The Sickness

Chapter Six

We leaned against the school. We'd all gone back to it, after Bea died. It was abandoned. Ana held a notepad and pen, making a list of all the warnings the parasite had given us.
Ollie stared at a chipmunk that was warily looking at him.
"It was my fault," he whispered, clenching his fists. "I should have known. I should have stopped Bea. It's my fault she's dead."
I patted him on the back. "Shh, shh. It happened so quickly. None of us were thinking-"
Ollie pushed me away and stood up, all in one fluid motion. "And that's exactly it!" He was yelling now. "None of us were thinking, Kay! We should have been. I should have been. It's a matter of life and death now." He looked back at the chipmunk, and a tear rolled down his cheek. "I.. I don't deserve to live."
My eyes grew wide as I realized what he meant. "NO! Ollie, don't do this. She wouldn't have wanted this!" I reached out and tried to grab his shoulder, but he smacked my arm away.
"She's not here right now! And that's on me!" he screamed, tears mixed with the black liquid trickling down his face. "It's on me."
And then, all at once, he dove forward and grabbed the chipmunk's tail. It twister around and its teeth sunk into his finger. He yelled in pain and yanked his hand away, crouching down on the ground, wailing, holding his hand.
"Ollie!" Ana shouted, then turned to look at me. "He's not dead yet! Maybe.. maybe there's still a chance!" She clamped her hand on his injured arm and pulled it up close to her.
Then she shrieked and dropped it like a hot potato. "Oh my god, Kay! Kay, his arm... it's... dissolving!" she screamed.
I took a look at it and had to look away almost immediately. It WAS dissolving, his flesh and muscle being eaten away. He writhed in pain. His arm was gone up to his elbow, and it was still going.
I turned to Ana. She was sobbing, and hugging herself. "Ana, I need you to listen to me. You need to do something for me, okay?" She weakly nodded, and I pointed her towards the doors to the school. "I need you to go into the school, and take a knife from the cafeteria kitchen. Not a butter knife. One that can cut something."
She bit her lip and took off towards the school. I nodded curtly and turned back to Ollie. "Ollie. Just look at me, okay? Look at my face." I held his shoulders and used my teeth to bite off a section of the sleeve on his good arm. Then I wrapped it tightly around the upper part of his arm. He moaned, eyes rolling back into his head.
Just in the nick of time, Ana and someone else came tearing out of the school. Ana arrived, panting, and handed me the knife. I only had time to throw a quick glance at the other girl before I began cutting into Ollie's arm.
Blood spurted out, and all I could see was red. Oh god, was I actually doing this? Stars swam in front of my eyes.
But then I felt hands on my shoulders, and they pulled me away. I shook my head to clear my vision, and gasped. There, taking the lead and expertly amputating the rest of Ollie's arm was-
"Renee!"