It wasn’t a long walk to the generator, the quarantine zone close by, but with most of the staff sent home the snow had begun to pile up. I grit my teeth as I trudge through the banks, already starting to feel the chill in my bones. The closer we get, the more I hear them - the sick. At this point, I hear them even when I dream. Groaning in that listless way of theirs, shuffling about, grinding their teeth.
“You okay?” Acker settles into pace next to me, keeping his voice low.
I glance over at him. His eyes are narrowed, uncharacteristically serious, scanning the edges of the snowbank cautiously. “I’m…fine. Better than a lot of other folks. Are you holding up okay?”
His voice is muffled through his mask. “Yeah. I’ll be glad to be back with my family when all this is over, though.” Acker pauses, dropping conspiratorially. “What do you think it is, anyway? Some sort of…mad-cow disease?”
I hike my pack higher up my back, feeling that familiar dread settle in my stomach. “Does it matter? Whatever it is, it changes people.”
Acker nods, “I know. During my shift in the quarantine zone today, I saw this guy just…attack a nurse. I mean, one moment he was too feverish and lightheaded to even stand and the next…” He shivers. “Creepy.”
I raise an eyebrow. “So what happened?”
“Oh, uh,” Acker looks away, ruffling his black hair with a nervous hand. “Well, I had to get that guy off of her. I mean, even when you’re sick you don’t do that to people - just attack them - maybe I pushed him too hard…” He’s staring at the ground as he walks now. I can see water start to well in the corner of his eyes, but he doesn’t look at me.
“Shit, Acker-”
“I know.” He looks at me, suddenly alert. “But here’s the thing, man. He fell, skewered himself on a damn axe and still kept moving. We had to tie him down, arms and legs…It was-” Awful.
“I’m so sorry.” I fall into a tense silence, unsure what to say. “It takes their minds away, I think. Just leaves people…angry.”
“..Yeah.” Acker stops in his tracks suddenly. He motions with his head towards something in the distance. “Makes ‘em do that?”
We’d arrived at the generator.
It was different from seeing it on a screen. The first thing that hits me is the smell, charred and smokey. The sound of electricity thrums, popping and hissing intermittently. Walt curses under his breath, pulling Matty into his side. I cover my face with the crook of my elbow, slinging the bolt cutter off of my shoulder.
“That’s…one of them?” Matty asks hesitantly.
“You haven’t seen one before?” I pause, feeling a little awkward, barbaric as I grip the cold steel of the bolt cutters. The man shakes his head. “Woah,” I mutter. I was much younger than Matty, but I suddenly felt old. I smile the way Acker does, trying to be gentle, then slip the mask back over my face. “You…can stay here until we get him back to the Q. It’s probably safer that way.”
Acker rummages through his pack, but I only hear it as I turn and make my way towards the generator gate. I knew bringing guests along was a bad idea. “What’s your deal, Bunty?” Acker talks in my ear. “You know what it’s like - handling…the-those, um,” He shifts uncomfortably, unsure.
“Yeah. But that’s what I’ve got you for.” I smile over my shoulder at him, concealed by the mask.
“Oh, wonderful.” He rolls his eyes.
“I…don’t know what to call them either.” The confession comes out of me as we reach the gate, the man on the other side twisting his head around to look at us. His eyes are grey and cloudy - like he’s seeing past us even when his pupils focus on mine. My voice is a whisper, but the man snaps his teeth in our direction, trying to dislodge himself absently from the metal. “They’re still people. It could…happen to us, too.”
“Yeah,” Acker flicks on his flashlight, holding the beam up to the man’s eyes - checking for responses. He sighs after a few passes, dropping his hand. “This shit is crazy, man.”
“Can you hear us?” I ask, waving a hand. The man lurches forward again at the sound of my voice. Check. “Well, that’s good at least. Can you speak?” Nothing but a gurgling, wretching sound comes from the man’s throat. I glance at Acker.
He shakes his head. “Once you’re infected and the fever reaches its peak…” Acker’s voice trails off, he shakes his head. “Let’s just get him back to the quarantine zone. How’d he even get out in the snow like this?” He motions to the man’s tanktop, the bloody bandage wrapped around his arm and a patient wristband hanging from his wrist.
“I don’t know…maybe he got confused, looked for someplace warm.” The man’s hand reaches for the chainlink fence, grasping at it. “It’ll be okay.” I say to him, but there’s no sign of recognition or calm in his body language, just that strange lurching as he’s stuck in place. I take in a deep breath, exhaling a puff of air, steeling myself. “Ready?”
Acker reaches into his back pocket, nodding. “Open the gate.”
I fumble with the lock, my gloves getting in the way. There’s this awful ripping sound as the man wretches himself away from the generator. My eyes widen, watching him lurch closer as the gate slides open. I step back slowly. The man follows, dragging his feet in the snow. I grip the bolt cutters, feeling my heartrate start to spike, the hair on the back of my neck standing up.
But Acker shakes his head. He mouths to me, keep backing up.
He’s crazy. He’s lost it. I listen to him anyway, still gripping the bolt cutters. “I-It’s okay. Come on. Follow me.” Starting our way to the quarantine zone, the man and I with Acker a few paces behind him. He follows the sound of my voice. I feel sick. I can see his stomach now, the skin ripped away and singed. He needs medical attention.
To my surprise, Matty and Walt are still waiting on the crest of the hill where we’d left them.
