Remedy

Chapter One: It's a Start For Everything

~Isaiah~

Lights flickered above him. Everything was black and white. His body was rigid and cold, he could barely stand up. He started down the hall, although he couldn't control his body. Screams and moans surrounded the air. People were screaming for help, crying about how cold they were. The people came into view, horror started in Isaiah's chest, it was the Vacants. 

~Chase~

Lights flickered above him. His entire body ached. Chase was laying on the floor, a wet washcloth was plastered to his forehead. A wooden door slid open and a woman stepped inside. 

"You're awake!" she cried, she knelt down next to him and began poking and prodding at a bandage on his head. 

"Where am I?" he asked.

"I'm Marie, you're in my home," she had black wiry hair and silver eyes, wrinkles covered her pale body. "I saved you, pulled you out of that government building." 

"I'm Chase- I need to find my mom," he groaned, sitting up. 

"You can't go anywhere," Marie said, "You have to stay here." He ran a shaky hand through his hair and glanced around the room. Cobwebs clung to overturned chairs, there was a large cloth bag in the corner, blood staining the cloth. 

"Why?" Chase asked, there were no windows in the room and only one door. 

"Because you are not healthy, you wouldn't survive the journey."

"As soon as I get better, I need to leave," Chase said nervously, "and what's in the bag?"

"My dead husband." 

~Henry~

Henry was pacing, trying to wrap his brain around everything. Isaiah was like a son to him, at first he hated him . . . But in the end, Isaiah was a good kid. He didn't deserve to die, not that brutally. A warm hand touched his shoulder, breaking him from his thoughts.

"Henry, it's not your fault." It was Mae.  He shrugged her off. "Henry, please." 

"Mae, I don't need comforting, go comfort your daughter, she needs you." She didn't leave. 

"She's with Joel. I just want to make sure you're okay," Mae started, Henry slumped into one of the hospital chairs. "It wasn't your fault, you do know that, right?" She pulled a chair across from him and sat down. "It's going to be alright." 

"It's not . . . We're not going to win this war," Henry fought back the tears that started in his eyes. "We've lost so many people, and we keep losing people. I guess Isaiah's death made me realize this. You can't get too close to anyone, because you'll just end up losing them in the end. Mae, nobody deserves that death, nobody deserves to be ripped apart while they're still alive. Mae, you can't walk in a hospital for fifteen minutes without being killed! What life is this?" This time, Henry didn't stop the tears. "This needs to end." 

"You just want to give up? You want to give up after all  we've been through? Do you think Isaiah would want that? Would he like to know that all of us gave up because he died? No, he wouldn't. He'd want us to go find that cure and stop all of this," Mae lifted his chin up, "He'd want us to stay strong." 

~Anastasia~ 

Her cheeks were wet with tears, and even though she didn't like Joel, he was nice to talk to. He sat next to her, his arm was heavily bandaged, at least he was doing better. "Ana? Can I tell you something?" She nodded, silently. "I lied . . . When I said I didn't like Isaiah, it wasn't for that reason." 

"What?" she asked, picking her head up off the wall. 

"Before I found out I had cancer, I lived in New York with my dad. He used to live there . . . I knew him. We were friends . . . Our dad's were friends, we got into this fight-" He was interrupted by the screeching of breaking metal. Rose started crying harder. Everyone grabbed their weapons, aiming them at the door. Fists began pounding on the door. 

"Please! None of us are bitten, we promise," a woman begged. Henry brought his finger to his lips and started towards the door. Carefully, he unhooked the lock and slowly opened the door. "Please, let us in." 

"Now listen closely, you're going to come in, one by one, we're going to decide if you can stay with us. Now, if there is any funny business or if anyone of my people don't feel comfortable around you, you're gone," Henry said flatly, with no emotion. A group of three people stepped into the room. 

Two women, one with a bulging stomach, and a little girl. The first woman was tall and pale, her dark hair hanging down in her face. Her eyes were pale blue and her dress was torn and stained. The second woman had one shoe on, and her dress was ripped and bloodied. Her hair was pale blonde. The little girl was all skin and bones, Her dark hair hung down like a mop. 

"It's not my blood," the second woman croaked. Casper grabbed Ana's hand and pulled her away from the others. 

"Ana, something's not right with them," he began, "Look at the little girl, she looks like she should've been dead long ago. And that woman, the blood is fresh. Something's going on. . ." As if on cue, the little girl fell to the ground, revealing a jagged bite wound in her shoulder. 

"You said no one was bit!" Mae shouted, the pregnant woman's eyes widened. Henry put his gun to the little girl's head. 

"No, please don't shoot her! She isn't bitten by a zombie! I promise!" She began crying. The girl's body was shaking, as if having a seizure. "We were attacked by a dog, not a zombie. That's why we came here! We saw you come in, you had an injured boy," She gestured towards Joel, "Please help her, I don't want my daughter to die." The little girl went still. Black goop surrounded the bite. Henry knelt down and stared at the wound. 

"If you say this was a dog bite, this was no normal dog," Henry whispered. "If this is a dog bite, it was a Vacant dog." 

Mae's eyes widened with horror, "Then what does that mean?" 

"It means animal's are now turning into Vacants."

THAT WAS THE MOST PATHETIC ENDING EVER. I AM SORRY. GEEZ. THAT WAS HONESTLY TERRIBLE. Gawsh. Anyway, I'm sorry about the sucky ending and overall terrible and short chapter. I mean, I was supposed to post this a long time ago. But I didn't. But since I finally wanted to get something out for this story, I updated. I will most likely come back and change the ending. But I'll tell you if I do do That. HAHAHA DO DO. Jk. This is actually a terrible chapter, especially since it's a story starter. UGh. It'll get better. I promise. Anyway, vote? don't? comment? Do as you plea