Desi

I was completely shocked by every word that came out of Vivian's mouth. I knew she had a story, everyone has a story, but I had no earthly idea that hers was one so devastating. I watched her face clench as she spoke of Brielle dying, as if she might cry, but she held herself together, continuing until the very end. My heart broke as if I was there with her, watching the infected little girl charge her, watching her die in Vivian's arms.

But then Vivian spoke the word, revenge, and it brought me back to reality. That could only mean one thing.

"You," I said, pointing my finger towards her, shaking as I realized the enormity of it all. "You are the reason for the infection. It was you."

Vivian hesitated, eying me, wondering if she should tell me the full story. "Yes," she spoke finally. "It was me. My father found the infection in her blood, and him and I separated that small amount of blood into hundreds of vials, a drop for every one."

Vivian took another sip from her martini glass, draining the last bits. She reached up to brush her hair behind her ears; the first human action that I'd seen her do since I met her.

"My father died a couple of years ago," she said casually, as if what she had said about the infection wasn't a big deal. "We had already figured out our master plan, so all that was left to do was for me to carry it out." A cold smile lit up her face. "And might I say that it all turned out fabulously. Don't you think?"

All sympathy I had for this woman was erased. "You've killed innocent people," I told her, my voice filled with hate.

"No one is innocent, Desiree," Vivian argued still calm. "Our country needed a wake up call and I was more than happy to give it to them."

"But how?" I asked her. "This infection happened overnight."

"Now you're asking the right questions." She smiled at me approvingly. "The infection needed to be injected into someone's blood stream since no one was actually infected except for my sister, who is dead. Now tell me Desiree, what vaccine is most commonly received every year?"

"The Flu Shot," I told her, not wanting to believe it was true.

"Ding!" Vivian clapped her hands. "We have a winner! My guards, which I had already recruited, and I split up around the country and gave a free flu shot clinic. In each vile we dropped the infected blood in, mixing it with the vaccine. The next morning, BAM! Every person who received the flu shot was infected. I don't see why no one's figured it out yet."

I tried to keep my composure as she spoke, when I wanted to lunge at her and rip her hair out of her head. "But how did you even know that it would work?" I asked.

"We tested it out of course," she told me as if it were obvious.

"On who.." My voice trailed off. I was afraid to hear her answer.

"Did you hear about the high school that burned down about a year ago?" Her eyebrows raised, waiting for me to connect the dots.

My mind reeled, trying to remember all the news I had seen over the years, when suddenly it clicked. I remembered my parents watching the TV intently. Their eyes were wide with horror as they watched a school up in flames, a news reporter standing on the street in front of it.

"It wasn't a random fire was it?" I realized, eying Vivian cautiously. "It was you."

"Well, I had to dispose of the evidence somehow, didn't I?" Vivian sounded proud of herself. "You know the best way to do that is a fire, it burns pretty much everything needed to run an investigation."

I tried to remember back further, to see if there was anything else important about the school, not just the fire. I gasped, my hand reaching up to cover my mouth.

"They were being quarantined a week before that," I said, not wanting it to be true, but I remembered the news broadcasts clearly now. "The fire ended it all. They never said what the school was being quarantined for, but now it all makes sense."

"And they were smart not to say anything, or else there would have been a nation-wide panic," Vivian said, swigging down the last of her cocktail.

"But how did you get away with it? You had to have help."

"The biggest kind of help you could get in this kind of situation. The government." She waited for me to reply, to probably freak out, which was what she wanted to see, but I wouldn't give her that satisfaction. Even though my veins were coursing with pure hatred towards this woman, I kept my cool.

"Why would they help you?" I asked, my voice slightly shaking.

"Well, when I had told them what my father and I had found, they were all enthused about using it as a weapon in war. All I said was that we needed to test it out, make sure it was capable of damage and they arranged everything for me." Vivian waved her hand as if it was no big deal, as if everyone should do what she wants.

"Our government killed innocent teenagers? Ones that had woken up, planning on going to school and had no idea that they were about to be ripped apart by infected? I don't believe you. Our government isn't corrupt." My face started to turn red.

"Oh, believe it Desiree," Vivian said, her eyes narrowing at me. "Of course they didn't know what the infection was fully capable of. I might have left out some minor details."

