"Don't take the damn mask off your face with your gloves on if you don't want to get infected too! The young lord has specifically reiterated this several times!"
One of the medics under contract shouted at his assistant.
"I-I'm sorry. I've been on my feet since yesterday and the sun's about to set again… I'm exhausted and I didn't think much."
"Go wash up with the soap Lord Marcus provided. Make sure you dispose of your clothes properly!"
The assistant ran out with tears in her eyes.
"Be kinder to her, Darrell," Benicci said.
"And let her die? Hell no." He picked up a rag and soapy water to clean all the spots his assistant had touched when she came in.
Benicci shook his head lightly. "I don't think there's any escaping this." He sighed. "It has been a week since this started. Winter is almost here and we've already lost more than thirteen thousand people to this epidemic, and we are losing more every day."
Darrell paused, "The numbers will only climb up when the white dust of cold piles up. Not even we will be able to survive this then."
His voice was flat, void of hope.
"Darrell, would you have left if a barrier hadn't blocked Agard?"
Darrell turned and frowned at him. "Are you trying to insult me, Benicci?"
"No, I'm just asking a hypothetical question."
Silence filled the office.
"Probably, I have my wife and children to worry about. Despite my devotion to this path, my family precedes all others."
Benicci nodded. "I agree, but I can't relate. I don't have a wife, or kids… that I'm aware of."
Darrell shook his head as he threw the rag into a bin. He picked up a torch and dropped it into the bin.
It took a while before the fire spread.
"If only the world weren't against this young lord… his inventions would have changed the world for the better," Darrell mentioned as he took his seat.
"Even more than that, his inventions, if given time, would take the world by storm."
"But it seems like that's a future we won't be a part of. How amazing would we have become if we had met this young lord years ago?"
"Ben, he might not have developed such intelligence then."
"True… what a shame. At the peak of my career–"
Suddenly, a nurse ran into the office. "Dr. Benicci, Dr. Darrell, the young lord is calling for the two of you!"
The two of them exchanged a look before rushing out.
They understood what this meant.
The setting sun painted Agard in a bleak picture of despair.
Everyone was in despair as they feared that this strange epidemic would soon overcome them.
As the two medics ran through the hallway and out of the hospital, they met with a very tired Marcus.
He had dark bags under his eyes and his back was hunched over a bit.
His hair was a mess, and he smelled of sweat.
"Lord Marcus."
"Benicci, Darrell. Sorry for disturbing you on your break. But I think we might have something here."
Marcus handed them the vials with liquid in them. One of them looked brownish while the other was blue.
"Administer them to the infected. The brown one should neutralize the virus, while the blue should fill their bodies with antibodies that should kill the virus and help with recovery."
Benicci's hands shook as he carefully reached out to take the vials, as if they were as fragile as a baby.
"Then Milord, you have found a cure?" His brows rose as he awaited an answer.
Darrell, by the side, gulped.
Perhaps the grim ending won't come to happen.
The spark of hope in his heart reignited.
"It could be, at least, after all the tests I have conducted with limited resources, these two have shown greater results." Marcus nodded.
He sounded confident in what he had created, however, that 'what if' question stuck to his heart.
"Make sure you give it out to the infected in measured doses. Two milliliters of the neutralizer and half a milliliter of the antibiotics. If it's effective, then a lot more will be made."
"Yes, Milord!" The two responded eagerly.
"You should rest, you don't look too well."
Marcus nodded, "I will. But only after I see the results with my own eyes. Let's go."
Stepping into the hospital, the two doctors rushed to put on the safety uniform Marcus provided for them against the infection.
Marcus did the same.
A wet cloth over their faces to safeguard, gloves that were thinner than usual, and a thick overall that covered them tightly from head to toe.
Stepping into the quarantine zone, almost three thousand infected patients lay on their beddings.
Some were already so far gone that they couldn't move, while many others coughed, sneezed, and cried as they felt their time coming to an end.
If one entered here mentally unprepared, they wouldn't be leaving with the entirety of themselves intact.
Benicci and Darrell moved quickly.
They didn't question what the young lord handed to them after he had proven himself to them several days ago.
Marcus had revealed to them knowledge they never thought was possible in their career.
And he had always been right.
It was more suitable to say that Benicci and Darrell truly remained in Agard all these while just because they wanted to learn more from the young lord.
Steady and swiftly, they administered the neutralizer and antibiotics to a female teenager and a male, with syringes.
When the patient was given the neutralizer, the effect was almost instant as parts of her body slowly gained some color.
The pale parts retreated like a tide.
After a few minutes, when the patient had completely regained her complexion, the antibiotic was administered.
This time, her breathing seemed to change, as though a clear passage in her lungs had opened up.
The same changes happened to the teenage boy.
The doctors, Marcus, as well as the nurses around, watched these two patients with rapt attention.
More than fifteen minutes had gone by and the state of their bodies was improving.
"Oh my, there's hope!"
"There's hope!"
"Thank the lord!"
Cheers rang out.
Marcus didn't even wait to hear anything, he turned and started to leave.
"Continue administering, I'll return to make more."
Though it didn't show on his face, Marcus was relieved.
***
Another week went by and there were barely any cases of the previous epidemic left.
Marcus had finally gotten some sleep, but once again, his heart felt heavy.
Something still felt wrong.
Today is… very quiet. Too quiet.
Seated in his office, a knock fell on his door, he didn't even have the chance to respond when the door opened up.
It was Benicci, struggling to stand.
The man looked like a mess, with patches of vomit on his clothes.
Seeing this, Marcus frowned and slowly got up.
"Dr. Ben, what's wrong?"
"Lord Marcus. I don't think the heavens want you to succeed. Even after everything… thousands of lives were lost this morning."
Thud!
He dropped to the floor.
"Perhaps the heavens have cursed us all." Benicci's whisper faded as his eyes went dark.
Marcus caught his body before it hit the floor, but the doctor was already gone, shriveled, as if something had drunk his life away…
Marcus trembled, as though the anxiety in his heart had reached the point of exploding.