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He had never been so hungry. Or thirsty. His throat felt raw as he took deep breaths. He had no strength left in his limbs. If he continued this way, he would surely die but the thought of the food they brought him made him sick.

His mate made her way towards him, a banana in one palm. She tried to make him eat it but he merely pushed her away. He needed to eat, to drink, but how was he supposed to do that if his body was rejecting every morsel of food that was given to him.

Yet every passing second, his hunger and his thirst grew.

He watched as a female ape made it's way to him. His daughter. She was fussing over him, trying to get him to eat. However, he had no interest in her. He just wanted to be left alone.

The more she fussed over him the more he got annoyed. He felt like he was about to explode with anger.

"Hey, you dumb monkey. Why won't you eat already!" Came the voice of the human who was tending to him.

The human was also annoying. He came with a large stick and began to poke at him through the thick metal bars.

"Get up already. I've had it with you big dumb monkey!" The man said as he threw open the gate to the cage.

Closing it behind him, the man stomped towards him and when he got to him, he crouched down to face him.

"Hey, monkey, how long are you planning on playing dumb?" The man asked. "Do I have to stop feeding you for you to stop playing..."

It was a second, maybe even less but he didn't even see what had just happened. The man was suddenly clutching his neck, eyes wide in terror as the blood dripped from between his fingers.

Usually the sight of blood caused him to panic however as he saw the man bleed in front of him, his stomach cramped in hunger. Without knowing what he was doing, he threw himself onto the man, pinning him down.

As the man struggled with whatever feeble strength he had left, he bit into his neck, tasting the man's blood. The more he drank the sweet crimson nectar, the more he felt rejuvenated.

He could hear a commotion around him but nothing else mattered to him except his prey. Clamping his jaw shut, he tore open the man's neck, chewing on the chunk of flesh...

Alex, wake up.

He woke with a start, his heart beating. For a moment, Alex felt disoriented. Everything around him was spinning as he tried to focus.

"Alex, can you hear me?"

It was Misty. She hovered over him, her face laced with concern. Her voice sounded like an echo, almost as if it were coming from underwater. He could feel his head clearing but his heart beat did not drop.

"His temperature has risen again." He heard her say to someone.

What's going on? He thought to himself.

"His blood oxygen levels have fallen bellow 92%. We may need to administer oxygen." She continued.

I can still taste the blood in my mouth. And the flesh...

"Alex, look at me." Misty called to him.

But it was just a dream, right?

He felt the bile rise in his mouth and before he could react, he found himself throwing up. Misty hurried to help him up, to ease his pain but nothing seemed to stop his insides from coming back out.

It felt like hours before he finally stopped wretching his guts out. When he did, it felt as if the life had been drained out of him as he sunk back into the bed.

Misty handed him a glass of what he assumed was water.

"Here, drink." She said as she urged him to drink the water. "It's an oral treatment of antibiotics, it should lower your temperature."

He did as it was told, downing the solution in slow gulps, forcing himself to keep it down when it threatened to come back up again.

"How are you feeling now?" She asked him. Her eyes still showed her worry as she awaited his answer.

"I..." He began, stopping when he heard how hoarse his voice sounded.

Clearing his throat, which was somewhat painfully raw, he attempted to speak once more.

"I feel terrible." He admitted.

"Naturally." She said softly. "I had to wake you up, you were suffocating."

She paused as she let him process the news. He didn't say anything but simply stared at her. Taking it as a sign to go on, Misty began to explain herself.

"We don't know yet if you are reacting to the virus or the the medication. Until we figure it out, we will have to keep a close eye on you, making sure your health is kept at the most desirable level." She said. "You should know that if your oxygen levels go any lower, we may have to put you on a ventilator."

He remained quiet, not quite sure how he was supposed to react. Taking a deep breath, Misty decided to leave him to process everything. She figured that all the information would be too much for him to process at once.

Taking her leave of him, she left him to his own space.

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Emilia went through her report one last time before attaching it to her email. She had already thoroughly checked the document for over a dozen times but she was still not satisfied. Deciding that she would never be satisfied, she clicked on send and hoped for the best. With a deep breath, she got off her bed to put on her attire for the day. A simple long sleeved fuchsia colored blouse with a white pair of slacks. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and to finish it all off, she added a pair of white high heeled pumps.

Usually she would have her lab coat but seeing as she would be wearing the biohazard suit, it was unnecessary. Picking up her clipboard and notepad, she headed towards the cafeteria for a quick snack before she began her duty.

She grabbed a couple of breakfast bars, not because she wanted to eat them all but because she figured that Alex would appreciate some given the strict dietary measures they were giving him. They would be giving him a lot of grain and grass type foods for 'health' reasons.

All she simply ate was an apple that she finished on her way to the lab. As she neared the large volt type door, she ran into the assistant, Misty. The girl didn't seem to be as bubbly as she had been the previous day. She was worried about something but was doing a good job of hiding it.

When she saw Emilia, she stopped what she was doing and headed over to her.

"Emilia, hey. How are you doing today?" She asked.

"I'm good. How about you? You don't look so well, is everything okay?" Emilia asked.

"Oh don't worry about me. I'm totally fine." Misty said, her face immediately breaking out into a grin. "I just had a lot on my mind, is all."

"Okay, I understand. Catch you later then." Emilia said as she turned go change into her suit.

"Actually wait..." Misty called out, catching her attention.

Emilia turned slightly to face her, waiting to hear what she had to say.

"It's about Alex. He completely skipped incubation stage and jumped right into acute stage. I mean, I get it, incubation period can last a minimum of two days depending on the individual and the variant so I can overlook that for a bit. However, his symptom progression is way too fast."

"What are you saying?" Emilia asked.

"He's entered silent hypoxia. I'm afraid we may have to put him on a ventilator." Misty continued. "His health is declining drastically. I know that the probability of an adverse reaction to the medicine exists but I can't help but feel like something is wrong here. Either... Either Doctor Rudolph lied to us all and the treatment isn't as safe as he declared or someone has tempered with it."

Emilia stood there, unable to respond. She didn't know what she was feeling. Naturally she should be indifferent towards patients and all her medical colleagues. Any relationships she fostered were meant to be purely professional. Yet, as she processed this piece of information she couldn't help but feel something. Panic. Foreboding. Dread. She couldn't quite put a finger on it.

All she knew was that she could not help but develop feelings for Alex that were more than mere professional.

"I'll take a look at it." Emilia said. "For now, I'd like to see how Alex is doing."

"Thank you. That really takes a load of my mind." Misty said, breathing a sigh of relief. "My momma was a lieutenant in the army. She would always tell me that a soldier always has two options when at crossroads: to follow orders or abort mission.

I'm prepared to stay on the program but I'll do it for the right reasons. If there's something else going on here, I'm handing in my resignation."