"Like what? It will make them want to eat each other?"

"Duh. That definitely would have scared them away. They probably would have locked me up instantly. Hell, they hunted me down for a year after they had to burn the school down. I was labeled a terrorist." She spoke the last word distastefully. "Nobody missed those brats anyways. It was out of the news so fast, it was almost a bad fashion statement."

"How sick are you?" I asked, rising from my seat on the couch, my eyes looking down on her across from me.

"Very, very, sick, Desiree. I have been ever since that day, and nothing will ever cure me."

"Except for death," I told her, stepping closer, my hands balling into fists at my sides. "And I'm so obliged to give it to you."

Vivian laughed in my face. "I know that those thoughts run in your head every second of every day. I've seen the way you look at me, like you want nothing more than to squeeze my neck til my head pops off. I'm not stupid, Desiree. I'm the mastermind behind all this glory around you. Don't you know that I always make precautions?"

"Of course I know that," I spat back at her. "That's why you're not dead yet. Because you may not be stupid, but you're a coward."

Vivian stayed silent, her glare blazing at me, practically bursting me into flames. I stared back at her, returning the same look, trying to keep my arms down to my side.

"Are we done here?" I finally asked. "Or did you really bring me up here to kill me?"

"We're done now," she said. "But all of this is far from over."

I laughed at her, wondering if I was going insane, as I thought of how close it was to being over. We would all be out of her tomorrow night if our plan went over smoothly.

"Believe me," I replied to her. "It's all going to be over soon."

I turned towards the door, walking quickly, glancing over my shoulder to make sure no one was going to rush me, but all I saw was Vivian standing motionless, waiting for me to leave her presence.

When I got into the elevator, completely alone, my whole body began to tremble. My knees wobbled underneath me, and my teeth chattered as my heart raced. The elevator music didn't even phase me this time, as I blocked out everything, my body feeling numb.

I stepped out of the elevator and started to walk towards Doc's suite, my feet dragging from exhaustion. I was so tired. So tired of everything. I just wanted life to go back to how it was before the infection when the only thing I had to worry about was curfew, which I didn't even fret about. The killing, the angst, the wear and tear of so many emotions was drowning me, and I was struggling to get air as I let myself in to Doc's suite.

As a war waged on inside my head and with Vivian, I realized there was another kind of war going on inside the suite. Cody and Ryder sat oppositely on the couches, their eyes connected with each others, a silent, probably deadly, conversation going on between the two of them.

The battle came to a stalemate when they saw that I entered the room. Ryder's body tensed, his hands gripping his knees, ready to stand up, but Cody beat him to it.

"What happened?" Cody asked me, his eyes searching mine with worry. "Are you okay? What did she want?" Cody bombarded me with questions, tiring me out even more than I already was.

"She..." My voice trailed off, still hypnotized by the news I had just found out. "She told me everything."

Cody's eyes twisted into confusion and I glanced to Ryder, then to Doc and Durbin, the same look plastered on their faces.

"Why would she tell you?" Doc asked. "She hates you."

"Gee, thanks Doc," I said sarcastically. "But I think I know that by now. I don't know why she told me, but she did, and let me tell you, it's worse than I thought." I stepped towards the couch, and sat down next to Cody.

I filled everyone in on Vivian's story, how the infection started, what she did to prepare for it, and the whole room was silent as I talked. I winced as I spoke of Brielle, how she had died, and my stomach churned as I spoke of the high school in Texas.

I could hear Cody breathing hard next to me as I finished the story, his hand gripping my leg like I was about to disappear.

"There's been a change of plans," I said, interrupting the silence around me. "I'm going to get Vivian alone before we leave."

"What?!" Ryder exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "Are you crazy? You will die Desiree, there will be guards protecting her."

"I personally think that all the guards will be occupied downstairs after Durbin lets the infected loose." A smirk spread across my lips, relishing the idea of getting a moment alone with Vivian. "Perfect time to slip in and--"

"No!" Ryder argued, rising from his seat. "You're not going. I don't care if I have to drag you up the roof myself."

"Don't tell her what to do," Cody suddenly spoke next to me, the look I had seen earlier between Ryder and him emerging once again.

