The Island of Secrets

Chapter 7) Virus Immunity

KateSeleneMelody3OCS

Kwazii's POV: I heard a call on my radio, and immediately jumped up and answered it. Peso's voice was immediately recognizable.

"Kwazii, there is something strange going on. It can't be coincidental. Less than two months ago, a virus apparently spread across the island, affecting everyone except Christian's family." Peso said in one breath.

I blinked. "Okay... yeah, it seems too well connected to be a coincidence, matey." I found my thoughts racing, trying to grasp at anything I knew. "Viruses spread through the air, right? Is there anything strange about the air?" I asked.

Peso hesitated. "Well, the air is a bit thick, but that could just be humidity. Is Windfell normally humid?" He asked. I confirmed this fact, my mind racing faster than the Gup B. That was pretty darn fast.

"Christian and his family weren't affected... How is that possible?" I asked. Peso immediately responded to this.

"They must have an antivirus in their blood, enabling their immune systems to fight off the virus." He said quickly. "Kind of how you ca only get chicken pox once. After that, your immune system has the antivirus."

I blinked, absorbing it all. "It doesn't make sense, me hearty... How can only one family not be affected?" Ever since the incident, if something screamed "nonsensical!" I immediately tried to make sense of it. Funny how certain circumstances can alter your behavior.

A thought struck me then. "Peso... could it be possible to alter a virus? Like, ensue that it only affects, or doesn't affect, certain people?" I asked quietly.

There was a long silence. "Oh God... Kwazii, I hope you're wrong." Peso replied.

I nodded. "I hope so too." I muttered.

isobeljones2000

Peso's POV: I finished my call to Kwazii, feeling a chill that I hadn't felt before. It seemed that the villains had singled this family out for special treatment. And when they did that, it was never for a good reason.

"Mamma!" I heard the young girl gurgle beside me, and I looked around. Kate is smiling at the sight.

"Is that your mum?" she said to Brendan.

The serious looking young raccoon didn't smile, but he came pretty close. "Yeah."

At the end of the alley, a grey female raccoon was standing, her face lit up with a smile when she saw her children. Behind her were Captain Barnacles, Selene and Shellington. Elena began to run and swept up Sophia in her arms as soon as she reached us. "Hello baby," she murmured softly, hugging Brendan as well.

The other Octonauts came up behind, smiling at the scene. I smiled too to keep up appearances, but my heart ached at the knowledge that this poor innocent family had been picked out. Their troubles were far from over.

KateSeleneMelody3OCS

Shellington's POV: I couldn't believe it. If Elena was to be trusted, and I saw no reason not to trust her, then Dani had gotten Dashi kidnapped! I was furious, though I wasn't sure who I was mad at. Dani, for getting Dashi kidnapped? Those four psychopaths, for kinapping Dani/Dashi? Me, for chasing Dani/Dashi here in the first place?

I guess I just wanted someone to blame. But what good would assigning blame do? It wouldn't help Dashi in anyway whatsoever.

Selene's eyes were fixed on me, and I felt as though she could tell what I was thinking. God, I hated when she did that. I was certain that each member of this crew had secrets, but Selene, most of all. Maybe secrets she didn't even know about.

I found myself lost in thought, looking around at the crew, trying to see what they might be thinking about. Peso looked concerned more than anything. He kept looking at Elena and the two children that he and Kate had found, as though something about them bothered him.

I looked at Elena. She was speaking to Olivia in soft tones, much like Dashi would when Selene needed help with Derek.

I felt nostalgic at the sudden memory. I missed Dashi so much it hurt.

Then I tought about how heartbroken Kwazii had been when he had seen Tweak after, well, Cera. Since Dashi wasn't here, she wasn't experiencing the same kind of pain that the rest of us were. And there was no way I wanted her to feel that pain.

But I remembered seeing Dashi in the flame. She had looked so scared. So terrified. I just wanted to find her and tell her that everything was going to be fine.

Kate was the first one to speak after a long silence. "So, what are we gonna do next? We obviously have to find Dani, Christian and Dashi. But I'm guessing that's what they want us to do."

Strangely enough, I was the one to answer. "If they do want us to find them, they would have left a hint as to where they are headed." I replied.

Peso hesitated. "We should probably make sure that Brendan and Olivia are safe. And I want to check for signs of the virus in any of us first, just in case. You know, precautions."

Captain Barnacles nodded. "All good ideas. We'll go back to the Octopod, check for the virus, and then look for hints as to where our friends could be." He finalized.

We all nodded. I closed my eyes. No matter where you are, Dashi, I will find you. I don't care what it takes, I will help you. I thought. Even at the cost of my life.

isobeljones2000

Eelean's POV: I nodded in response to Tunip's question, wanting the distraction to continue, for my memories and feelings to stay hidden under the present. "Yeah. Let's go and see Tweak and Kwazii."

As we begun to lead the toddling Derek down the corridor - which admittedly took a while, since he kept falling over - there was suddenly a persistent beeping from the radio on the wall. Tunip wasted no time in running over and jumping to hit the button. He flashed a look at me. "News!" he mouthed, and I couldn't help feeling a spike of excitement. I could finally find out if my link to Kate was correct and whether they had really found Christian's family.

At the same time as Tunip hit the button, Kwazii ran down the corridor and stopped, breathing hard. "News?" he asked.

Tunip gestured at the radio in answer and Kwazii fell silent in anticipation.

On the screen was Captain Barnacles, smiling at us. "Hello Tunip, Eelean, Kwazii. And Derek too, I see."

"Dada!" Derek gurgled, evidently hearing his name and seeing the familiar face on the screen. Selene poked her head into the shot.

"Hello Derek. Being good?"

Derek stood up on his feet in response and promptly fell over again. Selene smiled somewhat wistfully. "I'll see you soon, Derek!"

Captain Barnacles regained control. "We're coming back to the Octopod soon, hopefully later on tonight. And Derek, you'll have some new friends to play with! This is Brendan and Olivia Raccoon. Olivia's around your age, Derek."

Derek didn't seem to be listening any more; he was sucking his fingers and gurgling to himself.

"You found Christian's family?" I asked in English, trying to sound surprised. I wasn't sure if I wanted everyone to know about my theory about a link with Kate just yet, especially with her standing right behind Barnacles.

Barnacles smiled. "Yes. They're coming back with us, since they seem to have some sort of immunity to the virus."

"Virus?" I asked, trying to sound, again, surprised. Tunip glanced at me with a slightly confused expression, but loyally said nothing.

"Yes, oh - we'll explain it all when we get back," promised the Captain.

"Okay, see you then," I said. I was looking forward to seeing them all again, especially if they could help get closer to finding Christian.