[[October 12, 1978 | Case #: 56 | Cromavirus It escaped. Dr. Dolores was last seen with it. Dr. Dolores, the first one to face the Cromavirus Outbreak. Fortunately for us, and the country, it hasn’t spread. Yet. Angela Dolores has not been found since it started. Search parties have tried finding her for the past nine months, yet they’ve never succeeded. Maybe she’s dead. If she is, who killed her? Or, worse yet, what? Surely her loss is felt by us all; she was quite the honorable woman.]] Barnaby slid the paper across the table to Nala. “Read it. The first, I don’t know, file or whatever on the Outbreak.” Nala took the paper and read it; “Interesting.” Barnaby looked offended. “I spent three days out there, almost died eight times, JUST TO GET THIS, and all you have to say is ‘interesting’?!” He snapped. “Well, no one said you had to find it.” Nala muttered. Barnaby grumbled something, most likely a very.. colorful word and got up and walked away. MoonLight waddled in. “Miss Nala?” He asked, sweetly. “Is everything okay?” “Everything’s fine, Moon, don’t worry.” She smiled. Barnaby came back in. “If you’re gonna tell the kid anything, tell him the truth.” He turned to Moon. “To answer your question, no, everything is not okay.” He then grabbed Moon by the scruff and walked back out to the main area. Moon let out a small whimper, waving farewell to Nala. Nala sighed and rubbed her temples. Why do I live with these people? She thought. I’m sure there’s better places out there to stay until the Outbreak’s over. If it ever is. She got up and walked to the main area, where Finnegan and Barnaby were discussing what they’d do about the barriers, which an Infected had recently broken. “I say we fix th—” Finn started, only to be interrupted by Barnaby. “I say we do absolutely nothing whatsoever about this nagging problem that could absolutely get us all killed.” He said, sarcastic. “And, in case you forgot, Finnegan, this is my property and I can absolutely kick you out and leave you to rot with the weird zombie things.” Barnaby added, bluntly. “Barn, be nice for Moon’s sake.” Nala said, firmly but not quite unkind. Barnaby turned to her, narrowing his mismatched eyes. “I don’t think I heard you right. Did you just tell me, on my own property, what to do?” Nala sighed. “Barn, if you keep this up, you’ll get us all killed just because you’re a big crybaby and your ego gets in the way of other people, even me.. your own sister.” She said, hurt. Barnaby was mockingly shocked. “My ego? See his.” He said, gesturing to Blue, who was reading some cheesy manga. Blue looked up, realized there were other people in the room, and shut the manga and hid it. “Wh– I didn’t do anything!” He exclaimed, clearly offended. The AC whirred slowly, hardly cooling the bland concrete room. It was always humid, something Barnaby and Finnegan kept saying they’d fix, but they never got quite to it. Barnaby was just busy killing zombies and keeping everyone else from being infected. Finnegan, however, was mourning his wife, Elara, who had been infected shortly before they all came to Barnaby’s base. Barnaby’s orange jeep, buffed up with spikes and heavy armor, was parked just above the base. Whenever he’d take it for a patrol, or to get supplies, it would roar to life and purr away, tearing at whatever got in its way. Barnaby got off the couch, stretching. “I guess it’s time for Moon and I to go for that joyride he requested earlier.” He said, in between a couple stretches. “That’s going to make so much noise! What if the Infected find us? We don’t even have barriers!” Nala shrieked. “Course we do, Nal, they’re just, er, torn up. We can go fix it while we’re out there.” Barnaby said, clearly pushing her away. “Okay, fine, just don’t get yourself or any of us killed.” She grumbled, flopping down on the couch. “Yippee!” Moon cheered, jumping up and down. He trailed after Barnaby, yipping in excitement. As he started his jeep, the ceiling shook, as the base was underground. The group heard as it drove off, clanking.