"Well, then since you two are obviously together can you tell her what to do, Cody?" Ryder spat out his name. "Because she is risking her life here, when we can just easily get away."

"Desi can do whatever she wants to do," Cody said, defending me. "Don't you think she's been ordered around enough? It's her decision to make."

"Even if it gets her killed?!" Ryder was hysterical now, his voice rising with every word he spoke. "I'm sorry, but I've been trying to keep this girl alive everyday and I'm not gonna let her walk into a death trap just to lose her."

I glanced over at Cody who now stood from his spot on the couch, letting go of my leg, the veins in his neck throbbing. I could tell that this conversation was turning into something different. Something that had less to do with my plan and more to do with me.

"She's not yours to lose," Cody said calmly yet coldly.

"You have no idea how much she's mine," Ryder retorted, taking a step towards the coffee table between their opposing couches. "She may want you, but that doesn't mean that we don't have anything. I've protected her from day one, while you were running around in the woods."

"Trying to get to her so that I could protect her." Cody took a step forward, matching Ryder.

"Guys," I said, trying to interrupt them. "I'm pretty sure I can protect myself, if you haven't noticed."

Ryder and Cody spoke at the same time. "Not now Desi." But Ryder said Desiree instead. I quickly shut my mouth, afraid of where this all was going.

"Technically, I've protected her since day one since I'm the one that found her wandering the infected streets," Cody protested. "I fed her, clothed her, while you are living in the lap of luxury with your showers, full closets, and all you can eat buffet."

"Because I was taken, just like Desiree. Couldn't help it. Turns out we have the same kind of blood running through our veins."

Oddly, this made Cody jealous, his breathing intensifying, his fists clenching at his sides. Their legs were both touching opposite sides of the coffee table now, both of their faces within punching distance of each other. I glanced towards Durbin, pleading him with my eyes to intervene, but he seemed amused with all of this.

"That doesn't mean anything," Cody said through his teeth. "I helped her run. I put her life before mine. I got her to safety."

"Which obviously wasn't very safe, because look where we are now," Ryder raised his arms out to his sides, showcasing the hell we were in. "I held her every time she cried over you, telling her it was going to be okay even though I knew it wasn't."

"Then at least I haven't lied to her."

"At least I haven't tried to kill her."

Everyone in the room stopped breathing, waiting for Cody to explode and jump over the coffee table to attack Ryder, but he was frozen.

"I was infected," Cody replied, his voice quiet now.

"Well, how do we know if the infection truly left you?" Ryder asked, his voice now quiet too. "For all we know it could still be swimming around in your blood, waiting to come back out. You might not be thinking clearly."

This raised an alarm in my head. I remembered Vivian's story about Brielle, how the infection had stayed dormant for almost a year before she started to dwindle away. Was the cure that Vivian found even really a cure? If she is so set on the world being like this, with her being it's demonic leader, why would she release a cure?

"Ryder.." I said, slowly rising from the couch, my hand reached out in front of me. "Just stop."

"I'm so sorry Desiree," Ryder said shaking his head, his ocean eyes mournful as they gazed into mine. "But this is something that really needs to be talked about."

"Not right now it doesn't," I argued, stepping forward and standing next to Cody. "This is the last thing we need to be doing. Arguing at this moment, when everything is at stake, is stupid."

"I need to know if someone I'm going to be taking to an infection-free country is somehow infected, because I'm not going through this all over again," Ryder pleaded to me. "What if for some reason he turns when he's with you?"

I had never thought of this before. I thought that the cure was the cure and there was nothing more to it, but after listening to Vivian's past and Ryder raising the question, I wasn't so sure anymore.

"I've dealt with it before," I told Ryder. "Besides, you don't know for sure if what you're saying is true."

"You're right," Ryder said, his shoulders relaxing. "We have a lot to go over. We need to make sure everything is ready."

For some reason, I couldn't catch my breath. I was racked with the thought of Cody's eyes turning black, a snarl escaping through his teeth as he lunged for me. I shuddered involuntarily. I had made clear to everyone that I could handle it if Cody somehow turned infected agian, but after the nightmares I had every night, was it really possible?
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