London Bridge Is Falling

Divided By Divisions

I awoke a few hours later, a bunch of tubes attached to me.

"Sorry" A girl said. She was dark skinned, her hair was tied back and her face was bruised. "We thought you were looters...you were in our district"

"Where are the others?" I ask frantically.

"They're safe. Don't worry"

"Where are we?"

"The Division. We like to call it City 17" She smiles. "You're safe here. Feel free to look around once the Doctors say you're okay to leave"

I don't know what I was feeling. I was angry that a group that's supposed to keep us safe hit us around. But it also wasn't their fault, they didn't know who we were. A few hours pass and I'm finally able to walk around the sanctuary. It's more like a prison from what I see. I walk passed people in small mattresses on the ground, they look like they've given up all hope. Then I smack into someone, she falls to the ground.

"I'm so sorry" I say, helping her up. She's beautiful, her hair is a silver color and it's pulled back, she wears blue jeans, boots, and a white tank top.

"It's okay" She smiles. "New here?"

"Yeah..."

"I'm Jade" She says. "Word of advice, I'd get out of here while you can. This place is not what it seems"

"I'll take that into consideration" I smile and continue on.

We're stuck inside a large cement wall. It's huge and towers over the small village. I still haven't seen any sign of Emily or the others. I wonder if she's okay, she got hit by that blast too.

"Dylan!" A girl yells. It's Marlene, the girl that was in my hospital room. "Come with me...We need to talk"

She leads me down a long hallway with a red flashing light then up a few flights of stairs and finally we end up in a small room. It's her headquarters.

"Sit down" She says.

I pull out a seat and sit down slowly. "What's going on?"

"I'm assuming you know"

"Know what?" I ask, confused.

"Cut the shit, Dylan!" She slams her hands on the desk. "You're INFECTED!"

A lump grows in my throat, I try to swallow it down my it's so dry. "I was bit a long time ago. But the leader of this military group in Texas said they got it out"

"No, Dylan. They didn't. You're still infected...but...I don't know how to explain it. The virus is inside of you but-"

"It's dormant" I interrupt her. "I had a scientist friend. She was studying the people that were immune"

"You're not immune. You'll eventually turn. The virus is just working slower thanks to what they did to you in Texas"

I'm taking this all in one word at a time. "When will I turn?"

"I don't know, Dylan"

"What are you gonna do to me?"

"Nothing" She says. "We're gonna get that stuff out of you and turn it into a vaccine"

"Wont that make the process faster?" I ask.

"No. The stuff they've put in you is replicating so fast that it would take years to actually speed up the process"

"A vaccine...It wont cure the virus"

"True, but it'll slow down the process" She says. "This is a breakthrough"

"I'll need to sleep on it" I say. I get up out of the chair and leave the room.

I run down the flight of stairs, through the hallway and out to the main grounds. I see Jade around a bunch of fruits.

"Jade!" I say, pulling her towards me. "How do I get out of here?"

"You're really planning on leaving?" She asks surprised.

"Yeah. They wanna do tests on me"

"Well...Meet me here around 10:00 P.M. bring your friends too"

"Planned on it" I say. "Thanks"

I walk around the sanctuary for a few hours, finding the members of my team. I find Sen first, then the others, they're together in a lab, looking at how the people here make the food. I tell them about me and what Marlene is wanting to do. She wants to use me as a lab rat and I'm not gonna let her.
It reaches 10:00 P.M. and Jade is waiting at a gate.

"Dylan" She says. "Nice to see you aren't dead"

I introduce Jade to the group and then we're off. Jade opens the gate that leads into a small tunnel. She says it's our only way out. It's a far walk but we finally make it out to the other side.

"Stop" It's Marlene, she was waiting on us. "What are you gonna do? This is the only safe place. How long before you're torn apart by a pack of runners or murdered by looters?"

"It's not your choice" I say.

Marlene raises her gun. "Dylan. You can't leave. You're a walking vaccine"

"I can and I will"

Then there's a gunshot and a pack of birds fly off of the worn out power lines...