Contagious

The three days that Cole had spent with Shaun and Alexis had been rather smooth. Most of the time Cole just lay in bed. He often just closed the door so he could allow himself to act like a baby and cry into his pillow both from his despair of the situation and for his lost brother. It probably wasn't good to be moping about at a time like this, but why not? He probably didn't have much time left this way and he might as well mourn while he could. The only thing that cheered him up was the fact that he'd see his brother soon. He didn't doubt that when he lost it, Shaun would be ready to give him a nice bullet in the head.

And today, wasn't a good day. He had a pounding headache, he was starving and he just wanted it all to end. He was tired and being sick all the time was exhausting. Cole was pacing in his room but he hated it. It smelled like blood and sickness. There were blood stains thanks to his tears. His lips were sore to. He kept biting them. It was the only flesh he could really reach. He bit his tongue once and that had hurt too much.

He couldn't stand being in his room anymore. He left and started to walk around the home for no reason growling to himself here and there. He kept his gaze away from the humans. He was scared he might lunge at them if he looked at them long enough. He was so hungry! His stomach was twisting and turning. The hunger if anything was what was going to make him insane. He went to the fridge desperate to find something there to eat. Nothing looked good to him. They didn't have any steak or anything. He dropped to his knees beside the fridge and banged his head against the door for a little while trying to get his mind of it.

Cole groaned and panted a little. He opened the door again and looked at the food. He opened the drawers and manged to find a packet of ground beef. His stomach growled and his was practically drooling when he saw it. He was quick to grab at it and rip the package open and tried to eat it but the muzzle got in the way. Damn it! Damn it all! He was hungry! Cole reached up to the barrier with a snarl tugged at it until it ripped in half. Surprisingly, it was easy. He threw the damn thin on the floor and started to eat the meat.

Alexis had made some good progress in her research. She had been right about The Center's plan, it seemed that their new virus was worse in ways then the original. It attacked the body more aggressively and multiplied at an almost unbelievable rate. It attacked the body differently though, attaching to muscle fibers rather than the nervous system. It almost seemed like they were trying to amplify the body. Surely they weren't naive enough to believe that they could modify this virus enough that they could make it into a good thing?

Unfortunately, it had not helped her make any progress on her antidote. Cole's blood had reacted almost identically to the serum as the original virus's sample. The virus had ceased to multiply for several hours, its receptors blocked by her antidote. After about ten or twelve hours though, the antidote would start to degrade, letting the virus take control again. It was infuriating, and she was running out of ideas.

After a few days of almost solid research, she was taking a break, reading a book that didn't have anything to do with virology. She noticed Cole going to the fridge, but didn't think much of it. He had become fairly adept at eating despite the muzzle. Today though, something seemed wrong. In just a matter of seconds, everything went crazy. Seemingly simultaneously, Cole ripped off the protective mask and Shaun entered the room, back from a perimeter check. He reached for his gun, leveling it at Cole. He didn't fire immediately as he once would have, finding it hard to take out someone he had gotten used to living with.

"Cole," he said slowly, glancing over at Alexis to make sure she didn't make any sudden moves, "I need you to go back into your room now, okay? And close the door behind you."

Cole heard the voice above him and looked up. If he could of seen himself, he might have died at the sight. Cole was holding the package of raw meat and practically shoving his face into it. It stained his mouth and he was growling at the human as if the man was going to take away his food. His slightly more crimson eyes were trained on the man and then the gun. It was like he was calculating a way around the gun to the man so he could sink his teeth into fresher meat. Then he looked down at the food already in his hand and made a point to lick the food again as if claiming as his own before he let it drop to the floor.

The man slowly got up to his feet, breathing heavily like the rest of the infected thanks to the constant 'flu' symptoms. His body craved that he go after the man's throat and somewhere in his mind, he wanted that. There was another part that told him no. He didn't like that part. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and stared at the man for a little longer before he took a wobbly step forward; towards both the human and his room. He took a few more steps but he got wobbly from his indecision and stumbled against the wall. He took a moment to just breath, but even that was torture. He wanted food. He was so hungry. His nails dug into the wall a little. It was his last restraint before he snapped.

Cole snarled and sped forward; faster than the normally infected population and ripped the gun out of the man's grasp and threw it to the side before he slammed the man down growling and snarling at him. He could smell the human's scent and he wanted it so bad. He started to drool a little and just breath down on the man. Something was holding him back, but he didn't let the human go.

Alexis watched the showdown motionlessly. She was afraid that any little movement from her would exacerbate the situation. Her precautions did nothing though, as Cole suddenly snapped and lunged at her brother. Her heart skipped a beat. She would never forgive herself if her foolish trust in this man got her baby brother killed.

"Get off of him Cole, now!" she screamed, jumping up from her seat. "You don't want to hurt him. Think about this! You don't want to hurt him!" She flung open the top cabinet above her work station, quickly grabbing a vile and shoving the needle of an empty syringe into the rubber top. She drew out a large amount, more then she would use on a normal human, and set Cole in her sights.

