Work Text
This nightmare will never end!
You and the cell beside you scream, as the beast screeches with a rasp sounding like it rose from the pits of hell- and before you know it bears down on your helpless bodies, and you have no choice but to turn and run, the stench of plaque filling your nostrils as your lungs fought for breath.
“Senpai!
” Their frightened voice, a child’s cry searching for something safe to hold on to, choked with terror. “What do we do now? Are we going to die?! I’m scared!”
I don’t know,
you wanted to cry, all but panic having abandoned your racing mind. But you couldn’t give that answer to the rosy-cheeked boy running beside you now, because you were all that he had in this moment and you couldn’t fail him by being a scared little boy too.
So instead you roar, “Just keep running!” for it was the only thing you could think of right now, and the only thing that made sense while being pursued in the dark by a monster that had knives for whiplashes and nothing for a moral conscience.
Why?
You thought desperately, as you sprinted into the darkness, the monster hot on your heels.
Things were just getting better. I thought everything was over!
From overwork, to seeing corpses of your kind sprawled out like a sea of red, to losing your best friend (and the one you loved), was everything you’d gone through not enough for you? A small, dry laugh burbled from your lips; the unfairness of it all made you want to scream, for crying out loud! But nothing is fair in the black world of cells, you were forced to learn from a tender young age.
So why am I still hoping for hope right now, as I am about to meet my demise?
A guttural scream penetrates the fog of your thoughts, and you whirl around just in time to see the rookie you were running with sprawled out on the floor, white-faced and eyes wide and terrified. The bacterium loomed hungrily over him, sharp-knived whiplashes tense and savage and angled at his chest.
In that moment, it was as if a different thing entirely took over your body; you sprint towards the boy on the ground, threw yourself recklessly in between those lethal whiplashes and the sobbing youth on the ground.
If I must meet my demise, let it be so that another life can escape theirs
(that’s what
he
did for you anyway).
You squeeze your eyes shut, bracing for the cold slash of steel that would rend your fragile body to nothing, barely registering the horrified scream of the thrashing boy in your arms—
But all that came were the frantic thumping of boots and the sickening squelch of a blade driving through flesh, before all fell silent in the plaque-covered vessel.
What just happened? Am I not dead?
You hear the tear-choked wheezing of the rookie underneath you, and see the sticky, smelly plaque that dirtied the walls and floor.
I’m alive,
you think with confused disbelief, but also a tiny sliver of relief.
But how?
You turn, and see an angel. An angel steeped in eye-straining white, covered in splatters of morbid red, broad-shouldered and olive-eyed, staring back over their shoulder at you. In their fists they held two knives, sleek and sharp and dripping with red.
“Are you okay?” the angel asks, offering you a hand. “Why are you here? It’s not safe here, you could have been killed.” Only then do you realise it’s not actually a being sent from heaven but a male neutrophil- a white blood cell.
The rookie beside you cried out with thanks, but all that seemed to grow strangely blurry and faraway. Your head is spinning. At first, you didn’t want to believe this was another body in an even worse state of decay, but now it was all becoming real.
All the neutrophils I’ve ever known were female. So what…?
“Hey.” You startle with a yelp, noticing the neutrophil has walked right in front of you and is now looking at you with a gaze of concern. “Are you… okay?”
“Senpai! Oh god, I’m so sorry!” Your rookie blubbers, throwing his arms around you in a (much too tight!) embrace. “I’m so sorry! I nearly got you killed because I was too clumsy and tripped! Thanks for trying to sacrifice yourself for me, but never do that again!”
“Im fine,” you wheeze, trying to nudge the boy off you. To your knowledge, he did not have this much arm strength when you were running around the body carrying oxygen tanks with him. “I’m fine, really. I just did what I…” you pause. “…What I felt like I had to do in the moment.”
The rookie bursts into tears again and continues crying. You find yourself staring at the white blood cell, and the white blood cell looks awkwardly away, his dark eyes obscured by the shadow of his cap. He obviously did not have much experience with soft sentimental situations.
“Sorry,” you say, a little flustered, and forced yourself to stop staring at the poor guy. Why was your heart fluttering a bit faster, now?
“White blood cell-san!!” A high-pitched voice called from somewhere down the hallway. You crane your neck, following the white blood cell’s line of sight.
“Hey, Red Blood Cell!” The White blood cell called. The first thing you notice is her extremely bright red hair, standing out like the color on a clown’s nose. Her attire was similar to yours, but she had a shorter red jacket and donned shorts instead of trousers.
Oh, this must be another red blood cell, like me!
“White blood cell-san!” She panted, seeming thoroughly out of breath. “Oh god, I heard the bacteria screaming and I was so scared it got you. Are you okay? Hold up, who are these two? Are they new? Oh my goodness, hi!” She talked like a machine gun firing off rounds.
“H-hi?” The rookie stammered, waving awkwardly. You stay silent, not knowing what to say. “Nice t-“
“It’s nice to meet you two!! I’m so sorry you have to start work with the body in this condition!” She exclaimed, already rushing over to shake your hands very vigorously. “You must be the new red blood cells! My name’s AE3803, what’s yours?”
“Oh, uh, mine’s NC8429!” The rookie laughs nervously, staring at her hand.
“Oh- AA2153’s my name.” you follow-up, trying to return her bright smile.
“I’m so glad you’re alright, White Blood Cell-san here must have saved you two from the brink of death.” she sighed, pulling you two to your feet. “We’ll explain all this later, but right now, let’s get out of here! It’s really dangerous down in this part of the body.”
“Oh, okay!” Both of you chorus, nodding your head. She gave you two a weak grin. You don’t know why, but you’ve a strange feeling that this girl, despite her sunny exterior, was not what she used to be.
Especially with the body in this state,
you know all too well how the damning environment of a poisoned body could wear even the most unwavering of resolves down (the example you knew hit too close to home).
“Don’t be scared! White blood cell-san here’s very strong. He’ll protect us from any bacteria that come along!” She spoke to you both, and the neutrophil gave a silent nod of his head.
“I’ll annihilate anything that tries to come near us, so you stay behind me.” he reassured, readying his knives.
Something inside your chest did a weird little flutter again, but you decided to ignore it as the four of you pressed into the darkness, towards the way out.