CH1d

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JULY 9TH, 2011

Concentrating on anything other than her pain was exceedingly difficult for Seline. She'd probably broken several ribs and her right leg. She'd never know. Infected persons never got medical treatment—it'd too greatly risk the doctor's health. The officers that had charged her with aggravated assault and first degree murder had beaten her so badly that she couldn't stand up anymore.

While her limp, mutilated body was dragged out of the marketplace, Seline could hear the sobs of several women. …Women whose children she'd slaughtered because of the effects of the virus. She could smell the blood everywhere. There just wasn't any way she was going to get out of the situation.

She had been tightly tethered to a tree with ropes like a dog in her masters' extravagant, lush, green backyard garden. She was going to be executed via gunshot. Purvis didn't think that such a short, painless death was enough punishment for her crime against the uninfected, though.

She sighed…she didn't even get a last meal…at least not that she could remember. Maybe children appealed to her tastes. She'd never know!

While she was tranquilized, somebody, probably an officer or her master, had taken all her clothes off—even her cloak, and redressed her in tight bandages and what felt like bedsheets. The bandages around her chest made it hard for her to breathe. She looked down at her body. It was discolored and covered in dark brownish spots. And she was furry! That virus had taken away all her dignity. What a horrible body to leave the earth in!

At the sound of wooden soles clacking against the stone trail outside the garden, Seline's ears perked up, but she refused to look. Last time she looked up, there were two men in uniform standing just a few feet in front of her on either side, with their rifles propped up against their shoulders. She knew they were still there—they were just being dead silent, probably because it was their job to kill people that couldn't properly defend themselves.

"Sergeant Thomas, sergeant Johnson," her master's words were quick and quiet.

"Sir?"

They spoke about the scheduled time of her death in military hours, then shook hands and departed with each other. She listened to the sound of those wooden soles clack on the stone walkway until they faded out. She scowled in disgust.

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Nightfall came once more, and Seline was still tied to that tree, half naked and in pain. The two military men that had been standing there earlier were still there with their guns still propped against their shoulders. Seline looked up at them. Their backs were facing towards her and they were staring up at the sky. It was a full moon…the last full moon Seline would ever get to see.

A single plane flew across the horizon, straight across the moon. The two military men looked at each other with slight concern, then looked back up at the plane as it made its way out of the light. "Why are they testing at this time?"

"'Dunno. 'Probably sent some poor fool off on a mission to take down one of these puppies," the man pointed his thumb back at Seline and laughed with his military friend.

"Yeah, I can imagine! Poor dummy."

The two went back to their awkward silence, standing perfectly still, 'guarding' the premises.