Among the Infected

'''This is the second story in The Dark Angel Trilogy. If you have not read the first story, Among the Dead, go read it or this story will make little sense.'''

Prologue: Since the Destruction
Stand and face the world with open hands and tears

In this tired body, spirit perseveres

Remembering these wounds will heal

You are not alone in this

-- Flyleaf, "Stand"

Perry

A lot has happened since the kids and I were kidnapped, tortured, and almost murdered by a second dimension version of Bobbi.

For starters, the kids don’t remember any of it. They remembered our first trip to the second dimension and they remembered my secret. They had to forget. I don’t doubt that even if they hadn’t remembered everything about my double life and OWCA they still would have wanted to forget. They were just kids, but they had been kidnapped, tortured. They even killed vampires. That is something no child should have to live with, even if they are Phineas and Ferb.

Also, OWCA recently sent an anonymous letter to the cops explaining the serial killings. Since Bobbi-2 had killed several teenagers in the other dimension, those teenagers’ other dimension selves were also killed, but there had been no proof of them actually dying. They dropped dead. So OWCA told the cops that these kids had a rare, non-contagious disease that caused all their vital organs to stop, without any symptoms. We told them that it is very unlikely for anyone else to contract the disease.

It wasn’t our best cover story, but they, and the families of the dead teenagers, bought it.

Ever since our near-death experience, everything went back to normal. Phineas, Ferb, and Jessie are back to being the fun-loving, crazy kids I’m glad to call part of my host family. But something’s not right. I can feel it. Call me paranoid; it’s part of the job. But there’s no such thing as perfect, and lately, things have been too perfect.

Part One: Dead Men Tell Some Tales
I will stay forever here with you, my love

The softly spoken words you gave me

Even in death our love goes on

And I can’t love you anymore than I do

-- Evanescence, “Even In Death”

Well, That Escalated Quickly
Baljeet

I pull out my notebook and sit eagerly at my desk. I’ve been taking pre-med summer courses and I hear we’re going to do an actual examination today. I look around, a grin plastered on my face, and see that no one else is nearly as excited as I am.

A boy stumbles into the class, his face red and shining with sweat. He looks around the classroom quickly and then takes a seat next to me. “Hi,” he says, somewhat breathlessly. “I’m not late, am I?”

I shake my head. “You had a good five minutes,” I answer.

“Phew.” He relaxes in his chair. “Hey, aren’t you a little young to be taking a pre-med class?”

“Um, hello? Pre.” I’m about to stop talking to him when I realize something familiar about him.

And he seems to realize something familiar about me too. “Have we met?” he asks.

“I think so…”

“I’m Zachary.” He extends his hand and I take it.

“Baljeet.” That’s when I recognize him. Zachary.

And that’s when he recognizes me too. “Hey, weren’t you at Chez Platypus?” he asks.

“Yes. Weren’t you the vampire hunter that Bobbi dated? Or something like that; I wasn’t really paying much attention at the time…”

He swallows nervously. “Uh, yeah. Forget it, okay?”

He acts strangely. Sure, their date had kind of been a bust. What with him accidentally discovering Bobbi’s a vampire and Ryan bursting in out of nowhere. I’m not sure what happened after that. I was sort of scared and ran off. What’s so wrong? I shake the thought away as the teacher enters.

“Hello class,” he says. He walks in front of his desk. I notice something strange about his desk: everything on it is covered in a white sheet. “Today we’re in for a special class. Now, I realize most of you are new here, but I like doing things special. Elaborate. Unprecedented… Unorthodox. So--let’s see, who’s the oldest one in here…?” He points to Zachary. “You. Come up here.”

Zachary gets up and approaches the teacher. The teacher grins at Zachary and I get an uneasy feeling in my stomach. “Pull off the sheet.” Zachary shrugs and pulls the white sheet off of the teacher’s desk. Only then do I realize it’s not a desk. It’s a metal table on wheels. And instead of having miscellaneous teacher items on it--books, papers, pencils--he, instead, has a teenage girl lying on the table.

I gulp when I realize that this is the body of a teenage girl.

The class gasps in shock. “Now, if any of you are feeling uncomfortable in any way, shape, or form,” the teacher says, “then you don’t belong in the world of medical science and you should just step outside that door right now.” A few girls and one boy leave. “Huh. That’s a new record. Normally there are only two or three people left.”

“You mean you’ve done this before?” a boy asks.

“Of course. I’m a professional.” He picks up some papers from a file next to the girl. “Yowch!” He drops the papers and shakes his thumb. “Paper cut.” He sticks his thumb in his mouth.

“Sir, would you like a bandage?” I ask him.

He nods and points to a first aid kit on the wall. I open the first aid kid and get a bandage. I walk over and am about to hand it to him when Zachary grabs my arm. “What’s wrong?” I ask.

“I thought I saw,” he starts. “I thought I saw her move.”

I roll my eyes. “Zachary, do you really think she moved?” I glance at her and notice that a droplet of the teacher’s blood accidentally landed on her lips.

“Vampire hunter,” he mouths. “Sorry, I’m a little paranoid.” I frown and hand the bandage to the teacher. He thanks me and excuses me to go back to my seat. I do and he continues with the lecture.

“Now, this girl"--he gestures to the body--"was one of… Oh, that’s peculiar.”

“What is it?” Zachary asks.

“I forgot my, um…” He doesn’t finish his sentence. He scurries to one side of the room and starts rifling through some drawers. Zachary turns his back and checks the clock on the wall.

Suddenly, there’s a soft clatter and Zachary whirls around. I’m about to shrug off his paranoia when I notice the girl’s body is no longer on the table. A girl screams and I dart my attention towards the teacher. The girl whom we all believe to be dead is right behind him. The teacher turns around and lets out a yell as the girl clamps her teeth onto his neck.

“Everybody get down!” Zachary yells. Without hesitation, I, and the rest of the class, drop to the floor. Zachary hustles back to his chair to grab his backpack. He rifles through it and mutters something that sounds like “cod jam”. I hear a crash and turn my head. The door has been kicked open. Curiosity stirs at me and I get up. A purple and pink blur runs into the room and tosses a wooden object to Zachary.

“Just what I need,” Bobbi says as she runs toward the teacher.

To be continued...