Page 7 of Glass Rose
“English.” Alex’s voice is tight, controlled.
“It’s eating her brain.” My hands ball into fists. “Starting with the parts that make her… her.”
Mia’s eyes find mine, terror giving way to something worse—resignation. “How long do I have?”
I kneel beside her, close enough to see the capillaries in her eyes beginning to burst, creating a spiderweb of red. “I don’t know.”
Her hand shoots out, fingers clamping around my wrist with unnatural strength. “Don’t let me become one of them.”
Blood trickles from her nose, black and viscous. Her pupils dilate until almost no iris remains, just bottomless wells of darkness.
“Sofia,” Alex says. “Get away from her.”
“Kill me,” Mia manages, each word a struggle. Her body twitches, jerky movements like she’s fighting for control of her own muscles. “Please. It hurts.”
Shecrashes her head against the wall, hard enough that I hear bone crack. Blood trickles down her forehead. “Get out. Get the?—”
I flinch back.
She turns, and it’s no longer her. No longer Mia.
Alex and I sprint down the corridor, Mia close behind, her movements growing more coordinated with each step.
“Right door! Stairs!” I point ahead where the emergency exit sign flickers.
Alex reaches it first, yanking the handle. Nothing. He slams his shoulder against it, face contorting. “It’s fucking locked!”
The card. I pat my pockets, fingers trembling against fabric as Mia’s guttural sounds grow closer. Where is it? Lab coat—left inside pocket?—
“Sofia, hurry the fuck up!” Alex presses himself against the door, eyes fixed on the corridor behind me.
I twist around. Mia’s shambling form rounds the corner. Blood drips from her nose and vacant eyes.
“I’m trying!” My fingers close around the plastic card, fumbling it out. I stumble forward, heart hammering against my ribs like it’s trying to escape.
Her pace quickens, her broken movements smoothing out as the virus rewires her neural pathways. Evolution in fast-forward.
I reach Alex, card extended. Our fingers brush as he snatches it and swipes.
Red light.
“Fuck!” He flips it, swipes again.
Still red.
Mia closes in, ten feet away. Nine. Eight.
“Give it to me.” I grab it and flip it right-side up. The magnetic strip catches on the reader.
Green light. The lock clicks.
Alex shoves the door open, practically falls through. I lunge after him, catching my hip on the frame, pain shooting down my leg.
The door slams shut behind us, the automatic lock engaging as Mia crashes against it. The impact reverberates through the metal, followed by scratching and pounding.
“That was…” Alex rubs a hand over his face. “Fuck!”
I slide down the wall until I’m sitting, adrenaline draining and leaving me hollow. Mia continues to hammer at the door, the sound like a metronome counting down to something inevitable.
