Nation 27

CH 19: It Was Not An Imagination

Warning:

This chapter contains slightly disturbing descriptions of gore that might be uncomfortable for certain readers. Please read at your own discretion.

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As Jared and Louis walked along the hallway of the third floor, the sound of their footsteps echoed loudly. Despite having the lockdown for weeks, Jared could never shake the feeling of anxiety and isolation whenever he walked the hallways of the facility. Not another soul in sight- be it a doctor, orderly, or patient. 

‘Speaking of patients…’

“Louis,” Jared turned and called out to his friend.

Instead of answering, Louis merely clicked his tongue in annoyance and stared silently at Jared.

‘Uh… I know that look…’

Jared sighed.

“Lou-”

“Yes? How can I help you, Jared?” Louis asked in a sing-song manner to which Jared rolled his eyes.

“I was wondering…”

“Mm-hm?”

“How come I haven’t seen the patients in a while? Have the scheduled walks changed? I can help you guys if you-”

“No, it’s okay. Samatha said that she’s everything under control. It seems that a number of the patients have fallen ill. Must have been some flu bug going around before the lockdown.”

“Oh? That’s strange… They should have recovered by now…”

“Yes, but Samantha said that the condition is persisting- and in some cases, worsening. I did try to help attend to a person but she insisted that it was no ordeal for her, so I left her to it… Besides,” Louis whispered and gave a mischievous smile, “If I were to catch whatever those guys have, I might not be able to see you in a long while~”

“I… Hah… When are you ever going to take things seriously?” Jared huffed as the boys continued to walk toward the recreational area.

“But Jared,” Louis turned to face Jared and walked backward, “I’m always serious. There’s a sincere intention behind my every word… I just say it with a smile~”

“Hah… What will I ever do with you?” Jared muttered under his breath.

Louis chuckled and was about to say something when the boys heard a muffled feminine voice.

“...We need to tell the others!”

“...listen to me. You can’t-”

The voices seem to be coming from the recreational area. Jared and Louis shared a glance before moving forward. 

As the boys drew closer to the door, the words became louder and more coherent.

“No! There must be a way, right? We need to tell-”

Without wasting another moment, Louis burst into the room and spoke loudly.

“Need to tell what?” Louis asked.

The owners of the voices were none other than Clara and Adam who jumped in surprise at Louis’ sudden appearance. Between the two siblings, it was Adam who regained composure first.

“Ahem… We saw a person out there,” Adam answered as he towards the window.

“What? Let me see,” Louis rushed towards the window and Jared followed suit.

“The person what right there… Huh?” Adam gasped and moved so close to the window that he was practically pressed against it.

“What is it?” Clara asked in curiosity as she too looked out the window, “Wait… That person is gone! We only looked away for a split second. There’s no way we could have lost sight of that person. They were walking very slowly…”

Louis just looked at the siblings with an eyebrow raised.

“Look! We weren’t imagining it! We both saw that person!” Adam insisted.

“Well, if that’s true th-”

“It is true!” Adam half-yelled.

“Yes, ‘true’,” Louis emphasized sarcastically and raised his voice slightly when Adam started to say something in rebuttal, “Anyway, we need to search all floors to make sure that there isn’t a breach.”

“Breach? Wait… Aren’t we going to let that person in?” Clara asked.

“No, we can’t, and there’s no safe way for that person to enter the facility without also allowing the zombies to follow suit,” Louis replied.

“But-”

Adam placed a hand on Clara’s shoulder.

“Clara, he’s right. We can’t let that person in,” Adam explained.

“But why? …If that’s what you guys are agreeing to, why are we searching the entire premises for?” Clara asked.

“...To survive,” Jared answered quietly.

“What? I don’t-”

“Clara, if that person forces their way into the facility, it means that there is a breach. What’s to say that a zombie won’t enter through that same entry point? And even if the entry point was immediately sealed, what’s to say that the person isn’t already infected? Remember, a person doesn’t instantaneously turn into a zombie upon getting infected. It takes time…” Louis explained.

There was silence within the small group for a minute.

