"Ah..."
Addison groaned. The outbreak was flaring up again. In the past twenty-four hours, it had resurfaced twice. Her skin was covered in sweat, which shouldn't be happening. She knew she had a fever, and it hadn't broken. Austin looked at her and wished he could do something to comfort her.
"Hang in there," he said. "The results should be finished soon."
"What the hell is taking it so long?"
"It might be a new species or something. We haven't been on Earth for centuries. We don't know what kind of animals, or bacteria, it has now."
"I wish I was getting hazard pay for this," she said. "This is awful."
Austin looked at her.
"What did you do on Canis?"
"Now isn't a good time for small talk," she whimpered.
"A distraction will be good for you. Come on, talk to me. What did you do on the colony?"
"Pre- or Post-lockup?"
"Pre-."
"I was a tattoo artist," she said. "People seemed to love them. When I got locked up, I didn't stop. You would be amazed at the different ways of making tattoos."
Austin looked away.
"What did you... get locked up for?"
"I stole some food that I wanted. It was funny. I didn't even think about it. I just swiped some candy for my dad because it was his favorite. I should have known I would get caught."
"You were locked up for stealing candy?"
"It's not the cheapest commodity in the colony. It's super expensive. It was his birthday, and I didn't have enough to buy it, so... I took a risk. It was dumb."
"Maybe Aiden was right about one thing," he said. "We don't have to deal with their ridiculous laws anymore."
"Until we rejoin with the other survivors. If there are any."
Austin looked at Dominic. His breathing was getting more shallow, but he was hanging in there.
"What if we ran away?"
"Huh? Are you pulling my good leg?"
"No, I'm serious. If we ever get in contact with other ships, we should just run away. Survive in the forest on our own. Hunt. Gather. Build. Live."
"I don't know," she said. "That sounds dangerous. We've only just scratched the surface. What if there's nothing any further out there?"
"There's a whole valley at the bottom of the waterfall," he said. "It's not an impossible idea. We could run away and disappear. Live how we want to live."
"What if one of us gets hurt?"
"We'll find a way to make it work. Humans are resilient creatures."
She looked at him and smiled.
"That's true. If we ever get out of this alive, I think a vacation would be nice."
"Deal."
The sound of footsteps cut their conversation short. They carried Rocco inside. Vera followed behind. Austin swiveled his head.
"What's going on?"
"Rocco's got it," someone said.
They put him on the bed. Austin almost wanted to barf. There were scratch marks all over his body.
"I need bandages!" Vera said.
She doused them in alcohol and placed them all over his body. He started whipping his arms and legs around wildly. A hand smacked her in the face. She went flying to the floor. The others managed to tie him down. She wiped off the tears that threatened to show and finished putting the bandages on him. She grabbed a needle and stuck it into his pulsing veins. She took it to the computer and inserted it in next to the samples from Austin and Addison.
"Come on," she begged.
The computer finished its analysis. It matched the same signature. She stomped over to the screaming Rocco.
"You idiot! You drank from the river?"
He shook his head but didn't say anything.
"Don't lie to me. I just ran a test on your blood. There's no way you didn't."
"I didn't drink from the river!" He shouted.
He went into a fit of screaming again, pulling against his restraints. She shook her head and grabbed one of the emergency tranquilizers. She applied it to his neck. After a few seconds, he calmed down, but it completely knocked him out.
"I can't believe I'm in love with an idiot," she said. "I vouched for you!"
She suddenly seemed to remember they weren't alone. She looked over at Austin and Addison. She looked at Rocco one last time and gave him the finger before leaving. Austin looked over at Addison.
"About that vacation," he said.
She nodded quickly.
"Yeah. Me, too."
~~~
Mark's head was throbbing again. He tried to reach up and rub his temples, but his hands wouldn't move. He opened his eyes. He was inside some kind of hut made of wood. Event the floors were arranged in a circular pattern from cut down trees. It was pretty sophisticated.
It was bare and not very big. He tried to move, but he was tied to the post in the center of the hut that was holding up the ceiling. He noticed the lack of his present wolves and started to panic. The room smelled like urine. He wasn't liking what he was reading between the lines. The doorway was covered in cloth. He could barely feel the breeze that was coming through. The air was stale. He wanted a fresh breath.
A woman wearing basic, brown clothing opened the door. She looked similar to a Native American, but her hair was all blonde and blue-eyed. She froze when she saw he was awake. He looked away. She came all the way inside. She was holding a bowl of water. She held it up to his mouth. He looked at her, searching for deceit in her eyes, then felt stupid. They tied me up here. Why would they kill me?
He graciously drank as much as he could before he had to breathe. She smiled a little at his desperation. She dipped a rag inside and touched it to his head. The spot where he was smacked was bloody and had a cut. He winced from the pain. She looked at him with pity.
