A Thief In The Night

"She's asleep..." Vincent whispers to a curious Eris, who re-entered the room with a tray of food.

“Great", Eris sighs, "An hour in the kitchen and two flights of stairs..."

"Guess there'll be leftovers". Vincent whispers as he tucks in the patient. Carefully gathering her long hair with his hands, before slipping on a hair tie. This allowed him more access to her neck as he wipes away the perspiration on her pale skin with a clean towel. "She's got a temperature of 110." He tells Eris, wiping sweat from her face as well.

"Infection?" Eris wonders.

"It's too early to tell. For now, let's let her sleep." Vincent decides.

The pair exit the bedroom, turning off lights as they went, and washing up in an adjacent room. A single bedroom made into two… Modified to fit the living requirements of a fragile patient and prevent the risks of a domestic outbreak. Time passes as the pair vigorously clean and prep for the next day.

Only when they part from the purgative room and enter the hall, do they finally remove their masks. Allowing the devices to dangle by the straps as they inhale the air. "The house smells like a farm." Eris observes. "I wonder where that smell keeps coming from…"

"It's probably just expired detergent or something…" Vincent says, sniffing his own shirt. "I have no idea what they use on the laundry, but it's really gross."

Eris sniffs his own shirt, nodding in agreement. "Let's h-hurry up and finish."

"Right", Vincent breathes out.

Together, Eris and Vincent begin sealing off access to the neighboring rooms and several windows; within the stretch of hallway.

The noises of drilling and shuffling drew Tuck upstairs. A lantern in his grip as he navigated the dark parts of the house. Until he finds both doctors in the middle of their work.

"What the heck are you guys doing that for?" Tuck whispers, gesturing with his hand to the bars on the windows.

"You remember what the infected patients were like..." Eris reminds Tuck with a cautious look.

"Umm... yeah I don't think that girl can make it 5 feet from her bed, Eris." Tuck says in a tired voice. "It's in the middle of the night."

"Tell me the symptoms." Eris suddenly quizzes the young boy while putting up another guard.

"Uh..." Tuck rubs his tired eyes as he tries to think about it. "Fever... fatigue, shortness of breath, nausea, and chills?"

"And in the long term?" Eris presses him further.

Tuck bit his lip in hesitation. Admitting after a short sigh: "Mutation, loss of speech, delirium, manic episodes, loss of motor function and ... death."

"Cole just got here though..." Tuck continues. "She's thin as a needle and is definitely not a threat."

"No..." Vincent agrees, positioning a ladder to reach a vent in the ceiling. Where he plants a small device inside it. "This is just a precaution. The last thing we need is a delirious patient running around the house... The locks aren't very thick, and if they fail, there's motion sensors installed."

"Locking up your patients?" Is all Tuck decides to hear. "Man... I never want you guys to be my doctors."

"The feeling's mutual. If you so much as sneeze, I'm not wasting medicine, I'm kicking you out." Eris retorts.

"Oh..." Tuck turns to the side, holding his hand up to his nose. "Oh doc, I t-think I... I think I'm gonna..."

Eris lifts his head, immediately he starts cussing in his native tongue and chases Tuck away with a whirring drill.

Tuck dashes off, hearing the sound and Eris's colorful cuss words. Returning to his bedroom on the first floor. "Ay… As crianças são irritantes." (Children are annoying) Eris mumbles, pulling a smile from Vincent as he climbs down the ladder.

Eris turns back to his work, but he freezes in place. Staring straight ahead while Vincent stares back. His smile fades as he recognized the look on his colleague's face. Vincent followed his gaze, turning his head to look behind; at the hallway. When a strong arm hooks around his waist.

"Knife!" Eris pulled him fast, just as a blade whipped through the air and punctured the wall. Barely missing Vincent's head as Eris yanks him out of the way.

Vincent looks at the knife in the wall, then at the person who threw it. A few meters away stood a male figure with a backpack strapped to his back.

Eris wasted no time and recognized a thief when he saw one. He pulls out his loaded revolver, and the thief dashes down a separate hall as two shots ring out. Followed by shouts in a language he did not understand.

"Security breach. Second floor, West corridor." Vincent alerts the rest of the house. Bringing his radio to his mouth, then tucking it away.

"Mask", Eris pulls up his own while reminding Vincent. A faint blue LED blinks on when it seals securely to his face.

With fury in his eyes, Vincent snatches the blade from the wall and pulls up his mask. Dashing ahead in pursuit of the thief who threw it at him. While Eris follows close.

The thief runs as fast as he can and scrambles to find his escape. Tossing whatever he finds to slow them down. Shots fly over his head as he runs laps. It was obvious he hadn't a clue where he was going. When he arrived in the same hall again. Tripping over a ladder and tools. He gets up quickly and flees down another hall. Until Vincent expertly tossed the blade and hit the back of his thigh. A loud cry rang out and the thief tumbled to the floor. While Eris kept his weapon aimed at the thief's head.

"How many more of you are in the house?" Eris questions as the thief drags himself across the hall floor. Trying in vain to reach an open window. Where the cool outdoor air spills into the house.

When the thief didn't answer, Vincent watched as Eris pulled the trigger. The loud crack of the gunfire echoed. A brief time later, Tuck appeared from around the corner of the corridor. Freezing when Eris aimed his way.

"D-Don't shoot." Went Tuck, raising his palms.

"Tuck, don't just run out of the dark like that." Eris lowers his weapon and sighs in frustration. He slips his weapon back into his holster. After, Eris lifts his radio to his mouth and tells the others. Less than a minute later, soldiers were everywhere, and the entire house was on lockdown. The thief's pockets were picked clean, and his pack removed before his body was wrapped. As an extra precaution, some begin to seal off the hall where he was executed.

"How'd he get a hold of these?" Vincent wonders while pulling out the contents of the thief's backpack. "Ibuprofen, penicillin, hydro, oxy, isopropyl alcohol, bandages, and a… bottle of whiskey?"

"He must've broken into storage… and the kitchen." Eris observes, combing his disheveled hair back with his hands. "Wherever he came from, I'm sure we'll find out. In the meantime, I'm going to make some changes downstairs… and…" Eris glances in the opposite direction of the hall, which was now illuminated with the lighting and filled with a group of armed soldiers. All occupied in their own conversation.

"You should check on Cole…" Eris suggests with a concerned look in his round eyes. "The gunfire… probably scared her."