Dystopian zombie era

Chapter 34

"I'm thinking of cutting my hair." I say as I link arms with Jay. "As short as Coral's?"

"Maybe." We're on the first floor so it doesn't take long to get to the rest of the group. I spot Brandon rocking Noble in his arms. He must miss his family, it must drive him crazy not being with them. He looks up when he hears us enter. "Noble needs a good wash too. I can help show you how to wash him."

I never thought about that at all. Of course Noble needs to be washed too and I'm glad Brandon is here to help. "That would be nice."

"How do you plan on making a cure?" Asks Ruby. She looks so different without black clothes on. "I'm going to need to study the blood of an infected person." Answers Scarlett before pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "So, should we go out and capture one?" Asks Storm.

Scarlett shakes her head and points to one of the dead bodies. "I can use a syringe to extract a sample of their blood." Storm nods approvingly. "Smart." I chuckle softly. "They're polar opposites. I've never seen him try so hard before." Mutters Jay with a smile.

"What do we do?" Asks Coral. "I don't know, keep yourselves busy. Read a magazine or something." Answers Scarlett before she leaves to retrieve a syringe. She appears seconds later and hands the syringe and closed needle to Storm before she puts rubber gloves on.

She opens the packet with the needle in and attaches it to the syringe. She takes one look at the dead body and hesitates. "I don't know if I can." She says softly.

"It's dead. It's not like it's gonna jump up at you." Spits Coral which does little to ease Scarlett's nerves. "What she means is, it's okay. If it was still alive, it would've jumped at us already." I say. "I can do it if you want." Offers Storm but Scarlett shakes her head. "It's okay. I can manage."

She moves tentatively toward the body before plunging the needle in and pulling blood into the syringe. Thankfully the zombie doesn't wake up. The blood looks dark red and normal. I always thought it would be black for some reason.

"Do you think it's the blood that gets you infected or their saliva?" Asks Ruby. "I don't know." Scarlett points to the syringe. "Hopefully this will give us answers."

Storm follows her to wherever and Brandon leads Jay and I to a bathroom to show us how to wash Noble. He fills the basin with lukewarm water while I undress the tiny baby. He looks even tinier without the clothes.

"Now gently place him in the basin and keep your hand at the back of his head." I do as I'm told and wash Noble gently with a wipes that we found. At first I thought we were going to use soap but Brandon said he might be allergic to it and since we don't want that happening, wipes were the only option. I gently wipe his face and surprisingly he doesn't cry or fuss.

"I think he likes the water." Says Jay. "Yeah." Brandon chuckles. "You're in luck. All three of my daughters hated being washed."

Afterwards, I dry Noble with a towel and put him in clean clothes before holding him against my chest and rubbing his back. We go back to the reception area and I take a seat next to Coral. "You okay?" I ask her. She shrugs. "Would you like to hold him? He'll probably fall asleep right away." She shakes her head and gets up. Ruby takes her place. "Don't bother with her. She'll snap back eventually." She tells me.

"I hope so."

"Really wish I had my boombox right now. I could use with some tunes." Says Jay while rubbing his face. "You should sing for us. To pass time." Suggests Ruby.

And so I do.

'Baby, we built this house on memories.Take my picture now, shake it 'til you see it. And when your fantasies become your legacy, promise me a place in your house of memories.'

I sing about six songs before Scarlett and Storm come back. It's already dark out and I can hear the groans of the zombies inside and outside the building. Our attention is immediately on them. "And? What did you find?" Asks Jay.

"It was no use-"

"Told you so." Says Coral cutting Scarlett off. "Shut up." Hisses Ruby before she turns back to Scarlett. "Go on."

"I tried studying the blood but I got nothing. I saw a whole lot of microorganisms but they all looked the same. They were all infected organisms so it was hard to tell what to do."

"So it's hopeless then?" Asks Brandon. "Not quite. I need to study how the organisms work. If it's a virus then I need to see how it changes. Does that make sense?"

"I'm not quite following." Says Jay. "I basically need the blood of someone who's turning."

My stomach drops. "Turning? Like transitioning from alive to undead?" Asks Ruby. Scarlett nods. "I need to assess how the organisms attack the normal cells to see what I can find. I need to see which cells it attacks."

"Can't you get the blood from a zombie that isn't dead?" Asks Jay. Scarlett shakes her head. "It will be the same as the dead one."

"How will we get the blood of someone turning? The whole place is filled with zombies and we're the only ones left alive." Says Brandon. "See? I told you so." Says Coral. "But nobody listened to me. You seriously put all your hopes on her for finding a cure? Ridiculous. She's only what? Nineteen? How's she gonna come up with a cure?"

Ruby clenches her fists. "I say we run and don't stop. We can run out of this town. See if there are other people beyond this place." Adds Coral.

"Can you just shut up. I'm so sick and tired of your negative things. Why are you like this? Why can't you just-"

"I'll do it." Heads turn. "What?" Asks Storm. "I'll do it. It'll be fine right? You just need to put the blood in me, then take a sample of that and you can look at that. Maybe that will help you find a cure and you could cure me. It works right?"

Jay rushes to my side. "Darcy, have you lost your mind?"

"What other choice do we have? It would be pointless if we just stayed here forever until we die." I counter. "What if it doesn't work? What if she doesn't find a cure?"

"We have to try right? What if it works?" He shakes his head. "No, no, no. I'll do it."

"You can't."

"Why not?" He has both hands on my shoulders and he looks like he's going to cry. My heart breaks. "You have to stay alive for your mom. Scarlett can't do it, Storm has a family and so does Brandon. I'm sure Coral would never do it and Ruby has someone that needs to stay alive for her. I have no one."

"No, Darcy. You have me. You have Noble." I nod. "I know but I'm willing to do it. It'll be alright."

"No, it won't." Storm appears behind Jay. "It's a terrible choice and she shouldn't have to do it but it's the only chance we have. Scarlett could find a cure and cure her first. She'll be okay." Jay shakes his head. "No please. You can't Darcy."

With one hand, I pull him closer. "I'll be fine. You'll see. After this, we'll get married and move somewhere. Somewhere safe. We'll have your mom there too and when Noble's bigger, we can tell him about how we survived a zombie apocalypse and how I was a zombie for a few minutes but then I was cured and turned back human and he'll be so excited and ask for the story every night before he goes to sleep." I kiss Jay's knuckles. "Just trust me on this, okay?"