Incurable Cough of Death *OTA*

[mongrelverine]

It had started with a headache. Daken had woken up and felt like someone had taken a jackhammer to the inside of his head all night. That had been most unusual to being with, but not unheard of. With heightened senses, some sensory overload was to be expected at certain points. With all the stubbornness of a true feral, he simply ignored it and

Comments

[proper_twinkie]

"Why are you here? Obviously, you never get sick. What makes you think this is something you can simply weather? I know you are smarter than this so it must be ego. Either that or you're afraid they'd let you die. Better to die on your own terms, yes?" She continued moving cautiously closer. Just because she didn't want to get sick didn't mean she would let him kill himself.

"It's not just you. I can hear others. I've seen others... Frost, Pyro..." The realization that it was only mutants that she noticed coming down with this bug bothered her. The fact that it was effective against those with a healing factor bothered her more. It screamed biological warfare and since she wasn't privy to the knowledge that it a global epidemic, she assumed that it was an attack against the base. It was just stupid luck that it happened right after some were allowed to leave the base.

"Get up. Get up now!" She ordered, physically pulling on him to stand. "Put it together. It's mutants. The mutants are getting sick. Even you with your healing factor. It must have been engineered to bypass it or neutralize it. Do you even know if it's working for other things? When you bring out your claws, is it healing the skin?"

[mongrelverine]

"If you're so damn smart and already have all the answers, why even bother asking me?" There was a growl and snarl very reminiscent of his father as he opened his eyes back up. One day, this camp was going to get a completely subordinate woman who would only speak when she was spoken to. Daken could only hope it would come sooner.

Daken resisted the tug on his arm, staring at Betsy's hand. The low raspy tone in his voice managed to drop down even further as he turned to stare at this presumptuous female. "I suggest you remove your hand if you wish for it to remain attached to your body." His claws slid out. "I don't know. Hold still so I can find out." He wasn't really in the mood to hurt anyone, but his attitude was running rampant and unchecked while sick.

[proper_twinkie]

"If I had all the answers I wouldn't need you, would I? It's a pattern though. Teammates all over base have been getting sick. I thought it was just the flu. It didn't occur to me until just now that the human soldiers don't have it. Surely something strong enough to take you down would take them. But I can hear them. The worst thing any of them have is athlete's foot and indigestion." It took seeing the feral for her to make the connection because why would she before? People get sick, especially this time of year. She honestly didn't care one way or the other as long as she didn't catch it. But if it was systematically taking down the team and neutralizing them, that was everyone's problem.

Even this jackoff trying to fight her rather than stand.

Not that she was too worried. Daken looked like shit. His movement was slower and labored. He honestly didn't stand a chance in the state he was in but so not to agitate him further, she let him go.

"Cute but we don't have time for this. Do yourself a favor. Put your claws away. One, because I don't want to have to hurt you and two, so we can see if your healing factor is gone or simply bypassed."

[mongrelverine]

Betsy's theory actually makes a lot of sense, but he's not about to acknowledge that. "If someone wanted to use biological warfare against us, wouldn't it make more sense to use something that was fast-acting? It took days for me to get like this." The point was emphasized by another coughing fit.

Daken hated more than anything else when someone else was right and he was wrong. It came with the arrogance of considering himself better than everyone else. Betsy had a point and he knew it. So his claws slid back into his hands without another word, although there was the sound of his teeth being ground against one another. His skin, instead of healing over, had six new holes slowly oozing trickles of blood out. A look of brief shock passed over Daken's face. Things were truly bad if the smallest self-made injuries from his claws weren't healing.

[proper_twinkie]

"Perhaps. Though if mutants started dropping dead, people would be quarantined. The chance of total exposure would be low and there would be survivors. Now if it looked like something normal and non-lethal like a flu, people would ignore it like I did and you're doing. People would still interact, spread the disease, and by the time the first person died it would be too late." She argued but grew impatient about the whole thing.

"What does it matter? You, YOU are sick. You with a healing factor. You with the bleeding hands. You whose body is currently ticking closer to the age you should be and vulnerable. What if you don't die? What if instead you live but because you sat on your arse and waited too long, you have to live without your abilities? I suppose that would mean you'd need a regular job. I could help your resume. Do you have any marketable skills?"

[mongrelverine]

Just as he was beginning to tune her back out again, Betsy playing to his weak spot pinged Daken's interest. There was no way in hell he was going to end as some weak, pathetic, normal human. He'd rather be rotting six feet under with the worms then to let that happen.

"Let's say I'm actually listening to you," he said slowly. "What do you suggest I do? Go and lie in a hospital bed until that damned doctor figures out what's wrong or I die of whatever this is?" Daken had never been one to sit around passively while others decided his fate for him.

[proper_twinkie]

"Get tested!" She replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "This is biological, right? So get scanned. Let them take samples or something. You have a better chance being cured that way than you do hiding here."

[mongrelverine]

"I'll do it all in my own sweet time." His stubborn nature was now ranging more into the range of stupidity. Another cough forestalled anything else he had planned to say. He barely got his hand up in time to cover his mouth. "Since you've done your good deed for the day, I suggest you leave now. If this thing is airborne, there's a good chance you're about to become infected if you already aren't."

[proper_twinkie]

She started to protest again but the air started feeling stale and thick. It was her imagination, of course. Just the phobia creeping up but as he drew attention to the fact that it could, and most likely was airborn, she felt like she every breath she was breathing it in.

Betsy couldn't stay here. Even if it meant leaving Logan's son to fend for himself.

" was just trying to look out for you but you're right. My good deed is done. Do what you want." And with that she made a hasty exit.