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Part 2: Symptoms
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November 27th, 2009
2:30 AM
~Sagittarius~
"Aaaand that should do it. For now, at least." Aries pulled away with relief, wiping down his bloodied hands on his jeans.
My worry subsided for the moment, kneeling beside Capricorn as she continued to breathe heavily while eyeing the newly placed bandages wrapped around her lower abdomen. Aries didn't have much to work with, so the best we could do for her was try and prevent the wound from getting infected.
"So she's okay right?? She'll be fine?" I couldn't help but feel antsy and nervous, I mean this was all new so how could I not be worried?
"I already said..that I was fine.." Capricorn grunted, biting down hard on her lip as she tried to sit upright.
"Yeah, well I don't believe you so," She glared at me but I chose to ignore her, awaiting Aries' verdict.
He seemed unsure, scratching the back of his neck as he avoided any eye contact. "I only tried to stop the bleeding. Disinfecting it would be tedious work and I don't have steady hands so Aqua will take care of it-"
"Well, that's fine..." I nodded, mostly trying to convince myself that it was fine.
I took a look at Capri, watching as she leaned back against one of the wooden pillars in the abandoned barn we took shelter in, looking paler than usual. She was dripping with sweat too, which wasn't too concerning, and yet I still found myself worrying about her.
"We should be on the lookout for any symptoms as well."
"Symptoms?" I quickly looked up, my brows furrowing as a look of confusion crossed my face. My eyes drift toward Virgo, who had decided to invite herself to the conversation.
I noticed her sneak a glance at Capri and I tensed instantly, feeling way too protective even though nothing was threatening us at the moment.
"You said she was attacked, right? If anything, she might turn into one of those zombies," Virgo squinted her eyes. "We have no choice but to keep watch."
Fear started to well up inside me all over again, struggling to believe that it would be okay. I mean, what have we gotten ourselves into!? What was happening? Why was this all happening, this wasn't fair..! None of this was fair...
"Don't scare her now," Aries nudged Virgo with his elbow, currently wiping up his hands with a handkerchief. "Besides, we don't even know any key symptoms."
"Cancer should know a thing or two, right? She's seen a bunch of patients." Virgo frowned.
"All I know is that they looked sick. At the time, I didn't really look into the symptoms." Cancer walked past us and stood near the open doors of the barn, peering out into the wasteland that we had wandered into.
We were lucky enough to find a place to stay. Most places were either closed off or surrounded by zombies. The place was worn down with weakened boards and a leaky ceiling, but it was sturdy and even had large wooden doors that could be locked with a wooden latch. Thankfully it was located on the outskirts of the city, so there was little chance we'd be given any trouble.
"Let's not freak ourselves out until Aqua and the others get here. I feel okay." Capricorn sighed, straightening up to reach and rest her hand on my shoulder.
God, I could see what she was doing. I know she was trying to reassure me, to get me to not think about it much but could she blame me? It's not like this was a normal cut that was easily treatable. We were left in the dark about a lot of things, so there was no guarantee that Capricorn was actually fine.
"Whatever you say.." I decided to let it go for now. There was no use stressing about it until we heard from Aquarius.
But jeez did she have to take so long? Where were they??
"Well, we should at least start counting our supply. Food, tools, and other necessities and how we're gonna ration them." Aries suggested, digging into his bag and taking out a notebook and pen.
"Yeah, maybe get rid of a few...useless things as well," Taurus muttered, practically dumping the contents out of Libra's bag, which seemed to be full of a lot of...haircare products?
Libra glared and quickly gathered up his things, his brows furrowing as he messily stuffed everything into his oversized bag. At least he had a bag. Cap and I didn't even have the time to grab anything valuable before we left, with much fewer supplies.
"I can help with food rations!" Pisces offered, raising his hand like he was in school or something.
"And keep most of it for yourself? Not a chance." Aries squinted his eyes at Pisces, who only smiled cheekily and shrugged like he was innocent.
"We gotta find someplace else to go, too. No way in hell I'm sleeping in a barn." Gem was circling the area, searching for something he can focus his attention on.
I just kept by Capri's side, my worry spiking whenever I'd hear her raspy breath or see her gently touching her bandaged stomach. I knew it was pointless questioning her and that she'd continue repeating that she was 'fine' like a broken record, even if there was a chance she wasn't.
