The dramatic ending did not bring deafening cheers, prolonged applause, or fancy fireworks displays.
People only have endless sighs for the loss of their loved ones and friends.
Accompanied by my classmates and good friends, who we could talk about anything with, and my optimistic and enthusiastic roommates, at this moment, although the voices and faces of their laughter are still there, everything has become a phantom.
What's worse is that they don't know why they are isolated.
At first they just felt lost and confused, but slowly they realized that something was wrong.
——
"Ward 3, Ward 3, what's your situation now? Please report."
Jack was outside Ward 3, using a paging device to call the staff inside Ward 3.
Ever since Professor Robert's death, there has been almost no sound in Ward 3 except for one or two pieces of news occasionally.
"Rustle, rustle... Reporting to Dr. Jack, the 23rd victim has appeared. His name is Svali Treva, a third-year student of the Department of Mystical Knowledge Research.
Number of survivors: six.
Three of them have entered the third stage and are preparing for the final journey in the secret room.
The other two
I am head nurse Melo."
Head nurse Mello replied in a hoarse voice.
For some reason, other close contacts all had attacks, but the head nurse herself seemed like an outsider.
There were no signs of any disease either in the tests or on the surface of the body.
As I watched these young men fall beside me one by one, the expressions on their faces showed determination and faith, but no fear at all.
As an elder, head nurse Melo, who should have been comforting these children, could not utter a single word of comfort.
She still couldn't understand why she was still safe and sound.
I should have been the person most susceptible to infection, but now I can only watch these poor little guys muster up their courage and move their swollen bodies one by one with difficulty to continue the experiment.
"Wait, Mello, how long have you been in Ward 3?"
Jack's voice came out of the paging device again, mixed with the noise of people talking.
"One hour and thirty-six minutes."
Mello checked the time and answered immediately.
"...You don't have any symptoms?"
"No."
"Mello, I think you should come out of here."
"Why? We can't determine the mode of transmission yet."
"...Infected people have also begun to appear outside. Do you understand the seriousness of the situation?"
The paging device in his hand loosened and fell to the ground.
Melo couldn't understand why people outside were infected
Are all the sacrifices in vain
"Mello, Mello, please answer."
The head nurse picked up the paging device that had fallen to the ground, took a deep breath, and replied heavily,
"I am here.
Can you tell me how many infected people you have outside now? "
“Three early stages and one mid-stage.
We are currently trying to use electrotherapy to suppress the spread of the tumor as a preliminary treatment, but it has little effect. ”①
"That's useless. We have now discovered that scarlet sting is a mixed biological toxin. We need to analyze it from the perspective of serum before there is hope for treatment."
"Mello, have you ever thought that you are the serum?"
"...I don't dare to come out and risk infecting everyone. Ward 3 is a negative pressure ward, you know.
The air circulation is also through the internal circulation system, but if I open this door, the polluted air here is likely to come out. "
“Do you know how much air was contaminated before patient zero became ill and was transported in
Moved from the transfer point onto a stretcher, and then carried to us in front of the crowd.
Mello, if you are immune, we have hope of defeating this vicious scarlet sting."
"Okay, I'll come out, but please let me stay with these two children until the end."
"...Time is precious now."
"I know, but isn't it cruel of you to leave them here alone?"
As soon as Melo finished speaking, the last two people put down their experimental work and walked in front of Melo.
"Head nurse, go ahead.
We will do our best and, in the end, make some contribution to our world."
"but..."
“No buts, Head Nurse, we admire you very much.
What if, by some chance, you succeed in developing the serum in a short period of time, maybe we can still be saved, right
You don’t want us to die, do you?”
One of them was speaking some profound truths with a forced smile.
He looked at his partner and high-fived each other.
"Go ahead, leave it to us."
"Okay, wait for me."
Seeing that Mello agreed, the two of them smiled brightly as if a huge stone had been lifted off their shoulders.
"Jack, I'll be out in five minutes.
I will disinfect my whole body first, and you guys get ready outside."
After the head nurse passed the message, a rustling sound was heard outside the third ward. Now they were setting up a passage with plastic and disinfectant materials for Melo to walk out alone.
——
"You understand, don't you?"
"I understand. We two are not going to survive anyway. There's no need for the head nurse to watch us die."
“Yeah, I thought so too.
So cruel.
Watching us die one by one, and she couldn't do anything."
“Well, she’s pathetic, and so are we.
Cough cough cough. "
"Have you finished writing your suicide note?"
"No relatives or friends, so be it."
"You are so free and easy. I miss home."
"Any relatives?"
"Well, although my parents are gone, I have a silly brother, cough cough cough."
"very nice."
This was the last chat between the two.
They pushed open the door that was blackened by thick smoke and walked in.
The pungent smell penetrated their nostrils, but they could no longer smell anything.
With fingers as thick as carrots, he lit the match with difficulty and dropped it to the ground.
There was no wailing, no pain, only that final relief.
——
Mello pushed open the door of the third ward.
Starting from the edge of the door frame, there were layers of blue plastic, which formed a passage for her to walk out alone.
Outside the door was a brand new set of protective clothing, as well as masks, goggles and other equipment.
She put on the new equipment without hesitation.
Generally speaking, girls who put on new clothes are always happy, but after putting on this set of clothes, Melo felt heavy in his heart.
"Report, Head Nurse Mello is waiting to go forward at the first aisle."
"Disinfect her with medical alcohol, and clean the surface with diluted chlorine water when she enters the third channel."
"receive."
After rounds of disinfection and protection, half an hour had passed and Melo finally walked out of this passage which was only 120 meters long.