“...How long?” Clara finally asked.

Louis glanced briefly at Jared before answering.

“About 10 minutes.”

Jared nodded at Louis’ statement. 

“Yes, we saw it happen to the people on the first floor.”

“Then…” Clara bit at her bottom lip before continuing in a quieter tone, “What happens if that person really succeeded in entering? What do we do then?”

“Obviously, we’ll k-” but Jared interrupted Louis mid-sentence.

“We’ll detain that person and see if they’re really infected,” Jared answered, and there was a relieved expression on Clara’s face.

Louis, on the other hand, had an unreadable expression as he looked at Jared quietly.

“So…” Adam started awkwardly, “Shall we split up and check all the floors?”

“No, Jared and Clara will stay here. It’s safer that way,” Louis replied.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea. Jared and the girls can keep each other safe,” Adam agreed.

“No, it’ll just be Jared and Clara… Samantha has already gone back to sleep after staying up all night looking after some sickly patients. Knowing her, she’d have locked her bedroom door, and it’ll take more time to wake her up and have everyone assembled in a spot. We need to search the entire premises as soon as we can.”

“Ah, you have a point there. Okay, it’ll just be you and me,” Adam said to Louis.

Louis simply hummed in agreement. He then grabbed a pair of shears for himself and passed a gardening hoe to Adam. With that, both Adam and Louis left- leaving both Jared and Clara alone in the vast space of the recreational area.

Jared glanced out of the window. The zombies that were gathered just outside of the facility’s fence were still staggering and bumping into each other. There was no sign of any sort of disturbance or change in behavioral patterns.

‘Was it truly a person or figure? It could have been another zombie that was shuffling awkwardly on the side, away from the other zombies…’

“Clara, when you said that figure, was it closer to the treelines or amongst the zombies?” Jared asked.

“Hm… The figure was a couple of feet away from the treelines but wasn’t exactly close to the zombies either…”

“Oh? How close were they?”

“About… this far?” Clara answered as she spread her arms wide.

“That’s quite close… How did the other zombies act when the figure was there?”

“There was no reaction. The zombies were either still shuffling around aimlessly or bumping against the fence…”

“So, no reaction… How was the figure dressed?”

“...In rags… They looked no different than the zombies…” Clara replied hesitantly, “But it really was a person! There’s no way a zombie would’ve moved like that!”

“Moved like what?”

“Like… Hm… You know those spy movies? Like, when the spy is sneaking around?”

“Uh huh?”

“Yeah, it was like that. They were slightly crouched and moved stealthily around the zombies.”

“Wait… Did they walk in front of a zombie?”

“Hm… Yes…?”

“And the zombies didn’t attack?”

“No, there wasn’t any reaction that that person… Wait… Do zombies ignore infected people?”

Jared thought back about the zombies and the infected he had previously faced.

“Not really… The zombies would attack a person for maybe a minute or two and if that person survives the mauling, they would turn into a zombie about 8 minutes later- give or take… During that ‘waiting period’ the zombies would no longer attack that person, so I guess that’s when the person is already considered infected… The outward symptoms only manifest when the change is nearly complete…”

“Oh? What kind of symptoms?”

“The veins would blacken. It’d be very visible when it happens… The infected person would have a seizure and hack out black blood…”

“Black? Oh… No, that person didn’t seem to be infected and the zombies didn’t seem to notice their presence…”

“Strange…” Jared simply mumbled.

‘I know that the zombies rely on their sense of sight. So, for the zombies to remain unresponsive, there must be another reason aside from being infected…’

Jared recalled seeing the zombies inhaling the air before zeroing in on his general direction. Jared’s eyes widened upon realization.

“Sense of smell…”

“What? I don’t understand. What are you talking about?” Clara asked.

‘But that means that person masked their scent… How did they do it?’

“Clara, was there anything else that seemed different with that person?”

“I don’t know… They looked like any other zombie… Well, maybe messier…?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like… Their clothes and hair were disheveled and…”

“And…?”

“There were organs hanging out from all sides… but it was too many to all belong to just one person…”