Barnaby was nothing short of nervous. Moon’s excited energy was almost as contagious as the infection itself, though Barnaby couldn’t feel the child’s joy. He sighed as Moon bounced up and down in his seat, giggling hysterically. “Moon,” he said, firmly but not unkind, “maybe now isn’t the time for.. well.. goofing off?” Moon looked at Barnaby with pity. “Okay..” He whined plaintively, looking out the window. Barnaby felt awful all of a sudden. Moon’s ears perked up, a curious expression on his face. “Barnaby?” He asked, as if to reassure himself he wasn’t alone. Barnaby turned for a split second. “I’m here, Moon. I’m here.” He added to himself, unsure as well. A horrid shaking seized the ground. Barnaby pushed the jeep to its limit, making it go faster, faster, faster. Moon clutched the dashboard, nervous. After half an hour, the shaking gradually stopped. They returned to the base, scared out of their minds, though Barnaby showed no sign. Nala, being his sister, felt the anxiety radiating off of him. “Barn?” She asked, her voice small. He turned to her, with a distant look, then shook his head and hardened his gaze. “I’m fine. Moon’s fine. Everything’s fine.” Barnaby responded, though his tone betrayed how he really felt. “Barnaby, you’re anxious; I know. It’s scary out there.” Nala said, trying to comfort her older brother. He glared at her. “I’m not anxious. I said I’m fine!” He snapped. “How I feel doesn’t concern you. I can look out for myself.” Barnaby stormed off to his room, and slammed the door. The ‘no trespassing’ sign, on the outwards side of the door, rattled. Blue sent Nala a glare. “Seriously, Owslen? You just had to upset him. What is your problem?!” He said, with a tone that just screamed ‘Hey, I’m Blue and I complain about EVERYTHING!’. Nala’s face felt hot. She was, genuinely, hurt by her brother’s behavior and Blue’s remark. Sweet looked out of the medical bay. “What is wrong with you?! You can’t just say that, Blue!” He yelled. Blue winced, burying his nose in his stupid manga. “You guys are a bunch of dorks.” He muttered. Barnaby’s voice shook his bedroom door. “YEAH? EVEN ME?” He screamed. Moon covered his ears, whimpering. (Tuesday, July 8th, 1990, 12:00 AM MDT) “Hey. Hey. HEY.” Blue whispered, if not aggressively. Barnaby fell off of his loft bed. “Ow! What the hell, Blue?! It’s midnight, for God’s sake, and we have a patrol at four… Get out of here..!” He groaned. Blue sighed. “Alright, fiiine, I’ll go.” He pattered over to the smaller bed all the way across the room and flicked on an unnecessarily bright light to read. Barnaby groaned when he made it to his bed and pulled the sheets and comforter over his head. Four o’clock came soon. Barnaby was walking around the dimly lit base, waking everyone up. Finnegan was on the couch in the common area, thinking. Nala groaned. “Barnaby… Can’t we sleep for a little longer?” Barnaby looked at her. “You can. The question is whether you may.” Nala looked hopeful. “May I sleep in?” Barnaby didn’t look at her. “Nah.” Moon hobbled out of his room, a soft blanket draped over his shoulders. He looked hopefully up at Barnaby. “Can we go for another joyride?” Barnaby sighed. “Moon, we’ve got patrols to take care of. Maybe afterwards. Hey, and, speaking of taking care of things, where’s Mars?” Moon rolled a thought around in his mind before speaking. “She’s asleep.” Barnaby gave him a look. “Go get her, then.” Moon ran back into the kids’ room, and said something. Mars groaned, annoyed and half asleep. Inside of the kids’ room, the walls were blue with clouds painted on them. A bunk bed was tucked into a corner, and across from it 2 beanbags and a television with a gaming console (NES). Books and drawings were scattered around, across the rug too. The rug had intricate patterns depicting animals in bright bold colors. “Mars… Mars!” Moon whisper-shouted. “What do you want?” Mars whined, pulling her blanket over her eyes. “Wanna go collect BUGS with me? While we’re patrolling?” Mars peeked out from beneath the blanket. “Okay..” Barnaby, from the common room, yelled, “HURRY UP AND GET YOUR TAILS IN HERE OR I’LL FEED YOU TO THE KING MYSELF!” Moon grabbed Mars. “C’mon! He’s known to keep promises..!” Moon dragged Mars across the floor and into the common area. “We’re ready!” He exclaimed, cheerfully. The red sky was brighter than usual, with a blue hue laid across the ground.
