Infected

Run

You try to play it cool. "Look, just--calm down..." It would be a lot easier to play it cool if your voice would stop shaking. "What disguise are you talking about?"

"Playing dumb might have worked on Natemare, but it won't work on me. I'm not as dumb as you think," Madpat growls. He grabs you by the arm and yanks you to your feet. "Come on. You and I are taking a little walk."

He barely leads you to the door, before it bursts open, hitting him square in the face. He drops to the floor, holding his injured nose. PewDIEpie is on the other side, in the process of asking the scientist a question. He stops when he sees Madpat on the ground. You take your chance and, after jumping over Madpat's body, you dart out of the room. 
"You idiot!" He yells. "Get her!"

You run as fast as your legs will go. Within seconds, you hear two sets of footsteps thumping on the floor behind you, and then a third. Your heart beats fast you maneuver the dark halls. You're trying not to panic. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a figure steps into your path.

The two of you collide, and you feel hands gripping your arms tightly. You look up into the eyes of...Natemare. Your racing heart screeches to a halt. Natemare looks past you at the viruses who are quickly approaching, and turns you to face them.

Before he did though, you notice that his face seems different. He looks focused, concerned, and uneasy at the same time. Odd. As he turns you, the other viruses stop. You see that DannyDarko has joined the team.

"I can handle her from here," Natemare says.

"I don't think so. I can--" Madpat begins.

"She's just an inconvenience now. You have a lot on your plate," Natemare insists. "Don't worry about her." He spits out the word like a hairball.

Madpat watches you closely, before answering, "Fine."

As he leaves you hear him giving orders to PewDIEpie and DannyDarko. You want to feel relieved, but Natemare pulls you along, reminding you of what position you're in.

"No! Let me go!" You struggle against his grip.

Surprisingly enough, his hands slip a little. That's never happened before. As he struggles to drag you through the halls, you push against him even more.

"(Y/n), stop!" He yells.

"You really think I'm going to stop fighting you, after everything you've done to me?!" You shout back.

"(Y/n)!" Natemare pushes you up against the wall. "It's me!"

You squint at him a little. Before you can open your mouth, he rubs at his eye. The makeup design smudges, leaving you even more confused.

"What, you think you were the only one who could impersonate your virus?" He asked.

"Nate?"

He nods, smiling. "Ever since Natemare changed his design, he's been a lot easier to imitate."

You hug him and hold back happy tears. "It's getting harder. I'm just happy you understand."

As you let go, Nate pulls out a bag. "Void wanted me to give these to you," he says.

"What are they?" You peer into the bag and recognize your clothes. Thankfully, they are all still in one piece.

"Change in here." Nate opens a door and looks inside. "It looks like a closet."

You enter the closet and quickly get changed. You suddenly realize how exhausted you are. It's good to be wearing your own clothes again. You feel comfortable and like you might be making some progress. But then you remember what Void had said. There had been a tragedy.

Nate is standing guard as you exit the closet. You leave Void's clothes and the bag there. You're not sure if you'll need them again, but there's no point in bringing them.

"We can't stay here," Nate says. "Let's find Matt."

"Void said something about a tragedy," You start. "What happened?"

Nate let out a shakey breath. "Let's just get to Matt. Then we'll explain."

A figure suddenly jumps in your path. You take a startled step back, before recognizing, "Sean?"

"(Y/n), listen to me," Sean says in a breathless voice.

"What's going on?" You ask, suddenly concerned.

"I don't have time," He insists. "Just--please--stay away from me. Whatever you do---stay away..."

"Sean? Are you okay?" You take a step toward him now, just as he looks up.

His eyes flash green, then fade back to blue. You gasp, and realize why he told you to stay away...

"You've merged."

"Well, aren't you the smart one?" Sean's face twists into a smile as Anti tries to take control.

"(Y/n), we need to go," Nate says, pulling you back.

"Yes...run," Sean agrees, before breaking into glitchy laughter. "Run!"

You do as he says and take off, with Nate right beside you.