CODE ZERO

TWO

Ava and Eric had been seeing a lot of each other, considering he and his brother had to come to the medical tent everyday so her father could monitor their conditions. She had told herself many times that Eric didn't have much time left, and she shouldn't get too close to him, but that hardly stopped her from spending time with him, even outside of the medical tent. Eric was always around, even when her father didn't need to monitor him, which gave Ava something to do besides sit and read. She liked him. Quite a lot.

When she had come back to her and her father's tent somewhat late one night after walking around the camp with Eric, her father wasn't too happy with her. "Were you hanging out with that boy? That infected boy?" Usually her father was very calm and collected, he hardly ever raised his voice. When she didn't say anything, it seemed to just make him more angry about the subject, probably knowing that his assumptions were correct, "Ava, what on earth are you thinking?! You can't be with him, I forbid it."

"That's not fair!" Ava argued, throwing her bag down near her bed. 

"Not fair? What's not fair is if I lose you because of him. I already lost your mother, Ava... I don't want to lose you too." 

Ava clenched her jaw, "You can't keep playing that guilt card, dad. I miss mom, too, but I'm old enough to make my own decisions. You don't get to have a say on who I hang out with. You can't keep me from everything, not the infection, and especially not Eric." She paused and looked at him. He wore a surprised expression on his face, like he was shocked that she was arguing with him. "I'm not a little girl anymore. And if this is how I want to spend my days, if I want to risk my life to be with him, then I will." With that she grabbed her coat off her bedpost and quickly made a run for the tent exit before her father could say anything more.

She nearly went next door to Eric and Riley's tent, then cringed at the realization that the both of them could have heard the entire argument she just had with her father. The walls were literally paper thin after all.

She swore to herself, deciding against it, and instead put her jacket on and decided to go on a walk on her own to clear her head.

Eric had sat down to play cards with Riley, after being out with Ava for a while, when they heard the argument going on next door to them. He glanced up at Riley who had started becoming sicker these past few days. His cheeks were sunken in and his eyes were bloodshot. They told the two of them the cure was becoming closer to being finished, but Eric wondered if that was really true and if it was they needed to hurry. With the infection starting to show signs in both of them they only had a week or two at best. 

Eric coughed into his arm more blood showing up on his sleeve. He wiped his mouth carefully and stood up washing his hands not bothering to change into a new shirt he would just get more blood on.

While all of this was happening he happened to catch bits and pieces of the argument and frowned to himself. Ava's father was right, no matter how much both he and Ava wished he was wrong. She didn't need to be around him. He wasn't good for her, and he wouldn't be around much longer anyway. He would never forgive himself if something happened to her.

When Ava stormed past the tent, Eric looked at Riley. "I'm gonna go talk to her." Riley nodded and smiled a bit.

"I'm gonna get some sleep, but you go get your girl." Riley said, coughing as he made his way  over to his cot. 

Eric watched him for a moment while he pulled on his jacket then made his way towards the direction Ava had gone.

"Hey!" He caught up with her after a short jog and smiled a bit, "you okay...?"

"I know you heard." Ava said, keeping her face toward the ground. She couldn't look at him knowing he'd heard all that. "I'm really sorry you had to...hear that. It's just my dad being...my dad."

Eric didn't say anything, not knowing what exactly would make this situation better. Besides the cure, that is.

"My dad is just being overprotective. He can't make my choices for me." Ava kept walking, scoffing to herself, rambling on. "This whole infection is stupid. There has to be something out there that can cure it." Ava knew Riley and Eric, along with probably a hundred others, only had a little while left. It wasn't fair. "I hate just sitting here not being able to do anything about it."

"Maybe..." Eric sighed, stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets. This probably wasn't the best way to handle the situation, but maybe they needed to do it like this. Just rip the band-aid off. "Look, Ava, I've loved spending time with you, and-and you're great... but let's be honest with ourselves. Your dad is right..."

"Don't do this." Ava pleaded, her eyes filling with tears at just the thought of it. She didn't know how she got so attached to Eric in such a short amount of time, but she did. And now she had no choice but to fight to keep him.

"I just-"

"No." She snapped. "You're still here. You're still you. You're not going anywhere. We'll get the cure and you'll get better."

"I don't think I have that long." Eric said honestly, "I'm deteriorating from the inside out, Ava. It hurts." His voice cracked, the pain getting the best of him. 

Ava could see it in him. His ocean blue eyes losing their hue, instead of the clear blue they started as, now they were a clouded grey, like a thick fog. A fog that would devour everything in its path. She wanted to reach out and hug him so tight the pieces would have no choice but to mold back together, but she just stood and watched him.

"This hurts so bad, Ava... I never want you to go through this. I don't even want to risk it." He looked at her seriously, the fear apparent in his eyes. "They're no closer to finding the cure now than they were months ago. It's not coming."

"The cure is out there." She said, shaking her head, her voice just above a whisper. "It has to be. And if I have to go out there and find it myself then I will. I won't let this take you."

Eric gave her a small smile but the expression he wore was glum. "I don't think we can win this one."

"You can't just give up. What about Riley?"

"Riley has days. Maybe." It was torture for Eric to watch his kid brother going through this, too. He didn't deserve it, not that anyone did, but Riley was still a child. Innocent.

They both stayed silent for a few moments, neither knowing what to say at this point. They both knew that unless the cure came in the next few days, Riley wouldn't make it.

"I should get back to my father. Before he sends the entire camp after me. You should get back too, check on Riley. I'll see you both tomorrow morning for your injections." She gave him a half smile and hugged him before walking off back toward their tents.

Eric watched her walk off for a few moments, his eyebrow raised. He had a feeling something was going to happen, he just wasn't sure what.

"I'm going to find that cure. Someone has to." Ava thought to herself, taking one more glance back in the darkness where she'd left Eric before entering her tent.

 She would go down fighting this infection with all she had. Because that's what you do for the people you care about.

You fight.