London Bridge Is Falling

Equal Knowing of Powers

The lab doors swing open quickly and Dylan walks in, holding his neck.

"Shit" I say. "Is it bad?"

"No" He replies. "I'll be fine"

He sits down and I look at the bite wound on his neck. It's enough to infect anyone that's not immune. I cover it with gauze and direct him towards the microscope.

"I don't know what I'm looking at" He says.

"Oh yeah. It's your blood covering mine. Like a shield"

"So does that mean a cure?" He asks.

"No. It means a vaccine" Elisa replies.

"That's good" He smiles and heads for the door.

"Dylan" I stop him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Just shaken up"

I know he's lying but I let him leave, no need to fight him. As night comes, I watch a group of people out my window. They enter the building across the street and get the remaining infected out. If Dylan wasn't immune, he would've died. It's amazing how the world works. There's suddenly a faint knock at the door.

"Cosima, it's Elisa"

I smooth back my hair and put my glasses on. "Come in" I say hoarse. I clear my throat. "Come in" I end up being a bit louder than I thought.

The door opens slowly. "Were you asleep?" She asks.

"No, I was just watching the cleaning crew"

She's a mess, her hair is ratty, her lips are pale without the bright red lipstick. She's wearing a long sweater and shorts, I guess that's her night clothes.

"I can't stop thinking about that vaccine" She smiles. "It's amazing"

"Yeah" I say. "It's something"

She quickly kisses me. "We're on the verge of something amazing"

I'm half stunned and half turned on. I want to kiss her again, I want to feel love again, I wanna feel alive. But as much as I want to, I don't.

"I'm sorry" She says. "About the kiss"

"No, it's okay. I just have a lot going on in my head. My feelings are scattered at the moment"

"Yeah, I get it" She smiles and heads for the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, Cosima" She shuts the door behind her.

I fall back onto the bed and remove my glasses in a heated rage. I'm so stupid, my one chance at love and I completely fuck it up. I run for the door and swing it open quickly. The floor is cold on my bare feet but I don't care. All that's running through my mind is finding her and pressing my lips against hers. I see her walking into her room. I smooth out the wrinkles in my shirt and knock on the door after she goes in. There's a moment of silence and then the door opens.

"Cosima" She says.

"Elisa" I put both of my hands on her cheeks and pull her face close to mine. Our lips touch and there's a moment of euphoria. "I'm sorry for being an ass" I say, pulling away.

"You weren't" She smiles and pulls me back onto her lips.

I awake the next morning in her bed. Her arm is laid across me and all I can do is smile. I ease my way out of the bed and slide my clothes back on. She looks so peaceful sleeping. I lean in and kiss her forehead then head down to the lab. I scan my card and push open the door. My eyes instantly lock onto the man, he's looking through the microscope.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"My name is Luke. I was with Dylan in London" He's also french. "Elisa is my sister"

"Dylan said you were dead" I say, confused.

"Did he now? Did he also tell you that I'm immune too?" He smiles.

"He mentioned it. I think you should leave"

"No. I think I should stay" He says, acting like a smart ass.

Then there's a loud voice. "Luke. Out, right now" It's Elisa and she's not taking any shit.

"No hug?" He asks.

"How the fuck did you get here?" I'm not too sure why she's upset with him.

"I walked"

She speed walks towards him and grabs his collar. "Enough of the smart ass shit, Luke. What are you doing here? Did you bring any of your Neo-Eo buddies with you?"

"No, I didn't"

Elisa drops him. "You need to get out of here. If anyone finds out that you're with Neo-evolutionists, you will be murdered and I'm not going to stop them"

"Wait. I thought you died on a mission in New York" I say.

"Yeah. Staged. I joined the Neo-Eo. They were way more promising"

"I still can't wrap my head around that. What makes you want to join a group that feeds on the spread of a highly contagious virus that wiped out humanity?" Elisa is pissed and I do not want to get in the way.

"For fun" He says, smiling.

"Get the fuck out of here. I don't want to kill you" She says. "Now!"

He raises his hands, surrendering. "Okay, okay" He walks out the door.

"That little fucker" Elisa says.

"Dylan is gonna have some fun with this" I sit down and sigh. "Poor Dylan. The guy he once loved faked his death so he can party with the idiots"