"I'm sorry they did this to you," she said finally. "They can be harsh sometimes."
Mark was shocked. She had a thick, Indian accent.
"You speak English?"
She stopped.
"You speak English?"
"Well, yeah. I wasn't expecting anyone on Earth to still speak the same language as me. Sorry. It's a stereotype. I shouldn't have judged."
"It's not your fault for judging," she said. "You had a bad encounter last night."
"Tell me about it. My head is killing me."
"It should go away. It's not a serious injury."
He motioned to the bowl on the floor.
"Is that fresh water?"
She hesitated.
"Yes."
"Where did you get it?"
She didn't have time to speak. An older man walked inside, dressed like a monk and completely devoid of hair.
"It seems he is awake," he said. "That is all, Abigail."
She didn't say another word. She collected herself and walked out.
"My name is Jamel," he said. "You gave us quite the scare. We didn't even know if you were human."
"I'm not the Drax," he said. "I have a conscience."
"I would hope so. Otherwise, I would have to kill you."
He laughed. Mark was feeling uncomfortable.
"That was a joke," he said. "I have no intention of killing you. I wanted to say thank you, really."
"Thank me for what?"
"For not killing one of my men," he said. "You fought honorable, and I have to acknowledge that."
"Uh, I fought to not die. It was your man who was holding a knife."
"You had a choice to use your sword, but you refrained from doing so. You had no intention to kill, so I will show the same gratitude."
He bowed. Something on a string fell out from the collar of his robe. He gasped. My ring. We was wearing Wolfbane around his neck. He thought he felt something was off. He rubbed the spot where it should have been. It was gone. Jamel took a seat in front of the door.
"Then why am I tied up here?" Mark queried.
"Apologies if our first impression wasn't with the best of intentions. We didn't know who, or what, you were. We have never seen a person with that symbol before."
He pointed to the crest on my shoulder.
"Who are you, exactly?"
Mark gulped. He knew nothing about these people. Should he spill everything he knew? Would they even believe it?
"My name is Mark," he said. "I crashed in my ship somewhere outside of the valley."
"A ship? No one has seen a ship in years. Occasionally, the Drax go by, but there's so much foliage that we can evade their scanners. What ship, exactly?"
"Just a ship," he said. "We crashed. There is a large group of survivors. They're low on food, and they have no water. They need help."
"We'll get to that," he said. "How did you get down here?"
"One of the crew mutinied. He threw me and my friend over the edge of the waterfall. We survived, but my friend is badly hurt. I made a shelter for us to make it through the night, but one of my wolves got hurt. I assume it's by your people. I followed the scent, but I got ambushed. You know the rest."
"Hmm. Interesting story."
"What? It's not a story. It's true."
"You had me convinced until you mentioned the river. Do you think I'm an idiot? If what you are saying is true, then you would also be infected. You have no fever and are no worse for wear."
He stood up.
"I'm sure a lack of food and water will be enough to convince you. I will be back later. Be ready to tell the truth by then."
He walked out. Mark shouted in a panic.
"Wait! Where are my wolves? What about my friend? Please, you have to help him! Come back!"
Jamel stopped and looked at Abigail. She had been listening from outside.
"What?"
She shrugged.
"I think he's telling the truth."
"Some of it might be true, but you know as well as I do. If he really did crash here a few days ago, then there is no way they could cure the sickness. Only we know the cure."
"What about his friend? Shouldn't we check?"
He narrowed his eyes.
"If he really is speaking the truth, then he will be there. There's no harm in looking."
He nodded.
"Speak with the hunters. Tell them to search the river. For his sake," he pointed to the hut, "there better be someone there."
~~~
Sara waited patiently. She wondered if Maria was still awake. What if she was worried for her? Maria already didn't like to be by herself. She felt a little guilty for leaving their room in the first place. She didn't expect to be caught in the middle of a murder investigation.
After what felt like hours, Thelma returned. Sara felt like she could relax. Sasha came running in and put her paws on Sara's lap. She scratched her for comfort.
"Well, you and the captain are both cleared," she said. "You're free to go."
"Wait, what about the other guy?" She asked.
"I interviewed the other officers. A few of them were able to collaborate the first half of his story. They had already checked the upper deck, but he went up to 'check' it again. He was the last one with direct contact to her for who knows how long."
"What about the autopsy?"
"They found an injection site on her neck," she said. "She was poisoned, but it was from a needle. They found it hidden inside his comm. He stole some of the electrical fluid from the wires in the ship. It can cause intense inflammation when it enters the bloodstream. It inflated her esophagus and exploded. She drowned in her own blood."
Sara put her hand over her mouth.
"Oh, god. That's terrible. Why did he do it?"