At the end of the corridor is an independent ward. From the layout inside the ward, it can be seen that everything is brand new.
There were many machines in operation next to the bed. It was obvious that this ward was being used as a laboratory.
“I’m sorry I can’t give you a hug, Mello.
It’s a procedure, you know.”
Jack, who was busy shuttling between machines, heard Mello's footsteps and called out.
"It's okay, now what should I do?"
"Lie down on the bed and remove the sleeve in front of your right forearm. We will do a blood test first."
"Okay, I'm yours now.
For the sake of justice, you can do whatever you want with me."
“If it weren’t for the scarlet sting, I would have been excited to hear that.
What a pity. "
Jack used these ambiguous words to tease Mello, who spoke vaguely, and the atmosphere eased a little.
"Do you want anesthesia?"
Jack took out a syringe, cotton and other tools and placed them casually on the side of Melo's bed.
"It's okay, just smoke it."
Mello answered simply.
She has witnessed so many life and death separations, how could the slight pain of having her blood drawn make her feel more uncomfortable
Jack skillfully wiped Melo's elbow with alcohol cotton, where the median cubital vein is located and the easiest place to draw blood.
"Bite your teeth, this injection might be painful."
After saying that, Jack accurately inserted the sharp but frighteningly thick needle into the median cubital vein.
Indigo venous blood slowly overflowed from the needle, passed into the rubber tube, and finally filled half of the plasma bag.
"100cc? Is that enough?"
Melo glanced blankly at the thickness of the needle and recognized the specification of the blood draw volume.
“You’re overthinking, this is just the first shot.
Later, we will draw a tube from your radial artery, which will be used for blood gas analysis."
Jack waved his hand, and after drawing blood, he gave Melo an IV of saline solution mixed with glucose.
Mello nodded, then sighed softly.
"I don't know how those two kids are doing now."
Jack paused. He had already received the suicide notes from the last two children before Mello walked out of the passage.
Jack knew exactly what this meant.
"Don't think too much. You are our most precious experimental subject now."
Jack said in a muffled voice. He started up some machines for detecting vital data and connected them to various parts of Melo's body one by one. Then he walked out with the plasma bag.
——
"Teacher Jack, you're back."
Madeline was waiting here. Although she was a top student in the Department of Chemistry, chemistry and biology were closely related, and she could give Jack the greatest help here.
“Well, come on, get to work.
Show me what makes Merlot so special.”
Jack drew a few drops of blood from the plasma bag and placed them under the microscope.
"Huh? What is this? It's twisting and turning."
Madeline uttered a puzzled cry; she seemed to see something twisting in the microscope.
"let me see."
After Jack finished speaking, he came to Madeline's side.
He narrowed one eye and leaned forward.
The world in the blood is magnified by the microscope and appears extremely clear.
The bright light makes it impossible for the secrets hidden in the blood to hide.
Jack saw the twisting and turning thing that Madeline mentioned.
Although that thing looked very much like a white blood cell covered with tiny spikes, each protrusion looked like a tiny crown.
This is a strain of virus that has never been discovered before.
After comparing with the blood sample transmitted by Professor Robert, this virus strain stood out in comparison.
"Could it be that this virus is suppressing the onset of scarlet stings, so Mello escaped?"
Jack whispered.
"Why don't we mix the two bloods and see what conclusions we can draw?"
Madeline suggested boldly.
“Well, you can try.
I'll get a tube of the patient's blood and mix it with Merlot's. Please wait."
At this time, Jack changed his previous casual style and became decisive and efficient.
He no longer hid his usually hidden strength, and used all his strength to hurry on his way, moving as fast as a gust of wind, fetching the props and materials he needed one by one.
Two drops of blood were mixed evenly in a transparent test tube, and the changes that were invisible to the naked eye were now clearly revealed under the microscope.
Those funny little viruses will appear as square scarlet stings under the microscope and quickly wrap themselves up, just like a hungry homeless person pounces on food when he sees it.
After being wrapped, within just a few seconds, the spitted out scarlet sting changed from a square shape to a round ball that looked no different from ordinary red blood cells.
Presumably, this tiny virus is the antidote to the scarlet sting.
"Ha, then we are going to extract this virus strain and put it in a petri dish."
Jack shouted excitedly.
"No, not yet. We haven't observed it long enough, and we haven't done any biological testing yet."
Madeline immediately dampened Jack's excitement, like pouring a bucket of cold water on him.
“Let me see, we have mice, sparrows, and monkeys here.
Once these three animal samples are confirmed to be safe, we will conduct human testing.
Before that, we have to calculate an accurate dosage.
This is a virus, not a drug. If we get the dosage wrong, we don’t know what the consequences will be.”
"You're right, but as a last resort, in case our stage 2 patient turns into stage 3, we have to take a chance and try it."
Jack argued helplessly.
“That also requires the patient’s consent.”
Madeline took a step back and did not insist on her position. After all, human life was at stake.
"Okay, let's calculate the dosage first."
The two began to carry out dark calculations in the laboratory, accompanied by the death of one small life after another.
Either the scarlet sting infected the subject and caused it to explode to death, or severe symptoms of an upper respiratory tract infection occurred, leading to accumulation of fluid in the lungs and suffocation to death.
This is an unavoidable loss.
Only when the correct ratio is found and the experimental subjects can survive, the medical team dares to take this gamble.
And the stakes are the patient's life.
As one mouse after another died tragically, one of them survived after turning over on its back.
It only suffered from symptoms such as diarrhea and low blood pressure, but it survived the injection to this day.
The two people in the laboratory looked at each other, holding the poor mouse and cheering loudly.
The right proportion, found it!