Shaun was doing his own part of not getting injured, instinctively putting his hands on either side of Cole's head to keep his mouth away from his flesh. He snarled, trying to push Cole off, but he was no match for Cole's strength. He could usually match these guys physically; Cole was different somehow. He saw Alexis running up at them from the corner of his eye.

"Stay away, Alex," he cried, but his sister didn't even hesitate. She jumped onto Cole's back, jabbing the needle into his jugular vein and injecting him with the liquid.

Cole snarled and snapped his jaw a little and trying to get lower to bite him. He wasn't getting any closer though! Well his arms were pretty close. He started to turn his head a little to try and bite down on the exposed flesh there. The human's strength was getting weaker. He gave the human a grin and started to lick his dry lips as he started to lean loser and closer to the man's throat. He didn't even notice the human girl running around behind him trying to get the vaccine or whatever she was doing. Oh he was so close to that pulsing throat. He could hear the heart beat and just taste the blood on his tongue.

Then the tables turned.

When the girl jumped on his back, he snarled in anger and tried to swipe at her but then she stabbed him in the neck. He growled and let out something between a cry and a howl. He grabbed the thing out of his neck and threw it across the room and shoved the woman off of him. He pulled away from the humans and shuffled away, stumbling all the while until he fell and hit the wall. He growled and hissed while he reached up to touch his neck. What did the woman do to him. He didn't see ay blood or anything at least.

Pain started to flare up through him. He curled up into a tight ball and clawed at his own skin as the vaccine started to attack his cells. He whimpered and and scrambled against the wall like a kicked dog. It was attacking everything so fast. The red lessened in his eyes and he slowly came back to himself. He panted against the floor and reached up to cling to his head. He had such a pounding headache. Why was he burning? Tears fell down his face and he sniffled a little. He could breathe better at least.

"What.. wha.." he called out. What was going on?

Alexis let out a cry as she was flung off of Cole's back. She flew across the room, landing hard on the floor and sliding back into the wall. She could feel something warm running down her neck. She groaned, looking up to see if her drug had taken effect. Luckily, it seemed to have gotten Cole off of her brother. She stood up slowly, walking over to where Cole was curled up on the floor.

"What did you do to him?" Shaun asked, getting to his feet after grabbing his gun off the ground.

Alexis shook her head.

"I don't understand. I gave him enough Medetomidine to knock out a horse, how is he still conscious?"

Shaun walked over to the cabinet, keeping an eye on their writhing housemate all the while.

"I don't know what Metid. . . whatever you said is, but it's still up in the cabinet, Sis. This bottle on the floor, it's not marked."

"That's not possible," Alexis said, staggering over and grabbing the bottle from Shaun's hands. She shook her head in disbelief. She had grabbed the wrong drug. Instead of injecting Cole with a sedative, she had given him her experimental antivirus. She had made a big mistake. She knelt down next to Cole, only barely noticing Shaun shadowing her with his gun pointed at the pitiful man.

"Cole, Cole, can you hear me? Are you okay?"

Cole looked up at her as the tears continued to fall. He shrank away from her touch. He felt so... so raw. "What happened? What did you do to me?" he asked her weakly. "It burns. It burns so much," he cried and rubbed his face. At least he wasn't hungry anymore. He just wanted to die. His body was shaking and he was suddenly so very cold. None of this made any sense to him. Even his senses seemed to dull a little. His hearing wasn't as sensitive as it had been with the virus's change and even his vision seemed to blur a little. Great. Now he was going to go blind and deaf.

Then his stomach started to turn. The antivirus was forcing the virus back and he could no longer stomach the raw meat he had eaten earlier. He scrambled to his feet to get away from Alexis and Shaun but he didn't make it far before he dropped to his knees again and spilled the contents of his stomach on the floor. He heaved until his stomach was clear of all the undigested meat he had shoved down his throat in his hunger frenzy.

When it was all over, he flopped to the side panting. His body was still shaking a little but overall, he felt a little better. He groaned and wiped his mouth. "C-Can I have some water please?" he asked.

Alexis motioned for Shaun to get the water that Cole requested, and he quickly went to do so. She eyed the muzzle that lay on the floor, wondering if she could get it back on him. It seemed to be completely ripped in two though, making it useless. Taking a risk, she inched closer to Cole, helping him to get to a sitting position. She wasn't sure what to expect from the situation. The rats she had tested the antivirus on had not taken it well. They had acted normally for maybe an hour, but then the virus had resurfaced stronger than ever. She hoped that the results would be different here, since Cole should be stronger than her previous specimens. She also was uncertain how this new strand of virus would react.

"How are you feeling?" she asked tentatively. She was afraid to tell him her mistake quite yet, not wanting him to go into another rage.

Shaun came back with a tall glass of water, cautiously handing it to Cole. He knelt down next to his sister, keeping his gun casually gripped in his hand.

