Sean’s little brother had jumped from a headache to early, high-grade fever in a matter of days.

Thor was barely hanging on.

It was a miracle he was alive as it was, a fever of this temperature should’ve killed him.

This virus had killed. It was so, so rare and so, so new. Constantly evolving. Different for each person.

There had been a constant stream of announcements to all medical personnel in the ETF. How a virus that did not spread but simply appeared was picking off victims one by one.

And then, they stopped. And all the messages were deleted save one, new message.

False alarm. Do not discuss this further.

The ETF wasn’t exactly a good thing. It was incredibly bureaucratic, only acknowledging things that they knew they could solve. To make a good story. But they never left its members in the dark. It was illogical. They needed a constant stream of information, hoping for that next Cinderella story that made them heroes.

So then what the fuck was this?

A sharp sound made Sean look down at his phone, now cracked from his grip strength. He stared, not quite taking everything in.

He was tired. It had been at least a week since Thor’s body decided to go to war with itself. From the Fever. Capital F. The ETF and the higher government might want to keep this quiet, but the public was never something that could be silenced. Especially not now, with the internet integrated in the latest generations.

He had been barely sleeping.

Part of him recognized the scattered, jagged thoughts. The fact that he was staring at nothing as Thor heaved ragged breaths. Dissociation, both from shock and sleep deprivation. And grief. Because his brother was going to be taken from him one way or the other.

Because Fever kills almost everyone. And everyone who doesn’t disappears.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

It’s not hard to figure out what’s happening. Right when the messages went down in the thread, a new one started, demanding that all patients in hospitals with “discolorations” be given to the government for specialized quarantine.

He stared at the crack in his screen. There was no way he had the grip for this kind of thing. And he didn’t have any adrenaline left in his system to aid his strength.

How odd.

Thor’s breathing stuttered for a beat too long and Sean’s head shot up.

Thor’s eyes were moving frantically underneath the fine skin of his eyelids, purpled from strain. Sean staggered upright, dropping his phone and rushing over to his brother.

Thor’s skin was draining of color, becoming so white it was nearly transparent. Sean watched in horror as the veins of his brother’s wrist bulged and pulsed against the skin.

What the fuck was this? Sean’s fingers brushed in morbid curiosity against the swollen veins, feeling his gorge rise as he felt the weak, speeding blood flow.

This… he had no idea what this was. He didn’t know what to do.

Thor’s breaths restarted, but now they were wet and he was half-choking. Sean shook his head, demanding himself to get back into it, just another minute, Thor needed him, concentrate goddammit. He braced his hand against Thor’s back, forcing the younger boy to sit up. Fluid in the lungs, keep them from choking. Elevate the body. Increase airflow.

Ruby red bubbles from Thor’s lips, dribbles down his chin. His nose drips crimson too, steadily becoming a stream. Sean’s eyes go wide, he fumbles for the sheets in an attempt to slow the bleeding.

No time, too many things happening. The veins in his wrists aren’t the only ones swelling.

Inner elbows, the sides of Thor’s neck, and Sean would bet his femorals as well, all were swollen, pulsing with blood and what the fuck was this?!

There’s nothing Sean can do, think of doing. Instead he watches the blood in the carotid creep up Thor’s jaw, up and up, the skin under Thor’s eyes swelling with fine veins and blood vessels.

Suddenly, Thor goes utterly, horribly still. He doesn’t fall limp in unconsciousness or death, but Sean can feel dread rising up his gullet, knows that something is so, so wrong.

Then Thor’s head jerks back so fast something cracks. His body starts to shake violently. His jaw oh-so slowly starts to open, as if something is prying the joints apart.

His eyes fly open, and Sean sees an impossible blue where there had been brown before, and then the screaming starts.

Sean starts to shake. He does not notice his own veins start to stand against his skin, or the fact his eyes glow amber. He just moves.