You're not Dreaming

Chapter 6

Lua spent that day talking to Mus and awaiting his reply. They discussed what to do next but neither of them knew what to do. Mus suggested that they just keep living.

When Lua asked him if he was going to stay a mouse forever, he shrugged and wrote "It's not so bad being a mouse."

Lua felt responsible. If she hadn't come there, he'd still be able to change.

Mus didn't see it as being her fault. He felt that it was inevitable.

Mus wrote "It might get better."

Lua hoped he was right. She was still in the early stages. That may have been the same for him too.

What really plagued Lua's mind was what may have caused her to catch the vaccine in the first place.

Two weeks prior to Lua's arrival at the hotel, she was at home with her sister.

Her sister had been sick, not with the vaccine or the original illness, but with sepsis.

It had started after Lua and her sister were attacked by a mutant with overgrown fangs and claws and the sharpest quills known to man. Unlike Mus, she wasn't sound of mind. She had attacked them over food. Lua wasn't planning on attacking her until her sister's leg was impaled with a quill over nothing more than a bag of unevenly sliced bread.

Lua had to defend her sister when it came after them both. Her axe hadn't ever seen action like that before.

Lua tried her best to treat it but without the correct medication, it just got infected. With a wound that size on her torso, they both knew it wouldn't be long before she died if she didn't get treatment.

They knew a doctor but he was infected with the vaccine. He had already mutated but his mutation was minor and, like Mus, he could change whenever he wanted to. The doctor could grow leaves out of his hair follicles.

Lua left a message for him on his door and left as he arrived to treat her sister. She knew full well that her sister would be infected, but if it meant that she could survive, it didn't matter.

Lua left her sister behind and stayed in an abandoned house for a few days to watch as her sister was treated from afar where she wouldn't be infected.

Her sister's wound healed but due to the exposure to the doctor she mutated.

Her mutation was minor. She grew fur all over her body and looked a lot like a zebra with her black and white stripes. Sadly she couldn't change like Mus but she was still able to think.

Lua couldn't return because she would likely get the vaccine too. She would have to wait 42 days before she could go back home. Her sister couldn't understand this and tried to get into Lua's new home.

Out of fear, Lua left a note explaining that she would be back in a month and a bit before she set out to hike.

Lua deduced that it was during that time that she had been infected. She wished she had just stayed with her sister.

***

Lua and Mus fell asleep together on the couch. Mus slept on the arm of the couch underneath Lua's jacket so that he wouldn't get squashed.

Lua struggled to sleep, still blaming herself.

Mus had his own troubles but he put them aside until the morning.

"Mus?" Lua called when she woke up.

An eager squeak echoed from the kitchen. Mus was on his way to her with a packet of corn chips.

She was relieved that he was still there. She was certain that he was real now but still wondered if he was ever a man.

Mus gestured to Lua, telling her to eat.

"We need to work on sign language," Lua pointed out as she took the corn chips from Mus. She thanked him by putting her hands together and bowing.

Mus did the same to her.

Mus climbed upon the couch and sat next to her.

Lua was concerned about her impending mutation. Her biggest concern she had was that she would no longer be able to think like a human. Her mind was already hazy. She let out a sigh of despair. "Maybe we should see the doctor, Mus," she suggested.

Mus pointed to Lua then to himself and then to the window and shrugged.

Lua nodded. "Yes, we will have to go out there," she said, staring out at the view.

Mus jumped down from the couch and sat down on Lua's bag.

Lua got up as well, stretched and started getting dressed. She looked over at Mus and raised an eyebrow. "Are you staring at me?" She asked.

Mus shook his head, pretending to be innocent.

Lua grinned and continued dressing herself. She hadn't worn her outerwear in a few days and feeling unwell, it felt much heavier than she remembered.

Mus followed behind her as she packed in whatever food she could carry.

Her backpack was heavier as well. Hiking back down the snowy mountain was not going to be an easy task, especially when she knew that she was about to start mutating.

Mus squeaked, getting her attention. He pointed down the hall to a flight of stairs.

Lua assumed that he was suggesting an alternative exit. She picked Mus up and tucked him into her jacket pocket. "I hope we can return to this place some time," she sighed as they descended downstairs.

The stairs led to the ground level, which was essentially the basement since it was built into the foundation. Heading through there meant that they could go directly to the road down to the town instead of hiking around the cliff side like Lua did. This was not the only reason Mus wanted to go down there. There were two vending machines, one with soda and one with snacks.

"Pepsi!" Lua exclaimed. She hadn't had a single drop of anything but water for weeks.

She searched through her wallet and stuffed every bit of money she had left into the machine.

Mus watched with a frown. I was expecting her to just break it open, not to pay for the Pepsi.

Lua added the extra weight to her backpack and headed through the doors.

It was freezing outdoors. The wind was at about 24 km/hr and the temperature was at -26°C.

Mice do not cope well in the cold. Because of how small they are, they tend to become hypothermic even in 20°C water so this sort of weather was thoroughly unbearable for Mus. He closed the flap of Lua's pocket and curled up. He couldn't communicate how cold he was with her but he feared that the cold might take his life.

Lua on the other hand, was used to the cold and hiking back down the road was much easier than hiking up the mountain.

With an axe in her hand, Lua started the long hike home.