Red Infection

after Annie left the school clinic with Caitlin and her friends. they went to the commotion that was happening earlier. near the entrance they saw Marvin walking away from the crowd with a faint smile on his face but they just dismissed him.

Annie squeezed her way through the crowd only to find a woman still crying, beside her what appears to be her boyfriend. she could see the grief in the eyes of the woman but there was a hint of anger on her face.

the woman saw Annie amongst the crowd. when she saw her she had a bit of hope at the thought of capturing the killer of her boyfriend with the help of their leader. she knew that Annie was kind enough to help her avenge her boyfriend. besides, no one else can help her because she and her boyfriend wasn't really popular among the students, they kept to themselves and had no other friends besides each other. this will be a leap of faith, she thought if Annie can help her capture the murderer then she will obediently follow her.

the woman walked in a fast pace and reached Annie. she held the hand of Annie with her both hands while looking at Annie with her watery eyes and crumpled face. this made Annie a little comfortable but she didn't show it to the woman who was grieving. surely she can't just show her awkward emotions because that would be rude. then the woman spoke.

"please...Annie, help me find the murderer"

after hearing what the woman said, Annie felt confused at the same time alarmed. she thought that the guy committed suicide and she actually agreed with that theory. just thinking at what's happening all over the world and the Apocalypse, it's not really unthinkable that something like this would happen especially if that someone lost a relative or a friend or a lover. she thought that something like this would happen frequently until the humans adapted to this situation. but now, this woman is claiming that someone murdered her boyfriend.

"this is not the right place to talk about this, lets go somewhere quieter"

Caitlin said to Annie with a serious tone on her face. Caitlin got a little worried when the student spoke of a murderer. although she is certain that she and her friends wasn't involved in this, the others might still think that it was them. after all, they were still a guest here and no one really knows them. so she wanted to clear their names as soon as possible.

"wait, lets give him a proper burial first"

"yep, I'll go get a shovel, lets go Angelo"

"hmm"

the two men went to the construction site behind the school building. there they quickly saw a bunch of building materials, some tools and of course a couple of shovels. after that, they went to a grassy place where the earth was pretty soft and easy to dig so it was the perfect place.

after a few minutes, they were able to dig a three feet deep hole. it was not too shallow and was pretty acceptable for a burial ground. they didn't have anything to cover the body of the student so they just buried him without covering him with anything. the woman was still crying while on her knees. Caitlin approached her and patted her back then she tried to comfort her.

"it's okay, everything's going to be alright. at least now, he is liberated from this earthly hell right? I'm sure he will always be watching you and keep you from any harm"

even though, Caitlin was not the best at comforting someone she still tries her best. even the woman understood this and stopped crying. she stood up and nodded at Caitlin while thanking her. she then looked at Annie, looking ready to talk now. but at this moment someone called out to Annie.

"ANNIE! Annie!" pant pant

it was nurse Josephine. she looked exhausted from running around the school looking for Annie. she was holding her waist after stopping in front of Annie while still panting. she took a deep breath and said some shocking words.

"Annie! you're not going to believe this. Joshua, i think he's transforming into a monster like those red monsters!"

these shocked the five students in front of nurse Josephine. their eyes was wide open and their mouths agape. their expression showed disbelief and horror. but the most affected of these circumstances that were unfolding was the woman. she just lost her boyfriend and really want to avenge him by punishing the murderer. but now, it seems like that her vengeance would have to be postponed. this made her explode with anger she yelled.

"GAAHHHH, WHY!? WHY NOW!?" sobs sobs

she cried again and fell to the ground. she hugged her knees and wailed. this greatly confused nurse Josephine but Annie filled her in the situation of the crying woman. nurse Josephine quickly understood why the woman reacted so violently. but it cannot be help, Joshua's situation was more important because if her theory is true, this can result in more people getting killed. so they really have no other choice but to resolve this more dangerous problem.

the five people looked at the crying woman with pitiful eyes. they couldn't say anything anymore to her so they just left quietly with their hearts filled with sadness and regret. they gritted their teeth as they rushed to the school clinic. there they saw Joshua still unconscious on the bed. they can see the red bulging leg of Joshua, it was fifty percent bigger than normal. it looked like it was going to burst any minute now. veins that looked liked a tree's roots was visible around the wound.

this shocked the five people. but the most shocked person was nurse Josephine. when she left Joshua, his leg wasn't this big and there were no veins around the wound. the first one to speak was Annie.

"we should probably transfer him to a different room"

Annie was worried about Nathan's safety. Nathan and Joshua was literally beside each other. it would be dangerous if Joshua suddenly wake up and kill Nathan in his sleep. though they are still not sure that Joshua is actually turning into a monster, they still won't take any risk.

luckily, the bed is small enough to fit through the door. Angelo and Robin did the heavy lifting and found the nearest vacant room on the second floor. the students who where chatting and laughing to each other was taken aback by the sight of their schoolmate, what's more is the red bulging leg that instilled fear onto them. they took a step back in fear, some even fled to other floors. but then they heard an insufferable loud voice that echoed through the second floor hallway.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!? to think that you would bring a monster into our campus. do you want us dead? hmm?"