"Fear can drive people to do things they would never do," she said. "This is what the captain was talking about. Isolation will change and destroy anyone, given enough time. It won't be surprising to see more of this happen in the near future. For now, just be glad we caught him before he killed again."
"What's going to happen to him?"
"Well... under the Common Colonial Law, since we are in the middle of a dire situation, the Law calls for expulsion. Permanent expulsion."
"That's awful."
"That's the rules," she said. "The rules are in place for a reason. If we break them, then we start to lose ourselves. Besides, he murdered someone. Do you really want someone like that on the ship?"
"What if he was your father? Or your brother? Would you want to press that button?"
Thelma looked at her sadly.
"I just try not to think about it."
~~~
Vera brushed Rocco's hair with her finger. She couldn't sleep. She sat by his bed all night long. Austin stirred and woke up. He experienced only one flare up last night, but he was out cold when it left. His mouth was dry, his lips cracked. He looked over at Vera. She had dark bags under her eyes. She was staring blankly at Rocco's hands. She had tried to scrub them clean, but blood was caked under his nails.
"Have you been there all night?"
She didn't move, only shifted her eyes to look at him.
"Sorry," he said. "That was a dumb question. You just don't look so hot. Not in a bad way. Well... you know what I mean."
"Do you ramble like that with everyone or just the girls?" She said.
He sucked on his dry lips.
"Sorry," he said again. "I get nervous sometimes."
"Well, don't. And stop apologizing so much. You didn't do anything wrong. Thank you for checking on me. I'm just feeling a little sick."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
She looked away and rubbed her neck.
"Not really."
"I've got all the time in the world to talk," he said. "Would it hurt to give it a try?"
"If we talked about something else, sure. I need my mind off of our problems."
"Okay. You start."
She pointed to Addison. She was sleeping soundly.
"How's she doing?"
"She could be worse," he said. "It sucks all of this happened to her. She was just trying to help."
"She's not the only one trying," she said. "We're all doing what we can. It's going to get worse before it gets better. That's what James said before..."
Austin closed his eyes.
"I know. It hurts me, too."
"I didn't have many friends who were guys growing up," she said. "My father... he liked having me under his thumb. James was a lot like Rocco. He was... different."
"He was a good guy. Both him and Mark."
"I wish we could go find their bodies or something to give them a proper burial. The river probably took away any trace of them. Eaten by piranhas or whatever."
"The medicine," he whispered. "It was all gone when we found it. Probably more supplies. Someone stole it."
"You think someone took it?"
"Well, it wasn't the snakes. They don't need morphine unless they're into that kind of thing."
"Aiden has guards outside," she said. "If there are Firmas around, they might stay away for a while."
"I hope you're right. I don't want to know what would happen if we were attacked."
"Right now, we've got bigger things to worry about. We need water, and soon."
"Speaking of water... I kind of gotta pee."
"Do you feel any pain right now?"
"Other than the fever? I don't think I'll go crazy for thirty seconds."
She undid the straps. He got up, sulking over to the bathroom.
"Leave the door cracked in case you need help," Vera said.
"I hope that doesn't happen," he said.
He urinated into the toilet.
"It's dark," he said. "Is that from the outbreak?"
"You're dehydrated."
"Oh, good. I thought I was getting cancer."
There was the sound of heavy footsteps that made Vera jump. She turned to see someone walking in. He was scratching his arm.
"It hurts," he said.
"What?"
"Arg! Do something!"
He started frantically scratching his arm. She quickly grabbed his arm and dragged him to a bed. Austin came out of the bathroom, zipping up his pants.
"What's happening?"
"He has it, too," she said. "Help me hold him down!"
He felt weak, but he would do his best. He pinned him down while she strapped him in.
"What's going on?"
"I don't know," she said. "Did you drink the water?"
"I haven't had anything to drink in two days," the guy managed to say.
Austin looked down at the teen's skin. It was rippling with hives. Like the motion of waves in water, it surfaced across his skin and touched Austin's hand. He could feel the heat in his hand travel up his arm. Vera looked and saw his goosebumps stick out and move from his arm to his face.
"It burns," he said. "Fire. Fire!"
She pushed him into his bed and quickly strapped him down before he could scratch himself again. Addison began to stir. Vera looked and saw her skin turn red in hives. Addison started screaming.
"Addison!" Austin shouted.
Vera heard a scream outside and ran into the hallway. People came rushing out of their rooms, scratching all over their bodies like an outbreak of chicken pox. Left and right, Vera could see bleeding arms and faces. They cried out in agony. She wanted to throw up.
Aiden grabbed Vera and whipped her around.
"What's happening?"
She looked back.
"It's the outbreak. They've all got it."
"Damn it! I told them not to go to the river!"
She shook her head.
"I don't think they did."
She turned around. Some of them were on their knees. Others rubbed their arms against the wall, smearing blood.
"It's spreading."