Chapter 10: Ch 10 – Vitality

---Jack POV---

"Dammit! Shit!"

I cursed so loud that Kevin winced from beside me. 

I got scratched!

After getting my sleeve torn off, I had felt those sharp, jagged nails tear down the skin of my arm. There were two red slices from my elbow to my wrist. It exposed the muscle underneath, and blood poured from the wounds. 

The pain was nothing though. I've gone through far more pain than this, most of it coming from my training. My pain tolerance was actually one of my strong suits. 

It was the fear that got me. The fear of knowing I was infected. I knew that people would turn. It would only take a day or two, and I would become a zombie. 

My breathing was labored, but in this overwhelmingly stressful situation, I became sharp. Pressure forced me to look at every avenue, every route that could get me out of this situation. I may not have looked calm, probably seeming like I was devolving into insanity. But my mind was clearer and faster than ever before. I felt like I could cure cancer with my current intellect. 

I calculated how much time it had been since I was scratched. From the time of the scratch, to me getting pulled back, and then to now. It was around 12 seconds.

"Shit!" I cursed again. Then, I grabbed my knife from my pocket. My left arm was the one that was scratched, so I equipped it with my right. 

My desperation took control of me as I plunged the tip between my shoulder and chest.

"GAAHHH!!!"

I let out a scream as the knife cut into me. I was overwhelmed by pain. I tried to cut down more, creating a large and deep wound in the process. But after tearing through a few inches of muscle, the pain became so bad that I collapsed in a shivering mess. 

I turned to Kevin, my eyes pleading. 

"Take the shovel! Cut off my arm!"

"...Jack-"

"Now! Do it!"

I screamed at him, but he didn't move. And when I tried to cut down with my knife more, he rushed over, pinning my arm down. 

"No! What are you doing?!" I yelled as I was hit with another wave of pain. The slightest movement in my upper body sent agony pulsing through me. I could feel every muscle fiber grace the edge of my blade. It was horrific. 

Kevin looked back at me. He thankfully had gloves on, not risking infection by touching me. Still, he was solemn, almost sorrowful as he looked back at my enraged face. 

"Jack, stop..."

I growled. "No! This fucking apocalypse just started! I'm not dying now! The path is in front of me! I'm going to help rebuild civilization! There are too many things I need to do!"

I jerked my body around, my strength pushing Kevin back. Then, I stood up, blood pouring down my arm and torso. 

I looked down at the knife. I had created a bloody hole on top of my left chest, my sorry attempt at cutting my arm off at the shoulder. I couldn't move my left arm now that muscles and tendons had been severed. 

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Kevin reached out for me. "Jack, don't!"

"Shut up!" I screamed back, my voice hoarse. Still, I didn't reach for the knife. 

As more time passed, I could feel my body begin to weaken. I could feel something spread through me. It wasn't fast, but I could tell it was there. It felt like a parasite had entered my bloodstream. 

I was so desperate that I almost wanted to tear my skin off. I wanted to do anything that could get this disease out of me. I should've told my skeleton to cut my arm off the second I was scratched. I regretted not acting faster. Now, it was too late. 

I was truly infected. 

After a minute or so of panicking, I calmed down, something that took all of my remaining sanity. I looked around. 

Kevin was standing near me, but everyone else had backed away. It felt awkward, but I was being ostracized now. Everyone had seen what would become of those who were infected. It had resulted in a Grabber killing a dozen people. 

"Jack..."

Kait suddenly walked over, hesitant about what to say or do. I looked between her and Kevin. I'm sure I seemed like a deranged monster right now.

I shook my head. "Don't. I'm not fucking dying here. Not like this!"

I wracked my mind for answers. I thought of anything that could help me fight this infection. 

Suddenly, I found myself thinking about my immune system. All diseases were fought by the immune system. Anything foreign that entered the body was isolated and expelled from the body. 

Disease, infection, parasites... Whatever the crap that zombies turned people with, it was foreign. I could feel my Energy drain as I was further infected. I knew that my body was beginning to fight. 

"Archive!"

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{Archive}

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