to Tristen who was sitting uncomfortably in the chair. He was passed out, and I didn’t want to wake him.
I watched him for a moment. The sleeve of his t-shirt was slightly rolled up, allowing me to see the tattoo on his arm. I never got to really look at it before, now that I thought it about. The intricately detailed bird rising up from a pool of fire was beautifully drawn, and the colors were vividly bright. I remembered that night at Eric’s apartment, when he shared his story about the phoenix and the love for his grandfather. It made me smile to think that I knew exactly how important that tattoo was to him.
I took another sheet off my bed and covered him with it before kissing his cheek.
How did I get so lucky to find someone who would want a relationship with me after everything I have done? And all the crap that came along with it.
I walked out of my room into an empty, quiet hallway. The lights were dim. It must have been really late at night.
Dr. Roberson came out of a room at the end of the hall. His head was down looking at a folder. I began to walk toward him, pulling my IV stand with me.
He finally looked up and smiled when he saw me. “Grace, what are you doing out of bed? You should be asleep.”
“What happened?”
“Come with me. We’ll go to my office.”
I followed him back into the direction he came from. Once inside his office, I sat down on his couch. He pulled his stethoscope from around his neck and put it into his ears. He sat next to me to listen to my heartbeat.
“How do you feel?”
“I feel fine. Why am I here?”
He pulled the stethoscope out of his ears and wrapped it back around his neck. “Well, you passed out.”
“Why? Am I getting worse?”
“Yes and no.”
Well that wasn’t confusing at all. “What do you mean?”
“You were my first subject, which means that you have had this condition longer than any of the other subjects here. It would appear that your condition is progressing.”
“What do you mean progressing? Are you going to send me to East Cocos?” That word QUARANTINE came to mind.
“So, you heard about that. No, I am not sending you over there. Those subjects are very sick.”
“What happened to them?”
“There was an incident. A minor one. Unfortunately, they were affected. But we are taking good care of them, and they should be healthy enough to come back to this part of the island soon. No need to worry about them. What is wrong with them won’t happen to you.”
An incident?
“So, what’s going to happen to me?” A part of me didn’t want to know the answer to this question. I knew I was getting worse. I could feel it. My appetite was not what it was back home. It’s deeper now. The Need was getting stronger.
“Let me begin by educating you on what is happening in your body. As I’ve explained before, you are experiencing a need for something that you don’t have. Your body is trying to replace the part of you that isn’t alive. When you get hungry, your brain goes into survival mode. Now, you don’t get hungry like I do. You become starved immediately, almost to the point of feeling as though you haven’t eaten in weeks. Your body begins to shut down. The same would happen to a person who was starving to death, only it would take longer for them to expire. This is why you feel terrible when you feel even slight hunger.”
“However, because Serum Z is in your bloodstream, you will never starve to death. Instead, survival mode will kick in. You will come out of what we call the hunger coma and begin frantically searching for what you need.”
“So basically, a zombie who stumbles around in search of human flesh?” There was no way Dr. Roberson could tell me this wasn’t a scene from a zombie movie. I was a zombie. There was no doubt about.
“If you are referring to the movies, then yes. I will agree with you on that. You would pretty much perform the same way they do. But Grace, this is real life. And you know I
I watched him for a moment. The sleeve of his t-shirt was slightly rolled up, allowing me to see the tattoo on his arm. I never got to really look at it before, now that I thought it about. The intricately detailed bird rising up from a pool of fire was beautifully drawn, and the colors were vividly bright. I remembered that night at Eric’s apartment, when he shared his story about the phoenix and the love for his grandfather. It made me smile to think that I knew exactly how important that tattoo was to him.
I took another sheet off my bed and covered him with it before kissing his cheek.
How did I get so lucky to find someone who would want a relationship with me after everything I have done? And all the crap that came along with it.
I walked out of my room into an empty, quiet hallway. The lights were dim. It must have been really late at night.
Dr. Roberson came out of a room at the end of the hall. His head was down looking at a folder. I began to walk toward him, pulling my IV stand with me.
He finally looked up and smiled when he saw me. “Grace, what are you doing out of bed? You should be asleep.”
“What happened?”
“Come with me. We’ll go to my office.”
I followed him back into the direction he came from. Once inside his office, I sat down on his couch. He pulled his stethoscope from around his neck and put it into his ears. He sat next to me to listen to my heartbeat.
“How do you feel?”
“I feel fine. Why am I here?”
He pulled the stethoscope out of his ears and wrapped it back around his neck. “Well, you passed out.”
“Why? Am I getting worse?”
“Yes and no.”
Well that wasn’t confusing at all. “What do you mean?”
“You were my first subject, which means that you have had this condition longer than any of the other subjects here. It would appear that your condition is progressing.”
“What do you mean progressing? Are you going to send me to East Cocos?” That word QUARANTINE came to mind.
“So, you heard about that. No, I am not sending you over there. Those subjects are very sick.”
“What happened to them?”
“There was an incident. A minor one. Unfortunately, they were affected. But we are taking good care of them, and they should be healthy enough to come back to this part of the island soon. No need to worry about them. What is wrong with them won’t happen to you.”
An incident?
“So, what’s going to happen to me?” A part of me didn’t want to know the answer to this question. I knew I was getting worse. I could feel it. My appetite was not what it was back home. It’s deeper now. The Need was getting stronger.
“Let me begin by educating you on what is happening in your body. As I’ve explained before, you are experiencing a need for something that you don’t have. Your body is trying to replace the part of you that isn’t alive. When you get hungry, your brain goes into survival mode. Now, you don’t get hungry like I do. You become starved immediately, almost to the point of feeling as though you haven’t eaten in weeks. Your body begins to shut down. The same would happen to a person who was starving to death, only it would take longer for them to expire. This is why you feel terrible when you feel even slight hunger.”
“However, because Serum Z is in your bloodstream, you will never starve to death. Instead, survival mode will kick in. You will come out of what we call the hunger coma and begin frantically searching for what you need.”
“So basically, a zombie who stumbles around in search of human flesh?” There was no way Dr. Roberson could tell me this wasn’t a scene from a zombie movie. I was a zombie. There was no doubt about.
“If you are referring to the movies, then yes. I will agree with you on that. You would pretty much perform the same way they do. But Grace, this is real life. And you know I
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