"How's it going?" he whispered to her. Alexis shrugged and shook her head. She would have to wait and see how Cole reacted to this. He looked a little shaky, but from what she could tell, his vitals were good. He was breathing a little heavily, but that was to be expected, considering the exertion he had just put out. She couldn't check his heart rate without getting too close, but she didn't see any obvious signs of distress.

Cole was sort of in a daze. He lay on the cold ground and didn't really feel like moving. It was comfortable on the floor. There was no pain at least. Then Alexis helped him up and he swayed. He wanted to just flop down on the ground again. The word was spinning around him. He kind of wanted to throw up again. He swallowed hard and closed his eyes hoping the spinning would stop if he did that. It was a little better when he leaned back against the wall. He felt so weak. It didn't feel like he could sit up really on his own. It was so hard to explain.

When the water was brought to him he took it slowly so he didn't scare the two humans beside him. He pressed the cup to his lips and drank the water greedily. When the water was gone, he set the glass down and pushed it away from him. He didn't want to go crazy again and end up using the glass against them and hurt them or something. What was he still doing alive anyway? He got the feeling that he attacked one of them. He had seen the muzzle on the ground. Things were a little blurry in his mind at the moment.

"Not so good," he answered. "I feel queasy.... unsteady. I think my vision got worse... and my other senses to. I guess it all feels kinda dim," he answered the question posed. "My headache is going away. I am not.... I am not hungry," he added a little quietly. "Another plus I guess is the fact that I can breathe a little better. I am not hot. I am so sorry. I tried. I tried. It's so hard. I was so hungry... How am I supposed to stop this?" he asked.

Alexis bit her bottom lip in thought as he described what was going on with his body. It sounded almost like a mixture between withdrawal and getting over a sickness. She shook her head, regretting her carelessness that had brought them to this situation. She hated uncontrollable circumstances such as this. Working off of her hunch, she put her hand on his shoulder, using her other to raise up his chin to look at her.

Shaun tensed instantly, clearly not understanding why she would put her own flesh so close to an infected's mouth. She wasn't concerned though. If her hypothesis was correct, as she was sure it was, then a bite from him would be no dangerous than a bite from Shaun - for a while, at least. His eyes seemed responsive to light, and were beginning to loose the reddish tint that accompanied the virus.

"I don't believe it," she heard Shaun mumble next to her. "He looks. . . cured."

She shook her head. How could she explain to these two that this was only temporary? What was worse, she had no idea if Cole would even survive once the virus overpowered her antivirus.

"I think you should get some rest," she said to Cole. Perhaps she could get him to eat something, too, if he could keep it down. His body would need the added nutrition once the virus returned. The virus did seem to extend life indefinitely, but she didn't know how it would react to a body that was too broken down to function.

Cole's head snapped up when he heard the word 'cured'. Bad idea. His head swam a little and he started to fall back to the floor. He groaned and rubbed his face a little. "I am cured?" he asked weakly. "Really? I am really cured?" He tried to stop it before it over took him, but hope made his heart leap. He was cured. He wouldn't die as an infected and he wasn't going to hurt anyone, eat anyone, or infect anyone! A shaky smile touched his lips and he leaned back and gave a small smile of relief. Now he just had to get over what was left of the sickness and he would be human again. Maybe then they would have a way to fight back.

"That thing you gave me, maybe if you can duplicate it and stuff, we could use it as a weapon. When you hit me with it, I couldn't attack. I stumbled away, so if you do that to a infected that is coming for you, they'd drop and you'd cure them. I know we can't cure everyone but at least it would be a start. We could use this facility and stuff to put all the cured infected and we could make more weapons and we could actually stand a chance against the others!" he smiled. He couldn't believe this was really happening! He was cured!

"I'll rest. I'll go rest. At least now I'll be able to actually go to sleep," he said with a small chuckle. "I don't have that fever anymore and I am not in pain, not hungry. Thank you so much," he said and hugged the woman beside him. He couldn't help the tears of relief and joy that touched his eyes. Maybe his brother's life wasn't going to be in vain. They would be able to save others now.

Alexis rubbed her temples. She paced outside of the room where Cole was resting, a sick feeling rested at the bottom of her stomach. Shaun followed her movements with nervous eyes.

"What's wrong, sis?" he asked.

Alexis sighed. She would have to tell the truth eventually. She just wished that things could stay the way they were right now; she wished that she truly had been able to cure Cole.

"What we injected him with," she started haltingly, "it wasn't a cure. At least, not a perfected one. All of the test subjects I've tried it on would go into a brief remission. However, after an hour or two the virus comes back stronger than ever. I-I couldn't tell Cole. He seemed so relieved and at peace. He deserves a moment of that, at least." She shook her head.

Shaun peaked in through the small glass window in the door.

"Well, he's still sleeping soundly now," he said. "I'm sorry I said anything about a cure. I didn't know."

Alexis nodded. She wrapped her arms around herself and waited for Cole's inevitable relapse.