My brother looked a lot different than I did since we weren't truly related.
For starters, he stood a head taller than I did and probably weighed 20kg more than me.
His hair was buzzed short and had been dyed to a dark red colour. However, this didn't make him look any less intimidating.
His face was rough, and despite being only twenty, he looked like he was older, due to his thick beard.
Like myself, Burner was muscular, though he was much bulkier than I was. He currently wore a black vest, baggy camo cargo bottoms, and boots, giving him a militant look.
Burner opened the door wider and looked me up and down, taking in my state.
His blue eyes pierced into mine.
"It really is you. My fucking little brother!"
Burner stepped out of the room and pulled me into a tight hug. I felt the wound on my abdomen twinge with pain, but I didn't care.
The hug was filled with raw emotion. A reunion of brothers. A reunion of best friends.
"It's good to see you're safe," I said as we left each other's embrace. Jake had returned to the reception desk, as he was no longer needed.
"I should be saying that to you. I assumed you were... forget it. It's no excuse."
Burner's face went grave, and his eyes fell to the floor as though he was ashamed to meet my gaze.
"Excuse for what?"
"For not coming to find you. I call myself a leader, or even a big brother, but haven't got the balls to step outside."
The thought had never even crossed my mind. It was a zombie apocalypse, more dangerous than anyone could imagine.
It would be selfish to expect people to care for more than themselves, even if I would do otherwise.
Playfully, I punched my brother in his chest, which made him at me in surprise.
"We're here now, aren't we? Alive and as well as we can be."
Burner remained silent but nodded his head. Nothing could take away from the fact that we had both survived such poor odds.
That was something to be happy about.
"Now, there's a lot you're gonna need to fill me in on. Being in a coma has messed me up big time. Even my body... it feels strange."
Burner looked down at my hospital robes once again and noticed a patch of blood from where it had seeped through my bandage.
He seemed to have a speculative look on his face as if he knew something that I didn't.
"You could do with a change of clothes too. I'll fetch you some gear whilst I fill you in on what's happened in the past two weeks..."
Two weeks... that's how long it's been.
He stepped back into the door of his room, face remaining serious the entire time as I followed him inside.
"There's a lot that you need to know."
———
Inside of the headmaster's office was as you would expect. The only change that had been made was a curtain that had been strewn over the desk to be used as a bed.
However, beside the bed was a duffel bag, packed to the rim. Inside, Burner handed me a change of clothes that were all military in design.
As I changed into a pair of dark green military bottoms and jackets, alongside black boots that were all too big for me, the wound around my abdomen began to hurt even more.
For the first time, I decided to pull up my bandage and take a look. What I saw filled me with terror.
"What the fuck?"
There was no mistaking it.
This was a bite mark.
I knew what the implications of a bite were. Everyone had seen the movies.
I looked up at my brother, prepared to defend my position. Even though I had been bitten, I showed no signs of being infected.
Something was wrong.
"This is a mistake... I swear I wasn't—"
But as I looked up at Burner, sitting there on the desk with his arms crossed, I noticed he had a faint smile on his face.
I had no clue what was going on. Everything was all too confusing to me!
Without saying a word, Burner reached down for his vest and lifted it. At first, all I saw were his muscles, but as he reached his chest...
There was a bite mark too! Even more vicious than mine.
I couldn't even speak. My mind was crammed with thoughts, yet they were too jumbled for me to physically react.
All I could do was stand there, staring at him.
"This virus isn't anything like the movies, Frost." My brother said, voice deep and resonating.
He pulled his vest back down, hiding the wound.
"Getting bit doesn't kill you, neither does being infected by the virus. In fact, it strengthens you."
I struggled to believe his words. They didn't make any sense. "What do you mean?"
"You only turn into one of those... creatures after death. How you die doesn't matter. If the virus takes you, and you die during or after the process, you're fucked."
So it really isn't like the movies...
You can catch the virus and stay alive.
Things started to fall into place in my mind. Connections were being made.
I stared into Burner's eyes, and he knew that I had come to the realisation.
"So that means..."
"We're both infected. And this virus has given us some sort of new strength."
The words hit like a truck.
I had only woken up from the virus today, and yet somehow, I had contracted this sickening virus that I knew nothing about.
I wanted to rage but had nothing to direct my rage towards. Burner sat there, letting me process the information for a moment.
It didn't take long for me to calm myself down. I had always been a rational person.
The virus had granted me strength. This was certain, otherwise I would have never made it to Chestnut Academy from the hospital.
However, my brother's infection seemed to happen naturally. Mine on the other hand...
"But I had been treated for my bite. I woke up on the hospital bed with a bandage wrapped around my stomach, covering the wound. Someone saw that I was bitten and helped me."
Burner looked at me in complete shock. "What? You didn't treat yourself?"
"Hell no. I couldn't even if I tried. This was done by someone that knows what they're doing."
Me and my brother rubbed at our chins at the same time. There was too much confusion going around. Too many questions were unanswered, and with the circumstances, we had no idea where to find them.
My brother let out a deep sigh, followed by a yawn. The night was late, and he had been woken from his life.
I, on the other hand, had just woken from a two-week coma. I wasn't tired at all.
"Get back to sleep and we can talk again tomorrow," I suggested. "There's still so much for us to talk about, but it can wait."
I could tell that Burner wanted to refuse, but he knew the importance of keeping up his energy during such times.
He nodded his head and laid down on his makeshift bed.
"Then we'll talk again at sunrise, Frost. Take any of the empty oms as your own."
I nodded my head and made my way back towards the exit, however, before I could open it, my brother spoke one last time.
"Oh, and no matter what you do, don't leave the academy building. I'm sure you can understand why."