The next few minutes were filled with silence apart from the occasional muttering as Aries and Taurus counted up our supplies, which frankly, weren't a lot. Others seemed winded from having to keep themselves up past 2 in the morning, while some were probably just settling in and fully realizing the situation we were in. I was feeling just the same as them, if not worse. I couldn't even imagine getting a wink of sleep even if I were to try, paranoid that one of those things would try and jump me in my sleep.
I hugged my arms around my waist, sneaking a glance at Capricorn and seeing that she was sharing the same expression as everyone else...devastation and disbelief. My mind was momentarily drawn back to what happened in our home when Capricorn was fighting off that crazy ass zombie or whatever the hell it was that we were dealing with. The pure dread, she was so scared, and yet she still told me to run. Of course, I didn't but still...
I smushed my cheeks, feeling much more worried for Capricorn than I should've been. Did it hurt to take care of herself once in a while? I could do it easily and it felt great to have some self-care, but it was like that word didn't exist in Cap's vocabulary.
"Ooooooh..." I pause my thinking session to look up, hearing a familiar voice followed by the sound of the barn door creaking open. "You guys found a nice, sturdy place. It stinks though."
Mini came in, thankfully mostly unscathed with a relaxed expression across her face. I sat up, a wave of relief washing over me as the others followed in after her, looking quite exhausted but safe nonetheless.
"You guys came back!" Pisces jumped up with joy while Taurus was beside him, his expression quite intense before he seemingly broke out of it.
"You made me lose count..." He muttered, pinching Pisces in his side and making him squirm away.
Virgo stood up. "You guys okay? Was it bad over there?" Her eyes specifically trained on Scorpio, for obvious reasons.
She was deadly quiet, which was honestly a rare sight itself, trying to hide behind Leo but failing to hide the fact that her clothes were covered in fresh blood. It didn't look to be her own, as she didn't appear injured, but there was also something off about her like the life had suddenly gotten sucked right out of her.
What had happened back there?
"It was pretty bad. I don't want to talk about it." Leo shook his head, leading Scorpio to an open space within the barn and sitting her down.
"Oh, we got extra clothes if you want them, Scorp." Taurus dug into Libra's bag, a small smile on his face as he pulled out a pair of spare sweats and a soft yellow sweater made of cotton.
Libra had this pout on his face but ultimately said nothing as Taurus neatly folded the clothes up and passed them over Scorpio's way, earning a small mutter of a thank you from her before she stood up and walked off to find a secluded place to change. As curious as I was, I knew it was better not to ask what had happened, especially not after seeing her look so...out of it.
"How is she?" Aquarius came over to me, kneeling next to Capricorn and observing her bandage wrappings.
"She's fine for now. It still needs to be disinfected but it shouldn't be deep enough to need to stitch it." I explained, Capricorn nodded beside me as she carefully sat up so Aqua could get a better look.
"And you haven't witnessed anything strange?" She suddenly asked, concern laced in her tone as she hesitantly approached Capri.
I frowned. "No. Why would I??" I was defensive, fidgeting my leg out of habit as I briefly remembered what Virgo mentioned before. But there was no way, there was just no way.
Aquarius gave me a look but didn't say anything, reverting her focus to Capricorn. "Just asking. I don't see any symptoms yet, so I was making sure."
I relaxed a little, but her words didn't entirely make me feel okay. I knew that, at some point, everyone would soon question if Cap was gonna turn, just over a little scratch. We still didn't know the cause of people turning into those things, but a scratch can't be it, right?
"I'll properly disinfect your cut, and then we should all turn in for the night." She looked at the others, probably noticing how tired they all were.
"Good to me. You all look like you stared death in the face." Mini tried to make light of the situation and yet no one laughed, causing her to pout and walk off to take a seat on a nearby wooden crate.
Libra pursed his lips. "What about the zombies? They can attack us while we're sleeping right??" He was antsy, fumbling with a bottle of lotion that Taurus had dumped out of his bag earlier.
"You're right, but I also don't want to leave right now. We all need to refresh ourselves and it's better to move during the day anyways." Aquarius pointed out, gesturing for Capricorn to lay down to she can start undoing her bandages.
