It has been a full twenty-four
hours. From what we can tell, Jennifer Brown is showing no signs of infection.
We stationed armed monitors with her and we kept her isolated in the Produce
Prep Room overnight just in case things went wrong.
It was one of the hardest things I
have had to do yet. I was sitting on a cot opposite her with a pistol strapped
to my hip. I could see her eyes darting nervously every so often to the gun in
the holster. She looked at me, the beginning of tears welling up in her eyes,
and she asked me, “Is that really necessary?”
I began to think that she was right.
But then I would look at the fresh bandages covering the wounds on her arm from
the zombie fingernails. And all I could do was nod at those bandages and
whisper my reply. “Yes, it is.”
There were moments of true fear in her
eyes. It was not panic. It was not madness or insanity. It was fear. It was
that fear of not knowing if she was even infected or not. I imagine it is a lot
like when you are waiting for test results to get back from the doctor. Is it
malignant or benign? Am I infected or am I not? Just… not knowing. That
trepidation of uncertainty… I could see it in her eyes.
We posted watches just in case signs
of infection started to develop. During my turn sitting with her, I know she
was trying to sleep but it just wasn’t working. She rolled over and looked at
me. She looked deep into my eyes and I could see it. That fear was palpable. I
will never forget how she was trying to keep her voice from cracking when she
said, “I don’t want to die.”
And she stretched out her hand. I
reached out to hold her hand and there was a death grip, as if she felt that by
holding my hand, she might be able to stave off the infection. Thankfully, her
hand was warm to the touch. Not feverish. Not clammy. It was just… normal. The
night came and went and when we pulled back the bandages, there were signs of
healing. We slathered those scratches with Neosporin and peroxide and as much
rubbing alcohol as she could tolerate.
And so now, a day later, she is
showing no signs of infection. It is too early to say that she is healing but
she is showing no signs of the virus like we saw with Diane and Keith. So this
leads us to the conclusion that fluid transfer still is the most common way for
the Kharon Virus to transfer. Biting still seems to be the most common way to
get the virus but I would very apprehensive when dealing with any sort of
infected fluid.
I wish I could say that Jennifer not
being infected is a bit of a miracle but I don’t know if miracles even exist
anymore. I have to be honest with you, I don’t even know if there is a God
anymore…
