Deadly Epidemic - Chapter Six

Today was so different from all those days before when I couldn't screw my head on straight for nothing. Now I could breathe freely with Luther right beside me. I looked to him being as a sort of guardian angel sent to me from President Obama. That morning at breakfast Dr. Chatman and I were the first in the kitchen supply room. Russell looked at me, "Did you sleep well Dr. Byrant?" I whistled while I fixed the eggs and grits. I smiled at him, "Oh I slept well thank you for asking. How about yourself, Dr. Chatman?"

He nodded with a slight smile, "I did sleep well thank you, Dr.Byrant. I am going to the lab right after breakfast. Will you and Luther be joining me?" I sighed and chuckled. "I'm not really sure to be honest with you. I think he hasn't even moved out of...." Luther came downstairs and bursting through the door, sporting a black shirt and a rather blank expression. He came in and kissed my cheek, "Good morning sweetheart. Did you sleep well?" I raised an eyebrow and he winked so that Russell couldn't see. I smiled and by surprise and quick to act, I said, "Yes I slept wonderful, honey! How did you sleep?"

He sighed, "Great! My dreams were full of the woman who has melted my heart." He was so put on but I didn't care or mind. Dr. Chatman looked at me with disgust in his eyes. He wanted me and I knew it but he couldn't have me. He seemed to understand that. Of course Luther and I were not together but he didn't know that. I kept thinking back to the night before and what dreams I had really had. He and I stealing away to a forbidden island, away from zombies, and away from the prying eyes of Dr. Chatman. But those were only dreams. I couldn't chase them into reality.

Luther looked at me with something more in his eyes than just curiosity. I couldn't tell exactly what it was. I ate breakfast feeling quiet cheerful with a small victory over Chatman in my mind. After breakfast I headed upstairs to the showers. As I turned around to get the soap off the caddy, Dr. Chatman was standing there. I gasped and covered myself as best as I could. He turned red in the face, "Excuse me Dr. Byrant but I was told you needed some shampoo..." He held the bottle out and I grabbed it from him.

"Not from you...." I stated boldly. "I need you to go and leave this area right now. You are not welcome here." Just then Luther came in and came to me in one bold stride. He covered me with the shirt he was wearing. Chatman looked at us both, "Yes well excuse me..." He cleared his throat and walked off. Luther looked down into my eyes. "Are you alright, Virginia?" The way he said my name made my heart plunge. I looked up at him, "I'll be fine. Thanks once again for coming to my rescue."

He hovered over me and helped me out of the wet area. He turned his back while I put on the t-shirt and underwear. He turned back around and said, "I'll walk with you back to your room. I don't trust him very much and I know you don't. I just wish he would leave you alone before I have to tell him something he doesn't want to hear. I just wish there was some way of protecting you better..."

I raised my eyebrow, "And pray tell how do you suppose we do that? You are doing a great job at it right now. I don't feel so vulnerable when you are around. I can protect myself to an extent but you have your appearance and just being a guy...what do you have in mind?"

He stepped forward and closed the door to my room, once we were inside. He whispered. "I know you feel the attraction between us, Virginia. It's a strange new feeling for me as well. All my life I've been into politics and surrounding myself with the white house drama. I've been the right hand man to the president more than my fair share of times. It's my job though. Listen to me, you've been in this situation with Dr. Chatman for months now and it's going nowhere. You need me and I need you. I don't need you just in the perspective of being here, I need you by my side to feel complete."

I could feel and hear the hesitation in his voice, "I need you now...and I've fallen in love with you. I know it's love and I can't stand for Chatman to even be around you anymore. Let's go to Washington tonight and get married, Virginia." I was shocked and hesitate. My heart was racing and my palms were itchy and sweaty. I looked at him, "Luther, you've truly flattered me. What will your family think about this? If you have family that is. We hardly know anything about each other..."

This was insane I thought. But he was right. The short time I had come to know him I had fallen deeply in love with him. I was so in love had I not been thinking logically I would have jumped to a conclusion it was my destiny to marry him, but I was a doctor. I had to be patient and think logically. Luther looked at me, "Some things in life you just know. Who you want to be with the rest of your life...who you will love forever. Sometimes, Virginia, you have to go with the flow."

I knew that saying rather well. Carrie had taught me to go with the flow many times. Sometimes in life I couldn't find the courage to do that. I was speechless and couldn't think of anything to say. My eyes brimmed with tears because I could hear how much he loved me in his voice. I nodded, "Then call and make for a helicopter. I only have one member left in my family and it's my dog. She'd want to be there but she can't. I don't have any special friends."

He kissed my cheek, "I'll call the President and his wife. They'll come up with a private ceremony. No Dr. Chatman will be there. It will be perfect. Then we can elope and be back in New Orleans by tomorrow morning at a quarter till noon." My heart bubbled with joy and happiness. Maybe this was the key to me being happy again. I still wouldn't accept my sister's death until Dr. Chatman was either dead or behind bars for his crime.

Luther called for a helicopter. At six that evening it arrived. We were up in the air when something grabbed Luther's right leg from underneath the helicopter. It was a zombie! Panic stricken I reached for the gun in my right holster. He did as well. He shot at it but missed. I looked around for a blunt sharp object but before I could save him from being bitten, the zombie bit his leg. I screamed 'no' at the top of my lungs and then with one swift move shot the zombie in the head. It tumbled from the aircraft into the city below.

Luther looked up at me, "It got me! Just shoot me, Virginia. Look, we know it will infect my body and there is no chance of saving me. Within minutes from now I'll be one of them. I could chance killing you, the pilots, and the president himself. Just kill me..." Tears clouded my eyes. He couldn't die! Not like this... I reached in my purse and poured its contents in the seat beside me. I looked into his eyes, "Luther, listen to me. I need you to focus on something positive. Just focus on that. I'm going to use the latest batch of serum to see if it will help."

It was the serum I had perfected with a just a house hold ingredient in it...salt. I took the top off and stuck it into his neck into the main artery. His eyes closed and his breathing stopped. I began to cry harder realizing that I may have killed him. I felt like dying. To find love and to only lose it...it pained me beyond anything that ever had. Even Carrie's death and burial. Just then Luther's eyes fluttered open and he looked down at me, "Dry the tears fancy face. I feel fine."

We kissed, and the helicopter continued onto the White House...