I nodded. To be honest, there was no way I was making it over twenty steps out there if we were to leave now. Hell, I could barely keep my head up straight, constantly lulling to the side as it urged me to sleep. I was sure the others were the same way, even those who usually were known for their high energy.
"Mmm, I'll keep watch." Taurus suddenly stood up and almost everyone looked at him like he was crazy. "....What?"
"You? You sure??" Leo managed a chuckle and Taurus simply gave him a blank stare with a small nod.
"No offense, but I guarantee you'll fall asleep on the spot." Aries looked up after storing some food in his bag and writing something down in his notebook.
"I can place a bet on you and win it easily." Mini chimed in.
"I can do it! Honest!" Taurus appeared mildly offended, grabbing his bag and approaching the door of the barn. He peeked out for a second, then reached over and dragged over a wooden crate he could keep himself sitting on while looking out.
Guess he was serious. Of course, anyone would be in this situation, though it was entertaining to see Taurus act that way. If things were still...normal and I was in a better mood, I probably would have chipped in on the bet.
"....I'll join you after I'm done here," Aquarius murmured without looking up, currently dabbing Capricorn's cut with a cotton ball that was dipped in hydrogen peroxide.
Capricorn was biting her lip the entire time, trying not to make too much noise as she flinched whenever Aquarius applied pressure. I stuck by her, unable to shake my worry even when everyone else was relatively calm.
There was that long, drawn-out silence again and it seemed like some were getting themselves comfortable in order to sleep. There wasn't much inside the barn to use as warmth, so the least we could do was gather up a bunch of hay and somehow make it work. I could only see myself getting itchy and uncomfortable, so I'd probably pass.
"You should sleep." Feeling a hand on my leg, I let out a sigh and faced Capricorn with a deadpanned stare, despite the strained smile she put on.
"You should sleep." I rebutted.
Capricorn made a face, her eyes darting over to Aquarius before she looked back at me. I could already tell what she was implying and I decided to interject before she could say it aloud.
"I know I should sleep I just...I'm worried. And PLEASE don't say you're fine and I have nothing to worry about because I can assure you that will NOT soothe my fear." I was rambling a little, my shoulders quite tense as my fingers constantly twitched.
Capricorn bit her lip, pondering for a second. Now that I told her not to say that, it was like she was rethinking her entire response. "I know. I just don't want to hear you complaining in the morning." she laughed.
"What?! You..." I rolled my eyes at her laughter, feeling my cheeks turn slightly red. "I do not complain that often."
"You do. And it makes my ears bleed, let's be honest." Capricorn rolled her eyes and I considered punching her in the arm, but she was in enough pain as it was.
I scoffed. "You're trying to annoy me so I go to sleep, aren't you?" I asked, scooting myself forward so I could properly lie down. The minute I hit the wooden floor, It felt like I was about to be dragged into the dream world, exhaustion finally catching up with me, like all the adrenaline from earlier had prevented me from feeling it.
"It's working, isn't it?" Capricorn chuckled, which was followed by an immediate hiss. I felt my heart twinge with worry, debating on sitting back up but deciding it would be better to just put my faith in Aqua.
"....No comment," I murmured, rolling onto my side so I could at least meet Capri's gaze. "Still...At least scream if something happens, alright?" I pleaded, keeping Aqua and Virgo's words in mind.
Capricorn's expression wavered and her smile faded, replaced by a serious one with slightly furrowed brows. "...Yeah. I got it." She agreed and I was thankful that she was willing to comply.
I nodded, too tired to verbalize a response. I was curled up, shivering from the cold and lack of covers, and only had a thin jacket to keep me warm. Even so, my exhaustion was enough to disregard the temperature, feeling myself drifting off with my eyes fluttering shut, Capricorn soon fading from my vision.
As I lay in silence, I hoped and prayed that I wouldn't dream. I didn't want to dream up something beautiful, only to wake up to a reality like this.
It would be too painful so....please don't let me dream.
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Damn I don't even know what to say at this point it's been like...a YEAR??? ik y'all were crying thinking I wasn't coming back
I actually wasn't planning to but then I somehow got interested in zodiac stories and their cliches again, so here I am! A year later! My bad....
I don't know how long it'll be until I completely lose interest in this story, but I got another one coming just in case lmao
Anyways ty for reading!??? if y'all are still here, most likely n o t but we back