Marvin was climbing the stairs to second floor when he noticed some students running away in fear. he hurried and saw Annie, the three new people and nurse Josephine carrying Joshua. then he noticed the leg which looked exactly like those red monsters.

"you... you three, you just came here and you are already endangering our lives!? have you no shame?"

Marvin pointed at the three people. this angered Caitlin. when she was about to walk towards Marvin, Robin was already on his way. he stopped in front of Marvin and smacked him in the face. he gritted his teeth and was about to smacked him again but he hesitated for a moment when he saw Marvin shielding his face with his arms like a coward.

"che, shut up asshole"

"you're the asshole!"

Marvin got up and ran to the first floor, being humiliated again left a bad taste on his mouth. his was seething with so much anger that he almost bit his lips. Annie watched Marvin's back as it disappeared from her view. she sneered faintly.

"lets go"

after they got inside the room they immediately strapped the arms and legs of Joshua on the bed. at this moment Joshua woke up.

"ughh. hey, what's happening? why am i tied up? hey!"

after waking up, Joshua felt the straps on his limbs. he struggled for a bit then he saw Annie and nurse Josephine standing on his right while three new people on his left. somehow he felt that their gazes at him was filled with fear, he didn't understand this. but then he felt something was different on one of his legs. it shocked him to his core when he saw what was happening to his leg. he lost a lot of strength and stopped struggling.

"wha- what's happening to my leg!? no, no, no. i don't wanna be like them! shit!"

"shhh, it's all right were going to find a way to fix you, okay?"

Annie held his hands. he felt her soft hands that instantly calmed him down. for him, Annie was like an angel with her gentle eyes and long black hair that was touching his skin. he nodded and sighed for a bit and closed his eyes.

"what should we do with him? can we just cut his whole leg?"

Robin asked nurse Josephine to which she shook her head. it might have been possible if they discovered it earlier but now the red infection has now spread on his abdomen. Annie gritted her teeth. she felt helpless, when she thought she can save someone only to be held back by her own incompetence. she can't do anything, she can only watch her classmate succumb to this terrible disease.

Joshua saw their faces. he immediately knew that he can't be saved. he accepted his faith and smiled at them and said.

"hey, it's okay. I wasn't even supposed to be alive right now"

"what do you mean?"

Caitlin asked in pure curiosity.

"at that time... when we were fighting the smaller dogs, my team, all fourteen of them barely killed two dogs. i was the only one left facing those two remaining dogs. that's the time when i got bit. i immediately lost my consciousness. i thought i was going to die, but when i woke up, the dogs was nowhere to be found. i thought i got lucky but it was only for a moment when i noticed that i can't move or even speak. i was so weak that i was in and out of consciousness"

"...."

Annie and the others just listened to Joshua quietly. Joshua kept on going as he recalled his memories. then he started crying, but it was not due to pain but more like fear and terror. the next words that Joshua said shocked everyone.

"time passed, i still can't move but i can speak somehow. then i heard this footsteps and someone talking i thought it was you guys. i was so happy at that time. but when i called out. those... those red monsters came at me..."

Pant pant pant

"i saw them collecting the dead bodies. i can feel the breath of the red monster on my neck. i just closed my eyes at that time, just waiting for my death. but it didn't happen, it instead said something to me but i didn't understand it. its...its voice sounded like a real human. after that, it just left and i cowered inside the drugstore where you found me"

"..."

Annie and the others were speechless. this somehow solve the mystery behind the missing bodies. but they still didn't know why or for what.

"please... just... just kill me. kill me now please! i don't wanna be like them!"

Joshua struggled again. he looked like a madman now. his mouth was foaming and his eyes was blood shot red.

"ARRRGGGGH"

the red infection has now spread on his chest. he was breathing really fast like he just ran in a marathon. Angelo decided that it was now or never, he pointed his gun at the rabid man then a loud bang echoed throughout the school building.

BANG!

somehow it didn't hit Joshua. just before he got shot, his red leg was able to snap the strap that was holding it in place. he kicked the gun upwards causing it shoot at the ceiling. then one by one, the straps snapped.

SNAP SNAP SNAP

he got up and rushed to the door breaking it with just his body. he looked back at them, his gaze was fixed on Annie. his face was full of regret while gritting his teeth. somehow he can still control his body and mind. but he got this instinct that he really need to get out and go to a specific place. then he ran through the crowd of students, he kept his temper and was able to overcome his instinct to kill every human he sees. when he reached the entrance gate of their campus, it was closed so he just jumped so high it was literally impossible for humans to do that. he landed on his two feet then he ran.