath and slightly disoriented. She put on a pair of gloves to keep her now non-glowing blood from burning me. It was a shiny non-glowing silver that promised pain to any who touched it.

Diane dug in her backpack, brought out a rag, and dampened it with water before attempting to clean the red and silver blood off my leg. I bit my lip to keep from crying out as she carefully wiped around the edges of the painful bite.

Unless you looked, it was quite hard to see that it was actually a bite mark. The bite was on the back of my upper calf, just below my knee. I had seen Diane's scar and hers was very clearly a bite mark. My scar would be less noticeable than hers – if I survived.

Diane pulled out gauze and bandages as she finished wrapping up my leg. It felt better once she was done. She finished and sat back with a tired sigh. I looked up at her, still trying to get over the shock of learning I had been bitten, "So I have the Heartfire virus now? It will kill the zombie virus?"

Diane nodded, "Yes, you will go through the same thing that Don went through."

I remembered his pain as his muscles ached for the first few days. Exercise would be my new ally. I hoped that the Heartfire virus would overwhelm the zombie virus. I nodded slowly, "What do we do now?"

Diane took a deep breath, "We really need to eat lunch and get moving in case more zombies or bandits show up."

It was lunch time already? I must have slept a long time, no wonder Diane had wandered away as I slept. I grabbed a stick with strips of meat. It looked like rabbit, and it was thoroughly cooked. We ate a quick lunch of rabbit and greens. Diane scaled the tree to retrieve the hammock and pack it up.

She walked up beside me, "With that wound on the back of your leg, it might hurt if you ride on my shoulders. Do you want me to carry you in my arms until I tire? We should be far enough away by then that you can walk beside me."

I nodded, and Diane carefully picked me up so I lay in her arms. She ensured that nothing touched my injury. I held onto her glaive since her hands were full carrying me. Diane started a sprint as she took off down another trail. She obviously didn't want to linger around where the smell of my spilt blood could lure in more zombies.